The Creatures that We Are

“‘Hey, puppy. Why are you crying?’ asked the firefly.”

“‘I want to go home, but it’s so dark, and I’m lost,’ the puppy said sadly.”

“The firefly laughed. ‘Don’t be sad. I’ll be your light and lead the way.’”

“‘My home’s far far away. Your light is so small. It’ll go out soon.’ The puppy shook its head.”

“‘Don’t worry. I’ll gather my friends. Together we’ll light the mountainous path at night for you. You’ll get home safely.’”

“The puppy was happy. It followed the firefly, and soon, many more fireflies came, lighting the way.”

“Although some lights went out, more fireflies always showed up to light the dangerous path. The puppy walked and walked, walked and walked, and finally, it got home.”

“That’s for tonight.” The woman in a wheelchair had a gentle voice and a kind face. She gingerly closed the picture book and stroked the young girl’s head. “Sleep tight.”

The girl had a blanket on, half of her face and her large black eyes revealed. She asked worriedly, “How about the fireflies? Will the fireflies that have lost their lights go home too?”

“Okay.” The girl relaxed and rolled to her side, closing her eyes. “Night.”

“Good night.” The woman left the room and turned off the light.

The room became dark. The girl was just about to sleep when the bed suddenly sank, and she plunged. Gurgle. A mouthful of cold water rushed down her throat. She opened her eyes in panic to find herself submerged in dark water.

She opened her mouth to call out for help, but water continued to rush in. There seemed to be a faint flickering light above her. She flailed around with her head tilted up. There was an oval skylight—no, it was a bathtub.

She had fallen into a bottomless bathtub, it turned out.

All of a sudden, she became the adult Chen Ying. She could now swim, and she struggled to break the surface, yet she could never get out of the bathtub. Finally, she ran out of oxygen. Her body grew heavier and heavier and colder and colder. She fell into an endless darkness.

Like a firefly in the dark, her light was going out. What awaited her wasn’t home, but death.

…

“Ah!”

Chen Ying shouted as she woke, her body drenched in cold sweat.

She found herself sitting in the driver’s seat of her car. The sun was bright outside, and the surroundings told her that she was in a suburban area. A few seconds later, she realized that she was still outside Chestnut’s shop.

A memory struck her, and she looked down to see a dark patch of dried blood on her chest. When she felt the skin there, she realized that the injury was gone.

I’m still alive!

Thank God I’m still alive! I’m not dead!

She almost burst into tears of joy. Then a hand knocked on a car window twice.

She turned to the side. Outside the window, War Tiger gave her a wink with a hand in his pocket and a cigarette in his mouth. Chen Ying reached for her car key, deciding to make a run for it, but found nothing.

She looked back to the window in shock. War Tiger fished out her car key from his pocket. “Looking for this?”

It only took two seconds for her to come to a conclusion. She let out a long breath and rolled the window down, her expression cold. “Do it.”

War Tiger laughed instead of answering.

He made it to the other side of the car and opened the door, taking the passenger seat. He threw the car key to Chen Ying. “Drive.”

“You aren’t going to kill me?” Chen Ying took the car key and gave him a confused look.

“Would you still be alive if I wanted to kill you?” War Tiger scoffed. “I’m not a psycho who gets off from repeatedly killing someone.”

“You are a psycho in my eyes.” Although Chen Ying was still terrified of him, she was furious, too.

War Tiger never stopped smiling. He took off his jacket and handed it to Chen Ying. “Put this on.”

“No need.”

“It’s to cover the blood. It’s for your good.”

Chen Ying saw the point in that. She patiently put on his jacket.

“Aren’t you curious how you got back to life?” asked War Tiger.

Of course she was curious. She had felt her heart stop after getting stabbed, and there was no coming back from that. However, she was alive now, neither in heaven nor hell.

“I’m not.” Chen Ying was being contrarian on purpose. She inserted the key and started the car.

“Haha, I didn’t actually pierce your heart. I got the spot just right. My dagger’s coated with a paralyzing poison, though, and it gave you the feeling that your heart had stopped. What do you think? Isn’t the false near-death experience exciting?”

Chen Ying swallowed her curses and stepped on the accelerator. The car shot out.

“Whoa.” War Tiger felt her rage as he got thrown backward.

He stopped egging her on and fished out an almost empty pack of cigarettes.

“Don’t smoke in my car,” Chen Ying snapped.

“Alright, I won’t.” War Tiger didn’t light the cigarette in his mouth. He knew she had the moral high ground in this case.

“So what was that?” Chen Ying offered.

War Tiger said casually, “I did suspect you of being a spy, and since I happened to run into you, I decided to test you.”

“Happened to?” Chen Ying frowned.

“Yeah. After I made the decision, I called White Rabbit. She happened to be in the area with Lovely Lamb, and she rushed here with her. After I stabbed you, you could survive at least a few more minutes. I timed everything perfectly.”

“You…really are mad!”

Chen Ying felt her scalp go numb. If White Rabbit and Lovely Lamb had arrived even a little later, she would be dead! She had long heard about War Tiger’s reputation of being a psychopath, and it turned out to be true.

Wait. Chen Ying had a sudden thought. Something’s not adding up.

Last night, Chen Ying had just talked to Nine Frost through Telepathy, and she came to speak with Chestnut according to his instruction, which was a secret.

Yet War Tiger had come to get his weapon from Chestnut today, running into Chen Ying, and he just so happened to have coated his dagger with poison. He wasn’t here to fight anyone. Why would he do that?

And coincidentally, Lovely Lamb and White Rabbit were in the area—why would members of the Twelve Zodiac Signs come to the Union’s turf, and a part that was in such a remote area?

There were too many coincidences required for War Tiger to test if Chen Ying was a spy on a whim. Not even a writer would write a story like this.

Chen Ying slowed down her driving, coming to a speculation.

The last time Gao Yang asked me to meet in person, I found it risky, but didn’t ask. In the end, the meeting failed because of unforeseen factors.

Did Gao Yang plan to test if I was a spy through that meeting? Given how cautious he was, he wouldn’t have arranged a meeting when Telepathy should more than suffice.

And War Tiger suddenly tested me today. Is he in contact with Gao Yang and is helping to root out Dust? Are they working together on something else, too?

If so, it’ll prove that the Zodiacs and the Nine Scions are working together, and the Zodiacs are hostile to Qilin; at the very least, they aren’t working together.

That’s a good thing for the Hundred Rivers Union. If the Zodiacs and the Qilin Guild are on the same side, the Union is bound to be divided by the two organizations.

The thoughts flashed through Chen Ying’s mind. She hesitated for a few seconds before asking tentatively, “Do you smoke on your balcony every night?”

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