Bai Wei's Demand

"First, I need to make one thing clear: outside isn't some kind of heaven, and I'm not an angel either." Lai Er sat cross-legged, carrying himself like the leader of a pack of children. "Of course, compared to this place, the outside really does look like heaven, and compared to you, I really do look like an angel."

Lai Er's words left the children confused. It felt as if he had said something, yet also nothing at all. But they did not dare question him, because he was Angel-sama.

To the people of the village, angels had always been noble and mysterious.

They rarely came to the village. Even when they did, they only came to collect those golden seeds and barely spoke to them at all. It was as though the villagers and Angel-sama had formed an unspoken agreement: the villagers were responsible for planting, and Angel-sama was responsible for taking them away. That was all.

But this Angel-sama was different. He had not arrived and left on the same day. He had stayed here for several days without taking any seeds away. He even proudly handed out things from his own belongings to the villagers.

They had never seen any of those things before. There was a "Divine Staff" that could ignite a fire with a light wave, "Medicine Candy" that could make them feel twice as energetic when chewed, and, of course, what impressed them most were several "Broken Fingers" that could not be damaged no matter what they did.

At the time, Angel-sama had tossed those "Broken Fingers" before them and smugly said, "Whoever can break one gets to pick anything from my pockets... except the potions, of course."

Angel-sama's bag fascinated them even more. Everything mentioned earlier had come from that bag. They could not imagine what other treasures it might contain, so they tried their hardest to destroy those "Broken Fingers." But whether they chopped at them with knives, smashed them with stones, or burned them with fire, they could not damage the broken finger at all. They could not even leave a scratch on it.

Their efforts delighted Lai Er, so after every attempt, he still gave them a few sweet candies. To them, that was Angel-sama's blessing. They accepted them immediately, trembling with gratitude, which only made Lai Er laugh even more happily.

"Hmm... where did we stop yesterday?" Lai Er swayed his head from side to side. "Does anyone remember?"

"Me, me, me! I remember." One child raised his hand. "You said something about an old asshole..."

"Oh, Rhine." Lai Er remembered. "There's a lot to say about Rhine. That place really is... well, it's hard to put into words."

The children looked confused again.

So was there a lot to say, or not?

"Of course, I'm very familiar with Rhine." Lai Er thought for a moment before finding an opening. "Let's talk about their magic! Rhine's magic is among the best in the world."

Then Lai Er began telling the children about Rhine, and naturally, the children here were once again left dumbfounded.

For the first time, they learned that the heaven outside was enormous, that it was not just one single country.

There was Rhine, Holy Sound, and Lyra.

People from different regions lived different lives, though most of those lives were difficult for them to understand. For instance, they did not know what musical notes were or what machines were, so Lai Er could only start by telling them about Rhine. After all, it was the easiest of all the churches to understand.

Even so, when he spoke of magic, the children still let out waves of astonished cries.

They had never seen magic before. Other than the "fire-starting staff" Lai Er had previously shown off, which they considered magic, something truly miraculous.

And when Lai Er mentioned the Rhine God, one child could not help asking, "Is the Rhine God the god of heaven?"

"Yes."

"Then is He our god too?"

"Ah, no." Lai Er shook his head. "The Rhine God is only the god of the Rhine people. Heaven... no, the outside world has several gods. Different gods have different believers."

"Do believers all know their own gods?"

"Of course."

"Then..." the child asked in confusion, "who is our god? Why don't we know?"

"Because you don't have a god." Lai Er said. "The people here have no god."

"We have no god?!" the children asked fearfully. "Have we been abandoned by the gods?"

"Of course not... damn it, why are you so obsessed with gods?" Lai Er waved a hand, deciding not to discuss gods with these people anymore. "Let's talk about something else. Hmm... do you know what I do?"

"You are an angel."

"I mean my job."

"Do angels need jobs too?"

"Of course they do. I'm a merchant."

"What is a merchant?"

"Someone who exchanges goods for money."

"What is money?"

Lai Er: "..."

Only then did he remember that Contract Land had never paid for the seeds it collected here.

After a long and exhausting explanation, the children finally roughly understood what a merchant was. Then they eagerly asked, "So what do you sell?"

"I sell all sorts of things." The moment his main profession came up, Lai Er became even more animated. "I'm the finest merchant in this world, a Gold Merchant! Do you understand what a Gold Merchant is? Gold comes first among gold, silver, and copper merchants! You have no idea how amazing I am outside. I achieved what I have today through my own hard work, plus a little bit of luck. And now, I've gotten the most profitable job there is."

"The most profitable job?"

"Yes." Lai Er smiled. "I've started selling people..."

He froze halfway through the sentence.

He looked at the children before him, who were watching him with eager eyes, but another group of children appeared in his mind—the ones he had seen in those prison cells that night. The words at his lips could no longer be spoken.

"Angel-sama?" the children asked. "What did you say you sold? We didn't hear you clearly."

Lai Er fell silent for a while, then shook his head. "Nothing. Just children's things, toys and such."

The children here did not know what toys were either, but they could sense that Lai Er's mood had suddenly darkened. They immediately panicked, thinking they had done something wrong, and hurriedly apologized.

"What are you apologizing for?" Lai Er shook his head. After throwing those strange thoughts from his mind, he clapped his hands. "Let's talk about something else. Hmm... do you want to go to the outside world?"

"To heaven?"

"No, the outside world... ah, if you think it's heaven, then heaven it is." Lai Er looked hopefully at the children before him. "The places I just mentioned: Rhine, Holy Sound, Lyra. Go to those places."

The children exchanged looks. Then one of them timidly asked, "We aren't angels. We can't go to heaven."

"I already told you, that doesn't matter." Lai Er said. "Anyone can go as long as they want to."

He turned and pointed at the mist outside the village.

"If you walk out from here, you'll reach the outside world in only half a day." Lai Er said. "Everything I just told you about is there, along with a real sky. Yes, above our heads should not be yellow sand, but something far broader, something with no visible end."

"But we can't leave here," a child said. "If we leave those mists, we'll die."

"Who told you that?"

"Mom and Dad."

"Damn it, that's all a lie." Lai Er unconsciously raised his voice. "This damned mist isn't something you need. On the contrary, it's completely unnecessary. It harms your health."

"What is health?"

"...Who is the oldest person in your village?"

"The village chief!"

"How old is your village chief?"

"Old?"

"I mean... seasons."

There were no four seasons in No Man's Land, and naturally no years or months. The seasons mentioned here referred to the times when Contract Land came to collect the Seed of Covenant. Lai Er had already asked around. Two seasons here roughly corresponded to one year outside, and the villagers used this to calculate their ages.

"The village chief is already eighty seasons old!"

"Yes, yes, eighty seasons!"

The children answered.

"Eighty seasons means forty years old." Lai Er said. "In other words, the oldest person here is only forty. But do you know how long people outside can live?! I've seen several old people who were eighty years old! That means that here, they would live for one hundred and sixty seasons!"

"One hundred and sixty seasons..." The children were greatly amazed. "Is that an angel's lifespan?"

"What angel nonsense? They're people! Ordinary people, just like you!" Lai Er raised his voice further, anger creeping into his tone. "They can live that long only because they don't have to eat sand here every day!"

The children naturally sensed Lai Er's anger. One after another, they dropped to their knees and kowtowed to apologize.

Even their parents hurried over and kowtowed alongside them.

At that moment, Lai Er could not help feeling the powerless frustration of punching cotton.

This was not the first time.

Over the past few days, he had tried several times to "abduct" these children, just as Ha Luo had taken him away five years ago.

But Lai Er did not truly want to take these children away. After all, he did not have time to raise children now.

He was only rehearsing, so that when he returned home in the future, he could make his wife and child willing to leave with him.

Unfortunately, no matter how beautifully things began or how pleasantly they got along, the process always stalled the moment it reached the step of "let's go to the outside world."

It could not help reminding Lai Er of five years ago, when his parents had knelt before him, while his wife, who had just given birth, and his newborn child had wailed their hearts out.

But so what?

He was not wrong!

He wanted to pursue a better life! He refused to stay in this damned place where people only lived to thirty on average! He wanted to see the outside world!

And after reaching the outside world, he became even more convinced that he had not been wrong. So the thing he wanted most now was to prove to his parents, his wife and child, and everyone in the village that he had been right. For that, he was willing to use any means necessary.

But was that enough?

Why could these people still not understand him?!

Lai Er was just short of roaring at them, "Stop calling me an angel! I came from the same place as you!"

He truly wanted to say it, but he could not. At least, not before receiving Visas-sama's permission. He could not reveal his identity, so he could only force himself to swallow the words.

Forget it.

As he looked at the terrified children before him, he consoled himself inwardly.

They were merely a bunch of hopeless fools. Let them rot and stink here forever. As long as he could take his wife and child away, that was enough.

As long as he took away his wife and child.

"Enough." At that moment, a cold voice rang out. "You may leave."

Lai Er turned around and saw the envoy from Contract Land, the one who had brought him here earlier, standing behind him.

Although the two had spent several days in the village together, they had barely spoken. Even now, Lai Er did not know his name, and he had never come to speak with Lai Er. At most, he watched from a distance, as if monitoring him.

And now that he had come, Lai Er sensed that his rare peaceful life was about to end.

Sure enough, after dismissing the villagers, the envoy stood before Lai Er, looked him up and down, then slowly said, "It seems you truly are only Tongue-sensei's servant."

The moment he heard that, Lai Er's heart jolted.

Although he had told the envoy several days earlier that he was only Tongue-sensei's servant, Visas-sama had instructed him to remain here and await news, so he had never left. In the envoy's eyes, that naturally invited the question: Could this guy be Tongue-sensei himself?

But now, the other man could confirm his identity.

Had they found the real Tongue-sensei—Visas-sama?

"My master wants you to deliver a message to Tongue-sensei." The envoy said. "Although you have never left, the time has come. We need an answer. What exactly does Tongue-sensei intend to do? My master wants to know now. Otherwise... Tongue-sensei should prepare himself to bear the Obedience of Heavenly Voice."

Was this a threat?

It was a threat!

Lai Er immediately panicked. Visas-sama had not contacted him for several days, and he could not contact Visas-sama either...

"Have him bring you to the scene." At that moment, Bai Wei's voice sounded in Lai Er's mind. "That is my condition."

Lai Er was slightly stunned, then immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Good, good. Visas-sama had returned.

So after communicating with Bai Wei in his mind, Lai Er said to the envoy, "Tongue-sensei has contacted me as well."

The envoy frowned. "He contacted you? When?"

"That is none of your concern." Lai Er said, feigning calm. "My master has one condition."

"What condition?"

Lai Er enunciated every word. "I want to witness the Obedience of Heavenly Voice with my own eyes."