Volume 2: Winter’s End
In the live stream chat:
“God Ye smiled again!!!”
“Something’s wrong with the blue aurora in the sky. It seems like Ye Qian and Shu Xun have noticed something?”
“Why didn’t I see it?”
“I think I just had an illusion. I saw many butterflies flying in the blue veil.”
“Illusion upstairs, what butterflies?”
“I think I saw butterflies too, similarly blue, very faint shadows, disappeared in an instant.”
“What’s going on? I was focused on the little guy gesturing and the aloof God Ye. I didn’t even look at the sky.”
“Didn’t look at the sky +1.”
“Probably an illusion. Auroras sometimes change shapes. It’s just a coincidence. With such low temperatures and at that altitude, butterflies couldn’t possibly survive.”
The unusual situation in the sky added an unexpected tension to the atmosphere. The livestream chat was now engaged in fervent discussions. Soon, someone uploaded a recorded video, but the results made the answer even more elusive. From the video, there was no trace of the so-called blue butterflies. However, a significant number of people were adamant that they had witnessed them with their own eyes. Moreover, considering Ye Qian and Shu Xun’s reactions, it was clear that the two of them had also noticed something.
A piercing cold wind swept through, and Shu Xun wrapped his small clothes tighter. He spoke to Ye Qian, “Let’s go back to the villa.” Ye Qian nodded, approached, picked up Shu Xun, and the two headed toward the small lake.
The blue in the sky drew nearer, like a light veil descending with the aurora, slowly settling and spreading in the sky. The intense cold spread, almost cutting through the skin, even before reaching the small lake where Shu Xun and Ye Qian were.
Ye Qian brought Shu Xun onto the frozen surface of the small lake, where there was a circular ice hole. Next to the hole lay a few stiffly frozen fish, indicating a good harvest from Ye Qian’s ice fishing. Ye Qian bent down to organize the supplies, and Shu Xun, eager to help, jumped down to speed up the process.
However, in his haste, Shu Xun forgot that the ground beneath him was not the soft white snow but a slippery ice surface. As he landed, the force of gravity caused him to lose balance. His little legs flailed in disarray, but he couldn’t regain his center of gravity. With a thud, he sprawled on the ice, sliding quite a distance due to inertia.
Ye Qian, collecting items, raised an eyebrow.
Livestream audience: “…”
“Hahaha! Who cares about butterflies? Watching my little guy is the most important!”
“Shu Xun seems like he’s never seen ice before. That fall felt like it went down for a thousand meters!”
“So, short legs can move so quickly! Too bad he still fell, hahaha!”
On the icy lake, Shu Xun propped himself up on the ice, shook his little head, and got back on his feet. Taking a few steps, he lost his balance again, slid in disarray, and toppled once more.
Shu Xun: “…” Must be the socks’ fault!
Ye Qian had already collected the fishing tools and the fish caught moments ago. Expressionless, he took a few steps forward, picked up the dumpling stuck to the ice, and then turned around, heading back to the villa. Shu Xun sighed in relief, nestling in his pocket. This was the first time he was grateful for his teammate’s low-profile attribute.
The sky has already been covered in ice-blue, and the elusive blue radiance sweeps in like a gust of blue wind, resembling blue ink gradually permeating between heaven and earth.
Shu Xun and Ye Qian entered the villa. Just as they closed the door, a blue light followed closely. In almost the blink of an eye as the light swept by, frost appeared in the crack of the villa door. The villa’s door froze from the outside! Following that, all the other doors and windows quickly condensed frost. A thin layer of transparent ice formed on the glass, clinging tightly and obscuring the view.
At the same time, a piercing cold invaded. Shu Xun immediately shivered. This cold was not like the severity of winter; it felt more like torture as if the cold had transformed into sharp blades, mercilessly cutting into the skin. Shu Xun couldn’t imagine the situation they were facing inside the wind-sheltered villa. What kind of dire straits awaited the players and creatures who hadn’t found shelter in time?
Ye Qian frowned, clearly uncomfortable with the sudden temperature change. He transferred Shu Xun from the outer pocket of his coat to the inner pocket of his shirt. Then, without hesitation, he took out an iron basin, found an empty spot in the living room, and prepared to make a fire.
Because Shu Xun was now in the pocket of the shirt, his vision was completely blocked by the cotton coat. After feeling the relief from the cold, Shu Xun climbed out of the pocket and, along the collar of Ye Qian’s shirt, emerged. The moment he stuck his head out, he immediately felt a chilling sensation like a blade, so he halted, only revealing a small head.
Ye Qian allowed a small head to emerge from the collar of his shirt. His hands moved incessantly, breaking branches into suitable lengths and placing them in the iron basin. Then, he took out a lighter, igniting the small flame. The tiny fire gradually expanded, and its warm yellow glow, like the light of hope, slowly spread.
As the temperature rose, dispelling the biting cold, the villa gradually warmed up. It seemed like they had returned from the icy hell of winter to the earthly realm.
Neither of them spoke. Clearly, both were pondering the recent events. Now they were covered by the blue light, yet within it, they couldn’t see the deep blue color. The extraordinarily low temperature was warning them of their current situation.
The live broadcast room also fell into silence. The calm, silent minutes just now felt like a life-and-death moment, and perhaps no one had anticipated that low temperatures could be so terrifying.
“Was that blue light a super-low-temperature substance? But super-low-temperature substances shouldn’t appear in a star system with a modern technological background.”
“I seem to understand what ‘Winter’s End’ means.”
“I visited other live streams but didn’t find players who found shelter. Once enveloped by the blue light, almost everyone froze within three minutes. Without rescue, they would die soon.”
“It’s terrifying. If this phenomenon isn’t happening for the first time, the world heading towards an end is not surprising.”
“Yes, even evolved races are helpless. This super-low-temperature substance appearing in a modern technological star system, unless there’s an accident, this planet is likely to have no survivors.”
“Not necessarily. Life itself is a miracle. Who can guarantee that miracles won’t happen?”
The appearance of super-low-temperature substances seemed to provide a glimpse of the world heading toward an end, but it also brought more mysteries. According to the theory of cosmic consciousness, a planet with a modern technological background should not be able to develop super-low-temperature substances. So where did this unique substance come from, and how did it destroy this world, even plunging the entire star system into an ice age?
With the emergence of a clue, countless questions followed. Until the answers were revealed, no one could provide a definite response.
Inside the villa, the temperature finally stabilized. Shu Xun crawled out from Ye Qian’s collar, jumped to the ground, and sat next to Ye Qian, his short legs crossed. In front of them was the warm flame, and behind them was a frozen world. Outside the window, the sun’s presence remained elusive, but it wasn’t dark because the extreme cold blue was also a form of energy, emitting a faint glow that illuminated the outside world.
“In the blue light, the disappearing butterflies, the vanished wild rabbits, the abnormal white wolf, and the super-low-temperature substance—these are what I’ve seen during this period, but I can’t figure out the reasons, and I haven’t found any connections.” Basking in the warmth of the fire, Shu Xun shared his discoveries with Ye Qian. Seeing no objections from Ye Qian, he continued with his speculations.
“The generation of energy mostly accompanies heat. The more powerful the energy, the higher the erupting heat. However, super-low-temperature substances are completely contrary to this. They belong to an energy beyond the technological era, and they shouldn’t appear on this planet. Whether the blue butterfly is an illusion or a living being is undeterminable. The sudden disappearance of wild rabbits may be the reason why the white wolf had to attack me, but why did the wild rabbits disappear? That rabbit was also unusual, with blood-red eyes and extremely aggressive behavior. These abnormal phenomena seem to have little connection between them.”
Ye Qian nodded in agreement, then expressionlessly rummaged in his pocket. He took out a fish he had just caught and calmly said, “Do you want to eat fish?”
Shu Xun raised his chubby paw. “Yes!”
In the live broadcast room, the audience seemed a bit unable to keep up with the pace of the topic shift. However, the two in the game seemed to have inexplicably synchronized thought processes. Based on the clues they had gathered so far, they couldn’t speculate on the reasons for these abnormal phenomena, so they decided to skip that part and just communicate their findings to avoid any oversights.
Then, Ye Qian took out a dagger, skillfully processed the fish, and skewered it on a branch of the Baiyan tree to roast.
Ye Qian was obviously not someone who engaged in small talk. The villa fell silent, with only the crackling sound of the flames. Shu Xun, warmed by the fire, began to feel drowsy and involuntarily yawned.
“Go to sleep. I’ll wake you up when it’s done,” Ye Qian said without moving his head. His face remained the same, an unchanging poker face, and even his voice was as cold as ever.
Shu Xun nodded his little head. Feeling that sleeping directly on the ground would be too cold and hard, he brought out his small backpack and started searching inside. Soon, he flipped out a thick pair of cotton gloves. Shu Xun was instantly satisfied. These gloves were discovered in the forest base and showed no signs of being used, perhaps because the season hadn’t arrived for them to be used.
Placing the backpack next to Ye Qian, Shu Xun found a spot not too far from the fire and neatly arranged the cotton gloves. He then took off his cotton coat, folded it neatly, and placed it on top of the gloves.
Ye Qian’s attention involuntarily shifted to Shu Xun’s actions; he couldn’t quite understand what Shu Xun was doing.
The same confusion echoed in the live broadcast room.
“What is Little Dumpling doing? Isn’t he tired?”
“Don’t understand! Clearly, God Ye also doesn’t understand, he’s watching intently!”
“I guess Dumpling might be studying the structure of the gloves, preparing to make a pair of gloves!”
However, reality didn’t unfold as everyone thought. After arranging the small clothes, Shu Xun directly lifted the glove and slipped inside. The neatly folded little clothes served as a makeshift pillow, and the cotton gloves perfectly played the role of a mattress and blanket.
Ye Qian, with an expressionless face, averted his gaze and refocused on roasting the fish.
In the live broadcast room:
“Hahaha, so Dumpling is really just sleeping.”
“This is probably the most unique sleeping bag I’ve ever seen!”
“Sleeping in gloves, this is a creative move, looks very cozy.”
“This move can only be pulled off by Little Dumpling! So, being small in size does have its benefits, hahaha!”
