The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 597: Emergency Meeting

“His body is fine, but his soul is broken.” Fresh Snow looked down at Green Tea’s body on the floor. “Once the soul’s broken, no one can save him.”

The atmosphere turned icier.

“Was that...a spiritual attack?” Gao Yang asked.

“Yeah.” Fresh Snow nodded and explained in her own way, “The big one’s soul became a bomb, and its explosion would blow up everyone’s soul.”

“So you saved us,” said Gao Yang.

“Yeah.” Fresh Snow blinked proudly. “Don’t be scared, Gao Yang. I’ll protect you.”

Gao Yang sighed. While feeling relieved, he glanced at Green Tea’s body.

Although they weren’t particularly close, it was still shocking to see a friend die before him so suddenly. His memories about Green Tea were about to surface in his mind. He quickly activated Psychic Armor to stop the surge of remembrance. There were more important matters to attend to now.

Six Rime was going to open her mouth. Gao Yang interrupted her, “I know what you’re going to ask. We’ll talk about it later.”

He turned to Fresh Snow. “You knew there was something wrong with Green Tea, didn’t you, Fresh Snow? That was why you insisted on meeting him with me, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Fresh Snow nodded. “The last time I saw him, he smelled strange to me, but I wasn’t sure.”

“Smell? The smell of his soul?” Nine Frost tried to decipher her words.

Fresh Snow nodded. “Yeah.”

“Fresh Snow set the high bar for spiritual damage. She can smell everyone’s soul,” Gao Yang explained. “It seems that Green Tea’s soul has been long contaminated.”

“Isn’t that similar to Firework?” Lithe Snake said with a scowl. “Firework turns human bodies into bombs, while whatever this is turns human souls into bombs.”

Gao Yang thought for a moment before adding, “Not only that, there was also a curse. The explosion of soul was triggered by the utterance of a keyword.”

“Does that mean...” Can pushed aside her fear and tried her best to contribute to the conversation. “Dust, the spy planted in the Hundred Rivers Union, knew that Green Tea had discovered them, so they made a move first? As soon as Green Tea said Dust and their identity, his soul would blow up?”

Nine Frost nodded. “Seems to be the case.”

“Is that possible, Fresh Snow?” Gao Yang asked.

“Yeah, soul bombs can be made.” Fresh Snow nodded. “But she’d have to touch his soul.”

Lithe Snake frowned slightly. “I get physical contact, but how does touching the soul work?”

“Are you talking about the conditions required to curse someone’s soul, Fresh Snow?” Gao Yang tried to understand.

“Yeah. Within three days, they had to have touched his body and talked to him for more than a minute, and they had to know his real name and date of birth. Also had to call his name and get a response.” Fresh Snow mused. “I think that’s it.”

Gao Yang sighed in relief. Thankfully, the power isn’t so OP that it doesn’t have limitations. It’s difficult to implement and takes an insider to use it properly. Still, it’s perfect for a spy assassinating their targets.

“Do you know how to make a soul into a bomb, Fresh Snow?” Lithe Snake suddenly asked, his eyes glinting coldly.

“I don’t.” Fresh Snow shook her head. “It’s too complicated. The woman’s good.”

Lithe Snake fell silent, the cold look in his eyes fading.

“Woman?” Gao Yang noticed the key information. “How do you know it was a woman?”

Fresh Snow pointed at her own nose. “The big guy’s soul smelled like her. Hm, it was used as the fuse of the bomb...”

“Can you find her through the smell?” Gao Yang asked.

“I can’t.” Fresh Snow shook her head. “She was cautious. The smell was modified. I only know that it was a woman.”

Gao Yang was a little disappointed, but it made sense. Dust must be extremely cautious to have stayed undercover in the Hundred Rivers Union for so long, not even discovered by Surnamed Li’s Prophet. Other people could only change their appearances, while she could change even the smell of her soul.

After getting a grasp on the overall situation, Gao Yang glanced at Six Rime and then looked at everyone else. “As you can see, I lied to you. Wang Xiaoxiu isn’t Wang Zikai’s cousin, but a ghost named Fresh Snow.”

“You even lied to us, Captain!” Can pretended to be hurt.

“Ha, how many more secrets are you keeping from us?” Lithe Snake was a much better actor.

Nine Frost chimed in too. “I knew there was more to the girl, but never expected her to be a Spectre.”

Hong Xiaoxiao opened her mouth, but no word came out. Everything happened so suddenly. Green Tea died with a boom. Then a Spectre came up and saved everyone. Then there was all the talk about a soul bomb, curses, and the spy planted in the Hundred Rivers Union...

Her thoughts were a tangled mess like yarn messed up by a kitten. Still, she had reaffirmed one thing: she hadn’t picked the wrong boss!

Elder Seven Shadow’s awesome! He’s surrounded by bigshots!

And Fresh Snow, the Spectre, could bring people back to life, which further increased her chance of survival.

Six Rime stared at Fresh Snow and gave her a onceover. She didn’t say anything.

Gao Yang continued, “While Fresh Snow is a Spectre, we’re close. And she’s never fed on an awakener or hurt a human. She’s not our enemy.”

Six Rime remained silent.

Gao Yang turned to the others. “Fresh Snow saved us tonight. I won’t stop you if you’re going to report to the Guild, but if the Guild decides to kill Fresh Snow, we’ll be repaying her kindness with ungrateful cruelty.”

“Ah, that’s difficult...” Can stroked her chin, pretending to be stumped, but she was actually thinking, I’ll give you ten out of ten for the guilt tripping, Captain!

“I don’t care enough to do that,” Lithe Snake said, being himself. He really didn’t mind.

“I don’t care either,” said Nine Frost.

“I, I’ll...” Hong Xiaoxiao looked at everyone. “I’ll do as you said.”

Gao Yang then turned to Six Rime. She now had the final say.

Six Rime didn’t immediately respond. She remembered something. “During the previous Crimson Tide, you said that you survived getting bit by a Spectre. Was that her?”

“I have a name! I’m Fresh Snow!” Fresh Snow shot Six Rime a withering glare. “You pest!”

“It was her,” Gao Yang admitted.

“You knew her then, but you never reported to the Guild,” said Six Rime.

“Yes.” Gao Yang didn’t seem fazed. “Fresh Snow’s a friend I made in private. She poses no threat to the Guild or any awakeners, so I didn’t deem it necessary to report to the Guild.”

Six Rime was silent.

Her mission was to protect Gao Yang and to stop Gao Yang from having private interaction with his fifth team. Whatever Gao Yang befriended in his private life had nothing to do with her mission.

However, her loyalty to Elder Azure Dragon was absolute, and she wouldn’t hide anything from him.

She made the decision. “I’ll report the truth.”

“Alright.”

Gao Yang could guess that Six Rime wouldn’t keep the secret, but it didn’t hurt to try. More importantly, it was meant to avoid the fifth team members getting suspected.

Personally, Gao Yang would like to keep Fresh Snow’s identity a secret, but there was no changing what had happened.

The silver lining was that Qilin wouldn’t do anything to him even after learning the fact. Not when he needed Gao Yang to “find” the Guard Rune Circuit.

Gao Yang threw Green Tea’s body another glance and let out a soft sigh. “I’m applying for an emergency meeting, Six Rime.”

Six Rime asked, “Time, place, and attendees.”

“Now, here, the leaders of the three organizations.”