The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 33: The Second Test

“Kill him? That’s it?” Qing Ling was surprised by how simple the test was. It would be easier than playing games with Wu Dahai.

Gao Yang was taken aback as well. The test was so simple that it was suspicious.

“That’s it.” White Rabbit eyed the two of them. “Easy, isn’t it? Up to you if you want to cut his head or pierced his heart with a sharp object. You kill wanderers like how you would kill humans.”

“It’s easy to kill him, but what about the mess it’ll leave?” Qing Ling voiced her concern.

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it.” White Rabbit was wearing a pair of white gloves, and she tapped on the radio at her waist, indicating that she had companions to keep things under control.

With her only concern resolved, Qing Ling walked up to Niu Xuan with a small, sharp dagger in her hand.

She crouched down and sliced open Niu Xuan’s shirt, the tip of the dagger finding the heart in his heaving chest easily. Just when she was going to stab into Niu Xuan’s heart, Gao Yang called out, “Wait!”

Qing Ling stopped and threw him a questioning look.

“Wait, Qing Ling,” Gao Yang repeated.

White Rabbit looked at him as well. “Why? Do you not want to join us?”

“That’s not it.” Gao Yang tentatively asked for more information. “I simply don’t get why we must kill him. He hasn’t transformed.” And how do you know he’s a wanderer? That part Gao Yang didn’t speak out loud. White Rabbit must have her way of telling that.

“It’s not a question of why. No justification is needed for killing monsters.” White Rabbit talked about murder like she was talking about what she ate for breakfast. “If I have to give you a reason, well, our organization wants only awakeners who are decisive, strong-willed, and able to carry out their conviction. We don’t need people who sympathize and pity monsters.”

“It’s just a wanderer.” White Rabbit stepped forward and kicked Niu Xuan. “If you don’t want to kill him, it’s alright. Let me think...doesn’t the girl called Wan Sisi like you? Why don’t I check for you if she’s a wanderer? If so, you can kill her instead.”

Gao Yang’s breath hitched. The girl was observant.

“Have you decided now?” White Rabbit urged him.

Gao Yang didn’t respond.

He was no saint, and he didn’t care if Niu Xuan died or not. Moreover, the man wasn’t actually a man, but a delusion monster.

However, there were things nagging at Gao Yang.

First was how White Rabbit worded her instruction—kill the wanderer.

She could’ve said, ‘Kill the monster.’ Why did she specify ‘wanderer’? That suggested her organization treated wanderers, namely delusion monsters, differently from other kinds of monsters.

Commonsense dictated that all monsters outside of delusion monsters were too dangerous for any awakener to spare. They must be exterminated; conversely, if her organization treated delusion monsters differently, their standard procedure must be the opposite of extermination—spare the wanderers.

White Rabbit had called this a test, but Gao Yang felt like they were presented with a choice.

She had been swaying them on what to do with an ‘innocent’ wanderer.

—It’s just a wanderer, she had said.

She was purposefully downplaying and degrading the value of wanderers.

Then White Rabbit threatened him by bringing up Wan Sisi. That was a common method of manipulation. On one side, there was the pure-hearted and loveable Wan Sisi. On the other side, there was the bully Niu Xuan.

It was obvious who would be easier to hate.

It was also a trick a couple might use on each other. The wife would tell the husband that she was eyeing a twenty thousand yuan bag. Then she told him there was a dress she wanted to buy, and it only cost a few hundred yuan. Weighing the two, the husband would gladly buy the dress for her.

That was what White Rabbit had done. She was urging him and Qing Ling to make one particular decision: kill Niu Xuan.

If they killed Niu Xuan without hesitation, two facts would stand: first, they believed wanderers should be killed, and second, they believed wanderers should be treated differently from other monsters.

Yet the two facts contradicted each other.

Not valuing monsters as lives meant that in humans’ eyes, monsters had no right to live. Further differentiating between such beings without a right to live...would be akin to saying one’s cat must be protected at all cost, but other people’s cats? They were fair game. That would be a serious case of double standards.

“If you don’t kill him, I’ll take it as you giving up on joining us.” White Rabbit glanced at her watch. “Clock’s ticking. You need to leave me enough time to deal with the mess.”

To hell with it. You can't replace your bicycle with a motorcycle without taking risks[1].

Gao Yang made up his mind. “I won’t do it.”

“What?” White Rabbit sounded doubtful.

“We don’t kill wanderers.” Gao Yang was firm.

Qing Ling shot him a glare, wordlessly questioning if he had lost his mind.

Gao Yang blinked at her. Trust me! This is a trap!

“Really?” White Rabbit chuckled. “Hubris can get you in trouble, boy. And shonen mangas preaching love and courage are poison. Don’t read too much of those books. This is your only chance. I’m obligated to tell you that if you miss it, the organization will never make another offer to you. You better think it through.”

“I’ve thought it through,” said Gao Yang. “We won’t kill him.”

“Okay.” White Rabbit shrugged and turned to Qing Ling. “The boy’s out. What about you?”

Qing Ling thought for a moment. Then her dagger vanished into thin air. She had decided to trust Gao Yang. Past experience had shown her that the guy was lucky. At least he hadn’t yet made trouble for her.

White Rabbit sighed with disappointment. “You two seem to have good potential, and your Talents are pretty high on the list. What a shame. Would you tell me why you refuse to kill wanderers?”

What?

No way. Is this the end? Did I overthink it?

Gao Yang started to regret things a little, but he had gotten this far, and he couldn’t just make a one-eighty now. He racked his brain and made up an explanation with whatever came to him, “It’s...because of the order of things.”

“Order?”

“I believe the world operates according to a certain order. Killing wanderers for no reason will disrupt that order.” Gao Yang spoke without a crack in his poker face.

White Rabbit seemed bemused.

Sensing that he still needed to go further, Gao Yang parrotted what he had been told, “Delusion, greed, wrath, pride, life, and death are all meaningless. Life is short and nothing but a grand dream.”

The girl in white rabbit mask seemed surprised. She strode up to Gao Yang and stood on her toes, staring at Gao Yang’s eyes with her head tilted.

Through her mask, Gao Yang saw a pair of clear, cute, almond-shaped eyes.

“Your gaze is similar to Captain’s,” she said in a softer voice.

“My gaze?” asked Gao Yang.

“Well.” White Rabbit thought for a moment. “While it looks like he’s tired and not completely awake, at the same time, there seems to be a lot going on in his head.”

We call that resting dead eyes, Gao Yang thought.

“Do people with eyes like that always turn out to be really strong?” White Rabbit turned to Qing Ling.

“No idea.”

“You said something similar to what Captain has said.” White Rabbit patted Gao Yang on the shoulder. “Alright. You passed.”

“Ah.”

Gao Yang’s expression was still impassive, but he would be wagging his tail if he had one. He’d made the right call!

White Rabbit turned around and kicked the still unconscious Niu Xuan.

“Captain has made three rules. Keep them in mind.”

“First, do not kill humans without justification.”

“Second, do not kill wanderers without justification.”

“Third, no office romance.”

“Those who violate any of the rules shall be expelled from the organization permanently.”

Gao Yang thought he had heard wrong. The first two rules sounded profound, but what was going on with the last rule? No wonder Wu Dahai was always so horny. Even if he was allowed to hook up with other members, however, he was unlikely to find anyone interested in him.

“Are we members now?” asked Qing Ling.

“Be patient. You’re considered trainees at the moment. If you two want to become official members, there is the next and final test.” White Rabbit fished something small out of her pocket and cast it to Qing Ling. Qing Ling caught it and gave it a good look. It was an archaic brass key.

“Find the door for the key and go on a tour,” said White Rabbit.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it,” White Rabbit repeated calmly.

“Let me check.” Gao Yang took the brass key from Qing Ling and immediately, he felt a chill from the tip of his fingers. He wasn’t sure if it was a warning from his heightened sixth sense, or if it was all in his head. He tightened his grip on the key. “Where do we find the door?”

White Rabbit extended a finger. “I’ll give you a clue. It’s inside the Shanqing District.”

“What else?” One could never have too much information.

“Let me think.” White Rabbit rubbed at her chin. “Be careful. Don’t die.”

1. An idiom from southern China that means that if you give something a try, perhaps you’ll get an unexpected reward. ?