The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 599: Narrow down the Suspects

Gao Yang nodded. “I believe Dust has some way to lie to or brainwash herself. In other words, she can fool others because she’s fooled herself.”

“Interesting.” War Tiger smiled.

Surnamed Li seemed to be thinking.

Qilin lowered his head to take a sip of his coffee, raising his hand slightly.

Gao Yang continued, “Green Tea had Mindreading. Although he hadn’t identified Dust immediately, he must have heard another voice from Dust during their interaction, which didn’t make Green Tea think she was the spy, but did rouse his suspicion. She seemed like someone with two personalities to him.”

“Green Tea started paying attention and suspected her of being a spy, but he didn’t know for sure. The night he ran into me, he asked me about multiple personalities.”

“What I told him was at odds with what he had observed, which cemented his suspicion of her being a spy. He thought she had been undercover in the Hundred Rivers Union by brainwashing herself and maintaining a fake personality to hide her true personality.”

“Green Tea decided to investigate further. He told me that he would seek me out later. Before leaving, he patted my shoulder to give me a hint.”

Gao Yang sighed. “Green Tea must have been looking into Dust the past two days. Unfortunately, Dust was too smart and noticed his suspicion. She put a curse on his soul, which led to what happened tonight.”

“Yeah, makes sense,” War Tiger said.

Qilin agreed.

Surnamed Li turned to Gao Yang in worry. “Have you narrowed down the suspects?”

“I’ve come to three rough conclusions,” said Gao Yang. “First, Dust is a woman. Vermilion Bird got the information from Black Tortoise’s body, and Fresh Snow came to the same conclusion based on the smell of the soul.”

“Second, it no longer makes sense to limit the suspects to those who have joined for less than ten years.”

Gao Yang glanced at Surnamed Li. “Chen Ying and Colorless have joined the Union for over ten years, but I don’t think that alone proved their innocence. The spy may have been a member of the Godbearer Cult long ago and only become active at a certain time like a sleeper agent. Moreover, if they have the ability to brainwash themselves, you may stay with them for years without noticing anything.”

Surnamed Li nodded.

“Third, Dust has come into contact with Green Tea over the past three days, having had physical contact and friendly conversation with him.”

Surnamed Li sighed in relief. “Then Chen Ying at least is excluded. She had gone to Island Nation with me to attend to a personal matter, and we only returned to Li City two hours ago. She had never once left my side.”

She pressed a button on her wheelchair. Not long after, Chen Ying opened the door and came in. She asked in a respectful tone, “Madam Li, what may I do for you?”

“Look into where Green Tea had gone the past three days and find out which female Union members he had come into contact with. Keep this a secret.”

“Understood.” Chen Ying took her leave.

The room fell silent. The four of them were each in their thoughts.

A minute later, Qilin made a decision. He put down the coffee cup and sighed softly. “We can’t drag this on any longer, Seven Shadow. We must get our hand on the Guard Rune Circuit now.”

“Yes, we have to speed things up.” War Tiger nodded. “How do people describe it again? A storm is brewing. We can tell from the underlying turbulence.”

“Give me a little more time,” Gao Yang said with an impassive expression. “Level 6 Psychic Armor is out of the question. I’ll go down the abyss as soon as I reach level 5.”

“Is one more day enough?” Qilin asked.

Gao Yang thought for a moment and nodded. “Yes. I’ll go down the abyss tomorrow at eight at night. Does that work for you?”

“It does.” Qilin looked at the other attendees. “Please do show up then.”

“Of course,” War Tiger said.

Surnamed Li added, “Yes, my Prophet may be of use.”

“Thank you,” Gao Yang said bluntly. “I do need your help, Madam Li.”

No one knew what awaited Gao Yang in the abyss. Surnamed Li’s ability to see the next ten seconds would be crucial.

Gao Yang had a rough plan of how he should explore the abyss. He would have a rope tied to him with a bell tied to the other end. If he ran into any danger, he would yank at the rope to alert those outside the abyss so that they could pull him up.

Of course, Gao Yang could very well be dead already then.

However, Surnamed Li would foresee the bell ringing ten seconds earlier and thus save Gao Yang early. Then he would stand a good chance of surviving.

After agreeing on the time to explore the abyss, the four of them talked a little more about other matters, including the investigation into the Godbearer Cult and their plan after collecting all twelve Rune Circuits and opening the Gates of Closure.

Twenty minutes later, Chen Ying knocked and came in.

She made a brief report calmly. “The female members Green Tea had come into contact with over the past three days include Colorless, Amon, Sha Ye, and Wang Weiyan from the first team, Chestnut from the third team, Rain River, Citrus, Sister Ling from the fifth team, and Harvest Song.”

Gao Yang felt like clicking his tongue. Although it was disrespectful to judge the dead, Green Tea really was a social butterfly.

Excluding Wang Weiyan, who couldn’t have been the culprit, there were eight suspects.

Lie Detection wouldn’t work on Dust. She could brainwash herself, and thus she wouldn’t think she was lying.

Gao Yang was going to give a warning when Qilin opened his mouth first. “Madam Li, it’s better that you avoid any physical contact with those on the list before we catch Dust.”

“Thanks for the reminder.” Surnamed Li glanced at Chen Ying. “Please take care of it.”

“I will.” Chen Ying left.

Qilin glanced at them. “Shall we end the meeting now?”

“I’m good.” War Tiger already had a cigarette in his mouth, giving in to his urge to smoke.

“Fine by me me.” Surnamed Li glanced at Gao Yang.

“I’m for it too.” Gao Yang thought for a moment before asking Qilin, “Am I staying here, or going back to the Guild, Guildmaster?”

“You may decide for yourself.”

“I’ll stay here then. The five of them will continue with their guard duty.”

“Okay,” said Qilin.

Gao Yang walked QIlin, War Tiger, and Surnamed Li out. The others took their leaves too.

Six Rime, Lithe Snake, Nine Frost, Can, and Hong Xiaoxiao quickly returned to the house.

“How was it, Captain?” Can couldn’t contain her curiosity. “Do you know who Dust is now?”

Gao Yang shook his head, listing the suspects Chen Ying had zeroed in on. “Watch out for these people. Don’t seek them out and don’t share any physical contact with them. It’s better safe than sorry.”

“Gotcha!” Can nodded vehemently.

The others committed the list of suspects to mind too.

Hong Xiaoxiao had been listening quietly, but in her mind was a storm of thoughts. So scary! Is this the world of the awakeners? Thank God I decided to follow the right guy! I’ve dodged so many bullets!

Gao Yang sat down on the sofa. “I’m taking a nap. Make yourselves at home.”

Two days ago, when Gao Yang treated Hong Xiaoxiao to barbecues at Liu Qingying’s restaurant, he had gotten a gummy marked by Sweet Dream. He planned to exchange information with her tonight, so he had eaten it when he got the chance to.

He closed his eyes and sighed inwardly.

Things happened one after another. If he had known he would be so busy today, he would’ve postponed the meeting.