The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 583: Cultivation Method

Green Tea paused and quickly waved his hands. “Oh, no. What trouble can I get into?”

He took a sip of his beer nonchalantly. “Right, I’ll think about it myself.”

“Yeah.”

“You’ll keep the secret for me, right?” Green Tea asked.

Gao Yang nodded.

“I trust you. Thanks.” Green Tea rose to his feet and patted Gao Yang on the shoulder, returning to the group.

Gao Yang watched bemusedly as Green Tea started singing again.

...

They didn’t part until eleven at night. Citrus and First Firelord got wasted. One bawled and cried out the name of her dead boyfriend, while the other cursed out the heaven—the Heavenly Way—and challenged it to a duel.

The other members of the fifth team muffled them and manhandled them away.

Gao Yang carried a still sleeping Fresh Snow on his back. Wang Zikai had to go to the underground parking lot to get his car, and since the way was a little complicated, he had Gao Yang wait by the road outside the ground floor.

Gao Yang was just about to walk out of the mall when he heard Fresh Snow say in a tired, soft voice, “...Gao Yang.”

“Yeah?”

“Claw...machine...” she said drowsily.

Gao Yang thought she was sleep talking, but when he turned to look, there were indeed a row of claw machines. He said with a smile, “Maybe next time.”

“No...” Fresh Snow insisted. “Do it...for me... I want a doll...”

Gao Yang sighed. “Alright. Which do you want?”

“I want Snowy Panda[1]...” Fresh Snow said.

“Alright, wait a bit.”

Gao Yang went up to one claw machine and paid for five tries with his phone. He looked at the doll pandas in the machine through the glass.

“Which one do you want?”

Fresh Snow cracked her eyes open, her breaths scattering on Gao Yang’s nape. “I want...the chubbiest one...”

“The second on the left?” Gao Yang spotted it immediately.

“Yeah...”

Gao Yang moved the joystick, and the claw inside the machine started moving while making clacking noises. The claw swung around with too much give. It seemed unlikely that he would pick up the doll.

But Gao Yang was lucky, and he miraculously got the doll with one try.

He bent down and picked up the panda from the box. “Got it. Let’s go home.”

“Yeah.” Fresh Snow smiled with content and fell asleep.

...

Wang Zikai’s Place, Li River Community, nine o’clock in the morning.

Gao Yang woke up to the doorbell ringing. He had fallen asleep on the sofa again, and his arms were numb from Wang Zikai and Fresh Snow using him as pillows.

When they got home last night, Fresh Snow was wide awake from the nap, and she insisted on Wang Zikai playing games with her. Stuck between them, Gao Yang was forced to play judge, and he fell asleep at some point.

Gao Yang rose to open the door. He was surprised to see the youthful-looking girl dressed in an ill-fitted office suit, her hair parted on the side and tied into a small ponytail. Her hairpin was blue today, still in the shape of “SL”.

Her smile was a little reserved, but her gaze had a hint of excitement to it, like she was looking forward to her mission today.

“Morning, Elder Seven Shadow!” Hong Xiaoxiao straightened her back.

Gao Yang nodded slightly. “Did Vermilion Bird send you?”

“Yes, I’m here to accompany Elder Seven Shadow to the Twelve Zodiac Signs today.”

Gao Yang waited quietly.

As expected, Hong Xiaoxiao immediately took off the blue hairpin on her head and smoothed out her bang. Then she bowed slightly and handed Gao Yang the hairpin like she was handing an important client her name card.

Gao Yang took it and could immediately sense the energy filling it to the brim. Like a thin layer of intangible fog, it enveloped his body.

It seemed to be an enchanted Black Gold hairpin, but painted to conceal its material.

“Please keep this on you, Elder Seven Shadow,” Hong Xiaoxiao said. “I’ll mark you and make saves in real time to ensure...your safety.”

“Oh, safety, you said? I thought you were here to monitor me.” Gao Yang shot back without emotion.

Hong Xiaoxiao flushed red, not knowing what to say.

Gao Yang put the hairpin on his breast pocket so that Hong Xiaoxiao could easily see it. “This works?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Hong Xiaoxiao nodded without pause.

“Come on in. You can keep your shoes on.”

Hong Xiaoxiao followed him in and was stunned by the interior of the house. As expected of the residence of a rich man. It looked grand enough outside, but even more so inside.

Whoa, the crystal chandelier is luxurious.

Whoa, the white jade pixiu[2] was an antique, right?

Whoa, is the tiger pelt rug real?

...

Wang Zikai had woken up by then. With a toothbrush in his mouth, he scratched his messy blond hair with a hand. When he saw Hong Xiaoxiao, he demanded, “Who the hell are you?”

Hong Xiaoxiao paused. So there was someone else at Elder Seven Shadow’s place.

Whoa, although the boy isn’t my type, he’s good-looking too.

“Who are you?”

Then a sleepy, petulant voice of a girl came from the sofa. Hong Xiaoxiao looked over to see a blond girl lying there, looking at her darkly.

Whoa, the girl is so pretty, like a porcelain doll.

“Wang Zikai, Wang Xiaoxiu, they’re cousins and both are my friends,” Gao Yang introduced simply. “This is Hong Xiaoxiao, a colleague of mine.”

“Nice to meet you.” Hong Xiaoxiao put on her professional friendly smile.

Wang Zikai glanced at her. He felt no goodwill for the Guild that ordered his best friend around. Fresh Snow, similarly, yawned and rolled to her side before going back to sleep.

Hong Xiaoxiao’s smile froze awkwardly.

“I’m going out today. I’ll be back later.” Gao Yang added a warning. “Stay at home and don’t run around.”

Wang Zikai turned to holler at Fresh Snow, “You hear that? We’re going out today. Don’t run around.”

Gao Yang looked at him. “You’re staying too. I’m worried about leaving Xiaoxiu here on her own.”

Wang Zikai said reluctantly, “Fine. Don’t take too long.”

...

Underground sixth floor of the Millennium Tower, an hour later.

War Tiger and White Rabbit welcomed them when Gao Yang and Hong Xiaoxiao visited. Since there was a stranger around, War Tiger acted quite politely.

“It’s been a while, Elder Seven Shadow.”

“It’s been a while.” Gao Yang got right to the point. “I’m here to borrow the Psyche Rune Circuit from your esteemed organization. Yesterday, I made an application to Miss White Rabbit.”

“I got the mail,” White Rabbit said with a long face. “Psychic Armor, is it?”

“Yes.”

“Although everyone’s getting multiple Talents now, Elder Seven Shadow, the speed at which you’re getting new ones is still absurd.” War Tiger smirked. “Teleportation, Fire, Replicate, Double, Lie Detection, and now Psychic Armor. That’s six. How did you do it?”

“I got lucky,” Gao Yang said. It was the truth.

War Tiger raised an eyebrow. “Do I look like an idiot to you?”

“I couldn’t fool you.” Gao Yang smiled faintly. “I actually have a cultivation method that I don’t teach anyone. It increases the chance of comprehending a Talent just like Aptitude.”

“Shit! I knew it!” War Tiger raised his voice. “Come on, teach me!”

“Sure,” Gao Yang said without batting an eye. “It doesn’t work for most people, though. I taught Green Snake before, and it didn’t work for her. You can ask her if you want to learn it.”

“Haha, sure. I’ll ask her once she comes back from abroad.”

“Let’s get to business.” White Rabbit chimed in. “According to the SOP, you are to demonstrate Psychic Armor for us.”

“Demonstrate it...” Gao Yang thought for a moment. “Is Songstress here?”

“She is.” White Rabbit understood what he was suggesting.

Ten minutes later, the group had migrated to the karaoke in the Chicken Room.

Songstress sang a song to Gao Yang with a microphone. He tried his best to stay awake for a good while before his eyelids started to fall, and the urge to sleep grew stronger and stronger.

Even White Rabbit and War Tiger, who were deemed Songstress’ companions rather than target, were struggling visibly too. Hong Xiaoxiao, on the other hand, had already curled up on the sofa and fallen asleep.

Songstress lowered the microphone with a smile. “The only thing that’ll explain Edler Seven Shadow’s resistance is a Talent shielding him from psychic attacks.”

War Tiger slapped himself to wake himself up. “Alright, that’s done.”

1. A reference to the mascot of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. ☜

2. A mythical creature that’s believed to bring in fortune. ☜