The Quartet

Under a gloomy sky that hid the gods, torrential rain surged like a flood. The motorcycles ground deep tire tracks into the sodden mud, four steel beasts like boats riding the waves in a tsunami, or brushes scribbling recklessly across the earth. Inside a ruined house with a broken roof, a green beast formed almost entirely of bright green crystals was sheltering from the rain. Half-human and half-hound in appearance, it was only the size of a child, sporting a crystalline tail that seemed seamlessly molded, dressed in tattered human clothes, and squinting as it dozed. One could tell from its appearance that it was a "Shallow Grass," the lowest tier among the Green Calamity. Aside from devouring humans, creatures of the Green Calamity also preyed upon each other. Although a green beast's strength was tied to its power in life—for example, one freshly transformed from a Sanctuary Sorcerer would undoubtedly far surpass other calamities—the darker a green beast's color, the more humans and beasts it had consumed. Green beasts could strengthen themselves and even gain supernatural abilities through devouring, which naturally meant they grew stronger. From light to dark, they could roughly be divided into four ranks: "Shallow Grass," "Ink Beast," "Deep Sea," and "Dark Tide." The emergence of a "Dark Tide" rank green beast would trigger a massive Green Calamity, destroying several sects at the very least, or overthrowing half of Senluo at worst; none had appeared in many years. Normally, even if a "Deep Sea" rank green beast did emerge, it would be hunted down by neighboring sects. As a result, the green beasts still existing in Senluo were basically either "Shallow Grass" or "Ink Beast." As the name suggested, Shallow Grass green beasts sat at the very bottom of the food chain, mere "producers" that could only serve as food. If a Shallow Grass had transformed from a sorcerer or an adult warrior, it could rapidly grow into an Ink Beast, perhaps even rallying other Ink Beasts to dominate a region and scourge towns. Yet a Shallow Grass with the body of a child dared not even approach other green beasts out of fear of becoming prey. It could only wander the wilderness alone, even having to take shelter from the rain. Rumble— Even amid the noisy deluge that sounded like pearls large and small showering a jade plate, the screech of braking tires was sharply piercing. Always sleeping lightly, it scrambled up in alarm, hastily gripping a small crystalline knife kept beside it in its jaws. Baring sharp fangs and claws, it pressed all four limbs to the ground, its crystals blazing as faint green flames ignited around its paws—it had scared away other green beasts on several occasions with this very display. The ruined building had no door. The boulder it had rolled over to block the entrance was kicked to pieces, and four humans stepped inside. Black raincoats draped over them streamed with water. The room was spacious, yet the moment they stepped in, they seemed to command every inch of it like towering peaks. Their footsteps rang loud—more than one of them had steel set into the soles of their boots. As they trod steadily upon the soaked ground, the splashing water sounded almost like a wail of mourning. As they moved, their inner clothing showed beneath their raincoats. The styles varied, but without exception, the silk fabric was exquisite and luxurious. One wore a white tailcoat trimmed in gold, as if headed to some grand banquet; another wore a white shirt and black overcoat, clean and restrained yet impossible to ignore. Clean. Handsome. They were so clean, so good-looking! Having wandered the wilderness for so long, it naturally understood a vital rule: anything good-looking and clean was either so frail it would crumble at a touch, or so powerful that it could crush the beast effortlessly! These people who could traverse the curtain of rain could not possibly be the former. In all likelihood, they were those formidable figures known as "sorcerers"! Its immediate instinct was to flee, but the only exit was blocked by them, and the remaining walls were too high for it to leap over. It could only back into a corner and curl into a ball, still clamping the crystal knife firmly in its jaws, baring its teeth and glaring at them. "What's the date today?" "Sometime in August anyway. No idea what day." "Make some room, you guys. I want to let Alice out." "There's no sun, and it's pouring rain. Why let her out?" "Alice likes getting rained on, and she especially loves the feeling of raindrops hitting her eyeballs." "T-That's impressive. As someone who has to close his eyes and let eye drops seep in, I'm actually a bit envious... Igola, I've been in a bad mood lately. Since you're free right now, how about giving me that miracle again?" "Get lost." Amid their casual chatter, a campfire was quickly built, dispelling the chill brought by the storm. Pop. A gleaming golden, plump cicada suddenly popped out of thin air, giving the beast a fright. The Round Cicada fluttered about the room. The beast's eyes tracked its path closely. When the cicada drew near, it took all the creature's restraint not to pounce. Yet the Round Cicada seemed to know it was holding back and deliberately hovered to and fro right in front of its face until the one with the pleasant voice beckoned, at which point the cicada finally flew back. Before long, its attention drifted from the Round Cicada—the humans took out canned food, cracked them open, and set them over the fire to heat. The rich, savory aroma of fat made its throat gulp involuntarily. By now, it could tell these people were different from the rest; they didn't seem to intend to kill it. Even so, it didn't dare make any reckless moves, let alone try to escape, remaining curled up in the corner. Yet when they began eating from the cans, the gnawing hunger in its belly became truly unbearable. It quietly let go of the crystal knife in its mouth, lowered its head to pick up a pebble of just the right size, and chewed it to pieces with its teeth before swallowing it down. However, the grinding sound of its crystalline teeth against the stone was crisp and clear despite the backdrop of torrential rain. It noticed their movements stall slightly, and someone even glanced in its direction. Panicking, it spat out the remaining stone and clamped down on the crystal knife once more. Soon, however, the sounds of chewing resumed inside the ruined house, as if what had happened was merely its imagination. Just then, the man wearing the black crow mask stood up and walked toward the corner where it crouched, instantly making all four of its limbs go rigid as it let out threatening growls. Yet Black Crow halted three paces away. He sat down on the ground with his back to the others and took off that terrifying mask. It had nearly been unable to hold back from shooting out its outermost crystals like bristling fur, but the moment it saw the face beneath the black crow mask, its eyes went wide, and every trace of vigilance vanished. The crystals all over its body swiftly smoothed flat. It flattened itself to the ground, dropping the crystal knife, and stared unblinkingly at Black Crow, its crystalline tail wagging back and forth. When Black Crow started eating from his can, it edged closer tentatively. Seeing that Black Crow didn't seem to mind, it slowly scooted right up next to him, retracted its crystal claws, and gently rubbed its blunt paw against his shin—once, twice, thrice. After a short while, it grew bolder, nudging its little head into Black Crow's lap, looking up at the tin can in his hand, letting out yearning whines while wagging its tail furiously. As Black Crow seemed nearly finished with the can, its anticipation mounted, as though it could already see Black Crow leaving the scraps behind for it. Instead, it watched as Black Crow reached in with a finger, scraping every bit of leftover grease from the tin's inner wall and licking it clean until not a single drop would fall even when turned upside down. Even then, Black Crow didn't leave the can for it; instead, he squeezed it in his palm until it crumpled into an iron ball. Dumbfounded, it stared at the iron ball until Black Crow gave it a flick, sending it piercing straight through the building's wall. Only then did it shudder, scurrying back to the corner to nervously clamp its crystal knife tight in its jaws. Black Crow put his mask back on and returned to the group. When the others finished eating, the downpour outside had lessened considerably, so the uninvited guests donned their raincoats, stepped out of the ruins, and resumed their uncertain journey. The Round Cicada made a point of fluttering twice in front of its face before vanishing with a pop. Rumble... Long after the roar of the motorcycles had faded, it finally crawled out slowly. Still not daring to approach the campfire that had not yet gone out, it tossed pebbles at it, using the crudest method to check for any potential traps. Once convinced it was safe, it rushed over and dug through the discarded cans, discovering to its delight that quite a lot of food had been left inside, with the lids pulled wide open so it could bury its snout and lick them clean directly. Wonderful! It faintly realized that the other three must have left this on purpose, and a surge of profound gratitude welled up in its heart, along with a bit of resentment toward the stingy Black Crow. It wasted nothing, devouring the food inside before chewing on the tin cans like sugarcane, spitting them out only when its mouth was stuffed with indigestible scraps, and then moving on to the next delicious treat. * As the rain gradually subsided, Yaxiu and his companions reached an exceptionally rugged stretch of road. They switched their motorcycles to "Mountain Mode"; the tires expanded significantly, and while their speed dropped, the jarring bumps were reduced dramatically. "Tamashi, I'm sorry," Yaxiu said suddenly. Black Crow glanced at him. "Hm?" "I know green beasts are humanity's natural enemies, and I know feeling pity for them is pointless," Yaxiu said, looking straight ahead. "It's just that when I thought of how that green beast might have been transformed from a child... I'm sorry." Igola and Harvey both cast a glance at Black Crow. Black Crow fell silent for a moment before saying, "You don't need to apologize to me." "But didn't you hate—" "Yaxiu," Igola said languidly, "the fact that the righteous Sir Black Crow didn't blast that little green beast cub into mincemeat the instant he laid eyes on it, and even tolerated letting it live on, was already the greatest kindness he could possibly show." Yaxiu automatically filtered out Igola's embellishments and scratched his head. "Huh? You don't mind, Tamashi? That's great! After all, this time it wasn't just me; even Igola and Harvey left some—" "Let me clarify first," Harvey said lazily. "I only followed suit because I guessed you'd do that, Yaxiu. I don't feel a shred of sympathy for that little monster; it was entirely out of consideration for your feelings." Yaxiu nodded understandingly—he had never harbored any moral expectations for a necromancer—and turned his gaze to the swindler beside him. Igola's mouth twitched. Never mind a monster transformed from a child, even if it were an actual human brat, he wouldn't feel the slightest compassion or pity, but... He could only say, "I felt the tiniest flicker of compassion, and I already deeply regret doing something so utterly pointless." Even though the swindler said so, the cult leader's lips still curled upward as he chuckled merrily. "Hehe." What the hell are you laughing at! Igola had to take a deep breath to calm the unwarranted irritation in his chest. "Tamashi, since you don't hate it, why did you frighten it like that?" Yaxiu asked. "It's not like you're a bad person." "But I must be the bad guy," Black Crow said.