The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 111: Escape

The complex web of branches beneath their feet began to shake and shatter, and they were seconds away from falling into the white abyss below.

“White Rabbit!” shouted War Tiger.

She let go of the hands she was holding immediately. With a growl, she slowly bent her knees with veins popping from her temples, every muscle in her legs bulging unnaturally to the point of turning monstrous.

“Jump!”

With all her energy concentrated in her legs, she made the most powerful jump she could.

Usually, her jump limit was hundreds of meters, but as it was, she would be content with making two meters into the air—that was the distance between death and survival.

Fortunately, she succeeded!

The moment her head touched the cluster of light, countless white tentacles wrapped around her in a gentle yet secure manner, pulling her into the portal.

War Tiger then extended a hand as far as possible and grabbed White Rabbit’s ankle.

Meanwhile, the branches beneath their feet crumbled at an accelerating speed, and all of them went into freefall—or they would have if not for their linked hands. In the end, they hung down from the exit in a line.

At the very top was White Rabbit, who was in the tight grip of the white glowing exit, followed by War Tiger, Cheng Xin, Qing Ling, Gao Yang, Officer Huang, Old Wang with a forehead wound, and the other Old Wang.

“Hold on tight! Don’t let go!”

Gao Yang shouted, but he couldn’t hear his own voice.

Surprised, he looked up to find that everyone else was shouting as well, yet no sounds could be heard. The world was terrifyingly silent.

Gao Yang then looked down. There was nothing but a gargantuan whitish gray vortex that inspired fear in all onlookers, silently pulling in and devouring everything. It made Gao Yang’s hair stand on end, and he felt a numbness spreading through his scalp. It was an instinctual fear of the unknown, and for the first time in his life, he felt keenly that he was but a particle in the vast universe.

He tightened his grips around Qing Ling’s and Officer Huang’s hands. He must not let go. He dared not let go. Their interlocking hands were the only things keeping him alive and his only hope for survival.

The gravity pulling them down grew even stronger as the vortex below them approached, but at the same time, Gao Yang could sense himself being pulled up.

He lifted his gaze with difficulty and saw that White Rabbit, War Tiger, and Cheng Xin had entered the white light. Half of Qing Ling’s arm had gotten to the other side as well.

Yet their ascent came to a sudden halt like the gears of fate were stuck.

Gao Yang’s heart sank. Was it because there were two Old Wangs?

The laws of nature dictated that only one Old Wang might exist in the normal world, yet two versions of the same man were attempting to return to it. Of course the exit would put a stop to it, and as a result, Qing Ling, Gao Yang, and Officer Huang were stuck at the exit as well, unable to cross over.

Officer Huang seemed to have gotten to the same conclusion as well. He shouted something at the Old Wang at the very end of the line.

Gao Yang could read his lips.

Let go!

The Old Wang at the bottom shook his head vehemently, his face covered in tears of desperation. He refused to let go.

Gao Yang could sense Qing Ling’s grip tightened around his, making clear her anxiety.

He looked up to see Qing Ling shouting something as well. Gao Yang didn’t even have to read her lips to know that she was telling Officer Huang to drop the two men. In her eyes, it didn’t matter if both Old Wangs died.

Officer Huang couldn’t do it. He couldn’t make up his mind.

He knew they were running out of time, and that they would all die if he did nothing. But he couldn’t just let go. He had a family. He wanted at least one of the Old Wangs to make it back home to embrace his wife and daughter, rather than his death being the only thing arriving at their doorstep.

Because Officer Huang didn’t want that for his wife and future kid, either.

“Let go, Officer Huang! We don’t have time!” Gao Yang shouted in vain. The man couldn’t hear him at all.

Wing—

There seemed to be an invisible explosion, followed by an eerie whine. Then all sounds returned, and the vortex below them unraveled into a tsunami of void, ready to sweep everything away.

“Let go!” Qing Ling shouted.

Then it was Gao Yang. “Officer Huang, please let go!”

“Let go of me!” shouted the Old Wang who had a wound on his head. “Or everyone will die!”

“No, I can’t die...” Old Wang held tightly onto the leg of his other self with both hands, breaking into loud wails. “My wife and daughter are waiting for me. I promised them. I promised I would protect them, that I wouldn’t let them get hurt...”

Officer Huang was left with no choice. He turned to the injured Old Wang. “I’m sorry, Old Wang. I have a family to return to as well. I have to let you go.”

Then the wounded Old Wang suddenly calmed down. Eyes sad and smile bitter, he said, “Do it, Old Huang, I don’t blame you. Please take care of my family if you can.”

“I will.”

Officer Huang was just about to loosen his grip when he tightened it again.

He saw the Old Wang at the very bottom letting go first.

Gao Yang, Qing Ling, and Officer Huang looked at the falling man in disbelief. Before disappearing into the vortex, the man shouted at his current self, “Tell our wife and kid that I love them!”

Then he was gone, or it would be more precise to say that he had dissolved into the crushing waves of nothingness.

Gao Yang felt himself ascending again. Soon, there was a bright light. Then his mind blanked.

...

When Gao Yang opened his eyes, he was lying on the floor of the subway train. The brightly-lit car slightly shook as the train moved.

He crawled to his feet and found the others lying around him. Qing Ling, Officer Huang, War Tiger, White Rabbit, Old Wang, and Cheng Xin were all there.

They slowly sat up as well.

“Shit, we’re finally out.” White Rabbit stretched and lay back down, her chest still heaving. “Rune caves are built differently. This one is hell mode!”

War Tiger stood up in a lightened mood. “It’s thanks to you at the last moment, Rabbit.”

“Yeah, keep that in mind.” White Rabbit tiredly lifted a leg. The front parts of her shoes were torn open again, revealing five toenails with red nail polish. “Remember to pay for my new shoes.”

“I’ll give you one extra pair on top of the replacement!”

“Then I want the JA spring exclusive!”

“No problem, just go to Wu Dahai!” War Tiger offered without consulting the man in question.

Officer Huang got to his feet and reached out to help Gao Yang and Qing Ling up. Leaning against a grab rail, he lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. Then he tipped his chin up and exhaled a puff of white smoke, feeling the relief of a narrow escape from death.

Silence stretched for a moment.

Then Officer Huang flicked off the accumulated ash and asked, “Why did the other you let go, Old Wang?”

Old Wang slumped down on a seat tiredly and gave him a bitter smile, “If he didn’t, everyone would die. And compared to dying, we are more afraid of making our wife and daughter lose their family. Were our places swapped, I would’ve let go as well.”

Officer Huang swallowed his words and fell silent. He didn’t know how it felt to watch oneself die, and he hoped it would forever remain a mystery to him.

Soon, the subway train arrived at its destination.

No other words had been exchanged. Their nerves burned up on ends with equal parts anticipation and fear.

Click.

The door opened slowly. Outside was the Cattle Farm Station of the real world. Standing on the dim platform were Chen Ying and her companions.

“Thank god you’re finally back!” Chen Ying couldn’t contain her relief, but she came to a sudden halt after approaching them. “Where are the others?”

“Only two of yours returned with us,” said War Tiger.

“Two of ours? Where?” Chen Ying was confused. “There are only the five of you!”

“Are you blind, Chen Ying? Old Wang and I are still alive!” Cheng Xin regained some of his confidence once they returned to reality, and his tone turned haughty. He stalked out of the train and was just about to say something to Chen Ying.

Yet he vanished the moment he stepped out!

There was no other way to describe it.

He vanished in an instant, without a trace.