The Creatures that We Are

Auditorium of Eleventh Highschool, Beiyong District, two o’clock in the morning.

The long-closed school had been lost in the past, bleak and desolate. Under the moonlight, wilted ivies covered the rundown auditorium like capillaries under loose skin.

The auditorium was quiet. There was no light on, and in the small room where the windows were sealed, a group of eleven sat around a stool, on which was a flashlight. They chatted, ate, and rested in the dim light.

For three days, they never stepped out of the place.

Herb Snail was on patrol duty, and Wild Range had set up hidden security measures around the auditorium at dawn. If anyone approached, they would be notified in time—that, however, wouldn’t be terribly effective against awakeners with a stealth Talent.

Among them, Zhang Wei had been the most passionate and determined, but he was also the most disappointed and irritated one now.

He nibbled on a cookie, and halfway through, he threw it on the floor and cursed, “Fuck! I don’t think the Nine Scions are coming. We’re played!”

“Keep your voice down,” Wild Range warned.

“It’s been three days.” Buzhou scowled. “How much longer must we stay here?”

“We shouldn’t have given Gao Yang the Rune Circuits, Sister Ying,” Zhang Wei said, making the judgment in hindsight.

“I disagree.” Shuang Shuang lay in Buzhou’s arms and played with her husband’s fingers, speaking lazily. “If Nine Scions really are after the Rune Circuits, they could’ve pretended to welcome us and abandoned us later. Or they could’ve simply killed us… There’s no reason for them to do things the hard way.”

“Shuang Shuang is right.” Sha Ye sat in a corner with her sound-asleep daughter. “The Nine Scions have gone through all the trouble exactly because they must be cautious to take us into their fold.”

“This is way too much…” Zhang Wei fumed. “We pissed and shat at the auditorium every day. If this goes on, we’re gonna become barbarians!”

“You’ll shit less if you eat less,” Chestnut teased.

“Hear, hear.” Herb Snail laughed.

Zhang Wei picked up the cookie he had thrown onto the ground and threw it at Herb Snail. “You’re one to talk. You can just go underground and take care of your business. You don’t even have to bury anything!”

“That’s genius. I’ll have to try it next time.” Herb Snail grinned, still acting in his fun-seeking way.

Empty Life meditated on the side, not joining the conversation.

“Be patient,” Chen Ying finally said. “The Nine Scions will honor their promise…”

“They’re here.” Little Tian suddenly stood up and opened his eyes. “One, two, three, four… They stopped. One of them is coming.”

They immediately became alerted and shot to their feet. They wanted the visitor to be a member of the Nine Scions while worrying that it could be an enemy.

Whoosh. Not long after, Gao Yang appeared before them, wearing all black and a hat that hid half of his face in shadow.

“Here you are, Brother Gao Yang!” Zhang Wei hollered in excitement, already forgetting his doubt and complaints about the Nine Scions.

Gao Yang nodded slightly. “You’ve passed the test. Look here. There’s one more thing to do.”

They all gathered around.

Gao Yang took out a sleep gas grenade from his pocket.

Boom. It exploded, and the gas permeated the room in an instant.

“Ack, ack!”

“Ack ack ack…”

None of them anticipated that and ended up incapacitated, collapsing to the floor. Gao Yang was no exception, but his figure disappeared after a few seconds.

It took several minutes for the gas to disperse.

Gao Yang walked into the room while holding his breath, arranging the unconscious awakeners into a neat line and having them hold each other’s hand.

Then he sat down cross-legged and took Zhang Wei’s hand.

He exhaled deeply.

—Activate level 7 Sweet Dream.

His head drooped, and he fell asleep.

…

“Agh! Help…”

Zhang Wei woke up from a terrible nightmare to find himself sitting on a bench typical of a train station.

The night sky was dark with no star or moon. It was pitch black and silent around him. Noticing a shimmer, Zhang Wei took a closer look to realize that there was a lake below… No, it was an ocean. A vast, boundless ocean.

He stood up and realized to his amazement that the station was floating on water. A single yellow lamp hung above his head, looking lonely.

“You’re up,” said Sha Ye.

Zhang Wei turned around to find her sitting on a once-empty bench.

“Whoa!” When…when did you show up?” Zhang Wei jumped.

“We’re in a dream,” said Sha Ye. “Don’t overthink the irrational details.”

“A dream?” Zhang Wei frowned. “We’re in a dream?”

“Do you remember how you fell asleep?”

Zhang Wei remembered. “Ah, the sleep gas!”

Sha Ye nodded. “Gao Yang must have wanted to get to know us quickly. Sweet Dream is a good way to do that.”

“Ah!”

Then another person appeared beside Sha Ye. It was Chestnut. She opened her eyes with a fearful look on her face, panting quickly and breaking into a cold sweat.

“Don’t be scared. It’s a dream. Just a dream.” Sha Ye immediately offered comfort.

Chestnut gasped for breaths. “That, that scared me… I dreamed…that I had become a piece of iron, shoved into a furnace. Someone from the Nine Scions kept hammering me, and every time the hammer came down, they demanded, ‘Are you a spy?’ I said I wasn’t, but they refused to believe me.”

“That’s Sweet Dream,” Sha Ye explained. “The first time Sweet Dream applies, a nightmare is triggered. Only after that will the targets enter the created dream world.”

“So we’re still in a dream. This is…the dream Gao Yang created for us?” Zhang Wei came to a realization.

“Yeah.” Sha Ye nodded. “Everyone must be here, too.”

In the next ten or so minutes, the whole group appeared at the station one after another. Chen Ying was the last to show up. Face pale, she saw Little Tian by her side and pulled him into her arms, looking relieved like she had recovered what she lost.

Then came an ancient, desolate shriek. They looked up to see a star in the black sky. It increased in size with a golden trail, resembling a shooting star.

The shooting star became bigger and bigger, and soon, it hovered a few hundred meters up in the sky and cast the whole ocean in gold. Powerful waves rose and crashed into the station, breaking into splashes.

A strong gust messed up their hair and clothes. They were forced to shield their eyes with their hands.

With some difficulty, Zhang Wei saw what resembled a train. It turned out to be a golden giant creature with a dragon’s head and a phoenix’s tail, looking dignified, mysterious, and beautiful in a grandiose way.

It slowly descended with a low hum. It sounded like an exhale from the amalgamation of delicate machinery and flesh and blood.

Everyone was stunned. They knew it was a dream, but they still held their breaths instinctively.

The train—no, the dragon—stopped at the station.

The dragon's head was covered in golden scales with white steam coming out of the nostrils. A few soft glowing whiskers floated in the air in a lively manner, and the slightly open maw revealed sharp metallic fangs.

Its eyes slowly opened. The ink-black eyeballs seemed to be blazing, lowering and looking down at all of them. Then the dragon tilted its head to rest it on the ocean, seemingly falling into a leisurely nap.

Click. The first car after the dragon’s head opened, and a tall, slim figure emerged from the light, his coat fluttering and hair flying in the wind.

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