The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 14: Summoner

Gao Yang knew that one day, he might have to raise his weapon at his family, but not so soon, and not the sister he adored the most.

At a glance, there were a little less than ten people on the street. If one-third of them were wrath monsters, that would make it three; already too much for them to deal with.

And Officer Huang had said that summoners could notify all monsters in a radius of one kilometer with their specialized vocal cords. That would include all the monsters sleeping in the apartment buildings in the area.

To conclude, he and Qing Ling would surely die unless they could teleport.

Gao Yang gave up. He couldn’t think of a way to get them out of this.

“You should run,” he told Qing Ling. “I should be able to buy you a few seconds.”

Qing Ling didn’t say anything. She hadn’t run away, but neither had she initiated an attack.

His sister hadn’t transformed into a monster immediately. She marched up to Gao Yang, her expression, the air around her, and the way she sauntered...

Wait! Can it be...

“You got a girlfriend without getting my permission!” His sister accused him with a finger pointing at him. “Don’t you remember your promise? You said you would have me vet the girl before you get me a sister-in-law!”

“And you came to a dodgy hotel like this!”

“And you...you are even one of those kinky people!” His sister was so angry that she stomped on the ground.

Qing Ling pulled at her sleeve to cover the cuts on her wrist and looked away.

“No, it’s not what you think it is...”

Thank God! Bodhisattva bless me!

Gao Yang almost burst into tears. It was a false alert!

Fuming more and more as she talked, his sister took out her phone and said, “I’ve taken a picture and posted it to my Moments[1]! I’m gonna tell everyone about this! The school will expel you! And mom and dad will kick you out and disown you...”

Gao Yang snatched the phone from her hand and tossed it to Qing Ling. “Delete it.”

“Okay.” Qing Ling didn’t miss a beat.

“What are you doing? Give me back my phone! Don’t ever think about erasing the evidence!” His sister was going to grab her phone, but Gao Yang easily kept her away with a hand on her head.

He rolled his eyes. “You’re still young. What do you have in that little head of yours...”

Qing Ling deleted the pictures from his sister’s Moments feed, her album, and her recycle bin before returning the phone to her. Qing Ling then said with a tired wave, “Take care of the rest.” She wanted nothing more but to go home and take a shower before going to bed.

“Got it.”

...

Ten minutes later, Gao Yang and Gao Xinxin found themselves in the McDonald’s.

Through the large window, the warm sun of early morning streamed down on his sister, casting her hair, skin, and skirt in a loving, misty glow.

Girls her age had just grown out of their childlike looks and were turning into teenagers who were still inexperienced. The energy and brightness that they radiated were infectious, and Gao Yang found himself finally relaxing after the terrible fight.

Gao Xinxin fancied herself a mature girl, but in Gao Yang’s eyes, her prideful look was more akin to that of a kitten, innocent and quite adorable. She pouted with the straw between her teeth and swung her legs back and forth, still visibly upset.

“Gao Xinxin?”

His sister looked away and didn’t give him the time of day.

“My dear sister?”

“Don’t think you can buy my forgiveness with a Happy Meal!”

“It’s a misunderstanding, really. She and I are just friends. The entrance exam is coming, right? We pulled an all-nighter doing mock tests.”

“You think I’ll buy that? Who would go to a love hotel to study?”

“Many on the internet,” Gao Yang lied without batting an eye. “That’s what we call being unpredictable!”

“Really?” His sister wasn’t wholly convinced.

“Really. We’re those closet overachievers, you get what I’m saying?”

“Those who claim that they haven’t studied, but they study harder than anyone else and ‘accidentally’ get a good score?”

“Yep! That’s us.”

“Lame.”

Gao Yang chuckled. “By the way, how did you know where I was?”

“My skirt arrived. I put it on and wanted to show it to you, but you never came home. You didn’t even pick up your phone. I waited for so long that I fell asleep.”

His sister puffed up her cheeks. “Then I woke up, and the more I thought about it, the angrier I got. So I called Wang Zikai. He said you were at a love hotel with a girl in your class and told me to come catch the adulterers in the act!”

“That’s not how you use the word ‘adulterer’, sis.” Gao Yang didn’t know whether he should laugh or not.

“This is serious!” His sister raised her voice, her face wrinkling with emotions and her eyes reddening. “I was so happy and looking forward to showing you the skirt so much. Do you know how I felt?”

Gao Yang felt a pang in his heart. “It’s not too late now. The skirt looks good on you!”

“It doesn’t! It’s all crumpled!” She burst into tears. “And my face is all swollen. My face looks the thinnest in the evening. That’s when I look best in this skirt!”

Warmth blooming in his chest, Gao Yang pinched his sister’s cheek. “You look good whenever, sis.”

“Even better than the girl you went to the love hotel with?”

“Yeah.”

“If one day I fall into the sea at the same time as her, who will you save first?”

Gao Yang paused. That was...an interesting question. Given Qing Ling’s personality though, she would probably say, ‘Go save your sister. I’m going to swim for a little longer.’

“You, of course!”

“Alright! You said so yourself! Promise!” She extended her pinky.

“Promise!”

...

Shanqing Fifteenth High School, eight o’clock in the morning.

When Gao Yang arrived at school with his backpack, the morning study session had ended already. He was wondering what excuse he should give to the teacher when he spotted a familiar red sports car by the road.

Gao Yang was already dreading what he would see.

As expected, Wang Zikai was at the gate, arguing with the PE teacher in charge of noting down those who had gotten to school late.

“I’m not leaving school!” Wang Zikai shouted. “I’m gonna come back!”

“You were expelled! Stop making a scene.” The PE teacher was in a pickle. Wang Zikai’s family was rich, and he didn’t want to go too harsh on the boy.

“I’ve come around, Teacher! I want to learn!”

“That’s a good thing... But you still have to complete the resumption process first.”

“No! I love learning! That’s the true calling of the light side! I’m not waiting a second longer—” Wang Zikai was just about to say something else when he spotted Gao Yang approaching. He immediately broke into a grin and ran up to Gao Yang. “Bro!”

“Didn’t I tell you to stay at home?” Gao Yang frowned.

Wang Zikai couldn’t calm himself. “I can’t even sit down! Whenever I think about the fact that I’m a new human, I’m so excited that I’m gonna explode...”

“Hush.” Gao Yang groaned inwardly. Qing Ling was right. This idiot should be dealt with swiftly, or he would get all of them in trouble sooner or later.

“By the way, don’t you all have superpower? Why don’t I have one? It doesn’t make sense. Ain’t I the chosen one?” Wang Zikai blinked with a look of anticipation on his face. He would be wagging his tail if he had one.

“The power in your body has just awakened... There’s a process to everything.” Gao Yang made up an explanation as he went.

“Makes sense!” Then Wang Zikai’s thought process made a characteristic jump. “Oh! Didn’t you say you were going to give me a mission tonight? Why don’t you give it to me now so that I can finish it earlier?”

“It’s...something you can only do in the evening.”

“Alrighty.” Wang Zikai put his arm around Gao Yang’s shoulders. “Come on! Let’s go to school together.”

...

Gao Yang was ready to pull his hair out by the end of the day. He felt like the owner of a husky. In the end, he had no choice but to teach Wang Zikai a ‘cultivation method’ so that he would shut up and not stir up trouble.

Wang Zikai stayed in his seat without moving as he ‘cultivated’, all according to plan.

During the evening self-study, Gao Yang went out for a toilet break. He ran into Qing Ling as soon as he left the restroom.

“Follow me to the rooftop.”

Rooftop?

That didn’t seem like a good place to be.

Gao Yang followed her up anyway. Then Qing Ling turned around, and the metal door slammed shut with a heavy thud. She looked around to make sure they were alone.

“How’s your sister?” Qing Ling asked.

“It’s good. I’ve dealt with it.”

“Keep observing her. Some monsters are very smart and very good at acting.”

“Alright.” Gao Yang sighed. He hoped that his sister wasn’t a monster, and if she was, he hoped that she would be a wanderer.

A breeze lifted Qing Ling’s hair, obscuring her eyes. “I know you’re close to Wang Zikai, but he’s a monster.”

Gao Yang didn’t say anything.

He couldn’t avoid it at the end of the day.

Dark clouds floated in the black sky, covering the moon. With Qing Ling standing in the shadows, Gao Yang couldn’t see her face. He could only hear her voice, and it left no room for negotiation. “When the evening study ends, take him somewhere without unwanted eyes. I’ll kill him.”

After a moment of silence, Gao Yang looked up at her. “What if I stop you?”

Qing Ling didn’t hesitate. “I’ll kill you too.”

1. A function in WeChat where you can share posts with your friends. The original Mandarin term is literally translated as ‘Friend Circle’. ?