The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 101: Three Questions

Gao Yang was taken aback. Given how strong War Tiger was, he should’ve dealt with the monster yesterday. Why would they be at a stalemate? Was the monster much stronger than it appeared to be?

But soon, Gao Yang realized that wasn’t at all the case.

With a hand holding his shortsword and the other hand in his pocket, War Tiger turned around to the four of them and said in a casual tone, “Done? Alright, time for a lesson...”

Seizing the moment War Tiger turned away from it, the summoner stabbed at War Tiger’s back with the claws of his hand.

“Watch...”

War Tiger reacted before Gao Yang could even utter the word ‘out’.

With his side to the monster, he held his shortsword with a reverse grip and parried the sharp claws, knocking it away.

The clash of their forces left the monster a little off-balance, and in that split second, War Tiger moved like his time alone was fastforwarding, and he twirled the sword and made an upward slash from an unpredictable angle, cutting off the summoner’s arm with ease.

Time froze for half a second. War Tiger turned around and pulled back his sword.

Splash!

Blood gushed out and splattered in the air from the stump of the summoner’s shoulder as it collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain. War Tiger stood amid the crimson rain with his back to the monster, looking so cool that he appeared unapproachable.

He snapped his fingers to break them out of their reverie. “Focus. Time for our lesson.”

Gao Yang, Qing Ling, and Officer Huang came to their senses.

“Monsters are split into different ranks. Generally, delusion monsters are ranked D, while wrath monsters are ranked C. Summoners, however, are an exception among wrath monsters. While they may not be that powerful in fights, their leadership quality boost them to C+.”

War Tiger wiped away the drops of blood on his face and continued, “Remember, if you ever run into a monster above C+ rank and have the power to secure an absolute win against it, you must go through the Three Questions.”

“The Three Questions?” Gao Yang’s curious streak acted up again.

“It’s a rule Captain made. We are to ask the monsters three set questions.” White Rabbit looked proud. “The other organizations have started to do the same over the past few years.”

“That’s right.” War Tiger nodded. “Awakeners have been trying to communicate with monsters. Although we’ve seen little progress, we can’t give up on it.”

War Tiger turned to look at the summoner, who was lying in its own blood.

It—he had turned back into his human form, and he looked like a pitiful, helpless highschool student.

Holding onto his bleeding stump, he sat sprawling under a bench with his face pale and his body covered in blood. It seemed that he had given up on resisting.

War Tiger met his eyes and said with a solemnity that didn’t discriminate between different forms of lives. “Who are you?”

Head drooping, the summoner looked so calm it veered into the realm of numbness.

“Where are you going?” That was the second question.

The boy still didn’t react.

That was all to be expected for War Tiger. After a pause, he asked the last question, “Do you choose forgiveness, or death?”

The summoner’s face had been emotionless.

Until War Tiger asked the third question.

A broken light flicked through the summoner’s eyes. Gao Yang even saw traces of derision and pity.

“Death,” answered the summoner.

War Tiger shook his head in disappointment. “I always wonder if your kind were mass-produced in the same factory. You always say the same things.”

The summoner didn’t say anything else. Instead, he tipped his head up as his chest inflated to an unusual degree, his throat shifting eerily. Then from his mouth came a surreal sound.

It was a piercing, ethereal, and sorrowful sound of mourning, like a gargantuan whale in the deep sea wailing for an ancient fate.

And it was so very familiar to Gao Yang. The memory came to him, unbidden.

One summer night in his childhood, he had heard the sound from outside his grandfather's room. The second day, his grandfather died.

Is grandpa a summoner?!

Gao Yang felt chilled to the bones. He urgently demanded, “What are you singing? Answer me!”

The young summoner didn’t answer. His song came to a sudden stop, and his head drooped, his chest no longer heaving.

He was dead.

Or it would be more accurate to say that he had quickened his dying process.

Gao Yang froze in his spot, feeling utterly lost.

“Teacher, are all monsters...” Officer Huang tried to find the right word. “So martyr-like?”

“Well, no. Summoners are special in that they retain human-like rationality and emotions even after transforming into monsters.”

War Tiger smacked his lips. “That’s why we have been trying to communicate with them, but getting anything out of them is like pulling teeth.‘

White Rabbit cocked her head and said, “Friendly reminder, slaughterers and devourers are all bloodthirsty and relentless killers. Don’t waste time on questioning them. Just kill them.”

“I’ve seen that myself.” Officer Huang was reminded of a few bad encounters.

“Alright, that’s it for the lesson.” War Tiger clapped. “Before we continue the mission, let’s organize what we’ve learned.”

He turned to Gao Yang. “You go first. Did you notice anything strange?”

Gao Yang composed himself and sorted through his thoughts. He said with a nod, “Yes.”

“Go on.”

“The station we stopped at was strange.” Gao Yang turned to the others.

White Rabbit said, “I was too busy fighting to notice.”

“Although the doors between the cars are locked, the doors to the platform should all open automatically when the train makes a stop. However, all of the passengers came swarming into our car.”

“Oh, that’s true.” White Rabbit turned to the others for clues. “Did the other doors not open?”

Qing Ling said coolly, “It’s not that the doors didn’t open, but that the doors didn’t even exist.”

That got her the attention of everyone.

“I noticed that the station was way too small.” Qing Ling put away her weapon as she talked. “It seemed like it could only fit our car.”

“You sure?” War Tiger frowned. “Can it be that you saw it wrong?”

“No,” Qing Ling said with certainty.

War Tiger lowered his head and tapped on his forehead with a forefinger. “This place is certainly strange.”

Officer Huang sighed with great regret. “I knew this mission wouldn’t be simple. I shouldn’t have come here.”

“Relax, Yellow Ox.” War Tiger patted him on the back. “We’ll burn the bridge when we get to it.”

“We’ll cross the bridge,” Officer Huang corrected with an involuntary laugh.

Bam, bam, bam!

From the car behind them came the sound of something knocking on the door.

The five of them immediately turned to face it, alerted.

Gao Yang realized something was wrong immediately.

Wait! That’s the car we were in, the very last of the train. It was empty, and White Rabbit kicked the door down, didn’t she? When did the door close and lock again?!

“Celestial Water!” War Tiger commanded decisively, having gotten to the same realization as Gao Yang.

Gao Yang quickly took out a small spray bottle from the side pocket of the backpack and made a few sprays all around them, filling the air with deep-violet particles.

The five of them quickly took a few breaths, and their noses, throats, and chest burned like they had just inhaled insect repellents. Their heads cleared up in an instant, and their minds became unusually focused.

Celestial Water referred to the Illusion Breaking Spray.

It was a support item created by awakeners with Talent: Divine Blessing, designed to counter enemies with powers to create illusions. The supply was low, and the shelf life short. Only the major organizations could afford it.

Everyone’s first reaction to the unreasonable situation was that they had gotten hit by an illusion. And the howling sound the summoner made before expediting his death could be the trigger.

With the Celestial Water clearing their minds, the five of them turned to the car door again. It was still locked, and there were still sounds of something slamming against the door.

Bam, bam, bam!

“Help!” a voice cried out from the other car. “Open the door!”