The Creatures That We Are
Chapter 1274: Reshoot

Chapter 1274: Reshoot

Liao Liao flew alongside Gao Yang in the sky, holding the camera right in Gao Yang’s face. “Wrong! That’s not how you act! Start over!”

What are you shooting anyway? I’m not your actor.

A shadow suddenly shrouded Gao Yang. Something massive was flying above him. It was Nainai, in her giant form. The strange cape consisting of black energy she wore covered up the sky and sun like rolling black clouds.

“Mortal! Where are you going? This Empress will magnanimously give you a ride,” Nainai said, her thunderous voice gave Gao Yang a splitting headache.

“Go away!” Liao Liao shot her down. “We’re filing here. You’re in our shot!”

“Hmph, you’re asking for punishment. Die!”

Robotic clacks accompanied Nainai’s transformation into a space battleship in the style of a sailor uniform. With the laser cannons it was equipped with, it opened fire at Gao Yang.

Lasers, missiles, and energy bullets poured out at Gao Yang like torrential rain.

Help.

Gao Yang looked down at the sports car below, only to find Wang Zikai gone.

With his now normal limbs, Gao Yang grabbed the thread connecting him to the car and yanked. He dove into the driver’s seat and gripped the wheel, stepping down on the accelerator. His foot touched nothing. The ground vanished below him, and he plunged endlessly into an abyss.

Ah!

Gao Yang flailed, trying to grab onto something. His hand found purchase on one blade of a ceiling fan.

He looked down. It was the living room of his childhood home in the countryside. Relieved, he let go and jumped down from the fan.

A familiar dining table stood in the living room, covered in steaming food. Qing Ling sat alone with a bowl of rice, eating intently with a pair of chopsticks.

Why are you here?

Gao Yang looked at Qing Ling. She met his eyes. “Eating.”

“Out of the way!”

Two women knocked Gao Yang off balance. Chen Ying and White Dew rushed through the living room to the front yard, each holding a book.

Curious, Gao Yang followed.

There was a weathered Ferris wheel in the front yard. Gregor sat in the pod at the bottom, squashed against a small wooden table. The plaque on the table said, “Book Signing”.

“Hurry up if you want your book signed!” Gregor shouted. “I’m on a tight schedule!”

The Ferris wheel slowly rotated, about to bring Gregor up into the sky. Chen Ying and White Dew immediately handed their books to him.

“One for me,” White Dew ordered.

“One for me, too,” Chen Ying hurried out. “It tastes good. The kid loves it.”

With the pod rising further and further, Gregor extracted himself from behind the table and landed on the ground—well, he fell more than landed.

Scrambling to his feet, he tried to dust himself clean, but the more he patted himself, the more dust accumulated. It assaulted all of them and sent them into a coughing fit.

“Ack, ack... Book...I’m signing ack, ack...” Gregor coughed while taking the book from Chen Ying. As soon as he opened it, he said with a frown, “This isn’t my book.”

“It is,” Chen Ying insisted.

“This was written by past me, not me.” Gregor cast that book away before taking the one handed by White Dew. “This will be written by me, so it’s my book. I’ll sign this.”

He reached into his pocket.

“...Where’s my pen?! I’ve got a great pen! It was here!”

Gregor walked up to Gao Yang. He seemed to have mistaken him for a staff member. “Hey, my pen’s gone!”

Don’t ask me. I know nothing.

Gregor’s gaze landed not on Gao Yang, but on Qing Ling, who was behind him.

Gao Yang looked over his shoulders and realized that the house was gone, and so was the living room. In its place was a long bench in an airport’s departure hall. Qing Ling sat there with a hovering matcha cake before her, which had been frozen into ice.

The chopsticks in her hand had turned into two fountain pens. She tried her best to use them to pick up the cake, but the pens were too smooth and slippery.

“Thief! Give me my pen back!” Enraged, Gregor grabbed the pens from her.

Qing Ling scowled at him. “I’m no thief.”

Gregor ignored her and stalked away.

“I’m no thief.” Qing Ling reached for the matcha cake, but it flew away like a balloon.

Watching it fly higher and higher into the sky, she mumbled to herself, “I’m no thief. I’m no thief...”

Gregor walked up to Chen Ying. “I’ll sign for you.”

“This isn’t your book,” Chen Ying said.

“It is my book.” Gregor grabbed it.

“It’s not!” Chen Ying was suddenly angry.

“It is! Give it to me!”

Neither would let go, and the book ended up torn in half. Gregor fell to his buttocks with one half of the book, while Chen Ying soared into the sky, her half of the book transforming into fireflies that circled her.

“Home. We’re going home.” Chen Ying flew away while sobbing.

“How do I sign the book when it’s broken?” Gregor sat on the ground helplessly.