"I don't have Knife God talent! I wasn't hiding my strength!" Gao Yang's neck was about to draw blood from the blade. He didn't care anymore—he spilled everything in one frantic rush. "In that life-or-death moment, I suddenly awakened a new talent—Copy. It lets me temporarily copy someone else's talent, but I need one second of physical contact. I tried to copy your Knife God, but I was just a little short… and then you know what happened."
Qing Ling stared at him, half believing, half skeptical. She turned to Officer Huang. "Is there really a talent like that?"
"Yeah." Officer Huang nodded. "If I remember right, the sequence number is 18."
He looked at Gao Yang with undisguised envy. "You awakened one hell of a talent. Congratulations."
Qing Ling studied Gao Yang for two long seconds, then slowly withdrew the knife.
"You're full of crap. I bet you just wanted an excuse to cop a feel!" Wu Dahai stomped over, face twisted with righteous indignation—and obvious jealousy.
The moment Gao Yang saw Wu Dahai, irritation flared. The guy had run faster than anyone during the fight, but now that it was safe, he was the first to come back and throw shade.
Officer Huang fetched the towel he usually used for morning runs from the police car and tossed one each to Gao Yang and Qing Ling. "Wipe the blood off first."
Then he turned to Wu Dahai. "So… did we pass the test now?"
"What test?" Wu Dahai looked genuinely baffled.
"Stop acting. That had to be your test just now." Officer Huang's tone darkened. That kind of "test" was way too dangerous!
"No way! You think I'm insane? Why would I set up something like that?" Wu Dahai waved his arms wildly. "I swear I have no idea why Grandpa Zhang suddenly beastified—or into something that disgusting. I nearly pissed myself, okay?!"
Gao Yang was seriously starting to question how reliable this organization actually was.
Officer Huang pressed a palm to his forehead, feeling a wave of exhaustion. Being an adult in this world was just too hard.
Wu Dahai rubbed his nose. "You guys should head home. It won't be long—someone from the organization will contact you soon. Then you'll know what the real test is."
He started to walk away, then paused. His gaze slid past Gao Yang, turning lecherous as it landed behind him.
Gao Yang turned. Qing Ling was about to take off her uniform—the bloodstains were too heavy to wipe away.
Officer Huang immediately shrugged off his jacket and tossed it to Gao Yang.
Gao Yang spun back and draped it over Qing Ling just in time.
Wu Dahai's disappointment was palpable. He coughed awkwardly. "Go home and wait for the notice! Don't forget!"
After Wu Dahai left, Gao Yang looked at the messy pile of corpse chunks and blood nearby. "What do we do with this?"
Officer Huang sighed. "I've got a can of gasoline in the trunk. Let's burn it."
…
Five minutes later, the three of them stood silently before the roaring flames. Qing Ling was wrapped in Officer Huang's jacket, her long, smooth legs exposed and tinted golden by the firelight.
She tossed her blood-soaked school uniform into the blaze. Gao Yang peeled off his own upper uniform and threw it in too.
Once everything had been reduced to ash, the three turned and walked toward the police car.
Suddenly Gao Yang felt something watching him. He jerked his head up.
Sure enough, a large white cat was perched on top of a utility pole, silently staring down at him. Under the clear moonlight, its fur was pure snow-white, its eyes like polished jade. Its expression carried an air of regal elegance—and a faint trace of arrogance.
Gao Yang's heart jolted. Isn't this the exact white cat Pang Jun described? Could Grandpa Zhang's sudden beastification… have something to do with it?!
"What are you looking at?" Officer Huang asked from beside the car door.
The moment Gao Yang blinked, the white cat vanished. The pole was empty.
Maybe he was just exhausted and seeing things?
Gao Yang quickly checked the system. His luck point earnings hadn't doubled—no danger multiplier. At least the immediate threat was gone.
"…Nothing." He rubbed his temples and headed for the car.
…
Officer Huang drove smoothly and slowly. Soft music played on the radio. One hand on the wheel, the other held his phone as he talked to his wife.
"Some drunk guy started a fight at the bar. Just finished handling it… Yeah, I'll be home soon… Don't wait up, go to sleep… Can't sleep? Hungry? Okay, I'll pack something for you… It's no trouble. What do you want? I'll get it…"
He hung up, humming happily along with the radio.
Gao Yang and Qing Ling sat in the back. After the brutal fight, Qing Ling was completely drained. She leaned against the window and fell asleep. On a sharp turn, her head tilted over and came to rest on Gao Yang's shoulder. Her loose hair spilled across his chest, carrying a faint, clean fragrance.
"No need to thank me," Officer Huang grinned at Gao Yang through the rearview mirror.
Gao Yang gave a helpless laugh. "We're not what you think."
"Oh?" Officer Huang's tone suddenly turned paternal. "She's had it pretty rough."
"Who?"
"Qing Ling." He continued quietly, "I heard she awakened at ten."
"Yeah, her cousin told her."
"Ten years old. Didn't understand anything yet, and suddenly she had to face a world this terrifying. She must have suffered a lot. That's probably why she's so extreme. Good thing she still has her little-sister personality."
Gao Yang tilted his head slightly. Asleep, Qing Ling looked far more relaxed than usual. Her brows were soft, lashes long, lips small and delicate. Before tonight he had only seen her as beautiful, cold, and powerful. Now, for the first time, he glimpsed the vulnerable, tender side of her as a girl.
Officer Huang spoke with quiet relief. "Compared to her, you and I got lucky. When we awakened, our minds were already mature. We'd already felt real love in this world."
"That love is fake," Gao Yang added.
"No. The world is fake. The love was real."
Gao Yang fell silent, thinking.
Officer Huang offered an analogy. "It's like falling in love with someone, then breaking up. You can call the relationship fake or meaningless—but the feeling you had when you loved them? That was real. It belonged to you. No one can take it away. You can carry it with you until the day you die."
"…"
"But Qing Ling doesn't have that. When she dies, she'll die alone." Officer Huang paused, then continued softly. "Maybe that's why she's more obsessed with getting stronger than any of us. She's more afraid than anyone of dying in solitude—like she never really lived at all."
He gave a sad smile. "I love my wife. I'll keep loving her forever. Even if one day she beastifies and kills me, or I have to kill her—it doesn't matter. To me, the person she once was hasn't disappeared or changed. She's just… dead. Everyone dies eventually, right?"
Gao Yang sort of understood, sort of didn't. He stayed quiet.
Every awakener who survived in this world seemed to have carved out their own philosophy. Qing Ling's was strength. Officer Huang's was love. And his own…?
Gao Yang didn't have an answer yet.
A short while later, Officer Huang pulled up at a bustling night market street. He got out. "Gonna pack my wife some sour-spicy noodles. Won't take long. You two want some? This place uses sweet potato noodles—super chewy. I've been eating here for over ten years."
Gao Yang nodded. "Sure… make it two."
At this hour, his little sister was probably still awake.
His phone rang. He looked down—caller ID: Gao Xinxin.
Speak of the devil.
He answered. "Hello?"
"Bro! Where are you? Come quick…" His sister burst into sobs.