Chapter 1250: In One Bite

“I remember having a cheap cupcake on my birthday in the orphanage. It’s tiny with no cream or fruit cupping, and the cake itself is dry and chewy with a sickening sweetness that makes my tongue numb.”

“Yeah.” Qing Ling had had cakes like that before.

Gao Yang looked at the cream cake on his paper plate. “I ate a cupcake and made a wish to find my mom and dad. Then I woke up to a family.”

He looked up at his companions, watching them eat their slices of cake. “I’m in no place to make complaints. I had nothing, then God gave me everything. God simply took it back when it was time. It was a trial period of happiness.”

Having finished her slice, Qing Ling licked the cream from her fingertip and said in an icy tone, “Lousy analogy.”

Gao Yang turned to her.

“I don’t know about anything else, but I’m not part of your trial period. I’m myself. I alone can decide if I’m going to stay by your side or leave you.”

Gao Yang blinked at her.

Qing Ling took the cake from him. “I’m having this if you’re not.”

Gao Yang smiled apologetically. “You’re right. I was too full of myself.”

“You’re just tired. You should eat and sleep more.” Qing Ling got a spoonful of cake topped with cream and a blueberry. She shoved it toward Gao Yang’s mouth and ordered, “Finish it in one bite.”

Gao Yang obliged.

Qing Ling stared at him until he finished the large bite like a mother making sure her fussy child had eaten his meal. Her expression relaxed with satisfaction. “I had a dream about my sister, Gao Yang.”

Gao Yang’s heart clenched.

“It was a short dream, a fuzzy dream...” Qing Ling described in a calm voice. “She sat alone in the empty arrival hall of an airport at midnight, wearing a sweater with her hair down. When she heard my footsteps, she looked up and said, ‘Sister, I want matcha cake.’ I bought it for her, but she was gone when I returned. Then I woke up.”

Qing Ling wasn’t asking for a response from Gao Yang. She simply wanted to share. If she had to give a reason why, she would say it was because her little sister would’ve wanted Gao Yang to know about the dream.

Gao Yang fell silent. Qing Ling went back to eating her cake.

Meanwhile, Liao Liao, the birthday girl, was having a whispered conversation with the others beside the cake cart.

“See? They look so

domestic

!”

“Do they? Aren’t they always like that?”

“Yeah. Although they understand each other on another level, they seem a little short of being in love.”

“You don’t get it! This is how reserved people date! They skip the lovey-dovey and bickering phase and get right to the soulmate and full consummation phase!”

“You’re right. I’m not gonna stop calling them Brother and Sister-in-Law! They’re gonna stay together! For me!”

“Come on, let’s have a bet!” Liao Liao said excitedly. “I bet 10

jinwu

on them being a couple...”

Gao Yang’s double suddenly teleported to Liao Liao. She jumped, pressing her hands to her chest. “Cap-captain! I was joking. Don’t take it personally...”

“Didn’t you hear that?” Gao Yang asked.

“Huh? Hear what?” Liao Liao was flabbergasted, and so were the others.

“Qing Ling didn’t hear it, either.” Gao Yang’s eyes darkened. “Seems like I was the only one who did.”

“What is it?” Vermilion Bird had an ominous feeling.

After a pause, Gao Yang said, “Dragon talked to me.”

The bombshell left everyone cycling through a myriad of expressions.

“You mean that...Dragon’s voice was in your head?” Adept Horse attempted to understand it.

Gao Yang nodded.

“Did Dragon comprehend Telepathy?” One Stone guessed.

Gao Yang shook his head. “He wasn’t speaking in my head. It’s more like his thought was transmitted to me.”

“What did he want?” Vermilion Bird asked.

Gao Yang raised his voice and repeated Dragon’s message:

“April first, I’ll be waiting for you at the Green Lotus Lake.”

...

Mouse Room, underground sixth floor of the Millennium Tower, the next morning.

All awakeners gathered for a meeting held by Gao Yang and Vermilion Bird. In attendance were Qing Ling, Liao Liao, Adept Horse, Hong Xiaoxiao, Chen Ying, Zhang Wei, Nainai, Lovely Lamb, Gregor, Dr. Jia, Heavenly Dog, Old Seven, One Stone, Raven Shark, Quiet Book, Tang Xiaocong, Sun Hu, and Xiao Xin, joined by special member Wang Zikai and White Dew.

“That’s what happened,” Vermilion Bird said seriously with her hands on the meeting table. “It’s going to be April first in three days.”

Gregor looked up at the ceiling with an unlit cigarette in his mouth. “The year sure flew by.”

“Agreed!” Zhang Wei lamented.

“Your opinions,” Vermilion Bird said.

“It’s a good thing!” Dr. Jia was the first to speak up.

“Good thing! Good thing! Good thing!” His parrot parrotted.

“Shut it!” Dr. Jia snapped. Then he said eagerly, “My research has been stagnating for close to a year. Now that Dragon finally showed up...”

“I’ll suggest you give up, Dr. Jia. Or you may die trying to get anything from him.” Zhang Wei huffed.

Zhang Wei never liked Dragon. He thought the man was pretentious and troublesome. Not only did he refuse to give the Battle of the Curtain Call his all, but he also went missing with the Miracle Rune Circuit, putting all of them in a difficult spot. They had wasted close to a year as a result.

He got angrier the more he thought about it. “Dragon must be up to no good!”

“I’m on Zhang Wei’s side this time,” Adept Horse said seriously.

“Aren’t you a member of the Twelve Zodiac Signs, Brother Horse?” Sun Hu asked.

“Dragon is no longer the leader of the Zodiacs,” Adept Horse said bluntly. “The Zodiacs are an empty shell after the death of Uncle Tiger, Sir Monkey, and Dead Pig.”

Heavenly Dog lowered his head with misery. Lovely Lamb clenched her teeth to stop the tears from welling up in her reddened eyes.

“I’m a free agent. I’m on no one’s side but humanity’s. I’ll be frank with you.”

He rose to his feet.

“My question is simple: is Dragon still human?”