The Creatures that We Are

Gao Yang got into the passenger seat. Wang Zikai started the car.

Gao Yang put a hand on the window and said facing the night wind, “How did it go?”

“I’d been looking at the map of Li City the whole afternoon. My eyes were going blind!” Wang Zikai said. “Only three places fit your criteria.”

Gao Yang called Wang Zikai at noon and asked him to do a search for him.

Although Wang Zikai wasn’t the best candidate for something that required thinking, there was one significant positive to seeking Wang Zikai’s help: he didn’t belong to any faction, and Gao Yang could trust him.

Gao Yang was looking for a place that fit a few criteria.

First, there should be a lake in the area—not a pond, but a lake. And the place shouldn’t be too well-connected traffic-wise, and it shouldn’t be too well developed.

Those were clues Chen Ying had found with Psychometry in the driver’s compartment of the box truck.

At the time, Chen Ying sensed that the road was quite bumpy, which meant that it wasn’t well-paved. And the scenery outside seemed desolate with a shimmering surface, which would be either a lake or a river.

First, Li River was sandwiched by levees on both sides, which were much higher than the water level. There hadn’t been a downpour the past fifteen days, and thus the water level had remained low.

If the moving truck had been driving toward the riverbank, the river wouldn’t be visible until it got within a certain distance.

Second, the truck had been driven into the Li River to lure Gao Yang into its range and blow him up. They were unlikely to settle down in the same area. There would be too high a risk for Ghost Horse’s hideout to be found.

Therefore, Gao Yang guessed it was a lake.

After a moment of bemusement, Gao Yang heard Wang Zikai speak up.

“One is the Western Suburban Park. There is a large lake there, and it’s quite remote.”

Wang Zikai thought for a while and continued, “The second is Apple Island. There’s a lake there too, and it's in the middle-of-nowhere.”

“The third is the Green Plum Lake. There are quite a lot of buildings there, but on the map, it seems that the lakeside road is being resurfaced, which would qualify it too.”

Gao Yang turned to Wang Zikai in surprise. Huh, the guy is making proper analysis.

“Good job,” Gao Yang said in approval. “Let’s go home first.”

On their way home, Gao Yang opened his phone’s map and studied the three locations, making plans in his head.

Once they were home, they had some food and changed into casual clothes that were suited for physical work and disguise. Gao Yang also brought items and equipment for battles just in case.

“Is the vehicle ready?” Gao Yang asked.

“Of course!” Wang Zikai pounded on his chest. “Who do you think I am?”

Wang Zikai took Gao Yang to the garage in the basement of the villa. Pulling off a piece of black cloth, Wang Zikai revealed a brand new black and red adventure motorcycle.

Gao Yang was pleased. It would attract too much attention for them to drive a luxurious car around at midnight. A motorcycle would be the better option.

Wang Zikai picked up the helmet on the motorcycle and threw it to Gao Yang and put one on himself, easily getting onto the seat.

Gao Yang opened the rolling door of the garage and got up behind Wang Zikai. “Let’s go to the Western Suburban Park first.”

For a while, Wang Zikai didn’t start the engine.

“What’s wrong?” Gao Yang asked.

“Hold onto me, bro!” Wang Zikai hollered. “Or you’re gonna fall off when I speed up.”

“Right.” Gao Yang put his arms around Wang Zikai’s waist. “Is this okay?”

“Let’s go!”

Wang Zikai started the motorcycle. With a wild, provocative rev of the engine, they dashed out of the garage.

Wang Zikai rode the motorcycle well. Gao Yang knew that Wang Zikai had gotten obsessed with motorcycles in middle school. At the time, he even started something like a biker gang and raced along the ring road late at night every day, risk of death be damned.

After getting into high school, Wang Zikai fell in love with race cars, and he rarely rode his bikes.

An hour later, the duo reached the entrance to the Western Suburban Park.

“Stop here!” Gao Yang called out.

“This is a free park,” said Wang Zikai. “We can ride straight in.”

“Stop, please.”

“Alright, whatever you say.”

Wang Zikai stopped the motorcycle. Gao Yang checked his backpack and took out a pair of tactical binoculars. “We risk exposing ourselves if we get too close. We’ll walk the rest of the way.”

The two walked into the park. After confirming where the lake was, they got off the paved path and went through a small forest, climbing over a hill. Then they slowly approached the lake in the park.

Ten minutes later, they went past a small ride and vaulted the metal fences. The scenery before them opened up immediately, and right ahead was the central lake of the Western Suburban Park.

They ducked down behind a bush. Gao Yang took out the binoculars and looked over at the lake not far from them and the lawn around it.

The surrounding area of the lake was flat, allowing a clear line of sight. Gao Yang could see a few tents and two private cars parked nearby. They probably belonged to some camping enthusiasts.

At the heart of the lake was a small island, on which was a small wooden cabin straight out of a fairytale. It was a tourist attraction of sorts, but only reachable during the day with a ferry.

Gao Yang had a feeling that this was unlikely to be Ghost Horse’s hiding place.

If it were Gao Yang, he wouldn’t have chosen this park as his hideout. There was little cover. And if someone tracked him down here, the risk of getting flanked was high with little chance of escape.

“Ghost Horse must be hiding in the cabin!” Wang Zikai thought differently.

Amused, Gao Yang asked, “Why?”

“I don’t know! But I have a hunch! He must be hiding there!”

You’ve played too many games, bro, Gao Yang thought. Only bosses in games hide in really obvious places, worried that the players would miss them.

Gao Yang didn’t burst his bubble.

He unzipped his backpack and took out a small infrared camera. Scanning around, he approached a tree behind him and gracefully jumped onto it, attaching the camera to a hidden branch, aimed at the whole lake.

It was a forward operation equipment provided by the Qilin Guild, small, but high-resolution, and one charge would last 72 hours.

Speaking of which, it was thanks to Wu Dahai’s long-lasting battery technology that allowed the camera to run for so long.

Gao Yang jumped off the tree. “Let’s go.”

“Huh? Already? Aren’t we going to check the lake out?” Wang Zikai was disappointed. “Ghost Horse must be in the cabin!”

“Don’t alert the enemy. We’ll retrieve the camera in three days.” Gao Yang waved him over. “Come on. Let’s go to the next spot.”

…

The two of them left the park and rode the motorcycle to the next destination, the Green Plum Lake.

It was already three o’clock in the morning when they arrived.

The lake was large, surrounded by high-class residential communities as well as coffee shops and stores.

One camera wouldn’t be able to cover the entire lake. Even if he somehow managed to put the entire lake in the frame, the people would be too small to make out then.

Thankfully, there was only one road around the lake.

Gao Yang studied the route and installed cameras on the streetlamp at the three most important crossroads, which would allow the cameras to capture most visitors to the lake.

Thinking about the heavy workload of going through the footage gave him a headache, though.

“Look!”

Wang Zikai suddenly called out, pointing ahead.

Gao Yang followed his finger.

Not far from them, a tall, thin figure snuck their way to the greenery, heading to the lake.

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