Volume 3: Deep Blue Sea
The small Little Bliss, who had been slapped away, landed back on Ye Qian’s shoulder with a look of grievance. It adjusted its feelers and occasionally tilted its head to look in Shu Xun’s direction, as if ready to charge up again whenever the larger Big Bliss wasn’t paying attention.
Ye Qian seemed to finally snap out of it. He awkwardly retracted his outstretched arms, letting his hands hang by his sides. His fingers absentmindedly rubbed against each other. The usually composed military general suddenly seemed a bit unsure, especially when Shu Xun’s gentle, water-like eyes glanced in his direction. His breath involuntarily lightened a few notches.
Shu Xun wore a warm, radiant smile, his voice as clear as spring water. “Long time no see.”
“Long time no see.” Ye Qian gazed into Shu Xun’s warm ink-black eyes. A faint curve appeared at the corner of his lips. While his voice remained icy, the sharpness in his eyes had melted, like ice and snow thawing.
Ye Qian’s sudden smile was just as impactful as Shu Xun’s, if not more so. Although the expressionless face had smiled a few times in the previous game, each instance sent shivers down people’s spines, filled with an eerie charm. Yet this time, the warm smile lacked any stiffness, as if it were his most instinctive subconscious reaction. The sharp contrast between the sharp blade and the tender affection made it breathtaking.
Standing beside the two, Meng Muyu felt a sense of fantasy. This outcome due to a system glitch was a first encounter. Just as the system glitch repair completion sound rang out, Meng Muyu put away the repair tool, glanced at Shu Xun, and spoke again. “Mr. Shu Xun, I once again promise that StarPlay Entertainment will take full responsibility for this incident. Although compensation may be too late, you can still make any requests you have.”
Shu Xun’s gaze shifted to Meng Muyu. Meng Muyu instinctively straightened his posture. At this moment, he understood where Ye Qian’s unconventional behavior came from. The youth’s eyes were like an unfathomable deep pool—calm, tranquil, capable of calming all the turmoil in your heart, naturally making people calm down. However, at the same time, all your thoughts, all calculations, were laid bare in such eyes. Just as Meng Muyu felt nervous, he heard Shu Xun’s graceful voice.
“It’s nothing. In everything, there are gains and losses. I’ve received the world’s best gift, and what I’ve paid is just inevitable growth. I have no demands, but I’d like to inquire about some internal matters of StarPlay Entertainment. If it’s convenient, please tell me the answers.”
The white-clad youth’s eyes remained consistently gentle, so gentle that it was an experience one couldn’t bear to refuse. At least, Meng Muyu hadn’t encountered such a situation in his previous life. As a businessman, he had seen countless cutthroat intrigues in the business world, but when facing Shu Xun, there was a feeling of being at the mercy of others. Amid this daze, a sharp and piercing gaze suddenly swept over from Ye Qian’s direction. Meng Muyu instantly became clear-headed and full of spirit. “Sure, go ahead and ask.”
The white-clad youth, however, curved his lips into a smile and patted his stomach. “I’m hungry.”
Meng Muyu, who had been mentally preparing for a serious conversation, momentarily stumbled. “Ah?”
On the other side, Ye Qian had already taken out the firewood and game he had collected earlier, set up a pot, and started a fire. His movements were remarkably natural and skilled, leaving Meng Muyu with a speechless expression, thinking that someone was really undermining the general’s image. However, soon Meng Muyu realized that his reflections came too early because the composed little creature, sitting calmly on Shu Xun’s head, also joined the ranks of preparing food. With a kitchen knife in its hand, it moved so quickly that it almost became a blur, resembling the actions of an experienced chef.
Meanwhile, Little Bliss took advantage of Ye Qian and Big Bliss’s busyness to quietly fly to Shu Xun’s shoulder, contentedly rubbing its face with its feelers.
Ye Qian’s movements subtly paused, but then he continued with what he was doing.
Big Bliss, who was tossing the kitchen knife, snorted coldly. Little Bliss immediately stood straight, retracting its feelers, adopting an innocent butterfly-like appearance as if it hadn’t done anything.
Shu Xun chuckled lightly, the joyous sound softening his eyes. He extended his fingers, playfully teasing Little Bliss’s feelers. Little Bliss cooperatively used its feelers to tap Shu Xun’s fingertips and then shyly coiled them into a bundle.
Meng Muyu: “…” What was going on? This was completely different from the negotiating scene he had imagined. Even Ye Qian seemed to have forgotten to pursue the matter. Meng Muyu could hardly believe that he was standing here unscathed, watching the two, who looked like fathers, busy cooking. Feeling the need to do something, Meng Muyu took a few steps forward and walked to the pot, ready to offer help to express his sincerity.
Big Bliss, carrying a radish, glanced at Meng Muyu’s outstretched hand and promptly handed over the vegetables and the kitchen knife to him, showing kindness. Meng Muyu stood in front of the pot, holding a radish in one hand and a knife in the other, looking dazed for a moment and then began to cut the radish.
Watching for a while, Big Bliss, flapping its wings, flew over and slapped Meng Muyu’s hand with a swift movement. “Too slow! Are you planning to cut for twenty years?”
Meng Muyu froze in place. As a game developer who had traversed various worlds in search of settings for playable games, his survival skills were naturally strong. He never expected to be criticized by a bug one day. Moreover, could they please not bring up the twenty years again? Until now, he still couldn’t believe that a system glitch could make someone grow twenty years older in just twenty days. It was quite horrifying.
Big Bliss raised an eyebrow, circling in mid-air, and spoke with an air of experience, “You still can’t accept it? Is this how young people are these days, lacking self-awareness?”
Meng Muyu: “…”. Looking at the chubby flying creature in front of him, why did that statement sound so awkward?
Big Bliss flew closer, extending its chubby little finger to tap Meng Muyu’s hand. Unconsciously, Meng Muyu released his grip. Before he could be surprised, he saw Big Bliss holding the kitchen knife, chopping vigorously at the radish in his other hand. For a moment, all he saw were the remnants of radish falling into the pot, accompanied by the lingering shadows of the knife.
“Is this really okay?” Meng Muyu, drenched in cold sweat, looked at the approaching knife and stammered.
As the last few pieces of radish fell into the pot, Big Bliss propped the knife against its shoulder. “Fidgeting like this, where’s your manly spirit? None at all!”
Meng Muyu was nearly defeated. Wouldn’t normal people be nervous in such a situation, especially when dealing with a knife this big? Although he complained internally, Meng Muyu, with his currently weakened momentum, dared not say it out loud.
Although being criticized by Big Bliss in various ways, in the end, Meng Muyu gloriously became a vegetable holder, specifically responsible for fetching vegetables for Big Bliss to cut, and this “glorious” job would continue for a long time. Long enough that Meng Muyu had transitioned from his initial nervousness to a calm demeanor, even being able to catch falling vegetables during the intervals of the knife swings and sneak a bite or two.
Not long after, the three of them, accompanied by the two butterflies, sat around the campfire. The firelight dispersed the thick moisture of this world, providing a brief sense of dryness. Shu Xun held a bowl of meat soup contentedly. With Shu Xun’s current cultivation, he could easily go without food. However, being a spiritual beast, Shu Xun was more carefree, and his cultivation didn’t follow the normal path, existing in a natural and spontaneous state.
Big Bliss also brought out a set of small tableware, sitting cross-legged, elegantly lifting its small bowl and savoring the meat soup. Little Bliss stayed by Shu Xun’s bowl, occasionally sneakily taking a sip when Big Bliss wasn’t paying attention, then happily flapping its wings.
Ye Qian and Meng Muyu had been busy all day capturing signals and searching for temporal nodes. They had just sat down for a meal, and everyone enjoyed the dinner.
“Are you afraid when you are alone?” After dinner, sitting around the campfire, Ye Qian suddenly asked.
The audience in the live broadcast was amazed. Ye Qian was taking the initiative to start a conversation! Ye Qian was actively engaging with others! Is this what they call destined love at first sight? However, Ye Qian indeed had a good eye; he picked up the little dumpling when it was still tiny, and in the blink of an eye, the little dumpling had grown into an adult. One couldn’t say if this luck was extremely good or extremely bad.
In the warm yellow light of the fire, Shu Xun smiled faintly. “At first, there was a bit of fear, but exploring new worlds is my instinct. Besides, the world consciousness is too gentle, almost devoid of any danger, providing me with twenty years of comfortable time.”
The young man’s eyes were warm, and his smile was gentle. His slender figure cast a shadow in the firelight. Although his tone was plain, everyone could feel at this moment that what the young man said was his most genuine thought. As Shu Xun mentioned earlier, everything has pros and cons; it all depends on how you perceive it. Your eyes are clear, and all things in the world accompany you. If your eyes are gloomy, the bustling universe becomes a distant path. Surely, this is also the reason why Shu Xun, alone for twenty years, could grow into a noble gentleman.
In reality, Shu Xun didn’t have a deep concept of twenty years in his heart. A treasure-seeking mouse favored by the heavens, his life was destined not to be ordinary. The mere Golden Core stage could not be his goal. What Shu Xun sought was to tread through the void, and ascend the path to immortality. Hundreds of years were just a fleeting moment; cultivators were ageless. How could they be troubled by twenty years? During these twenty years, besides meditation and cultivation, the actual time spent was not much. For Shu Xun, it was like experiencing a unique closed-door cultivation, blessed by the heavenly Dao.
If there was anything special, it was probably the initial panic and confusion. If there was anything hard to let go of, it was probably the occasional flashes of figures in his mind.
Even Shu Xun himself didn’t expect that over the twenty years, the image of a person not only did not fade with time but remained as clear as ever. Those experiences permeated his soul unconsciously. The awkwardness of the first meeting, the companionship in “Winter’s End,” the warmth of daily life in the real world, and before the teleportation, Ye Qian squatting in front of the small nutrient chamber with a cold but deeply concerned face – day after day, accumulating and becoming an unshakable weight.
Translator’s corner:
Feelers are antennae…? or a part of antennae…? Umm…
