The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 32: The Twelve Zodiac Signs

Gao Yang walked up to Niu Xuan and asked, “What do you want?”

“Let’s play some dice! You in?”

Niu Xuan sat on the couch by the table with swagger, vowing to one-up Gao Yang this time. As soon as he said that, his sidekicks had already pressed the service button for him.

Soon enough, the door opened, and a young waitress walked into the booth. “What can I help you with?”

She was dressed in a servant uniform of black and red. Someone else would look old-fashioned in uniform like this, but on her, the suit looked sophisticated and tailor-made. She was like a personal servant to a noble in their manor, professional, graceful, and humble.

The mask of white rabbit on her face was in stark contrast with the air of professionalism about her, adding mystery to her charm.

Seeing the confused look on the customers’ faces, the waitress politely explained, “Our greatest VIP Mr. Qin is celebrating his birthday today. His zodiac sign is rabbit, so all the staff members...”

“Enough already!” Niu Xuan cut her off. Why should he care about someone else’s birthday? “Get me your special cocktail...whatever it’s called.”

“Cosmos Mystery, sir. How many shots do you wish to order?”

“Five dozen.”

“Well...Cosmos Mystery is quite strong.” The waitress scanned the booth. “For this room, dear customer, I think two dozen will suffice...”

“What do you mean? You think I don’t have the money?!” His pent-up anger catching up to him, Niu Xuan laid into the waitress.

“I didn’t mean it that way, sir. My apologies.” The waitress bowed. “Five dozen Cosmos Mystery. We’ll have it prepared, sir. Please wait a moment.”

Although Niu Xuan was yelling at the waitress rather than his classmates, it was a rude action that left Wan Sisi and the other girls embarrassed. They pretended not to hear him and started singing again.

It didn’t take long for the waitress to return with a cart and place the cocktails on the table. The shot glasses weren't big, and they were long and shaped like vials for chemicals. Neatly arranged in a grid container made of white steel, the cocktails seemed to be glowing under the colorful light like something out of a cyberpunk movie.

Niu Xuan picked up the dice confidently. “Let’s play simplified Sic Bo. The one who loses has to drink. You’re not a man if you back out of this!”

And how am I supposed to say no when you put it like that? Gao Yang thought.

Niu Xuan was determined to drink Gao Yang under the table and have him humiliate himself in drunken stupor. A goody-two-shoes like Gao Yang must be a lightweight who rarely drank. At most he could tolerate three glasses. Niu Xuan was different. He had trained himself in many a gathering. He could finish a dozen glasses without problem.

Betting on big and small didn’t involve skill anyway. It was purely a game of luck!

Thud!

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Niu Xuan grabbed the dice cup and made a flurry of movements to collect the dice before slamming it onto the table. “Big or small?”

“You first,” said Gao Yang.

“Big!” Niu Xuan lifted the dice cup. Three ones.

Niu Xuan paused for a couple seconds before grabbing a vial and downing the cocktail.

Clink, clink, clink, thud! Niu Xuan shot daggers at Gao Yang with his eyes. “Again, big or small?”

“You first.” Gao Yang humbly gestured at him to go on.

“No, you make the bet!” Niu Xuan didn’t go with it this time.

“Then I’ll bet on Big.”

Niu Xuan lifted the dice cup. Three sixes.

Niu Xuan glared at the dice in disbelief. Coincidence. It must be a coincidence! After finishing his second drink, he pushed the dice cup to Go Yang with some deliberation. “You do it.”

“Oh.” Gao Yang shook the dice cup before putting it down. “Big or small?”

“Big.”

Gao Yang was just about to reveal the dice when Niu Xuan suddenly reached out to stop him. “Wait! Small!”

“Okay.”

“Wait...”

“Are you betting big or small?” Gao Yang asked.

Niu Xuan made up his mind. “Big! I’m not changing my bet!”

Gao Yang lifted the dice cup. Three ones.

Niu Xuan stared. What the hell was happening?! The fucker wasn’t cheating, was he?

Niu Xuan immediately found another dice cup and checked it thoroughly before starting another round. Still suspicious, he checked under the table too to make sure there was no strange device. Only then did he start to shake the dice.

This time, he shook the dice cup for one minute straight until his arms were sore.

“Your pick!”

“Big...”

Niu Xuan cut him off, “I bet big!”

“Then I’ll bet small.”

Niu Xuan lifted the dice cup. Three ones.

Niu Xuan couldn’t believe it. The two boys watching from the sides cried out, “Holy! What kind of luck was that, Gao Yang?! That’s crazy!”

What little self-control Niu Xuan had left evaporated under his fury. He grabbed a drink and downed it before throwing the glass onto the floor. The shattered pieces flew everywhere. “Again!”

Some of the girls were still singing, but then there was a sharp sound, accompanied by shards of glass splattering in their direction. They were terrified. One of the glass pieces even hit Wan Sisi in the calf and left a bleeding cut.

Luo Xiaodan, the girl with glasses on, was Wan Sisi’s close friend. She immediately crouched down to check the cut for Wan Sisi, and she flew into rage. Usually, she would be too scared to confront a rich boy like Niu Xuan, but she had had enough.

“It’s okay. I’m fine...” Wan Sisi grabbed her friend.

But Luo Xiaodan shook her hand off and stalked up to Niu Xuan. “Niu Xuan! Gao Yang! If you want to drink, take it elsewhere! This is Wan Sisi’s birthday. You’re not the star here. Don’t stir up trouble for us!”

“Ah, alright.” Gao Yang was going to use this chance to end things here, but Niu Xuan stopped him when he was going to stand up. “You’re not leaving! Another round!”

Luo Xiaodan shuddered in rage. “Niu Xuan, will you stop being weird...”

“Shut up, bitch! I’m drinking here today, and I will! What are you gonna do about it?!” With alcohol muddling his mind, Niu Xuan lost all pretense and showed his true self.

“You, you...”

Gao Yang shot to his feet with a cold look on his face. “I’m not playing. Find someone who’s interested.”

“How dare you!” Niu Xuan stood up too and flipped the table with a kick. Clink! Everything on the table was shattered and splattered all over the floor. Everyone in the room froze. All they could hear was the echoing instrumental accompaniment of the song. The air was thick with tension.

Luo Xiaodan had never been shouted at like this, and she burst into tears and rushed out while covering her face, feeling wronged. The other girls had been wanting to escape this mess as well, and they rushed after her.

Wan Sisi glanced at Gao Yang like she wanted to say something, but in the end, she ran after the other girls as well.

The boys hadn’t expected things to escalate like this, but they only made lip service to placate Niu Xuan—they knew the kind of person Niu Xuan was. Once he reached a state, no one could stop him.

As expected, Niu Xuan didn’t back down. The boys exchanged a look before leaving with the excuse of going to the toilet.

The room was left empty save for three people.

Gao Yang and Niu Xuan stared at each other with shattered glass and spilled alcohol between them, while Qing Ling remained seated in the corner with her legs crossed and her arms folded.

Niu Xuan clenched his teeth. “You’ve gotten bold, Gao Yang! Playing the hero here? Don’t make me into a villain!”

“I’m not plotting things like that. I simply don’t want to continue this game.” Gao Yang's expression was cold. He was running out of patience here. He didn’t fear a fight. With his increased stats, he might be far from capable of dealing with a monster himself, but he could easily deal with a ‘man’.

“You’re not plotting things? Oh, I think your head is filled with all kinds of schemes!” Niu Xuan marched up to him and grabbed his collars, splattering saliva on his face while talking. “I get that you need a different girl after Li Weiwei died, Gao Yang, but you have Qing Ling already, don’t you? Why did you come to Wan Sisi’s birthday party?”

“She invited me.”

“Wouldn’t you say no to her?” Niu Xuan got even angrier. “You want to take Wan Sisi as well, don’t you? How greedy! You think that won’t bite you in the ass?”

“Greedy?” Gao Yang scoffed. “I’m far from your level.”

“You’ve got a death wish?!” Without warning, Niu Xuan pushed Gao Yang forcefully and lifted his leg to make a kick. In his mind, Gao Yang should’ve been thrown to the corner of the room.

Yet Gao Yang dodged the kick gracefully with a sidestep and made a simple sweep with his leg, knocking Niu Xuan off balance. Niu Xuan slipped and made an involuntary split before Gao Yang.

“Ah!” Niu Xuan screamed in pain. He felt something in his thighs torn.

Gao Yang extended a hand, “Oh, you’re being too polite, Young Master Xuan. No need to bow down to me before the New Year. Let me help you up.”

“Help your mom’s ass...” Niu Xuan cursed and covered his nether region as he stood up shakily, clenching through the pain. Before he even regained balance, he grabbed a microphone and threw it at Gao Yang.

The waitress wearing a white rabbit mask had entered the booth at some point. She lifted a hand and easily caught the microphone. In a polite tone, she said, “Please stay calm, sir. Perhaps you should sit down and settle this...”

“Piss off!” Niu Xuan growled. “This doesn’t concern you!”

“Apologies, sir. You’re breaking the rules of this establishment. If you insist on hurting this young man, I’d have to ask you to leave.”

“Who do you think you are?!” Niu Xuan swung his fist as he staggered toward the waitress. “Get the hell away...”

Bam!

It all happened too quickly for Gao Yang to see clearly. When he looked, Niu Xuan was already flying into a wall and then falling onto a couch. Then he fell and rolled across the floor covered in alcohol and shattered glass, unconscious.

Gao Yang tensed up immediately, and Qing Ling jumped to her feet from the two-seater.

The waitress glanced sideways at the visibly alerted Gao Yang and Qing Ling. Although the white rabbit was nothing but a mask, it seemed to have a life of its own as it smiled at them. “Greetings. I’m White Rabbit, member of the Twelve Zodiac Signs.”

“The Twelve Zodiac Signs?”

“You’ve met Electric Mouse, haven’t you?” White Rabbit took a step forward. “The idiot who’s unusually obsessed with arcade games and human girls’ breasts.”

“Wu Dahai! You’re from the organization?” Gao Yang was glad that they were finally meeting someone from the organization properly. The Twelve Zodiac Signs, huh?

“Yes.” White Rabbit glanced at Qing Ling. “You have a weapon, don’t you?”

Qing Ling responded with silence.

“The second test.”

White Rabbit looked down at Niu Xuan. He was lying prone at her feet.

“Kill this wanderer.”