The Creatures that We Are

Liu Qingying took a deep breath. She knew impatience would lead to nowhere, so she calmed herself and got to her feet. “Alright. Think about it carefully, but make it as quick as possible. The clock’s ticking.”

“Songstress, walk her out.” War Tiger glanced at Songstress. She nodded and accompanied Liu Qingying out of the meeting room.

Zhong He rose to his feet and walked them to the door impassively. Then bam! He slammed the door shut.

Songstress took Liu Qingying to the pantry. “Fret not, Sister Liu. We’ll have some tea and wait for Uncle Tiger to finish their meeting.”

Liu Qingying scoffed. “Who would’ve expected the usually bold War Tiger to be so hesitant in such a key moment? Be it a truth or a lie, isn’t it better to make preparations like it’s already confirmed?”

“It’s not easy to just declare war with the Ocean River Union.” Songstress understood War Tiger’s position.

“Where’s Dragon?” Liu Qingying suddenly said. “White Rabbit said that Dragon could detect lies with Overlord. Just have him test me.”

Songstress shook her head. “Captain’s not in the base.”

“He’s not here?” Liu Qingying frowned.

Liu Qingying didn’t push. She took a deep breath and waited patiently.

Not long after, Songstress came over with two cups of hot tea. Liu Qingying took the cup but stopped before having it. She looked up and asked, “Is there any coffee?”

“There is.”

“I have a sudden craving.” Liu Qingying smiled apologetically. “Please.”

“Don’t worry.” Songstress turned to make coffee.

Liu Qingying watched Songstress busy about, bemused. It didn’t take long for Songstress to return with two cups of coffee. Liu Qingying took her cup and sipped it, raising her hand and wiggling her right middle finger before her nose.

Satisfied, she put the cup down and pressed her hands together on her abdomen, leaning back into the sofa.

Songstress blinked, finding her action strange. “Are you alright, Sister Liu?”

Liu Qingying didn’t understand. “I’m fine. Why?”

“Nothing,” Songstress said.

Suddenly, Liu Qingying seemed to have thought of something. She slowly sat up and leaned forward, “Songstress, could it be that Dragon’s not on a secret mission, but hibernating?”

Songstress started. She had considered the possibility, but even so, she couldn’t give Liu Qingying a straight answer.

Dragon was the Twelve Zodiac Signs’ trump card, foundation, and guardian. Even Lovely Lamb, who had just turned eight, knew that.

“I’d say it’s possible, but unlikely.”

“Okay.” Liu QIngying nodded.

“Sister Liu, why did you…ask that all of a sudden?” Songstress looked at her.

Liu Qingying paused. “Ask what?”

“You asked if our captain’s hibernating. Does that concern you?”

Liu Qingying steepled her hands and smiled faintly. “Yes, it does. I want to know if Dragon is in the base.”

Songstress shot to her feet, her expression turning grave. “What are you trying to do, Liu Qingying?”

Liu Qingying blinked in confusion. “Do what? What are you talking about?”

Songstress’ heart sank. Something isn’t right! Why is Liu Qingying acting so inconsistently?

She took a closer look at the woman. Liu Qingying remained on the sofa, leaning forward slightly to reach for the coffee. Songstress could see into the collars of her shirt while standing up.

Startled, Songstress quickly went up to tear her collar open.

The button fell, revealing Liu Qingying’s pale collarbones. Under her left collarbone was a deep green web that seemed like a tattoo.

But it wasn’t a tattoo, of course, but a powerful energy brand.

“What is that?!” Songstress glared at Liu Qingying’s face like she was confronting an enemy.

“Songstress, what were you doing…” Liu Qingying still looked confused, but then she slowly looked down and discovered the brand.

Startled, she exclaimed, “What is this?”

“I should ask you that!”

“I…I don’t know…” Liu Qingying’s face paled, and her expression turned lost. “When did I…ugh!”

She held onto her head with both hands, her silver hair running down messily.

A second later, the web-shaped energy brand glowed a flickering green light as it spread along her skin, turning into countless tight, vertical strands. In the middle of the strands, an abstracted pattern of a marionette emerged.

Liu Qingying shot to her feet tensely, face impassive and eyes shining a bright green light. She reached into her coat pocket for something.

“Stop!” Songtress immediately rushed up to stop her.

Bam! Liu Qingying took out the item while swinging the other arm at Songstress, sending her flying off her feet. Her strength was incredible!

Songstress slammed into the water cooler in the corner and fell to the ground. She endured the pain and looked up to take a closer look at the object in Liu Qingying’s hand. It was a Black Gold cube that resembled a three-by-three Rubik’s cube.

She didn’t know what it was or what Liu Qingying was going to do, but her instinct told her that something terrible was going to happen, and she must stop it!

“Night, take us into a gentle dream.”

“God, grant us an eternal serenity.”

“Wherever we came from, we return…”

“Sleep, sleep.”

“Darkness rests for eternity. Light stays for forever…”

Songstress started singing immediately, using level 6 Requiem at full force without differentiating between friends and foes.

It’s working!

The green light in Liu Qingying’s eyes gradually dimmed, and she stopped where she was, not making another move.

Songstress couldn’t move when using Requiem, or the compelling power of her singing would weaken significantly.

If not for that, she would’ve tried to grab the object from Liu Qingying or get help from her companions in the meeting room.

At this moment, however, she could only keep singing, influencing Liu Qingying’s mind and body with the hypnotizing power of her singing.

She only hoped for her to fall asleep.

However, Liu Qingying remained on her feet half a minute later. While the green light in her eyes was weak, it wasn’t gone, but condensed into two small green dots.

They stubbornly remained lodged in Liu Qingying’s eyes like screws.

“Sleep, sleep.”

“Darkness rests for eternity. Light stays for forever…”

Songstress’ heart sank further and further as she sang. She could guess that Liu Qingying was no longer herself. She had been manipulated by a terrible Talent, and the one manipulating her had a Willpower several times greater than that of Songstress.

No matter how hard she tried, Songstress could never stop Liu Qingying, but only delayed her actions.

A minute later, Songstress’ compelling force began to decline. The power manipulating Liu Qingying reared its head once more and gained the upper hand.

Green light lit up in Liu Qingying’s eyes. At the same time, she began to shake violently. Her hand slowly inched toward the Black Gold cube.

Houseau3's Thoughts

Yeah...she was allowed to go for this.

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