The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 598: Clues

“Fresh...”

“No!” Fresh Snow raised her voice and shouted as soon as he opened his mouth. “You’re not kicking me out!”

“Fresh Snow,” Gao Yang said seriously. “I’m not kicking you out. Those who are coming may not like you. I’m worried that they’ll hurt you.”

“I’m not scared of them.” Fresh Snow puffed out her cheeks. “I’ll drive them all away!”

“But I am scared.”

Fresh Snow paused before taking Gao Yang’s hand. “Don’t be, Gao Yang. I’ll protect you.”

Gao Yang managed to put on a smile. “But you can’t protect me forever. There will be times when you’re not with me, right? What then?”

Fresh Snow lowered her head. She was going to say something else, but Gao Yang stopped her.

“Go home, Fresh Snow. I promise that I’ll go find you soon.”

Fresh Snow thought long and hard before looking up at Gao Yang. “Will they hurt you?”

“No.”

At least not when they still need me.

Gao Yang didn’t voice that part of his thought. He ruffled Fresh Snow’s hair and said, “Go. Your sister must miss you.”

“Yeah, okay.” Fresh Snow shot him another lingering glance. “Goodbye, Gao Yang.”

“Bye.”

Fresh Snow went up to the window. She couldn’t help but turn around and look at Gao Yang again. All she could see was him. “Gao Yang, you must think about me.”

“I will.” Gao Yang waved at her gently.

With an easy jump, Fresh Snow went out of the window.

Just when everyone thought she was gone, she popped back into their view. “You must miss me!”

“I promise.” Gao Yang waved at her again.

Finally, Fresh Snow left.

Gao Yang’s smile dropped. He said in an aloof tone, “Nine Frost, clean up the mess. Lithe Snake, keep watch outside. Hong Xiaoxiao, report to the Guild. Can, go make a few cups of coffee.”

Six Rime had finished her conversation with Elder Azure Dragon by then. “They’ll be here in twenty minutes.”

Gao Yang nodded and sat down on the sofa, closing his eyes to get some rest.

...

In twenty minutes, the leaders of the three major organizations arrived. Qilin and Azure Dragon were driven here by Vermilion Bird, while Heavenly Dog had flown War Tiger here from the Millennium Tower. Surnamed Li, on the other hand, had taken a helicopter, piloted by Goldthread.

Using his Talent, Gravity, Goldthread lowered the wheelchaired Surnamed Li, accompanied by Colorless and Chen Ying, safely to the front yard of the villa. Only after that did he fly the helicopter away.

Outside the door, Gao Yang, Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, and the others gathered.

“Green Tea’s killed?” Surnamed Li looked stunned, and Chen Ying, who was pushing her wheelchair, paled with reddening eyes, forcing down her welling sadness.

“My condolences,” said Gao Yang.

“Here’s the body.” Lithe Snake stood on the lawn. At his feet was a body covered by a piece of white cloth.

Sorrow flashed through Surnamed Li’s eyes. She glanced at Colorless. “Check the body.”

“Understood.” Colorless went up to Green Tea’s body and lifted the white cloth, her expression dark. After spending some time examining the body, she turned around and said, “No physical injury.”

“He died of a soul explosion,” Lithe Snake said coolly.

“What explosion?” Colorless’ brows furrowed. She thought she had heard it wrong.

“Soul. Explosion.” Lithe Snake repeated.

Colorless cursed in her head. I don’t know what a soul explosion’s supposed to be, but my head’s gonna explode. What the hell is all this?!

Chen Ying pursed her lips as she pushed Surnamed Li’s wheelchair into the house. Gao Yang called out to stop her.

“I’ll do it, Chen Ying.”

Surprised, Chen Ying glanced at Surnamed Li and got an approving nod.

“Wait outside,” said Surnamed Li.

“Of course.” Chen Ying let go of the wheelchair and went up to join Colorless. She mustered the courage to take a look at the body on the ground. Her hand found her mouth, and her body started shuddering.

Colorless rose to her feet after examining the body. She knew that Chen Ying and Green Tea were quite close. She was going to offer words of comfort, but decided against it. Instead, she turned around and spat out a curse.

“Do you know who the killer was?” Chen Ying turned to Lithe Snake and asked in a furious tone.

“No comment,” Lithe Snake said simply, glancing at the villa. “Wait for their conclusions.”

Gao Yang helped Surnamed Li inside, while Azure Dragon and Vermilion Bird stayed outside.

Azure Dragon ordered, “Circle the house and keep your distance.”

Meanwhile, Qilin and War Tiger had claimed a sofa in the living room. Gao Yang pushed Surnamed Li’s wheelchair to a spot nearby before taking a seat on a single sofa.

“Did Dragon not come?” Gao Yang asked on purpose.

“He’s on a work trip outside Li City.” War Tiger crossed his legs with a cigarette between his fingers. “I’m in charge when he’s not here.”

“Okay.” Gao Yang glanced at Qilin. “I’ll make a detailed report for tonight, Guildmaster.”

Qilin nodded, hands rested on his cane. “Please do.”

The next ten minutes, Gao Yang told Qilin everything that had happened tonight, including Fresh Snow and what she could do. His report was consistent with Six Rime’s.

War Tiger was an experienced actor. He put on a slight look of surprise when he heard about Fresh Snow, but only just the right amount of surprise.

Surnamed Li remained composed and didn’t make any comment.

Qilin seemed to have expected the reveal as well. He had guessed that Gao Yang had some connection with the Spectres, and he would let it slide as long as Gao Yang hadn’t crossed a line.

After the report, War Tiger made an obvious observation.

“Cearly Green Tea was silenced by Dust.”

“Based on Fresh Snow’s evaluation, Dust must be someone with a high-level ability to deal spiritual damage.” Gao Yang looked at the three leaders in turns. “Have you seen any Talents like that?”

“No,” War Tiger said without hesitation.

Qilin shook his head too. “The Talent list only provides basic information, and for many Talents, the higher the level, the more complicated the mechanisms.”

“I don’t think I’ve encountered it before, either,” said Surnamed Li.

“Then it’ll be difficult to find any clues based on the Talent.” Gao Yang gave Surnamed Li a look. “I have some guesses, Madam Li, about Green Tea.”

“Please be frank,” said Surnamed Li.

“It happened two days ago. I ran into Green Tea while hanging out with friends at the mall. Green Tea asked me about dissociative identity disorder.”

“Dissociative identity disorder?” Surnamed Li didn’t understand. “Why would he be curious about that?”

“I didn’t understand at first, either,” said Gao Yang. “Then he patted me on the shoulder, and I replicated his Talents—I did that in order to make sure he hadn’t done me any harm. I was worried that he had used a Talent to curse me...”

Gao Yang spent some time explaining himself. “I almost got killed by Mad Red’s Detonation once, so I’m more wary of physical contact.”

“Another reason is my memory of playing volleyball with X back in Naldives. At the time, Green Tea allowed me to replicate One-inch Punch through intentional physical contact, which led to our victory. That was why I thought that again, Green Tea might have been trying to send me a message by letting me replicate his Talents.”

“We will never know now that he’s gone, but anyway, when I detected his Talents with Replicate, I did find out something.”

Qilin, War Tiger, and Surnamed Li held their breaths and looked at him.

Gao Yang’s eyes glinted. “I found that in addition to level 5 One-inch Punch, Green Tea also had level 3 Mindreading.”

Surnamed Li was surprised. “He comprehended a new Talent?”

War Tiger stroked his chin. “Haha, it seems the young man didn’t update you.”

Surnamed Li stayed silent.

“Still, I would’ve also kept quiet about it were I him.” War Tiger smiled. “There’s still a spy in the Union. If Green Tea was found out to have acquired Mindreading, it would only be a matter of time before he was taken out. Dust remained a mystery, while Green Tea was out in the open. It would be difficult for him to protect himself.”

Qilin nodded in agreement.

“Based on that fact,” Gao Yang continued, “I could guess that Green Tea would seek me out sooner or later. However, I didn’t realize that he had already been made and inflicted with a curse. He tried to tell me the truth tonight, but ended up killed.”

“Why didn’t he come to me?” Surnamed Li asked.

“No offense, Madam Li.” War Tiger twirled the cigarette in his hand. “Dust is quite strong, and members of the Union may not be able to deal with her. I would’ve also sought outside help were I in his shoes. Seven Shadow’s strong and quick-witted, and he had some history with Green Tea. He was the perfect option.”

“That is true.” Surnamed Li sighed bitterly. “Even if Green Tea had told me, I would’ve had no choice but to seek you out for help.”

“Keep going, Seven Shadow.”

Qilin knew he was only getting started.