Chapter 28 Chapter 26 Return

Although I didn't really agree, I became a teacher just like Jeb wanted. The format of the "classes" is informal.After dinner every day, I answer questions.I found that as long as I was willing to answer questions, Ian, the doctor, and Jeb would leave me alone during the day so I could focus on my own business.We always have classes in the kitchen and I like to help out with the baking while answering questions.This gives me an excuse to take a break when answering some of the tougher questions: I can look elsewhere when I don't want to meet other people's eyes.In my opinion, this seems to be the way it should be.Sometimes I say things that make them sad, but I always do it for their own good.

I hate to admit that Jamie is right.Obviously, humans don't like me.They can't like me, I'm not one of them.Jamie likes me, but it's because there's some weird chemistry at work for no reason.Jeb likes me, but Jeb is crazy.Others have no reason to like me. No, they won't like me.But when I spoke, things changed. The first time I answered dinnertime, the morning after the doctor's question, when I was doing laundry with Trudy, Lily, and Jamie in the dark bathroom. "Xiao Man, could you pass me the soap, please?" Trudy on my left asked me. Hearing my name from a woman's mouth gave me a jolt of electricity through my body.I numbly handed her the soap and washed the sting off my hands.

"Thank you." She nodded. "You're welcome." I replied in a low voice.When it came to the last syllable, my throat fell silent. Later, when I was looking for Jamie before dinner, I ran into Lily in the aisle. "Xiao Man." She said, nodding her head. "Lily," I replied, throat dry. Soon, it wasn't just the doctor and Ian who were asking me questions at night.To my surprise, quite a few people raised questions of their own interest.Walter, who was in poor health, always very pale and worrying, was always interested in singing about the bats of the world; usually Heath was silent, and Trudy and Geoffrey said for him, However, in the past few nights, he also talked more.He is a bit obsessed with the fire planet.Even though it was one of my least favorite stories, he kept asking me questions, and I finally told him all I knew; Lily cared about the machines—she wanted to know about the machines that brought us from one planet to another. The spaceship on another planet, who is the pilot, and what kind of fuel is used.I explain to Lily what a cryopreservation tank is—they've all seen the device but don't know what it's for; Wes is shy and usually sits next to Lily.He never asked about other planets, only about this one.How does this planet work?No money, no pay for work—why doesn't the society of the soul disintegrate?I tried to explain to him that our life there was not very different from life in the cave.Don't we also work without pay and share the fruits of our labor equally?

"Yeah," he interrupted me, shaking his head again, "but it's different here—Jeb has a gun for slackers." Everyone looked at Jeb, and Jeb blinked.So, everyone laughed. Every other day, Jeb would come and hear me tell a story.He doesn't get involved, he just sits in the back of the room, thinking, grinning occasionally. He is right, my story can indeed entertain people.Oddly enough, since we all have legs, it reminded me of Eye Grass Planet.There, people who can entertain the public have a special title, such as counselor, healer or hunter.I used to be a storyteller, and now I'm a teacher on Earth, so at least professionally, there's not much difference.A kitchen after dark is pretty much the same, the room is filled with smoke and the smell of baking bread fills the room.Everyone stays in the kitchen as if planted there.To the usual stories I would add something new, something to think about—the same unchanging toil, the same thirty-five faces, the same remembrance of others, though it pained them, The same fear and despair that go hand in hand.Therefore, the kitchen is always full, they all come to hear my story, only Sharon and Meggie have been absent in high profile.

When I was about my fourth week as an informal teacher, another change occurred in my life. As usual, the kitchen was packed.Except for the two people who don't usually come, only Jeb and the doctor are away, and everyone else is here.On the table next to me, there is a plate of leavened soft rye bread, twice the size of when it started.As soon as the current pan of bread comes out of the oven, it will be sent to the oven.Trudy checks every few minutes to make sure it doesn't burn. Often, if Jamie knew the story well enough, I would let Jamie tell it for me.I love watching him radiate with passion, and I love watching him gesticulate in the air with his hands.Today, Heidi expressed that she wanted to know more about the story about Dolphin Planet, so I asked Jamie to tell everything he knew.

Whenever people ask about the latest planet occupied by the soul, there is always sadness in the tone.The dolphins are like a mirror, showing them what they were like in the first few years of Soul Invasion.Heidi was talking to herself, and the uneasy look in her black eyes was hidden by her pale yellow bangs. "They look more like giant dragonflies than fish, don't they, Man?" Although Jamie never waits for me to answer, he always wants my support, "But dolphin cortex is tough. , have three pairs, four pairs, or five pairs of fins, depending on how old they are, right? Dolphins can fly through water - dolphins are lighter and less dense than water. Dolphins have five legs, seven legs, or nine Legs, it mostly depends on the sex of the dolphin, right man? There are three different genders of dolphins. Dolphins have long hands with strong, hard fingers that can build all kinds of objects. Dolphins use tree-like but not tree-like Many cities have been built out of hard plants. Dolphins are not as advanced as us, are they, Man? Because they never had spaceships, or communication devices like telephones, and humans are much more advanced."

Trudy pulled out the baked bread.I just put the next batch of already-proven dough into the hot, still-fired hole.Quickly push the baking sheet in and position it. I was still sweating in front of the fire when I heard a commotion outside the kitchen, somewhere in the hole and down the passage.Because the sound echoed around the cave, causing strange noises, it was difficult to determine the original location of the sound. "Hi!" Jamie called after me.I turned my head, Jamie had already rushed out the door, I only saw his back. I straightened up and ran after him, my gut told me to follow him.

"Wait a minute," said Ian, "he'll be back and tell us about the dolphins." Ian sat at the table next to the oven—it was too hot for me to sit there—so he could reach out and touch my wrist.Startled by this sudden move, I immediately retracted my hand, but I still stayed where I was. "What's going on out there?" I asked.I heard a commotion outside—I thought I heard Jamie's excited voice. Ian shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe Jeb." He shrugged again, as if he wasn't interested in knowing what was going on.He looked unconcerned, but there was a nervous look in his eyes, and I couldn't figure out why.

I'm sure I'll find out soon enough, so I shrug my shoulders and start explaining the insanely complicated family relationships between dolphins, while I help Trudy transfer the hot bread to the plastic tray. "It can be said that according to tradition, six of the nine grandparents will accompany the baby dolphin in the first stage of growth, and when the baby dolphin can swim, the three parents of the baby dolphin will be with their six grandparents. We will build a new habitat for the baby dolphin with our grandparents.” As usual, I kept my eyes on the bread in my hand rather than my audience when I was explaining.At this moment, I heard a gasping sound from the back of the room.I glanced at the people I was telling the story to see if my words hurt anyone, and at the same time, I continued naturally: "As a rule, the other three grandparents will also add people"

No one is disturbed.Everyone turned their heads away, looking in the same direction as me.My eyes looked over the back of their heads towards the door, where it was pitch black. The first thing I saw was Jamie's slender body, clutching the other's arm.The man was so filthy from head to toe that it was hard to tell him from the wall.The man was tall, it couldn't be Jeb, and besides, Jeb was right behind Jamie.Even from this distance, I could see Jeb's eyes narrowed and his nose wrinkled, as if he was worried about something.Likewise, I saw Jamie beaming. "Let's go," Ian whispered next to me.The crackling of the stove made his voice barely audible.

Jamie took a step forward, clinging to the messy man.Like a conditioned reflex, one hand was slowly raised and clenched into a fist. The man spoke, and it was Jared's voice—very calm, without any change: "Jeb, what does this mean?" My throat tightens.I tried to swallow, but something blocked my throat.I want to breathe, but I can't.My heart is beating wildly. Jared!Melanie yelled, her voice full of joy, breaking the silence that had been going on lately.All of a sudden she was alive again in my brain, and Jared was back! "Xiaoman is introducing us to the situation of the universe." Jamie said impatiently, not paying much attention to Jared's anger - maybe he was too excited to notice Jared's reaction. "Little man?" Jared repeated in a low voice, but the voice was almost a growl. Then a few more messy people walked into the aisle.I didn't realize they were there until I heard these people also shouting angrily. A blond woman stood up from the stunned crowd, and Paige staggered. "Andy!" she called, stumbling through the people sitting around her.Another grimy man next to Jared held Paige up as she almost fell on top of Wes. "Oh, Andy!" she sobbed softly, and it reminded me of Melanie. Peggy's cries suddenly changed the mood in the aisle.The silent people began to whisper, and most stood up.Many people walked over to greet the wanderers who had returned home, and there was a sound of welcome in the aisle.While they forced a smile on their faces, they secretly looked back at me from time to time, so I really wanted to understand what these strange expressions meant.It took me a long second to realize—time seemed to freeze, and I stood there motionless—that expression I had never understood was called guilt. "Xiao Man, everything will be fine." Ian said in a low voice, suppressing his voice. I looked at him hurriedly, to see if the same guilt was on his face.I didn't see the guilt on his face, just that he was staring at the group of people who had just come in, the muscles on his face tensed up in a defensive look. "Everyone, what's the matter?" Another voice sounded. It was Kyle—whose voice was recognizable despite the filth—squeezing past Jared and walking towards me. "You let it tell you lies? Are you all crazy? Or has it brought the hunters here? Are you all hosts now?" Many bowed their heads in shame, but a few held their heads high: Lily, Trudy, Heath, Wes, and the sickly Walter. "Relax, Kyle." Walter's voice was weak. Kyle ignored him.He deliberately took a few steps in my direction. He had the same deep blue eyes as his younger brother, but his eyes were full of anger.I couldn't keep looking at him, but—my eyes would always return to Jared, trying to read what was behind the expression. Melanie's love flooded my heart like a lake bursting a bank, and I didn't even notice the savage Kyle rushing towards me in a blink of an eye. Ian appeared in my line of sight and stood in front of me at once.I turned my neck away to get a better look at Jared. "Brother, things have changed since you left." Kyle stopped, with an expression of disbelief on his face: "Ian, has the hunter been here?" "She's no danger to us." Kyle grits his teeth, and out of the corner of my eye I see him picking something out of his pocket. This finally caught my attention.I was terrified and thought it might be a weapon.My voice choked and I whispered to him, "Get out of his way, Ian." Ian turned a deaf ear.I was surprised that I was so anxious, that I was so worried that he was going to get hurt.It's not the same way I feel about Jamie, or even Jared, for whom I instinctively want to protect them, it's a feeling that seeps through my bones.As for Ian, all I know is that he can't be hurt to protect me. Kyle retracted his hand, holding a flashlight in his hand.He pointed the flashlight at Ian's face and froze for a while, but Ian didn't flinch from the flashlight. "So, how?" Kyle asked, putting the flashlight back into his pocket: "You are not the host, how did it get close to you?" "Calm down, we'll tell you about it." "No." The objection wasn't Kyle's, but from behind him, and I saw Jared walking towards us through the silent crowd.He was getting closer and closer, and Jamie was still holding his hand tightly, his face was blank, and I could understand the expression behind his dusty face.Even Melanie, although she cheered after seeing Jared returned safely, she also knew that the hatred was clearly written on Jared's face. Jeb was working on the wrong people.It doesn't matter if Trudy and Lily talk to me or not, it doesn't matter if Ian comes between me and his brother, it doesn't matter if Sharon and Meggie act hostilely towards me.Only one person has to be persuaded, and that person is now the one who makes the final decision. "I don't think anyone needs to calm down," Jared said through gritted teeth. "Jeb," he continued, not even looking to see if Jeb followed him, "give me the gun." As soon as the voice fell, there was a dead silence in the corridor, and I could feel the strong pressure in my ears. From that moment, I could see his face very clearly, and I knew it was over.I know what I have to do now, and so does Melanie.I moved sideways as quietly as I could, one step, and backed away a little so Ian was out of my way, and I closed my eyes. "Don't hit me by chance," Jeb said lazily. I narrowed my eyes and peeked furtively at Jared, who was thinking about what Jeb had said. Jared was huffing and puffing. "Okay," he murmured, and he took another step toward me, "but you'll die a little slower this way. You'll find it's more human to shoot the gun faster." "Jered, let's talk," Ian said.However, his feet still didn't move, and he already knew the answer. "I think it's been talked too much," Jared snarled. "Jeb left me to decide, and I've made my decision." Jeb cleared his throat loudly on purpose, and Jared half-turned to look at him again. "What?" he asked. "Jeb, you've made the rules." "Well, now, yes." Jared turned to me. "Ian, get out of my way." "Okay, okay, wait a minute," Jeb went on, "if you remember, the rule is who gets to decide who the body belongs to." The veins on Jared's head burst out: "What else?" "It seems to me that there is a person here whose words carry as much weight as yours." Jared stared straight ahead, thinking.After a while, he realized that his brows were frowning even more, and he looked down at the little boy who was still tired of him. The joy on Jamie's face was completely gone, and he was pale and terrified. "Jared, you can't do this," he choked up, "you can't do this. Xiaoman is a good person, she is my friend! And Mel! What about Mel? You can't kill Mel! Please! You have to..." He broke down, with a pained look on his face. I closed my eyes again, trying to get the scene out of my mind, there was no way I was going to him.I hold myself back and tell myself that I'm not doing Jamie any good by walking over now. "So," said Jeb, his voice a little too casual for the situation, "you see Jamie disagrees, I think he has as much say as you do." A long time passed, no one answered, so I had to open my eyes again. Seeing the pained and terrified expression on Jamie's face, Jared felt a little frightened himself. "Jeb, how did you let this happen?" he whispered. "There's a need to talk," Jeb replied, "but why don't you take a deep breath first? Go take a shower, maybe you'll want to talk more." Jared gave Jeb a stern look, his eyes filled with shock and the pain of being betrayed.I have only seen such a look in human beings: when Brutus betrayed Caesar and Judas betrayed Jesus, both Caesar and Jesus had such expressions. The unbearable tension continued for another minute, and then Jared shook Jamie's hand away. "Kyle." Jared roared, turned around and strode away. Kyle gave Ice a sad look, said goodbye, and followed immediately. The other people who came back from the expedition followed them silently, and Peggy nestled in Andy's arms. Many of the people in the aisle who had bowed their heads in shame for allowing me to join their group followed Jared slowly out.Only Jamie, Jeb, Ian beside me, Trudy, Jeffrey, Heath, Lily, Wes and Walter remained. No one spoke until the sound of footsteps disappeared completely. "Hey, what a close call just now!" Ian took a deep breath, "Thanks for your quick brain, Jeb." "Quick and wise, but we're not out of the woods yet," Jeb replied. "Don't I know! You don't keep the gun in plain sight, do you?" "No, I think this scene will appear soon." "At least, it's not bad." Jamie was shaking, and the crowd left, leaving him alone.With these people I have to call friends by my side, I feel like I can go to Jamie's side.He hugged my waist, and I patted his back lightly with trembling hands. "Okay, it's okay," I said in a small voice, and I was lying to him, "Okay, it's okay." I knew even a fool could tell that was a lie, and Jamie wasn't stupid. "He won't hurt you," Jamie said hoarsely. I could clearly see tears in his eyes, but he tried hard not to let them fall. "I won't let him hurt you." "Shh," I murmured. I was terrified - I could feel the look of terror on my face.Jared was right - how could Jeb let something like this happen?If they kill me on my first day here, before Jamie sees me or in the first week, when Jared won't let anyone near me, before Jamie and I become friends or if I shut up about Melanie it's too late now and I hold the baby tight. Melanie was equally terrified, poor child. I told you it wasn't nice of him to come clean.I reminded her. How will our death affect him? would have very dire effects.He would be traumatized, emotionally wounded.Crumbling Melanie interrupted me.Enough is enough, I know.I get it, but what can we do? Don't die, that's my advice. Both Melanie and I weighed our chances of survival, only to feel hopeless. Ice smacked Jamie on the back a few times—I could feel the jolt both for Jamie and me. "Don't be sad, kid," he said, "You're not alone in this situation." "They're just shocked, that's all." I recognized Trudy's deep voice, right behind me: "Once we've had a chance to explain, they'll understand." "Understood? Kyle?" Someone hissed in disbelief. "We knew this was going to happen sooner or later," Jeb whispered. "The storm is over." "Maybe you should find that gun," Lily suggested calmly that Man could be with me and Heidi. "Then welcome it, tonight may be very long, I think it might be better for her to stay in another place," Ian objected, "maybe let her stay in the tunnel in the south? I'll see for her. Jeb, let me help you?" "They won't find out she's with me." Walter's voice was small. Wes followed up Walter's words: "Ian, I'll come with you! There are six of them." "No," I finally choked out the words, "No, that's not good. You shouldn't kill each other, you all belong here, you should be together. Don't fight, don't fight because of me." I moved Jamie's arm away from my waist, he tried to stop me, I grabbed his wrist. "I need to be alone for a while," I said to Jamie, ignoring everyone else's stares, "I have to be alone." I turned to look at Jeb, "You should discuss this in my absence Take a look at this. It's not fair—you're discussing tactics in front of the enemy." "Not now," Jeb said. "Give me a moment to think about it, Jeb." I put Jamie's hand down and walked away.A hand rests on my shoulder, and I startle. It's Ian: "It's not good for you to walk around alone." I leaned toward him, trying to keep my voice low enough that Jamie couldn't hear him. "Why delay what must happen? Will it be easier or harder for Jamie to accept?" I think I have the answer to the last question.I shook off Ian's hand and ran towards the exit suddenly. "Man!" Jamie yelled behind me. Somebody quieted him quickly, and there was no footsteps behind me, and they must have understood it was wise to let me go. The corridor was dark and empty.If I'm lucky, I'll be able to grope my way back to the Grand Place in the dark without being noticed. I've been here for so long and the only thing I haven't found is the exit.It seems that I have walked through every tunnel, but every exit seems familiar.I thought as I made my way through the darkest corners of the Great Cave.Where is the exit?I even thought, if I could figure out where the mysterious exit was, wouldn't I be able to leave? I can't imagine any reason why I should leave-certainly not the desert outside, nor the hunter, nor the healer, nor my counselor, nor my previous life, the memory of which is very deep. Faded.Jamie, Jared, even though he would kill me.I can't imagine myself leaving any of them. And Jeb, Ian, I have friends now, Doc, Trudy, Lily, Wes, Walter, Heath and more.Humans are weird, they don't care what I am, they don't think they have to kill me.Perhaps it was mere curiosity, but aside from that, they were willing to side with me against the rest of their surviving extended family who were close to them.I shook my head, in disbelief, as I groped my way through the rough rock. I could hear someone else in the cave, on the far side of me.I didn't stop, they couldn't see me here, I just found the cave I've been groping for. After all, this is the only place I can go.Even if I could think of a way to escape, I would still choose this way.I quietly crawled into the darkest cave and escaped.