The Creatures That We Are-Chapter 1087: Bonfire Conversation

White Dew eyed Dr. Jia derisively. “Done with the blood already? Or the vital energy?”

“Both.” Dr. Jia chuckled awkwardly. “Well, you’re here already. Will you give me—”

“No,” White Dew snapped.

“Why?”

White Dew scoffed. “Because I’m uncultured.”

“Hey, you—” Dr. Jia turned to Gao Yang. “This woman holds a grudge like a crow, Gao Yang. She doesn’t know how to be the bigger person at all!”

Gao Yang glanced at him. “Dr. Jia, I’m not her leader. Even if you beg me, I’ll have to beg her too.”

Dr. Jia paused, realizing the gravity of the issue. He turned on his heels and bowed to White Dew. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you uncultured before. I apologize.”

“Apology accepted,” White Dew said with a slight nod.

“Then would you—”

“No.”

“Why?” Dr. Jia raised his voice.

“Because I hold a grudge,” White Dew said with a scoff.

After a pause, Dr. Jia bowed again, his head almost touching the ground. “I’m sorry! I’m the one who doesn’t know how to forgive and forget for saying that about you! Please be the bigger person and forgive the uncultured me.”

White Dew smiled in satisfaction. She looked around and said, “Aren’t you holding a meeting? Why isn’t there any seat?”

“There is, there is!” Dr. Jia looked around. Then he dashed into the crowd and lifted Liao Liao, stealing the small stool she was sitting on.

Liao Liao protested, “Hey, this is mine—”

“Shut up!” Dr. Jia glared at her.

He jogged back to White Dew and put the stool at her feet. “Here, Lady White Dew! I’ve had someone warm the seat for you so that you won’t catch a cold.”

White Dew huffed, sitting down elegantly with her hands clasped on her knees. She looked ahead and said icily, “Get what you want from Gao Yang tomorrow. Stop buzzing around me like a fly.”

“Out of your sight already!” Dr. Jia jogged away with a skip in his steps.

He returned to Liao Liao's side, ignoring her aggravation. He even took her chips after sitting down, popping them in his mouth. No one was happier than Dr. Jia at this moment—he couldn't wait to learn the truth about Baili Yi and what he knew. It was no exaggeration to say that he would die happy after the revelation.

“Let’s get started, Old Ge!” Dr. Jia urged.

“It’s Yi, not Ge[1]! You call yourself a genius?” Gregor squatted on the sand with a brown blanket around him, holding a can of cola. His hair was messy like a bird’s nest. From afar, he looked like a small burial mound.

“He’s probably saying ‘Old Brother’.” Nine Frost spoke up. He wore a gray windbreaker zipped up to his chin. Dr. Jia’s parrot perched on his shoulder, mimicking, “Brother! Brother! Brother!”

“Are you two that tight already?” Zhang Wei snorted.

“What do you know? It’s brotherhood at first sight between Brother Baili and me!” Dr. Jia tried to force familiarity. “How old are you, my friend?”

Baili Yi said with a smile, “If we’re talking about how long I’ve existed, close to three hundred years old.”

That shocked everyone.

“Holy, that long?”

“Isn’t the Mist World only around for a hundred years? How did you live beyond that?”

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“Are you immortal?”

“Is the Mist World restarting? And we are the last generation of awakeners...”

The questions poured out from different directions, causing a ruckus.

“Stop, stop...”

“Silence!”

“Stop talking already!”

War Tiger had enough. He grabbed the small megaphone Rewind always had with her and shouted through it. Only then did everyone quiet down.

Then he walked up to Baili Yi, raising the megaphone once more. “I understand how you feel, everyone, but this is inefficient. Let’s first allow Brother Baili to talk, then we’ll ask our questions. That works for you?”

“Yeah!” the response came in a chorus.

“Good!” War Tiger handed the megaphone to Baili Yi. “Here. Let’s get started!”

Baili Yi glanced at the megaphone before returning it to War Tiger. “I’m not used to using this, and I’m not sure where to start.”

Gao Yang had experienced something similar when he told his father everything about the world and himself. Reality was massive and messy; he needed a starting point.

“How about this?” Gao Yang snapped his fingers to conjure a ball of fire at the center of the crowd like a small bonfire. “Sit around.”

They did as he said without question. The fire warmed them right up.

Gao Yang sat down too. “Starting from me, we’ll each pose a question. Each time, Baili Yi will only answer the question and not stray too far from the topic. Let’s start this way.”

Zhang Wei laughed in excitement. “That works!”

“Good idea,” Liao Liao agreed. Then everyone would feel like they are contributing. And with each person’s different perspective, they would miss as little as possible.

“Oh...this is nostalgic.” Hong Xiaoxiao shifted to snuggle Nainai, reminded of being a kid and listening to her grandfather tell ghost stories, trembling in both fear and excitement.

“Tsk.” Nainai crossed her arms derisively.

After her experience of not understanding anything, she decided to put on a haughty face no matter what deep, complex knowledge she heard today; she couldn’t allow others to see how uneducated she was.

Lovely Lamb lay in Dead Pig’s strong embrace, while Wang Weiyan curled up in the blanket Quiet Book had put around her. Both girls batted their eyes in anticipation, finding the situation fun.

The others each got comfortable and mentally prepared. Firelight danced on their faces and formed a circle of warmth, shielding everyone from the cold night wind coming from the desolate desert. Above them, the lonely river of stars stretched quietly across the deep night sky.

Baili Yi, Gao Yang, Qing Ling, War Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Nine Frost, Nainai, Hong Xiaoxiao, Chen Ying, Ke Yo, Raven Shark, Liao Liao, Gregor, Dr. Jia, One Stone, Bumblebee, Crimson Bee, Old Seven, Small Luo, Veggie, Zhang Wei, Wang Weiyan, Mischievous Monkey, Dead Pig, Lovely Lamb, Adept Horse, Lying Wood, Muzitu, Harvest Song, Rewind, Lin Fu, Canary, Wandering Tune, Ting Ting, Quiet Book, Major Fortune, Citrus, Cold Cicada, Jiang Hao, Tofu, John Doe, Sunny, Donxote, and White Dew.

Outside of the three unconscious awakeners, all known awakeners and the only Spectre in the Mist World gathered. Thus commenced the conversation by bonfire under the sparkling stars, at the intersection of their fate.

Gao Yang took a deep breath and asked the question everyone would be most concerned about.

1. Baili Yi’s yi, 弋, looks very similar to 戈, ge. It’s also pronounced the same as 哥, meaning brother. So Old Ge is a also pun for buddy/mate/bro. ☜