"Are you alright?" An Ying asked, looking at me.
I nodded. "I'm okay."
"I thought a lot during the day, and I feel you really don't need to escort me," An Ying said.
I smiled slightly. "Actually, it's not really about escorting you. Mainly, I also want to see where you're going back to. To be honest, I still find it hard to believe you're from Shangri-La. I need to see it with my own eyes."
"Is that really important?"
"Of course, it's important. Think about it, you're from Shangri-La, you can live forever... Most importantly, you're someone I know..."
I sighed and said, "Perhaps you can't understand, I..."
"I understand," An Ying smiled.
"Then can you tell me how you recovered your most primitive memories?"
"Remember I told you before that I could gain memories through antiques?"
I nodded.
"A while ago, I found the remains of my clan, which is how I recovered my initial memories."
"Besides your initial memories, what other memories do you possess?"
She pondered for a moment. "Many memories are not complete, but the memories from my time in Guangling are very clear."
I gave a wry smile. "Then you must definitely remember when I applied for a job at your shop?"
"Yes. I didn't expect that I would cause you so much trouble later. Actually, I should apologize."
"You don't need to apologize. In fact, I should thank you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to figure out my father's affairs."
"Thinking about it now, you and your father are really nothing alike," An Ying chuckled.
"Are you sure?" I pursed my lips. "Actually, I've always had a question I wanted to ask you."
"What question?"
"You've lived for so many years, have you ever... have you ever had someone or something that was unforgettable? Like..."
"Are you asking about my emotions?"
I nodded.
She smiled. "It's somewhat the sorrow of us Shangri-La people, we don't have emotions... Actually, I also yearn for human emotions, but I truly cannot understand what your emotions are about. I've seen so many people who would risk everything for love, family, or friendship, but I can never fathom why they would do such things."
"You don't have emotions?" My mouth felt a bit bitter.
"No."
Her answer was decisive, and from her expression, it was clear she was speaking the truth.
For some reason, I suddenly felt a pang of sadness, and at the same time, a sense of release.
"So, that means you could never fall in love with someone?" I asked.
She nodded, a hint of disappointment in her eyes. "I don't understand what love is..."
I let out a breath. "I understand! After you go back, will you possibly return?"
"Probably not."
As she spoke, she added, "Some things are very complicated to explain, and I don't know how to put it into words. You can understand it as our leaving or returning being extremely difficult, and the difficulty is beyond your imagination."
"Would it cost you your life?" I asked.
"Perhaps it would be even worse than that."
I didn't understand what she meant by that. An Ying looked at me seriously and said, "So, I advise you to go back sooner... Xiao Fei, I don't want anything to happen to you."
I laughed. "Isn't it a bit late to say that now? Look at the ice and snow all around us, and I don't even know the way back. Rather than going back like this, I'd rather send you home. Seeing you go home might put my mind at ease."
Hearing my words, An Ying pondered for a long time before nodding. "Alright, it's your choice."
In the evening, Yang Hanxue found me again and we talked for a long time.
An Ying seemed to have already told him the purpose of this trip, and he didn't seem to mind.
"Actually, for people like me, it doesn't matter where we go," Yang Hanxue said, handing me a cigarette. "I'm quite curious about the hometown of that young lady."
"Aren't you worried you won't be able to come back once you get there?" I asked.
"What's there to worry about? Ever since I was a child, I've been alone. I've drifted at sea for so long, and honestly, I'm tired. If it weren't for the young lady's affairs, I might have found a fishing village to live in retirement."
Yang Hanxue was quite open-minded.
He exhaled a puff of smoke and patted my shoulder. "Brother Xiang, actually, there's something I still want to ask of you."
"What is it?"
"If I really go with the young lady this time, could you pass a message to my brothers for me? Tell them I'm dead," Yang Hanxue said with a smile. "You don't need to say too much, they won't understand. This is the most straightforward way to express it."
I nodded and agreed.
In a blink, it was past ten in the evening. Everyone was resting in their tents. This time, three tents had been set up. An Ying, Feng Shu, and Mao Guizhi were in one tent. Yang Hanxue and Fu Honglang were in another, and the Fatty and I shared one.
I crawled into the tent and took off my thick coat. The Fatty was rubbing his hands by a sheet metal stove. "It's too damn cold here, I can't sleep. I just lie down and get frozen awake."
I said, "No wonder you're not asleep yet."
"Boss Xiang, I saw the woman next to An Ying today, what was her name again?"
"Feng Shu."
"Right, Feng Shu. She was holding an ancient sword. I've seen something like that in the museum before, it's not ordinary. Why is she carrying something like that?"
I couldn't guess for a moment, so I said, "I don't know, maybe she has her reasons."
"But Boss Xiang, haven't you noticed that we haven't seen any living creatures since we started this journey? It's like we've entered another world. Yesterday I could still see a few birds, but today I can't see any birds at all."
"Maybe it's too cold here."
"I've heard that there are birds even in Antarctica, so how could there be none here?"
The Fatty looked bewildered. I shook my head helplessly, thinking he was overthinking.
Sitting by the stove, I was also getting sleepy. Before I knew it, I leaned against my knees and dozed off.
It felt like only ten minutes had passed when a commotion woke me up. When I opened my eyes, the Fatty was staring at me blankly. "Boss Xiang, did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"There's movement outside..."
I listened carefully and felt that there were indeed many strange sounds around.
The sound seemed like metal clanging, and it was very dense.
I felt strange. What was that sound?
Who was still awake at this late hour?
As I lifted the tent flap to go out, I saw everyone else had already come out. In the firelight, I saw that everyone's faces were very solemn as they stared intently into the distance.