The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 955: Private Matter

Hiding in the forest trenches, Chen Ying, Lying Wood, Hong Xiaoxiao, and Adept Horse froze mid-motion, their pulses spiking.

As commander on the battlefield, Nine Frost's reputation for calm, controlled, and precise communication meant any casual expletive like “dammit” or “shit” signaled impending catastrophe.

“What is it?!” Chen Ying snapped to attention from her rest, immediately engaging Sensory—but detected nothing.

“Ahem.” Nine Frost cleared his throat awkwardly. “All's clear. Sorry, I have private matters to attend to.”

The others let out a sigh of relief and exchanged a glance.

Nine Frost pulled out his phone and opened his voice modulation app, selecting his usual profile. “Hello, Grandma. It's me, Xiuyi.”

The app transformed his words into a younger, gentler voice: “Hello, Grandma. It's me, Xiuyi.”

Satisfied, Nine Frost dialed the nursing home. After several rings, a young woman answered, “Evening. This is the Tianle Nursing Home.”

“Hello, this is Xiuyi. Is my grandma asleep now?” Nine Frost provided her name and room number.

“Oh, it's you. Your grandmother is still awake. She's been waiting for your call.” The staff member's recognition was clear in her voice.

“Thank you. Please give the phone to her.”

“Okay. But make sure to call earlier next time. It's late.”

“I'm sorry.”

Soon, an elderly woman's voice came through, raised instinctively due to her poor hearing. “Hey, Little Xiu! Can you hear me?”

“I can hear you,” Nine Frost said. “Happy birthday, Grandma. Did you have a good day?”

“Yeah, yeah. Your grandma is the star today. They bought me a cake, haha. And there was a dance party. The old man next door invited me to dance. Eh, I'm almost blind now. How am I going to dance? Haha, it was fun today. Everyone was happy. Grandma too...”

Her words tumbled out in excited succession, clearly rehearsed during her wait.

“Little Xiu, are you doing well overseas? Have you gotten used to the life there? Did someone bully you? If you have any problem, tell Grandma. Don't keep it from me just because I'm old...”

“That's not the case, Grandma. I'm doing well. I have a lot of classes, and I'm working part-time for the experience. That's why I've been busy. I remembered I was going to call you this morning, but I forgot about it afterward. I'm sorry. Oh, did you get my gift?”

“I did!”

“Do you like it, Grandma?”

“I love it, I love it a lot! The others are so envious of me...”

...

The four members hiding in the forest listened quietly, not wanting to disturb the conversation between “Xiuyi” and his grandmother.

Minutes later, Nine Frost ended the call and closed the modulation app without comment.

Lying Wood sighed, resting against the trench wall with a wilted green foxtail between his lips. Through gaps in the tree canopies, he studied the star-filled sky. “Old Zhong really should learn from Vice Captain Nine Frost. The weight on him is great, too, yet Vice Captain Nine Frost never gave up on himself.”

“That's not what happened,” Hong Xiaoxiao said. “Can told me that Vice Captain Nine Frost had been depressed, too. It was Captain Gao Yang who pulled him out of it.”

“Ha, I can't imagine that.” Lying Wood glanced up at Nine Frost. The man maintained his observation post, seemingly unmoved by his teammates' discussion of his past.

“I believe Zhong He will pick himself up soon.” Hong Xiaoxiao looked toward Adept Horse. “Am I right, Adept Horse?”

Adept Horse rolled up his pants to check and calibrate his cybernetic prosthetics. His profile had grown more sculpted, his gaze steady, his expression composed—a transformation so complete that without witnessing his rebirth, one might suspect possession.

After finishing with his prosthetics, he moved on to inspecting his gun and dagger. Without looking up, he said calmly, “As long as he's alive, he'll get back up sooner or later. If I could do it, he can, too.”

“Yeah!” Hong Xiaoxiao brightened at the confirmation.

Chen Ying opened her mouth to speak when a familiar coolness entered her mind.

[Nine Frost: The fish has bitten the bait. I repeat, the fish has bitten the bait.]

[Chen Ying: Recon Unit, copy.]

[Qing Ling: Vanguard Unit, copy.]

[War Tiger: Core Unit, copy.]

...

“Ah!”

Fresh Snow jerked awake in the quiet room. Through the thin gauze curtain, moonlight swept in like quiet waves. The gray-blue light illuminated the Gao Yang Star and Fresh Snow Star on the ceiling, making her feel safe.

She slowly rose to find the door slightly ajar, light seeping through the crack.

Sorting her hair and rumpled pajama dress, she walked out barefooted.

She jumped when she saw the mansion brightly lit, the chandelier extravagant and sparkling.

The deep red antique long table was covered in delicious food. In the highback chair at the highest-ranked position sat a little boy with silver hair and red eyes, wearing a black suit—Spectres' patriarch, Spring.

Beside him, a man with a serious face and dimpled chin sat tall and straight—Waking Insects.

“Master Spring!” Fresh Snow jumped down from the second floor without thinking.

Whoosh. Waking Insects caught her like a wind and placed her safely on the seat across from his. He sat back down.

“Master Spring!” Fresh Snow's voice cracked. “I miss you so much!”

“So you haven't forgotten about me, little brat.” Spring was in a good mood. “It's Lunar New Year's Eve. Let's all eat together.”

“Yeah!” Fresh Snow suddenly remembered something. “Where's Sister?”

“In the kitchen, panfrying your favorite, salmon.” Spring gracefully lifted the knife and fork before him.

Fresh Snow turned to see the kitchen door open. Light streamed out along with the sound of sizzling and White Dew's happy singing.

Every time she stepped into a kitchen, White Dew would lose her usual graceful and haughty self, turning into a content woman humming pop songs. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Amazing!” Fresh Snow was delighted. They could finally spend New Year together once more.

Then she asked, “Master Spring, where's Gao Yang?”

Spring looked up from the steak he was slicing, his brows furrowed. “Gao yang? Lamb? I remember you don’t like mutton...[1]”

“Not mutton, but Gao Yang!” Fresh Snow panicked. “Where did he go? He was here before.”

Spring looked at Waking Insects in confusion. Waking Insects shook his head. He didn't recognize the name, either.

Spring set down his cutlery and said resignedly, “What are you talking about, Fresh Snow? Who's Gao Yang?”

“It's Gao Yang!” Fresh Snow shot to her feet. “You, you were going to make him marry into the family! Have you forgotten all that?!”

“Marry into the family?” Spring grew increasingly confused. “Has White Dew shown you some strange novel...”

“It's not!” Fresh Snow was angry. She didn't waste more time explaining. “I'm going to find Gao Yang!”

She stalked into the kitchen.

White Dew was no longer inside. On the stove, the salmon still sizzled and bubbled in the frying pan, about to overcook.

“Sister!” Fresh Snow called out, but no response came.

“Sister! Gao Yang!” Panicked, Fresh Snow turned and rushed to the other rooms.

The bathroom, the nanny room, the drawing room, the gym—all empty.

Fresh Snow urgently ran to the second floor and rushed along the square corridors, checking the master bedroom, second bedroom, study room, recreational room, bathroom, toilet, and storage.

No one.

“Sister! Gao Yang!”

“Where are you?”

“Please don't hide from me! Please!”

Fresh Snow was terrified. She kept calling out, but no one responded.

Bam! Fresh Snow opened the door to the balcony in the second-floor living room. It was all white outside. Snow rushed in riding along the sweeping cold wind. The white tsunami swallowed everything.

1. Lamb, particularly in the sense of a lost lamb, is pronounced the same as Gao Yang’s name. ☜