The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 770: God Loves All

“Of course.”

“Liar. You don’t know either, do you?” Dust’s hoarse voice sounded a little petulant.

And Clear Mirror responded with reserved affection. “I know it. I had a dream where we turned into the aurora and flew out of the Mist to reach the edge of the world. That’s where the blissful otherworld is.”

“What was there?”

“There was God. The great gentle, merciful, empathetic, omniscient, and omnipotent God.”

“They gazed at us quietly. It was like a divine shower that washed away all our sins. Even Their soft sigh contained boundless wisdom, able to answer all our questions.”

“What else?” Dust closed her eyes and tried to picture it.

“And love.”

“Love?”

“God loves all. All love God. We love the world. The world loves us.”

“Haha. That sounds silly. Does everyone do nothing but love?”

“Yes.”

“If so, we already have it. I love you, and you love me. We’re each other’s everything.”

“Our love is temporary, while God’s love is eternal.”

“I can never win a debate with you. Whatever you say.” Dust was getting tired. “I’m sleepy, Clear Mirror. I’d like a nap.”

“Go on.” Clear Mirror’s gaze remained on the night sky. His melancholy eyes reflected the everchanging aurora.

...

Snow Nation Airport, three o’clock in the afternoon the next day.

Disguised as a family on a vacation, eight awakeners walked out of the airport openly. Colorless was the tour guide, and the tourists included Surnamed Li, the grandmother, Azure Dragon, the father, Liu Qingying, the mother, Liao Liao, the oldest daughter, Zhong He, her husband, Six Rime, the younger daughter, and Dead Pig, the uncle.

Among the “family”, Liao Liao was the most reluctant member. She had resigned from her job post as team leader after the establishment of the Ocean River Union for her safety, volunteering to return to intelligence work. She was determined to lurk until the end of the world.

Yet she had to participate in this operation.

They needed her Talent, Follow Heart, serial number 187, Support-type.

Follow Heart had two abilities. One was to create a stealth field. It detered the attention, curiosity, and suspicion of others, and companions within a certain distance of the user would be covered by the field and thus obscured, too.

Eight awakeners would stand out like a sore thumb in a group. Without Shapeshifter, Follow Heart was the best alternative.

Follow Heart had another ability: it allowed her to beg the enemy for mercy and effectively lower the enemy’s hatred, anger, and killing intent while inspiring kindness, mercy, and empathy in them, creating a chance to escape.

Among the family, the one in the most awkward position was Zhong He.

When War Tiger learned that Dead Pig was heading to Snow Nation with Liu Qingying, he sent Zhong He to go with Dead Pig as a test to the new members.

Zhong He was now an official member of the Twelve Zodiac Signs, codenamed Shadow Mouse. To be more precise, he was Shadow Mouse the second since the third Mouse was also named Shadow Mouse.

It had only been a few days since Zhong He jumped ship, and he was already meeting his former boss Surnamed Li, former colleagues Colorless and Liao Liao, and Azure Dragon and Six Rime from the former Qilin Guild. He might as well be living a soap opera.

Surnamed Li didn’t seem fazed. Colorless understood his decision, but she purposefully threw verbal barbs at him and kept sarcastically calling him Master Shadow Mouse.

According to Liu Qingying’s intel, Dust was hiding in Aurora Town, and the only official channel to the town was the intercity bus.

They didn’t immediately set out, but instead checked into a hotel near the bus station that saw little visitors. They split into four rooms for two.

Surnamed Li shared a room with Liao Liao, Colorless with Six Rime, Azure Dragon with Zhong He, and Liu Qingying with Dead Pig.

Liu Qingying and Dead Pig wanted nothing but to go to Aurora Town this instant, but Surnamed Li, the commander of this operation, insisted on waiting.

She didn’t say what they were waiting for.

After checking into the hotel, they each had dinner in their room and took their rest.

Deep into the night, Surnamed Li still didn’t order a departure to Aurora Town.

During that time, Surnamed Li had woken up once and had a few-minute call with Elder Yan Liang. She had been sitting by the window and looking outside since then, deep in thought.

Liao Liao didn’t want to disturb her, so she found a magazine and flipped through it. Since she didn’t know the language, she browsed the pictures instead.

Rat-a-tat.

Someone knocked.

Liao Liao opened the door to find Liu Qingying standing outside with a smile. “Has Madam Li retired to bed?”

“She had a short nap but is now awake,” Liao Liao said honestly.

“The outdoor hot spring of the hotel is quite nice. There’s no one there now. You should go and relax.”

Liao Liao knew that Liu Qingying wanted her out of the room so that she could have a private chat with Surnamed Li.

Liao Liao was just going to reject politely when Surnamed Li said, “Go enjoy the hot spring, Liao Liao.”

“Of course.” Liao Liao followed the order.

She went to the front desk and used the translation app on her phone to express what she was there for. Soon, she was led to a changing room. She changed into a bathrobe and received the bathing products before heading to the women’s hot spring.

The hot spring was located in the backyard of the hotel, resembling a small light blue pond steaming with vapor. She could make out two figures at the heart of the hot spring, Colorless and Six Rime.

The two shared a room. Colorless had little goodwill for those from the Qilin Guild, especially the members of Team Azure Dragon and Team Yan Liang. And Six Rime might as well be a robot. The atmosphere was awkward in their shared room.

Colorless had lived in Snow Nation before, and she always liked hot springs. She waited until late at night to come enjoy it.

To her surprise, Six Rime was there, too.

Six Rime’s Frost and God of Water made a bath a good way for her to relax and recover. The fight at the Starcatching Pavilion had taken a toll on her, and she hadn’t fully recovered.

She was incapable of feeling awkward, leaving Colorless the only one suffering.

They stayed in the hot spring for more than ten minutes in silence. With their body and mind relaxing, the tension in the air melted a little, too.

Colorless slowly approached Six Rime and started a conversation. “I have a question, Six Rime.”

Six Rime glanced to the side at her with an impassive expression. Her skin looked almost translucent under the moonlight.

“Did you know what would happen beforehand at the Starcatching Pavilion that night?”

Six Rime didn’t say anything. It seemed that she didn’t understand the question.

“Did you know that many would die?” Colorless clarified.

“I did,” Six Rime said. “We must wipe out the Nine Scions.”

“Don’t you feel even a little bad about it?” Colorless had thought that Six Rime hadn’t been informed. The response enraged her. “Your former colleagues were there, too.”

“They were traitors.”

“Fine. So the traitors must die.” Colorless glared at her icily. “Then did you know that Chen Ying had joined the Nine Scions with many people, including a seven-year-old boy and a girl who’d just turned five? Were they traitors, too? They knew nothing! They were innocent!”

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