The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 673: A Moment of Greed

Walled City of Ten Dragons, fifteen past one in the morning.

Liu Qingying woke up in her large soft bed.

Her bedroom was dark and quiet, the heating sufficient enough for her to wear only a black garter dress of thin, smooth silk. Her long silver hair ran messily on her pillow.

She slowly sat up, her hands and thighs rustling the blanket.

The sensor light at her nightstand lit up, casting light over a small corner. There was a pack of cigarettes, a lighter, and a small framed photo on the nightstand. It was a two-shot of Ba Qiuchi and Liu Qingying when they were at school. Both were wearing youthful summer uniforms for their high school.

Ba Qiuchi had a hand on Liu Qingying’s shoulder while she held up a Polaroid camera, looking into the lens. Hair tied into twin tails, she beamed with light dancing in her eyes. Her chin looked thin as she smiled. Her bright deposition was clear in the photo.

Liu Qingying’s hair ran down to her chin with messy ends like it had been cut short messily. She had a bandaid with strawberry patterns on her nose.

When she was sixteen, she wasn’t the mature seductress she was now, but more of a tomboy.

On her youthful face, her eyes were bashful, and her expression and posture betrayed her insecurity and awkwardness, but it was also clear that she was happy.

Of course she would be. It was her first time making a friend in her life.

Liu Qingying stared at the photo. She couldn’t help but open the drawer and take out a blue accessory box, inside which were a pair of silver earrings shaped like willow leaves[1].

Her hands trembled. After a moment of struggle, she still failed to muster the courage to pick them up.

Click. She closed the box, putting it back in the drawer.

She grabbed the cigarettes and lighter and walked barefoot to the floor-to-ceiling window, opening it and walking out to the balcony. The chilling wind of the winter night rustled her hair and smoothed out the wrinkles of her silk pajama dress, her alluring curves on full display.

She knew that a man was watching her through binoculars from his hiding place far from here, but she didn’t care.

She turned around and leaned against the railing, shielding the lighter to light up a cigarette. She took a deep drag and tipped her head up. The white smoke she exhaled quickly dispersed in the wind.

It was cold. The wind cut her skin like razor blades.

She felt better now.

...

Meanwhile, in the screening room in Sweet Dream, the movie was still playing. Due to the girl’s stubbornness, the hitman and the girl got kicked out of the hotel. The older man had a toolbox and a “cello case” in his hands, while the girl was holding a potted plant and a duffle bag. They walked quickly on the road with dour faces.

“No.” Gao Yang rejected Ke Yo’s idea. “I can’t just break into the White Lake Hotel and take you away.”

“Only Sister...Vermilion Bird and One Stone would be there to watch over me. I can disorient them with a whistle. Then you will take me away.”

“It’s not that simple. The White Lake Hotel and the Walled City of Ten Dragons are both the Guild’s turf. There are many hidden eyes watching.”

Gao Yang briefly explained the Talents of Raven Shark, Chaos Reflection, and Forest Crane. “You haven’t earned the Guild’s trust, and there will be open and secret surveillance on you. It won’t be difficult for me to take you, but it will be difficult to not leave any tracks that would expose us.”

“Then what?”

Gao Yang gave it some thought. “Tomorrow...no, this afternoon, the Hundred Rivers Union and the Twelve Zodiac Signs will be exchanging Rune Circuits in the Walled City of Ten Dragons under the Guild’s witness. That is true, right?”

“Yeah, Vermilion Bird said so.”

“Will you be there?”

“I think so,” Ke Yo said. “Vermilion Bird and Azure Dragon are the witnesses, and Vermilion Bird always takes me with her so that she can keep her eyes on me.”

“Okay. Then I’ll pick you up during the trade.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Ke Yo was shocked and confused. “The three organizations will all be there, and you want to take me then?”

“Yeah.” Gao Yang nodded and asked with a smile, “Were you a member of the three organizations, what would you think the Nine Scions are after when they suddenly barge in?”

Ke Yo paused. “The Rune Circuits!”

“That’s right. The Twelve Zodiac Signs and the Hundred Rivers Union will prioritize protecting the Rune Circuits, and the Guild will help do the same or go after the Nine Scions. No attention will be given to you.”

Ke Yo narrowed her eyes as she considered the plan’s viability.

“Having fewer people around isn’t necessarily a good thing. You’d be the center of attention, and it’d be too obvious what we’re doing by rushing to you. We’d stand a lower chance to succeed then, and we may even fall into a trap.”

Gao Yang added, “And having many people around isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Since everyone’s from a different faction with different goals, the situation will be messy. And the Rune Circuits are serving as a smokescreen. You’ll fade into the backdrop then.”

Ke Yo was convinced. “Okay. What do you need me to do?”

“Many.” Gao Yang sounded solemn. “I’m going to tell you the detailed plan. Remember, you must follow every step, or lives will be lost.”

Ke Yo hesitated before looking up at him. “Aren’t you worried that I may be lying to you?”

“To be frank, I am a little worried.” Gao Yang smiled bitterly. “But I believe Edmond when he said that you weren’t a bad person.”

Ke Yo sighed. “So it’s a gamble.”

“Aren’t you making a gamble too? Who among us isn’t gambling as we try to survive until the end in this Mist World?” Gao Yang quoted a certain someone.

Ke Yo stayed quiet with her head slightly lowered, her eyes flashing.

“Don’t worry.” Gao Yang joked. “I’m lucky. Even when competing with a professional player with over ten years of experience at slot machines, I’ll win by a small margin.”

...

Black Tortoise Branch, Walled City of Ten Dragons. December 22nd, three o’clock in the afternoon.

Inside the restroom, Ke Yo stood before the wash basin, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

She was wearing a black double-breasted trenchcoat with a platinum qilin brooch on her chest. It meant that she was now an Elite of Team Vermilion Bird.

This afternoon, alongside Elder Vermilion Bird, she would witness the exchange of Rune Circuits between two organizations. It was her first mission.

She stared at the girl in the mirror. It was a mundane face with no noteworthy features. When walking amid a crowd, she might as well have disappeared, and no one would care or remember even if she did disappear one day.

Click. The stall behind her opened, and Vermilion Bird walked out in the same black coat. “Let’s go.”

Ke Yo nodded, following Vermilion Bird out and into the large meeting room on the second floor.

In ten minutes, all attendees from the three organizations arrived, seated the same way as they had done during their last meeting.

Azure Dragon and Vermilion Bird took the main seats with Six Rime and Ke Yo standing behind them. On the left sat War Tiger and White Rabbit, and on the right sat Goldthread and Chen Ying.

“Alright,” Azure Dragon announced. “Please start the trade.”

Chen Ying glanced at Goldthread. He picked up a small Black Gold briefcase and placed it on the table, slowly opening it to reveal the Poison Rune Circuit.

War Tiger did things much more simply. He took the Life Rune Circuit out of his pocket and waved it at them.

Vermilion Bird’s heart pounded when she saw the Life Rune Circuit. It felt like an instinct. A thought flashed through her mind before her rationality could catch up: she wanted to merge with the Rune Circuit and see what level 8 Equivalent Exchange did. What miracles would it be able to conjure?

Vermilion Bird almost jumped. She realized that a strange greed had seized her for a moment.

1. Her surname, 柳 (liu), means willow. ☜