The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 231: Psychometry

For the first ten seconds or so, Chen Ying’s senses remained where she was, in the box truck, and she could feel a wet coldness where her body was in contact with the driver seat. The river water soaked into the seat gradually soaked her clothes, making the fabric stick to her thighs in an uncomfortable way.

The air around her smelled faintly of aquatic weeds and fish. From outside the window, night wind swept into the car.

As the energy inside Chen Ying’s body slowly converged before spreading in all directions, her five senses gradually shifted.

She waded against the chaotic currents of time, like a gust of wind or a spirit.

One second, the driver’s compartment she was in was still in the bottom of the river, surrounded by darkness and water. She felt lifted yet dragged down, and she couldn’t breathe.

The next second, she was on the road during the day as the car drove smoothly, accompanied by music that was soothing and lilting, but muffled.

All the images were snippets of memory. And one after another, they came to her.

Time continued to rewind and rewind further.

This time, Chen Ying found the driver’s compartment awash in darkness.

It was late at night. The road was a little bumpy, and thus the car shook gently as bleak scenery moved past the window. In the distance, there was a surface of shimmering light. Was it a lake, or a river?

Chen Ying couldn’t see clearly, and she didn’t force it. Instead, she focused on the interior of the car.

Then she looked at her hands.

Well, not hers, but a man’s hands, covered in black leather gloves.

Chen Ying was going to look at other parts of the man’s body, but the image was getting blurry and unstable.

She looked up at the rearview mirror above. In the reflection was a thin middle-aged man in a baseball cap, revealing only a chin she couldn’t make out clearly.

Ring.

A cell phone rang. The driver picked up the phone with his gloved right hand. It wasn’t a smartphone, but an old model, and he was likely using an unregistered prepaid SIM card.

“Done?” a voice said from the other side of the line. It was modulated. Not even the gender of the caller could be discerned.

“Done.” The voice of the man driving the car was also difficult to hear.

“Leave the car and the wares. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Consider it done. What’s next?”

“Hide, and wait for our contact.”

The call ended.

Chen Ying wanted to stay in the snippet of memory for more information, but her vision was blurring, and the scene around her dispersed like smoke.

After a moment of distraction, Chen Ying found herself back in the damp driver’s seat, surrounded by a fishy smell.

Her Psychometry attempt came to an end.

Chen Ying closed her eyes and focused her mind, attempting to use her Talent once more.

This time, she was back to the particular memory snippet, but she gathered even less information before the connection severed.

She sighed. She knew she had done all she could.

She opened the door and got out of the car.

“How was it?” asked Gao Yang.

Chen Ying told Gao Yang everything she had learned via Psychometry.

Gao Yang asked, “There’s nothing else?”

“No.”

“Damn, that’s some vague shit,” Wang Zikai said with his arms crossed, his expression suspicious. “None of that is useful. You haven’t made it all up, have you?”

Chen Ying didn’t take it personally. “I can’t prove the truthfulness of my words to you. It’s up to you if you want to believe me or not. Still, my work here is done. The Qilin Guild will honor your end of the deal, I hope?”

“Fret not, the deal will be honored.” Gao Yang reassured her.

After a bemused moment, he added, “You said the caller’s voice was modulated. How about the driver taking the call?”

“It wasn’t very clear. If I had to describe it, I’d say it sounded like a middle-aged man, and the voice was low and calm.”

A thought flashed through Gao Yang’s mind. He asked, “You also said there was music playing in the car. What is it?”

“It was faint, and there was no singing. The melody sounded...jazzy, I guess.”

—Ghost Horse!

Gao Yang was almost a hundred percent sure that Ghost Horse was the one who stole the bodies.

What use did he have for awakeners’ bodies? How did he get the passcode to the morgue? And judging by the call he received, there must be an insider from the Qilin Guild helping him carry out the plan. What was the Godbearer Cult scheming?

A gust of wind swept toward the three of them and messed up their hair. After a short silence, Gao Yang looked at the cargo box of the truck. Although it must have been emptied of all bodies, there might be clues to be found.

“Can you use Psychometry again inside the cargo box, Chen Ying?”

“Yes.” Chen Ying nodded.

She walked up to the cargo box. It was locked. Chen Ying smiled bitterly. “Locked.”

“Move!”

Wang Zikai had been feeling bored for the whole night. Finally, there was something he could do.

Tightening his right fist, he extended three bone claws from the back of his hand and slashed at the door.

Clack.

With splattering sparks, the lock broke apart like he had cut through butter.

Chen Ying was shocked, but she didn’t let it show.

Wang Zikai opened the door, and a muddled, wet, chilling smell assaulted their senses.

They turned on their phones’ flashlights, aimed at the interior of the cargo box. It was almost empty—the operative word being ‘almost’.

There was a cadaver bag in the very depth of it.

The three of them exchanged a shocked glance.

Gao Yang was surprised as well. He had thought all the bodies had been dealt with. He didn’t expect one to be left behind.

Was it a trap?

To be safe, Gao Yang accessed his system to make sure that his Luck points hadn’t spiked.

Then he turned to Wang Zikai. “Take a look and be careful.”

Sorry, Brother Kai, but you’ve got the thickest skin among us!

Even if it is a trap, you’ll live.

“No problem!”

Wang Zikai jumped into the cargo box excitedly and went up to the cadaver bag.

He unzipped it.

“Whoa!” Wang Zikai cried out.

Gao Yang nervously asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing!” Wang Zikai covered his nose. “Fuck does it smell bad. Totally disgusting.”

Gao Yang sighed in relief. The bodies in Vermilion Bird’s morgues were all stored in freezer units, but once stolen, the bodies would have been kept in room temperature. It had been a week since the theft. It made sense that the remaining body would be decomposing and developing pungent odor.

Gao Yang glanced at Chen Ying. “Ready?”

Chen Ying took a breath and held it, nodding.

Gao Yang jumped into the cargo box and slowly knelt down by the cadaver bag. He had been anxious all this time until he got a look at the body. Only after seeing that it wasn’t a member of the fourth or fifth team did he feel a little better.

It was a man with short brown hair. His eyes were closed, and his face pale and bloated.

Gao Yang tried to imagine what the man would be like when he was alive: a man in his thirties with sculpted facial features. He looked to be the cantankerous type.

In truth, the body was in better shape than he had expected. It was almost summer. A week in this weather should’ve left the body rotting and crawled with maggots.

Gao Yang steadied himself and reached out to unzip the bag fully.

The man was dressed in simple blue clothes for the deceased. Other than that, he was unadorned, and the bag was empty.

Gao Yang didn’t get it. There must be a reason for the twelve bodies to be stolen. Why left a body behind?

Someone like Ghost Horse wouldn’t have stolen an additional body by accident. There must be a reason for it.

Gao Yang took a picture of the dead man’s face with his phone before putting it back into his pocket. Then he took out his dagger to slice the buttoned shirt open, planning to check the body.

When he got to the second button, he noticed something on the body’s chest.

Before he could get a good look, the body’s eyes opened wide.

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