The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 263: Eidos

The system’s voice was like an electric shock. A small part of Gao Yang’s deepest consciousness fled out of his body. And once more, the deep darkness cracked, letting in a ray of light. The small part of his consciousness that had escaped reached toward the light like a hand, straining to touch it.

Just a little further. Almost there.

Finally, he touched it!

[Access granted.]

Entering the system, Gao Yang felt like a drowning man breaking out of the water.

All at once, his mind became his again.

—Fuck! What was I thinking?

—I was going to tell Qilin everything! I must be out of my mind!

—Calm down! Calm down!

—Qilin doesn’t want to kill me for real yet, or I would be dead already.

—He’s interrogating me. His Talent must be the top Psyche-type Talent.

—He triggered my memories of fear and pain and reinforced them, attempting to break down and destroy my will.

—Then, when I was close to breaking, he commanded me to obey and speak the truth, effectively a truth serum for interrogating criminals!

—What a terrifying Talent! Even though I know what he’s doing, I cannot and must not fight back. I’m far from his match.

—If I keep hiding in the system, I may be found out.

—I have to make the bet!

[Access ends.]

Five seconds later, Gao Yang returned to reality. His mouth was still open, and the strong compulsion to deify and obey Qilin came back in full force.

Before the compulsion could take over his mind fully, he said, “I’m not a spy, not someone serving the Twelve Zodiac Signs.”

“I just want to live, to protect my family... I believe the best option is to follow you...”

“I, I...”

In less than ten seconds, Gao Yang felt the urge to confess his true allegiance and him being a transmigrator again. Thankfully, the urge to submit to Qilin evaporated the next second.

The dominating will pulled out, and Gao Yang’s head became empty. Gradually, his rational and emotional mind returned, along with his will.

Qilin’s dark eyes softened again; he even seemed a little apologetic.

Taking a white handkerchief out of his breast pocket, he folded it deliberately and wiped the sweat on Gao Yang’s face.

“Apologies, Seven Shadow, for being so rough with you.”

Gao Yang stood rooted to the spot, his body stiff. He didn’t even dare to breathe a little heavier.

“You passed.” Qilin smiled.

Thump.

Thump, thump, thump.

Gao Yang could hear his heartbeat, which helped him tether himself back to reality.

“You were testing me, Guildmaster?” Gao Yang accepted the handkerchief and wiped his sweat.

Qilin nodded. “I was going to give you more time to prove yourself, but the Crimson Tide is coming, and we don’t have the luxury. I need to be able to trust and depend on you, so I resorted to extreme means.”

“I understand.” Gao Yang let out a sigh and smiled with a relief he didn’t feel. “I thought you were going to kill me for real.”

“And I would have if you were a spy of the Twelve Zodiac Signs or someone with ulterior motives against the Guild.”

Ha, the system is always right.

Qilin was ready to kill me! I was one foot in the mouth of hell!

“I’m sorry,” Qilin apologized again, his tone genuine. “I helped you reach level 3 with Teleportation. Consider that my compensation for the pain I caused you.”

Gao Yang didn’t say anything. And who am I to say no?

Qilin held Gao Yang’s gaze and offered him a hand. “I hereby appoint you one of the four Elders of the Qilin Guild, Seven Shadow. Considering that the former Black Tortoise was a spy, and his negative influence on the Guild persists, you will keep your codename Seven Shadow for the moment. Half a year later, you will take over officially as the new Black Tortoise.”

“It’s my honor.” Gao Yang nodded.

“Alright. Please close your eyes.” Qilin smiled. “I’ll get you out of here.”

Out of here?

Gao Yang didn’t dare to ask. He did as the man said.

There was a snap of the fingers. Then Qilin said, “That’s it. Open your eyes.”

Gao Yang opened his eyes, and he almost called out in surprise. Gone was the palace and the altar. He found himself in a storage room less than four square meters in size, filled with all sorts of everyday items.

He was standing amid them with Qilin.

“Guildmaster, that’s all...”

Qilin said calmly, “It’s all an illusion.”

Gao Yang was having trouble wrapping his head around it. “Illusion? So you...”

“Talent: Eidos, serial number 2,” Qilin said concisely.

“Guildmaster!” Gao Yang was shocked. “The Talent is a trump card of yours and the Guild alike. How could you just tell me?”

“You’ve experienced my Talent personally, which is enough for you to make a rough guess.” Qilin held his gaze. “And you’re now one of mine.”

It seemed that Qilin wasn’t lying when he said he now trusted Gao Yang.

His trust, of course, was rooted in himself, in his Talent and ability. He was confident that Gao Yang couldn’t have lied under his interrogation.

“It’s a great honor!” Gao Yang raised his voice, trying his best to sound eager.

[Access granted.]

—Holy shit holy shit!

—Eidos! Look up Eidos!

[It requires 30 Luck points.]

—Do it already!

[Eidos, serial number 2, top Psyche-type Talent.]

[Allows one to create powerful illusion, delusion, and illusory realm through eye contact.]

[Allows one to invade the target’s mind in order to disturb, influence, and even manipulate their rationality, emotions, and memories.]

[Stats Bonuses of level 7 Eidos: Constitution + 500, Endurance + 500, Strength + 500, Agility + 500, Willpower + 3000, Charisma + 3000.]

—Christ, level 7!

—Wait, we found the Psyche Rune Circuit two months ago in the Gu Family’s Village and then traded it to the Hundred Rivers Union. Qilin couldn’t have even touched it. How did he level up Eidos to level 7?

—Oh, the Miracle Rune Circuit!

—Can it be that the Miracle Rune Circuit can level up all Talents? Is that why Qilin is so precious with it?!

[Please find the answer on your own.]

—You’re no help!

[Access ends.]

Gao Yang suddenly got hold of more incredible information. He had to tamp down the overwhelming emotions in his heart to maintain a calm front.

He followed Qilin out of the storage room. Qilin said, “Make yourself at home. I have other things to tell you.”

“Okay.”

Gao Yang sat down on the sofa.

Qilin walked to the breakroom. “I must have given you quite the scare. Do you want some coffee to settle yourself down?”

“Please.” Gao Yang didn’t turn down the offer.

While Qilin made him coffee, Gao Yang went through what had happened in his head.

When did Qilin use his Talent on him?

It must have been the moment he asked Gao Yang if he was ready. There had been a strange flash in his eyes—too subtle to alert most people even though Gao Yang had taken notice.

Qilin’s eye technique was too discreet and smoothly executed. It was impossible to avoid unless Gao Yang had kept his eyes shut from the very beginning.

The moment the eye technique hit, he was already put in an illusion.

He followed Qilin to the storage room and through a narrow corridor, entering what looked like an underground palace. Gao Yang had asked Qilin where they were, and Qilin said that it was his secret garden.

Thinking back, Qilin was able to create all kinds of illusory realms at will. All of them would be his secret gardens.

Then Qilin summoned monsters to fight Gao Yang. When Gao Yang asked him if he had been keeping the monsters, Qilin said it was Gao Yang who kept them.

The unspoken words were that the monsters came from Gao Yang’s memories, that Gao Yang had conjured them with his imagination.

Which made sense. The six monsters were all types that Gao Yang had encountered before. None of them were ones Gao Yang hadn’t run into, such as the pride monsters, life monsters, and death monsters.

Wait, if he could level up Talents by fighting in Qilin’s illusions, couldn’t he repeat this in the future?

Oh, wait.

The system had told him that Luck points bonuses only applied to the first time he experienced an illusion or a dream. The same was probably true of leveling up Talents.

Then another question came to Gao Yang’s mind: why did Qilin maintain his mundane identity as Doctor Su and spend so much time treating patients with mental illnesses?

Perhaps it was a form of training.

To Qilin, he would be able to better infiltrate and control one’s mind the better he understood the mental states of higher life forms.

Similarly, con artists and magicians often had a good grasp of human nature.

Back in the illusion, Qilin’s combination of psychic invasion and control almost dug the greatest secret out of Gao Yang’s mind. If not for his system—the outlier—shielding him for a moment, things would’ve gotten really bad.

A few minutes later, Qilin returned with a hand holding his cane and his other hand carrying a coffee tray.

He sat down on the sofa across from Gao Yang and placed the cup on the tea table. “Here.”

“Thank you.” Gao Yang took the cup and had a sip. “Guildmaster, did you say there’s something else you need me to do?”

“Yes.”

Qilin picked up the other cup of coffee. “Go to the Twelve Zodiac Signs with Vermilion Bird tonight.”

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