The Creatures That We Are-Chapter 1123: Sneaky

“No!” Hong Xiaoxiao sprang up from the sofa. “Ke Yo’s innocent!”

War Tiger scoffed. “And was Zhong He not innocent, Hong Xiaoxiao? So many have died. Who among them deserved that?”

Hong Xiaoxiao trembled, tears welling up. Her voice came raw and broken, “But it’s not right...”

“Call me cold-blooded. But I’ll be frank with you.” War Tiger met each person's gaze in turn. “Everyone, the Ke Yo you know is the one who lost her memory. Don’t forget that Ke Yo was once a member of Tails. I remember her being quite hostile to awakeners. Didn’t she create the Strange realm and almost kill Vermilion Bird, Gao Yang, and Can?”

Hong Xiaoxiao stood frozen, words failing her.

War Tiger pressed on, “What has Ke Yo done before losing her memory? And the Heavenly Godbearer—”

“Just call her Greed,” Nine Frost cut in. “To avoid confusion.”

“Alright.” War Tiger nodded. “We don’t know what she’s done and what evil deal she’s made with Greed. We don’t know what schemes she has carried out.”

“We can’t just believe her to be innocent because of Edmond’s last words. It could be part of the plan, couldn’t it?”

He stroked his chin with his lips curled. “If someone frequenting casinos claims to have never gambled, someone frequenting the red light district claims to have never been a patron, would you believe them? If isn’t impossible, but it is unlikely.”

Silence filled the room until War Tiger turned back to Hong Xiaoxiao. “You said Ke Yo was innocent, Little Hong, but aren’t you disregarding everyone else’s safety with that simple claim?”

Hong Xiaoxiao sank back into her seat, head bowed and knuckles white.

“Uncle Bear’s blunt, but he speaks truth,” Old Seven said gravely.

“He makes sense.” Gregor frowned. “But we can’t so easily make the decision to kill someone.”

“Yeah.” Lying Wood agreed. “There’s no guarantee that one of us won’t be the next Ke Yo. If another of us gets targeted by Greed, are we going to put down that person, too?”

Lovely Lamb grabbed Dead Pig's arm, tears gathering in her confused eyes. “No, Sister Ke Yo isn’t a bad person. Don’t hurt her...”

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Dead Pig stroked her hair. “It’s okay. We’re just discussing.”

Vermilion Bird stood up and said, “I’m against War Tiger’s proposal, but as we’re discussing the issue, I respect all opinions.”

“It may be me being naive...” Chen Ying, while keeping her eyes closed to focus on Sensory, divided some attention to contribute to the debate. “I believe we should try to save her.”

Liao Liao sighed softly. “It’s not that simple, Sister Ying. Sister Xia tried to save Ke Yo with Unreachable, and you saw what happened then. We almost all fell under Greed’s control. Death monsters have strange powers. It’s difficult to defend against.”

Chen Ying fell silent.

“Then it’s simple.” Zhang Wei said confidently, reaching a conclusion. “Once Ke Yo wakes up, we let her go.”

Crimson Bee nodded. “Yeah, that works.”

“Won’t that be...” Quiet Book looked around and said softly, “Leaving her to her own device?”

“It seems to be the only option,” Adept Horse said.

“I disagree,” Dragon said from his place before the fireplace. He sat cross-legged on the rug, holding a mug with his legs tucked to his chest.

Everyone turned to him. He hadn’t said anything during the meeting until now.

Dragon said at a deliberate pace, eyes glinting, “As Liao Liao said, death monsters’ powers are unpredictable and difficult to defend against. Based on my brief clash with her, I speculate that her core power relates to causality, meaning her power works on a target’s fate.”

“Ke Yo’s been with the Nine Scions for a long time. Let’s put aside what she knows about your power, personality, and weakness for now. She’s developed a deep bond with all of you, your causality deeply tangled. If we let Ke Yo go, and Greed summons her back, it’ll pose an even greater threat to you.”

He looked up at the others. “Can you take that risk?”

“Shit, I haven’t considered that!” Zhang Wei's face paled as memory struck. “Back then, Surnamed Li...Greed used my teeth to glimpse into my Fate Slides, leading to our base getting attacked while we were away. Ke Yo’s been with us day and night. What if she’s a spy? What if she’s already done something to us or taken something from us? Letting her go will be akin to giving the enemies our leverage.”

A heavy stillness descended over the room.

“What a headache.” Muzitu waved his folding fan. “None of the options seems right, but the worst option will be not making a decision. We have to decide quickly.”

“Then wanna do the honor for us?” Sunny glanced at him.

Muzitu smiled awkwardly and fell silent.

Sunny scoffed, speaking cynically, “No one with a working conscience can easily decide someone’s survival, especially not a companion’s. This meeting is meant to make the decision a collective one so that we share the guilt.”

“Haha, share the guilt. Well said.” War Tiger raised an eyebrow. “If we can’t reach a consensus, let’s just vote. Majority rules. If something goes wrong, don’t blame others for the decision.”

“I’m not voting,” Sunny declared. “I’ve decided to be a regular person again. You’re free to take my Talents. Ke Yo’s matter has nothing to do with me.”

“I’m out too!” Ting Ting quickly raised her hand. “I’m afraid of dying. Even if I’ll only get to lead a normal life for a month, I’m good with it. I’ll leave Ke Yo’s matter to you.”

“And me,” Quiet Book said. “I want to be a regular person.”

“Wait!” Zhang Wei shouted in disbelief. “You’re all being way too sneaky!”

“I...I wanna be a normal person, too,” said Small Luo.

Veggie stuttered, “And, and, and me...”

“Stop, stop!” Vermilion Bird stepped in. “Didn’t I tell you to think about it for two days? You’re all still awakeners. You can’t just run away—”

Loud beeps interrupted her words. All eyes snapped to the tablet in One Stone's hands, its screen flashing with a red exclamation mark.

One Stone looked up with a complicated expression. “Ke Yo woke up.”

Vermilion Bird paused, letting out a silent sigh of relief. “Might as well. I’ll talk to her. Then we can make the decision.”

“We should give her a chance,” Gao Yang agreed.

“Fine by me,” War Tiger said. “But make it quick, or we’ll all have to sleep with one eye open.”

“Twenty-four hours.” Gao Yang glanced at his watch. “The decision must be made before tomorrow at the same time.”