Volume 3: Deep Blue Sea
“Pfft! Hahaha!” Lie Yang, who had been teased all along, burst into laughter as he looked at the flattened mouse pancake on the ground.
Meng Muyu and the mermaid maintained a poker face, trying hard not to show any expression.
However, this time, the three-leaf grass didn’t immediately let go. Instead, it stubbornly held onto Shu Xun’s whiskers. It even slyly stuck to the ground, dragging itself in the direction it wanted while using the grass as cover.
So, in everyone’s field of view, the flattened mouse pancake, held by its whiskers, moved parallel to the ground by a span of a palm. Moving once wasn’t enough; after a slight pause, the mouse pancake moved forward again for a short distance. After a moment, a long dragging trail was left behind Shu Xun, with the grass flattened wherever it went.
Watching the speechless pancake mouse gliding on the ground, Meng Muyu and the mermaid couldn’t hold back their laughter, tears streaming down their faces. Gray managed to save some face for Shu Xun, turning around, shoulders trembling as he tried not to burst into laughter.
Finally, Shu Xun was dragged next to the petite three-leaf grass. The grass quietly retracted its leaves, standing solemnly in place, as if saying, “See, this time I didn’t pull you; you came back on your own.”
But after waiting for a while, there was still no sign of the fluffy ball. Shu Xun remained a pancake on the ground. The three-leaf grass eventually took the initiative to land beside the pancake, seemingly puzzled about how the round fluffy ball turned into a pancake. It extended its two leaves, held onto Shu Xun’s body, and then lifted and moved, hoping Shu Xun could transform from the pancake back into a ball.
Shu Xun shook off the dirt, stood up, and pondered while pinching his whiskers. He then raised his paw and patted the three-leaf grass. “I’ll go find a way to let you grow safely and search for clues to bring Xuanqiu back. Do you want to come along?”
After hearing Shu Xun’s words, the leaves of the three-leaf grass successfully tangled together. In the end, the petite three-leaf grass pointed in the direction where the boy was, then stubbornly grabbed Shu Xun’s whiskers, pulling towards the boy.
Shu Xun: “…”
The little mouse stood firmly in place, allowing his face to be dragged away. His long whiskers were pulled straight, and the three-leaf grass persisted in its efforts. Then, in the gaze of everyone, with a “pop,” one of the straight whiskers was broken!
While the sound wasn’t particularly loud, everyone’s attention was focused here. The snapping sound naturally entered everyone’s ears.
Everyone: !!!
The three-leaf grass naturally also heard the commotion. The entire grass stiffened for a few seconds, then bounced up suddenly, releasing the pulled whiskers. Holding the broken whisker, it jumped up and down in place. After calming down, it quietly moved toward the fluffy ball while clutching the broken whisker, took two steps, then moved two steps again. Over a short distance, it rubbed against the fluffy ball for more than ten seconds. Finally, next to Shu Xun, the three-leaf grass, carefully holding the broken whisker, approached the face of the fluffy ball. It found the broken part and gently and accurately reattached the whisker. However, the whisker stayed on top for less than a second and quietly floated down again due to gravity.
The three-leaf grass immediately tied another knot, then picked up the whisker again, extending its leaves and directly binding the whisker to the face of the fluffy ball.
Shu Xun, with his face wrapped like a rice dumpling, lifted his hind paws and tapped the ground with a clattering sound.
It seemed that the three-leaf grass also realized that this was not appropriate. It tried other binding methods, but they all failed. After a moment, the three-leaf grass seemed tired from the effort. It meekly held the slender whisker, floating obediently next to the fluffy ball.
Shu Xun finally stopped tapping the ground with his paws, and then sighed helplessly, looking at the whisker brought in front of him by the grass. He picked it up, and with his small paws, he pinched a spell. The white whisker in the ball’s paw turned into a long, moon-white satin ribbon. The ribbon shimmered with a delicate, jade-like glow, gently floating in mid-air, looking exceptionally tender, much like the impression Shu Xun gave, elegant as jade.
The fluffy ball took two steps, approaching the three-leaf grass, and then tied the white satin ribbon at the position near the heart of the grass. As the three-leaf grass floated, the gentle white ribbon also swayed slightly, harmonizing with the verdant green glow of the grass’s heart. “It can bring you unexpected gains and luck.”
If Shu Xun’s sharpest feature was his claws, then his most cherished one was his small whiskers. In beast form, he liked to use his claws to pull his whiskers, and in human form, he enjoyed pulling the few strands of hair formed from the whiskers. The whiskers of the Treasure-Seeking Mouse grew with luck and cultivation. In reality, even if the three-leaf grass tried hard, it couldn’t pull the Treasure-Seeking Mouse’s whiskers if Shu Xun didn’t want it. The transformed ribbon, while not possessing the active treasure-seeking function, carried some characteristics of the Treasure-Seeking Mouse, akin to luck. As long as the moon-white glow didn’t extinguish, it could bring luck to the wearer.
The curious three-leaf grass touched the ribbon tied to the heart of the grass with a grass leaf. Excitedly, it spun in mid-air, and the ribbon, following the rotation of the three-leaf grass, formed a circle. Seeing this, the three-leaf grass suddenly got playful, dragging the ribbon up and down, left and right, floating unpredictably, making the long ribbon ripple along with it.
Amidst the joyful play of the three-leaf grass, the fluffy ball quietly left, summoning the spirit bamboo raft. No one said a word, and they all boarded the bamboo raft. The bamboo raft emitted a radiant green light, slowly rising and floating towards the sky.
The three-leaf grass finally realized what was happening and tried to hook the spirit bamboo raft with its leaves. However, just as the leaves were about to touch the spirit bamboo raft, the tender leaf blades eventually halted. The ascent of the spirit bamboo raft was not rapid, and the three-leaf grass also floated slowly, just like when it descended initially, scattered around the spirit bamboo raft, enveloping it. As the spirit bamboo raft slowly ascended in the vast, empty darkness, the three-leaf grass accompanied its rise.
When the spirit bamboo raft returned to the ground, the sky was faintly turning white. The three-leaf grass made way to allow the passage of the spirit bamboo raft. The three-leaf grass couldn’t leave because even if they could take away the corpses of the Xuanqiu tribe, they couldn’t carry away the grand Xuanqiu city. They would stay here, adorning the empty city in their own way, tirelessly keeping the Xuanqiu city spotlessly clean, day after day, waiting for the return of the Xuanqiu tribe.
The enormous circular cavity beneath their feet slowly closed again, and the rainwater that had poured in reconverged. Before long, it resumed its calm and tranquil state. The three-leaf grass scattered on the water’s surface, silently waiting as if bidding farewell in a soundless manner.
The spirit bamboo raft descended back onto the water, slowly moving towards the interior of the continent. The people on the raft waved goodbye to the scattered three-leaf grass behind them. Shu Xun also swayed his chubby paws, signaling a real parting. Observing this, the tiny three-leaf grass mimicked Fluffball’s motion, shaking their leaf tips. On the water’s surface, numerous emerald light clusters waved their grassy tips, silently bidding farewell.
As the emerald light clusters gradually disappeared into the night, Shu Xun was about to turn his plump body when a hint of emerald green floated from a distance. The green resembled a ribbon, gracefully drifting in mid-air towards the spirit bamboo raft. As the distance shortened, Shu Xun saw clearly—it was a blade of grass from the three-leaf grass, carrying a profound hope and vitality. It traversed the night and finally floated above Shu Xun.
Shu Xun spread his chubby paws, and the grass leaf descended slowly, lingering on his small paw. This was a gift from the three-leaf grass, and as a treasure-seeking mouse, Shu Xun could feel the precious and weighty nature of this gift—a young offspring of the three-leaf grass, a continuation of their race, or, one might say, the child of the three-leaf grass. However, it seemed to have just come into existence.
Curiously, Lie Yang picked up the grass leaf, and to everyone’s surprise, the leaf twisted its body, pressing one end against Lie Yang’s finger and detaching itself. Perhaps due to exerting too much force, the leaf flipped in mid-air. After regaining freedom, the grass leaf, emitting a lustrous emerald green glow, gently floated back onto Shu Xun’s chubby paw, casually settling itself.
Everyone was left in bewilderment. If it weren’t for Lie Yang’s actions, they would have almost mistaken it for an ordinary leaf. Now, it was evident that this leaf possessed self-awareness.
Shu Xun tilted his small head slightly. “This should be a sapling of the three-leaf grass, also known as the way they reproduce or the child of the three-leaf grass. It seems to have just been born.”
The little mermaid, curious, observed for a moment and spoke, “It seems to have formed a contract with you, much like the three-leaf grass and the Xuanqiu tribe, mutually protecting each other.”
Hearing this, everyone finally understood. The three-leaf grass had gifted Shu Xun with another life. If Shu Xun were to face danger in the future, the three-leaf grass would undoubtedly protect him, just like they guarded the Xuanqiu tribe, a lifelong commitment. The conditions for the formation of the three-leaf grass were unknown to everyone, but looking at the grass leaf resting on Shu Xun’s chubby paw, they seemed to sense the weight of that life—a departure from their people, even eventually from this world, simply because they trusted one person, willing to stake everything they had to accompany him on the journey through the unknown world.
Author’s note:
Achievement unlocked: Harvesting a blade of grass ✔
Achievement unlocked: Roaming with a flat cake ✔
Continuing the journey~
Translator’s corner:
I hate it when they always have to part ways ૮₍ ꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ ₎ა
