THE CREATURES THAT WE ARE

Chapter 1: Transmigration.

It had been twelve years since Gao Yang transmigrated.

Before, he had been an orphan. And he just celebrated his sixth birthday in the orphanage. That fateful night, he went to bed contentedly with a belly filled with the cupcake the dorm keeper bought him. He made a wish to one day find his parents in bed. Then sleep crept up to him.

When he woke up, Gao Yang found himself sitting at a dining table. Before him was a bowl of steaming hot noodles. He had already had a mouthful with noodles dangling from his lips.

The soft early morning sun lit the dining room of the old house. Across from him sat a middle-aged couple he didn’t recognize, and taking the seat of honor closest to the door was an old woman with kind eyes and gentle facial features. Next to Gao Yang, there was a little girl aged four or five with big, round eyes.

“What’s gotten to you? Hurry and finish your breakfast, or you’ll be late to school,” the middle-aged woman urged. She seemed to be in her thirties, beautiful despite the simple pajamas she wore and the lack of makeup.

“Want your old man to take you there, son?” the man asked with a smile and a toothpick between his teeth. He was tall and strongly-built with a bit of a beer belly, and his hairline showed signs of receding. However, one could still see in his facial features the young, handsome man he had been in the past.

“No!” the little girl cried out as she dug into a bowl of millet porridge with her upper body over the table, vexed. “Dad is taking me to kindergarten!”

“Hoho, how about your dad taking your brother to school before taking you?” The old woman petted the girl on the head with a fond smile.

Gao Yang gaped, and the noodles in his mouth dropped onto the dining table with a soft thud.

At the tender age of six, he didn’t yet understand the concept of transmigration, nor did he know what a parallel universe was.

He thought that he was dreaming. Never did he imagine that the dream would still be ongoing after twelve years.

...

Now, Gao Yang had gotten used to his new world, and he had become one with the owner of this body. He was Gao Yang, an 18-year-old third year highschool student. He was part of a loving family of five with his kind, personable grandmother, his parents who sometimes bickered but loved and respected each other, and a bright, mischievous younger sister.

He led a pretty good life. Like most people his age, he had been studying diligently for the national college entrance exam. Sometimes his mind wandered, picturing his future school, his job, who he would marry, how many children he would have...

All in all, the wish Gao Yang made when he was six had been fulfilled. He ‘found’ his parents, along with his grandmother and younger sister.

He was happy and wanted for nothing.

Until everything changed on his eighteenth birthday.

He was biking home after his evening self-study at school. When he made his way past a dimly-lit road, a dark figure suddenly rushed out of an alley and knocked both Gao Yang and his bicycle to the ground.

The fall wasn’t serious. Gao Yang picked himself up while wincing and finally got a better look at the person who had run into him. Under the dim street light stood a middle-aged man of small stature. He looked frail with his pale face twisted in fear and shock, and he was dressed in a tattered hospital gown covered all over in blood.

“Uncle, are you al—”

“Run!” The man grabbed Gao Yang by the shoulders with terrifying might. “Monsters! They are everywhere! Run! Get out of here!”

His voice seemed to be stained with despair and blood as he continued, “Don’t trust anyone...”

Bang!

Before the man could say anything else, a bullet buried into his temple and penetrated his skull, exiting through his other temple. Blood splattered like a blooming red rose in an instant.

Splat! Thick fog of blood assaulted Gao Yang’s senses, accompanied by a pungent smell.

The hands clutching Gao Yang’s shoulders gradually loosened, while the man’s face froze in a permanent expression of shock and fear. His bulging eyes stopped moving with all his despair, confusion, and regret etched on them.

Two seconds later, the now lifeless body toppled to the ground with a heavy thud.

Gao Yang stared.

Rooted to the spot, he felt his feet getting drenched by the spreading pool of blood. It was sticky, wet. The faint ringing in his ears triggered by the gunshot through the man’s head was gradually overtaken by the pounding heartbeat caged in his chest. Thump, thump, thumpthumpthump...

“Are you hurt, boy?”

“Don’t be scared. You’re safe now!”

“Close your eyes and don’t look down...”

A number of police officers rushed up to Gao Yang. One of them pulled him into their arms and covered his eyes.

...

The next day, what happened to Gao Yang became the local headline—Patient with Severe Mental Illness Fled at Night after Killing Two Nurses and Shot Dead for Taking a Highschooler Hostage.

Gao Yang took a sick leave and spent the day resting at home.

He was in shock. No ordinary person could simply brush off the experience of witnessing a life taken unceremoniously by a bullet in such close distance. It also bothered him that the man was labeled someone with mental illness, but he couldn’t put a finger on why.

That night, Gao Yang took a sleeping pill.

He had a dream after falling asleep.

After transmigration, Gao Yang had long incorporated the memory of the original owner of the body from before the age of six, but there seemed to be some unclear snippets that he had forgotten.

The dream took him back to the summer when he was four. It was late at night.

He had had too much watermelon, and the pressure in his bladder woke him up in the small hours. He got out of bed to go to the toilet. When he walked past the room his grandparents shared, he heard a rustling.

Curious, Gao Yang pressed his ear to the cool surface of the door and listened with full attention. The sounds became clearer, but also stranger.

The sounds were completely foreign to him. It sounded both like a beast whining, but also like a giant whale whimpering in the deep sea. It sounded pained, yet there were traces of excitement too. And buried under the cries, the rough, muffled sounds of something being torn and chewed could be heard. N♡vεlB¡n: Unleashing Imagination, One Read at a Time.

Gao Yang felt a shudder run down his spine.

He had just heard the story of Little Red Riding Hood from the auntie at kindergarten. Did the Big Bad Wolf snuck in and eat grandpa and grandma?

His heart was pounding, but he mustered the courage to carefully push the door open.

Through the crack, he saw it.

Scared witless, he turned around and bolted back to his room, diving into the cocoon of his blanket. He even forgot what he had woken up to do.

The next morning, Gao Yang awoke to find that he had wet his bed. He thought all that had merely been a bad dream, but then his mother opened the door and went up to him to pull him into her arms, crying as she said, “Your grandpa has passed away, Gao Yang.”

He followed his mother out to see the first responders carrying his dead grandfather on a stretcher, the body covered with a piece of white cloth. Then came the funeral, and his grandfather was already nothing but a box of ash.

Gao Yang and his younger sister never got to see their grandfather for the last time.

Thinking back, things were suspicious in many ways.

Their grandfather adored Gao Yang and his sister. They were family of the same blood. Why weren’t they allowed to see him one last time?

And if Gao Yang’s memory served him right, there was something strange about his grandfather’s upper body underneath the white cloth. It appeared that the body was missing an arm.

Didn’t his grandpa die of a heart attack? Why would an arm be missing?

In his dream, Gao Yang stared at the body on the white stretcher, his head filled with questions he couldn’t answer no matter how he agonized over them.

Then suddenly, the body sat up!

The white cloth fell and revealed the man supposedly suffering from mental illness. His eyes were gone, leaving his eye sockets bloody and empty. Viscous black blood splattered from his seven orifices, and he reached out to clutch on Gao Yang’s shoulders with hands covered in blood.

—Monsters! They are everywhere! Run! Get out of here!

—Don’t trust anyone!

...

“Ah!”

Gao Yang jerked awake from his dream.

It was ten o’clock in the morning. The sun was bright. The breeze of April day lifted the curtains and revealed the hubbub of traffic and city life outside the window.

His sister sat by his bed and looked at him with big blinking eyes, her head tilted. “Bad dream, Brother?”

After a pause, Gao Yang asked, “Why are you in my room?”

His sister cast him a judging look. “The sun is long out, you sleepyhead! Mom told me to wake you up!”

“Right. Got it.”

His sister left his room.

Still reeling from the dream, Gao Yang rolled off bed and had a big gulp of water.

Then his phone rang. Without thinking too much of it, he opened WeChat.

And promptly splattered all the water in his mouth.

Chapter 2: Awakener

Long story short, this could be the day Gao Yang finally put an end to his eternal singleness.

It all started two days ago.

His best friend Wang Zikai stole his phone and sent Li Weiwei a 300-word long confession as a prank.

When Gao Yang found out, it was already too late for him to unsend it. Although he had sent another message immediately to explain the situation, Li Weiwei didn’t respond. And she never struck up a conversation with Gao Yang for the next two days; she even avoided him at school.

Li Weiwei and Gao Yang grew up together. They had known each other since kindergarten because their families lived in the same neighborhood. Then they both moved to Li City and went to the same highschool. Fate had been keeping them close.

According to the memory of the original owner of the body before the age of six, he did have a crush on Li Weiwei. He had sworn to himself that he would marry her once they grew up back when he saw the pretty little girl for the first time at kindergarten. Unfortunately, Gao Yang came and replaced him before his dream could come true.

Thanks to Li Weiwei, Gao Yang had been the subject of jealousy from his male classmates over the years.

Gao Yang did care about Li Weiwei. He would even say that he liked her. Who wouldn’t like a pretty girl like her? Still, he had never thought about her that way. At the risk of being melodramatic, he would say there was a lack of spark when he saw her.

Their entrance exam and the following graduation were arriving in two months. Then they would all go their separate ways.

As Gao Yang’s best friend, Wang Zikai couldn’t bear to see the pair grow distant—well, in all honesty, he was just feeling bored and decided to set the two of them up, thus leading to the prank.

Two days later, Li Weiwei finally responded to Gao Yang’s message on WeChat.

[I accept your confession.]

Gao Yang didn’t know what to feel. Haven’t I explained to you that it was a prank Wang Zikai pulled? he wondered. Why did you ignore that?

This wouldn’t do. He had to explain again...

Then came another WeChat notification.

[Why don’t we meet up today?]

After a moment of hesitation, Gao Yang replied.

[Okay.]

...

Dawan Square, Shanqing District. Two o’clock in the afternoon.

When Gao Yang hurriedly arrived, Li Weiwei had already been waiting for a while.

It was the weekend, a rare chance to dress up. Li Weiwei wore a light green jumper. Her usually tied up hair cascaded softly down her shoulders. Whenever there was a breeze, her hair and the hem of her skirt would dance gently in the air. With a hand pressing on her ear to keep her long hair in check, Li Weiwei waved at Gao Yang, radiating happiness. “Here! I’m here, Gao Yang!”

However wonderful the spring breeze was, it paled in comparison to her blooming smile.

At that moment, Gao Yang could somewhat understand why the boys in his class followed her around like lap dogs. He had a good thing going on; he simply never appreciated it.

With a smile, Gao Yang walked up to Li Weiwei. “Sorry for being late.”

“It’s okay,” said Li Weiwei. “I went shopping with Qing Ling and bought some study materials. I bought two books for you too.”

Only then did Gao Yang notice the tall, pony-tailed girl standing not far behind Li Weiwei. She was using her phone with a hand in her pocket, the very picture of a cool girl.

Her name was Qing Ling. She was 1.67 meter tall[1] and entered the school as a student athlete for sprinting. She was Li Weiwei’s best friend.

And she was considered a goddess by the entire student body.

It was a given that she was pretty. What lifted her beyond the mortal realm was her always fair skin that was somehow impervious to the sun. Due to her training as an athlete over the years, her well-sculpted body had curves in all the right places and was so aesthetically pleasing that it belonged to the art museums. Her long, long legs could make any straight man fall head over heels for her.

Interestingly, unlike Li Weiwei, who had to friendzone her schoolmates every other day, Qing Ling had almost no suitors. Qing Ling never talked to boys, or more specifically, she always looked at boys with the instinctual revulsion one would look at a fly with.

Overtime, everyone learned that she hated men and stopped approaching her so as not to make a fool of themselves.

Gao Yang, however, didn’t think Qing Ling hated men. It was possible that she was simply...a beautiful lily[2].

Seemingly having noticed Gao Yang’s gaze, Qing Ling put away her phone and looked up to meet his eyes. Her presence and visible disgust were so overpowering that Gao Yang felt not only like a fly, but a fly hovering over a pile of shit.

“Are you coming with us, Qing Ling?” Li Weiwei raised her voice and asked.

Qing Ling gave Li Weiwei an angelic smile. “I’m good. You two have fun.”

Double standards! The sheer double standards she was showing!

...

Gao Yang and Li Weiwei spent the afternoon having milk tea, going to the cinema, and enjoying a meal at a barbecue place. All in all, it was a fun and fulfilling day, not one for the nerds who lived in their own reality.

Deep into the night, Gao Yang walked Li Weiwei home. She took the lead as they strolled along the quiet street, all alone. Then she suddenly turned around and asked, “Hey, did you regret it?”

“Regret what?”

Li Weiwei blushed. “Regret confessing to me.”

“Weiwei, I...”

“I thought you would be happy after I accepted your confession.” She cocked her head, her gaze uncertain. “But who knows. Don’t boys lose interest in the girl they are pursuing after she says yes? Because they realize they don’t actually like her that much?”

“No. That message...”

“Gao Yang.” Li Weiwei stared at Gao Yang with narrowed eyes, irked. “What’s with you today? Are you hiding something from me?”

“...Does it seem that way?”

“It does!” Li Weiwei complained. “You’ve been distracted the whole day.”

She was right. Gao Yang was distracted. He had wanted to take his mind off what had happened by going on this date, but trying not to think about something was no different from always thinking about it.

After debating with himself, Gao Yang spoke up, “Can I ask you a question, Li Weiwei?”

“Ask away.”

“Didn’t your granny pass away due to brain hemorrhage during our third year in middle school?”

“She did.”

“Did you get to see her for the last time?”

After a pause, Li Weiwei asked while blinking, “What do you mean?”

“I mean if you’ve ever seen her body.”

“Well, I was at school. When I went home, my parents had already sent her body away for cremation.”

“Ah.”

Of course they did, Gao Yang thought.

“What’s wrong with that?” Li Weiwei wondered aloud.

“Nothing...” Gao Yang trailed off.

Although Gao Yang had come to this world when he was only six, he had attended the funeral of their orphanage director before. Whether he registered it in his brain or not, he had spotted several differences between his original world and this world.

For example, it was common for people to be cremated first thing after their death in this world, foregoing any ceremony to bid the dead farewells.

It was done in such a hurry that it felt like an act to destroy evidence. Like the case with Gao Yang’s grandfather, as well as Li Weiwei’s grandmother.

Gao Yang’s heart sank.

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That didn’t escape Li Weiwei’s notice. “What’s wrong... You don’t look so good.”

Giving it some thought, Gao Yang said, “Li Weiwei, have you ever thought that perhaps our world is filled with dangers?”

Li Weiwei tensed up immediately. “What are you getting at? Don’t, don’t scare me...”

“You know I encountered a man with mental illness last night, don’t you?”

“I did hear about that. It was thanks to the police shooting him dead that you didn’t get hurt. I was quite worried about you.” Then her face turned flushed. “That was actually why I made up my mind to accept your confession.”

Gao Yang shook his head. “That’s not the case. He never wanted to hurt me. He was giving me a warning.”

“A warning?” Li Weiwei seemed lost. “About what?”

Gao Yang summarized what had happened and told her about his grandfather’s death when he was five.

With fear creeping up to her, Li Weiwei snuggled closer to Gao Yang seemingly without noticing it, her supple breast pressing against his arm.

“Wasn’t that a dream? You were little...”

“No, it wasn’t a dream!” Gao Yang was certain of it.

“Do you really think...that your grandpa...” Li Weiwei couldn’t finish.

Gao Yang shook his head. “Not necessarily. But something feels off to me.”

“Didn’t you take a peek into the room? What did you see?”

Gao Yang didn’t respond. He did see something in the dream that was an amalgamation of his memories, but not even he himself could be certain if it was all made up.

“Actually...”

“Ah, forget it! Drop it...” Li Weiwei lowered her head. “Let’s just go home already.” The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøv€lß1n.

Gao Yang grabbed her hand. “Do you not trust me, Li Weiwei?”

Li Weiwei paused. It took her some time to overcome her fear. She nodded vehemently. “I trust you.”

“Then I’ll put my trust in you too. I don’t know who else to tell but you.” Gao Yang took a deep breath and mustered the courage to tell the truth. “I saw a hand.”

“A hand?”

“Yes. Or an arm, to be more specific. It was as thick as an average man’s thigh and covered in greenish gray scales. The scales writhed and rolled like a swarm of worms. It was quite disgusting...”

“God...”

“I don’t know what it was,” Gao Yang said with a frown. “But it was no human arm.”

“Gao Yang.” Li Weiwei looked up at him. “Do you mean an arm like this?”

Gao Yang flinched.

A white hot pain shot through him from his wrist.

Looking down, he saw the skin and flesh of Li Weiwei’s fair, petite arm split apart as greenish gray fleshy scales burrowed outward.

Moonlight rimmed the scales with a sickly pale, eerie glow. They grew longer and longer along Gao Yang’s arm and buried under his skin, feasting on his blood like leeches.

“Li Weiwei... You...”

Li Weiwei shot out another hand to clutch on Gao Yang’s neck, lifting him off the ground with ease. The writhing scales covering her arm turned into soft and sticky tentacles before forcing their way into Gao Yang’s mouth, nostrils, ears, and even the corners of his eyes.

Unimaginable pressure tightened around his skull. Gao Yang felt like his head would explode in a matter of seconds like a watermelon being microwaved.

“Thank you, Gao Yang.” Li Weiwei sounded the same as ever, if not more gentle.

With a smile, she said, “You’re my first awakener.”

“...”

“I’ll never forget you, ever.”

1. About 5’6” in imperial. ?

2. Lily is used to refer to f/f romance in many East Asian languages. Starting out in Japan with yuri. Then Mandarin also adopted the term with baihe. Gao Yang is insinuating that Qing Ling may simply be into girls. ?

Chapter 3: System