The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 95: Ghost Horse

It took a brief moment for Gao Yang to come to the realization.

It said on the Talent list that the maximum range for Level 3 Teleportation was 7 meters, and the distance between Ghost Horse and Dragon was about 10 meters. He couldn’t make it to Dragon in one attempt.

Thus, Ghost Horse targeted Gao Yang first as a feint, luring War Tiger to come to Gao Yang’s aid before making the second teleportation. It was a foolproof plan to ensure he could strike down Dragon.

“Of course...it’s to kill you.”

Ghost Horse vanished before he even finished his sentence.

In the blink of an eye, he teleported to Dragon, the black karambit in his hand thrusting toward Dragon’s heart.

War Tiger had blocked the attack for Gao Yang on instinct. It was already too late when he realized he had been tricked.

With his back to Dragon, War Tiger couldn’t possibly catch up to Ghost Horse’s teleportation no matter how great his explosive power was.

But deep down, War Tiger wasn’t worried at all. Dragon wouldn’t be the leader of the Twelve Zodiac Signs if he could be killed so easily.

As expected, the karambit was stopped an inch away from Dragon’s heart, and so was Ghost Horse.

Shock and confusion flashed through Ghost Horse’s eyes.

While he didn’t know what Dragon’s Talent was, he could make a rough guess that Dragon had some sort of mental manipulation power, which allowed him to control one’s mind to some degree in a given range.

And Ghost Horse had taken that into consideration. Dominating one’s mind didn’t necessarily mean dominating one’s action, and it definitely didn’t mean Dragon would be able to defy the laws of physics.

Ghost Horse had made a swift, sudden thrust by incorporating Teleportation. Even if Dragon took control of his mind in time, his body should’ve carried out the attack on its own due to the powerful inertia.

However, Ghost Horse’s body was frozen in an instant, ignoring the laws of physics entirely. If not for the fact that he could still think, breathe, and blink, he would’ve suspected that Dragon had stopped time.

Dragon’s eyes were mournful. “It didn’t have to be this way, Ghost Horse.”

Veins popping from his forehead, Ghost Horse gathered all his strength and pushed every muscle in his body to break free of the intangible restraint on him, yet it was futile.

After a few seconds, he let out a long breath and gave up on struggling.

He smiled faintly, and his expression turned into one of relieved exhaustion. “I’d been the most careful I could be over the years, yet I still underestimated you.”

Dragon didn’t say anything.

“You are no longer human, Dragon. You’re a monster.”

Dragon reached out to take the black karambit from Ghost Horse’s hand. “To beat an evil dragon, you need to become one first.”

“Such victory is pointless.”

“Victory is the point itself.”

“Who are you working for, Ghost Horse? What are you after?” War Tiger hurriedly cut in. “As long as you come clean with us, there’s still a way for things to end differently!”

“Stop wasting time and do it.” Ghost Horse was ready for death.

Ten seconds passed in silence.

Dragon saw the determination in Ghost Horse’s eyes.

“Farewell, Ghost Horse.”

Dragon pushed the karambit into Ghost Horse’s heart, his movement simple, even casual, as if he was burying a plastic knife into a cream cake.

Then something strange happened. Blood didn’t gush out of Ghost Horse’s chest. He wasn’t even bleeding.

Dragon turned around and walked toward Gao Yang. “Are you alright?”

“...Yeah.” Gao Yang said through the lump in his throat. He wasn’t so much scared by Ghost Horse’s assassination attempt but by Dragon’s strange and terrifying Talent.

Perhaps Ghost Horse was right about that. That Dragon was no longer human, but a monster.

Thankfully, he was now on the same side as the monster.

“Good.” Dragon’s eyes glinted with fleeting sadness. “I didn’t want to lose two companions on the same day.”

Then he snapped his fingers.

Splash!

Blood gushed out of Ghost Horse’s chest. No longer restrained, his body rolled off the table, and he died quietly in a pool of his own blood. During the whole process, he hadn’t put up much of a struggle.

After some time—who knew how long it’d been—War Tiger broke the silence. “Let’s go. White Rabbit will take care of the mess.”

Gao Yang silently followed Dragon and War Tiger out of the meeting room.

All the other members were right outside, and they each had a different expression on their faces. Some were shocked, some calm, some indifferent, some confused, and there was sadness too.

While White Rabbit looked composed, her eyes betrayed her grief. “Was Ghost Horse the spy?”

Neither Dragon nor War Tiger answered her.

She could only turn to Gao Yang. He met her eyes and nodded softly after two seconds of hesitation.

“Has he been...” White Rabbit tried to find the right words. “...executed?”

Gao Yang nodded again.

He felt wronged. Why must he be the one to deliver the ugly truth?

He could sense the disappointment from White Rabbit and the others. Perhaps they all wished that Gao Yang was the spy considering the histories they had shared with the dead man.

White Rabbit lowered her eyes, her throat bobbing as she swallowed a choked-up sound.

Then she looked up at Heavenly Dog. “Help me with the cleanup.”

Heavenly Dog’s mood was equally gloomy. He wordlessly followed White Rabbit to the meeting room.

Dragon was a little pale, and there was a trace of exhaustion in his voice. “I’m tired and will not be joining you at Ghost Horse’s funeral. But know that I am sorry about the loss.”

“Rest. I’ll take care of the aftermath.” War Tiger let out a heavy sigh before making an announcement. “Unfortunately, Ghost Horse was the spy. We gave him a chance, but he made his choice. An hour later, we would go to the Taiping Bridge Cemetery to see him off.”

Songstress’ eyes were red and misty. She choked out, “May I go check on him the last time, Captain?”

Dragon nodded. “My apologies.”

“No, you’ve only done what needed to be done.” Songstress shook her head and turned to enter the meeting room. Even from the back, she looked determined and mournful.

...

Qing Ling’s room, Snake Room. Half an hour later.

Gao Yang told Qing Ling and Officer Huang everything that had happened in the meeting room. The three of them were silent for a moment.

Officer Huang had lit a cigarette, but he neglected it for quite a while, and a clump of ash fell silently.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Qing Ling looked ahead with a thoughtful look on her face.

“You heard it too, right?” Officer Huang said. “The voice in your ear.”

“I did.” Qing Ling frowned. She had been the first to stand up. “I hate that feeling.”

“I’m not a fan either.” Officer Huang shook some more ash off the cigarette. “It seems that Dragon can control our thoughts and make us do what he wants us to do.”

“‘Control’ isn’t quite the right word.” Gao Yang thought back to how it had felt for him. “It’s more like ‘suggestion’.”

“That’s right! Suggestion.” Officer Huang agreed. “I didn’t resist, and I didn’t feel like I was under control. I simply felt that I should stand up and leave the meeting room, like I was convinced by the voice.”

“That’s the scary part.”

Gao Yang looked down at his right hand. He could see the faint white lines on his fingers. They were traces left by Mad Red blowing up his hand and Lovely Lamb’s effort to stitch his fingers back. “If we are controlled, we will at least fight back. But if we don’t feel like we’re being controlled, we’ll just accept whatever is to come.”

“True.” Officer Huang nodded. “Think about it. If Dragon makes me think that it makes sense for me to kill myself, would I really kill...”

Then he shook his head. “No, that can’t be right. It’s unlikely that he would be that powerful. Otherwise he could just play god and do everything on his own. There would be no reason for him to start an organization.”

“I hope so.” Gao Yang wasn’t so certain. The way Dragon assumed control over Ghost Horse looked pretty godlike to him.

Then Officer Huang turned to Gao Yang like he just remembered something, “By the way, where were you last night? Why were you with White Rabbit?”

Gao Yang’s chest tightened. Wan Sisi’s face came to his mind again.

Just when he was wondering if he should tell them about it, Qing Ling’s phone rang, and she said coolly after taking a look, “We’re going to the Taiping Bridge Cemetery.”

Gao Yang had received White Rabbit’s group message as well. He put away his phone and got to his feet. “We’ll attend Ghost Horse’s funeral first.”