The Creatures that We Are

War Tiger’s eyes glinted.

A flickering red light suddenly shot out of Gao Yang’s eyes, and dense webs of thin red cracks spread across the skin of his face.

Self-Detonate!

It’s Gao Yang’s double. He’s replicated Lithe Snake’s Self-Detonate!

War Tiger didn’t have the time to warn everyone. He whirled around as quickly as he could with Killing Expert and leaped toward the nearby Vermilion Bird with an audible step, grabbing her by the waist to take her away from Gao Yang.

The moment she saw Gao Yang’s eyes flicker, White Rabbit sprang to action, too. She jumped out of the rubble with a powerful stomp.

Azure Dragon didn’t run away. Instead, he grabbed Six Rime and rushed to Goldthread and Chen Ying. Understanding his intention perfectly, Six Rime conjured a one-meter-thick ice wall from under her feet on the side facing Gao Yang, creating a triangular bastion with sharp edges to shield the four of them.

Boom!

Gao Yang’s double blew up. A blinding hemisphere of light instantly swallowed the rubble, the waves of flames and heat spreading and sweeping the plaza through the streets and the alleyways in between the buildings until swallowing the entire Walled City of Ten Dragons.

Heavenly Dog was going to fly away with Liao Liao when the terrible explosion drew his attention. He turned around to see the red firelight filling his vision, a gust of wind messing up his hair.

“Whoa…” Heavenly Dog suddenly felt guilty. While Gao Yang wouldn’t cross the line, he would go very near it.

Whoosh. The Life Rune Circuit flew out of the explosion site, leaving a faint trail of red in the sky.

Heavenly Dog quickly moved to catch it with Liao Liao still in his arms.

Due to the stable nature of the Rune Circuit, it didn’t conduct heat easily. There were other burning substances on the Rune Circuit, however, and Heavenly Dog felt a sharp pain from his fingers.

“Agh…” He reflexively dropped the Rune Circuit.

Liao Liao couldn’t believe it. Dude, that’s the Rune Circuit!

She reached out to grab it, but then she screamed, “Ugh, it’s hot!!” And she threw it back to Heavenly Dog.

Heavenly Dog endured for one second before throwing it to Liao Liao.

Just like that, they played catch with the Rune Circuits about a dozen times until finally, the Rune Circuit was no longer scorching hot.

Liao Liao inspected the Rune Circuit. “Is the Life Rune Circuit yours or ours now?”

“If the deal’s done, it’s yours. Or it’ll be ours.”

Liao Liao shot the ruin of the building and the fire and ashes covering the Walled City of Ten Dragons a complicated glance.

She returned the Rune Circuit to Heavenly Dog. “Here. I think the deal’s off.”

“Right.” Heavenly Dog took the Rune Circuit and shoved it into his pocket.

…

Whoosh. Whoosh.

With Ke Yo on his back, Gao Yang quickly fled the Walled City of Ten Dragons. Once outside, he didn’t wait to jump and teleport between the rooftops of the ancient culture-themed walking street.

It was daytime. Acting like the Spiderboy in such a packed area would likely attract the attention of elite monsters, but Gao Yang couldn’t afford to worry about it. Compared to members of the Qilin Guild, elite monsters under the level of pride monsters were bearable risks.

Carrying Ke Yo, Gao Yang didn’t stop until he reached Huangsong Street a few kilometers away. The area would soon be gentrified, leaving only short old buildings with no utility. The residents had long moved away.

Gao Yang finally allowed himself to sigh in relief.

He jumped down from a three-story concrete building with Ke Yo on his back, reaching No.121. The narrow storefront’s rusty rolling door was half open. A worn piece of blue cloth was hung inside. It was the place where Gao Yang, Qing Ling, and Officer Huang had done their interview to get into the Twelve Zodiac Signs.

It had been the night, and neon light flickered from the other side of the blue cloth, accompanied by the sounds of all kinds of arcade machines. They met a boy with a bowl cut and a penchant for games and human females’ breasts inside.

Gao Yang wavered for a second. Then the piece of blue cloth was lifted. Wang Zikai, Qing Ling, Lithe Snake, and Hong Xiaoxiao rushed out. They had been waiting here to support Gao Yang and to help in case a fight broke out.

Due to the mission requiring mobility more than anything, Gray Bear wasn’t a good choice as a tank, and Nine Frost had another mission.

“Haha, you’re good, bro!” Wang Zikai was glad to see Gao Yang safely back with Ke Yo. He showered him with flattery. “You’re the Zhao Zilong from Mount Huang, charging in and getting out to rescue Ke Yo![1]”

“It’s Mount Chang,” Qing Ling corrected coldly.

“Where are Can and Nainai?” Hong Xiaoxiao asked.

“They’ll be fine.” Gao Yang wasn’t worried about them.

Can could go invisible and ride the wind, while Nainai could shrink small enough to avoid detection. The two were there to cause a distraction, not to openly fight. And the explosion Gao Yang brought about at the end by detonating his double would have created an opening for them to flee.

He glanced at Hong Xiaoxiao. “Give Ke Yo and Lithe Snake each a hairpin.”

“Yeah.” Hong Xiaoxiao immediately took off the two Black Gold hairpins on her hair, giving it to Ke Yo and Lithe Snake.

Hong Xiaoxiao’s level 3 Gamer was limited to making saves for Time Reset for two targets. Usually, the marked hairpins were handed to the weaker members of the team.

Lithe Snake accepted the hairpin, shoving it into his pants pocket.

He was frustrated, but had to admit that he was one of the weakest ones during this operation.

Ke Yo didn’t ask anything before taking the hairpin. She immediately sensed a strange, gentle energy wrapping around her.

“It’s not safe here. Let’s go.” Gao Yang turned to leave. The others followed.

They walked out of the arcade and headed to the end of Huangsong Street along the empty road, where a manhole led to the sewage. From there, they could sneak to the Shanqing District, out of Qilin Guild’s Feiyang District. Then they would be more or less safe.

After that, the six of them would each find a place to hide until night fell. And they would return to their base in the Li River Community.

Soon, they would reach the manhole. Everything was going smoothly—too much so for Gao Yang’s comfort.

He scanned around and observed Ke Yo’s expression and clothing. He hadn’t had the time to spare, so he only noticed now that Ke Yo was wearing a black watch on her right wrist.

Gao Yang didn’t remember the watch from Liu Qingying’s dream.

“Nice watch,” Gao Yang said casually.

“It was a gift from Vermilion Bird for my joining,” Ke Yo explained.

1. A reference to Zhao Yun saving Liu Bei’s infant son. ☜

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