reincarnation npc, but tomorrow's ark

On this point, Nian and Xi clearly shared a similar view. Neither of them openly traveled within the territory of Yan, nor were they avoiding the watchful eyes of the candle-bearer.

……

"Bai Ye, thank you this time." After a brief silence, Nian said thank you earnestly.

This sudden trip to the Great Yan Dynasty wouldn't have been possible without Bai Ye.

"I was entrusted with a task, so I did my duty. That's all. It's the most basic thing, why should I thank you?" Bai Ye waved his hand.

"The more you say that, the more I feel bad..." Nian scratched his head after hearing this.

Bai Ye turned his head, somewhat surprised:

"You actually feel bad about it?"

"It depends on the situation. Minor matters can be overlooked, but... matters involving my siblings and me are quite important to me; they're big issues."

"Then use your abilities to help me... Actually, you should be able to guess that I'm preparing for something big."

“Yes, I do have a feeling about it.” Nian nodded. “Powerful guys like you usually don’t live very comfortably. There are always things that get you involved. For example, that ridiculously strong old monster from Yan Kingdom has been guarding the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion for almost 400 years…”

She paused, then gave herself a wry smile:

"In this world, who can truly be at ease? Look at Na Xi, she seems to be living in seclusion on Gray Mountain, writing and painting every day, looking quite leisurely and content. But the truth is, she doesn't even dare to close her eyes to sleep."

"Why do I have to be dragged into everything?" Xi rolled her eyes, then looked at Bai Ye. "Well, although this guy dragged me here, one thing is one thing... I think you're quite pleasing to the eye, so if anything comes up, I don't mind helping you out."

"At least you've helped me a little. After all, I feel like I can finally get a good night's sleep here."

Strangely enough, after leaving her cozy little nest in Gray Mountain, Xi felt much more relaxed, and even the fear in her heart dissipated.

Perhaps I can finally close my eyes and fall asleep.

Chapter Fifteen: The Door Painted on the Wall

In this way, it's not a complete loss.

After all, Bai Ye received goodwill from the two avatars of the Year Beast.

However, Bai Ye was very curious. Xi had a lot of opinions about Nian, but she treated Bai Ye, who directly and forcibly broke into her painting, differently.

Bai Ye originally thought that Xi would take his anger out on him and Laurentina.

However, he was genuinely unaware that Xi did indeed treat him differently. The reason was simple: Bai Ye was one of the few ordinary people who could independently step out of her painting.

While this guy is monstrous in terms of strength, the extent of his destructive power and his mental state are two different things. Therefore, Xi admires Bai Ye for so naturally stepping out of the painting.

Of course, Xi also witnessed his later behavior of admiring the painting with Laurentina. In all these years, Bai Ye was the first human to appreciate Xi's artwork.

There's always a sense of novelty about it, since Xi only paints for her own amusement, and few people actually appreciate these paintings—well, it's not easy for a living person to come across them.

Therefore, Xi had a good impression of Bai Ye. She did dislike Nian, but she wouldn't extend that dislike to Bai Ye and confuse the two.

That's quite rational of them.

……

"Should I prepare accommodations for you?" Bai Ye began preparing to welcome this special guest.

"Where do you live?" Xi didn't answer Bai Ye's question, but turned to look at Nian.

Bai Ye couldn't help but laugh:

"This guy is considered a visitor to Rhodes Island. He should usually stay in a cabin on the main Rhodes Island ship or in this branch."

"Oh, so he's unemployed." Xi retorted expressionlessly.

"Hey, hey, how can you say that? I'm also an important guest of Rhodes Island," Nian retorted, unconvinced.

"Bai Ye, tell me the truth, is this guy really disliked over there?" Xi ignored her older sister.

Bai Ye shrugged and didn't answer.

What to say?

The engineers probably like this guy, but the HR department is having a bit of a headache.

And Dr. Kal'tsit would probably stare at this guy with dead fish eyes and a look of disgust, just like she would look at Warfarin, Kroos, or some other unreliable character.

So, Bai Ye simply stopped talking.

Xi naturally noticed this silence.

She didn't say anything, just chuckled twice.

"Good grief, you two are teaming up to bully me now?" Nian was displeased.

However, her displeasure was futile, as this guy genuinely lacked a fixed abode. For a creature transformed into a beast, ending up like this was quite a failure.

Judging from the current situation, the behemoth that is doing the best is probably Yeragand. She is worshipped as a god by the people of the Snowlands, has been believed in for generations, has a fixed divine abode, and is offered sacrifices by generations of saints. She is indeed doing very well.

The ashes of those who fared the worst were scattered, and then there were those like Xi and Nian who were being monitored.

Thinking of this, Bai Ye spoke:

"If you plan to settle down or stay temporarily in the core city, you can choose any place you like, except for the Undead Zone, the sarcophagus, the City Hall, and the Command Tower. I will help you arrange accommodations for whichever one you prefer. After all, I still have some influence here. As for surveillance, there will definitely be no such thing here, so you can do as you please."

There was no special surveillance, of course, but everything was exposed to the ever-present wind.

"Does 'having some face' mean they've already erected your statue?" Xi pointed to the huge stone sculpture towering in the square in the distance.

"I really want to blow that thing up!" Bai Ye covered his face speechlessly.

That was something he really didn't want to see. After all, looking at his own super-enlarged statue was so strange, not only very awkward, but also as if he had died young.

“That’s good. Just like Nian said, you have a strong sense of justice and must have done a great service to the people of this area. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be so grateful.” Xi nodded.

She gained a positive understanding of Bai Ye's character.

Just as Nian said, he is a good person, not someone with malicious intentions.

After thinking for a while, she said:

"I'm fine with staying anywhere... Hmm, this is fine."

As Xi spoke, she pointed to a wall beside the road.

Bai Ye turned around and realized that they had arrived near Peterheim High School. Xi was pointing to the outside of the school's walls.

"Here?" Bai Ye's eyes widened.

Then he watched as Xi drew a door on the wall, in the traditional Yan style.

And so she went inside.

Bai Ye's mouth dropped open. This was the first time he had ever seen something so outrageous; the visual impact was truly immense.

However, it seems that Xi didn't intentionally choose the middle school; she just happened to be there.

That's too casual.

There are quite a lot of people here though...

After a while, Xi opened the door and peeked out:

"Don't worry about me anymore. I don't want to go out. If you need anything, you can come to me directly... but just don't bring that guy Nian with you."

With that, Xi went back and closed the door.

Bai Ye touched the wall and discovered that the door was indeed just a painting.

He tried knocking on it.

Then the door opened.

"What's wrong?" Xi tilted her head and asked, somewhat puzzled.

"No... I just... want to try?" Bai Ye and Laurentina looked at each other.

This ability is so casual yet so useful.

"Are you sure you want to stay here? There are quite a lot of people coming and going around here," Bai Ye then reminded him.

"It doesn't matter, I won't be bothered anyway." Xi shook her head. "Is there anything else? If not, I'll go back."

Bai Ye shook his head silently.

Then the door closed again in front of Bai Ye, turning into a painting.

“You’ll get used to it. That’s just how she is—free-spirited, homebody, and timid.” Nian chuckled and patted Bai Ye on the shoulder. “After all, she’s a loner—oh dear.”

The door opened, and something was thrown out, hitting Nian on the head. Nian reached out to touch it, only to find that the thing had turned into ink.

It seems that Xi inside also heard the conversation that took place outside.

"Wow, this guy!" Nian's fist hardened instantly.

She quickly found some paper to wipe the ink off her face.

"Who told you to talk badly about others behind their backs?" Bai Ye chuckled to himself.

He found the unusual interaction between the two sisters quite amusing, but he still noted down the location, planning to set up a special phone booth outside as cover later. After all, it would be too strange for him to suddenly disappear into the wall if he needed to find Xi.

Chapter Sixteen: Beyond the Contrails

"Speaking of which, it's been a long time since I've been here..."

Peterheim High School is one of the few facilities inherited from the old core town of Chernobog.

After the Reunion Movement's infected took over the core city, a large number of old facilities and institutions were demolished and rebuilt. Only a few schools, hospitals, libraries, and some essential infrastructure were preserved.

“I feel like… there’s something strange about the way you’re looking at us here,” Nian said from the side. “Is it because you’re worried about Xi? Just leave her here, she won’t come out unless something happens to her.”

"It's not really Miss Xi's fault... It's mainly here, at Peterheim High School, that I did some less-than-honorable things." Bai Ye sighed; this was one of his few dark moments.

After a moment of silence, Bai Ye explained:

"In order to put pressure on the Ursus Empire and also to prevent them from using extreme means to destroy this place, after occupying the core city of Chernobog and decoupling the core city from other parts, we expelled all the commoners and nobles here, but left all the descendants of the nobles behind and concentrated them in Peterheim High School."

"We did not release these noble descendants until we were out of the Third Army's firing range and received a promise from the Ursus Empire."

As he spoke, Bai Ye gave a wry smile:

"The interesting thing is that although I was the one who planned and implemented it, because my identity was still hidden at the time, they didn't know that I was the one who did it, so Talulah took the blame for all these bad things. Even now, those guys still bring this up in the council to attack Talulah."

Laurentina and Nian were both somewhat surprised, after all, Bai Ye had never mentioned this matter before, which broadened their horizons. They didn't realize that Bai Ye would make such a decision.

“In extraordinary times, extraordinary measures are needed to accomplish extraordinary things. You don’t need to blame yourself too much. In any case, no one was injured or killed in the end, right?” Laurentina comforted her.

"Interestingly, some of these students gained a new understanding of the infected after coming into contact with them, and even returned after leaving the core city. Some of them were instructed by their families or elders, while others secretly ran back despite their families' objections." Bai Ye himself found it somewhat unbelievable.

"Humans are really interesting," Nian remarked after hearing all this.

-------------------------------------

Bai Ye originally intended to find Xi to seek an opportunity for a breakthrough in his swordsmanship, but after returning to the core city, he was no longer in a hurry.

Since that guy isn't going to leave anyway, I might as well take a break first.

"What a pity. Would it have been better if we could have gone to Shangshu and found my eldest sister at the same time?" Nian was still thinking about this question.

"Don't rush, let's see what their attitude is first. Perhaps some things aren't insurmountable and can be negotiated—after all, fundamentally, your plans and intentions align with Yan's interests, so you should be on the same side," Bai Ye advised.

"Although we're probably on the same path, it's a pity they don't seem to trust us much. We're all in the same boat, but not on the same page," Nian sighed.

Bai Ye smiled:

"Their situation is not good right now either, or rather, the situation across the entire land is changing. Under such circumstances, it is the wise choice to put aside our prejudices and cooperate with you to solve the problem of the giant beasts."

He paused, then looked up at the clouds on the horizon:

"Let's just wait patiently for a few days. They will definitely come. Then we can have a good talk."

“They know we’re here?” Nian blinked. “We should be very well hidden... Even a Beastmaster shouldn’t be able to track us from this distance.”

“I left these traces intentionally. After all, our goal isn’t really to escape, but to negotiate with them in a favorable environment.” Bai Ye pointed to the command tower in the core city as he spoke. “That’s our confidence.”

“In Yan Kingdom, they clearly have the upper hand, so we can’t act arbitrarily.”

"But if it were here, hehe... they wouldn't have a choice. Moreover, they might even worry about you beasts cooperating with other countries on land, which would make them hesitant."

This place is both the territory of the Ursus Empire and Bai Ye's stronghold, so he can confidently say, "The advantage is in my hands."

……