Not after three, but after 5 days we explained to our parents that we could not stay, otherwise we would put them and the others in danger. We had suspected that our parents would be anything but enthusiastic and they might not want to let us leave. But how they actually reacted really surprised us.

After 5 days of enjoying being with our parents, doing nothing but resting and being pampered, Yibo and I went to talk to our parents in the evening. We took them into the barn to have an undisturbed conversation with them, explained that we would have to leave very soon and why, and my mom said, "I wish you didn't have to go, but I understand. And I hope you will come back to us."

Yibo's mom said, "These are our sons. They are adults, they are smart, strong and responsible. As a mom, I am concerned and of course for both of them, not just my son. But I trust them both and I know they will come back here."

My dad said, "As long as you two are together, I'm sure nothing will happen to you."

Yibo's dad said, "All I can say is that I trust completely in the ability of our sons, who are trained agents. No matter what, they can handle anything."

Yibo and I were honestly speechless at these reactions. We had rather expected tears and asking not to leave. But instead they reacted like this and told us that they knew they couldn't hold us back even if they wanted to. And my dad even said that they know how important it is for us and that he is proud of us because we want to stand up for them and all the other humans.

As I said, we were speechless and all our words that we had thought out so well before to convince our parents of our intention were invalid. But somehow it was also good to experience how much our parents trust in our abilities. After the short talk, we went back to the house, where Jing read to everyone from one of his favorite books.

The next day we prepared everything in the morning for the afternoon, that is for the wedding of Yibo and me. Yes well, there was actually not much to prepare. Because our fathers unfortunately didn't manage to build an arch. The whole thing looked more like a too big wobbly door frame. But hey, they tried and for doing this for the first time, it was okay.

Since there was no flour or ingredients other than a few eggs and sugar to make a cake, they just crushed up the last of our energy bars and made some sort of rice cake with the last of the rice we brought. Looked ugly, but tasted really delicious.

Well, the suits our mothers wanted to make for us didn't get done. Which was not because of lack of time or material, but because our mothers have other qualities that have nothing to do with designing and tailoring suits. So we stuck with the military clothing we had. They just washed the clothes and that was also perfectly fine for us.

Here and there we put different decorations in the house that belonged to all the holidays. Someone even put an Easter bunny on a cabinet, yet it had just been Christmas. But even that hadn't mattered to us, because they all made a great effort. We had expected nothing of the sort and were therefore really pleased. Even if everything looked chaotic.

In the afternoon we stood outside in the cold under the thing our fathers had built, freezing and listening to my father tell a little about us before he got to the most important question, whether we wanted to marry each other and say yes. Our answers, of course, were yes. And the reason why I described this for Yibo and myself, important event only so short and brief was because there was not much more to tell.

After our wedding ceremony, nothing felt different, we had the rice cake with energy bars and preserved fruit from last year, as well as two bottles of blackberry wine and a bottle of cider. In the evening, when Yibo and I went into the barn to go to sleep, we found a surprise from Jing. He had brought us real blankets and pillows with clean covers. Really great.

As we lay in our straw and hay bed, snuggled into the fresh smelling and clean bedding, and after making love, I thought about the day while Yibo lay asleep half on top of me. Rather unconsciously, I cuddled his head and hair, wishing I could have given Yibo a wedding like I had with my ex-wife. So with everything that goes with it.

Because somehow everything on that day, at least in my eyes, was chaotic and unromantic. Yibo told me before he fell asleep that it didn't matter to him under which circumstances we got married and how it was, because for him the only thing that mattered was that he could marry me. Nevertheless, I thought it was stupid, because he deserved a real wedding. But, of course, I agreed with him. The most important thing was that we married each other.

The next morning, things got emotional again when my dad came to Yibo and me in the barn and gave us a homemade marriage certificate. At that moment, our marriage really felt real, too. My dad's hands were shaking, his voice was brittle as he said, "I know it's not a legal document, but I hope you're happy anyway. Again, congratulations and thank you for letting me do this for you."

At that moment I was really overwhelmed and cried with joy. I held this homemade document in my hand and suddenly felt not only like the happiest man in the world, but also really married. Yibo was not left cold either and he too had tears in his eyes. He hugged my dad and thanked him several times.

Afterwards, the three of us went into the house with red eyes, arm in arm, and had breakfast. We discussed our plan for the day again. Which included Yibo and I, along with my father-in-law, Jing and Elmo, one of the others living there, leaving the valley in Jing's car and heading to the city for supplies. Because there were hardly any supplies left in the house.

And just as we were sitting in the house, in the dining room, my mother-in-law suddenly froze and stared at the wall behind us. We followed her gaze and saw a moving big shadow and that although everyone was sitting quietly at the table. Yibo immediately smiled and said, "Hey Ian, you can show yourself." And Ian stepped forward.

"My masters, I come to you with a message." Said Ian quietly after our mothers cried out in shock for a moment and Ian immediately hid again. We told everyone to keep their voices down and stay quiet. Then he spoke to us.

"And what message do you have?" I asked.

"Master Bac will be coming to see Master Zhan and Master Yibo soon. In two days at the latest, he should be here." Explained Ian to us.

"In two days already? And where should we meet him?" Yibo wanted to know.

"He will come here."

"Here? Mhhh, okay. And will he come alone?" I asked.

"No, Master Bac is bringing warriors. Many warriors. But don't worry, they won't come to the house or property."

"Okay. Um as I'm sure you've overheard, we're planning to go to the city later today. Do you think we can make it unhindered?" Asked Yibo.

"Yes Master Yibo. There are still no creatures in the city. That's what you wanted to know, isn't it?"

"Yes exactly. Thank you Ian. Will you join us?" Yibo then wanted to know.

"No, I'll stay here and keep watch."

"Watching out? Why?" I asked in alarm.

"This task was assigned to me by Master Bac. I am to watch over your families."

"Okay good." I said. I guessed that Bac had put him here as a lookout because he knew that we would feel more comfortable leaving them alone again.

Since none of the others or our parents objected, Ian stayed where he was while the rest of us made our way to the city. Again, it was very unspectacular. We left in Jing's car, he showed us a different and much easier way to get in and out of the valley, we drove along the roads, which was easy as Jing had a small snow shovel on his car, drove into the city and went to the next bigger supermarket.

We stopped at the back of a supermarket, Yibo picked the lock on the door and we got shopping baskets. In pairs, we walked through the rows and got everything we needed. And we even took our time doing it after the bad air had cleared a bit. Then we packed all the supplies into the trunk and at our feet and actually anywhere there was a little room, then we headed back down the valley and to the house where the others were already waiting for us. In total it took 4 hours and now there are supplies for at least 4 weeks again.

In the evening we all cooked together and our mothers even baked a cake. We got ready-made mixes and since Jing has a few chickens on his property and they laid fresh eggs every day and we still found good margarine in the supermarket, they were able to bake the cake. And it tasted great!

After dinner we all sat around the fireplace and listened to Ian tell us about his world. A world in which, as he said, he is no different from us. "I am only a shadow in your world. In my home, I am just like you are." Were his words.

It reminded me somehow of the saying I had heard so much and so often: "He/she, was only a shadow of himself/herself." Then the saying suddenly got a certain new meaning and logic. Because Ian is with us in our world, only a shadow of himself.

Ian told us, among other things, that it is difficult for him to be outside during the day, because he has the feeling that the daylight or the sun would hurt him. He feels pain when he is outside during the day. And also he told that there are very few of his kind who can change into their shadow form and enter another world. So I wonder, does he come from the center of the earth at all? Or from another dimension? It was all very confusing and interesting at the same time.

When Yibo and I retired to the barn around midnight to go to sleep, the others stayed up because they wanted to learn so much more about Ian. They were so fascinated by him and so interested in him that they didn't get tired and kept asking him all their questions. Especially Yibo's parents were completely impressed by him.

The next morning, Yibo and I sat alone in the dining room and had breakfast since everyone else slept until the afternoon. My mom said they all didn't go to bed until 7 am. So I was not surprised anymore that they slept so long.

The rest of the day we spent splitting some wood, checking the fences and otherwise we cooked together, talked and later our parents were with us in the barn helping us pack our backpacks. We were all a little wistful because the time together went by so quickly, but were also already talking about all the things we wanted to do when we got back.

Yibo and I used the last night alone to make love and were very excited to see Bac again. And we were very excited about the warriors he will have with him.

Well, that was my short summary of the past days. Not detailed and not very interesting. But there was not really much happening that would have been worth documenting.