Chapter 90: The Bonfire Party - It's time to say a proper goodbye to them...
Hearing the faint sound of footsteps approaching from not far away, Xin Sang, who was cooking soup in the tent, wiped his hands, lifted the curtain, and warmly greeted them.
"You're back!"
Her eyes crinkled into a smile, and her long, fiery red curly hair was gathered back in a different way. "You guys really know how to enjoy yourselves, you even know to ride wolves back!"
Xin Sang busied herself distributing the bamboo bowls, saying, "I've cooked a new pot of ginger soup for you. This batch of wild ginger is quite fresh; it must have just grown recently. The flavor isn't as pungent, so I think you'll find it easier to enjoy..."
She didn't notice the group's low spirits until the wolf approached.
"What's wrong?"
With just a glance, Xin Sang knew that something big must have happened.
Two wolves, nine people—there were clearly ten of them when they left.
Xin Sang suppressed her smile and placed the bamboo bowl, half-filled with ginger soup, on the stone table, the liquid sloshing around.
She's a businesswoman—both inside and outside the game—and her eyes see through all the complexities of human relationships.
She understood that the girl named Jiang Zhiling had a very good relationship with her boyfriend. Last night, whenever the topic came up, the girl would smile with a happy, unknowing expression.
But now, Jiang Zhiling's swollen eyes were set in her face, staring blankly. Through her almost desperate gaze, Xin Sang could see the enormous flaw in her heart.
Her gentle puppy boyfriend has also disappeared without a trace.
Xin Sang didn't ask any further questions.
She remained silent, tidying up tables and chairs in the camp to make enough room for everyone to stand.
The blue-haired young man named Ge Lin was also unaware of this.
He had just crawled out of the boys' tent when he encountered this large group of people who were finishing their outing.
He was young and didn't understand what the silence meant, so he blurted out, "Hey? Where's Brother Shao Feng? He said yesterday he wanted to play marbles with me again. Is he going to run away now just because he can't beat me...?"
"Shut up!"
Xin Sang quickly darted past him, aimed at his bushy blue hair, and slapped him hard across the face in exasperation. "Don't say another word, get back to your tent! Go, go, go!"
Ge Lin felt very wronged, but dared not argue back. He could only cover the back of his head and slink back into the tent.
Xin Sang sighed when no one was around, trying to keep a low profile as she helped the others prepare the supplies they might need.
Everyone sat there in silence, not uttering a single word.
So long that the sun had completely set, so long that outsiders thought it was just a pile of lifelike stone sculptures.
Xin Sang emerged from the tent again.
This time, she plans to light an outdoor campfire.
Pine branches are rich in resin, making them ideal for burning.
The tinder that Xin Sang threw in was instantly absorbed into the gaps in the pine branches. A warm, bright, and vibrant flame suddenly rose, and the light completely swept away the darkness in this open area.
Liang Jun's dark eyes instantly lit up.
The moment she sensed the firelight, she instinctively shrank back.
Jiang Zhiling's reaction was more severe than her conditioned reflex.
She was holding a bamboo bowl, slowly drinking water. The instant the flames appeared in front of her, every cell in Jiang Zhiling's body went out of control. Her constricted throat made it difficult for her to breathe, and she even choked on the water she hadn't had time to swallow.
"Cough cough cough—"
Jiang Zhiling coughed, and some of the water splashed into the blazing campfire.
When pine branches come into contact with water, they make a crackling sound.
"He may have some post-traumatic stress disorder."
On the other side of the campfire, Wang Jianping said calmly, "It's normal that she can't accept this result right away."
Xin Sang carried a stone bench and sat down next to Jiang Zhiling.
On the other side, Jiang Chunhua was always busy taking care of Jiang Zhiling.
She didn't feel any aversion to seeing Xin Sang approach her younger sister.
After all, since their meeting last night, Jiang Chunhua felt that she didn't seem to have any temper with Xin Sang.
"Baby, I've made another pot of red date and ginger soup. Would you like to try some?"
Xin Sang, with her bright, watery eyes, leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, and turned her head to meet Jiang Zhiling's lowered gaze.
"Ginger warms the body, and red dates warm the heart; they're perfect to drink right now."
As if by magic, Xin Sang pulled out a bamboo bowl filled with red date and ginger soup from behind him.
The soup was piping hot, as if it had just come out of the oven, and the aroma of bamboo tubes wafted everywhere under the high temperature.
This time there were no astringent ginger slices, but instead, there were two or three slices of red dates floating in the water.
It's clear that the person wielding the knife was working very hard. Despite the blade not being sharp and leaving many imperfections on the cut surface of the jujube, they persevered and produced a finished product.
The steaming bowl of red date and ginger soup was placed in front of Jiang Zhiling.
The rising steam stung her swollen eyes, and Jiang Zhiling felt as if moisture was about to fill her vision.
She took it with both hands, her nasal voice still quite noticeable.
"Thank you, Sister Xin..."
"Oh dear! Why are you saying such polite things!"
Seeing that Jiang Zhiling was willing to talk to people, Xin Sang quietly felt relieved.
As for what happened to them inside the drop tower, Xin Sang already knew perfectly well.
She also understood that if she brought up the topic again out of her so-called "curiosity" and "concern," it would be tantamount to tearing open the wounds that had not yet healed.
This approach has no positive effect other than prolonging the healing of their wounds.
Xin Sang patted his legs with both hands, then stood up readily.
"Shall we have a bonfire party?"
Upon hearing this, everyone who had been staring blankly at the flames simultaneously looked up at her.
"A bonfire party?"
Tang Cailei's gaze swept over Xin Sang's fiery red hair, "Just doing all this useless stuff..."
"How can this be useless!"
Xin Sang pretended to be angry, then excitedly introduced it to everyone.
"Think about it, since the advent of rule-based worlds, hasn't everyone had a chance to properly vent their emotions?"
The firelight reflected in Xin Sang's eyes and made her face flush.
"We can gather around the campfire and sing or dance as we please. Even if we have a lot of pent-up frustrations, we can vent them all over the campfire."
"The campfire is a circle, but when we go around it and return to the place where we were before, you will find that the flames and the burning pine branches underneath are no longer the same as they used to be."
Xin Sang looked up, starlight shining around her. "People never stay in one place. We will definitely take one step at a time and move forward to every new starting point."
"Alright! Get up—"
Xin Sang clapped his hands and, taking advantage of everyone's hesitation, shouted towards the distant tents, "Ge Lin! Come out and join the bonfire party!"
The players who emerged later were completely unaware of what had happened to Liang Jun and the others.
All they knew was that they had to put all their enthusiasm into this rare bonfire party.
Emotions are contagious.
Seeing everyone's high spirits, the nine people who were originally low in energy suddenly felt a small flame burning in their hearts.
Burning away those painful memories, the small flame is constantly expanding, eventually growing into the shape of a campfire.
They skipped and jumped in the cold mountain wilderness, hand in hand. In the absence of external speakers, they used only their voices to accompany everyone's chaotic dance steps.
In the end, Luo Chuange and Ge Lin sang a song that was way off-key, and Gu Keke's kicks landed precisely on Xin Sang's shoes several times.
Even Tang Cailei could roll his eyes and perform a dance resembling that of a primitive man praying for rain.
Jiang Zhiling seemed to have something to say, and wanted to shout it out towards the bright campfire.
But she opened her mouth and then hesitated before closing it again, repeating this several times, until it still caught Xin Sang's eye.
Seeing that Gu Keke was about to step on his shoes again, Xin Sang turned around, causing Gu Keke to miss, and then walked towards Jiang Zhiling.
Amidst the noisy background of the two singing "Brothers, give me a hug," Xin Sang put his arm around Jiang Zhiling's shoulder.
“Baby, if there’s anything you want to say, you must take this opportunity to say it. Otherwise, if you hesitate and struggle like this now, you’ll never be able to say it again.”
Jiang Zhiling frowned slightly, biting her lower lip hard with her upper teeth, stretching her slender neck upwards, and looking up at the unchanging starry sky.
Her nose tingled, and the words she uttered were choked with emotion.
"I must try to live! To live—"
-
Liang Jun was awakened by the crowing of roosters.
After a quick wash, she lifted the curtain and crawled out of the tent, where she saw several lively pheasants in the open space in front of her.
Xin Sang also made a simple fence for them out of pine wood. The incredibly resilient pheasants hopped and jumped around in this small coop.
The pheasant was right in front of them, perfectly intact, but the person who brought it back had long since disappeared.
"Zhu Shengqing? Zhu Bieming?"
Liang Jun tried calling out twice inside and outside the camp, but received no response.
Seemingly awakened by Liang Xuan's shouts, Ge Lin rubbed his eyes and swayed out of another tent.
"Why is Sister Jun up so early?"
Seeing that he was still trying to keep his other eye open, Liang Jun suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
"Sorry, I disturbed your sleep."
"It's alright..."
Ge Lin shook his hair, which resembled a bird's nest. "Were you looking for those two wolves just now?"
Upon hearing a clue about guardian spirits, Liang Jun immediately perked up her ears.
Ge Lin's voice still came through in a daze.
"Last night, near the end of the bonfire party, those two wolves sneaked into the pine forest. I saw you were having so much fun that I didn't have a chance to tell you about it."
He then let out a huge yawn. "I thought they went out into the woods for a normal hunt... What's wrong, Sister Jun? Can't find them?"
"without……"
Liang Jun chuckled twice. "I understand, thank you. Go inside and get some more sleep."
Ge Lin responded half-asleep, then lowered the curtain and went back to take a nap.
Liang Jun stood there alone for several minutes before she remembered this.
Last night seemed to have been a bit too much fun, so much so that they completely forgot that it was their last day as wolves.
We should say a proper goodbye to them.
It seems we won't be seeing those two brothers for a while now.
Liang Jun sighed inwardly, then prepared to return to the tent.
Before she could even lift the curtain, the person inside pulled it open first.
Gu Keke stretched out the map with both hands and placed it in front of Xin Sang.
"Sister Xin, where did you suggest we go next?"
Xin Sang pushed Qi Zhixia, who was sitting in a wheelchair, while Jiang Zhiling and Jiang Chunhua followed behind her.
"Let's go to the carousel."
Xin Sang freed one hand and pointed to a strange-looking symbol on the map.
"This project is relatively mild. It doesn't have the high risk factor of high-altitude projects, nor is it as dilapidated as the projects at the foot of the mountain—overall, it's relatively easy to complete without injury."
She stopped and drew a route on the map with her long, slender fingers.
“Go out from here, climb two mountain passes, then turn left at the fork in the road—if I remember correctly, you’ll see a building that looks like a giant cotton candy at the intersection.”
As soon as Xin Sang finished speaking, she looked up and met Liang Xuan's eyes, who was standing at the door.
"Oh my baby, you're up so early?" Xin Sang said sweetly. "Did you go out for your morning exercise?"
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Author's Note: Ge Tou: Brother, give me a hug!
Xiao Lin: Tell me what's on your mind!
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