Before everything goes out

The village was quite quiet at night.

The distant sound of the wind, the faint chirping of insects.

Lying in bed, staring at the flickering firelight, Li Fei tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

Speaking of which...

This was the first day he had spent fully conscious after transmigrating.

He had been in a coma for the past few days, but now, after a whole day, he was slowly accepting the fact that he had transmigrated.

I didn't feel it during the day, but now that it's late at night and everyone is quiet, all sorts of emotions are welling up inside me.

I felt relieved, excited, uneasy, and terrified.

As soon as I close my eyes, I see the village chief's half-human, half-dog face and the villagers shouting and killing him.

at last.

Three o'clock in the morning.

After lying in bed for two whole hours, he was finally wide awake.

He lifted the covers, got dressed, glanced at the two bedroom doors, and after confirming that Lin Wen and the children did not react, he quietly got up.

The living room wasn't too dark; there were two oil lamps lit.

A lamp was placed by the bed, as requested by Li Fei.

The other one is hung on the ceiling, high enough to prevent children from touching it, and it has more oil, so it can be considered a night light that stays on all the time.

"Why don't we go out and take a look? We're leaving tomorrow anyway, so let's find out something today."

Li Fei picked up the oil lamp and went to the door.

Following Lin Wen's example, he opened the door a crack, took half a step back, and waited quietly.

really.

In a few seconds, the darkness crept in through the door, only to be blocked by the oil lamp in his hand.

The darkness of night is even thicker than that of day.

Like mist or water, it wriggled and blocked the doorway, sticky and greasy.

"I wonder how much use this light will have."

Li Fei tentatively handed over the oil lamp in his hand.

As the light advanced, the darkness was gradually pushed back until it completely retreated from the crack in the door.

"It will work. We'll use this tomorrow, and prepare two more torches. That should last until daytime."

Li Fei made up his mind.

Squatting at the doorway, he kept hiding the oil lamp behind his back and then placing it in front of him, controlling the light while reaching out to touch the darkness.

He needs to try a few more times to get a better feel for things so he won't panic when he goes out tomorrow.

that's it.

Darkness and firelight advance and retreat together, as if dancing the tango.

Did you know that darkness rises from the ground?

A soft, childlike voice came from behind.

Li Fei was startled and turned around to find that it was Bai Xiaowu.

"What did you say?"

"I said, darkness rises from the ground."

Bai Xiaowu closed the bedroom door behind him and stepped forward.

She was wearing a thin nightgown, yet there was no sign of cold.

"Look."

She naturally squatted down next to Li Fei, reaching her hand into the darkness and fiddling around.

As she moved the knob, the darkness spread like waves, rippling outwards.

"Darkness comes from the earth, so if we walk in the sky, can we escape it?"

"this..."

Li Fei was a little confused.

This kid talks just like Lin Wen; his thought process is so unique.

Oh well, whatever. At least I didn't realize he was planning to run away. A kid is still a kid.

"Possibly."

Li Fei nodded.

Bai Xiaowu was right. The darkness outside was close to the ground, as thick as ink near the ground, and became lighter and lighter as you went up, gradually approaching normal.

That's why he previously thought it resembled some kind of giant mollusk, lying limply on the ground.

"But judging from the size of this thing, we might have to take a plane."

Just think of it as coaxing a child, Li Fei continued along this line of thought.

"An airplane? What's that?"

"Well."

Li Fei almost forgot that this child was born after the catastrophe and didn't recognize an airplane.

"A kind of aircraft, roughly a metal box with wings, where people can sit and fly."

"Like a flying car?"

"Pretty much, but harder to drive than a car. Have you ever seen a car?"

"I've seen it before; it was one of you who drove it over."

After saying this, Bai Xiaowu squatted down beside him and stopped talking.

In the dim firelight, the red hairpin shone with a halo, and even the rust seemed to have faded a bit.

Li Fei wanted to say something, but couldn't find a topic to talk about.

He's not very good at dealing with children, let alone this kind...

Little grown-up?

Li Fei is uncertain.

He always felt that the child was more mature than he appeared, at least much more mature than his peers.

"Want some candy?"

In the silence, Bai Xiaowu took out a piece of candy from his pocket.

The milk toffee has worn-out packaging but is exquisite and well-preserved.

"No."

Li Fei waved his hand.

He didn't like sweets to begin with, and he could tell that in this materially impoverished village, sweets were quite precious.

"Eat."

Bai Xiaowu stubbornly handed over the candy.

In the firelight, Li Fei saw that her eyes were clear and bright, and his heart tightened. Suddenly, he couldn't bear to refuse her.

"Thanks."

Without much hesitation, Li Fei took the candy, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth.

The candy was frighteningly hard. Even after chewing it a couple of times and it dissolved, it wasn't sweet at all and even had a slightly bitter taste.

"this..."

Li Fei dared not savor it, swallowed the candy whole, and then turned the candy wrapper over to take a look.

There was no production date, but he was certain the candy was severely expired.

"Is it tasty?"

"tasty."

Facing Bai Xiaowu's expectant gaze, Li Fei forced a smile.

"This was given to me by my mother."

The smile froze.

Li Fei opened his mouth, but said nothing.

According to the conversation he overheard, Bai Xiaowu's mother was among the people the original owner had kidnapped.

However, he overheard these words while he was unconscious, and Bai Xiaowu should not know that he knew them.

"So, she gave me candy earlier in order to get me to help her find her mother? Is that some kind of transaction?"

This is what Li Fei thought.

Unexpectedly, Bai Xiaowu didn't say anything.

After carefully folding the candy wrappers, she stood up and walked towards the bedroom.

"I'm overthinking it. This kid isn't that mature yet."

Li Fei breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as I lay down, I heard Bai Xiaowu's voice coming from the bedroom doorway.

"You were trying to run away just now, weren't you?"

Startled, Li Fei, still in bed, lifted his head.

At the bedroom door, there was Bai Xiaowu's thin and slender back.

"I know you want to run away, but don't be afraid. I won't tell anyone. As a reward for keeping this a secret, you have to find my mother."

"this..."

Li Fei swallowed.

So that's where he was waiting.

That makes sense, but it does put him in a difficult position.

besides...

Li Fei then realized that Lin Wen had said that Bai Xiaowu was the child of Tai Sui.

So, is Tai Sui the father, and the one who was kidnapped the mother?

After a moment of silence, he wanted to say something, but before he could speak, he heard the door close.