The Creatures that We Are

The two of them moved through dense shrubs while crouching, making the long way to the side of the chemical plant, where there were a few concrete pipes that were one meter in diameter, surrounded by dense haphazard heaps of grass.

Gao Yang and Wang Zikai dove into one of the pipes. Gao Yang removed some of the grass for a clear line of sight and installed a camera above his head, on the inside of the pipe. The camera was pointing at the entrance of the chemical plant.

That marked the end of their mission tonight.

Without lingering, Gao Yang quietly left with Wang Zikai.

Half an hour later, they were speeding through the road at night on Wang Zikai’s motorcycle. Even with a helmet on, Gao Yang could still feel strong gusts of wind hitting him on his revealed neck.

“Don’t you find that guy stupid too?” Wang Zikai suddenly yelled.

“What?” Gao Yang didn’t get what he was suddenly talking about.

“The guy who jumped into the lake, I mean.”

Gao Yang was a little surprised that Wang Zikai would still be hung up on that. It was uncharacteristic of him.

“For real?” Gao Yang found that hard to believe.

“For real!”

Wang Zikai slowed down a little and made a sharp turn. “My mom and dad were talking about a divorce at the time, and they argued every day. I believed it was my fault, and I wanted to disappear from the world.”

Gao Yang suddenly felt bad for Wang Zikai. In comparison, he had grown up in a loving family.

“Hahaha, I was so fucking stupid! Thankfully, I didn’t kill myself!” Wang Zikai burst into laughter. “I’m gonna be the god that saves the world! I’ll be almighty forever and ever!”

“Right.” Gao Yang pushed aside his misplaced sympathy.

…

Gao Yang didn’t get to rest for long before he had to go to school.

For the next three days, Gao Yang played the diligent student during the day and focused on doing test papers, and after school, he went to Wang Zikai’s home to spend the night.

Nothing happened during the three days. The Qilin Guild hadn’t contacted Gao Yang, either.

The more uneventful his days were, however, the more anxious Gao Yang got. It felt like the calm before the storm.

On the night of the third day, Gao Yang and Wang Zikai rode a motorcycle to the three lakes to collect the cameras.

Once they were home, they retrieved the recordings.

There were five cameras in total, each having recorded 72 hours of footage, totalling 360 hours.

It would take a long time to go through even if they fast-forwarded through the recordings.

To be thorough and avoid missing any suspicious figure, they watched the footage together. And they had to pause when they caught someone acting odd to check if it was who they were looking for. ℞αΝö฿Ěṡ

They spent a night like that, finishing checking only a third of all footage.

Gao Yang’s eyes were sore, and he felt lightheaded.

“You should take a nap and go to school, bro,” said Wang Zikai. “You’re taking your entrance exams tomorrow. It’s important!”

Gao Yang was hesitant. Compared to the threats of the world of awakeners, the entrance exams seemed trivial. If he was honest with himself, however, he did want to do well. He didn’t want to disappoint his family.

“Don’t worry. I’ll go through the rest. I promise that I’ll be thorough!” Wang Zikai thumped his chest for emphasis.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.” Gao Yang decided to trust Wang Zikai this time. And it turned out that Wang Zikai was dependable when it mattered.

Came morning, Gao Yang went to school.

Tomorrow would be the first day of the entrance exams. The teachers advised the students against last-minute cramming with test problems from past exams. Instead, they were told to relax and prepare themselves mentally.

At noon, the homeroom teacher addressed the class seriously and then gave them half a day off to visit the exam site before going home to rest.

Gao Yang did just that with his classmates. Then he went home.

His family cared a lot about his exams, especially his mother. She was even careful when talking to Gao Yang, lest she disrupt his mental state in some way.

In the evening, his mother prepared the usual dinner. She didn’t dare make a big meal, afraid that Gao Yang might have trouble sleeping if he was too full.

Then Gao Yang retired to his bedroom after dinner and a short chat with his family.

He checked his national ID and admission ticket, then the stationeries he would use during the exams, including his pens, pencils, eraser, ruler, and set square.

After that, he read a few example essays.

Writing essays wasn’t his forte. Thus, he opted for the most primitive method, memorizing as many essays as he could. As long as the topic for the writing test wasn’t too obscure, he would be able to stitch together parts of the essays he had read, making a chimera essay of sorts. It would be too much to hope for a high mark, but at least he should get the average score.

At midnight, Gao Yang was just about to go to sleep when his phone rang.

It was Wang Zikai. “Bro, I’m outside your building!”

Surprised, Gao Yang went up to the window and popped his head out to look down. Still mounted on his motorcycle, Wang Zikai waved at him.

Five minutes later, Gao Yang got changed and jumped out of his window, making it to the ground floor by moving between awnings and along walls.

“What is it?” Gao Yang asked.

“I found Ghost Horse!” Wang Zikai seemed satisfied despite the shadow under his eyes. “My eyes were still sore from all the footage I watched!”

Gao Yang startled. “You found him?”

“See for yourself!” Wang Zikai took out his phone and called up an album. Inside were two screenshots of the footage they collected.

It was the chemical plant on the Apple Island at dawn. A tall, thin figure was walking through the side door of the chemical plant, holding a bag of what looked like groceries.

Since the figure was wearing a baseball cap and the camera was shooting from a distance, Gao Yang couldn’t make out the figure’s face. Still, it was suspicious enough for someone to show up at an abandoned chemical plant.

Gao Yang fell silent and came to a decision.

“Go home and get prepared, Wang Zikai…”

“No need! I’ve prepared everything!” Wang Zikai patted the handbag he had with him. “We can just go!”

“Let me see.” Gao Yang unzipped the bag. Indeed, Wang Zikai had brought everything.

You’ve grown, Wang Zikai, Gao Yang thought with complicated feelings.

He got onto the motorcycle. “Let’s go!”

Wang Zikai hesitated. “You’re taking your entrance exams tomorrow. Why don’t we wait til you finish your exams?”

“No, we’ll do it tonight.”

Time waited for no one. Compared to always watching the dark corners for Ghost Horse to pop up, Gao Yang would rather deal with the man proactively, once and for all.

They arrived at Apple Island past midnight.

As they had done the last time they were here, the duo parked by the road and walked through the desolate clearing, sneaking to the concrete pipe on the side of the chemical plant to hide themselves.

Gao Yang took out his binoculars and watched the chemical plant awash in darkness. His gaze shifted from the front door to the side door, the windows of the factory, the pipes, the floors, and finally the metal stairs of the facility towers.

“Let me see!” Wang Zikai said anxiously.

“Wait,” Gao Yang’s voice dropped a few tones.

A figure appeared in his view, standing on a large blue reactor, seemingly on the phone.

Soon, he hung up and jumped off the reactor, entering a workshop and closing the metal door behind him.

Gao Yang perked up.

Mobile signal was poor here. That was why Ghost Horse had to come outside to a higher place to make a call, and Gao Yang happened to catch him doing so.

Gao Yang had two options.

First, he could go after Ghost Horse with Wang Zikai. The risk would be high, and there was a great chance that Ghost Horse would successfully escape.

Second, he could call the Qilin Guild. It would be safer, and there was a lower chance of Ghost Horse fleeing. Although it was against the rule for Gao Yang to continue the investigation when it had been entrusted to someone else, the success should make things even for him.

Gao Yang didn’t hesitate to choose the latter.

He turned to Wang Zikai. “You should return, Wang Zikai.”

“What?!” Wang Zikai almost shouted.

Gao Yang quickly covered his mouth. “Quiet!”

Wang Zikai peeled his hand off angrily. “Are you fucking with me? We finally found him! We’re gonna have an epic fight tonight!”

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