The Creatures that We Are

“Oh, I forgot to tell you.” Xia Li pulled back and smirked. “I just did a necropsy and didn’t get to wash my hands.”

“Huh?” Gao Yang gaped.

“Good news is I was wearing gloves.”

“Oh.” Gao Yang sighed in relief.

“Bad news is I took them off mid necropsy.”

“What?”

“Good news is I was cutting up a small animal.”

“Ah.”

“Bad news is the small animal was a poisonous monster.”

“Good news is I’ve been making all that up.”

“Right.”

Xia Li led the way, her heels clacking as she walked.

She’s something else, Gao Yang thought as he followed her. In only a few exchanges, she had taken him on an emotional rollercoaster and firmly kept the upper hand.

Xia Li pointed at the morgues on the sides. “These are for the regular bodies. The Guild members are kept in the innermost room.”

Gao Yang looked around and made a mental note of where the surveillance cameras were and the layout of the floor.

Soon, he was led to the morgue at the end of the corridor. They had to first go past a heavy metal door, which Xia Li opened by putting in a code.

Inside was a rectangular room for storing cadavers with a four meter-wide empty space at the center and two lines of freezer cabinets on the sides, each marked with a number.

The bright light did nothing to disperse the chill in the room.

Xia Li turned around and yawned again. She explained the situation at a deliberate pace, “The last time I came here was three days ago, after the fourth and fifth team members killed in action were moved here. I personally conducted the questioning.”

“Then I came here last night to find the bodies gone.” Xia Li glanced at the freezer cabinets on the left. “Twelve bodies were stolen, all members of the Guild who had been killed in action over the years.” ṘἈΝộᛒΕś

“When were the bodies stolen?”

“It should be three o’clock to three thirty in the morning. The cameras were destroyed beforehand, and none of the guards noticed anything. The culprit was likely to have entered by entering the code—it was information known to several people, so it’s no surprise that it’d be leaked. It’s a clean job. Not much trace was left behind.”

“It can be an inside job.”

“Yes, it can be. However, I don’t get the motive. Past twenty-four hours, the bodies won’t be of any use to the others. Well, unless they have necrophilia.”

Gao Yang grimaced.

“I’m joking.” Xia Li smiled mischievously. “Well. That’s about it.”

“You said you…questioned the bodies?” Gao Yang brought up a key point.

Xia Li nodded easily like there was nothing unusual about it. “I can make any corpse speak as long as it’s within 24 hours since their death.”

No wonder all members were to be sent to the morgues at the Vermilion Bird branch first thing after their death. It was for questioning.

Gao Yang hesitated for a moment before mustering the courage to ask, “Can you question Yellow Butterfly too, Elder Vermilion Bird?”

“Oh?” Xia Li looked at him in surprise. “How did you know who I am?”

“I guessed it.”

Gao Yang suppressed an eyeroll. I don’t even have to use my head to figure that out.

A woman who shows no signs of fear in the morgues on her own, whose Talent I can’t replicate. And this is the Vermilion Bird branch. I’d happily eat shit while doing headstand if you weren't Elder Vermilion Bird.

“Don’t let others know.” Xia Li covered her mouth and yawned again. “Still, call me Xia Li—no, call me Sister Xia.”

“Alright, Sister Xia.”

“What did you ask again? Right, Yellow Butterfly. Her body was badly damaged, but I could still question her.”

With her hands in her pockets, Xia Li shrugged. “It took some work, and I managed to question her for 20 seconds and confirmed that she was a spy. However, I wasn’t able to get any other important information out of her.”

“What about the others?” Gao Yang was thinking about Xiran, Black Sparrow, Old Joe, Dark Li, and Xiuyi.

“Their bodies were relatively intact, and I was able to question them for about one minute.”

Xia Li seemed to have read his thoughts, and she added, “The questioning is a one-time thing, and technically, they are merely reanimated rather than resurrected. Only simple questions and responses are possible.”

She shrugged. “Stop overthinking. Let them rest in peace. You have my condolences.”

Gao Yang nodded bitterly.

It seemed that Elder Vermilion Bird was quite personable. Since he had come all the way here, perhaps he could get something useful out of her.

“Vermilion…Sister Xia, I have a question for you.” Gao Yang didn’t beat around the bush.

Xia Li didn’t seem to mind. “Go on.”

“Can the dead be resurrected?”

“Yes.”

“Can you go into detail?” Gao Yang asked tentatively.

Xia Li raised an eyebrow bemusedly before nodding. “You’re now an Elder-candidate. There’s no harm in telling you. Still, I want something in return.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll tell you later. Don’t worry, it’s something you can do for sure.”

“Alright.”

Xia Li extended a finger. “From what I know, there are two forms of true resurrection. One is the ability of a Spectre. As long as the brain and heart aren’t damaged, the dead can be resurrected within twenty-four hours. Mind you, they can only be brought back to life once, not a second time.”

It seemed that Liu Qingying’s intel was accurate.

“What about the second?” Gao Yang got curious.

“The second?” Xia Li smiled. “That’s my Talent.”

Gao Yang didn’t ask what her Talent was, not because it would be impolite, but because it must be the Guild’s secret.

“I can do a bit more. It’s possible for me to resurrect someone no matter how long they have been dead. Of course, their head and heart must not have been seriously damaged, and there’s only one chance of resurrection.”

“Then why don’t you…” Gao Yang trailed off.

“I know what you want to ask.” Xia Li cut in. “Why don’t I resurrect companions who have given their lives?”

Gao Yang didn’t say anything.

A cold glint flashed through Xia Li’s eyes. “Everything comes with a price, and the price for resurrection is considerable. I won’t do it unless it's absolutely necessary.”

Gao Yang made a bemused sound. So that was why the Guild members weren’t buried after their death, but were instead stored in the morgues. There was no telling whether one of them would be chosen for resurrection in the future.

However, the resurrection required a heavy, perhaps even unbearable price. Thus, Vermilion Bird would never attempt it unless absolutely necessary.

What would necessitate it then?

When the civil war between awakeners broke out? When the Crimson Tide hit? When the Gates of Closure opened?

Then Gao Yang thought of a possible ‘bug’.

After death, an awakener’s Talents would return to the Talent Pantheon, waiting to be claimed by new or other awakeners.

If Elder Vermilion Bird resurrected the dead years after, would the awakener still have the same Talents?

Perhaps that was related to the heavy price she would have to pay.

Gao Yang’s mind wandered, and he felt a chill run down his spine. The Twelve Zodiac Signs, the Qilin Guild, the Hundred Rivers Union, the Spectres, the Godbearer Cult… Each of the different factions was formidable in their own right, and they had their own secret weapon.

That was excluding the mysterious beings that were pride monsters, life monsters, and death monsters.

When Gao Yang stayed silent, Xia Li blinked at him with a slight curve to her lips. “Do you want to know more about it? I can tell you.”

Gao Yang didn’t respond.

Her smile slid off her face, and she said in a more serious tone, “However, you should know that all secrets come with a risk, and the risk can be deadly.”

“I understand. I’m not going to ask further.”

Gao Yang silently complained, If I insist on getting to the bottom of things when you’ve said that, I would be asking for trouble.

“Alright. Now it’s your turn.”

Xia Li cocked her head and smiled, her hands still tucked in her pockets.

Gao Yang almost forgot. She wanted something in return.

Houseau3's Thoughts

Reminds me of Speak with Dead, my second favorite spell in Baldur's Gate 3. (The first is Speak with Animals)

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