The Creatures that We Are

The one sneaking up on Can was Chaos Reflection. Just like Heavenly Dog, his job was to keep an eye on Gregor. Thus, he had been hiding in a mirror in Gregor’s place. Hearing a fight outside, he secretly joined the fray.

He jumped from Gregor’s window to a window of the building across the road. Then with a few more jumps, he hid in a pool of water on the rooftop.

When he made sure that Can was under control with no chance of resisting or dodging, he stabbed her in the back suddenly.

Zhong He and Heavenly Dog were both caught by surprise.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Zhong He shouted.

“I…I killed her.” Chaos Reflection lowered his head, unable to meet his eyes. “Elder Yan Liang said that all members of the Nine Scions must be killed on sight…”

“You fucking lunatic!” Zhong He yelled. He didn’t know why he was so furious. “I’ve caught her already. Isn’t it better to capture her alive? We could’ve interrogated her, but you killed her. What’s a body gonna do for us?!”

Chaos Reflection felt wronged. He said weakly, “Elder Vermilion Bird can still question her…even though she’s a body…”

“What do you know? A body can only be questioned once! A living person can be used as a hostage! As a bargaining chip!” Zhong He got even more furious. “You’re a stupid fucking dog! A motherless son of a bitch!”

As soon as Can got stabbed, Heavenly Dog reflexively looked for a Gold Black hairpin on Can, and he checked if Hong Xiaoxiao was hiding nearby.

Both answers were no.

“Stupid dog.” Heavenly Dog echoed the sentiment coldly.

Chaos Reflection couldn’t take more accusations from them. He felt frustrated and helpless. He didn’t understand what he had done wrong by following orders. With a whoosh, he entered the pool of water at his feet. Then he disappeared after a few more jumps.

Zhong He had recovered some composure after letting it all out. He retracted his shadow and went up to Can, getting on one knee.

Can lay in her own blood, her pupils dilated with tears of despair filling her eyes. She looked pained, frustrated, and confused.

She’s so young and has never hurt anyone willingly. She surrendered, for heaven’s sake.

How could the bastard do this to her?

Zhong He reached out to close her eyes. When he touched her face, though, the texture startled him.

It didn’t feel right.

He quickly pulled away and took two steps back. Can’s body turned translucent before vanishing in a few seconds.

Zhong He caught on immediately. He shouted at Heavenly Dog, “It’s a double! We fell for it! Head back!”

Heavenly Dog realized what had happened, and he gave a mental thumbs-up. Cool.

He started to fly lazily to the building Gregor lived in, offering Zhong He a hand when he flew past him.

“Need a ride?”

Zhong He took his hand. “Hurry up already! Come on!”

“Right.” Heavenly Dog reluctantly sped up.

…

Two minutes ago, in Gregor’s apartment building.

Gao Yang had timed it and entered the elevator, going through his plan in his head. At the same time, he checked the three Talents he had stored in him: Shapeshifter, Invisibility, and Gale. ꭆåΝοＢÈş

Alright, this should work.

—Activate level 7 Shapeshifter.

Shapeshifter was limited when transforming someone else’s face and body, but it was easy to disguise oneself with it.

Five seconds later, Gao Yang had turned into Can in both appearance and clothing.

And since Shapeshifter’s transformation was considered a passive ability just like Gecko’s limb regeneration, it didn’t go by the 20-second use time limit, but the much longer storage time.

Ding. A second before the elevator door opened, Gao Yang went invisible.

He walked out of the elevator right before the group of five. He knew the group would notice the detail that the elevator was empty when it opened, and it made sense that they would pretend to not notice and make sure there was no trap before entering the elevator.

Not long after the elevator closed, Gao Yang turned visible. It was to lure the five awakeners out by exposing himself, and it was also because the replicated Invisibility only lasted 20 seconds.

To better imitate Can, he tried his best to think like her too. One’s thoughts affected their micro-expressions after all, and to put on a convincing act and fool others, one had to fool oneself first.

As Can, he made it to Gregor’s door. When he was going to knock, he was hit by Correcting Sickle’s Memory Tailor, his thought interrupted.

Then he conjured air blades to attack the group of five. While they were busy dodging the attacks, he used Double and Teleportation.

The real him made it into Gregor’s place, while the double started fleeing. After jumping through the window, the double had flown toward the building across the road rather than simply flying away for two reasons:

First, the replicated Gale only worked for 20 seconds.

Second, he wanted to get caught to flush out the hidden eyes too. And indeed, both Chaos Reflection and Heavenly Dog showed up.

Meanwhile, his real self had entered Gregor’s study room.

Without noticing his entrance, Gregor continued to write.

Gao Yang removed his disguise and quietly approached Gregor. Looking at the screen, he read the opening Gregor had just written.

“Many years later, when facing the Gate of Truth, humanity finally remembered the long distant nights when they were under their control…”

Gregor always put himself completely into his writing, and when he heard Gao Yang’s voice, he mistook it as his internal monologue. Stroking his chin, he said contently, “Hm, that’s a better opening…”

“That’s a mix of many things,” Gao Yang commented.

“Really?” Gregor said before turning around in shock. “Agh! Who…are…you…”

He fell off his chair.

While Gao Yang spoke, he had been injecting Gregor’s arm with a small syringe of Medicine D. Carrying the man on his shoulder, he grabbed the laptop and went to the living room, reaching the balcony in the opposite direction of where his double was going. In a flash, he was gone.

At that moment, Lying Wood, Correcting Sickle, and Succubus were still none the wiser outside Gregor’s place.

…

Nine Scions’ temporary base, Li River Community, early in the morning.

In the small bedroom filled with the fragrance of scented candles, Can and Hong Xiaoxiao slept on the same bed. The floor heating was warm, and the two dressed lightly in pajamas with a thin blanket covering them.

Suddenly, Can opened her eyes wide and blushed hard, her heart racing.

Ahhhhh why did I remember the moment again? Stop, brain! Shut down already!

The more she tried to stop herself from thinking about it, though, the more she did. The memory of what happened during the day snuck up on her, returning to her mind.

…

“Yeah, I need a favor.” Gao Yang hesitated. “But…”

“It’s okay,” Can cut in. “Leave it to me, Captain. I’ll finish the mission.”

“I believe you.” Gao Yang nodded with a smile. “You won’t fail.”

He stood up and closed the door gingerly, reaching out to Can. “Give me your hand.”

Lying on the bed, Can took his hand without thinking.

Gao Yang held her hand and leaned in, touching her face with his other hand. He tucked her messy fringe behind her ear and stroked her hair.

Can’s brain shut down. What, what, what’s Captain doing…? It can’t be that, right?

Houseau3's Thoughts

The Qilin Guild really seems to be getting much more ruthless with Yan Liang's influence.

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