The Creatures that We Are

Fifteen minutes later, in the mountain on the fringe of North Harvest, Raven Shark, Wang Zikai, and Gao Xinxin tread through soft snow to climb onto a small hill. They saw from afar a cabin that seemed plucked from a fairytale. It must have been a ranger cabin in the past, but it was now abandoned.

The three of them reached the cabin soon. Raven Shark opened the door. Wang Zikai and Gao Xinxin were both shocked by what they saw.

The cabin was more or less emptied, leaving only abandoned objects covered in dust. The air smelled like decay. There was a gas lamp on the wooden table, as well as some food and water.

In a corner of the cabin was a small wooden bed with a sleeping bag laid on top. Wrapped inside was Vermilion Bird.

Moonlight and chilling wind sneaked through the broken window every once in a while, casting Vermilion Bird’s pale face in a grayish blue. She looked…dead.

Wang Zikai asked in surprise, “Is she dead?”

“No…” Raven Shark shook his head and stuttered. “Guildmaster Qilin…Eidos…then, then…”

Wang Zikai didn’t have time for his disjointed explanation. He strode up to Vermilion Bird, his nose immediately catching the faint smell of blood.

He unzipped the sleeping bag with an audible sound and quickly peeled off Vermilion Bird’s coat. She was wearing a beige sweater, and it was covered in dark blood stains.

He noticed a serious tear in the right shoulder area, like it’d been torn by an outside force. Slowly, he lifted the part of the sweater that stuck to her body due to the blood. His eyes widened.

It was all bloody gore from Vermilion Bird’s right shoulder to her collarbones; it looked like a beast had bitten a chunk from her. Several wounds were deep enough to reveal the bones. If not for Vermilion Bird’s Equivalent Exchange granting her remarkable self-recovery power, she would’ve long died.

“What happened?” Wang Zikai turned around and asked.

“She, she was put in a coma. Then monster…monster bit her…” Raven Shark tried his best to explain.

“Doesn’t matter now. We need to help her!” Gao Xinxin grabbed the first-aid kit from Raven Shark and came up to Wang Zikai.

Wang Zikai ignored the lock and broke the lid with brute force. His brows furrowed when he saw what was inside. “This sorry thing isn’t going to save her. She needs surgery, now!”

His temples throbbed. Before every mission, Gao Yang always emphasized that Vermilion Bird and her teammates must be spared. It was clear that Gao Yang had a close relationship with the woman. If she died, Gao Yang was going to spend days not eating and sleeping properly again. If he continued to brood, he would sooner or later become nothing but skin hanging off bones.

Fuck, this is annoying.

With his mind made up, Wang Zikai zipped up the sleeping bag and lifted Vermilion Bird. “Let’s find her a doctor!”

…

Three in the morning, in the operating room of a private clinic for general surgery, Vermilion Bird lay on the surgical bed under the shadowless light, having changed into a patient gown. A surgeon in a surgical garb was sewing her wounds.

Gao Xinxin had changed into a surgical gown, too, holding a disinfected tray of surgical instruments in support of the surgeon. She was also here to monitor the wanderer who had almost got scared into fainting by Wang Zikai.

Wang Zikai and Raven Shark were waiting outside.

With Wang Zikai’s phone, Raven Shark finally explained things to him properly with texts.

On the afternoon of January 2nd, Qilin, Vermilion Bird, and Raven Shark met on the coast of North Harvest. Knowing that Gao Xinxin had been taken by Wang Zikai, Qilin immediately became subtly hostile to Vermilion Bird. Raven Shark would even describe it as…a killing intent.

Raven Shark was inherently sensitive to such hostility. He wanted to warn Vermilion Bird, but didn’t know how. He was slow, but not stupid. He knew that if he exposed Qilin then and there, both he and Vermilion Bird would die for sure.

In the end, he pretended to follow the order and jumped back into the sea.

However, he quickly sneaked back onto shore and followed Qilin and Vermilion Bird to the train. Of course, he didn’t dare to get into the train car with them, but instead hid on top of the tail of the train.

When the train was going to reach the terminal station, Raven Shark sensed a powerful psychic pressure, followed by an irresistible power that put him to sleep. He blacked out just like all the other people on the train.

Still, he was an awakener with Sea King, and his great mental strength allowed him to quickly wake up.

Once he jerked awake on top of the train, he immediately rushed to the train car Vermilion Bird was in. Indeed, something bad had happened to Vermilion Bird. She slumped on a bench like a marionette that only knew to breathe.

Then an old lady—a slaughterer weakened in old age—woke up and lunged at Vermilion Bird, biting her.

Raven Shark rushed to kick the slaughterer away. Then another two elite monsters on the train woke from their coma.

Without the time to think, Raven Shark picked Vermilion Bird up and jumped onto another train that had set out from the station, returning to North Harvest.

He found a hiding place in the abandoned cabin in the cedar forest on the fringe of the town.

He hadn’t taken Vermilion Bird to a doctor the past few days. For one, Raven Shark lacked the common knowledge that would allow him to do so, and not knowing the language of the Island Nation, he couldn’t communicate properly.

For another, Raven Shark worried that he would attract the attention of elite monsters. He could deal with elite monsters underwater, but on land, he might as well be a regular person.

Finally, Raven Shark knew that Vermilion Bird’s Equivalent Exchange could be used to repair her body. As long as she woke up, this level of injury would be nothing.

However, Vermilion Bird never woke up. Not properly anyway.

Even when she was awake, like a doll, she didn’t say anything or move at all. She simply kept her eyes open without paying any attention to her injury, as if she couldn’t feel any pain.

Only then did Raven Shark realize that something was really wrong. He sneaked into a residential area and stole food and a first-aid kit. Luckily, he ran into Wang Zikai and Gao Xinxin then.

“Knucklehead!” Wang Zikai fumed once he learned what had happened. “Do you think a few bottles of antiseptic and some bandaids would be enough for her injury?”

Raven Shark clasped his hands tightly together on his lap, head lowered in guilt and self-pity.

“Shit.” Wang Zikai huffed. “If Vermilion Bird dies, you’ll pay for it!”

Raven Shark shook, his reddened eyes brimming with tears. He sobbed. “No, no… Elder Vermilion Bird…must not die…”

“Huh?” Wang Zikai quickly softened his expression and panicked a little. He never knew what to do when people cried. “You, you, you…you shouldn’t cry as a man! Stop it already!”

Raven Shark covered his face and bawled like a kid. “It’s all my fault…all my fault…”

“It’s not, it’s not…” Wang Zikai hurriedly patted his back in panic, offering comfort awkwardly. “It’s all because of that old bastard Qilin. Stop crying. Vermilion Bird will be saved. She’ll be fine. I’m God. You should believe me…”

Click. The door to the operating room opened. The surgeon, Miss Suzuki, emerged.

Wang Zikai and Raven Shark shot to their feet and went up to her. “How did it go?”

She couldn’t understand Wang Zikai. She made an OK sign instead.

She was a single woman in her fifties. She used to be the chief of the department of surgery at a large hospital in Zone D. One time, a patient died in surgery. Although it wasn’t her fault, she still blamed herself. Thus, she resigned and returned to her hometown, North Harvest.

She started a private practice, and her usual work involved diagnosing and treating the locals and the occasional easy surgeries. It had been a long time since she last conducted an operation like tonight.

To be honest, she still felt like she was dreaming.

It was late at night. A few young people suddenly barged in with a dying woman covered in blood, shouting in awkward local language for her to help them.

Miss Suzuki was almost scared to death, but she quickly calmed herself.

Something similar had happened a year ago. After a clash between the local syndicates, two low-ranking members had barged in supporting their boss, who had gotten shot in the leg. They pointed a gun at her head and threatened her, saying that they would kill her if she didn’t help him.

The syndicate boss was lucky. The bullet didn’t hit an artery. She extracted the bullet and sutured the wound. A few days later, the man even ordered his subordinates to give her a banner of commendation with the words “saved my damn life” on it.

The man had a sense of humor.

Gao Xinxin followed Miss Suzuki out of the operating room, removing the gloves and mask before letting out a heavy sigh of relief. “It’s successful.”

She had learned to speak the local language to some degree during her stay here, and she could hold simple conversations with the surgeon.

“Thank you!” Wang Zikai grasped the surgeon’s hands, overwhelmed. “Thank fucking you!”

“It’s okay. It’s a doctor’s job to save lives,” Miss Suzuki responded with a smile; while she didn’t understand the words, she received the gratitude loud and clear.

She was happy. For some reason, she had a feeling that perhaps everything that happened tonight was fate, that she was meant to move on from the shadow of the healthcare incident years ago, being born anew as a doctor.

While she was lost in her salvation of herself, though, she suddenly felt something tighten around her wrists.

She looked down to see that Wang Zikai had deftly tied her hands up with a rope.

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