The Creatures That We Are-Chapter 1188: Present

The replicated Chen Ying came from her Fate Slide a year ago. She aimed at herself and shouted a warning, “Don’t come any closer! I’ll shoot!”

Chen Ying walked up to her replica without fear. She had had nightmares like this before. She dreamed of her dark side aiming to kill herself. She had felt helpless and desperate in those dreams.

Who would’ve thought that dreams would become reality, only she played the dark self rather than the victim?

Bang! The replica pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the ground at Chen Ying’s feet. “Don’t come any closer! Or the next shot will hit your body!”

Chen Ying stopped, her lips curled into a smile of sorrow and resignation. “Body? Not the head or the heart even when posturing...”

The replica started.

Chen Ying met her gaze. “You can’t kill people. You’ve never killed and never want to kill.”

“What’s so wrong with that?” asked the replica.

“Nothing. You’re right. Humans shouldn’t kill humans. We should unite together and protect each other...” Chen Ying smiled. “Ah, you swore to give Little Tian a happy childhood free of hunger, bullying, loneliness, and fear. You didn’t want him to grow up the way you did...”

“Who are you?!” the replica demanded. “What are you trying to do?!”

“How about your Little Tian? Where is he?”

The replica’s eyes widened. She asked herself, Yeah, where is Little Tian? Why am I here? And what is this place?

She didn’t have an answer. She didn’t know that she had been hit with Mental Suggestion.

Chen Ying’s first move was to shake the replica’s resolve. Then she shook her replica further by mentioning Little Tian and waking up her softest side.

Seizing the opening, Chen Ying charged at her replica.

The replica shot at Chen Ying, but she had subconsciously avoided the vitals, aiming at her knees instead. Given the effort she had put in to improve her marksmanship, she shouldn’t have missed all three shots even when Chen Ying was running. However, Chen Ying had Beginner’s Luck, which led to two missed shots and one bullet brushing her pants.

“Agh!”

Chen Ying lunged. The two grappled on the ground.

Although Chen Ying had quite a lot more Talents compared to her past self, they granted little bonuses to her physique. And she had just clashed with Greed. As a result, neither was stronger than the other.

They both grabbed the gun and tried to aim it at the other’s chest. Suddenly, Chen Ying shouted, “Little Tian died! You got him killed!”

The replica froze. It was only for a moment for her, but it had actually been two seconds. Chen Ying had confused her sense of time with Time Disturbance.

Bang!

A bullet hit the replica’s chest. Then another two shots rang.

The replica’s hands slowly grew slack. She lay on the ground with blood trickling down her lips, her face pale and her pupils dilated. Her expression was one of heartbreak and frustration.

Chen Ying gasped for breaths, wiping blood from her face and climbing to her feet from her dead self.

She trembled, still hearing her own voice ringing in her head.

Little Tian died! You got him killed!

...

Harvest Song and her replica locked in an intense fight. They both hurled hidden weapons at each other while their blades collided at melee range. They were in a gridlock.

“Come on, is this all you’ve got?”

Jeer infuriated the replica. They clashed once more.

While the replica had been made more reckless, her moves were drilled into her instinct through tens of hundreds of practices. And she knew herself best, so Harvest Song didn’t really gain an upper hand through the taunt.

Soon, Harvest Song spotted an opening and swung her triangular blade at the replica. The replica responded in kind.

The moment their blades collided, though, Harvest Song’s motion became stiff, as if her soul had left her body, leaving an empty shell merely following the inertia.

The replica hadn’t missed that chance. She sidestepped the attack and thrust the triangular blade at Harvest Song’s throat, but she missed!

She flipped and landed behind Harvest Song. How could it be?! She couldn’t have missed from such a close range!

The next second, a dart stabbed into the back of her head. She shook and collapsed to the ground with a confused look on her face. She didn’t know how she had lost even as death claimed her.

It was Dodge. Harvest Song had activated the Talent the moment they clashed, giving herself one-third of a chance to avoid any damage.

While it seemed like a gamble, Harvest Song did have a contingency. She had taken a resurrection pill. Even if Dodge failed, she knew the replica’s attack wouldn’t have severely damaged her brain and heart. She would come back to life even after getting killed.

Then Harvest Song detached her consciousness from her body and entered a dart through Possession, manipulating it to kill the replica.

Soon, Harvest Song returned to her body. She turned to glance down at the replica. At the brink of death, the replica parted her lips, repeating two syllables—it was the name of a medicinal herb[1].

She watched as the replica slowly disappeared, as if sending off the past she could never return to.

She whispered to “herself”, “Treasure the present when he was still around. Leave revenge to me.”

1. In case you don’t remember, goldthread is a common Chinese medicine. ☜