When the chosen one woke up from the trance, Yaleriga had already explained the other side of her bloodline to Qiaoqiao Tianyi. Although not satisfied with her concealment, the latter quickly accepted the fact.
"You should have told me earlier!" she complained.
"I just didn't think about it. I thought it might embarrass you."
"Oh, that's not the case. Of course we also have love and family systems...but it depends on the individual. Before the Land Walkers integrated into this country, they didn't think love existed - it was friendship and responsibility, and a handsome person should be with Smart companions, strong ones should also cooperate with dexterous ones, so as to make up for each other's shortcomings and ensure that future generations will become better. But that was their concept in ancient times. Now, I want to see the younger generation themselves. What do you think? From a personal perspective, it’s not very important. I have an important mission.”
Yaleriga was very willing to talk to Qiaoqiao Tianyi about her hometown, their friendship and moral beliefs, but at this moment her new traveling companion who was in a semi-comatose state completely woke up. He habitually made no sound, but he twisted his back and neck painfully, which immediately attracted their attention.
He quickly stood up and looked around the woods where he was, seeming to be thinking about why he was in such a situation. Yaleriga waited patiently to observe what stage he was in now. She did instill some external information into him in the exchange just now, but it was not something that could be precisely controlled, it was just a rough empirical judgment. After sharing it many times, she found that different individuals' gains from this behavior varied greatly - but it was rare to encounter anyone who fainted from a kiss. That had to be said, which made her feel a bit disappointed.
Thankfully the chosen one didn't scream or call anyone. When he took a staggering step forward and saw clearly the two extraterrestrial visitors accompanying him, his lips trembled and his facial muscles twitched rapidly under his skin.
"What is this?" he asked.
Yaleriga didn't hear his voice. She guessed this question from the movement of his lips, and it was a standard Alliance language. She walked towards him and saw him take a small step back alertly. But he didn't run away, just stared at her alertly.
"Can you hear me?" she asked, also speaking Alliance speak.
Her new friend paused for a long moment, then said, "Yes."
"Your ears are interesting. I think they have some natural sound filtering in them."
He didn't seem to quite understand what she meant, but that didn't bother him for long. The confusion about the huge unknown has made him overwhelmed. Now he knows more than those of his kind who were driven back to the tram and fled to the next stop in a hurry, but he is undoubtedly more confused. He is the only native in the world who understands the language of the universe, and may have seen countless sparks burning in the void, as well as day and night, and tides, all just because someone from the universe kissed him.
"Who are you?" he asked.
Yaleriga reported her name and told the other party that she came from somewhere outside the sky. Her new friend did not show disbelief, and she knew that he had gained a lot from her. But he didn't know why they were there, because he immediately asked why.
"I have chosen you to complete my journey," she said. "Follow me."
She and Qiaoqiao Tianyi walked towards the depths of the mangrove forest without deliberately paying attention to him. The man obviously hesitated. He hesitated between running away and following. It was not until Yaleriga was about to enter the cabin door of the Silence that he ran over quickly and followed them five or six steps away.
Needless to say, he expressed surprise as he passed through corridors and portals, and a kind of dizzy unbalanced reaction after the hatch was closed. On the way to the bridge room, Yaleriga deliberately let him touch the walls, looking for gaps and pipes, or bending over in pain to scratch at his ears. Unlike her, Qiaoqiao Tianyi was very friendly to the chosen one. She helped hold him up with her wings and patted his back and shoulders.
"Is he unable to adapt to a soundproof environment?" she asked Yaleriga. "Just like those babies, the noise outside is necessary for him?"
"He can persist for a while. Babies sent to Gate City will not fail immediately."
That sounded a bit too cold to Qiaoqiao Tianyi, and her mane flowed in the opposite direction out of disapproval. But the chosen one eventually managed to adapt. When he sat in the soft chair in the bridge room, his expression looked much calmer. He even imitated Yaleriga and ate a flower candy.
"Yi." Yaleriga said.
The man paused and blinked after a moment. Yaleriga then knew that this was indeed his name. Of the entire system of sign languages and the handful of vocal words invented by the inhabitants, only about fifty syllables are regularly used as names. That was enough for the locals, as they only had to make sure there were no indistinguishable names with the same name within the family, and the sound words themselves were not used much. Yi, when summoned by his kindred, usually puts his left fingers on the back of his right hand in turn, and then sinks down twice quickly. Only a very limited number of times in his life - when dealing with those who unfortunately lost their hands - did he hear the syllable "yi" from others.
But now he understood how to communicate with Yaleriga. After the first dozen or so conversations, he quickly adapted to this kind of social interaction that relied entirely on vocalizations, and was able to coordinate gestures without forgetting pronunciation. He once asked Yaleriga about her purpose, and also asked Qiaoqiao Tianyi why she could speak.
"Hey!" Qiaoqiao Tianyi said, fluttering his wings, "I even helped you! You arrogant ape!"
Yi asked: "What is an ape?"
"Your ancestors, probably. I'm not sure if you are really rational. But since you look so similar to Pansapien, I think apes are the most likely."
None of the words she uttered were beyond Yi's understanding. Therefore, the latter did not show any strong emotions, but just sat there in confusion. Yaleriga didn't push, she planned to give him one or two more questions.
Yi thought for a while. "What is that glowing thing?" he asked. "Heaven?"
"Celestial bodies."
"Why so many? Round ones?"
"That's the rule in many places. In most areas of the outer world that you can go to, life lives on spheres."
"How do they not fall?"
Yaleriga shook her head. "Up and down don't exist." She said softly, "The outside world has no direction, it only depends on where you stand."
Yi began to think about it, but it was beyond the scope of his experience and could not be known by pure thinking. Yaleriga didn't want to let him waste any more time on this matter, so she stretched out her hand to cover his wrist.
"Hey," she said, "you have seen a red star with your own eyes, haven't you?"
Yi admitted. He couldn't tell where the star came from, but he had seen comets and meteors in Yaleriga's memory. Naturally, now he knew he had witnessed a red meteor. That was more than ninety harvest periods ago, and their calendar usually regarded three harvest periods as one year, and used this as a time node to conduct population and output statistics. Therefore, that flaming blood-red meteor was a thing of the past thirty years ago for him. He was still young at that time and had never seen such a strange sight.
So where did the meteor go? Yaleriga asked.
Fell into the abyss. Yi told her. The bolide appeared from a high place, fell straight down, never stopping for a moment, and finally disappeared outside the cliff in the east of the world. In the more than thirty years since then, children have grown up, adults have aged, and the elderly have died, but no one has seen the bolide appear again.
