Ryan crawled to the hole, took off his mask, and breathed heavily. However, it was in vain, and even though the wind was howling, there was no more oxygen.

Maybe worse. Ryan had to put on a mask and lie on his back, his chest heaving like a dying fish.

He always woke up at this time of the night, suffering from respiratory distress, but there was no bubbling sink in the stone house. It was his second night away, and he didn't know how long he would be able to hold on to the simple oxygen concentrator of the rubber mask.

To make matters worse, Sand Man is nowhere to go.

The cave was quiet, the little fire was still burning, it was placed in a leeward place, so it was not extinguished, and the slender clay pot was placed not far from the fire, filled with water, but there was no sand in it.

He remembered that he had been talking to Shaman by the fire last night, falling asleep as he spoke, and then waking up again from lack of oxygen and dreams.

His first instinct was that Sand Man was in danger, but he soon felt that it was unlikely—so where had she gone?

He lay at the mouth of the cave and looked out, and could not see the moon, the stars in the sky were silently lit, and the dry sea stretched out into the distance, until it met the sky, and the bare mottled seabed was like a huge, incurable scar.

"Sand Man." Ryan said. He saw the rope ladder hanging from the entrance of the cave, but he didn't have the strength to climb down, and he knew that it was not a good way to find her, and he probably couldn't find it.

I started to worry. He didn't like this emotion of his own, but he couldn't suppress it, he tried to suppress it with rational thinking: did she go out hunting, there was no need for this, snake meat was still there, even if she wanted to hunt, there was no need to take advantage of this time - nothing would happen to her, right?

He shouted, "Shaman! ”

His voice was swallowed up by the parched sea, and there was not even an echo.

"Sand Man!" He took off his rubber mask, screamed again, and then quickly put it on, breathing hard.

He felt a dull ache in his lungs. The pain was pumped by the breath, and it was a testament to its existence.

He felt that something was wrong, prolonged exposure to the extravehicular environment, bacterial infections were very likely to occur, and the respiratory tract was the most vulnerable entrance, he would not have ...... I have a lung infection.

He picked up a piece of gravel from the entrance of the cave and threw it at the stone wall, which made several crashing noises before falling to the ground.

He threw it again.

Throw it again.

……

Suddenly, a voice sounded in the distance. The voice was sharp and loud, piercing the silence of the night.

Like a whistle.

Ryan was stunned and threw another stone.

The whistle sounded again.

Then, one after the other, the voices rang out, at rhythmic intervals, as if conveying something, and sounded closer and closer.

Ryan leaned out of the hole.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Ryan couldn't believe his eyes, a small person, moving rapidly on the cliff. Ryan didn't know how she did it, on the cliff that was nearly ninety degrees straight up, maybe it was dragging the hanging vines, maybe it was by her light body and great skill, but in any case she flew like she was walking on the ground. The loud and melodious whistle echoed among the stone walls, one after another, as if the entire valley had been awakened by her, and the mountains, rocks and earth had become her stage.

The sand man swooped into the hole, tilted his head, smiled at Ryan, and the bone whistle in his mouth fell.

Ryan almost avoided it, "Where did you go?" ”

"Here you go." A small bouquet of plants reached Ryan's nose, "and I found almost the whole cliff, and there was only so many." ”

“……”

It was a few thin plants, with small, dark leaves, and scars on the hands of the sand man.

Sandman noticed that Ryan's gaze fell on his hand, and walked away, to the place where Ryan had just been lying, and placed the plant next to him. "I see you're panting a lot, there's no oxygen supply here, and if you have some plants, it might be better."

“……”

Shaman squatted there and motioned to Ryan with his eyes: Come here.

Ryan moved over and lay down next to the plants.

Ryan saw Sandman pull the cloak that was placed next to him, help him cover it, and then burrow into the cloak as well.

Ryan felt the sand man lie down against him, facing him, head arched into his arms, and then an arm gently wrapped around him.

"Don't get me wrong," she said, "just to keep warm." ”

……

"Ryan."

"Huh?"

"Why don't you sleep?"

“…… Can't sleep. ”

Sand Man looked up, and Ryan felt his shaggy dry hair brush his chin, and then a pair of golden eyes looked at him, bright as amber.

Shaman suddenly stretched out his hand and pressed it on Ryan's chest, "Why are you still breathing so quickly?" - My heart beats so fast. ”

"It's fine." Ryan shifted back, trying to break away from Sandman's hand.

"Are you really okay?"

"What's the matter with your hands?"

"Ah, the little things." Sandman picked up his hand, looked at the scratches on it, and hid his hand in his cloak.

"Ryan."

"Huh?"

"If you can't sleep, just talk again."

"Okay."

"Why did you come out?"

"Because...... I saw something I shouldn't have seen. Ryan couldn't help but close his eyes as he thought of the falling knives.

"What is it?"

Ryan turned over, lay on his back, looked at the stone wall above, and said slowly: "Do you know, the life of the Ark people is quite ridiculous to think about. ”

"Ridiculous?"

"Speaking of which, we are all children of the preferred people, our parents, who are selected layer by layer, and then precisely matched in pairs, and then we have us, we are all good-looking, smart and healthy, as if we were born to be excellent creatures.

"We were born in bright accommodations, well nourished and cared for as stay-at-home mothers, and after the lactation period was over, we would be sent to the neonatal area for a more scientific intensive upbringing, which was the first of the nine sectors of the Ark, where we would spend our childhood and adolescence from 2 to 14 years old, and then, we would move to District 2, where we would be in a youth area, where we would spend time from 14 to 22 years old in groups of four......"

Ryan coughed a few times and continued: "Since the age of 20, we will take the test of the Preferred People, which determines whether we can be the Preferred and if we are lucky, we will move to the 3rd and 4th districts, which are the Preferred Areas, because the Preferred People's residence is spacious, so they occupy the space of both districts, and if we are unlucky, we will move to the ordinary people of the 5th arrondissement, where we will spend our time from 20 to 35 years old."

"After the age of 35, people will gradually stratify, some non-preferred people will be able to move into the wealthy areas in District 6 and get similar material conditions to the preferred people, while most people will move into Districts 7 and 8 and spend their time there until the age of 60. There are also some preferred people who will choose to end their marriage and become non-preferred people, but this is not very common, because it means that they will give up all the benefits of the preferred person.

"District 9 is where people over the age of 60 live, and it is there that people should be walking towards the end of their lives."

Ryan turned his head and said to Shaman: "You see, our life is not like walking on a clock, starting from Zone 1, going to Zone 9, turning around, and then returning to the original point. ”

Ryan gasped for a few moments and smiled, "The irony is that our flesh, along with the flesh of many who unfortunately did not survive, is the same......"

"What do you mean?" Shaman asked, his eyes wide open.

"There are some things you don't want to hear...... The Ark was able to feed so many people, in large part, because of ...... Recycling well done. Ryan closed his eyes, "I know, in such an environment, maybe I shouldn't make such accusations, but ......"

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing ......"

"You've been in a very low state since you came out."

Ryan looked at the sandman, "What do you know about the Ark, can you tell me?" ”

Shaman lowered his eyes and said, "When your father left, I was only five years old, and I didn't understand some of the things he said to me, I only remember him saying, 'The Ark people are also people', I don't particularly understand what he means, but I think you may be going through some kind of suffering......

Ryan turned his gaze to the stone wall above him, "I thought, I should do something, but I don't know what to do or how to do it......"

"You and your father are really similar."

"Nothing." Ryan only felt that the blood was on his face, that person, how could he compare.

Sand Man turned sideways, "And what are you doing in the Ark?" ”

"Reporter."

"What's that?"

Ryan pondered how to explain, "It can be counted as a ...... Observer, observe, record, disseminate. ”

"It's perfect for you."

"Nothing." Ryan felt the blood come up again, fortunately with a rubber mask, and only he knew the sudden shame.

"Your mind is delicate, you are very ...... A sense of justice, you want to know what's right and are willing to work for it. ”

Ryan felt his face redden.

"You're not the same as your dad."

"Of course." He's not him, absolutely not.

"But you also have a place like him."

"Tell me about you." Ryan said.

"Me, my father, gave birth to me when I was very old, you know, as a patriarch, it is very important to give birth to offspring, but he worked hard for a long time and changed many women before finally impregnating my mother. However, it was a girl who was born.

"Our life expectancy is very short, many people are born with incomplete bodies, and the fertility rate is very low, so no matter what way you use, as long as you can have a child, it is good."

Ryan remembered the sounds of the night in the silent village. Survival and reproduction are the top priorities of a population. "It's understandable."

Shaman lay there, his thick eyelashes upturned, and said, "Later, there was my sister again, and she was still a girl. Later, the father was never able to impregnate a woman. ”

Ryan listened quietly.

"As soon as I was born, I knew my mission, my father was the patriarch, he didn't give birth to a boy, then I will be in the future."

"It's a great mission."

"But I don't really like those annoying things." Sha Man turned his head and smiled childishly, "My father has been strict with me since I was a child, forcing me to learn this and that, but I rarely satisfy him. ”

"I can see it." Ryan turned his head and said with a smile.

"How?" There seemed to be dissatisfaction in Shaman's eyes.

"Forget it, don't talk about it."

"Say it."

"Photosynthesis in plants only happens during the day, and at night, plants absorb oxygen and release carbon dioxide," Lane said. ”

"......." Shaman blinked. The plants were still on top of them.

Ryan stepped out of the way to prevent her from punching herself.

"Then why didn't you say it earlier!" Shaman sat up, tossed the plants away, and remembered the wall full of plants in the stone house.

"Your kindness, why bother to debunk it."

Sha Man looked angry, "I really don't understand, you Ark people." “

Ryan thought the girl was very cute at this time, "Show me my hand." ”

"It's okay."

"If the wound is not treated, it will become inflamed."

"We're not as squeamish as you."

“……”

"Perhaps," said Shaman, "I could have lived a peaceful life, but everything changed when I was five years old—I'm thankful that fate allowed me to meet your father, really—but the fate of the clan was also completely changed in this year, and my father always said, 'If only I were a boy...... He also said that time is running out, and our affairs with the people of the Ark will be settled in my generation. ”

“…… What the end. ”

Silence spilled between the two.

Sman said, "Can I really trust you?" ”

Ryan smiled and lifted his wrist, which was the tightly wrapped bracelet he checked several times a day, "If I take this cloth away, my location will be discovered in a matter of seconds, and in a matter of minutes, a flying machine will arrive." ”

After being silent for a while, Sha Man slowly leaned over, looked into Ryan's eyes and said, "Father and Wu Wei said that they would fight to the death with the people of the Ark. ”

"What?"

"But I don't think the Ark people are that bad. I tried, and I persuaded them to allow me to enter the ark and go to you, but ......"

Ryan understood what Sand Man meant, and she took the risk to enter the ark, find the son of the mysterious ark man, and take him out of the cabin, but the result was ......

Ryan remembers what he looked like when he first saw the wild man.

He can imagine how much risk this move is for the wild people, and he can also imagine how much pressure Shaman has endured before and after, and the resulting isolation, neglect, and distrust......

"Na Wu Wei ......"

"Yes, my father is relying on him more and more, in fact, my father has no one else to rely on."

"Does Wu Wei ...... you", as a man, you can see it with your eyes closed.

"Yes, we'll get married."

"What?"

"He's managed to impregnate several women, and he's the strongest warrior in the clan, so he's certainly a good person to marry......"

"No, you can't." Ryan blurted out.

Sandman sat there, looking at him with amber-like eyes.

Ryan's Adam's apple moved, "I mean...... Choose what you want. ”

Shaman lowered his eyes, "We have a limited lifespan, we need to breed offspring before we grow old, as the daughter of the patriarch, I should ...... even more"

"Don't!"

"Didn't you say it was understandable?"

"I'm ......"

Shaman looked directly at Ryan, "So you, did you choose what you wanted?" “

“....…”

An indescribable sourness surged up Ryan's chest, through his throat, and into his eyes, Ryan didn't know what was wrong with him, he stretched out his arms and held the person in front of him in his arms at once.

"Peter Pan, no matter what, choose what you want."

The man in his arms was silent and motionless.