Volume 4: Twilight Galaxy
Shu Xun instinctively reached out with his paw to touch the newly curled whisker. The whole mouse froze in place. The purple lightning in front of him seemed to find this amusing, even curiously twisting itself into the same wavy shape. After a moment, the lightning seemed to think it didn’t look quite symmetrical. So, it extended another tendril of electricity toward Shu Xun’s other long whisker on the opposite side.
As the purple lightning got closer, Shu Xun finally snapped out of his daze. His fur puffed up instantly, and he swung his sharp paw in a flash. Having suffered from Shu Xun’s attacks before, the lightning instinctively dodged.
This was exactly the opening Shu Xun needed. A flash of blue light appeared on his back, and in an instant, a pair of icy-blue butterfly wings sprouted. With the wings carrying the fluffy dumpling, he disappeared from the spot in a blink, leaving only a blue streak cutting through the forest.
The purple lightning froze for a second before realizing what had happened, then joyfully took off in pursuit. Through the dense forest, a purple streak of light chased after a blue one at high speed, the beings within the light barely visible. Only the trails of light remained, slowly fading away.
Shu Xun was just barely keeping pace with the purple lightning, but he couldn’t maintain this extreme speed for long. As he began to wonder what to do next, he spotted a familiar figure in the distance. Calming himself, he focused and confirmed he wasn’t mistaken. On a distant slope, a giant gray wolf lay basking in a rare patch of sunlight. The gray-furred wolf, over two meters long even without its tail, appeared lazy with its eyes half-closed. Yet, no other creature dared to approach the wolf’s vicinity—that was none other than Ye Jian in his wolf form!
Shu Xun’s eyes lit up instantly. Flapping his small wings, he shot forward like a cannonball. Just as he was ten meters away, the dozing giant wolf suddenly opened its eyes. Its deep gaze was filled with fierce killing intent, but the next second, upon recognizing the fluffy dumpling flying toward it, the coldness in its eyes softened in an instant. Even its tail began to happily swish across the grass.
Before Ye Jian could react further, the speeding dumpling crashed into his body. Due to the impact, Shu Xun bounced back a short distance, but quickly retracted his wings, plopped to the ground, and sprinted toward the space between Ye Jian’s chest and the ground. Using his momentum, he dove headfirst into the wolf’s chest fur. His two short legs kicked a few times against the ground, successfully burrowing himself under the wolf’s belly.
The previously tense live stream chat fell into chaos once again.
Ye Jian: “…” Just as he was about to get up, he noticed a flash of deep purple approaching from the corner of his eye. Ye Jian immediately resumed his calm, expressionless posture, continuing to lie on the ground as if nothing had happened. The area around him was a rare clearing amidst the dense forest, with no trees but only lush green grass growing around.
The purple lightning soon floated over to the giant gray wolf, scanning the surroundings in confusion as it tried to figure out where the fluffy dumpling had disappeared to. Eventually, it focused on the only “obstacle” around—the giant wolf. The lightning cautiously crept closer, circling the wolf once while Ye Jian stared at it indifferently. Finally, the lightning stopped near the spot where Shu Xun had burrowed under the wolf. It extended a tendril of lightning, seemingly wanting to crawl inside and take a look.
However, before it could investigate further, Ye Jian glanced down at the electric light, raised his paw, and with a swift slap, sent the purple lightning flying with a “smack”.
The live stream chat exploded:
“What just happened?!”
“Did our God Ye unlock some special skill? How did he slap the purple lightning away?”
“My guess is that this purple lightning is part of the divine punishment targeting Shu Xun’s group. The punishment doesn’t apply to any other living beings, so it has no effect on them.”
“Totally makes sense! So far, the world consciousness in Twilight Galaxy is pretty temperamental, but it hasn’t punished any living beings without a reason… except for the ugly ones, of course! Haha!”
“Hahaha, remembering those players who got kicked out of the game for not being good-looking enough—they really got hit with the ugly stick!”
The purple lightning seemed never to have imagined being swatted away by someone. After being stunned for a moment, it suddenly swelled to more than twice its original size, then furiously charged at Ye Jian again.
The gray wolf lazily glanced at the charging purple lightning, then quickly raised his paw and slapped down, pinning the purple lightning to the ground.
Everyone: “…”
The purple light: “…”
Although the purple lightning had no effect on Ye Jian, Ye Jian also couldn’t truly deal with it. Due to the lightning’s terrifying persistence, the stalemate continued for quite a while. Finally, after another slap sent the purple lightning flying, a streak of icy blue light suddenly emerged from the giant wolf’s body, speeding off in another direction.
The purple lightning, seeing this, gave chase without hesitation, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
The forest soon returned to its peaceful state. Sunlight poured over the grassy clearing as the gray wolf lowered his head. Unsurprisingly, he saw a fluffy little dumpling cautiously emerging from under him. The dumpling, with only its head sticking out, twitched its tiny ears in alert, making sure no crackling of electricity could be heard. Only then did it muster the strength to pull itself out with its front paws, collapsing onto the ground in relief. The “mouse pancake” lay flat, letting out a long sigh.
But then, catching sight of its wavy whisker, Shu Xun puffed up again. He twisted his body and sat up, clutching the whisker tightly with his front paws. Tilting his small head back, he stretched his body as straight as possible while pulling at the whisker with all his might. Yet, despite his efforts, the whisker stubbornly remained in its wavy state.
Not giving up, the fluffy dumpling added his back paws to the task. Now using all four limbs, he firmly gripped the whisker and stretched his little body even more. Thankfully, the treasure-seeking mouse’s whiskers weren’t ordinary, or the dumpling would have surely plucked it out with this stance.
After a few moments of intense effort, the familiar wavy shape persisted in the dumpling’s line of sight.
As the shadow from the giant wolf above slowly loomed closer, Shu Xun suddenly remembered that Ye Jian was watching him this whole time. He froze, paws still holding the whisker, and awkwardly thought about how to perfectly greet Ye Jian while somehow making him ignore the wavy whisker.
However, Ye Jian’s attention wasn’t on the whisker at all. Watching the dumpling struggling on its own, he found it increasingly adorable. Unable to resist, he lowered his head and gave the dumpling a long lick. Unfortunately, because of the direction, it was against the fur, causing Shu Xun’s fluffy coat to puff up as if charged with static.
Shu Xun instinctively turned his head and, in the joyful gleam of the wolf’s eyes, caught sight of his own disheveled, puffed-up reflection. Originally planning to turn around in perfect condition, Shu Xun: “…”
While Shu Xun was lost in thought, Ye Jian went in for another lick, this time successfully giving the dumpling a face wash. In the end, Shu Xun gave up on his perfect turnaround, tidied his face fluff, and simply turned to face Ye Jian, then sprawled out on the ground, deciding to enjoy the wolf’s gentle grooming.
After who knows how long, Shu Xun had fallen asleep, softly snoring. He even snuggled closer under the giant wolf’s neck, pulling some of Ye Jian’s fur over himself like a blanket, cozy and warm as he took a nap in the sunlight.
The giant wolf lowered his head, tilting it slightly to avoid blocking the sunlight for the little fluffy dumpling. His movements were slower and gentler. Thus, in a rare open space amidst the dense forest, bathed in perfect sunlight and a gentle breeze, the two of them, one large and one small, finally achieved their peaceful rest.
Their meeting seemed both unexpected and inevitable. The world was infinitely vast, boundless even, but the world between the two of them could become infinitely small, small enough that they could accidentally collide into each other’s arms.
Shu Xun hadn’t fully recovered his spiritual energy. With Ye Jian by his side, he slept soundly, unaware of the passage of time. When he finally awoke, it was already dusk. The sunlight had long disappeared beyond the dense forest, casting the surroundings into darkness. The evening breeze carried a slight chill. The fluffy dumpling stretched his body, letting out a long yawn, and then snuggled against the giant wolf’s face. “You came so fast.”
Ye Jian, in his beast form, couldn’t speak like Shu Xun, but he nodded slightly. After everyone had landed, they immediately used the light and temperature to determine their approximate latitude and longitude, calculating the distance between them. Shu Xun, Hui Se, and Lie Yang had already gathered early on, so the final meeting point was set in the main city. If nothing unexpected happened, Meng Muyu, who rarely sent messages, should also be in the city.
As for Ye Jian, his situation was a bit more unfortunate. He had been teleported alone to another continent on the planet, separated by tens of thousands of miles. Once he determined Shu Xun’s general location, Ye Jian, in his beast form, began his journey, racing across the continent and even swimming through an ocean. For over half a month, aside from short rests, he spent almost all his time rushing to meet Shu Xun.
The fluffy dumpling glanced at the giant wolf’s paws and paused in surprise. Then, tilting his head, Shu Xun reached out and patted Ye Jian’s head. “We’re not in a rush. Let’s take a good rest tonight.” He thumped his little chest. “I slept too much during the day. I’ll keep watch tonight!”
The giant wolf neither shook his head nor nodded, clearly pondering the dumpling’s words. Shu Xun, however, reached out and smoothed the fur on Ye Jian’s face. “Go to sleep. I know what I’m doing.”
In the end, Ye Jian agreed with Shu Xun’s suggestion, lowering his head and slowly closing his eyes, falling into a deep sleep.
As Ye Jian’s breathing grew steady and rhythmic, the fluffy dumpling quietly walked over to his paws. With a frown on his bun-like face, Shu Xun noticed that the once sharp claws had been worn down, and there were new wounds on the soft pads of his paws.
Half a month of traveling across the world at such a pace likely meant Ye Jian hadn’t had a good rest in a long time. He must have also expended a lot of energy; otherwise, Ye Jian would have transformed into his human form upon seeing Shu Xun instead of remaining in his giant wolf form.
Shu Xun carefully pulled out healing talismans from his spiritual storage and began treating the wounds on Ye Jian’s paws, his gentle movements going unnoticed by the sleeping wolf. The soft white glow of the healing light lasted for quite some time, only fading once all the wounds were healed.
The dense forest had fully succumbed to nightfall. To prevent any wild animal attacks, Shu Xun scurried around, setting up defensive formations. He gathered firewood and lit a campfire, even pulling out a large blanket from his spiritual space. After much fussing, he finally managed to cover Ye Jian with it. During this time, the giant wolf slightly opened his eyes but quickly closed them again when Shu Xun looked over, his breathing remaining steady and unchanged.
After taking care of everything, the fluffy dumpling plopped down between the giant wolf and the campfire, curling up into a round ball while hugging his chubby paws. For a moment, the only sounds in the quiet night of the forest were the crackling of the fire and the endless chirping of insects. Every now and then, the fluffy dumpling would glance back at Ye Jian to make sure he was still sleeping, and then, with all four paws, he would seriously start grooming that one troublesome whisker again.
Behind him, the giant wolf’s ears twitched, and his tail lightly swept across the ground. Hearing the movement, Shu Xun immediately turned to check, but after noticing that Ye Jian’s breathing hadn’t changed, he turned back around.
So, under the cool night sky, within this small area bathed in the warm glow of the fire, the shadows of the two figures—one large and one small—merged together. The small fluffy dumpling worked hard to straighten his whisker, while the big one occasionally couldn’t help but swish his tail.
This scene continued until late into the night when a flash of blue light appeared on Shu Xun’s back. It was Big Bliss, who had been leading the purple lightning away, automatically returning to Shu Xun’s body at the limit of its range. Big Bliss, having exhausted itself during the day, didn’t reappear after merging with Shu Xun and instead chose to rest.
Perhaps influenced by Big Bliss, the fluffy dumpling let out a long yawn, glanced around, and then took a leisurely walk along the perimeter of the formation he had set up earlier, making sure everything was still in place. Satisfied that nothing was amiss, he dashed back to Ye Jian’s side, lifted the blanket, and rolled under it.
Snuggled in the warmth and softness of the giant wolf’s fur, the fluffy dumpling let out another long yawn. His bright eyes blinked a few times before finally closing. He was about to drift into deep sleep, but not before giving his whisker one last swipe.
The giant wolf cracked open his eyes, his gaze filled with warmth and amusement that hadn’t yet faded. Bathed in the gentle yellow glow of the fire, the two companions, leaning on each other, shared the warmth between them, and soon fell into a peaceful slumber.
During the night, the fluffy dumpling occasionally turned over in his sleep. With all four paws, he would grab his whisker, straighten his body to groom it, then smack his lips and roll over again, continuing to snore softly.
Ye Jian watched in silence. He turned his head, picked up the blanket with his mouth, and covered the rolling dumpling, then closed his eyes once more.
Author’s Note:
Shu Xun, looking serious, pointed at his whisker. “Look, I’ve got a new style.”
Ye Jian: “Want me to do the other side too?”
Shu Xun, still serious: “No need. Asymmetry is trendy now.”
Ye Jian: “…”
The next day…
A giant wolf with one side of his whiskers curled into neat waves walked proudly past the fluffy dumpling.
Shu Xun, petrified: “…”
