The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 482: Sleepless Night

That was enough to help Qing Ling connect many dots. “Go on.”

Although they should be safe from unwanted ears, Gao Yang still lowered his voice unconsciously. “I told you before about the powerful mysterious woman Vermilion Bird and I ran into at a crossroad. She was able to throw me off with a single move.”

“I didn’t get a good look of her face, but through Chen Ying’s investigation, we found some clues, including the path through which she left. She went past the 26th floor of the Xiangxi Building.”

Qing Ling caught on. “The second day, you went to the escape room there with your classmates at night and ran into Ke Yo and Edmond.”

Gao Yang nodded. “Yes, that wasn’t a coincidence. Edmond and Ke Yo must be after the mysterious woman too, so they took their chances and went there. To their surprise, they ran into other awakeners, namely me, Vermilion Bird, and Can. Ke Yo lost control then and conjured a realm, forcing us to play a game of life and death.”

Qing Ling nodded, blinking at him to continue.

“Today, Xing Kong led us to the top of the mountain and fought us. My dad said that Xing Kong had actually come here to look for Zhuang Mei.”

Gao Yang took a deep breath. “To conclude, the Tails were looking for the mysterious woman Vermilion Bird and I ran into late at night, and she’s Zhuang Mei.”

Qing Ling was convinced, but to play the devil’s advocate, she asked, “Is that enough to reach a definite conclusion? And the woman in the surveillance footage has red hair, while Zhuang Mei has black hair.”

“There’s something called hair dye.”

Qing Ling didn’t respond.

“Qing Ling, remember that I took you away to tell you something in the evening after we foraged mushrooms?”

Qing Ling frowned. “You already suspected Zhuang Mei then?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Gao Yang sighed softly. “Coincidentally, when you and I were looking up at Zhuang Mei and my mother from a lower ground, both of them were backlit by the setting sun, and Zhuang Mei’s silhouette looked identical to that of the woman on top of the building when backlit that night.”

Qing Ling fell silent. She knew things were getting troublesome.

Gao Yang continued with his speculation. “The third day of Crimson Tide, Zhuang Mei sought out my mom and made her go missing for two days in order to lure me out.”

“Now it seems that Zhuang Mei is an elite monster in kahoot with Sir Fu, and they planned the whole thing.”

“However, Zhuang Mei can’t be a pride monster since there’s only one surviving pride monster now, Sir Jiang.”

“So.” Gao Yang came to his final conclusion—what he had mouthed at Qing Ling earlier. Zhuang Mei is a life monster.

She was the living white phenix Hyena and the whole Tails were looking to capture alive.

“What do we do with her?”

That was what Qing Ling was most concerned about. Back in the West Nation, the reanimated skeleton of a life monster had given them so much trouble. How would she and Gao Yang deal with a living life monster?

“You should’ve told War Tiger,” Qing Ling said. “If War Tiger knew, Dragon would know, and Dragon could deal with her.”

“I don’t plan to make a move on Zhuang Mei just yet,” Gao Yang told her.

“Why not?” Qing Ling didn’t get it.

“There are many things that don’t make sense.” Gao Yang nodded and lowered his eyes. “There were many times Zhuang Mei could have killed me. When I ran into her at the crossroad at night, she knocked me out with a move, yet spared me in the end.”

“The fact that she hasn’t killed you doesn’t mean that she won’t.” Qing Ling hardened her voice. “She’s a monster.”

“I know.” Gao Yang held Qing Ling’s gaze. “That’s why I started a random conversation when I was doing dishes and used Lie Detection on her. I didn’t dare to ask a specific question to test her, or I may alert her.”

“And?”

“She lied, but her stance was neutral.”

Qing Ling didn’t say anything. She knew what Gao Yang was thinking.

If pride monsters were divided into observers, lightbringers, and shadowstalkers, perhaps life monsters were divided into different factions too, or they might not be hostile to humans at all.

The fact that no life monster had shown up and attacked awakeners despite how strong they were was the best proof.

If Zhuang Mei was neutral to them at the moment, there was no need to expose her and clash with her.

Qing Ling was still concerned. “It’s too dangerous to just leave her be.”

“I don’t have a choice, Qing Ling.” Gao Yang clenched his fists unconsciously. “If we anger Zhuang Mei, she may retaliate against me and my family, and I’m not confident that I can protect them at the moment.”

Qing Ling was quiet for a few seconds. “What do you plan to do then?”

“Have others do the dirty work.” Gao Yang used a saying that was perhaps a little inappropriate in the context.

Qing Lint thought about it, her eyes glinting. “You mean we should lead the three organizations to discover Zhuang Mei’s identity on their own. Then Zhuang Mei won’t come after us even if she turns out to be an enemy.”

Gao Yang nodded. “It’s a little despicable, isn’t it?”

Qing Ling shook her head. “I would’ve done the same.”

Gao Yang was grateful to her. It was good to have her around. She always had his back.

“Then we play dumb tonight. After we split up with Zhuang Mei tomorrow, I’ll try to leak the information to Qilin and Dragon. We should refrain from doing that for a couple days, though, or Zhuang Mei may still suspect us.”

Qing Ling nodded. “Alright.”

“Don’t sleep tonight and be careful,” said Gao Yang.

“You too.”

Gao Yang broke into a smile. “But you needn’t worry too much. Remember, we have the greatest bodyguard with us.”

...

“Achoo!”

Wang Zikai sneezed.

“What the heck!” Gao Xinxin was a little angry. She had things to talk to Wang Zikai about, but he wasn’t paying attention.

Wang Zikai rubbed his nose. “Go on. I’m listening.”

They were sitting cross-legged on the bed in Gao Xinxin’s room, like relatives chatting on a heated floor.

“Are my brother and Qing Ling really that close?” asked Gao Xinxin.

Wang Zikai paused before nodding. “Of course! They are close!”

Gao Xinxin let out a long sigh. “I should be glad that he’s got a girlfriend, but I’m so worried.”

“About what?”

“Look at him. He’s only thinking about his girlfriend now! He doesn’t care about me anymore! And when my dad and Qing Ling fell into a river at the same time, he went to save Qing Ling first! If my dad hadn’t suddenly recovered his ability to walk, he would’ve drowned! If my brother is already as heartless as he is now, what do you think will happen once he gets married?”

“Um...” Wang Zikai suddenly thought she had a point.

In order to make Wang Zikai empathize with her sense of loss, Gao Xinxin gave him some examples. “Think about it. When you ask him to play games with you in the future, he’ll get a call from Qing Ling and leave before the seat’s even warm, and you can’t keep him. He won’t even stay a little longer.”

“When you hang out with him, he’ll always bring Qing Ling around. Even when he doesn’t, he will talk about her all the time.”

“Gradually, your call to him will end after a few words, and he will become really slow in responding to your messages, or he won’t respond at all. He won’t care about you. He won’t be interested in your life.”

“On the rare occasion that he visits you, it’ll be because he has a fight with Qing Ling. You talk your mouth dry trying to comfort him and console him, happy that your friendship is back, but then Qing Ling calls, and he leaves just like that. You’re nothing but a joke...”

“Fuck, stop it already!” Wang Ziaki clenched his fists. It was such a vivid image that he was getting angry now.

“You know him, Brother Kai!” Gao Xinxin continued to fan the fire. “He’s only got romance in his head when he’s in love! With a girlfriend, he’s got no time for us. Both family and friends are nothing to him!”

“No!” Wang Zikai was agitated. “That’s not fucking happening! We can’t have that!”

“That’s right! We can’t have that!” Gao Xinxin grabbed his hands. “We must do something, Brother Kai!”

“Yes, we must do something!”

“Break apart the love birds! Family first or death!”

“Break apart the love birds! Friend first or death!”

...

“Achoo!”

Gao Yang sneezed.

“Got a cold?” Qing Ling asked coolly.

They were on their way back to the farmhouse.

“Don’t think so.” Gao Yang rubbed at his nose and smiled. “Maybe someone’s talking behind my back.”

He looked up at the farmhouse. The light was still on. “Be careful tonight.”