The Creatures that We Are

Wait!

This isn’t the masseur from earlier.

Gao Yang snuck a glance at the floor. The fine, polished surface of the light gray marble reflected the man’s face, and he looked the same as before. Some time ago, Gao Yang would’ve thought the masseur had simply changed up his techniques.

Now that his Charisma had increased to 500, though, his keen senses told him that this was a different person.

An enemy?

Every single muscle in his body tensed up involuntarily.

Standing on his side, the masseur bent down to work on Gao Yang’s back, and he noticed the alertness radiating from the body under his hands. His lips curled into a smirk.

A second later, his fingers found their ways to Gao Yang’s nape, pinching his cervical spine.

Gao Yang’s hair stood on end, but he didn’t dare make a reckless move.

It felt as if someone was pointing a gun at Gao Yang’s hand.

Heart pounding, he steadied his breathing and slowly focused his energy to the muscles in his neck, where he was being pinched. At the same time, he gathered energy in his palms, ready to shoot fire at any time.

But then he hesitated.

Shit, Dad’s still here!

What if his father was neither human nor wanderer? What if he was an elite monster? Would Gao Yang have to fight him then? And they would never be father and son again!

Fuck!

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

I should’ve insisted on not coming to Naldives with my family!

Thankfully, the masseur didn’t make a move against Gao Yang after a few seconds, but instead wrote a few words on his back with his fingers.

Gao Yang felt a weight suddenly lifted off him, and he relaxed, letting out the breath he had been holding.

Thank God!

Thank heavens that it’s a false alert!

…

Perhaps it was because they had taken a midnight flight and hadn’t slept well, they had a good rest at the spa, and when they left, it was already evening.

They returned to the villa.

Gao Yang’s mother asked Wang Zikai to stay for dinner, but Wang Zikai turned her down, saying that he had ordered pizza takeout already. Then he returned to the Fairytale Villa on his jet ski.

Seven o’clock in the evening, a server brought the family their provided dinner, including a large portion of chicken curry, a large bowl of seafood soup, some tropical fruit, and naan.

Compared to their lunch, it was nothing to write home about.

However, Gao Yang’s mother couldn’t be happier and ate more than usual, eased by the fact that the meal wasn’t paid by someone else.

She had always been like this since Gao Yang could remember, gentle and caring, kind but reserved, never envious of things that weren’t hers. Back when they lived in the countryside and didn’t have much money, she never complained, but did her best to give them a good life.

If they ended up taking advantage of someone, not only wouldn’t she feel happy about it, she would feel guilty and keep trying to return the favor as soon as possible.

She always said that in one’s life, a free conscience was more important than anything.

After dinner, they were all tired and decided to stay in the hotel.

Sensing his cue, Gao Yang rose to leave, only to be stopped by a voice. “Oh no you aren’t going just yet, Gao Yang!”

Gao Yang jumped and turned around guiltily.

Gao Xinxin walked out of her room, holding a frilly, dreamy white lolita dress to her chest. “Take pictures for me!”

“Why not tomorrow? I’m gonna go to Wang Zikai’s…”

“No! The sunset is prettiest now!” Gao Xinxin pouted. “Who knows if we’ll get the same view tomorrow? What if it rains?”

Summer is off season in Naldives due to the frequent rains. Of course, it also meant things were cheaper during this period.

“Fine.”

“Yay! Wait here. I’m getting changed now!” Gao Xinxin ran back to the room excitedly and closed the door behind her.

…

Ten minutes later, Gao Xinxin strolled along the soft sandy beach dressed in her lolita dress made of layers of white, airy fabric, an adorable large ribbon adorning her hair.

Half of the red sun had already sunken below the horizon, casting a glow of warm orange on the blue sky, blue ocean, and white beach.

With her long hair running down her back, Gao Xinxin walked barefooted with her hands behind her, leaving deep and shallow footprints on the sand.

Every once in a while, a wave would approach and submerge her ankles. She nervously lifted her dress, worried that the hem would get wet.

Holding a phone, Gao Yang knelt on the side and kept taking pictures for her.

Suddenly, Gao Xinxin grimaced, and she fell as she cried out, “Ah! Help!”

Splash!

The waves happened to crash into her at that moment, submerging her lower body.

“Gao Xinxin!”

Startled, Gao Yang dropped the phone and rushed up to her, helping her up.

“You okay?”

“Crab! There was a giant crab!” Gao Xinxin was entirely drenched, her face pale. “It crawled over my feet earlier. I, I almost had a heart attack!”

Gao Yang sighed in relief, breaking into a small smile. “You overreacted so much that I thought you got bitten by something.”

“But it was scary!” His sister pouted. Then she looked down and exclaimed, “Ah, my dress! Shoot, shoot, shoot!”

Another wave hit, making a pair of wet dogs out of them.

This time, Gao Xinxin gave up on saving her dress.

She glanced at Gao Yang in resignation before breaking into a mischievous smirk. Scooping water with both hands, she splashed water at his face.

“Hey! That’s foul…” Gao Yang got water in his mouth. He retaliated and splashed water back at his sister. “Dishonor on you! Take this!”

“Haha! Hahaha!”

Gao Xinxin stood up and ran toward the sea. Gao Yang chased after her.

With the water reaching their waists, the brother and sister played until their clothes and hair were both entirely drenched.

At some point, the sun had sunk below the horizon; only a lingering ray could be seen.

Night descended. The world seemed so quiet and vast at this moment—it must be vast, the world, if only there was no mist permeating it.

Exhausted, Gao Xinxin stopped playing around and looked far into the distant sea. The lingering red of the sunset reflected in her eyes, making her seem melancholy beyond her age.

“Brother,” Gao Xinxin said quietly, almost a whisper.

“Yeah?” Gao Yang turned around.

A sea breeze lifted her hair and made it dance, which covered her eyes and half of her face so that Gao Yang couldn’t see her expression clearly.

The fifteen-year-old girl looked up at her eighteen-year-old brother.

“Let us be family forever. Promise?”

Gao Yang’s heart stuttered.

The world seemed to lose all colors and sounds at that moment.

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