The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 1063: Home

Brain Formatting had hit Qing Ling, and she hadn’t been able to endure it. At the last moment, though, Little Qing Ling forced a takeover.

So she was the one to be wiped first.

Yet Brain Formatting wouldn't be so easily deceived. Like a hard drive split in two, after formatting the D drive, it would simply move on to wipe the C drive. Little Qing Ling had bought them mere seconds.

But her disappearance hit her older sister hard.

At that moment, all of Qing Ling’s Talents reached level 7, Limitless Evolution included. That came with the strongest skill of the Talent—Seven-Second Limitbreak.

When hit by a life-threatening attack, she would develop full immunity provided she endured it for seven seconds.

Thus, when Brain Formatting began to wipe Qing Ling, she was already immune.

Qilin didn’t know any of it, of course, and he didn’t have the time to figure it out. He only found the woman a hassle, but no matter. There was still time. He just had to take out Qing Ling. He could still finish his plan!

But as he reached for his energy reserves, they drained to nothing.

Despair swallowed him whole.

Lord of Puppets died.

The Spinning Top Plan failed.

A single drop of tear fell from his real eye. He didn’t even fight back, but only parted his lips and uttered a syllable only he could hear.

“No.”

At the same time, a slim Black Gold longsword shot out of Qing Ling’s clenched fist, piercing Qilin’s metal palm and then his throat.

Qing Ling swung her arm and decapitated Qilin.

The truth was her left arm had never truly regenerated after the Malediction erased it. Dr. Jia had tried everything before settling on a cybernetic replacement, specially designed with a hidden blade. It made her a deadly surprise in close combat.

That was the real reason Qing Ling’s heart was shifted to the right side of her chest.

It was Qing Ling’s hidden ace. She applied artificial skin to the prosthetic and kept it a secret from everyone, only going to Dr. Jia for checkups and maintenance regularly.

Gao Yang found out by accident.

After Yan Liang killed Qing Ling, and Fresh Snow brought her back, Gao Yang had noticed that her left arm wasn’t real when changing her clothes for her. She had been nervous when she woke up, worried that someone other than Gao Yang had found out her hidden trick.

And it remained a secret since there was never a use for it—until now.

...

Qilin’s head flew toward the sky.

In the lingering moment before his consciousness faded, he found his regret, frustration, loneliness, and despair leaving him; only an exhaustion and a soothing sense of relief remained.

Time went back to one summer day in his childhood. His father had taken him, Little Mu Xing, to swim. They climbed onto the old camphor tree by the dam and jumped into the water from a tall branch. The moment they broke the surface, Mu Xing’s world turned upside-down.

“Haha, good one, Son!”

“Do you have a death wish?! It’s too dangerous!”

He heard his father laugh, his mother’s scolding, the incessant cacophonic chorus of the cicadas, the rustling tune of wind sweeping past the forest...

Splash. Mu Xing went underwater, and all the sounds faded. Everything was blurry, cold, and lonely. As he sank and sank, he opened his eyes. He saw a vast, endless universe.

You’re right, Dad, the universe is massive.

But what does that have to do with me?

I only ever want a home.

...

The moment Lord of Puppets died, its dominating domain immediately crumbled. The small amount of stolen energy returned.

Gao Yang forced his eyes open at the edge of consciousness, clinging to that fragment of power and sheer stubbornness. Qing Ling's desperate cries pierced his ears.

She knelt on scorched earth, face pale and body blood-soaked, her right hand useless and bleeding. Even after killing Qilin, she'd forced herself to stay conscious, searching for her sister with closed eyes.

Her mind stretched before her like a vast maze. She walked endless corridors, calling out, finding nothing—not even a trace of her sister’s existence.

Her eyes flew open. A new kind of panic seized her, and she screamed into the empty air:

“Little Qing Ling!”

“Come out!”

“Come on!”

“I know you’re still there!”

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes once more. Two seconds later, she opened her eyes and started shaking, lips turning purple and face approaching pure white.

“Come now!”

“Do you hear me, Little Qing Ling?!”

“Why aren’t you showing up?”

“You always come out when you shouldn’t, but now you keep hiding when I’m telling you to take over!”

“Stubborn girl! Always throwing a tantrum! Always leaving a mess for me to clean up!”

“Why can’t you just listen to me for once?!”

“Why do I have a little sister like you?!”

“Qing Ling!”

“Qing Ling!”

“Come out! Now! Stop hiding!”

“Do you think I can’t find you?”

“You think I can’t do anything when you’re hiding?”

“Fine! Just you wait!”

“Just wait...”

She raised her prosthetic left arm. A sharp dagger shot out of her palm. She aimed it at her heart and—

“Hmph.”

Gao Yang appeared just in time to grab the dagger. Blood splattered, but he wouldn’t let go. He stopped Qing Ling from carving her heart out.

“Don’t touch me!” Qing Ling was running on her last reserve of strength, but she kept struggling. “Fuck off! Let me go!”

Gao Yang tightened his grip around the dagger with one hand while putting his other arm around her neck, restraining her so that she couldn’t harm herself.

“Let...go...”

“Piss off...don’t touch me...”

“Just leave me be...”

...

Then even her struggle left her. Her left hand dropped, and she toppled back into Gao Yang’s arms. Blood-matted hair clung to her face as tears of despair fell.

“Ahh!”

“Ahhh...”

Restrained by Gao Yang, she doubled over and let out a heart-wrenching cry at the air in front of her, as if she was trying to vomit something out of her body or disperse the intangible heartbreak suffocating her.

A futile fight it was.

That only left her hoarse and exhausted.

The side effects of Limitless Evolution crept up to her. After the rapid growth, limit breaking, and immunity developed for the enemy’s Talents, it began consuming her remaining energy for recovery and stabilization.

Her despair dulled, and her vision blurred. As her eyes closed, she fell back into that vast, empty maze of her mind.

Just before consciousness slipped away, she caught the faint sound of Gao Yang's singing:

“A tiny cradle, to and fro.”

“The night sky is so beautiful.”

“Mom’s the stars, and Dad’s the moon.”

“Stay with me until I fall into a dream.”

“La la la, la la la.”

“Stay with me until I fall into a dream.”