Why it never ends

Chapter 1126 Tide

Ximoya was also in the crowd, following the wave-like team forward.

She heard people on her left laughing, people on her right laughing, the sound of women chatting coming from all directions, and she was standing in the center of the crowd.

This gave Ximoya a strange feeling, as if she was looking down at herself in mid-air at this moment——

Where am I and what am I doing?

Why am I following the crowd at this moment?

Before the answer appeared, Ximoya felt a lump in her throat. She lowered her head, smiled suddenly, and tears fell.

She heard Stella arguing with Si Lei at the front of the team - Stella wanted to get closer, but Si Lei refused without giving her any room.

The rain was falling, pattering, and a frosty mist hung over the flames.

"Okay! I won't argue with you anymore," Stella turned around, "Everyone stand up, divide into three rows, the people in the front half-kneel, the people in the middle support their knees with their hands, and the people at the back stand up straight--"

This order was quickly translated and then passed down layer by layer. With the demonstration of Mercury Needle and Kasyapa, everyone quickly found their positions. Everyone looked at Stella's camera with a little confusion and curiosity.

In the distance, lightning continued to flash in the clouds, and fires were burning behind people. All of this wiped out all the details of the people in the camera, leaving only a clear-cut, dark shadow, like a black paper print standing on the plain.

Stella took many photos in succession, and then quickly ran towards the burning main house. Si Lei saw that things were not going well, and was about to chase her out, but Stella stopped again. She turned around and said, "Everyone, look at me, turn around! Those in the first row stand up, those in the middle stay in the same position, and those in the last row squat down—"

People quickly understood what Stella meant and cooperated.

This time, the entire background fell into chaos, but everyone's face took on a painting-like texture in the firelight. The fire was burning and roiling, so the light on everyone's face was flowing.

Through the lens, Stella looked at those eyes, those bright eyes... those eyes reflecting the flames, they all looked at her silently.

“…Amazing,” Stella choked and shook her head, “Really amazing.”

The rain came suddenly and heavily.

This night's rain came slowly. At first it was just some unusual wind and stuffy air. Then it took a long time to fall, ignoring anyone's prayers. Then came the raindrops, like a little cool breeze blown in from somewhere else, drop by drop... Such a long prelude, at a certain moment, suddenly turned into a rainstorm.

Everyone immediately dispersed and ran towards the studio. Stella did not follow them. Instead, she hugged the camera and turned around to watch how the fire behind her gradually went out in the heavy rain.

The rain poured on her, every drop was heavy, the water flowed down her forehead and fell into her eyes, making her almost unable to open her eyes. But she just stood there, with a burning heart, watching the last flame go out in the dark night.

In the rain, Stella felt a boundless freedom... She turned around and found someone standing not far behind her.

"...Ximoya?" She recognized the shadow, who was also completely soaked by the rain.

The two of them looked at each other and laughed at the same time - although neither of them talked to the other about their own thoughts, this moment of pause was enough to make them sure that there was a same spirit - or destiny, flowing through their heads.

The two walked back calmly in the heavy rain.

"I haven't asked you yet," Stella said, "why did you come here?"

Ximoya was stunned and did not answer.

"Is it inconvenient to say?" Stella asked again.

"...I don't know what to say," Ximoya said, "What about you? Why did you come here?"

"Me? I was destined to come here, hahaha——" Stella's laughter dissipated in the raindrops. Ximoya looked at her with some envy, and after a while, she also laughed out loud.

……

In the second half of the night, the entire studio was full of people sleeping.

The place was already crowded to begin with, and now there was almost no place to stand. There were people curled up on every step, every corner of the room, and even in the empty spaces under the tables and on the temporarily cleaned tabletops.

Many people were soaked. They took off their clothes and pants and hung them on bamboo poles in the aisle to dry.

The studio brought two electric heaters and hair dryers for winter, and the women sat naked in front of the heaters to dry their clothes, or used hair dryers to quickly dry their shorts or hair. Everyone took turns so that they could have a relatively comfortable sleep.

Hesta sat in the corridor in a daze, overwhelmed by an inexplicable sense of nothingness.

She sat on the ground, leaning against the wooden wall behind her, wearing a thick uniform with mercury needles on her body - on such a rainy summer night, the temperature dropped to a level that made her feel cold.

At the other end of the corridor, two old people were smoking. They held long, thin pipes and lit each other's cigarettes in the dark. Hesta looked at them for a long time, then suddenly stood up and walked over.

"Can I try it too?" She pointed at one of the men's pipes.

The old woman was a little surprised. She didn't understand what Hesta said, but she could understand her gestures. She took out another cigarette holder from her bosom, took off her own, and then handed the pipe to Hesta. However, before Hesta took the first puff, Si Lei's voice came from above her head: "What are you doing?"

"Oh, I want to try--"

"Give it back to the owner."

Hesta sighed and handed the pipe back to the old man. The old man was a little surprised and repeatedly asked Hesta in his native dialect if he really didn't need it - she still had a lot of tobacco.

"Why are you imitating others to smoke?" Si Lei frowned, "It's not a good habit."

"Ms. Chiba smokes often."

"She would definitely not allow you to smoke if she were here."

Hesta laughed, "If she were here, she'd give me cigarettes."

Si Lei frowned and thought for a while...it seemed to be true.

"Don't touch these things," she folded her arms, "If you're tired, go get some sleep."

"You're staying out here because you're not sleepy, officer."

"Are you guys chatting?"

Ximoya's voice came from the door. Hesta and Si Lei turned around at the same time and saw Ximoya coming out after changing her clothes. She was holding a cup of coffee that was still steaming.

Hesta gave up the seat beside him.

"You can't sleep either?"

"No," Ximoya said, "I saw Officer Si Lei came out, so I came to see if there was anything I could do to help."