The Creatures that We Are

Fifth floor of the inpatient building, Shangqing Hospital, four o’clock in the morning.

The day had yet to break. The corridor connecting the wards was dark and quiet with the light off. At the end of the corridor stood an old man with silver hair, dressed in black tai chi clothes. He had his eyes closed as he pressed his hands together with a leg lifted over his other leg, bending his standing leg until he was crouching.

Mischievous Monkey had been maintaining the posture of a chicken standing on one leg for more than ten minutes.

The door to a single ward opened. Officer Huang walked out and went up to Mischievous Monkey on the right side.

Mischievous Monkey opened his eyes. “You’re up already, Young Huang?”

Officer Huang smiled bitterly. “Couldn’t sleep.”

Su Xi was expected to give birth in a little more than ten days. To be safe, Officer Huang admitted her into the hospital beforehand and used up his annual leaves so that he could stay with his wife every second every day.

Su Xi thought he was overreacting, but Officer Huang insisted. Nothing mattered more than life and death, and giving birth was the most important of matters in the world.

As a bodyguard sent by the Twelve Zodiac Signs, Mischievous Monkey stayed with his charge without ever getting far, but usually, he stayed outside Su Xi’s ward.

They sat down on the bench in the corridor. Officer Huang was chewing gum. He had quit smoking for a while. Whenever he felt the urge, he had to chew gum as a substitute.

“How’s Old Man Liu?” Officer Huang asked.

“Same old. He whines about hurting every day…” Mischievous Monkey said in a relaxed voice. “Yesterday, he suddenly felt like having stinky tofu and named an old restaurant in the Feiyang District. I couldn’t leave, but I didn’t know how to use a phone well. I had to ask a young nurse for help, and she ordered takeout for me. He only had one bite before stopping though. He said that it didn’t taste the same.”

He spoke at a deliberate pace. “I tried it too, and he was right. It can’t be helped. The original owner has passed away, and it’s the grandson who’s running the business now. While he’s learned the craft, different people still make different tasting food…”

Officer Huang felt the passage of time and the change of the world keenly, and he was hit with a pang of unexplainable sorrow.

“Sir Monkey.” Officer Huang hesitated for a moment. “You joined the Twelve Zodiac Signs to figure out your relationship with Old Man Liu, didn’t you?”

Mischievous Monkey nodded. “That’s right.”

“Given Old Man Liu’s condition…” Officer Huang smiled bitterly. “Do you still consider that important?”

“Haha.” Mischievous Monkey lifted his head slightly and thought about it. He didn’t answer the question directly. “Our parents passed away when we were young, and we became orphans when we were in primary school. Back then, my brother got better scores than I did, but he dropped out willingly, working at a small restaurant to support me as I continued school.”

“Although I only finished primary school, being literate could change one’s life completely.”

“My brother was a foodie and liked cooking, so he went around selling malatang with a rundown cart. Who would’ve known that he would end up doing that his whole life?”

“He’s my brother, my only family in this world. Nothing is going to change that.” Mischievous Monkey narrowed his eyes slightly, the wrinkles on his face smoothing somewhat. “I want to know about us not to satisfy my curiosity. Once you get to my age, Young Huang, you’ll know that being ignorant can be a bliss.”

“I only seek to find out more about us because I want to be prepared. I want my brother to meet a good death rather than seeing his life end in tragedy. I’m worried that he would turn into a monster before his death and realize he wasn’t human at the last moment of his life, that he had lived his life in vain… I don’t want that to happen. For that, I’ll do anything.”

Officer Huang paused, asking, “Anything?”

Mischievous Monkey nodded. “Anything.”

“Even if it’s the wrong thing to do?”

“Even if it’s the wrong thing to do,” Mischievous Monkey said openly. “However, you’ll have to live with the consequences.”

Officer Huang fell silent. A few seconds later, he leaned into the wall and closed his eyes gently, letting out a long breath. When he opened his eyes, his gaze was bright. “I leveled up.”

Mischievous Monkey looked at him. “That’s quick. It’s only been two days.”

“Yeah, it happened sooner than I expected.”

Officer Huang took out his phone and was about to call White Rabbit to come get the Element Rune Circuit. The Twelve Zodiac Signs had had Officer Huang carry the Rune Circuit with him after learning that he’d comprehended Light. And just then, his Light reached level 4.

The moment he found White Rabbit’s contact, though, he realized with a scowl that his hands couldn’t move.

So did Mischievous Monkey. When he realized it, a strange cold energy had already bound his body from head to toes like a cool, slimy boa constrictor.

Both of them had Element-type Talents, and they realized at the same time:

It was Phantom!

Indeed, a thin, rope-like shadow had approached them quietly from the floor and climbed up the bench, blending into their shadows and restraining them with them none the wiser.

As expected of the king of assassination among the Element-type Talents. Neither of them had detected anything.

While they hadn’t lost their ability to resist completely, they didn’t make a reckless move. For one, the phantom keeping them bound hadn’t moved to strangle them, but had instead been content with keeping them immobile. For another, the user of the Talent hadn’t shown themself, and thus they didn’t have a clear target to attack.

Soon, Officer Huang realized another two things: first, the surveillance cameras in the corner had been damaged at some point, and second, the shadow on his chest was inching slowly.

It had turned into a black tentacle and found the Element Rune Circuit in the inner pocket of his jacket, and it was dragging the Rune Circuit, intending on taking it.

Without further hesitation, Officer Huang parted his lips. “Shadowless Light.”

In half a second, ten glowing orbs emerged around Officer Huang and Mischievous Monkey, radiating brilliantly at the same time like ten cameras had taken a picture with the flash on from different angles.

At that moment, the shadow bounding them vanished—well, not actually vanished per se, but it had become so faint that it might as well not exist.

Officer Huang easily broke out of the restraint and grabbed the Element Rune Circuit. Mischievous Monkey stood up too and readied himself for a fight. He didn’t just use his Talent though. This was the hospital after all. It would create too much of a ruckus if he drew on the earth element now.

“Show yourself.” Officer Huang looked ahead. At the corner of the stairway twenty meters from him, a light-element orb hovered. It was the scout he had sent ahead.

A few seconds later, a tall, slim figure emerged from the corner.

It was a young man with the figure of a model, his head small compared to the rest of his body. He was dressed in a gray t-shirt and a set of loose, casual black suits, paired with dirty sneakers and a black baseball cap.

With his hands in his pockets, he lifted his palm-sized face slightly. His fair, tight skin had a healthy tan, and he had small bright eyes, a tall nose, and thin lips.

Half of his face was illuminated by the light orb. He looked like a playboy who was hot but frivolous.

With a slight curve to his lips, he said, “It’s been a while, Yellow Ox.”

Houseau3's Thoughts

I have a bad feeling about the conversation Officer Huang had with Mischievous Monkey...

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