Li Yao was slightly dazed by the question. He observed the girl named 'Bing Bing' carefully.
The girl was about fourteen or fifteen years old, which was the age between a child and an adult. Although her face was cold and detached, it was like a thin layer of ice that hung on her face.
Below the cracked ice, however, was the human nature that was revealed.
Something in Li Yao's heart was touched. He asked in a low voice, "Bing Bing, do you not want your parents to go to war?"
"… I don't know."
Bing Bing hesitated for a moment, and her eyes were filled with confusion. "Our town has fought with the barbarians before, and we've fought with other towns as well. However, there were at most a few hundred people fighting together. Many people died. I've seen some dead people bleeding from their seven orifices. Their intestines and stomachs were torn apart, and their hands and feet were crushed. It was very horrible.
"I heard that this time, there will be dozens and hundreds of people fighting together. I can't imagine what it will be like. I … I'm afraid. I'm afraid that my parents will also become a mess. I'm afraid that they won't be able to come back."
Li Yao thought for a moment and asked, "Have you ever said that to your parents? Why do they have to go to war?"
"Yes, they did."
Bing Bing nodded hard and said, "But they said that they had to go to war because the Serenity Seraph and the Grand Guardian both told them that we were human beings, and human beings should not live in the sunless underground world for the rest of their lives in fear and trepidation.
"We should live under the real sun, the blue sky, and the white clouds. At the very least, we should crawl to the ground and see what the sun looks like.
"If we want to crawl to the ground and see the sun, we can only fight and lift the crust that is tens of thousands of meters thick above our heads!
"I don't quite understand what my parents are saying. The Fire Flower is already very beautiful. Is the sun really so beautiful that it is worth the death of so many people? I told my parents that I was scared and asked them if I could stay away, but they said that as long as I recited the 'Serenity Arts' more attentively, I would not be scared of anything. "
Li Yao thought of something. Looking at the girl who was getting more and more worried, he asked, "But you did not read the Serenity Arts properly, did you?"
With an unnatural shyness on her face, Bing Bing stammered, "I-I've been reading the Serenity Arts properly. When the adults are training every day, my friends and I have been reading it together with them. But for some reason, I'm not very enlightened, and I can't focus my mind and devote myself to it. Perhaps … perhaps I don't know if I should be like mom and dad right now, right?"
Li Yao frowned and said, "You don't like the way mom and dad look now?"
"I, I don't know either."
Bing Bing hesitated for a moment but still shook her head softly. "Mom and Dad are indeed a bit weird right now. They are either walking in silence every day, sitting cross-legged and chanting the Serenity Arts, or standing on the roadside like stalagmites, staring at the light above their heads in a daze. Even when they talk to me, they are not warm at all, which is completely different from the past.
"But … but I don't like how they used to be, either.
"In the past, they were all gloomy and sighing every day. Not only did they often quarrel with each other, but they also often burst into fury at me and even slapped my bottom hard.
"But I've never blamed them, because I've grown up and become more sensible. I know how hard and painful their work is every day. They have endless worries and problems that they can't solve. Sometimes, when I'm in a daze, I can still hear my mother crying secretly.
"At least right now, after practicing the Serenity Arts, mom and dad don't quarrel, sigh, or cry in secret anymore. Also, there is more light in their eyes. When they read the Serenity Arts together with everybody else, they have a new spirit that I can't describe.
"So, I think that such a life right now is perhaps the best for them! I just don't know if I should forget all the unhappy things and all the happy things like them. "
Fascinated, Li Yao couldn't help but squat down to the same level as the girl. "Is there anything that makes you happy in such a place? Can you tell me about it?"
"Yes, there is!"
Bing Bing smiled from the bottom of her heart. Perhaps it was because she hadn't smiled for a long time, but her smile was like a half-budding flower. "Did you know, Brother Li Yao? In the depths of a crevice two kilometers away from the town, there grows a kind of purple flame flower. Inside its stamen, there is a very, very small insect that is even smaller than an ant. We all call it 'Flower Bug'.
"Flower Bugs are colorless at first, but as long as you shake them hard, they will vibrate their wings hard and emit colorful brilliance. They are very beautiful.
"In the past, before Nepenthe came, a few of us liked to catch Flower Bugs best. We caught a lot of Flower Bugs, shook them hard in our hands, and blew at them hard. Wow, hundreds of Flower Bugs were blown into the air at the same time like fireworks.
"We often competed on whose fireworks were the most beautiful. The shaking technique and the strength of the blowing were both important. I blew the biggest and most beautiful fireworks every time!
"I remember one time, we found the deepest, darkest, and most spacious cave to blow Flower Bugs. More than ten of us blew the Flower Bugs to the wall of the cave together. The whole cave was illuminated by us. It was the most beautiful thing that I've ever seen in my life. We were so fascinated that we forgot the time until the adults came for us. Naturally, we were all beaten when we returned. The whole town was filled with cracking sounds. Nobody could sit down the next day and could only walk with their legs crossed. Haha!"
The more Bing Bing talked, the more excited she became. Blushing, she was no longer as cold as before. She was clearly an innocent and mischievous little girl now!
"Also, also, Brother Li Yao, do you know that the stalagmites deep below the ground have flavors? Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty, and everything else. There is one kind of stalagmite that is cold, moist, and cool. We call it 'Sweet Stone'. When it is hottest, everybody likes to sleep with 'Sweet Stone' in their arms. It is most comfortable!"
Bing Bing's chatterbox was like a flooding flood. Her eyes glittering, she said, "Also, stones with a lot of holes can be found in many relics. After blowing at them, they will make very pleasant sounds. If different holes are blocked, the sound will be different in pitch. We call them 'sound conches'. When dozens of sound conches are blown at the same time and a handful of Flower Bugs are released, they will lie on the 'Sweet Stone' and listen and watch in silence. Wow, that is the happiest thing for me!"
In front of Li Yao's eyes, a splendid picture seemed to be popping up in the infinite darkness. Hearing the children's bell-like giggles in the marvelous sound of the 'sound conches', he couldn't help but be in a trance.
Bing Bing pursed her lips and said in a low voice, "My best friend is also called Bing Bing. Everyone calls her 'Big Bing Bing' and calls me 'Little Bing Bing'. I'm the best at playing the Flower Bug, and Big Bing Bing is the best at playing the 'Sound Conch'. She can play hundreds of tunes, and they are all tunes that have been passed down from a long, long time ago. Everyone likes to listen to her, and even the Flower Bug I play likes it. Every time the two of us work together, when she plays the Sound Conch, the Flower Bug I play dances.
It's so beautiful! "However, her father was once eaten by a demon beast when he scavenged in a relics. Since then, she has been practicing the Serenity Arts diligently as her mother's advice. She never went out with us or played the 'sound conches' again. I once went to her and begged her to play the sound conches and the Flower Bugs with us, but she said that she had forgotten all the tunes.
"I was very sad, and I didn't want to be like Big Bing Bing. I didn't want to forget how to play the Flower Bugs. I never wanted to forget … Every time everybody in the town gathers to practice the Serenity Arts, my head is full of the Flower Bugs, the sound conches, and all kinds of stalagmites. That's probably why my friends have all picked up the Serenity Arts, but I haven't been able to pick it up, right?"
Li Yao was silent. Looking at the gray cape on the girl's body, he asked, "You clearly didn't want to practice the Serenity Arts, but you still joined Nepenthe. Why? Did anybody force you?"
"Force? No! "
Bing Bing bulged her eyes and said, "Because Nepenthe are all good people, and they are the only ones who came down from above to help us!
"Our town is so poor and remote. In the past, no matter what kind of disaster we encountered, no one came down to help us. I heard that the guys who occasionally came down from above were very fierce. Anyone who met them would be unlucky!
"Nepenthe was the only one who helped us sincerely. In our most difficult times, they brought crystals, fuel, and compressed air from the world above to help us through the difficulties. They did not have the arrogance and brutality of the people above at all. They said that we were all equal brothers and sisters. They ate and lived with us, told us a lot of things about the world above, and helped us dig tunnels, reinforce the walls, maintain the magical equipment, and resist the scourges of demon beasts and barbarians. Many Nepenthe believers who we didn't know sacrificed their lives for our town and are buried around our town, continuing to protect us!
"Nepenthe has been so nice to us. Isn't it only natural that we join Nepenthe? Besides, although we won't be able to play the sound conches and release the Flower Bugs after we practice the Serenity Arts, we will indeed be free of worries and pains. Also, if we sing the Serenity Arts together, we will raise some kind of … resonance that will make us more agile, strong, and tough!
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