Chapter 13: The Destiny of the Young Man

Gao Yang widened his eyes and stared at Wang Zikai, who was sitting cross-legged in the corner of the room, looking back at him.

The air was eerily silent, and no one moved.

"You..." Finally, Gao Yang broke the silence, "When did you wake up?"

"Just now," Wang Zikai grinned and looked at Gao Yang with an excited expression.

"When exactly is 'just now'?" Pang Jun instinctively took a step back and asked.

"A few minutes ago, maybe?"

Gao Yang sensed something was wrong: "Did you see everything?!"

"Yep!" Wang Zikai perked up at the mention of it. He sprang up: "Damn! When I woke up, I saw you guys fighting! Amazing... I thought I was dreaming..."

Wang Zikai waved his hands and mimed the scene: "I saw Qing Ling get slapped and fly out with a crash, glass shattered everywhere. Whoa! I was like, 'What the hell!' I realized I wasn't dreaming and got totally stunned, so I just lay down and played dead..."

Gao Yang rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

"Hey, what exactly is this lady? She's pretty badass. She turned into a lizard person just now, but now she's back to being human after dying?"

"And what are you three exactly? X-Men? Do you guys have superpowers? This is like a small cow flying a plane, you guys are on a whole different level..."

"Wang Zikai," Gao Yang interrupted.

"Huh?"

"Stop talking, let me think for a moment." Gao Yang felt completely overwhelmed.

Pang Jun stepped back: "Big bro, big sis, we can't keep him anymore... Let's just take action."

"I'm not big sis," Qing Ling, lying on the water bed, motionless, muttered. "I'm tired. You can do whatever you want with this idiot."

"Idiot?" Wang Zikai pointed to his nose. "Are you talking about me?"

"No!" Gao Yang yelled, pointing to Aunt He, nailed to the wall. "We mean this lizard freak."

"Whoa! It really is a lizard freak!" Wang Zikai got even more excited.

Gao Yang took a deep breath, making up his mind. "Wang Zikai, what I'm about to say is very important, listen carefully!"

"Oh, okay!" Wang Zikai listened intently.

Five minutes passed.

Wang Zikai, with a pious expression, was processing: "So you're saying my body was modified when I was a kid, so I'm special, and now these lizard freaks want to kill me..."

"Exactly! We're all new humans, modified to fight the lizard people. But you're the most special; you're one in a million, a warrior, the destined one. In the end, only you can fight the lizard people's boss!"

"The info is a lot... Let me digest it..." Wang Zikai placed one hand on the wall and sank into thought.

Gao Yang stepped forward and said earnestly, "Wang Zikai, Qing Ling and I have actually been protecting you in secret. I've been distant from you recently because my identity got exposed, and I didn't want to drag you into this... And you saw earlier, this lizard person almost killed all of us..."

"Really?" Wang Zikai turned around.

"Absolutely!"

"Good brother! I knew... you wouldn't leave me behind!" Wang Zikai's eyes turned red as he tightly grabbed Gao Yang's hand. "To be honest, when I first saw you in the crowd on the first day of school, I thought you looked super familiar!"

"I've always been picky, hated everyone, even my parents! But I thought you looked good... didn't expect you to be hiding this much!"

"This is the bond of destiny," Gao Yang smiled. "Looks like we're destined to be partners fighting together!"

"Hell yeah! Of course!" Wang Zikai got even more excited, "Let's beat those lizard people down! Let's beat them! Save the world!"

Gao Yang sighed in relief: He's dumb, but at least he can save his life.

Pang Jun was dumbfounded: What kind of divine operation is this?!

Qing Ling was still lying on the bed, showing no opposition — or perhaps, no energy to oppose.

Pang Jun quickly forced a stiff smile: "Bro, keep it low-key! Us humans are still at a disadvantage. There are lizard people everywhere. We need to hide our identities and develop slowly. We can't be reckless!"

"Got it," Wang Zikai patted his chest confidently. "Don't worry, I'll cover you guys once I develop!"

...

Ten minutes later, Officer Huang arrived after getting a call.

He pushed aside the obstacles and walked into the room.

"Something went wrong, mission failed." Qing Ling sat on the bed while Pang Jun was treating her injured arm.

"You can tell just by looking at the scene." Officer Huang took out a cigarette and glanced at Aunt He, still nailed to the wall. "This is brutal. Let me guess... She looked like a lizard?"

"Yeah, what kind of beast is it?" Gao Yang asked.

"It's a Chi Beast. As far as I know, there are three kinds of Chi Beasts: Slayers, Devourers, and Horned Ones." Officer Huang crouched down, silently examining Aunt He's body.

"The one you encountered should be a Slayer, very strong. But this one is severely degenerated. If you ran into one at full strength, I'd be collecting your bodies right now."

Everyone in the room took a sharp breath.

"But the most dangerous of the Chi Beasts is actually the Horned One. If you meet it, there's no escape."

"Is the Horned One that strong?" Qing Ling asked.

"Not really, but it uses its special vocal cords to immediately alert all nearby beasts within a one-kilometer radius."

"…"

Gao Yang stayed silent, but it was fortunate, in a way.

It seemed that luck points actually did help—there might be something to this mysterious phenomenon.

"Officer Huang, hello," Pang Jun stepped forward with a sincere smile and extended his hand. "I'm your new teammate."

"I can tell." Officer Huang shook his hand and then turned to look at the confident but clueless Wang Zikai.

"This energetic young man is..."

Suddenly, Officer Huang furrowed his brow, and a cold killing intent appeared in his eyes.

"Officer Huang!" Gao Yang quickly stepped forward, blocking Wang Zikai. "He's also a teammate."

Officer Huang stared into Gao Yang's eyes, silently for a moment, and then guessed the general situation. Lost Ones don't have to be killed, after all—they resemble humans too much. As long as they're handled carefully and aren't 'provoked,' theoretically, peaceful coexistence is possible.

But in general, humans know far too little about the beasts. This behavior is still too naive. However, Officer Huang wasn't in a position to lecture the young man, especially since he hadn't killed "Old Liu" either.

He nodded, lowered his voice: "Is it safe?"

"Safe."

"Alright." Officer Huang lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. "You three clean up, leave immediately. Go to school as usual."

He looked at Pang Jun. "You're the hotel owner, right?"

"Yes."

Officer Huang nodded and surveyed the brutal scene. "I can help you handle this as a burglary. But there's too much fighting evidence, and it can't be hidden in a short time. The risk of exposure is too high."

"Any other options?" Pang Jun asked.

"How about the news from last time? 'Couple Hotel Gas Leak Explosion, One Dead, One Injured.'"

The dead would obviously be Aunt He, and the injured would probably be Pang Jun. The acting could be carried out in full. After all, Pang Jun could heal himself, so the cost of this fake injury was low.

"This… but it's all I have! Do we really have to blow it up?" Pang Jun seemed distressed. "I didn't get insurance! No compensation, and I might even face fines..."

"Is it more important than your life?" Officer Huang retorted.

"Officer Huang is right, nothing is more important than life," Gao Yang added.

Pang Jun sighed, swearing under his breath, "Blow it up, blow it up! One building for a few teammates, it's worth it!"

...

Ten minutes later, Gao Yang and Qing Ling left the hotel.

The morning light bathed the entire city, just waking up.

There were few pedestrians on the street—just a few breakfast carts, a couple of young people who had just finished an all-nighter at an internet cafe, and a lazy watering truck driving by.

Wang Zikai excitedly followed behind them, pumped up, "Damn, now I see everyone as a lizard person!"

"Lower your voice!" Gao Yang reminded him. "Go home and stay put. Qing Ling and I will go to school first. Come pick us up at the school gate tonight. I have a mission for you."

"Got it!" Wang Zikai ran to the other side of the street and got into his sports car.

Before the car drove off, he waved at Gao Yang energetically, "Let's take them down! Save the world!"

"The Lost Ones aren't supposed to stay calm after such a shock," Qing Ling said coldly.

"I thought you were going to let him off the hook," Gao Yang sighed.

"Impossible," Qing Ling's gaze turned icy, "If he dies tonight, we'll be the prime suspects. We'll find a suitable time to..."

Before Qing Ling finished speaking, her expression darkened.

"What's wrong?"

As Gao Yang turned around, he was horrified.

"Gao Xinxin?!"

Gao Yang's younger sister was standing a few meters away, wearing a new Lolita dress, a golden wig, looking like a doll. She stared at Gao Yang with a blank expression.

If this had been a normal encounter, Gao Yang would have complimented his sister on her beauty, but now, he was so nervous he almost stuttered. "Little sis, what are you doing here? I—I'm just talking with my classmate..."

"Stop pretending, I've already figured it out," Gao Xinxin said calmly.

Gao Yang's heart sank.

Qing Ling stepped forward, subtly cracking her fingers, ready for action.

Gao Yang, still holding on to a glimmer of hope, asked, "Little sis, what are you talking about? I don't understand..."

"It's too late." A cold smile appeared on Gao Xinxin's face, a smile far too mature for her age. "I've already told everyone."

A massive wave of despair and terror seized Gao Yang's throat.

—The Horned One!