Chapter 246: Bonfire, Fireworks, Long Time No See

It ignited—that massive pile of firewood, as high as a mountain, burst into flames.

The "Little Match Girl" gave it the middle finger, and that thing caught fire.

Dense, impenetrable clouds closed in the sky, artificial night drew its curtain, and lights flickered on before rows of temporary barracks, dotting the valley with the first scattered sparks.

Everyone had been invited to the square: all the children from the orphanage, the Council employees who had been caring for them, and the Special Bureau engineering team scheduled to evacuate tomorrow; over a hundred people gathered by the bonfire, while outside the fire sat the silent, colossal shadows of the Thunder Titans.

A phantom door materialized at the edge of the square; Yu Sheng pushed it open and stepped out, cheerfully greeting Little Red Riding Hood and others waiting in the square: "Look who's here!"

Then Li Lin and Xu Jiali stepped out of the door first, both staring at the scene in the square with shocked expressions; only after Yu Sheng reminded them from the side did they quickly take a couple of steps forward to greet Little Red Riding Hood.

Sun Gong, the engineering team leader the Special Bureau sent here, seemed to recognize Xu Jiali; seeing this, he led several people running over to greet them enthusiastically. The "employees" dispatched by the Council, including Teacher Su and the rest, also came rushing at the sound, welcoming the new guests.

Two or three seconds later, a cool figure with a gray-white single ponytail, dressed in a white suit, stepped out of the door somewhat hesitantly, curiously looking around.

Instantly, the surroundings fell silent.

Sun Gong stared with wide eyes at the figure emerging from the door: "Di... Director?"

Yu Sheng glanced over and was startled to see that even Rapunzel, usually the most hyperactive and noisy one, had instantly straightened her body, standing there with determined eyes as if ready to take down the dark forces together, not daring to breathe a sound...

This made him burst out laughing immediately, breaking the silence: "Is any of you really that serious? Director Bai Li doesn't eat people."

"I knew it would be like this," Bai Li Qing herself looked somewhat helpless, her expression on her face, as she sighed, "Everyone relax; I'm just here to join the celebration—just pretend I'm not here."

"Uh, Director, we're just a bit surprised," Sun Gong finally reacted at this moment, quickly coughing twice to ease the awkwardness from before, "Of course, it's even better that you could come, it's just that we weren't prepared..."

"It was a last-minute decision; I didn't notify anyone," Bai Li Qing waved her hand, her gaze already falling on Little Red Riding Hood and the few closest "parents," then she took a light breath, her expression seeming to soften slightly, "Congratulations to you all."

"Mm, thank you," Little Red Riding Hood stepped forward half a pace, a faint smile on her face, "You've always taken good care of us."

"No need for polite words; just relax today, everyone," Bai Li Qing nodded, then looked up at the sky; after a moment of silence, she turned to Yu Sheng, "Very creative... night curtain. And then? What's the first event?"

"Where's your pile of fireworks, Rapunzel?" Little Red Riding Hood immediately turned to look at her roommate, "You've been shouting about setting them off all afternoon; now it's really time."

"Oh right, fireworks! Wait a moment!" Rapunzel instantly jumped up, shouting happily while turning and running toward the portal platform, "I piled them over by the stage; just wait and see—Match! Match, come here! Time for fireworks!"

The two girls excitedly ran out from the edge of the square; then, a short while later, a sharp whistle rang out under the night sky—a dazzling streak of fire shot up into the high sky from the direction of the "portal platform" in the center of the valley; after a delay of a few seconds, a burst of brilliant fireworks illuminated the night curtain.

At the instant the fireworks exploded, Yu Sheng felt he vaguely heard a somewhat familiar voice sound in his mind: "Hey, hey, you blinded me..."

But it seemed no one could see the pair of eyes that flashed across the sky; one after another, fireworks continued to strike the night curtain.

The children cheered and screamed.

Erin cheered and screamed too—all three Eriens were there.

And then there was Hu Li; while cheering, she also fired a burst from her Fox-Radish Machine Gun into the sky. Under her deliberate control, the eerie fox fire mixed with the fireworks rising from the platform direction, exploding together in the sky; blue flames spread across the heavens, then slid down through the night sky like meteors.

Though called a celebration party, there were actually no rules or procedures; the children simply wanted to make a huge scene today, using a full-blown carnival as the end and beginning of their childhood, as a "mark" to remind themselves that a new life had begun—now, the carnival had begun.

With so many children present, no one needed to stir up the atmosphere.

The barbecue racks were set up right next to the big bonfire, where the engineering team's masters and a group of half-grown children were busy together; the little kids started darting back and forth between the square and the portal platform, either going to find "Big Sister Long Hair" to ask for smaller fireworks or going over to deliver food; the distance between the square and the platform was actually quite short, only one or two hundred meters, but the King still waved a claw, summoning a squad of night-watch knights and lantern-carrying night watchmen to patrol back and forth along this "Carnival Path" less than two hundred meters long...

A pumpkin carriage flew out from the roof of the "castle" at the edge of the small town, sweeping across the night sky between the big bonfire and the fireworks, scattering colorful paper pieces toward the square.

Yu Sheng casually caught a piece of the colorful paper, seeing several large characters written on it in watercolor pens—

"I want to grow up to be Teacher Su!"

Yu Sheng happily held the paper out to show Little Red Riding Hood, but saw the girl's expression become somewhat strange for a moment; it was a mix of many emotions he couldn't quite understand in that silence, but soon, the young girl smiled and pointed her finger toward the bonfire.

"Look, the King has summoned his court jester." Dressed in colorful, comical clothes, wearing a jester mask and a pointed hat, the court jester performed energetically beside the bonfire; though he was merely a "summon" with little intellect, he seemed to sense the atmosphere of the day was different from usual; the exaggerated upturned corners of his mouth beneath the mask made his smile appear sincere and enthusiastic. Then, traveling country musicians and bards emerged from the air, playing unknown tunes.

Among a group of older children, a girl with smooth long hair wearing a light blue long dress stepped out happily upon seeing the musicians summoned by the King, humming along to the unknown cheerful melody with effortless ease.

Her voice was not loud, yet it echoed evenly throughout nearly half the valley.

No special effects, but it sounded good, really good.

Yu Sheng quietly stepped backward.

Amidst the mermaid's singing, he left the liveliest part of the square without drawing anyone's attention, arriving at an empty space on the edge of the barracks area.

Bai Li Qing stood there with her arms crossed, looking far toward the direction of the square, a faint smile on her face.

"... Hiding so far?" Yu Sheng said casually, stepping over, "... You do smile sometimes, right?"

"I've emphasized many times that I'm not a stone-faced person; I just need to maintain seriousness at work, and over time it became a habit," Bai Li Qing's voice sounded especially helpless, "Also, I'm not hiding—I'm just not used to such a noisy environment; it just so happens that everyone else isn't used to having a Special Bureau Director watching over them while they play around, so I found this quiet spot."

"Alright, quiet is good; you're not the only one who likes quiet," Yu Sheng waved his hand, "Where's your sister? Is she okay?"

Bai Li Qing raised her hand and pointed to the half-air behind her side: "Right here."

No mistake, one song, one shot, one inside, one content, one by one, read it all!

Yu Sheng followed the direction the other person pointed and saw a pair of phantom, gigantic eyes floating in the night sky, blinking hard while shedding tears—but the tears would vanish into thin air the moment they left the eye sockets, as if, apart from these eyes, "her" entire existence had been erased.

Yu Sheng: "..."

"That huge blob went straight into my eyes." Bai Li Xue's voice still carried a mechanical, dull texture, but Yu Sheng always felt he could hear deep resentment within it.

"... I warned you long ago not to rush over to look at everything," Bai Li Qing sighed, "Anyway, just recover slowly yourself; I can't find such a big bucket of eye drops right now."

Those eyes slowly faded from the air.

Rustling sounds came from the nearby grass.

Yu Sheng was not surprised at all; it was as if he had been waiting for it, and as soon as the sound arrived, he squatted down.

In the darkness, a small reddish-brown figure jumped out from the bushes, agilely scampering up onto Yu Sheng's shoulder in a few bounds.

"The squirrel is here!" that tiny, high-pitched voice shouted happily at him, "The fireworks are so beautiful!"

Yu Sheng gently pressed his finger against the squirrel's head, then looked up, gazing in another direction through the night.

An empty figure draped in hunting gear stood there quietly, at a distance between him and Bai Li Qing.

"Good evening," Yu Sheng smiled, nodding gently to the hunter, "I thought you wouldn't come."

"I wanted to come long ago! But the hunter kept dawdling," the squirrel whispered into Yu Sheng's ear, "One moment saying the clothes aren't tidied up, the next saying the hunting rifle has a problem—what's the point of a hunting rifle at a bonfire party anyway."

Yu Sheng said nothing, simply turning his head to look at Bai Li Qing.

The latter took a few steps forward, approaching the hunter, gazing calmly at the empty hunting gear and hood, as if looking at faces and eyes that had long since turned to nothingness.

"Long time no see."

The hunter's hood shifted slightly, and a somewhat hoarse, muffled voice drifted through the night sky: "Indeed, it has been a long time, Director."

Yu Sheng had originally been watching from the sidelines with only a third of his mind treating it as mere spectacle; at this moment, he suddenly froze, then came to his senses.

... This "Hunter," formed from the Deep Dive Squad of seventy years ago, also calls Bai Liqing "Director"?! And he even says it has been a long time?

(End of this chapter)