The Creatures that We Are

“Would I be able to take the capsule train back myself?” Gao Yang asked.

Xiao Ya answered, “Yes. The control is simple. You may unlock it with your fingerprints. However, there will be a record for every trip.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Gao Yang closed the door and turned around to turn on the light. He was immediately stunned speechless.

His dorm room was a luxury apartment flat that was at least 500 square meters big. The far side was an open fan-shaped window wall, beyond which was a small bathing pool.

Gao Yang turned to enter the walk-in closet. There were clothes for a variety of occasions, including suits, casual clothes, training clothes, operation clothes, and outfits for stealth missions. The sleeves were all printed with an inconspicuous qilin pattern.

There was also a rectangular metal cabinet. Gao Yang opened the door, his eyes lighting up. There were guns, magazines, daggers, basic medicines, and support items, a full inventory of everything one would need.

At the Twelve Zodiac Signs, they were only allowed to carry these weapons and items on missions, and they had to submit a report on how much they had used afterward.

At the Qilin Guild, on the other hand, these were nothing but everyday necessities like bottled water placed by the bed in hotels, replaced the next day when finished.

Gao Yang clicked his tongue and shook his head. He could only describe the way the Guild did things with one word: flex.

He took some time to look around the flat and made sure there weren't any hidden cameras or bugs. Then he made a decision.

He took out his phone and sent his mother and father each a message, telling them that he would be spending the night at Wang Zikai’s place. Of course, they most likely wouldn’t see the messages until tomorrow.

Wang Zikai had become his go-to excuse these days, and it worked every time.

Gao Yang opened a couple taps to fill the bathing pool with warm water. Walking on the soft rug barefooted, he got a can of iced cola from the fridge and took off his clothes, drinking the cola while he enjoyed a hot bath and the view of Li City at three o’clock in the morning.

Gao Yang was reminded of the successful people in movies. This must be how their lives were.

Their jobs and high salary were the envy of other people. They were allowed to boss around their subordinates. They lived in luxurious houses. And if they had a beautiful lady as their wife, that would truly make them the top one percent of all.

Wait, what are you thinking, Gao Yang?!

This is only your first day joining the Guild, and you’ve already let the money and luxury get to you? What a disappointment!

You must remain strong-willed and not lose sight of your goal. You’re here to be a potential spy, not to enjoy the benefits!

And can you really afford to enjoy this? Remember the white cat? Fresh Snow? The faction behind Mad Red?

Remember the now resurrected Ghost Horse? The Crimson Tides? The Gates of Closure?

And the mysterious and terrifying pride monsters, life monsters, and death monsters?

How about the Mist World of mysteries and cruelty?

Gao Yang took a deep breath and slowly composed himself.

Still, the bath is so nice.

Ah, the cola no longer seems enough. I think…I’m a bit hungry.

There’s spam in the fridge, I think? I should make instant noodles and pan-fried two slices of spam.

Alright, let’s!

…

After enjoying a late night snack that filled him with guilty pleasure, Gao Yang got less than three hours of sleep before going to school.

He spent his morning self-study resting with his eyes closed. Nothing unusual happened.

Then he spent the morning doing test papers since they no longer had classes with the entrance exam coming up.

At noon, Gao Yang had lunch at the cafeteria. He purposefully made a detour to the back of the lab building when he walked past it, looking up at the lab on the second floor. The window was half open.

After some hesitation, Gao Yang turned away.

He and Qing Ling belonged to different organizations now. Although they were still in the same class at the same school, it would be too suspicious for them to meet up in private. It was best to avoid it.

In the afternoon, Qing Ling was absent from class. She must have skipped the rest of the day in favor of training at base.

After the evening self-study, Gao Yang went home and explained to his family why he had spent the night at Wang Zikai’s place again. His father was the only one in support. The rest of his family were worried.

Gao Yang acted like he was taking their scolding to heart, when in truth he was already thinking about the next time.

Then late at night, once he made sure that his family had fallen asleep, he headed to the Walled City of Ten Dragons in the Feiyang District on his own.

During the one month he was with the Twelve Zodiac Signs, he had learned quite a few things. For example, White Rabbit had told him that being late by a few minutes would lend him importance.

Gao Yang paid attention to the time and waited until he was three minutes late.

Then he walked into the Black Tortoise tower and entered the assigned meeting room. All members of the fifth team had arrived.

Hm, good.

Gao Yang was pleased. As expected of a large organization, the members were punctual.

There were five people inside. Gray Bear sat on a single sofa dressed in military-style casual clothes and a newsboy cap. The platinum qilin brooch on his chest was especially eye-catching.

On the long sofa across from him sat two young men and one young woman.

The man on the left was dressed in all black. One side of his hair was shaved, while the other side was longer and dyed with highlights of different colors. His ear was lined with silver rings like a display stand, and his face was covered in thick gothic makeup with the lips the color of pork liver.

It wasn’t a style Gao Yang appreciated, but he had to admit it was unique and memorable.

The man sitting in the middle looked a lot more mundane. He seemed to be in his twenties, dressed in white shirt, khaki cropped pants, and casual dress shoes with a pair of black, thick-rimmed glasses. He looked neat, bookish, and a little shy.

The girl on the right was physically small. Drowning in the loose, boyish T-shirt and denim overall, she looked even more petite. Her brunette hair was cut into a puffy bob, and she seemed lost in the mobile game she was playing with her legs tucked up.

Gao Yang noted that all three of them were wearing bronze qilin brooch.

Generally, each operations team at the Qilin Guild consisted of six members, all direct subordinates of the Elder.

The fifth operations team answered to Black Tortoise, and there were one Protector, two Elites, and three regular members.

In addition to Gray Bear, there should be another Elite…

Suddenly, a gust of wind came from above Gao Yang’s head. He dodged to the side reflexively, and a figure emerged, stabbing at where he had been with a shortsword.

The middle-aged man wearing camouflage rose to his feet. He had gray, short hair and sharp features. An ugly scar ran from his left eye through his nose bridge to the bottom of his right ear, obviously left by a blade. His thin, pale lips were sharp like razors.

“Good reflex,” the man said. His low, slimy voice was like the skin of a cold-blooded animal.

“Is this how you welcome me?” Gao Yang said calmly, but inwardly, he was cursing up a storm. Fucking son of a gun! You think I put points into my Agility for nothing? And you were actually trying to kill me, weren’t you?!

“This is how I welcome people. Don’t you like it?” The scarred man put away his shortsword and smirked insidiously.

“I’ll let it go this time, but not again,” Gao Yang commanded seriously. Although he might not be able to defeat the man in a fight, he had to come out strong.

“Ha.” The scarred man’s eyes glinted. Gao Yang had won some respect from him.

“That’s how Lithe Snake is.” Gray Bear stood up. “He grows on you, Captain. He’s not a bad guy.”

Gao Yang didn’t say anything, but instead turned to the three young members on the sofa.

“Allow me to introduce them.” Gray Bear pointed at the young man with colorful hair. “This is Ronnie.”

Ronnie glanced sideways and nodded at Gao Yang as greeting, his earrings clinking as he moved.

Gray Bear then pointed at the bookish man in white shirt. “This is Xiran.”

Xiran nodded at Gao Yang politely, giving him a friendly and awkward smile. “I’m Xiran. Xi for west, and ran for burning. Nice to meet you, Captain.”

Gao Yang nodded.

“This is the only girl on the team. We call her Can.” Gray Bear shook his head resignedly and added, “She’s practically deaf when she plays games. She doesn’t even know when monsters are talking to her, let alone humans.”

The bob-haired girl was indeed entirely focused on the game and didn’t seem to hear a word they were saying.

The team seemed like trouble to manage.

Gao Yang suppressed a sigh, suddenly reminded of something his homeroom teacher always said: You are the worst class I’ve taught.

Houseau3's Thoughts

Personally not a fan of spam, but instant noodles are so good as long as you don't have them too often.

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