The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 681: River of Life

Fresh Snow felt a pang in her heart.

She reached out to gently touch Gao Yang’s blood-stained face. “Don’t be sad, Gao Yang. I’ll save her.”

“Rea...really?” Gao Yang couldn’t believe it. He had already lost hope.

“Yeah.” Fresh Snow nodded and made a promise. “I’ll save her.”

Gao Yang finally realized that Fresh Snow wasn’t trying to comfort him.

He was confused. “But her heart’s gone.”

“Her heart should still be there,” Fresh Snow said with certainty.

Gao Yang was even more confused. “How do you know?”

“Her soul is still in her body. If her heart and brain had been damaged, the soul would’ve left immediately.”

Gao Yang started. Without hesitation, he pressed a hand to Qing Ling’s chest, feeling around from her left chest to the right.

Strange.

There was a cavity on the left where her heart should be. Was Qing Ling’s heart on the right?

No, Gao Yang remembered when War Tiger tested him, Qing Ling, and Officer Huang. War Tiger had stabbed Qing Ling’s left chest, only he had done it at a specific angle that narrowly missed the heart.

Several times, Gao Yang and Qing Ling had been in contact. He could feel Qing Ling’s heart beating in her left chest. When was her heart moved to the right?

That wasn’t important right now, though. What mattered was that Qing Ling still had her heart. She could still come back alive!

With Psychic Armor entering cooldown, Gao Yang almost burst into tears of joy. The sharp blades of guilt that had pierced into him were extracted at once.

He felt like crying and laughing. He could burst into song and dance now to praise and thank everything.

He didn’t have a name for his feelings then. It was salvation.

He threw his arms around Fresh Snow to hug her tightly, crying and laughing with pitiful relief. “Thank you, Fresh Snow! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you...”

“It’s okay, Gao Yang...” Fresh Snow smiled.

Before, she would’ve nuzzled his chin with her face, burying further into his embrace to ask for more petting, but not this time.

This time, she carefully extended her arms and put them around Gao Yang’s body, resting her hands gently on his wide back like the female movie leads would do.

Is this what a proper hug is?

I didn’t know it could feel so good.

Fresh Snow felt lightheaded and happy. It was sweet even though she wasn’t tasting anything.

A few seconds later, Gao Yang let go of Fresh Snow. “Can you save her now, Fresh Snow?”

“Yeah.” Fresh Snow nodded. “But she could still die after I bring her back. She’s seriously hurt and needs healing.”

Gao Yang paused before quickly taking out the Medicine C he carried. “It’s okay. I have this.”

“Alright, Gao Yang. Give me some room. I don’t want to hurt your soul.” Fresh Snow gave him a small smile. “Once I say I’m done, give her the shot.”

“Okay, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah...” Gao Yang nodded as he backed away with a tight grip around the syringe, muttering the same word like an idiot.

It was Fresh Snow’s first time seeing him bumbling around like this. She laughed, finding him cute. “Turn away, Gao Yang.”

Gao Yang blinked. He didn’t understand why.

“You told me that our bodies shouldn’t be exposed to just anyone.” Fresh Snow chuckled. “The body of a soul is still a body.”

“Right!” Gao Yang turned away immediately.

On both knees beside Qing Ling, Fresh Snow pressed her hands together and placed them gently on Qing Ling’s forehead. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes.

Soon, a hazy translucent glow of light green enveloped Qing Ling, flickering slightly.

When Fresh Snow spoke again, her voice became clear and ethereal under an unknown energy resonation; like the language of some fae, there was an old rhythm and a sacred compassion to it.

“Flower of Spring.”

“Cicadas of Summer.”

“Fruit of Autumn.”

“Snow of Winter.”

“The lost heart, the wandering soul.”

“The river of life, the river of choice.”

“Wake up, wake up...”

Fresh Snow opened her eyes, and brilliant green light flickered. She lifted her hands quickly. Qing Ling’s soul was pulled out like a light blanket.

Her naked soul hovered above her body in the form of translucent dark-green energy

There was an obvious hole in her left chest, which was the fatal injury that had killed her.

In spirit form, Qing Ling was at a loss. She frowned and looked at Fresh Snow. Then she looked down at her body, seemingly remembering what had happened.

Then she turned to Gao Yang, who was in the room.

He had his back to them, sitting so very straight with a tight grip around a syringe of Medicine C, his shoulders shaking slightly. He looked like a cowardly student being put on timeout by the teacher.

Qing Ling couldn’t speak as a spirit. She curled her lips instead and mouthed, Idiot.

The energy in Fresh Snow’s hands turned a dark green with white static. Slowly, the energy wrapped around Qing Ling’s soul and entered the hole in her left chest.

The energy that filled the cavity spread to the rest of her body like a quickly growing vine before becoming one with her.

At that moment, Qing Ling was whole again, but the soul was also a little more translucent than before.

It was because her soul had gotten thinner. She couldn’t be brought back like this again, or her soul would break down, unable to endure Fresh Snow’s “curse”.

Fresh Snow closed her eyes and quietly chanted.

“Flower’s Dew.”

“Cicada’s song.”

“Fruit’s shine.”

“Snow’s rime.”

“All things rise. The cycle repeats.”

“The river of life. The river of miracles.”

“Sleep, sleep...”

Fresh Snow opened her eyes and pressed her overlapping hands on Qing Ling’s forehead. Instantly, the soul returned to the body, and enveloped by green energy, Qing Ling slowly recovered.

“It is done.”

Fresh Snow’s face was pale and her voice was weak; her gaze seemed a little dimmer.

Gao Yang didn’t even turn around. Instead, he teleported to the bed and injected Qing Ling’s chest with Medicine C, emptying the syringe. Then he took out a shot of specialized adrenaline and administered it after twenty seconds.

He pulled her into his arms, holding onto her hand while moving his ear to her nose. Time crawled by, and finally, he felt a soft breath, and her cold palm became a little warmer.

Gao Yang looked up to see her chest rising and falling slightly.

Thank God! Thank God!

He tamped down his joy in case he disturbed Qing Ling. Holding his breath, he gingerly placed Qing Ling back onto the bed, brushing away the bloodied strands sticking to her forehead and putting the light blanket over her.

Sleep, have a good sleep.

“Thank you, Fresh Snow...” Gao Yang turned around. Fresh Snow was gone.