This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 128 Notes
They did not light a bonfire that night.

Light and heat bring danger, and they are accustomed to cold and silence.

Teams of golden angels were circling in the sky, their wings of light draped from under their shoulder armor like two long shawls, drawing winding streams of light in the sky.

Nie Weiyang, Xiliya, Gong Hanchuan, Yun Bowen.

A group of four people sat in a dark corner facing a mountain pass, where one could see the crack in the sky with golden light flowing.

"This planet used to have four seasons," Yun Bowen said. "There were sunny days, thunderstorms, and rainy seasons that lasted three months. Back then, there was a saying that rain was the joy of heaven and earth, that water was the source of life, and that the world welcomed you by pouring out waterfalls of water for you. The rain back then was very different from now. It was like the sky was just a bowl of water, now turned upside down."

"In my hometown, the things covered in bowls are leftover rice and pickled vegetables..." Gong Hanchuan complained.

But he didn't pour too much cold water on her. He just fiddled with the cold instant porridge and asked, "Captain, do you like the rainy season?"

"It's okay." Nie Weiyang said.

He held a piece of gold and looked down at the golden light in the darkness.

"The rainy season is the beginning of something," he said. "If the planetary barrier can be repaired, some people will be able to see the rainy season again."

Yun Bowen whispered, "It's a pity that I can't see it."

This time, neither Nie Weiyang nor Gong Hanchuan reacted. The latter even smiled and tapped Yun Bowen on the head, saying, "I hope that when the time comes, those who are stuck in the damp won't blame us for not letting their quilts dry out."

"No." Nie Weiyang said.

He handed a small bowl of instant porridge to Xilia, who had been sitting beside him in silence.

She ate very little, very little, perhaps because she was in a bad mood, and the radiation caused her to occasionally vomit blood. She had been losing weight for the past two months, and now she was a bit emaciated. But she was a very good shot and had adapted well to the environment. Nie Weiyang was certain she must have received some kind of systematic special operations training, a training more brutal and more effective than that received by Yun Bowen and the others.

Celia raised her head, revealing a smile, and accepted the cone-shaped bowl made of stacked leaves with both hands.

"Thank you, Captain," she said.

Nie Weiyang nodded.

Gong Hanchuan stared at Xilia for a while, then suddenly said, "My sister was this big before she died."

Nie Weiyang raised his eyes and looked at the usually quiet young man. Through the light filtered by his goggles, he could see the tattoo beneath his ear: a symbol of a pair of suns. Judging by its distortion, it had been there a long time. Gong Hanchuan had spent his formative years there afterward.

"My hometown is in the southwest. Hmm...it's hard to describe the exact location." Gong Hanchuan shook his head. "Originally, some people called it Tianxiang, but it's now an inland lake..."

"It's roughly calculated based on the size of the sea," said Yun Bowen.

"The water isn't salty," Gong Hanchuan said. "At least not as salty as tears."

Yun Bowen stopped talking.

Gong Hanchuan looked up at the sky, looking at the crack in the sky.

"My family... is pretty good," he said. "Everyone is better than me. I don't even like studying, but my sister is both a good person and an excellent student. How come I'm the only one who survived?"

He paused and smiled.

"...Oh, now I'm going to die too."

Nie Weiyang drank his porridge in silence.

Yun Bowen, who had always seemed overly pessimistic, suddenly said, "At least you lived many more years."

"I would rather..."

"There's no point in saying that. Surviving is surviving. As long as I'm alive, I have to keep thinking, keep working hard, and keep doing something." Yun Bowen said softly, "You can see that I'm very pessimistic..."

The three nodded in unison, and even Celia, who was sipping her porridge, managed to interject, "Indeed." Yun Bowen: "..."

Yun Bowen smiled awkwardly.

"Everyone in my hometown died right before my eyes," he said. "The Golden Angel arrived suddenly, and no one expected it. I was very young at the time, and my family hid me among the corpses. Later, they burned the bodies, and I ran away from the fire. That was the first time I tried to survive.

"Then I wandered for a long time..."

As he spoke, his voice gradually became softer, and even Nie Weiyang could not hear clearly.

Finally, he said, "... no matter how hard it is, I have to do what I have to do. Even if everyone has to die, I have to have the dignity to face them before I die."

"Yeah..." Gong Hanchuan murmured.

He suddenly asked, "Then when will it be considered as having a face?"

"Tomorrow," said Celia.

Facing the looks from the two adult men, she whispered, "Wouldn't it be alright if we just blow up the Lingguang Tower?"

"It's not certain whether it can be blown up." Yun Bowen smiled helplessly, "But you're right. As long as the Lingguang Tower is blown up...

"By the way, Captain, what did you do before?"

He was not surprised that the topic suddenly shifted to Nie Weiyang.

He just swallowed the last mouthful of porridge, unfolded the clean leaves and buried them in the soil beside him.

"Nothing," he said. "I'm a vagrant."

Facing three pairs of skeptical eyes, he calmly said, "After graduating from university, I found a job as an administrator. But I've only been working there for a short time. There's nothing I can do. I have too much to do, always traveling and fighting."

"Always?" The three of them exclaimed, "Captain, were you a professional combat unit before?"

"Hmm?" Nie Weiyang thought for a moment, "Hmm." He confirmed this guess.

Gong Hanchuan's eyebrows danced with joy: "As expected, I've always thought you were a good fighter. So, why did you come to participate in this mission?"

"You don't have a choice," Nie Weiyang said. "Do you really have a choice?"

This is true...Who among you here has a choice?
Xilia took a long time to finish the two or three mouthfuls of porridge. She touched her stomach, followed Nie Weiyang's example, unfolding the leaves and burying them, and suddenly made a suggestion: "Let's dance!"

This proposal was so full of unprecedented vitality that it surprised the three of them.

"When we were in the orphanage, we would dance," Celia said. "When there was no water or electricity, or when we were hungry, we would often dance, and some would even sing. I'm a pretty good dancer, but I can't sing... Do any of you know how to sing?"

Nie Weiyang and Yun Bowen both shook their heads, but Gong Hanchuan raised his hand.

"I started singing karaoke when I was seven years old!" he said proudly.

What was there to be proud of? Nie Weiyang didn't understand. But he clapped silently, watching Xiliya twirl around while Gong Hanchuan sang softly, providing the background music. Yun Bowen and Nie Weiyang simply sat there, admiring the performance and providing occasional emotional value...

Later, Xi Liya forced Nie Weiyang and Yun Bowen to dance together, and later Gong Hanchuan joined in. In the quiet darkness, four figures danced some skillfully and some awkwardly. No one made a sound, only the dark silhouettes cut through the pale golden crack in the distant sky, like a line of happy notes on parchment.

　The Evening Breeze Blows in My Heart - A Liyue

　　Good Ting, it feels like an old song

　　-
　　The next two chapters will be posted before 12 o'clock. I will go and have a little chat with Party A first ()

　　
　
(End of this chapter)