The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 146: Human? Monster?

“Uncle Xiong...” Officer Liu was still holding his gun with both hands, his body trembling slightly and his face pale. “Are you, are you alright?”

“I’m alright.” Gray Bear coughed and said with a smile, “Nice shot, young man.”

Officer Liu’s expression darkened further. Although he was a sharpshooter, and this wasn’t his first time shooting someone, it was his first time killing someone.

“Is she...dead?” Officer Liu sounded overwhelmed and remorseful. “I saw her attacking you. I didn’t, I didn’t have the time to think...”

Gray Bear patted him on the shoulder reassuringly. “You did the right thing.”

Recognizing Officer Liu, Gao Yang and Lithe Snake stepped out from their covers with their weapons put away. Instead of approaching the man, they stayed by Sister Luo’s body to make sure that Officer Luo didn’t get a look at her until all traces of her transformation disappeared, and only her human form remained.

In the end, Gao Yang opted to grab a tarpaulin cover to conceal her body. Only then did the two of them approach the officer.

“You’re...Jin Tiannan!” Officer Liu was shocked to recognize Gao Yang. “Why are you here, Mr. Jin?”

“I came to get the killer with Officer Xiong,” said Gao Yang.

“The serial killer?” Officer Liu’s eyes lit up. “The one I killed was the culprit?”

“Yeah, it was getting dangerous. Thank god you made it here in time.”

Despite blaming Officer Liu for messing things up, Gray Bear offered words of encouragement. After all, he was playing the police officer here rather than an awakener.

“Why are you here?” Lithe Snake asked coolly.

That was what Gao Yang was going to ask.

“Oh, right.” Officer Liu holstered his gun. “Uncle Xiong told me to evacuate the White Apricot Alley, so I did that with a few other officers. When we were heading out, I realized my wallet was missing. I thought I had maybe dropped it somewhere in the alley.”

Officer Liu licked his lips. “When I returned, I saw Uncle Xiong rushing out with a few other people. He didn’t seem to hear me when I called out to him. I was worried that something bad had happened, so I...I chased...chased after him.”

“Take your time.” Gray Bear gestured at him.

Officer Liu nodded. “You ran to the southern exit of the neighborhood, Uncle Xiong, and when I caught up with you, you ran off again. I followed you to this market...”

None of them said anything in response.

“Oh, about the murderer...” Officer Liu was just about to walk toward Sister Luo’s body when Gray Bear grabbed him.

“Hey, she’s dead. Spare yourself the sight and notify the others on the team. We’re gonna secure the scene.”

“Oh, okay.” Officer Liu took out his phone.

Gray Bear, Gao Yang, and Lithe Snake came up to Sister Luo’s body.

Gray Bear asked in a lowered voice, “What do we do?”

Gao Yang pondered as he threw glances at the metal fence gate from the corner of his eye.

“With Sister Luo dead, we have no choice but to do things the standard way.” Gao Yang gave Gray Bear a look. “Tell the others not to come.”

“Alright...”

The moment the word was out of Gray Bear’s mouth, Lithe Snake and Gao Yang sprang to action at almost the same time.

Lithe Snake pushed Gray Bear away and dodged to the side, while Gao Yang dropped down quickly.

Bang, bang, bang!

Three shots fired, two missing entirely, and one brushing past Gray Bear’s beard.

The shooter, naturally, was Officer Liu.

With no previous attachment to the man, Gao Yang and Lithe Snake had been wary of Officer Liu the whole time. Gao Yang didn’t believe a word of Officer Liu’s explanation on how he got here. It was too much of a coincidence. Not even a novel author would write like that.

Lithe Snake thought the same.

Even while they talked to Gray Bear, their eyes had been on Officer Liu.

Gao Yang immediately noticed that while talking into his phone by the gate, Officer Liu had secretly put his other hand on his holstered gun.

The moment Officer Liu drew the gun, Gao Yang and Lithe Snake reacted accordingly.

The near miss with death told Gray Bear all he needed to know. The three of them took cover in the darkness.

Gray Bear clenched his teeth, struggling to reconcile with the turn of events. “Did he wake up?”

‘Waking up’ referred to a monster revealing its true self upon finding an awakener.

“I’m not sure,” Gao Yang said quietly in the dark. “It doesn’t feel right.”

No matter if Officer Liu was a delusion monster or a wrath monster, he should have trusted his own body more and attacked the humans immediately after waking up, not resorting to schemes.

Yet Officer Liu played dirty. He first killed Sister Luo to make it seem like he was trying to save the three of them, lulling them into a false sense of security. Only when they were some distance away from him and in the right shooting range did he attack, aiming to kill all three of them in one fell swoop.

To maximize gains and success at the lowest price and risk—to their knowledge, that was an exclusively human way of thinking.

The three of them fell silent. In the pitch black market, they were well-hidden, while Officer Liu was out in the open.

Gao Yang gestured at Gray Bear and Lithe Snake, telling them to stall for a moment rather than counterattacking immediately so that they could learn more about Officer Liu.

“Haha.” Officer Liu’s voice came from the metal fence gate. “You were quick to catch on.”

“Are you a man or a monster?” Gray Bear still found it hard to believe. He called out with his back pressed to a cement platform.

“What do you say, Uncle Xiong?” Officer Liu asked. His voice had lost all warmth, leaving only chillingness.

“It doesn’t have to be this way, Young Liu...” Gray Bear implored, pained. “It really doesn’t. We can pretend that nothing happened.”

“Alright. I think so too. Do you know? You’re the one I respect the most in the department. You’re a father figure for me. Why don’t we talk this out? Please come here so that we can have a good chat. I was too rash. It’s true that it doesn’t have to be this way.”

Gray Bear’s heart sank. He was now a hundred percent certain that the man wasn’t the young officer he knew, but a cunning and dangerous enemy.

Officer Liu was still standing by the exit. Hearing no response, he scoffed in disappointment. “Don’t you trust me, Uncle Xiong?”

Gao Yang shook his head at Gray Bear. Gray Bear stopped talking.

The stalemate between the side in the open and the side in the dark continued.

Officer Liu quickly lost patience. “There’s no use hiding. You may hide for the moment, but you can’t hide forever. Why is it that you humans never learn?”

He walked to a wall on the left.

Gao Yang popped his head out slightly. Shit, there’s a switch there.

Clack. Officer Liu turned the electricity on. The market was suddenly as bright as in broad daylight, leaving the three of them with nowhere to hide like mice waiting to be caught.

Gao Yang looked down. Although he was behind cover, his slanted shadow exposed him.

He quickly rolled to the side.

Bang, bang, bang!

The three shots hit the pile of vegetables that acted as cover, sending broken leaves flying everywhere.

Bang, bang, bang!

Bang, bang!

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

The series of shots forced Lithe Snake and Gray Bear to come out of their hiding places. Gao Yang counted. All fifteen bullets had been fired.

He didn’t hear the sound of the magazine being replaced. He took a deep breath and stood up from behind a shelf.

Lithe Snake and Gray Bear had revealed themselves as well. The three of them stared at Officer Liu.

With a smile, Officer Liu cocked his head lazily with the emptied gun dangling from his finger. He cast it aside with a flick of his wrist.

“Come at me together.”