The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 948: Camel

"Who told you to make the decision on your own?!" The news that Qing Ling had entered the Mist only stoked Gao Yang's anger. "Couldn't you have waited until you returned to do the experiment? At least Hong Xiaoxiao could have given you each a hairpin..."

"Gao Yang, as you said, it's the Mist we're talking about." Dr. Jia's voice carried a sharp edge. "If they got swallowed by the Mist, do you think Gamer would work? Even if it did, they would be too far away for it."

Gao Yang's protests died in his throat.

"Alright, alright." War Tiger's easy smile cut through the tension. "What's gotten to you, Little Yang Yang? They've made a great contribution. Even if you don't have anything nice to say, it's wrong to scold them!"

"And Little Qing, you've made a mistake too. As team leader, you should look at the big picture. You won't make a decision on your own next time, okay?"

Qing Ling turned away from Gao Yang's heated glare. She knew it was wrong, but she also knew Gao Yang too well; if she had reported to him first, he would have taken matters into his own hands. That was just who he was. And that was exactly what she couldn't allow.

Since she had proposed the idea, she would be the one to take the risk.

Nainai had insisted on accompanying her, not the other way around. Even Qing Ling's blade hadn't deterred her. The prospect of adding "Mist Disperser" to her already grand titles had captured Nainai's imagination—a feat truly befitting a supreme empress.

After careful consideration, Qing Ling had decided Nainai's level 7 Gale would serve them well, both for swift travel and combat. If they encountered danger in the Mist, Gale would aid in both offense and retreat. Only then had she agreed to let Nainai join her.

"Come on. Let's keep watching." Dr. Jia pressed play, uninterested in the couple’s spat.

The video showed Qing Ling riding her blade to catch up with Nainai, their hands meeting. Their figures grew smaller and smaller until vanishing into the unknown.

The video ended there.

"Four minutes later, they returned," Dr. Jia said. "As expected, the micro cameras captured nothing. The Mist's barrier sealed itself as soon as the Black Gold battery depleted. We had less than thirty seconds. When we approached again, we found ourselves moving in place, just as before."

Gao Yang had regained his composure, his face settling back into the calm mask of leadership. He looked up at Qing Ling. "What did you find in the Mist?"

Qing Ling met his gaze steadily. "Nothing much."

"What do you mean?" War Tiger asked.

Qing Ling glanced at Nainai, knowing the girl would embellish the story with unnecessary flourishes, and decided to explain herself.

Her words came precise and measured.

The Black Gold energy had indeed granted them passage through the Mist, but crossing the barrier had felt unremarkable—no threshold, no sensation of transition. Beyond lay the same boundless desert, except now they could move freely through it. It felt neither different nor unfamiliar.

This desert, she realized, must be the one Dr. Jia had mentioned—the tourist site from twenty years ago that the Mist had devoured. The Heavenly Way, whether by choice or necessity, had erased all evidence of its existence.

And now, twenty years later, Qing Ling and Nainai had returned to this forgotten place.

There was nothing beyond the Mist.

That was an answer neither Qing Ling nor Nainai could accept. They would have preferred facing dangers or mysterious enemies.

With precious time remaining, they pushed their speed to the limit. And finally, they made a discovery.

“An oasis.”

Qing Ling's voice held the room spellbound, the silence broken only by her measured words.

In the boundless desert, they had spotted a deep green circle. One shared glance, and they swooped toward it.

The oasis spread before them, no larger than two soccer fields. At its heart lay an emerald lake, surrounded by towering palm trees that formed a living crown around the jewel-like water.

Landing at the fringe, they approached with caution. Nainai sent a probing wind through the oasis. Palm fronds rustled, and the lake's surface rippled, but nothing else stirred.

Time pressing against them, they ventured through the palm trees to the lake's edge. The water lay mirror-smooth. No buildings stood here, no traces of civilization remained.

However, there was a living being—a dark brown dromedary camel with short, soft fur and long legs and neck. Its tail was short. Its eyelashes were lush and dark. Its lips had a pronounced cleft. And its nostrils were flat. It looked docile and friendly, no different from the common camels found in Ni Nation.

It drank from the lake with lazy contentment.

And that very normalcy made everything stranger.

"Camel?" Nine Frost's voice dripped with disbelief. "What does that mean?"

"It was just a regular camel," Qing Ling said.

“It can’t be.” Gao Yang lowered his head in concentration. “The patch of Ni Nation desert was devoured by the Mist twenty years ago. How could the camel have been around for twenty years?”

Qing Ling nodded. “I looked it up. The average lifespan of a camel is thirty years old. The camel looked young, though, and it couldn’t have survived on water alone for twenty years.”

“Can it be a double or an illusion?” War Tiger made a reasonable guess. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“I thought so too, so I cut it,” Qing Ling said.

"Holy! That's harsh." War Tiger laughed. "What did the poor thing do to deserve that?"

Qing Ling continued, ignoring his comment.

The camel had seemed harmless. When they called out, its keen little ears twitched. It raised its head slowly, regarding them with a lazy look devoid of surprise or fear. Then it simply returned to drinking, sending small ripples across the lake's surface.

Qing Ling checked the time. Twenty seconds until they had to turn back.

Unsatisfied, she manipulated her Tang Dao to deliver a light swat with the blade's back.

"Hmph..."

The camel's cry of pain echoed as it stepped steadily away, maintaining a few meters' distance. Then it stopped and resumed drinking, the threat already forgotten.

Qing Ling considered killing it but hesitated. Time was too short, and she worried about triggering unknown dangers. Even a brief delay could trap them in the Mist forever.

Taking the camel with them seemed even riskier—if it was even possible.

In the end, they left the oasis empty-handed.

They cleared the Mist just before the Black Gold battery died. Back with Dr. Jia, they removed the recorders from their waists. When played back, the recordings showed only darkness, though the runtime counter marked four minutes.

"That's it?" War Tiger leaned forward. He was just getting into it.