Chapter 6: Transit Pass, Shall We Pass?

“Cast the nets into the water!”

“The sun is coming up!”

Bai Miao was still fast asleep when the voices rang out. She jolted in surprise, her two little legs suddenly kicking out.

Bai Yu rolled onto her side and patted her gently. “Go back to sleep, keep sleeping. It’s still early.”

Bai Xi rubbed her eyes and sat up, whispering, “I’ve gotten used to having no one around. Suddenly hearing noises like this is actually quite jarring.”

“Everyone is scattering. We should head out too.” Bai Yu coaxed her youngest sister back to sleep and stood up cautiously.

“Mm.”

The two of them climbed up onto the deck. Seeing the boats already dispersing in all directions, they knew everyone was preparing to fish.

This was a routine they were all long accustomed to. Seeing the two sisters awake, several people quickly raised their hands in greeting. The sisters then poled their boat toward the designated area.

It wasn’t just the two sisters who were separating from the group; everyone spread out while fishing. Otherwise, if everyone crowded together, no one would catch anything. During this time, their boat had simply moved from the center of the fleet to the edge.

“It just so happens there’s a small patch of land here with no residents nearby. It’s perfect for you to stay here,” Bai Wei said as he led them to the spot. Seeing Bai Xi immediately jump ashore with a rope to secure the boat once they docked, he knew they had adapted to this life. He didn’t say much more, only adding, “Shout if you need anything. I’m close by, so I can get here quickly.”

“Alright, Third Brother, you head back. Don’t let us hold up your work.”

Bai Wei nodded and poled his boat away.

Bai Yu stood at the stern tidying up their belongings. When she turned around, she found a small head poking out from the cabin curtain, looking up with round eyes toward the direction Bai Wei had left.

“Oh my, whose child is this?” Bai Yu was charmed by her sister’s cuteness and crouched down to talk to her.

“Mine,” Bai Miao replied. She pulled back the curtain and took two steps forward while crouching. Her center of gravity shifted, and she suddenly tumbled forward.

Bai Yu quickly reached out to steady her.

Once she was steady, a crisp “Ouch!” rang out.

Then, realizing she had cried out a bit late, Bai Miao stared blankly at Bai Yu.

Bai Yu laughed and picked her up. “Do you need to relieve yourself?”

“Oh,” Bai Miao wrapped her arms around Bai Yu’s neck. “Yes.”

Bai Yu carried her to take care of her business and then returned from the shore. Seeing Bai Xi looking over anxiously, she set Bai Miao down. The two sisters stared together at the object hanging from their youngest sister’s neck.

Understanding the look, Bai Miao immediately grabbed the Shell.

[Would you like to check-in?]

“Check-in.”

[Check-in successful. Obtained (Plane¹[1] 0126 12-Double Hour Transit Pass) *1]

“Eh?” Bai Miao put down the Shell and gripped the card in her hands, looking it over from all angles in confusion.

Bai Yu and Bai Xi were also somewhat bewildered.

“What is this? What does ‘Plane’ mean?”

“And what is an ‘Transit Pass’?”

[Activate pass?]

Bai Miao understood what these words meant. She immediately held the card to her mouth and said, “Pass.”

Bai Yu and Bai Xi shouted simultaneously, “Wait a second!”

A white light flashed before Bai Miao’s eyes. Her eldest sister and second sister suddenly vanished from sight, and the water and the boat disappeared along with them.

Before she could even see what was in front of her, she held the card to her mouth again. “No… no… no, no, no…”

No matter what she said, there was no reaction. She could only repeatedly press the card in her hand.

“No… no…”

[Would you like to return?]

“Return.”

“Miao Miao!”

“Waaa… waaa…”

Bai Yu and Bai Xi spent a long time comforting their youngest sister before they finally understood what had happened from her intermittent sobs.

The two of them sat in the cabin holding Bai Miao, talking while they soothed her.

“After passing through, you go to another place?”

“It’s definitely not in the water. Little sister didn’t see any water. But it’s okay; as long as you say ‘Return,’ you can come back.”

“The card is still here.”

Bai Xi crouched in front of Bai Miao and held out her hand. “Miao Miao, can you give this card to Second Sister?”

Sobbing, Bai Miao handed the card to her and then quickly hugged her own arms.

Bai Xi examined the card carefully, pressing different spots on it. But no matter what she did, no sound came out. After several attempts, she handed the card to Bai Yu.

Bai Yu tried a few times as well to no avail, then handed it back to Bai Miao.

Bai Miao kept her arms hugged tight, turning her head to bury her face in Bai Yu’s shoulder.

After a moment, she started crying again with soft “woo woo” sounds.

“Forget it,” Bai Xi said, reaching out to pat Bai Miao’s head. “If she has to go alone, no place is worth it, no matter how good. I’m going to cook.”

Bai Yu nodded slightly, gently patting her youngest sister’s back.

The land they were docked at today had plenty of space, so Bai Xi moved everything ashore to start a fire and cook.

Although there were trees on the shore today, these few trees couldn’t be touched. Otherwise, if they came back later, there would be nowhere to secure the boat. So, they still used the charcoal and firewood they had bought previously.

Once the meal was ready, Bai Yu washed Bai Miao’s face and brought her ashore to eat.

One bowl each.

As Bai Yu ate her stewed cabbage and mixed grains, she spoke to Bai Xi. “We were busy all day yesterday. Don’t go into the water today. Later, bring out the clothes, take them apart to look at the patterns, and once you’ve planned it out, you can cut the fabric and start making clothes.”

“Mm, I’ll try to get the clothes made as soon as possible.”

As they talked, Bai Miao finished most of her food. After setting down her bowl, she fished the card out of Bai Yu’s pocket.

“Aren’t you scared?” Bai Yu watched her movements.

“Eldest Sister hold it too.” Bai Miao stuffed the card into Bai Yu’s hand.

Bai Yu gripped the card, letting her have her way while continuing to talk to Bai Xi. “It doesn’t matter if the sewing is slow. We don’t get many chances to get fabric, so take your time and learn how to make the clothes properly…”

[Activate pass?]

“Pass.”

Bai Xi watched as Bai Miao and Bai Yu vanished right in front of her. She stood up with a start and quickly looked around. Only after confirming no one was watching did she breathe a small sigh of relief.

On the other side, Bai Yu looked at the forest before her and the little sister beside her, her eyes full of shock.

“How was I able to come over?”

Bai Miao raised her hand. “Together.”

“You mean as long as we hold the Transit Pass together, we can come through together?” Bai Yu asked in astonishment. “Miao Miao, how did you know?”

“I just… know,” Bai Miao said, blinking at her. She repeated herself solemnly, “I know.”

Bai Yu understood her meaning. One way or another, she knew, even if she didn’t know how she knew.

“Can we go back now?”

Bai Miao reached out and pressed down on the card.

[Confirm return?]

“Return.”

The two of them reappeared on the shore by the water.

“Eldest Sister, Youngest Sister!” Bai Xi hurriedly pulled them into an embrace. “You can’t just vanish into thin air like that again. If someone saw you, it would be impossible to explain.”

Bai Yu pulled her along and picked up Bai Miao, leading them both into the boat’s cabin.

“I just went to that Plane thing with our Youngest Sister,” Bai Yu said in a low voice. “Miao Miao means that as long as we are holding the Transit Pass when she travels, we can go together. It was a short trip, so I couldn’t see much of the situation over there, but I can confirm it’s a forest.”

“A forest?” Bai Xi murmured softly. “In just an instant, you went from the water to a forest?”

“Yes, and we came back from the forest just as fast,” Bai Yu said, reaching out to grip Bai Xi’s hand tightly. “Second Sister, do you know what this means?”

Bai Xi looked into her eyes.

Bai Yu suppressed the excitement in her heart. “There are many trees in the forest, which means we can gather plenty of dry branches. We won’t have to spend money on charcoal anymore. Also, forests have wild vegetables. Since we can move back and forth between the water and the forest, we can pick wild vegetables to eat. We won’t even need to go ashore to buy groceries.”

Bai Xi’s eyes slowly widened. “We won’t have to buy firewood or vegetables anymore?”

Bai Yu frowned. “Wait, that’s not quite right.”

Bai Xi thought for a moment and turned to look at her sister. “Miao Miao, what did it say when the Check-in was successful earlier?”

Without a second thought, Bai Miao blurted out, “Check-in successful. Obtained one 24-hour Transit Pass for Plane 0126.”

“Twenty-four hours. Right, this card only allows for twenty-four hours,” Bai Yu recalled. “That means we can only stay over there for a total of twenty-four hours.”

“Only twenty-four hours?” Bai Xi said with disappointment.

“That’s still fine. If we go for an hour each time, we can go for twenty-four days,” Bai Yu felt it was acceptable. “If we make each trip even shorter, we can stretch it over more days. At least we can save on charcoal for a while.”

Coming back to her senses, Bai Xi agreed. “That’s true, it’s not bad at all.”

“Exactly,” Bai Yu smiled. “We’ll save the charcoal on the boat for now. Over the next few days, when we need to cook, we’ll go there to pick up dry wood. I saw earlier that there’s plenty of dry wood in that forest. It won’t take long to gather a pile. We won’t even need to spend an hour there each day.”

“Mhm. We don’t need to pick wild vegetables for now since they don’t keep well. We should finish the vegetables on the boat first.”

The two sat facing each other in the cabin, discussing their future plans and arrangements.

In the process, they confiscated the Transit Pass from Bai Miao’s hand.

She didn’t dare go there alone, but she did dare to occasionally summon the [Confirm travel] prompt just to hear the sound. It was just like the Shell; if the Shell didn’t stop making noise after the daily Check-in, she would be playing with that constantly too.

“Go play with your stones. You have so many stones to play with.” Bai Xi stood up, scooped Bai Miao up by the waist, and carried her out of the cabin.

Bai Miao hung from Bai Xi’s arm, kicking her feet out. “I’m flying!”

On the other side, Bai Yu was changing into her diving clothes. Once changed, she tied the rope around herself, slung a basket over her shoulder, and entered the water.

After settling Bai Miao, Bai Xi also began her work.

She took apart old clothes, observing the position and size of each piece of fabric and the way they were stitched together.

Every day was busy; every day was full of toil.

Bai Yu caught fish underwater, coming up for air every so often before diving back down.

When she came ashore at noon, the harvest in her basket was meager. This was the norm; if every dive resulted in a full harvest, life would be easy.

After coming ashore and changing her clothes, Bai Yu wrung out her hair. She switched to a fishing net and went back into the water, then stepped into the cabin to call the other two.

“No one comes around here. Let’s go to the forest together and just gather dry wood,” Bai Yu said seriously. “I’ve been thinking. Although we can’t bring back much in one trip, we can gather it in advance and stack it in a pile. If it’s all right there, we can just pop in and grab it whenever we need, even at night. If we go there from the shore at night, no one will see us.”

Bai Xi said, “Then let’s go in now and gather dry wood together.”

Bai Miao pumped her fist. “Gather together!”

Translator’s Notes