The Creatures that We Are

“Elder Azure Dragon!”

Six Rime, Flower Turtle, Forest Crane, and Old Lion returned then. They had seen Nainai turn into a giant and Azure Dragon making a thunderous punch, and they thought the fight was won. However, that didn’t seem to be the case.

“Where’s Veggie?” Flower Turtle asked, concerned. “And Core East?”

“Killed by Green Snake,” Azure Dragon said calmly, adding after a moment, “But the bodies are intact.”

Flower Turtle exhaled an audible sigh of relief, dropping into a crouching position. “Thank God we forced them to take Dr. Jia’s resurrection pills in the morning.”

“They took Dr. Jia,” said Azure Dragon.

“Where did they go? I’ll chase after them,” said Six Rime.

Azure Dragon shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Old Lion jumped off his lion’s back and held onto its head with both hands, pressing their foreheads together. Two seconds later, the lion growled lowly and ran away.

“Little White will gather the animals in the area to help us look for them,” he said. Little White was his name for the lion.

“Right.” Azure Dragon responded nonchalantly, but he had already concluded that it would fail.

I’m sorry, Guildmaster Qilin. I didn’t do my job properly.

…

Downstream of Spice River, ten minutes later.

Lining the riverbanks were regular residential areas. The clusters of short residential buildings slumbered under the starlight, while the serene river shimmered with a captivating silver glow.

A small white boat could be seen at the heart of the river. Gray Bear sat at the tail of the boat, naked save for the thin black cape around his body. His hairy chest could be seen from under the cape.

He rowed the boat with both hands, looking joyful after surviving a great crisis.

The starry sky was beautiful, and the air fresh. It would be perfect if only he had a can of beer.

Hong Xiaoxiao sat at the head of the boat, shining a flashlight at the river to look for something.

“I have a question.” Gray Bear, brought back with Time Reset, went over the earlier fight in his head. “Doesn’t your Talent have a maximum range?”

“Of course.” Hong Xiaoxiao’s sole focus was still on her search, and she didn’t turn around.

“How far is it?”

“Thirty meters.”

“Then how did you save me?”

According to their plan, Hong Xiaoxiao would hide under the riverbank, and with a Black Gold hairpin, Gray Bear only had to make it past the end of the path for Hong Xiaoxiao to bring him back should he die. However, he hadn’t made it past the path, and he should be out of range for Hong Xiaoxiao’s Time Reset. ṟ₳₦ŏꞖĚʂ

“Well.” Hong Xiaoxiao looked troubled. “Don’t ask.”

At the time, she had heard the sounds of a fight while hiding under the riverbank, and she concluded that Gray Bear hadn’t made it out.

She was burning with anxiety, but she didn’t dare to come out of hiding, or Six Rime and the others would’ve discovered her for sure. However, it might be too late for her to rush to Gray Bear after Six Rime’s group left.

Hong Xiaoxiao wasn’t willing to risk it. Clenching her teeth, she dove into the sewage pipe for wastewater beside her, crawling toward where Gray Bear must have died.

It was only twenty meters, and it only took her one minute, yet she had vomited and broken down so many times that she lost count.

Finally, she sensed her Black Gold hairpin at thirty meters, her Talent’s maximum effective range.

She counted the time and used Time Reset when she only had about ten seconds. No matter if Six Rime and the others had left, she had to bring Gray Bear back, or she would lose her window.

Finally, Gray Bear came back to life, and Six Rime and the others had already departed.

Hong Xiaoxiao couldn’t wait to crawl out of the sewage pipe filled with feces and wastewater. She broke down into tears and used Time Reset on herself to go back to her condition three minutes ago. Then she passed out.

Naked and unconscious, Gray Bear soon woke up from the chill. He rushed to the riverbank and woke Hong Xiaoxiao so that they could proceed with the next part of their plan.

While Hong Xiaoxiao had reset her time, she still had a vague memory of crawling through the pipe. She retched, tasting bile in her mouth.

“I’m really curious!” Gray Bear said.

“Please stop, Uncle Bear. Let it go…” Hong Xiaoxiao paused. “Ah! There he is! Dr. Jia!”

Not far from them was a floating body in a lab coat and a pair of shorts. Only one foot was wearing a slipper. He was dead, thoroughly killed.

“Ha, Qing Ling’s good, just as smart as Captain.” Gray Bear had forgotten what they were talking about. He rowed toward the body quicker.

…

Fifteen minutes ago, Team Qing Ling was having a meeting on the rooftop of a mansion. The night wind messed up Qing Ling’s long hair. She knelt and unfolded a map of the rich area. “I’m going to tell you the plan. You each have to do your job no matter what. There’s no room for mistakes.”

Hong Xiaoxiao immediately went up to light the map with a flashlight. The others huddled up too.

Holding a Black Gold dagger, Qing Ling pointed at Dr. Jia’s mansion on the map. “I’ll first flush them out with prop sleep gas grenades to confirm their number.”

“Sister Qing, what if the whole Team Azure Dragon is there?” Hong Xiaoxiao asked.

“I’ll consider the possibility.” Qing Ling glanced at Gray Bear. “Is there anyone with a scouting Talent on the team?”

“Don’t think so.” Gray Bear thought back to their members.

“No, Six Rime can scout with her Talent.” Hong Xiaoxiao told them about how Six Rime had monitored Gao Yang.

“Speaking of that,” Gray Bear remembered, “Old Lion can control small animals in the area to do the same.”

“So we have to keep our distance.” Qing Ling quickly made adjustments to the plan. “Gray Bear, I’ll fly you in with Black Gold blades.”

“On my own?” Gray Bear asked in surprise.

Qing Ling nodded. “Turn into a beast and lure some of them away with Jeer.” After a moment, she added, “Try your best to act tough so that they’ll take you seriously.”

I am tough! Gray Bear complained in his mind.

“It’s gonna be dangerous for Gray Bear to act alone.” Qing Ling turned to Hong Xiaoxiao. “Make a save for him, Hong Xiaoxiao. Hide…somewhere near this river. You have to hide well.”

She pointed at the map. “Don’t waste your time fighting after luring the enemies away, Gray Bear. Try your best to escape. If you can’t do that, go to the river and let them kill you. They’ll realize that you’re drawing them away after you’re dead, and they’ll leave you alone. Then Hong Xiaoxiao can reset your time.”

Can’t I take all of them out? That’s a possibility too, right?

Gray Bear didn’t let his complaint show on his face. “Roger that.”

“Go downstream once you’re both well,” Qing Ling said.

“Why?” asked Gray Bear.

“You’ll know.” Qing Ling turned to Wang Zikai. “Gray Bear won’t be able to draw Azure Dragon away. He will stay at the mansion.”

“Haha, then it’s my turn to shine.” Wang Zikai rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

“Yes, you’re in charge of keeping Azure Dragon busy,” said Qing Ling.

“Keeping him busy? I’ll just take him out!” Wang Zikai was ambitious.

Qing Ling shot him a glare. “Have you forgotten what Gao Yang told you?”

Wang Zikai remembered immediately. He rubbed his nose, irritated. “Fine, fine. I’m not gonna try to kill him. Consider it a sparring session.”

The last one Qing Ling turned to was Nainai. “You’re the key to us taking Dr. Jia away, Nainai.”

Nainai affected an elegant scoff. “This Empress is the star of the show, indeed.”

“Shrink down so that I can take you near the mansion with a Black Gold dart. Wait for Wang Zikai and I to draw everyone’s attention before sneaking into the mansion. Turn into a member of Team Azure Dragon and fool Dr. Jia into opening the door for you. Take him away.”

“That’s easy. This Empress…”

“I’m not done.” Qing Ling shot her a cool look, shutting her up.

“You have to make sure that Dr. Jia took a resurrection pill. Then turn into a giant immediately.” Qing Ling emphasized her point. “Go as big as you can and create as big a ruckus as possible. Wang Zikai and I will make an escape then.”

“Why should we run away?” Wang Zikai retorted. “We should just…”

“If you wanna act on your own, fine.” Qing Ling interrupted him and took out his phone. “Tell Gao Yang yourself.”

Wang Zikai choked and waved his hands weakly. “Fine, fine. I’ll listen to you.”

Qing Ling put her phone away and continued to explain, “After turning into a giant, Nainai, hide Dr. Jia in your hand and throw him into the Li River amid the chaos. Do you have enough control for that?”

“Of course.” Nainai lifted her hands and left leg, twisting her waist like a pitcher. “This Empress will make a fateful throw and hit the target!”

Qing Ling rose to her feet. “That’s it. Any question?”

“None!”

“Yeah.”

“Hmph, this Empress has everything under control.”

“Wait!” Wang Zikai was still a little confused. “That’s it?”

Qing Ling felt a headache brewing. It was exhausting to talk to an idiot.

Hong Xiaoxiao, on the other hand, found him cute. She explained with a smile, “I’ll explain, Brother Kai. You can retreat once Nainai creates chaos as a giant. Nainai will quickly shrink down after throwing Dr. Jia into the Spice River. Then Sister Qing Ling will retreat with her riding her blades.”

“Dr. Jia will be quite far away after getting dropped into the river, and it’ll take some time for Team Azure Dragon to find him.”

“The fall will have killed Dr. Jia, but his body will be intact, and he will come back to life as long as he has taken a resurrection pill.”

“Once I meet up with Gray Bear, we’ll go downstream of the river to look for Dr. Jia’s body. Then we’ll each head to our secret base for a rendezvous.”

“Ahem.” Wang Zikai feigned nonchalance. “I know all that, of course. I’m just worried that some of us may still be confused.”

“Thanks, Hong Xiaoxiao.” Gray Bear smirked. “If not for you, I wouldn’t understand!”

“No problem, Uncle Bear.” Hong Xiaoxiao shared a smile with him.

Qing Ling turned around and hopped onto the railing, her long hair flying against the wind.

She lifted her hands, and the six sleep grenades in her handbag flew out, hovering above her head before shooting toward Dr. Jia’s mansion.

“Let’s go.”

In a firm, cool voice, she said, “We will succeed.”

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