The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 793: A Shame

Can shook off the sand on her coat sadly. She would’ve put on something else if she had known they would go through all this. The coat was going to be torn at this rate.

Gao Yang conjured a small fireball and led the way. He and Qing Ling were calm since this wasn’t their first time here.

Ke Yo and Can, on the other hand, were surprised and alerted by everything. They kept worrying that something terrifying would jump out from the dark to get them.

Soon, they reached the entrance to the temple and went past the dried riverbed, meeting a tall wall. Going through the strange narrow path at the center of the wall and a cluster of stone pillars, they finally arrived at the circular courtyard at the heart of the temple.

Gao Yang lit the special fuel filling the dents with fire. Immediately, the life monster pattern burned and illuminated the surroundings.

The obelisk at the center of the courtyard stood quietly. The murals were colorful, mysterious, and eerie.

A black sarcophagus that exuded great pressure rested at the bottom of the obelisk, made of special black stone with Black Gold relief on the lid, portraying an extravagantly adorned and beautiful empress in her slumber. Several Black Gold decorations were embedded in the coffin.

Can and Ke Yo gaped. They had seen the photos before, but seeing everything in person was awe-inspiring in a way the photos weren’t.

Can stared at the black coffin and remembered something trivial. Uncle Bear had boasted to her that he exchanged three hundred blows with the little abomination, but then Brother Lithe Snake exposed him; it turned out that Uncle Bear had gotten KOed at the start of the fight and didn’t wake up until the fight was over. He could only snap two photos and send them to the group chat.

Now, both Uncle Bear and Brother Lithe Snake were gone. Although the Nine Scions welcomed the gentle Sister Chen Ying, the social butterfly Zhang Wei, and the meek and mature Yanyan, they still lost something vital.

Can felt a pang in her chest, followed by a hollowness.

It wasn’t sadness or sorrow per se, but a loneliness stemming from having different people occupying the same place and a sense of loss stemming from being abandoned. Only she and Captain survived among the fifth team, but Captain no longer belonged to the fifth team, but the entire Nine Scions.

It felt like Can was the only living fifth team member.

The inside jokes and shared history were gone, and no one would mention what only they would talk about. It was like the graduate yearbook lost in time. Most wouldn’t realize that the second the yearbook was made to record time was the second their shared time was starting to be forgotten.

Can sighed softly and picked herself up, walking up to the obelisk with the others.

Gao Yang took the lead and ordered, “We’ll move the life monster in the sarcophagus first before setting up a trap...”

“Watch out!”

Qing Ling had been keeping an eye on their surroundings and detected an ambush first.

A three-meter long spear of five different colored elements shot down from above, aiming at Gao Yang’s head.

The two Black Gold blades Qing Ling wielded took flight immediately to block the spear. At the collision, the elemental spear exploded, and countless elemental particles rained down on the four of them.

Can had already conjured an umbrella of wind elements to shield everyone from the countless elemental bullets.

Gao Yang’s gaze turned icy. He looked up at the stone pillars near the entrance to the courtyard. Two figures emerged. It was Yan Liang, in a mask with lopsided features, and his Protector, Zero Hatred.

“I told you to follow orders, Zero Hatred,” Yan Liang said with annoyance.

“Sorry about that. I couldn’t wait.” Zero Hatred smirked maliciously. “I was worried that you would kill all of them if I didn’t move quickly.”

“Captain,” Can called out in a trembling voice, panicked. “I think we...were ambushed instead.”

Gao Yang didn’t need to hear that.

Enemies emerged from the stone pillars all around them and closed in on them.

“Watch out! Behind you!” Ke Yo shouted.

Gao Yang and Qing Ling quickly turned around to see Azure Dragon and Six Rime walking out of the dark stone pillar forest.

“The plan’s made. They came ahead of time to ambush us.” Qing Ling crouched down in preparation for a fight.

Gao Yang silently scanned the enemies.

Yan Liang and Zero Hatred were in front of them, while Azure Dragon and Six Rime flanked them from the back.

On Gao Yang’s left were Forest Crane, Old Lion, and Succubus, each with a different expression on their face.

Forest Crane had already transformed into all plants on alert. He knew how great the gap between him and the Nine Scions was. Although Azure Dragon and Elder Yan Liang were here, too, it would be everyone for themselves once a fight broke out.

Riding on the giant lion, Old Lion had a confident smile on his face, but he was getting a little tired of this. He had had enough of going after other humans. He only wished to end the civil war once and for all by taking out the Divine Scion.

“The Divine Scion will taste good.” Succubus was scantily clad in a light garter dress, the fabric doing little to cover her supple, voluptuous body. She pressed her long forefinger on her chin, desires oozing from her slanted eyes.

“Ask Core East and Nagging Mister. They know how the Divine Scion tastes the best,” Forest Crane said sharply, implicitly warning his teammates to not lower their guard.

Succubus laughed. “Perhaps he would be gentle with women.”

Four people emerged on Gao Yang’s right, Flower Turtle, Correcting Sickle, Chaos Reflection, and Tall Sky.

Flower Turtle had merged with Correcting Sickle and Tall Sky through Three Heads Six Arms, not leaving anything to chance.

Tall Sky, a new Union member, had Talent: Personality Kill. He could split the target’s personality in a short time through psychic invasion. Since there wouldn’t be a main personality, the Talent would cause unresolvable discord. Best-case scenario, the target would lose their ability to make a move in the short term, and worst-case scenario, the target could have a mental breakdown and lose their mind.

Flower Turtle facilitated the synergy between Correcting Sickle’s and Tall Sky’s Talents. With the help of Memory Tailor, Tall Sky’s Personality Kill would come into effect in two seconds, which made it a powerful skill even in short range.

And Flower Turtle’s Guard-type Talent made up for the two men’s low defense and constitution.

Tall Sky had volunteered to go on this mission. Since he had made a bet with his brother to see who would survive until the end, he would do his best. He didn’t want to lose to his brother.

Chaos Reflection still looked timid. He stood on the side awkwardly like an outsider. He had planned to hide in a smooth reflective surface as soon as the fight broke out; if the situation necessitated it, he would make a move then.

Gao Yang counted them in his head. Eleven people in total, including fighters, an elemental attacker, a poisoner, a control, a support, and a guard. And they must have taken a resurrection pill beforehand.

Yan Liang had come prepared, making sure that the four of them couldn’t escape even if they all had wings.

“I’ve seen through your trick, Gao Yang.” Yan Liang took a step toward him. “Surrender. There doesn’t have to be more sacrifice. Just give up your life, and the three of them will live. The civil war will end, too.”

“Is Qilin not here?” Gao Yang finally broke his silence.

Yan Liang paused. He was hit with a sudden ominous feeling. Gao Yang didn’t seem panicked at all. It was as if he had anticipated everything. “What?”

“What a shame.” Gao Yang sighed softly. “Then I’ll have to kill him next time.”

Yan Liang started. Is the brat mad? Where does the confidence come from? Or is he putting on a front because he knows he’s doomed?

Yang Liang hesitated for a moment, but his rational mind told him that Gao Yang would lose under the circumstances.

He lifted a hand to signal the start of the fight.

The eleven awakeners got ready like arrows on strings. They had already come up with their strategy and left no gap in their siege.

Just when Yan Liang was going to bring his arm down, Gao Yang suddenly reached out and grabbed Can and Qing Ling, pulling them into his arms tightly. At the same time, he moved back a step to make sure that Ke Yo, hiding behind him, was pressed against his back.

Qing Ling, Can, and Ke Yo hadn’t expected that. They were utterly flabbergasted.

Gao Yang didn’t have the time to explain. A detonator was suddenly in his hand, and the moment he pressed the button, he shouted, “Absolute Defense!”

A great volume of blinding golden energy rose from Gao Yang’s feet, quickly spreading and moving up to form a phonebooth-sized energy barrier, walling in the four of them.

Gao Yang could’ve created a greater barrier so that the four of them wouldn’t be so cramped together, but his energy wasn’t unlimited. It was best to preserve as much as possible.

The moment the barrier emerged, Yan Liang and Azure Dragon figured out what was going to happen almost immediately.

The others could see their impending doom, too, but they didn’t have the time to do anything. Eyes wide, the only thought that flashed through their minds was, Gao Yang acquired Absolute Defense!

Yan Liang shouted, “Run—”

...

Triangular Towers, Ni Nation.

The desert in the early morning was vast and bleak. All that met the eyes were gray-blue dunes. It seemed just like any other night, beautiful yet lonesome.

Boom!

Suddenly, a pillar of fire with a diameter of five hundred meters shot out of the sandy waves of gray and blue that were the dunes, reaching the sky in a straight trajectory like a pillar of red light. A giant hole was put into the night sky.

It was all red between heaven and earth, the pressure so great it seemed like the apocalypse.

Then a giant vortex appeared at the center of the explosion site, sucking in the sand in the area. At the same time, more sand flew into the sky, giving rise to a sandstorm that covered the entire desert.

A minute later, the sandstorm finally quieted, and the vortex had turned into an enormous, seemingly infinite pit. The bottom of it was the courtyard with the obelisk in the underground ruin.

However, the courtyard had been razed into a flat wasteland with nothing but charcoal, thick smoke, and blazing pools of flames.

As the thick smoke gradually dissipated, a faint golden light became visible amid the fire. It slowly grew clearer. It was a translucent light golden “phone booth”.

Gao Yang, Can, Qing Ling, and Ke Yo remained completely unscathed inside, backs and chests pressed together.