The Creatures that We Are

As soon as Surnamed Li said so, Heavenly Dog became in contact with the black fog inside the abyss, and like he had been electrocuted, he spasmed and went still, falling toward the abyss.

War Tiger quickly yanked the white cloth and jumped backward. Heavenly Dog fell to the ground after getting pulled out.

“Ah…ugh…”

He rolled around in great pain. It felt as if countless bugs were devouring his flesh and blood.

War Tiger went up to him to see Heavenly Dog’s chest covered in countless small and insidious black sigils, which were spreading toward his neck and was going to claim his whole face.

Qing Ling splayed her right hand to call her Black Gold dart. “Gao Yang’s blood will cure him!”

Vermilion Bird quickly took the dart and made a cut on Gao Yang’s palm, letting out blood. As soon as War Tiger rushed over with Heavenly Dog, she grabbed Gao Yang’s hand and pressed it to Heavenly Dog’s neck.

“Aghhh!”

Heavenly Dog’s pain doubled, but the black sigils disappeared in three seconds, and Heavenly Dog stopped crying out. He took a breath with difficulty before closing his eyes.

Now that Heavenly Dog was cured, Vermilion Bird took Gao Yang’s cut hand with both hands, and the wound on his palm healed.

Everyone was in shock, and they became even more convinced that Green Snake hadn’t lied.

Gao Yang was the Divine Scion. His blood was the only thing that could counter the Malediction’s curse. Although the Malediction had died, the curse power it left behind was still formidable.

“Fucking hell.” War Tiger smacked his lips and reached out to Heavenly Dog, troubled. “You okay?”

“...Yeah.” Heavenly Dog was feeling better. He took War Tiger’s hand and stood up.

“How’s your body?” Vermilion Bird asked.

“I don’t know.” Heavenly Dog shook his head. “My energy was sealed as soon as I touched the black fog. Then it felt like bugs were nibbling me.”

Qilin thought about it with a serious expression. Then he turned to Azure Dragon. “Call Black Fish.”

“Will do.” Azure Dragon took out his phone.

Qilin turned to War Tiger. “If possible, call Mischievous Monkey from your organization here.”

“Sure.” War Tiger made the call and didn’t ask what it was for.

Surnamed Li was the last one Qilin turned to. “Madam Li, the Heavenly Way may not be able to properly clean up the whole mess tonight. We have to take matters into our own hands.”

“Of course. Leave it to the Hundred Rivers Union.” Surnamed Li glanced at Goldthread. “Call Chen Ying. Have everyone lock down the Green Lotus Park.”

“Understood.” Goldthread took out his phone too to make the call.

They waited around the Abyss. Qilin, Surnamed Li, and War Tiger asked Qing Ling more questions to find out more details. During the time, five elite monsters had been drawn by the earlier chaos, but were swiftly dealt with.

About twenty minutes later, a wild, piercing sound of an engine rang out, and they all turned to look at the source.

Vroom. A black bike flew over the crater, the rider dressed in black leather and wearing a black helmet like a dark rider.

Three seconds later, the bike landed, making a dramatic slide to the side before coming to a steady stop.

The rider stopped the bike properly, taking his helmet off with his left hand and tucking it under his armpit, making a salute by moving his forefinger and middle finger from his temple. “Guildmaster Qilin, Elite Black Fish, report to duty!”

Qilin nodded in response.

War Tiger narrowed his eyes. The man had short, spiky black hair, blue eyes, and a longer face. His smile was bright and confident with a flare of dramatics.

War Tiger had heard about him while Black Fish was on his way here. Black Fish was Azure Dragon’s subordinate. His Talent was Clairvoyance, serial number 98, Buff-type. It gave him an incredible sight that could see everything within one kilometer with clarity, and he could see through obstacles to some degree.

Some time ago, he acquired Spider Venom and got promoted to an Elite, changing his name to Black Fish.

His mundane identity was a stunt rider.

“What can I help you with, Boss?” Black Fish placed his helmet on the head of his bike and went up to Azure Dragon.

Azure Dragon pointed at the abyss. “Look what’s inside. Be careful not to get too close. The black fog is dangerous.”

“Yes, sir!” Black Fish had long noticed the strange black abyss. He tamped down his curiosity and didn’t ask further.

He went up to the abyss quickly and leaned slightly forward, looking down at it. Before he could activate his Talent, Qilin stopped him. “Wait.”

Black Fish turned to him. “Yes, Guildmaster?”

“Close one eye.”

Black Fish understood after a beat. “Yes, sir.”

He covered his right eye and activated Clairvoyance.

His blue left eye immediately lit up and shot a ray of blue light into the abyss below. It was blocked by the black fog inside, but soon pierced through it and reached somewhere further down.

The others waited quietly.

Black Fish was no longer seeing in the regular sense from his left eye; it felt more like looking into a telescope with a narrow focus. As the laser shot through increasingly thicker black fog, his mind started to wander, and he felt like his left eye was a sensor plunging toward the mysterious and unknown deep sea.

His senses of himself and his sight blurred. Then everything seemed so much more vivid that it was as if his soul had been sucked into the deep sea sensor, becoming one with it as it sank deeper and deeper down the abyss.

The thick black fog started to thin, and Black Fish saw with more clarity that the abyss was circled by smooth, dark green stone walls, covered in black symbols.

Black Fish would like to memorize a couple of them, but the symbols kept changing like wavering shadows cast by candlelight. There was no pattern to it, and he couldn’t memorize any of them.

Black Fish stopped getting hung up on that. He continued downward until he reached the bottom.

He landed after however long it had been.

Under his feet was a textureless black. It wasn’t rock, nor was it soil. It was soft, and his steps made quiet creaks.

It felt like stepping on snow.

Black snow? Why would there be black snow?

Black Fish focused his mind. What little rationality remained reminded him that he wasn’t actually at the bottom of the abyss. It was merely an illusion he got while his Clairvoyance scouted out the abyss.

Still, it must have stemmed from the clues his Talent had detected. He decided to remember everything he could remember about the bottom of the abyss. Then he would report everything.

Black Fish moved his fake presence forward. Soon, he saw the only thing in the abyss.

A door.

It was an old-fashioned metal door painted in green, and the paint had been peeled off by the long years, revealing brown rust. On the door were numerous ads and flyers, for lockpicking, piping, AC maintenance, security window panels, real-estate agency, training courses, gyms, free bandwidth for topping up mobile phones, and many more.

Black Fish was taken by surprise. Strange, why would there be a door at the depth of the abyss?

And it was just a door. Nothing more.

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Curious...

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