đź“– Chapter 1067 - Three Feet Above!
I didn’t really like this name.
However, I liked the smile on her face and the way her eyes bent into crescents whenever she called my name. In the following years, we gradually wandered away from this world.
Or to be precise, the world I was in was only a part of the world. According to the little girl, it was just a little country on a planet. A galaxy was bigger than a planet, and a universe was bigger than a galaxy. This universe was named Tai Hao.
As for why it was called Tai Hao, the little girl’s answer was… she thought that Tai Hao might have been a painter, so she came here to find material to write a book.
There seemed to be something off about her logic, but I didn’t care as long as she was happy. And so we walked along, traversing the mountains and seas, and watching the sun rise and set as day and night alternated.
One day, she told me about her dream.
"Baobao, I want to be an artist!"
I looked at her in surprise. I seemed to remember her originally saying that she was going to write a book…
“I want to draw the entire universe, I want to personally draw everything in the universe. That’s why I will travel all over and memorize all the scenery.
“Baobao, what do you think of my dream? Doesn’t it sound very beautiful?” The little girl hugged my neck and let out peals of bell-like laughter. The sun was rising on the horizon, illuminating the little girl in its light. As I listened to her words, I felt that this scene was very beautiful.
It would be great if it was committed to paper.
Thus, I nodded in agreement and continued to accompany her and her father to every corner of the planet. We saw war and ugliness, but we also saw kindness and beauty…
Finally, one day, she brought me to leave the planet. Before we left, I made a final request. I wanted to go see my friends again.
We returned to the city where I used to live, but unfortunately… I didn’t see the old ape there. Nor did I see the little tiger, and even the li’l fox was gone.
In fact… everything was gone. The city had turned to ruins, having been razed to the ground during a war many years ago.
I was a little sad. I thought that I might never see the little tiger or the old ape ever again. Maybe the little girl saw my sadness, because she turned her head and looked at her father, the white-haired middle-aged man who I’d always been afraid of.
He seemed to think for a moment, then took us to a nearby forest. I clearly remembered that forest as the place I was born, and also that it had disappeared a long time ago. But I didn’t think too much about it, because in that forest, I saw my friends.
I saw that the little tiger had become the king of beasts in the forest, and he occupied the largest waterfall. He sat there cross-legged like a human being, looking very majestic.
I also saw the li’l fox, and I was relieved to see that she wasn’t bald. In fact, her fur had become even more colorful, and she seemed to have fulfilled her dreams. Although the beasts respected the little tiger as their king, they all had the li’l fox’s fur on them.
And finally, I saw the old ape. He was sitting in the deepest part of the forest, in the crater of a volcano. There were many illusory figures around him that seemed to be celebrating his birthday.
I didn’t disturb their lives and only silently wished them well from a distance. Then, I happily followed the little girl and left the planet, heading into the starry sky.
In the days that followed, it was as if we were on a tour. The little girl, her father, and I traveled the starry sky, visiting one planet after another, each with different customs and species. We saw all sorts of bizarre things on all sorts of strange planets.
We left our footprints behind on each and every planet, as well as the happy laughter of the little girl. Time seemed to hold no meaning for us. No matter how many years passed, her body and mind didn’t develop at all. Neither did mine.
Sometimes, as we looked into the night sky, she would talk to me about her dream. Each time, it was different…
“I don’t want to be an artist anymore, I want to be a performer!”
“Being a performer is no good, either. Baobao, I’ve decided. I want to become a doctor! I want to save lives and cure illnesses!”
“Being a doctor is too tiring. Let’s change it. I’ll become a scholar, a scholar who knows everything in the world. Baobao, what do you think?”
Just like this, as her dream changed constantly, time passed. We finished traveling through almost the entire universe, and there were no longer many secrets left to uncover. Around this time, her dream changed again.
“Baobao, I’ve really made up my mind this time!
“I’m going back to my original dream. I want to become a writer and write a book… and the protagonist of the book will be you!”
"Me?" I stared blankly at the little girl.
“That’s right, you. The name of this universe needs to change, too. We can’t have it be called the Tai Hao Universe. That name doesn’t sound good. We should call it... the Baobao Universe, Baobao’s World.” The little girl grew more excited the more she talked. She wrapped her arms around my neck and let out a happy laugh.
“That’s it, I’ll call it Baobao’s World. It’ll be my, Wang Yiyi’s, first book!”
I licked her cheek with my tongue, not really paying attention to what she said. I figured that it wouldn’t be more than a few years before her dream changed again.
I didn’t expect that… in the following years, even when we explored the final reaches of the universe, her dream didn’t change. She even told me about the story she was going to write.
The story was very simple. It was everything that we had seen since I met her. Maybe it was because I was the main character, but I really liked listening to the story.
Her father, the white-haired middle-aged man, would always stand beside her and stroke her hair gently. His expression was full of tenderness and deep love, as if he would do anything as long as it made his daughter happy.
…
Originally, I had thought that this kind of life would continue until the day I die. But today, as I walk through the starry sky with the little girl lying on my back, I suddenly notice that her body is gradually growing colder.
This coldness fills me with panic, because similar things had happened to the other auspicious beasts in the courtyard in my early years. Back then, the old ape had explained to me that this was called leaving, or returning to the void, or… death.
I immediately stop in horror, and her body seems to lose its strength, slipping down to the ground.
Turning around in fear, I look at the little girl’s pale face and lick her cheek again and again. I want to wake her up, but it doesn’t work…
I anxiously look at her father, the white-haired middle-aged man. But all I can see are his eyes filled with sadness.
And the sadness in his eyes makes my whole body tremble.
But fortunately… he raises his hand and gently strokes the little girl’s hair, and she gradually opens her eyes. It seems like she just woke up and is still a little muddleheaded as she murmurs to me.
“Baobao, don’t make trouble. I’m a little tired. I’ll play with you again when I wake up, so… let me sleep. I want to sleep…”
Her voice becomes quieter and quieter. When her body goes cold again, her father gently picks her up and walks into the distance.
Looking at his back, at the silent little girl hanging there, an indescribable feeling emerges in my heart. It’s as if I… lost something.
“Is she sick…” I murmur blankly. After looking down at my chest, my eyes suddenly brighten again. That’s because I remember… that one of the reasons why humans kill those of my tribe seems to be that our heart blood can cure illnesses.
“That’s right, my heart blood can cure her!” When I think of this, I raise my head in excitement. Watching that figure gradually disappear into the distance, I quickly run after him, trying my best to catch up…
But although his steps aren’t big and his speed isn’t fast, I can’t seem to catch up to him. I can only watch him going further and further away, making me extremely anxious. I run harder. Scenes of my childhood flash by me. Back then, I didn’t dare to run with all my strength, because I was afraid that the sound of my footsteps would attract hunters.
But now, I am no longer afraid. My heart blood can cure illnesses. It can save me from losing… that laughing voice that has accompanied me all my life.
Thus, my speed becomes faster and faster, so fast that my mind goes blank. There is only a single thought in my head – I have to catch up!
I leap over planet after planet and fly across the entire galaxy, running and running after that distant figure. I don’t know how long I’ve been running, but there are no stars around me, and even the universe is starting to blur. It seems that… I’m reaching the end!
I don’t hesitate. Even though I’m exhausted, even though my consciousness feels like it’s about to fade, even though my body is already dissipating, I still… rush straight toward the end of the universe!
A sound that I can’t describe rumbles in my ears. My body collapses and my consciousness ends, but at that moment, I seem to break past a certain barrier, reaching an unknowable location. And here, there seems to be… something three feet above my head…
“What did I just see…” In the Never-Ending Dao Domain, on Planet Heaven’s Mandate, Wang Baole opened his eyes and murmured blankly inside the fog.