The Creatures that We Are

Qing Ling knew how much heartbreak Gao Yang harbored, and he must have activated Psychic Armor immediately after waking up, or he wouldn’t be this composed.

He needed comfort. He needed someone he trusted to hear him out and keep him company. And Qing Ling was that person, but she couldn’t do it.

The battle in the desert pit had destroyed her mentally and physically. She was on the verge of a breakdown and needed a good sleep, even if it was only for this personality.

“You…should rest.” Gao Yang blinked at her.

“Yeah.” Qing Ling nodded. “Little Qing Ling’s worried. If you don’t want to deal with her…”

“It’s fine.” Gao Yang sounded calm.

“Alright.” Qing Ling closed her eyes and took two deep breaths.

About a minute later, she opened her eyes again.

Her gaze was no longer calm and determined, but soft and sad with tears brimming her eyes. It was Little Qing Ling.

She opened and closed her mouth, unsure of what to say. She quickly teared up as she looked at Gao Yang, who was lying on the bed with his limbs still missing.

She reached out to lay a hand on Gao Yang’s chest. His heartbeat was getting faster as his emotions surged—Gao Yang’s Psychic Armor was nearing cooldown.

“Does it hurt?” she asked tentatively.

“It hurts,” Gao Yang responded hoarsely.

“Don’t blame yourself, Gao Yang. You did your best…”

“Yes, I did my best, I did my best…” Gao Yang kept repeating the same words, seemingly to drown out the voice inside him. “Revenge is what we must do. I didn’t have a choice. I did my best, I did my best…”

Little Qing Ling stared at him.

Gao Yang couldn’t breathe, but he kept speaking like a wound-up toy being released, unable to stop.

“Can spoke three syllables before she died… It was too urgent for me to see what she was mouthing… What did she say to me?”

Little Qing Ling looked at him blankly, feeling a pang in her heart.

“I love you?” Gao Yang made a guess. “She told me she liked me before. Perhaps she was trying to confess to me before death… No, no. She was timid with her feelings. She wouldn’t say those words. And she told me that she was the avoidant attachment type…”

“I’m grateful?” Gao Yang made another guess. “No, that can’t be. With a Captain like me, she should resent me more than anything…”

“It’s goodbye? No, that’s too formal. It’s not something she would say…”

“Little Qing Ling, what was Can trying to say to me? What could it be… I have to know. I have to. It’s her last words, yet I didn’t hear it…”

“What was I doing? Why didn’t I hear it… Why didn’t I…”

“Gao Yang!” Little Qing Ling ended up failing to contain her tears. “Don’t, please. Just stop…”

Gao Yang stared at the ceiling with widened eyes, looking like a man possessed. “What are the words? What did she say? What could it be…”

Crying, Little Qing Ling leaned in and picked Gao Yang up with both hands with difficulty, pulling him into her embrace and cradling his head, gently caressing his hair.

Tears welled up in Gao Yang’s possessed eyes. He was still muttering the same words. “What did she say…”

Little Qing Ling did her best to stop crying. In starts and stops, she sang the lullaby her sister had sung to Gao Yang before.

“A tiny…tiny cradle, to…and fro…”

“The night sky…is so beautiful…”

“Mom’s the stars, and Dad’s the moon…”

“Stay with me until I fall into a dream…”

“La la la, la la la…”

“Stay with me until I fall into a dream…”

Gecko automatically repaired Gao Yang’s body and robbed him of all his energy. A wave of exhaustion overtook him once more. In the embrace of Little Qing Ling’s singing, he felt like a small boat swaying on water, slowly sailing into the black abyss that would devour all at the edge of the ocean.

…

…

When Gao Yang opened his eyes, he found himself in a warm cabin. There was a pile of dry firewood in the stone fireplace on his side, sustaining the crackling fire.

Warm firelight danced in the cabin. He was sleeping in a rocking chair with a warm blanket on him.

Two young men sat on the sofa in the room, each holding a mug of steaming coffee.

“Are you still in contact with, her?” asked one of them.

“Yeah. It was my birthday yesterday. She sent me a voice message and sang me happy birthday,” the other responded.

“Why didn’t you ask her to visit you in, Li City?”

“What if she agreed to visit me?”

“It would be interesting, if she, really showed up. That would mean there are lives outside, the Mist.”

“Not necessarily. Perhaps she doesn’t exist outside the Mist but in some interim areas. Perhaps all monsters are from there…”

Gao Yang could no longer listen quietly. He threw off the blanket in a surge of emotions and shot to his feet. “Xiran! Ronnie!”

“Oh, you’re awake, Captain.” Xiran put down his mug hurriedly and stood up. The bookish young man in a white shirt with delicate features adjusted his glasses with a gentle, bashful smile. “Sorry for waking you up, Captain.”

“You…” Gao Yang wasn’t sure what to say.

“We were talking about the world outside the Mist.” Xiran smiled. “We won’t go on if you don’t want to hear it, Captain.”

“No, no. I’m interested.” Gao Yang walked up to them. “I’ve always wanted to chat with you about it. Oh, and the interim space you speculated about may actually exist. I had a dream about it. There were two really tall walls, one white and one black. They seemed endless. In the middle was a giant tree…”

“Really?” Xiran perked up.

“Did you open, the Gates, Captain?” Ronnie was excited too, wearing fitted black clothes and thick gothic makeup, his ears covered in piercings.

“No, not yet…” Gao Yang shook his head dejectedly.

“Oh, it’s time.” Xiran glanced at his watch. “We should chat next time, Captain. We’re setting out.”

“Setting out?” Gao Yang asked. “Is there a mission?”

“Yeah, we should go.” Xiran and Ronnie grabbed their coats and put on their scarves before opening the wooden door.

Gao Yang caught up with them after a pause.

Outside the cabin was a world of snow. Amid the white downpour, everything seemed frozen in place. Treading on the thick layer of snow, the three of them braved the weather as they moved forward.

Numerous stars blinked in the sky deep into the night, but the moon was nowhere to be seen. Their surroundings were pitch-black and silent.

They journeyed for quite a long distance amid the snowstorm before the snow finally relented, and warm light appeared in their sight. It was a bonfire.

“Look! That’s Uncle Bear and Brother Snake!” Xiran exclaimed happily and hurried up to the bonfire.

Ronnie and Gao Yang followed suit.

Gray Bear and Lithe Snake sat by the bonfire, dressed in thick winter clothes. Their seats were two protruding rocks. Gray Bear was nursing a stainless steel cup half filled with hot wine.

On the bonfire was a metal rack for cooking. A dagger skewering a rabbit rested on it. The rabbit was almost done.

“Uncle Bear, Brother Snake! We’re here!” Xiran walked up to them and knelt down beside Gray Bear, extending his hands toward the bonfire for warmth as he exhaled. “This place is so cold.”

“Xiran!” Gray Bear snapped at him, annoyed. “I’m around Lithe Snake’s age. Why do you call me uncle, but call him brother?”

“You don’t show Uncle Bear enough, respect, Xiran,” said Ronnie.

“Piss off! Not you too!” Gray Bear shot Ronnie a glare.

“I got used to it. I can’t break out of the habit just now.” Xiran smiled apologetically.

“Then call me Vice Captain!” Gray Bear made a concession.

“Okay, okay. Vice Captain…” Xiran said like he was coaxing a child. Then he asked with a smile, “It’s so cold, Vice Captain. Can I have a drink, too?”

“Forget it. Even one sip is gonna put you down. How are you going to go on the mission then?” Gray Bear snorted and took a steaming hot roasted sweet potato from his pocket. “I save you this.”

“Oh, thank you, Uncle Bear…Vice Captain!” Xiran happily accepted the offered sweet potato. It was so hot he had to juggle it between his hands. He divided it into three portions, giving Ronnie and Gao Yang one portion each. “Captain, eat.”

Gao Yang stood by his side and didn’t take it. “You should have it. I’m not hungry.”

“Okay.” Xiran didn’t insist. He dug into the sweet potato, and his glasses instantly fogged up, obscuring his eyes.

“Xiran, why did you suddenly, turn to the dark side?” Ronnie made a joke in a deadpan manner.

Xiran didn’t get angry. He continued to enjoy the sweet potato. “Are you going to make the same lame joke your whole life?”

“Easy enough to deal with. You just need a pair of contact lenses,” said Lithe Snake.

“Right.” Xiran laughed. “I’ll get my prescriptions tomorrow.”

Holding a branch, Lithe Snake used it to shift the stacks of firewood to adjust the fire. Then he glanced to the side at Gao Yang. “My Gecko working well, boss?”

Gao Yang paused and nodded. “Quite. Thank you.”

“That’s good. You should keep it.” Lithe Snake stood up with both hands on his knees. He stretched his legs and kicked Gray Bear in the rear. “It’s time. We should go.”

Houseau3's Thoughts

Great, now I'm sadder.

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