The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 245: No Way Out

Gao Yang didn’t have the time to dwell on it. The enemies were approaching.

“They’re here,” Ghost Horse said in a low voice. “My three.”

Gao Yang didn’t dare turn around. He noticed another on his ten, standing on top of a large pipe. The backlit figure seemed to be a woman.

Then more and more figures appeared in their sight, looking deathly and lifeless, each taking their position around the chemical plant to surround Gao Yang and Ghost Horse.

“There are five on my side,” Ghost Horse said gravely.

Gao Yang did the count too. “There are...five on my side too.”

There were ten in total, which were most likely among the eleven corpses left. That told him two things.

First, Black Tortoise wasn’t dead.

Second, the maximum number of corpses Black Tortoise could manipulate was ten.

Gao Yang glanced down at the charred body at his feet. It was real. It couldn’t have been an illusion.

He and Ghost Horse had killed Black Tortoise.

Could there be two Black Tortoise?

“Dark Horse,” Ghost Horse said quickly in a low voice. “Based on your observation and what we’re seeing now, I’m certain that Black Tortoise’s Talent is Puppeteer.”

“Puppeteer?” Gao Yang repeated.

“Serial number 7, known as the top Summon-type Talent. According to rumors, the Talent allows the user to control any living organisms they contract with. It seems that once reaching level 4, the Talent would grant the ability to manipulate corpses too.”

Gao Yang gasped. “Does it mean that Yan Feng isn’t actually Black Tortoise, but one of his puppets?”

“Seems so.”

“But how? How is he able to keep up the act perfectly for so many years?” Gao Yang tightened his grip around the dagger in his hand, keeping an eye on the figures surrounding them.

Ghost Horse didn’t seem surprised. “Have you forgotten what Yan Fen is?”

Gao Yang came to a realization. “Yan Feng is an actor and a living person. Like the wanderers controlled by Black Tortoise in his branch, he’d merely been carrying out his master’s mission.”

“We underestimated Black Tortoise.” Ghost Horse lowered his voice, sounding as composed as ever. “We can’t win this, Dark Horse, and we can’t stay alive until Azure Dragon arrives. I’ll buy you time. Do your best to get out of here.”

“Isn’t it easier for you to escape with your Teleportation?”

“I’ve completed my mission. Your survival takes priority over mine.”

Gao Yang was rendered speechless. The man was rational to a fault. He applied cold logic to both others and himself.

Black Tortoise didn’t give them more time to discuss what to do.

Swoosh!

An arrow flew their way. Gao Yang quickly raised his hand and made a swing with his dagger, cutting the arrow in half.

He looked up at the thin young man standing on a reactor. His assailant was holding a composite bow.

It was Xiuyi, who had been killed in action!

Gao Yang didn’t have the time to wallow. At some point, countless crows had gathered above him and Ghost Horse.

Gao Yang was taken aback. He had personally burned Yellow Butterfly to charcoal. Although Vermilion Bird had restored her body, it was still surprising that it could still be of use. Puppeteer was truly a formidable Talent!

Shrieking, the murder of crows swooped down toward the two of them like an overwhelming black wave.

“Fire!”

Gao Yang opened his arms and shot flames at the crows like two flamethrowers.

Countless black feathers burned and flew in the air, while crows enveloped in flames dropped like small meteors.

There were a good number of stragglers that avoided the attack, of course, and they flapped their wings and shot forward, attacking Gao Yang with their sharp beaks and claws.

None of them escaped Ghost Horse’s quick and keen karambits.

Ghost Horse had been going after the crows when his expression darkened, having sensed the ground freeze over at unnatural speed, and the ice was spreading toward his and Gao Yang’s feet.

He quickly turned around and grabbed Gao Yang.

A moment of disorientation, and Gao Yang found himself taken seven meters away.

Where the two of them had been standing, grains of ice bloomed.

“Body number 7!” Ghost Horse called out. “Talent: Frost.”

Frost, serial number 25, Element-type. It allowed one to manipulate ice.

Swish, swish!

Two arrows came for Gao Yang and Ghost Horse. They swung their blades at the same time to cut down the arrows, but the resulting delay was enough for crows to swarm up to them again.

“We have to take out the archer...”

Ghost Horse was interrupted by a change in the currents around him. Air seemed to be compressing dramatically. Gao Yang scowled as he sensed the same thing.

Ghost Horse grabbed Gao Yang’s elbow and teleported away once more.

The sounds of gusts were quiet and fleeting. Where they had been a moment ago, the crows that had come after them got sliced into pieces in the blink of an eye.

“Three Air’s body!” Gao Yang shouted. “It’s Gale!”

His heart sank.

They couldn’t win. It was impossible.

They didn’t even stand a chance of escaping.

The number 4 body was still lying in wait with Talent: Phantom, and when the opportune time came, it would strike from the dark.

Ghost Horse grabbed Gao Yang’s arm and teleported toward the entrance of the chemical plant again.

He teleported thrice in a row, all the while dodging the arrows coming their way. They reached the gates.

But they halted then, blocked at the gates by a young man.

Under the moonlight, his face was bloated and pale, his eyes flickering with an eerie green. On his temple was a web-shaped brand.

There was an obvious cut on his neck, sewn back together by surgical thread.

Although the skin and flesh were now attached again, the neck bone remained broken, and his head dangled at an unnatural angle.

Xiran.

He reached out both arms toward Gao Yang and Ghost Horse. A gurgle came from his mouth.

A strange bout of weakness seeped into their bodies like chilling wind. Gao Yang and Ghost Horse felt their Talents go quiet, as if they had been forgotten.

It felt like not being able to find your phone even though you knew it must be somewhere at home. For some reason, you just couldn’t find it for the life of you.

Gao Yang knew that Xiran had activated Mute.

“Move!” Gao Yang pushed Ghost Horse away, himself thrown the opposite direction by the counterforce.

Two arrows missed.

Almost simultaneously, ice sprouted out of the ground with crackling sounds, freezing the feet of all those in the area without discriminating between friends and foes, trapping Xiran, Gao Yang, and Ghost Horse.

Gao Yang felt a chill enveloping his calves. He couldn’t take another step.

Crack.

The ice spread quickly, now climbing along Gao Yang’s thighs. However, he still couldn’t find the Talents in his body.

He clenched his teeth and threw the dagger in his hand at Xiran with full force.

The blade thrust into Xiran’s mouth precisely, blocking his throat.

Their Talents returned in an instant.

Gao Yang lifted both hands and shot fire at his and Ghost Horse’s feet, quickly melting the ice trapping them at the risk of burning themselves.

It worked. He and Ghost Horse were freed in two seconds.

Swoosh!

Ghost Horse teleported to his side and pushed him away roughly.

Gao Yang rolled to a stop. When he looked up at Ghost Horse, the man was standing in a strange position, unmoving.

“Ghost Horse!”

Ghost Horse didn’t respond. His expression was grave.

Gao Yang noticed with a start that there was something wrong with the shadow under Ghost Horse’s feet. It had broken free of the two dimensional surface and become a three dimensional being, climbing up Ghost Horse’s legs in a quiet and chilling manner.

Soon, the shadow morphed into countless shadowy tentacles, locking Ghost Horse in place. One of the tentacles had wrapped around his neck and was slowly yet surely strangling him.

“Hah—”

A pained cry burst out from Ghost Horse’s chest. Gao Yang saw his figure blur for a second before turning concrete again.

He tried to escape with Teleportation, but failed.

Gao Yang fell into despair.

Talent: Phantom.

Body number 4 had made a move.