The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 499: Looking for Weakness

Zhuang Mei’s eyes sharpened. She could sense the space around her neck distorting.

To Gao Yang and the others, the space under Zhuang Mei’s neck seemed to have shifted for a split second before returning to normal, like the air had rippled once. It was so imperceptible that one wouldn’t notice without closely observing it.

Gao Yang hid his surprise. Heavenly Dog’s Spatial Dissection had gotten quicker and more discreet.

While Zhuang Mei hadn’t moved, her head didn’t end up sliced off like they had hoped. Still, the white glow around her body did fluctuate for a second, like the reflection of the moon in a lake getting disturbed by a pebble.

A thin bleeding line was left on Zhuang Mei’s fair neck.

Gao Yang found hope in that. Life monsters could be hurt. Her body wasn’t truly indestructible.

However slight and insignificant, the gash gave the other three enough hope to fight Zhuang Mei.

Qing Ling stopped hesitating and charged at Zhuang Mei, her two Black Gold blades and three Black Gold darts stabbing at Zhuang Mei before she reached her.

Clink, clink, clink.

Just like the bullets Officer Huang had shot, the Black Gold weapons failed to penetrate Zhuang Mei and glanced off her body like they had hit a hardy boulder.

Qing Ling didn’t stop charging. The deflected Tang Dao returned to Qing Ling’s hand. She exerted her full power from her feet, legs, waist, shoulders, and then her wrists, the momentum traveling through her body and imbuing the Tang Dao with blade aura, the power concentrated to the sharp tip of the blade.

Boom!

The Tang Dao shot toward Zhuang Mei’s forehead, drawing a glittering streak in the air and triggering a powerful current.

Pzzt.

Wild, tentacle-like white strands of energy burst from Zhuang Mei’s forehead like stray currents triggered by a disturbance. Then things settled down again. Just like Heavenly Dog’s earlier attack, Qing Ling’s Tang Dao left only a small red dot on Zhuang Mei’s forehead, like a mosquito bite on her skin.

Qing Ling felt lost.

She had gone all in, yet still failed to break through Zhuang Mei’s energy barrier. How could they possibly defeat her?

Zhuang Mei remained standing where she was, staring at them quietly with what seemed like an amused tolerance, reminiscent of a pet owner watching her kitten and puppy play fight.

“Fire Punch!”

The next second, Gao Yang teleported to Zhuang Mei’s right, energy morphing into a single wing of flames and illuminating the top of the mountain. Without hesitation and reservation, he activated Willful Power, shifting all his stats to his Strength and Willpower.

Gao Yang knew that if they were going to defeat the monster, their only chance—the slimmest possibility—was to fight with their lives on the line while Zhuang Mei still looked down on them.

Instantly, the giant wing of flames converged to Gao Yang’s right fist.

Zhuang Mei sensed a real threat this time. She lifted her right hand and splayed it to catch Gao Yang’s punch.

Whoosh.

A fire dragon that could vaporize regular creatures instantly shot out of Gao Yang’s fist, swallowing Zhuang Mei whole and shooting out of her back, leaving a charred ditch that was more than ten meters wide.

The dragon rushed into the woods, burning down numerous trees before soaring into the sky, turning into a red shooting star and gradually dispersing.

Qing Ling had backed away beforehand, but still ended up thrown off her feet by the scorching heat wave. Heavenly Dog and Officer Huang were also forced to move a significant distance.

In less than ten seconds, the Fire Punch came to an end, leaving the area burning with fire. Gao Yang and Zhuang Mei stood where they had been. Gao Yang panted heavily with his fist tucked back, face pale and eyes unfocused. His stats were in the process of recovering.

Zhuang Mei hadn’t moved after blocking the punch with her right hand. The sleeve covering her right arm had been charred, and serious burns were left on her right hand and forearm, but that was the extent of her injury.

Soon, faint white light glowed around her anew, making her look sacred.

Watching Gao Yang pant, Zhuang Mei said with some regret, “Your mother will be heartbroken.”

[Warning! Luck acquisition rate increases to 9500 times.]

Pew.

A thin ray of white laser shot out of Zhuang Mei’s burnt forefinger, penetrating through Gao Yang’s heart.

Mouth agape, Gao Yang didn’t manage to get even a word out before toppling to the ground backward.

“Gao Yang!” Qing Ling raised her blade and charged at Zhuang Mei.

Officer Huang rained bullets on her. “Bastard!”

Heavenly Dog took flight and splayed his hands, activating Spatial Dissection.

She had no choice but to get serious. It would take longer for the ritual on Su Xi to be completed. The ritual must not be interrupted, or all her hard work would be for nothing.

Standing before the torii, Zhuang Mei stood where she was with white energy rippling under her feet like springs coming up from underground. She raised her injured right hand slightly, and countless soft, thin strands of white energy shot out, seemingly moving without order when in reality, they were blocking every slash made by Qing Ling and every bullet shot by Officer Huang precisely.

Zhuang Mei raised her left hand over her head, shooting thin, quick white lasers at the hovering Heavenly Dog, forcing him to avoid the attacks and preventing him from using Spatial Dissection.

They were in a stalemate.

In half a minute, Officer Huang had exhausted his bullets, and Qing Ling’s slashes slowed even though she had been pushing herself to her limit nonstop.

Midair, it was all Heavenly Dog could do to dodge the white lasers, and still it had been a dangerous ordeal. Both his arms and waist had been hit.

On the other hand, Zhuang Mei was still as graceful as ever, leisurely even.

Her smile dropped. It wasn’t that she felt threatened, or that she was tired. No, she was simply feeling bored and indifferent once she no longer found any amusement in the fight.

Simply put, she had had enough.

Suddenly, she held her hands together before her chest and clapped at impressive speed. Pop! The white spring under her feet morphed into a small-scale shockwave and shot outward quickly.

Hit by the shockwave, Qing Ling felt numb and lost control over her body, her energy sealed for a second. She shuddered, and her Tang Dao fell to the ground.

When she recovered her control a second later and was going to jump away, Zhuang Mei had already shot a ray of white light at her, aiming at her heart.

Pzzt.

The laser hit the charred ground near her rather than penetrating her heart.

Caught off guard, Zhuang Mei paused for a second.

About ten meters away, Gao Yang, having carried Qing Ling out of range, put her down. Qing Ling quickly connected the dots. The one killed was his double. He had created a substitute immediately after using Fire Punch.

Since he was alive, though, why hadn’t Gao Yang helped immediately, but had instead left her and Officer Huang struggling for half a minute?

Qing Ling didn’t ask. She knew Gao Yang must have his reason.

And Gao Yang’s reason was simple: he had been watching from the side to analyze and identify Zhuang Mei’s weakness, making a move only when Qing Ling was in danger.

Now, he had an answer.