The Creatures That We Are - C.471: Xing Kong

“What’s wrong?” Little Qing Ling turned to look when she noticed Gao Yang stopping. Gao Yang’s expression was dark.

Two seconds later, Qing Ling took over. Gaze alert, she asked in a low voice, “Gao Yang?”

Gao Yang came to his senses, but he didn’t explain. Instead, he called out to Gao Xinxin, “Sis, I need to go to the toilet. I’m heading back.”

“Huh?” Gao Xinxin turned around in disbelief.

“Come with me, Qing Ling.” Gao Yang grabbed her hand and took the path they had come from. He could hear his sister grumbling about him from behind, but he couldn’t afford to care.

They made it out of the pine tree forest and reached the pavilion at the midsection of the mountain. Only after making sure that there was no one around did Gao Yang let go of Qing Ling. “Qing Ling?”

“Yeah.” She looked at him impassively. “Hand Holding costs one jinwu.”

Is this the time to get hung up on the pay?!

Although there was no one around, Gao Yang still unconsciously lowered his voice as he said, “I may have discovered something serious, Qing Ling.”

“What is it?”

“That...”

Buzz.

Gao Yang was just about to respond when his phone vibrated. He paused, taking his phone out of his pocket. It was a call from his father.

“Hello?”

“Call the police, Son... Agh...”

Beep, beep, beep.

He heard his father scream. Then the phone seemed to have been taken and hung up.

Face dark, Gao Yang turned to run down the mountain.

He had only taken two steps when Qing Ling called out from behind him, “Hop on!”

Gao Yang turned to see Qing Ling flying toward him on her Tang Dao, extending a hand to him.

He took her hand and jumped onto the Tang Dao. The blade flew with such stability that it felt as if he was standing on flat ground.

Gao Yang was surprised by Qing Ling’s fine control over metal.

Qing Ling’s Metal had reached level 5 back in the fight with the white phoenix.

Level 5 Metal: maximum detection distance of 600 meters, maximum control distance of 50 meters, and maximum control weight of 300 kilograms. It also granted one the ability to change and reshape metal to some degree, with Black Gold being an exception.

“Hold on tight!” Qing Ling’s Tang Dao propped them high into the air.

Gao Yang didn’t have the presence of mind to hesitate. He held onto Qing Ling’s waist tightly from behind.

Three seconds later, the blade flew out of the woods, and their vision opened up.

Whoosh.

Gao Yang felt inertia throwing his body backward as the Tang Dao they were riding on shot toward Zhuang Mei’s farmhouse like a bullet. Qing Ling could travel at an impressive speed with her blade, but the technique was only good for a short distance; it would take too much energy to travel a long distance this way.

In less than thirty seconds, the two of them reached the farmhouse, hovering above it.

On the concrete front yard, Gao Yang’s father lay prone on the ground, his wheelchair toppled. A bald topless man with tanned skin towered over him.

Expression pained, Gao Yang’s father reached out, struggling to crawl forward. The bald man kicked him in the abdomen.

“Ah!”

He cried out, his body rolling a few times.

“Told you to play along. You’re asking for punishment!” The bald man hadn’t had enough. He rushed up to him and stepped on his face.

“Hmph...” Face pressed into the rough concrete floor, Gao Yang’s father couldn’t let out the shout stuck in his throat.

The bald man spat on him. “Piece of trash. Don’t worry, I’ll kill you later...”

Before the bald man could finish, he sensed a wave of killing intent pouring down upon him. He scoffed, That’s quick.

He didn’t even look up before crouching down quickly and grabbing Gao Yang’s father, holding the man above his head as a shield.

Having jumped down from high in the air, Gao Yang quickly dispersed the fire wrapping his fist and teleported to change his trajectory, landing before the bald man and his father instead.

The bald man lowered his father, gripping his neck.

“Let him go!” Gao Yang shouted, his voice brimming with panic.

Qing Ling had landed beside Gao Yang too. Without a word, she curled her finger slightly, about to ambush the man with her Black Gold darts.

“Don’t even think about it, bitch!” The bald man sneered. He seemed to know Qing Ling’s weapons well. “Your little toys aren’t as quick as my hand. I can break his neck in a second.”

Qing Ling frowned, straightening her fingers, and the three darts returned to hover behind her.

Gao Yang forced himself to relax. He considered the enemy before him.

The bald man had an angular face and a pair of gloomy eyes, his bushy eyebrows thick and messy, but sharp like two blades. He was about 1.75 meters tall with a burly, strongly-built body. He seemed to be in his thirties.

“Forget about me! Call the police...” Gao Yang’s father seized the chance to shout. The bald man squeezed his throat, and his face instantly became flushed, his breathing difficult.

“Who are you? What do you want?”

Gao Yang didn’t give a damn about who the son of a bitch was at this moment, but it was never a bad idea to start a conversation to buy time. The more time he could buy, the more likely the enemy would reveal their weaknesses.

It was human nature to boast about their own prowess. It was hard for people to tamp down their urge to express themselves.

Indeed, the bald man responded.

“No.11 of Tails, Xing Kong.”

Gao Yang quickly went over what he knew of the Talent. Serial number 189, Grumpy.

The man didn’t respond to Gao Yang’s second question. He scoffed at Gao Yang. “So you are Seven Shadow. That means the blade-wielding bitch beside you must be Green Snake.”

“Yes,” Gao Yang said.

Qing Ling didn’t say anything. She calmly looked for an opening.

“Did No.7 die at your hands?”

“He did,” Gao Yang said.

“Ha, that piece of shit.” Xing Kong’s eyes glinted with complicated emotions; it wasn’t so much anger, but a mix of jealousy and resentment.

He looked up at the mountain behind the farmhouse. Then suddenly, he punched Gao Yang’s father in the stomach.

“Ugh!”

His father fainted from the pain.

“Stop!” Gao Yang shouted nervously.

Xing Kong ignored him and threw his father over his shoulder, turning around and bolting. Running and leaping, he made it across the large farm fields, rushing toward the asphalt road outside the village.

He was quick, but no quicker than Gao Yang, who had Teleportation, and Qing Ling, who was riding on her blade.

Worried that Xing Kong would hurt the hostage, though, the two of them didn’t dare make a reckless attack, but instead followed the man closely to look for a chance.

Carrying Gao Yang’s unconscious father, Xing Kong ran along the rural asphalt road for a few minutes, away from the village Zhuang Mei lived near.

Xing Kong suddenly moved away from the main road and rushed toward the top of a mountain. Gao Yang and Qing Ling didn’t know what Xing Kong was planning. They had no choice but to keep chasing the man.

The mountain wasn’t tall. Gao Yang and Qing Ling soon reached the top.

Gao Yang started. I’ve been here before!

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