The Creatures that We Are

One o’clock in the morning, at the hot spring hotel at the foot of Mount Tamaougi.

When Gao Yang and his companions returned to the hotel, it was unusually quiet. The owner had collapsed on the recliner behind the front desk, still holding an accounting book. She seemed to have been doing books before she lost consciousness.

Suffice to say that all the wanderers in range had blacked out and wouldn’t wake up any time soon. Although Zhuang Mei had died, the impact of her psychic shockwaves lingered.

Officer Huang carried his unconscious wife back to his room, while Heavenly Dog, Gao Yang, and Qing Ling went to another room.

Lying on a bed, Dragon had fallen into a deep coma, his face pale and breathing faint, body cold like he was close to dying.

Gao Yang was a little worried. He turned to Heavenly Dog. “Can Captain live until he goes into hibernation in the Millennium Tower?”

Heavenly Dog shook his head with a helpless expression. He didn’t know more than Gao Yang did.

After some consideration, Gao Yang leaned in to unbutton Dragon’s gray trench coat and feel around Dragon’s chest, making both Heavenly Dog and Qing Ling jump.

He must be looking for Rune Circuits, Qing Ling thought.

A few seconds later, both were disappointed to see Gao Yang fish out a sophisticated-looking black lipstick; on the lid, the word “SOS” was printed.

He twisted the lid off. It turned out that the lipstick was an emergency syringe masquerading as lipstick. It must contain adrenaline shot or some sort of energy supplement specially made for Dragon.

He gave Dragon’s neck a jab, and the solution was injected automatically.

A few seconds later, Dragon’s long dark lashes fluttered, and his pale face regained some color. His breathing had slowed and settled down. Looking at his face alone, he seemed like the sleeping beauty from a fairytale.

Gao Yang peeled off Dragon’s trench coat and tucked the man under the blanket. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief.

He turned to Qing Ling and Heavenly Dog. “Take care of yourselves. We’ll have a meeting in twenty minutes.”

…

They each patched themselves up simply and got washed, changing into clean clothes. Then they gathered in the room where Dragon was sleeping.

Officer Huang had come. He claimed a beanbag with his eyes squeezed shut, looking exhausted. He had severely drained his energy in the earlier fight, and it would take quite some time for him to recover.

“How’s Ms. Su?” Gao Yang asked.

Head tilted upward, Officer Huang said hoarsely, “Still unconscious. I hope she doesn’t wake up until I take her back to Li City.”

Gao Yang didn’t say anything to that.

Su Xi had gotten grabbed by Tails and then taken to the Island Nation by Zhuang Mei. Who knew if she had woken up during the process? Whatever the case, though, she would automatically modify her own memory were she a wanderer. Still, it would be best if she woke up at home. Then she would think she had fallen unconscious for two days and had a nightmare she couldn’t remember clearly.

After a moment of silence, Gao Yang grabbed a chair and sat down, pointing at the chair across from him and looking at Heavenly Dog. “Have a seat, Heavenly Dog.”

Heavenly Dog sat down, waiting for Gao Yang to continue.

Gao Yang asked seriously, “Can I trust you, Heavenly Dog?”

Heavenly Dog blinked his delicate eyes, looking confused.

From the beanbag, Officer Huang explained, “He meant that what he was going to talk about is top secret, so you have to swear your allegiance first.”

“Can Dragon and I trust you?” This time, Gao Yang brought up Dragon, too, worried that he might not seem authoritative enough on his own.

Heavenly Dog thought about it before nodding. “I suppose.”

—Activate Lie Detection.

The target didn’t lie, and he was benevolent.

“Alright, I’ll be frank,” said Gao Yang. “I’m actually still a member of the Twelve Zodiac Signs.”

He didn’t lie. Although he had considered starting his own organization, he hadn’t yet betrayed the Twelve Zodiac Signs, and the fact that Dragon had come to their rescue modified Gao Yang’s plan somewhat.

“Ah…” Heavenly Dog’s eyes glinted, his mouth slightly agape. He quickly put two and two together. “So that’s what everything is about.”

“The ones who knew about it were Dragon, War Tiger, Green Snake, and Yellow Ox.” Gao Yang glanced at Heavenly Dog. “And now you.”

Heavenly Dog looked serious for two seconds. “I’ll keep the secret.”

“Thank you.”

For the next few minutes, Gao Yang explained how Qilin had come to an agreement with Surnamed Li and refrained from sending help.

“What do you think?” Gao Yang asked.

“Have you been made?” Officer Huang was a little worried. “Why don’t you just return to the Twelve Zodiac Signs? I don’t think you should stay at the Qilin Guild. It’s dangerous.”

Gao Yang turned to Qing Ling and Heavenly Dog.

Qing Ling lowered her eyes slightly. Personally, she did want Gao Yang to return to the Twelve Zodiac Signs or just go independent. She wanted her people to stay close to her; only then could she rest easy.

Thinking about it rationally, though, she had come to a different conclusion. “Qilin might not have refrained from sending help because he suspected you.”

“Seconded.” Heavenly Dog had reached the same conclusion. “Qilin might have done it to get Captain.”

Officer Huang caught on quickly. “Do you mean that Qilin and Surnamed Li had stayed back in order to force Dragon to make a move?”

“Hm.” Heavenly Dog nodded. “A long time ago, the vice-captain told us that Qilin and Surnamed Li were somewhat wary of Captain.”

Of course they would, Gao Yang grumbled to himself. Dragon has dealt with a life monster all on his own. I would be wary of him too were I in their shoes.

Gao Yang had also figured things out. Qilin’s main goal was to test Dragon. He wanted to know how powerful Overlord was, and if the Talent had reached level 4.

Moreover, if Qilin had known the fact that Dragon worked like a power bank, then this could be a plan to exhaust Dragon’s power too.

Gao Yang had been outside the realm then, so he didn’t know what had happened inside the realm.

Speaking of the result alone, though, Dragon had covered the entire Mount Kei with his realm and erased a life monster triggering a 14000 times bonus. No one would possibly believe that his Overlord hadn’t reached level 4.

After all, back when they fought Lilia, she had triggered only a bonus around 10000 times with the sacrifice of Epilogue, the leader of shadowstalker, as well as being armed by Elemental Angel.

If Qilin learned that Dragon had reached level 4 with Overlord, Gao Yang would be in great danger.

In the Mist World, Qilin seemed to be the one with the most information. Gao Yang had to assume that Qilin knew about the head and tail of the Talents being connected. Then as soon as he learned of Dragon’s Overlord reaching level 4, he would figure out that Gao Yang had given Dragon the energy seed of the Miracle Rune Circuit.

That would lead to one conclusion: Gao Yang wasn’t loyal to him and should be eliminated as a great potential risk.

Gao Yang looked up at the three of them. “I need you to give a modified story so that I can stay at the Qilin Guild.”

“Why don’t you just leave?” Qing Ling asked.

Gao Yang said calmly, “It’s not yet time to turn on them openly.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“Calm down, Qing Ling. Gao Yang must have his reason.” Officer Huang trusted Gao Yang’s judgment. While Gao Yang had made mistakes in the past, they were negligible compared to the countless correct decisions he had made, and given Gao Yang’s position, he must know a lot more about their current situation than they did.

Qing Ling fell silent.

Gao Yang smiled faintly and didn’t explain further. “So, let’s make sure our stories match.”

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