The Creatures that We Are

Inside the gift box was a light silver fingerless glove.

Gao Yang paused. It was the glove he had bought from Fresh Snow at Jiang Hao’s stand—well, he hadn’t actually paid for it, but simply rode a Ferris wheel with Fresh Snow and watched a poor imitation of a firework with her.

Gao Yang used to wear the glove all the time, but he stopped after his Fire reached level 4. The last time he saw the glove was at Wang Zikai’s place, the night Green Tea died. Fresh Snow must have taken it then.

Now, the black glove was turned a light silver, but the Black Gold plate printed with the symbol of fire was the same.

Gao Yang felt the texture. It was soft like animal fur.

He realized to his surprise that the glove was made of cat fur—Fresh Snow’s fur in cat form. It was soft but durable, and imbued with her vital energy. Dozens of strands were threaded into each string, and the strings were woven into a glove.

A lot of care was put into its making. There were no loose strings. It was well-made.

White Dew must have helped her with the gift. Upon closer inspection, he could see the hidden violet strands used for linking and reinforcing the parts.

Gao Yang put it on. The pathway of his Fire immediately activated, resonating strongly with the Black Gold plate. And the resonation added some spiritual damage to his Talent.

“There’s no shit.”

“There doesn’t have to be shit for something to be shitty, you feel me? Look at the lines, the cut, the style. It’s all third-rate! And the metal plate. What terrible metalwork! What’s the pattern supposed to be?”

“That’s, that’s fire!”

“You mean shit? Take a look at it yourself. Does it not look like a pile of shit?”

“It doesn’t!”

“Take another look. Be objective! Does it not look like a triangular pile of shit? Does this part not look like the tip of a poop pile?”

“Maybe…a little…”

Wang Zikai’s attempt to bargain with Fresh Snow surfaced in his mind, unbidden. Gao Yang chuckled, but then his lips went stiff.

He used his gloved right hand to touch the girl snowman’s cold face, then he stroked the soft scarf around it.

I’m a real bastard.

…

December 25th, Christmas.

Li River Community, Shanqing District, two o’clock in the morning.

When Gao Yang returned to their temporary base at the villa, Lithe Snake had long returned from his surveillance of the Qilin Guild, and Wang Zikai, Nine Frost, and Hong Xiaoxiao had made it back safely with Ke Yo.

The whole team gathered.

Dust had been identified—although they didn’t manage to catch her—and Ke Yo had joined the Nine Scions officially. Both called for celebration. They decided to make it a welcoming party for Ke Yo.

Gray Bear declared with a can of beer in his hand, “We’ll have to change our name again. Now we’re the Ten Scions!”

“And you called me uneducated.” Lithe Snake, who hadn’t even graduated middle school, finally found the chance to retaliate. “Nine is considered the number of limits, the highest number. It can be used to represent infinity.” РäꞐȫＢĚŞ

“What nonsense. 10 is bigger than 9.”

“Uncle Bear, 10 consists of 1 and 0, so 9’s still higher.” Ke Yo chimed in with a smile, naturally fitting into the team dynamic.

“Old Bear, you’re gonna turn into the low bar for intelligence if you don’t work harder,” Nine Frost commented coolly.

“Fuck off!” Gray Bear couldn’t accept it. “I’m not gonna be the low bar no matter what. There’s still…Can!”

Gray Bear was going to say “Kaizi”, but considering how much the wanderer’s punch hurt, he decided to go for an easier target.

“Uncle Bear…I’m not gonna take that lying down!” Can blinked innocently. The fried chicken she was holding suddenly seemed less appealing.

They laughed and exchanged jokes, just like a group of young people having a simple holiday gathering in the villa.

Sitting on the sofa, Gao Yang suddenly recalled the “celebration” War Tiger had given them when he first joined the Twelve Zodiac Signs. He still remembered it clearly.

At the time, he resented War Tiger for that, but Gao Yang only felt gratitude to him now.

War Tiger was the first person to instill in his mind how dangerous and cold the Mist World was. The cruelty and violence he had shown in his welcome reflected the deep, tender feelings behind his action.

…

At three in the morning, they each washed up and retired to bed.

Gray Bear, Nine Frost, and Wang Zikai were on watch duty for the latter half of the night.

They hadn’t had the time to clean up the living room properly after the celebration, and it was a little messy. A lone wall lamp illuminated the space with its soft light. Gao Yang stayed on the sofa. So many things had happened today, and he was exhausted. If not for the adrenaline shot, he would’ve passed out after bringing three people back.

Gao Yang should be able to fall asleep right after closing his eyes.

But sleep eluded him.

His mind was cluttered with thoughts. He remembered many things and many people. Some of them were still around, and others weren’t.

Then, Gao Yang thought of his sister.

Gao Xinxin was his biggest worry, so he hadn’t dared to take even a small risk to contact her. Not only hadn’t he given her a Christmas gift, he hadn’t reached out to her at all.

Gao Xinxin had made a new social network account, and every day, she made generic posts about mundane things to tell Gao Yang that she was safe.

It was the siblings’ secret.

Gao Yang took out an unregistered smartphone and accessed the timeline of “ss” through an untraceable connection. At eight o’clock last night, ss had posted a picture of her dinner—a simple lunchbox and a red apple. The rice balls in the lunchbox were shaped like a Christmas hat.

The caption was simple: silent night, may all be peaceful.

Gao Yang felt warmth bloom in his chest. He didn’t click like. He didn’t even dare to give the post another glance, but instead quickly closed the page and turned off his phone.

He took a deep breath and tried to sleep, but it still seemed unreachable.

“Captain.” Can called out to him.

Gao Yang looked up to see Can in the ill-fitted red coat. He jumped to the wrong conclusion based on her outfit, “You aren’t on night watch duty today, right?”

“I’m not.” Can blushed. “Haha, am I…wearing too much?”

“There’s a heater here,” Gao Yang said.

“Right, no wonder I feel a little stuffy.” Can unbuttoned her coat. Then she explained stiffly, “Tonight, tonight Ke Yo’s bunking with Hong Xiaoxiao, and there’s no bed for me. I’ll skip sleep, haha. I’ll have a nap during the day.”

Gao Yang nodded quietly.

Seeing that Gao Yang didn’t seem ready to sleep, Can tentatively walked over to sit down next to him, maintaining a polite distance.

“Can’t you sleep, Captain?”

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