⌈Perfect World⌋
Perfect Time-space:
A lush forest of towering green trees, the air moist and cool as a gentle breeze swept over the ankle-high grass. The dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves felt precious. Immersed in this serene environment, every breath carried a sense of refreshing coolness.
In a rare sunlit clearing amidst the jungle, the blades of grass swayed slightly, as if something was moving beneath them. As the grass continued to shift, a small figure dressed in purple appeared. It was a palm-sized little girl, her hair neatly tied into twin buns, her chubby, dumpling-like face giving her an irresistibly soft and squishy look. Stretching her tiny arms, she struggled to push aside the grass, which only reached a normal person’s ankle, and finally made her way into the clearing. With a deep sigh of relief, the tiny purple figure plopped down, lazily basking in the sunlight.
Enjoying the rare sunshine, the little purple dumpling sunbathed her front, then, not forgetting to be thorough, flipped over onto a smooth stone to sunbathe her back. She squinted her large eyes, suddenly brightening as she tilted her head. There, on the ground in front of her, was a tiny spore, completely invisible to the naked eye. Yet the tiny purple dumpling spotted it immediately, for it wasn’t an ordinary spore. The familiar aura radiating from it made it clear that it was a Zizhi spore and a rather potent one at that.
The little girl quickly sat up, cautiously scanning her surroundings. All she could see were the towering blades of grass. Perking her tiny ears to listen for any danger, she confirmed there was none. With her mind at ease, she waddled over on her short legs, bent down, and carefully picked up the small Zizhi spore, examining it closely before contentedly stowing it in her spiritual pouch.
With her eyes squinting in joy, she was about to return the way she came when she spotted another Zizhi spore not far away. She blinked in surprise, then happily waddled over to pick it up. But there, not far off, was another one! Her eyes sparkled like stars, overwhelmed by the sudden joy. Almost in a daze, her small body instinctively followed, running to collect it.
Soon, the sound of her soft, childish voice echoed across the green field, “One Zizhi spore, two Zizhi spores, three Zizhi spores…”
As the tiny figure wandered further, she unknowingly reached a more secluded part of the forest. While the area still exuded vitality, something felt off. Sunlight, an uncommon luxury in the forest, was unusually abundant here. The giant trees, which usually blocked out the sky, seemed to have deliberately formed a circular clearing, allowing the grass to bask in sunlight. If one looked closely, they would notice that all the grass in this area had three leaves, gently swaying—not with the wind but in a leisurely, unrestricted rhythm.
The purple-clad dumpling, engrossed in collecting spores, didn’t notice anything unusual. She only felt that the pesky grass blades seemed fewer. Cheerfully, she continued to traverse through the area.
It wasn’t until she had gathered more spores that the little girl realized something was wrong. She raised her tiny head and noticed she had been circling in place. At some point, the Zizhi spores had been arranged in a circle, and at the center of this circle stood a single blade of grass with only one leaf.
The little dumpling immediately became alert, glancing around cautiously, but detected no danger. She scratched her head, looked at the spores on the ground, and after a moment of deliberation, clenched her tiny fists and decided to pick them up before leaving. She bent down to collect the spores again, only to find that they never seemed to run out.
She squinted her large eyes, pretending to continue picking spores, and then quickly looked up. She saw the single-leafed grass in the middle of the circle stealthily extending its tip, dropping more Zizhi spores onto the ground!
The little purple dumpling: “!!!”
The blade of grass instantly straightened, standing stiff like a rod when it realized it had been caught.
There was no standoff at all. The little purple dumpling reacted immediately, fleeing in the opposite direction. But before she could run far, she felt a tug at her waist, pulling her down to the ground. Without even seeing what it was, the force on her waist didn’t disappear. Instead, it dragged her back along the ground in the opposite direction until she was once again beside the single-leaf grass.
Looking down, the little dumpling saw that it was the grass blade around her waist that had loosened.
The moment the pressure on her waist vanished, the little purple girl wasn’t about to give up. She took off running again, convinced that she was fast, but just like before, the grass blade wrapped around her and dragged her back.
After being dragged back yet again, the little purple dumpling gave up running. She sat down and immediately burst into tears, crying loudly as tears streamed down her face. She couldn’t believe that on the very day she had just transformed, she was about to be eaten by a blade of grass!
As soon as the little dumpling began to cry, the blade of grass started flailing around in a panic. It waved wildly, then extended a leaf to gently wipe away the purple-clad dumpling’s tears. The droplets slid down the leaf’s veins and soaked into the earth. The grass hesitated for a moment before pulling out a small pile of Zizhi spores from its spiritual storage and offering them to the purple-clad dumpling.
The dumpling gradually stopped crying, staring curiously at the grass. Tentatively, she reached out her chubby little hand, and the grass instantly tipped all the Zizhi spores from its leaf straight into her palm.
The purple-clad dumpling: “…”
Just as she was trying to figure out what was going on, a bright, cheerful laugh suddenly echoed from above, startling her. She looked up to see that, at some point, three figures had appeared nearby. Two of them radiated an energy she couldn’t hope to resist, and their immense presence made the dumpling freeze on the spot.
Under the gaze of the purple-clad dumpling’s wide eyes, one of the men, dressed in white, reached out as if to pick her up. The little dumpling’s eyes immediately narrowed dangerously, and with her chubby, dumpling-like face, she somehow managed to look fierce—albeit in a cute way.
The man, however, wasn’t intimidated. In fact, his laughter grew louder. But before his long hand could touch the purple-clad dumpling, it was suddenly slapped away by the grass leaf with a sharp “smack”. The crisp sound made it clear that the blow had been quite forceful. After swatting away the man’s hand, the blade of grass wrapped protectively around the dumpling, pulling her closer to itself.
Meng Muyu sighed and rubbed his hand, but didn’t seem too bothered. With a light chuckle, he remarked, “It’s been a few months… No, wait, it’s been nearly a hundred years here, hasn’t it? Leng Bei, are you in love?”
The blade of grass twisted its leaves, indicating it had no intention of responding to Meng Muyu.
Beside them, Gray squatted down, his eyes twinkling with amusement as he glanced between the blade of grass and the small dumpling. He pointed at the purple-clad dumpling and looked up at the man in black. “Why is this one so small? Though, I guess it’s a good match for Leng Bei’s height.”
The man in the black robe, who had been maintaining a cool and silent demeanor to show his displeasure, couldn’t help but respond when he saw Gray’s bright eyes. “This is a Zizhi. It seems it just recently took form and still needs to grow. The Perfect Time-space constantly refines itself according to whatever enters it. When that mouse gave a Zizhi spore to this blade of grass, it was brought into the Perfect Time-space, and the time-space developed a consciousness of the Zizhi, which led to the spontaneous creation of a new life form. The time-space is constantly enriched this way…”
Gray nodded, indicating his understanding. Essentially, whenever something new entered the Perfect Time-space, it would naturally create corresponding things. While these new things weren’t directly connected to their originals, they were inextricably linked as cause and effect. Though the Perfect Time-space seemed omnipotent, it still couldn’t create something from nothing, unless driven by the desires or dreams of a living being.
As he spoke, the black-robed man suddenly realized he was responding reflexively. He sighed helplessly.
The three figures were none other than the Grim Reaper, Gray, and Meng Muyu, who had all transferred into the Perfect Time-space.
The Grim Reaper and Meng Muyu represented two halves of the Dream Clan: Meng Muyu, as the last living member, embodied the living consciousness of the Dream Clan’s world, while the Grim Reaper, formed from the collective death of the Dream Clan, was equally as powerful. With the two of them protecting him, Gray had safely crossed through the space-time rift into the Perfect Time-space.
Originally, the Grim Reaper had intended to transfer a large number of life forms from the Twilight Galaxy to enrich the Perfect Time-space. However, Gray had taken a risky gamble by exposing himself to the Twilight Clan’s world consciousness, forcing the Grim Reaper to reveal himself and confront it. Once locked onto by the Twilight Clan’s obsessive world consciousness, there was no escaping their relentless pursuit. As a result, the Grim Reaper had no choice but to abandon his plans in the interstellar era and return to the Perfect Time-space with Gray.
The three had arrived precisely over Xuanqiu City, where they were greeted by the amusing sight of Leng Bei using a spore to capture the little dumpling. They couldn’t help but feel a strange mix of affection and amusement.
Meng Muyu crouched down and cleared his throat, trying to sound gentle. “Leng Bei, we’ve been old friends for a while now. It’s been so long since we last saw each other…”
Meng Muyu rambled on for over five minutes without getting to the point, causing the blade of grass to finally take action. The grass stretched out a leaf and gently covered the purple-clad dumpling’s ears.
Meng Muyu: “…”
“All right, spill it. Where is Ling Yang now? Tell me and I’ll leave. If you don’t, I’ll steal your wife!” Meng Muyu, seeing that the soft approach wasn’t working, dropped the pretense and got straight to the point, ready to take action at any moment.
Upon hearing this, the blade of grass no longer covered the dumpling’s ears. It quickly and decisively pointed toward the left-front direction and, in case Meng Muyu couldn’t find the place, even drew a simple map on the ground.
Seeing this, Meng Muyu offered a quick “thanks.” Before the word had even fully left his lips, he had already vanished into the dense forest of giant trees.
Far away, on a distant coast, a little mermaid, lazily flipping back and forth like a pancake under the sun, suddenly sneezed. He had no idea that his old companion, with whom he had once shared life-and-death experiences, had just sold him out in the name of love.
After Meng Muyu disappeared, the blade of grass glanced at the two remaining people, then swiftly wrote a few words on the ground: “Have a nice trip, no need to see you off!” After finishing, it eagerly shook its leaves in a waving gesture to bid them farewell.
Gray: “…”
Grim Reaper: “…”
Unlike Meng Muyu, Gray and the Grim Reaper weren’t in any hurry. They had all the time in the world to explore the Perfect Time-space. Leisurely, they strolled toward the lush forest of giant trees, their conversation drifting along with them.
Gray: “I wonder when Qing Kong will return to the Perfect Time-space.”
Grim Reaper: “Probably after he’s had his fill of fun in the interstellar era. Why? Do you miss him?” The Grim Reaper immediately grew wary, sensing trouble. Whenever Qing Kong was mentioned, the Grim Reaper felt like he was shooting himself in the foot. Back then, because Gray longed for family, the Grim Reaper had led Qing Kong into his dream. Little did he know that Gray’s dependence on Qing Kong would grow far beyond his expectations. Fortunately, he had some foresight. Before returning to the Perfect Time-space, he had left a black butterfly with that man named Mu Yang. If everything went as planned, Mu Yang, driven by his obsession, would use the black butterfly to pursue Qing Kong. Until the two of them resolved their entanglement, they wouldn’t be returning to the Perfect Time-space anytime soon.
Gray nodded naturally. “Yes, I miss him. But more importantly, I want to learn more combat techniques.”
Grim Reaper: “You’re already strong. You don’t need to learn more.”
Gray: “I want to! Because I also want to protect you.”
The Grim Reaper was stunned for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. “Alright, I’ll teach you!”
The two figures disappeared into the forest of giant trees, their voices gradually fading into the distance.
On the grassy field, the purple-clad dumpling stood up, patted the dust off her clothes, and then reached out her chubby little hand toward the blade of grass. She spoke, “Hello, my name is Zi Lin.”
The blade of grass immediately extended its tip, winding around the dumpling’s hand and giving it a little shake. After a moment, it wrote on the ground: “Hello, I’m Leng Bei.”
This handshake would mark the beginning of another unforgettable story.
Author’s Note:
<（￣︶￣）>Everyone will find their happiness, trust in Old Xuan~~ Tomorrow will probably be the final chapter~
