The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 963: A and B

Qilin still had time. He considered Zhong He with amusement. “You aren’t as fearless as you pretend to be, are you?”

Zhong He trembled, stripped bare by Qilin's perception.

"Your fury masks something deeper. Perhaps you hadn't realized how thoroughly you've buried your fear beneath rage. You're terrified of me..." Qilin paused. "No, not just me. You fear anyone and anything more powerful than yourself."

Zhong He remained silent.

"Don't be afraid," Qilin said. "I've already told you—I won't kill you."

"Why?"

“I take no pleasure in killing the innocent. Killing is a means to an end rather than the end itself.”

Zhong He scoffed.

"I understand your skepticism." Qilin's voice remained even. "But consider this: before Gao Yang's appearance, did the Qilin Guild ever kill an innocent under my leadership? Gao Yang forced this civil war. He catalyzed our current reality."

Zhong He's silence stretched.

"I've told you before, Zhong He," Surnamed Li pressed. "Gao Yang is the Malediction! He'll destroy everything – not by choice, but by fate's decree! We're fighting to change that fate. No matter how slim the hope, even if it damns me to hell, I won't surrender!"

Still, Zhong He said nothing.

"There's another reason for sparing you," Qilin continued. "We need hostages. Gao Yang will trade the Rune Circuits for your lives."

Zhang Wei blinked, surprised by the frank admission.

“Follow me, or do you want me to do it for you?” Qilin’s smile faded.

“Let go of your hatred!” Surnamed Li implored. “Too many have died unnecessarily. Don’t throw away your life for nothing!”

Zhong He lowered his head, unclenching his fist.

He snorted, looking up. Each word fell deliberately: "When I was in school, there was a handsome, wealthy boy with good grades. Generous, charismatic, popular. Let's call him A."

Qilin and Surnamed Li watched in silence.

“A’s favorite pastime was to urge those around him to bully a classmate.”

"We'll call him B. He was raised by a single parent. Introverted, average grades. Small and slim. He never fought back against hits or insults. The perfect target."

“It started with verbal insults. Then it got physical. The worst was when A and his entourage dragged B to the boys’ restroom, beating him up and stripping him naked before throwing his clothes into the girls’ restroom. B had no choice but to sneak into the girls’ restroom to retrieve his clothes after school ended, but ended up running into a teacher.”

"It became a scandal. The bullies faced punishment. A had to apologize before the whole school. I remember his words: 'I meant no harm. I worried about him. He was too timid to survive the real world. I just wanted to toughen him up, help him fit in. It was all in fun. I didn't realize how far I'd gone. I deeply regret hurting him. I'll reflect and change. I hope he can forgive me...'"

Zhong He paused, noting their continued silence. His lips twisted. "I don't know if B ever forgave A, but most students and teachers did."

"B transferred soon after. The rampant rumors about him sneaking naked into the girls' bathroom made staying impossible."

"I never heard from B again. A stayed active in the school chat groups and social media. His life turned out perfect—an overseas degree from a prestigious university, a successful business, an expensive house, and race cars. He married a celebrity and had two kids. He was the very picture of success."

"Truth is, A treated me well in school. We kept up a superficial friendship. But I was terrified of him. Absolutely terrified."

"Because I couldn't understand why he targeted B. What had B done to deserve any of it?"

"Then I realized—A was just bored, he just needed entertainment. If not B, he'd have found C, D, E, F, or G. He wanted someone weak, someone who wouldn't fight back or speak up. He enjoyed the domination and the destruction of a person. And he found pretty words to mask his arrogance, his hypocrisy, his cruelty."

"I escaped B's fate through pure luck."

Zhong He pushed back his tangled fringe. "Even after graduation, A haunted my nightmares. I dreamed of becoming B." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"In those dreams, my disguise failed. I'd sob and beg A to stop, but he'd only laugh harder. In that filthy bathroom, he'd grind my face into the floor covered in waste, demanding, 'Zhong He, why won't you play along with everyone?'"

His head snapped up, eyes hardening. "Now I understand. Fear is useless. The more afraid I am, the worse it gets. As long as I breathe, I can't leave the world in A's hands. There will always be another B. Countless Bs."

He stepped forward. "Eventually, we all become B."

Qilin and Surnamed Li listened in silence. A deep sorrow filled Surnamed Li's eyes before she slowly closed them.

Darkness crashed down as every light died.

Shadow Army!

Zhong He's confession, though genuine, had served as misdirection. His heel had never left the cardboard's shadow, allowing him to quietly extend a shadow thread. Rather than attacking Qilin directly, he'd sent it through the study's pipeline to the storage room, finding the main switch and cutting power at the perfect moment.

In absolute darkness, shadow elements moved like lightning, reaching Qilin and Surnamed Li almost instantly.

Shadow elements ignored psychic power. Even if Qilin killed or controlled Zhong He, the elements would continue their programmed attack for two crucial seconds.

Two seconds to end it all.

Power returned moments later. Eighteen shadow warriors surrounded Qilin and Surnamed Li, their weapons piercing through both figures as Yellow Lotus held them.

Had it worked?

A detail suddenly struck Zhong He.

The moment before his attack, Surnamed Li had closed her eyes with regret.

Right, she could see the ten-second future, and she would have kept Prophet running given the circumstances.

Why didn’t she warn Qilin?

Zhong He’s eyes shook when he saw the reason.