The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 493: Torment

Gao Yang didn’t make any comment after Heavenly Dog finished his story. It didn’t feel right to say that he understood, neither did it feel right to offer him comfort and encouragement, or make a joke to lighten the mood.

He looked at the deep blue ocean in the distance with Heavenly Dog. Triangular wakes trailed after the cruise before the surface of the ocean smoothed out again, erasing the tracks left by the vessel.

After a good moment of silence, Gao Yang asked, “Do you still think about her?”

“I do.” Heavenly Dog looked up, propping himself up with his hands on the deck. He drawled, “I think about her all the time. I think about that when I see her again, I have to ask her...”

He narrowed his eyes, his gaze melancholy, but his lips curved upward. “Why don’t you love me?”

...

Half an hour later, Gao Yang returned to his suite. He opened the door to the bedroom gingerly to see a bathrobed Qing Ling lying on her side on the large bed, lit by the soft lamp light above. Gao Yang only had to look at her to know that she hadn’t actually fallen asleep.

Her posture wasn’t relaxed enough, and her breathing was flighty. She had merely closed her eyes.

Gao Yang opted not to bother her. He closed the door and went into the bathroom, taking a shower to wash away his exhaustion while going over what had happened the past few days.

Twenty minutes later, Gao Yang changed into a bathrobe and dried his hair with a towel as he walked out. He glanced at Qing Ling, who was lying on the bed, and paused in surprise. Although she was still lying in the same posture as before, he was certain that she was now asleep.

In fact, judging by her slow, much more settled breathing, she was sleeping quite soundly.

Gao Yang felt himself relaxing too.

For some reason, every time he saw her, a girl severely lacking in a sense of security, enjoying food or sleeping soundly, he felt comforted.

It was as if she was living proof that no matter how hard life was, there would always be moments that made it worth it.

Gao Yang dried his hair and lay down on the sofa, slowly closing his eyes and whispering, “Goodnight.”

...

The four of them woke up early. They headed to the cafeteria for breakfast.

There were all sorts of facilities for entertainment on the cruise, but none of them were in the mood to use them, and they returned to their suites to keep waiting.

Officer Huang stood on the balcony, having cigarette after cigarette. He kept calling Chen Ying, waiting less than half an hour between each call. He wished she would give him something concrete the next second so that he could go rescue his wife as soon as they disembarked.

It got to the point that Chen Ying got fed up and stopped taking his calls.

Officer Huang knew how annoying he was being, but the wait was torturous, and not long after, he started calling Chen Ying with Gao Yang’s phone to urge her.

That very effectively made Chen Ying turn off her phone.

During the time, Gao Yang had contacted Vermilion Bird and asked about Ke Yo and her interrogation of Edmond’s body. Vermilion Bird sounded tired in the call.

“The girl is still unconscious, but she’s in no danger of dying. I have someone watch over her.”

“You can seek out Liu Qingying for help. She may be able to communicate with Ke Yo with her Sweet Dream. Perhaps she’ll find something.”

“No, Ke Yo is in a deep coma, while Miss Liu’s Sweet Dream only works with a target sleeping regularly. It cannot connect to a target’s deeper consciousness.”

“That so?”

Vermilion Bird continued, “With Edmond, I can’t interrogate his body at the moment.”

“Why?”

“The energy that killed him is strange, and it lingers in his body. If I force the interrogation, the energy may go wild, and I’ll fail. Every corpse can only be questioned once. I can’t take the risk.”

“Then what?” Officer Huang, who had been listening in by Gao Yang’s side, was burning with anxiety. “We need clues. We’re running out of time!”

“In theory, the energy should not linger for more than a couple days. We have to wait.”

“I understand. Contact me as soon as you find something.” Gao Yang hung up.

...

Ten o’clock at night, the cruise docked at a harbor of the Island Nation. Gao Yang and the others disembarked amid a group of tourists.

Chen Ying hadn’t responded, and they couldn’t just look around blindly. After a short discussion, they decided to head to Zone D of the Island Nation.

It was a prosperous region with well-connected traffic, and it was at the center of the area of activity in the Island Nation, so once there was any clue, they would be able to head to the location of interest in the shortest time.

Although only two of them appeared as humans—Gao Yang and Qing Ling were wearing the red crystal necklace that concealed them with the energy of wanderers—Zone D had a dense population. To avoid attracting suspicion, especially that of a summoner, the four decided to split up.

They didn’t find accommodation at a hotel. Instead, they went to a popular internet cafe at different times.

The internet cafe offered single rooms for living, as well as free drinks, mangas, and public bathrooms. Since the price was cheaper than single rooms at a hotel, quite a lot of young people even stayed in the internet cafe long-term. 

With his phone translating for him, Gao Yang had a simple conversation with the staff at the internet cafe and reserved a single room to stay the night. It was similar to a capsule hotel with only enough space for a single bed, the mattress of a smooth material like black leather, making it easier to clean.

At the head of the bed were the desk and the computer, and on the walls on the sides were hooks for clothes and a small recessed wall cabinet. With a ventilation system, it didn’t feel too stuffy in the room.

Gao Yang lay down, but sleep seemed to elude him.

There was nothing he could do but wait back on the cruise, and he was able to rest properly. Now that they had reached their destination, though, it was tortuous to not be able to make a move.

Gao Yang glanced at the time. It was two in the morning. He decided to take a stroll.

He found himself stopping in the area offering free manga. Like a small library, the rows of bookshelves were filled with manga books. A few young people weaved through the shelves, looking for a book they would like to read.

After a while, Gao Yang spotted a familiar figure in a corner.

Officer Huang stood before a bookshelf, looking through the collections.

Sensing someone approaching, he turned around, and he smiled wryly when he saw Gao Yang. “I couldn’t sleep and couldn’t stop myself from overthinking, so I came here to check out the manga.”

Gao Yang was reminded then that Officer Huang used to love manga when he was young. He had gotten his sense of justice from the shonen manga.

Gao Yang asked without thinking much, “Can you understand it?”

“I don’t need to read the lines, just look at the drawing.” Officer Huang was holding a manga from a long time ago. “I’ve read this so many times back then that I know it by heart.”

Gao Yang checked the cover. He had read the work back in middle school, too. It was about a swordsman.

The swordsman used to be a coldblooded killer. He later fell in love with a woman, but he didn’t know that the woman was here for revenge, having lost her fiance to the swordsman's blade.

Then, even though he knew he was walking into a trap, the swordsman pushed aside all reservations and went to save the woman, but ended up killing her by accident.

The story was full of twists and angst, not a good omen for what they were doing now.

Officer Huang seemed to remember that part of the story then, and he quickly shoved the book back onto the shelf.

He turned to Gao Yang, his eyes bloodshot. “My wife and kid will be alright, won’t they, Gao Yang?”

Gao Yang nodded. “Don’t worry. We’ll save them.”

Buzz.

Gao Yang’s phone vibrated. He took it out and checked the screen. It was Chen Ying.