The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 746: To Tell the Truth

“It is a done deal for the Ocean River Union to be created. We’ll be under the joint leadership of Qilin and Surnamed Li from now on...”

Zhong He scoffed. “Ha, joint leadership. What a nice way to put it. Madam Li will sooner or later become a puppet.”

“Enough with the whining, Zhong He. I’ve grown tired of it.” Colorless remained unfazed. “Are you going or staying? Just give me the answers.”

“And you?” Zhong He met Colorless’ eyes and asked instead.

“I’ll stay.”

“Why?” Zhong He didn’t understand her.

“I have my reasons.”

“Tell us so that we can have some frame of reference.” Zhong He smiled.

Colorless’ expression darkened. “I don’t want to.”

“Sister Colorless.” Liao Liao chimed in. “May I ask you something?”

Colorless nodded. “Go ahead.”

“What happened at the Starcatching Pavilion bothered me. The Nine Scions had been hiding so well that the Qilin Guild never found them. As soon as Chen Ying joined the Nine Scions with her people, though, the Nine Scions’ hideout was spotted. That’s too great a coincidence, right?”

“Stop playing dumb, Liao Liao.” Zhong He snorted. “It can’t be a coincidence.”

“Yeah, it’s not. Then there’s only one explanation—Sister Ying’s a double agent. She joined the Nine Scions and somehow told Madam Li where the hideout was. Then Madam Li told the Qilin Guild, allowing them to ambush the Nine Scions.”

“But why would Chen Ying do that?” Zhong He narrowed his eyes. “There’s no bad blood between the Hundred Rivers Union and the Nine Scions. In my opinion, the Nine Scions served as a check and balance for the Qilin Guild, which would be a good thing for the Union.”

Colorless’ face darkened. She avoided his gaze.

“I think the same.” Liao Liao turned to Colorless, speaking with a hint of inquiry. “And don’t you think there were things that didn’t add up?”

Zhong He knew that Liao Liao must have identified something. He played along. “What didn’t add up?”

“If Sister Ying were a spy Madam Li sent to the Nine Scions, I would consider her shooting Madam Li and taking the Rune Circuits as the necessary evils to make things more convincing. But why would she bring so many people with her? Many on the third team were killed, and even Little Tian...”

Liao Liao’s gaze turned melancholy. She couldn’t bear to finish her sentence. “Sister Ying would sacrifice herself for a mission, but never Little Tian.”

“True.” Zhong He nodded. “Little Tian was everything to Sister Ying.”

“Thus, I believe Sister Ying didn’t expose the Nine Scions’ hideout. But who else could it be? It seems that Zhang Wei and Yanyan are the only third team members to have survived. At least there are no traces of them having died on the site. They were even less likely to be responsible for that...”

“Enough!” Colorless cut them off suddenly.

Liao Liao and Zhong He both started. They didn’t expect such a strong reaction from Colorless.

Colorless took a deep breath and said evenly, “I’m sorry. I wasn’t angry with you. It’s just that...I don’t want to think about the mess.”

“You must know something, Colorless.” Zhong He held her gaze. “Tell us. Liao Liao and I have the right to know.”

Colorless clenched her fists, her knuckles going white.

A few seconds later, she exhaled deeply and slumped on her chair. “Fine. I’ll tell you everything. Liao Liao’s too smart to not figure it out given enough time anyway.”

Liao Liao’s eyes glinted. She slightly lowered her head.

“I only find out after the fact.” Cololess considered them gravely. “I’ll tell you the truth, but it’s best that you keep it to yourselves. There are things one would be better off not knowing.”

“Speak first,” said Zhong He.

“This is all Surnamed Li’s plan,” Colorless said.

She spent twenty minutes telling them everything she knew. Liao Liao and Zhong He reacted differently. The former grew increasingly quiet, while the latter raged more and more.

When Colorless was done with it, the ire in Zhong He’s eyes had cemented into a deep derision. “What the fuck is wrong with these people? For a dream? Even if Gao Yang does turn out to be the Malediction, it’ll have been a result of Qilin, Yan Liang, and Surnamed Li pushing him past the breaking point.”

Colorless shrugged. “Ha, perhaps it is.”

“Then why stay in the Ocean River Union?!” Zhong He slammed the table and shot to his feet. “I don’t take you as a sheep!”

“What else can I do? Where should I go?” Colorless sneered. “Go independent with those I’m close with? Antagonize Qilin and Surnamed Li? Do you think I have a death wish?”

“Or should I join the Nine Scions? Won’t my people and I die sooner then?”

Zhong He shut his mouth.

“And do you think the Nine Scions will still accept someone from the Hundred Rivers Union after what happened to the Starcatchin Pavilion?”

“Besides, when have Surnamed Li’s dreams ever gone wrong? What if Gao Yang is the Malediction?”

Zhong He was silent.

“I understand how you feel, Zhong He, but you may not understand how I feel. I owe everything I am now to Surnamed Li. She was like a mentor to me. Do you know how fucking...”

Colorless paused. “How repulsed the whole thing left me feeling?”

“It’s as if I suddenly found out that the food I’d been eating for over a decade was made of cockroaches, but I have no choice but to keep eating it. There’s no alternative.”

“The civil war is a great vortex that has already swept all of us in. None may stay on the sidelines, and nowhere is entirely safe.”

“I stay because I must take care of my people to the best of my ability. If Gao Yang is the Malediction, he’ll be the enemy of all humanity, and I’ll do what I have to do then.”

“I’m not running away. I’m going to fight til the last second, til I’m out of this damn place or killed here.”

Her words calmed Zhong He down somewhat. He sat back down.

“That’s it for me. Tell me if you’re leaving or staying,” said Colorless. “It’s my duty.”

Liao Liao slowly looked up, hesitant. “I’ll probably...stay. However, I want to resign as a team leader. I’m never leader material to begin with, and I’m scared of dying. I want to return to the intelligence department or the back office. If that’s possible, I’ll stay.”

Colorless nodded. “I respect your choice, but I don’t have a say in that. You should talk to Surnamed Li about it.”

Liao Liao nodded.

Colorless turned to Zhong He. “Do you have an answer now? Or are you going to lose your temper yet again?”

Zhong He didn’t say anything for quite a while, his head lowered. Then he stood up with his hands in his pockets, looking like his usual unserious self. “I’m tired. Let the world fall apart. I don’t care. You do you. I’m resigning and going unaffiliated.”

“Alright.” Colorless didn’t care much. “Remember to write a resignation letter and turn over your work.”

“I know.” Zhong He kicked the door open.

...

Multi-purpose training ground, underground base of Hundred Rivers Union, five o’clock in the afternoon.

The whole sixth team gathered in the judo room, including Zhong He, the team leader, Lying Wood, the deputy leader, and Harvest Song, Quiet Book, Sunny, Cold Cicada, Muzitu, Void, Deep Earth, Tall Sky, and Yellow Lotus.

It was their weekly melee sparring session in the judo room. The rules were simple: all hand-to-hand combat moves were allowed, but no Talent or weapons should be used. A moderate degree of injury was acceptable. No critically injuring or killing the opponent. Whoever knocked the other down to the floor—outside of voluntarily going down for a roll, of course—or made the other surrender would be the victor.

It was a training Goldthread had set up to improve everyone’s physical strength and ability to survive.

They drew lots to determine the matchups. The winner went on to the next round until the final.

In the past, the semi-finals were always between Goldthread, Zhong He, Harvest Song, and Yellow Lotus.

Now that Goldthread was dead—even though his body was still occupied by Dust—and Zhong He pulled out of the game to make the number even, the final was unsurprisingly between Harvest Song and Yellow Lotus.

The two young women each wore a judo uniform, barefooted. They maintained a distance as they faced each other.