The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 169: Intruder

“Have you found anything?” Gray Bear greeted her.

Without turning around, Yellow Butterfly stared at the wall and said, “No. We searched the school inside out yesterday.”

“Then what are you looking at?” Gray Bear walked up to her to look at the water tank wall with her. “Oh, this is where people left messages.”

Almost every school had a few comment walls like this one. Students would leave messages with chalks, markers, paints, or other writing instruments where teachers rarely went, but their fellow students frequented.

The wall of the rooftop water tank was obviously a good option.

Under the moonlight, night wind ruffled Yellow Butterfly’s hair. A hint of wistfulness flashed through her large, empty-looking eyes. “It resonated with me when I saw the wall last night. I couldn’t stop myself from checking it again.”

It seemed that without their captain, Nine Frost, around, Yellow Butterfly was quite easygoing. She didn’t seem as distant as she had been when they first met.

Gao Yang, Lithe Snake, and Can joined them before the wall.

It was covered in a variety of messages written in different colors, most were typical of highschool students.

The great me was here!

XXX is a pig head.

I’m going to get into a great college!

XXX I love you forever.

XXX let’s break up. We’ll be a pair of strangers who know each other the most.

...

But among them, there was one particular line that stood out.

It seemed to have been written in red paint, and given it covered everyone else’s comments, it must be the newest.

—I’ll wait for you in hell!

“Whoa, you can feel the hate from eons ago!” Can noticed it immediately.

Gray Bear scoffed and didn’t take it seriously.

Lithe Snake looked as impassive as usual.

Curious, Gao Yang turned to Yellow Butterfly. “Is this the one that resonated with you?”

“Yes,” Yellow Butterfly admitted with a bitter smile. She seemed to be recalling a distant past.

“Do all beautiful girls have such dark thoughts?” Gray Bear joked.

“I wasn’t a beautiful girl back in highschool.” That quieted everyone.

“I was ugly, drab, and fat.” Yellow Butterfly stared at the wall, her thoughts miles away. “I was mocked, marginalized, and actively bullied. I cursed everyone and thought about dragging them to hell with me.”

Gao Yang sighed. It seemed that she had been through a difficult time.

“But then I awakened.” Yellow Butterfly brushed her long hair, her expression relaxing. “And I realized that those around me weren’t even the same species as me. I lost my hate for them. My fear was far more overpowering.”

“I get all that, but you don’t look ugly to me at all,” Gray Bear said. As a stereotypical straight man, he was more hung up on that inconsistency.

Yellow Butterfly admitted with a smile, “I got plastic surgery, of course.”

“That’s very cool of you!” Gray Bear gave her a thumbs-up.

Gao Yang admired her as well. Those who had changed their own fate were not to be underestimated.

Yellow Butterfly put away her flashlight. “I’m done. I’ll leave you to it.”

After she left, the four of them looked around the rooftop and found nothing.

Gao Yang turned on the radio, “Xiran, Ronnie, come in.”

“Captain,” Xiran answered immediately.

“Report.”

“Nothing unusual at the moment. Over.”

“Keep watch. Out.” Gao Yang ended the transmission.

“Do you really think there’s a Rune Cave here, Captain?” Can asked. “I trust you, of course, but I heard that the Guild had sent people to investigate a few times, but found nothing.”

“I can’t be certain,” Gao Yang said honestly. “But I have a theory I haven’t gotten to share with you.”

“Haha!” Gray Bear turned to him eagerly. “I knew there was more!”

“After what happened to Niu Xuan, I looked into the Eleventh High School.” Gao Yang turned to the others. “I mean, there have only ever been baseless urban legends about what happened eighteen years ago, but no proper news coverage at all. It doesn’t make sense.”

“I know something about that.” Gray Bear nodded. “The school was suddenly abandoned without warning. There was no news about what happened to the faculty and student body.”

“The Mist World is mostly populated by wanderers.” Gao Yang calmly shared his thought process. “It’s more or less confirmed that a collective instinct the wanderers possess compels them to automatically ignore the irrational bugs of the Mist World, allowing them to fool themselves into playing humans until the day they die.”

“That’s true,” said Gray Bear. “Or the world riddled with bugs wouldn’t be able to function.”

“Eighteen years ago, something happened at the Eleventh High School, and all wanderers that were directly involved vanished, while those who were indirectly involved had their memories modified. That’s something only the Heavenly Way can do.”

“This,” Gao Yang narrowed his eyes slightly, “Is quite similar to the Gu Family’s Village I went to before.”

He had told everyone about it on their way here.

“That’s it?” Lithe Snake didn’t sound convinced.

“There’s something else.” Gao Yang turned to Gray Bear.

“Niu Xuan.” Gray Bear’s eyes glinted. He had caught on.

“That’s right.”

“According to Niu Xuan, he saw memories of his past life, where he was a boy named Li Zhuanghu, studying at the Eleventh High School. He got good grades and was valued by the teachers. They even had him lead the aerobics session for the school.”

“I looked him up,” said Gray Bear. “There’s never been a Li Zhuanghu in Li City.”

“Does he not exist,” Gao Yang paused, “Or has he been erased by the Heavenly Way?”

Gray Bear fell silent.

“Eighteen years ago, there should have been more than a thousand students and dozens of teachers at the Eleventh High School. What happened to them? Where did they go? Are they still alive? Why hasn’t any of them come out to talk about the incident?”

The list of questions rendered everyone speechless.

“Do, do you mean...” Can gulped fearfully, dragging her hand across her neck. “That the Heavenly Way get rid of them all?”

Gao Yang didn’t respond. He had said his piece.

This incident was very similar to the Gu Family’s Village, but different in some way. He felt like he just needed a little more clues to connect all the dots.

Buzz, beep.

The radio crackled alive.

“Come in, come in! Emergency!” It was Xiran.

Gao Yang checked the radio. Xiran was broadcasting to all channels, meaning the fourth team could hear him too.

Gao Yang immediately responded, “Copy. Go ahead.”

“Talk,” Nine Frost commanded haughtily.

“Someone ran into the school! He was too quick for Ronnie and I to get a good look!”

Gao Yang tensed up at once.

“Everyone, come to the running track. I repeat, come to the running track.” Nine Frost gave an order decisively.

“Fucker always orders people around,” Gray Bear grumbled. “Who does he think he is?”

“Come, let’s go to the running track.”

Gao Yang had an ominous feeling.

This time, he wholeheartedly agreed with Nine Frost\'s decision.

No matter who they were facing, they must not split up like the main characters of a horror film would, lest the enemies pick them off one by one.