The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 1127: Mad Together

Silence. The wind alone sighed softly as it rustled the forest, like a lamentation from nature itself.

Liao Liao shuddered. “You’re right. It’s like someone with a personhood and a monsterhood.”

Nine Frost nodded. “What sets her apart is that monsters cannot control the switch, but Ke Yo seems to be able to. We don’t know whether she will turn it on or off, and when.”

“With a thought, you may break bad or become enlightened,” Gao Yang said.

War Tiger interrupted their philosophical discussion, “Stop overthinking this! Based on my experience, when your instinct tells you something’s wrong, it is. Ke Yo is a threat we cannot afford to leave alone.”

Another stretch of silence followed.

When Gao Yang looked up, all eyes were on him, waiting for his decision.

He sighed. “I’ll use Lie Detection on her tomorrow and make the call then.”

“Why tomorrow?” War Tiger asked. “Do it now.”

“Let’s give her a little time. Ke Yo just woke up. All the awakening memories must have messed up her mind. She needs time to integrate and sort out the memories in order to understand herself better.”

Gao Yang was speaking from experience. He had gone through the same thing when he transmigrated here.

Dragon didn’t oppose the decision, and Nine Frost and Liao Liao nodded.

“Fine. So be it.” War Tiger waved a hand.

Gao Yang turned to Vermilion Bird, finding her lost in thought.

“Xia Li?” he called out softly.

Vermilion Bird looked up. “Fine by me.”

...

At four in the morning, Ke Yo sat cross-legged by her bed in the dim basement, eyes closed in rest. Then her eyes flew open, glinting in the dark.

Seconds later, a spectral green hand emerged from the wall across from her, followed by the rest of Vermilion Bird's incorporeal form. She deactivated Unreachable after fully materializing and produced a jammer from her pocket. Whirr. The device activated, filling the space with white noise.

“I knew you would come,” Ke Yo said with a smile.

Vermilion Bird considered her quietly.

When Ke Yo asked to smoke, it had taken her four tries to light the cigarette. Vermilion Bird knew the lighter was working perfectly fine; Ke Yo had clearly done it on purpose.

It was meant as a secret message asking her to return at four o’clock. Ke Yo wasn't so naive as to think she wasn't being monitored. She had more to say, but not where others could hear. She thus said little.

It could have been a coincidence, Vermilion Bird acknowledged. She might have invented meaning from a simple mistake. Still, Vermilion Bird decided to check if she was right, and she was.

“Now that we’re alone, will you be honest with me?” Vermilion Bird asked without preamble.

“Come with me, Vermilion Bird,” Ke Yo said.

Vermilion Bird’s eyes widened. She questioned if she had heard her wrong.

“Come with me,” Ke Yo repeated.

“Are you serious?” Vermilion Bird finally managed.

“Do I look like I’m joking?” Ke Yo said seriously. “Humans can’t win, Vermilion Bird. Everyone will die, but I will survive. You will as well as long as you leave with me.”

“Why would I trust you?”

“Why do you think I serve the Godbearer Cult?”

Vermilion Bird's lips pressed into a thin line.

“It’s simple: join them if you can’t beat them.” Ke Yo rose to her feet. “I joined them a long, long time ago.”

Vermilion Bird took a deep breath and asked tentatively, “Are you...a monster already?”

Ke Yo shook her head. “It’s not a simple distinction between humans and monsters. It’s about what lies beyond the Mist. We can join them. The boat tickets that’ll take us from here are real. We all work for a ticket, for our survival.”

Vermilion Bird stayed silent.

“I’m only promised two tickets, Vermilion Bird. Now that Edmond’s dead, you can take his spot. Come with me. Let’s escape together.”

Vermilion Bird still didn’t say anything.

Ke Yo stepped forward and said with a frown, “Do you not trust me?”

“Should I?” Vermilion Bird countered.

Ke Yo suddenly lunged forward, reaching for Vermilion Bird's hand. In one fluid motion, Vermilion Bird drew her Black Gold dagger and pinned Ke Yo against the wall, the blade pressing beneath her chin. “What are you doing?”

Ke Yo didn't flinch from the sharp edge. “Kill me now if you don’t trust me, Vermilion Bird.”

Vermilion Bird met her gaze with steel in her eyes. “Do you think I won’t do it?”

“Then do it.” Ke Yo huffed out a laugh. “What are you waiting for? You can end this with a simple slice. I’ll never be able to utter another word to shake you.”

Vermilion Bird's grip tightened, the blade breaking skin. A thin line of red appeared.

“Do it!” Ke Yo shouted.

Vermilion Bird's hand trembled, her resolve crumbling. She released Ke Yo and staggered back. “You won. I can’t do it. I can’t kill you, and I can’t watch as you die.”

She turned away. “Go, Ke Yo. Leave this place and don’t ever come back.”

“No, I’m not leaving.”

“What more do you want?!” Vermilion Bird raised her voice. “What more do you want from me?!”

“I want you to leave with me,” Ke Yo said.

Vermilion Bird stared at her.

This time when Ke Yo reached for her hand, she succeeded in catching it. “Humans aren’t wrong, Sister Xia, but humans don’t have a future. All resistance is futile.”

“We don’t have to die with everyone else.”

“Come with me, Sister Xia. Let’s board the ferry out of the world together.” Ke Yo stared at Vermilion Bird with determination burning in her reddened eyes. “If you don’t want to, kill me now and give me a swift release.”

“Don’t push me, Ke Yo—”

“Make up your mind, Xia Li!”

Their eyes locked. Words died on Vermilion Bird's parted lips. Ke Yo fell silent, her grip on Vermilion Bird's hand unwavering.

Time stretched like the shadows in the basement.

Vermilion Bird retracted her blood-stained dagger. “You’re mad. I am, too.”

Ke Yo smiled. A teardrop ran down her cheek. She quickly wiped it. “I knew it. I knew you would choose madness with me.”

Vermilion Bird twisted her wrist, catching Ke Yo's hand in return. Their forms shimmered, becoming incorporeal, and vanished into the wall—leaving only darkness behind.