Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Two days later, they went to Lake Qianye in the mountains.
You Xu had been observing his condition, and seeing that it was quite stable, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Perhaps because of her different mood, she came with a light and joyful heart this time. Looking at the mirror-like lake before her, even the fiery red maple leaves seemed more beautiful, as if a faded painting had been repainted with vibrant colors.
You Xu looked at the scenery, and Duan Min looked at her. He didn’t know what filled his heart, but it was an unbelievably warm feeling.
He could finally stand outside with her, seeing her radiant smile in the sunlight up close. He no longer had to worry about being abandoned by her; he could go anywhere with her. The fear in his heart finally vanished at this moment.
You Xu turned to look at him. Against the backdrop of crimson maple leaves, he stood out with fair skin, red lips, and tea-brown eyes that outshone even the clearest blue water, making the crimson hues pale in comparison.
“Lower yourself a little,” You Xu said, wrapping her arms around his neck and tiptoeing to kiss him.
A gentle breeze rustled through the leaves, sending a few graceful arcs through the air, while in the distance, the two embraced intimately.
Later, they travelled to many other places. They walked hand in hand along the shores of Ruoming Lake, watched the peach blossoms together in the woods of Weishan Mountain, and witnessed the most beautiful aurora borealis in the far north, seen only in each other’s eyes. They also slept in each other’s arms on cold nights, listening to the crisp sound of hail pounding against the window.
Time moved on, and the sights changed, but their gazes remained constant, their hands clasped tightly. After circling back, they would return to their original house.
Thirty years passed in a flash. You Xu’s face was no longer young; but a gentle smile appeared on her pale face: “Duan Min, my time is almost up.”
Duan Min gripped her hand tightly, saying nothing, his eyes reddening until they gradually filled with tears.
“Duan Min, I’ve gained thirty years.” It was worth it, for her, who had struggled to die five times before being able to return, it was all worth it.
“No,” Duan Min choked, saying with difficulty, “You Xu, it’s me, it’s me who gained thirty years.”
Feeling the clear white light in her mind, You Xu gripped his hand tightly and said, “Don’t turn me into ashes, let me become a puppet, forever…” Forever by your side.
….
In the bright living room, a gentle breeze, warmed by the afternoon sun, wafted in, carrying the familiar scent of jasmine.
A deep voice slowly told a story: “A snowman born in the snow fell in love with the fireplace in the house… In the end, the snowman melted in the embrace of the fireplace.”
Duan Min closed the storybook, looked at the person with dim eyes before him, and said, “Sleep.”
The puppet, You Xu, obediently closed her eyes.
Duan Min held a strand of her black hair and lay down with her on the sofa, but he didn’t close his eyes, silently watching her.
Her skin was already ashen, her lips colorless, and her body was ice-cold. Fortunately, Duan Min had protected her well; her appearance was preserved, and there wasn’t a single scratch on her body. If she were to accidentally scratch a wound, it would never heal.
He used to hate the scent of the living most, and now he feared the scent of the dead most, but as long as it was her, he could accept it.
He would live for a very, very long time, much longer than ordinary people.
No matter how the outside world changed, You Xu would always be in this place with him.
That evening, Duan Min carried her to bed, carefully tucking her in. He lifted a corner of the blanket from the other side, and just as he was about to lie down, he noticed the jasmine bookmark under the pillow.
You Xu used to put all the bookmarks on his bed into the long, round pillow, but now…
Duan Min picked up the pillow and realized that so much time had passed. Even with his careful handling, one end of the pillow was worn through, and the bookmark had fallen out.
For so long, he had fallen asleep only because of her lying beside him and the familiar jasmine scent from the pillow.
He stared blankly for a long time, somewhat at a loss, before noticing a white slip of paper inside the pale yellow bookmark.
Duan Min took it out and unfolded it; it was You Xu’s handwriting: “The language of jasmine is sincere and unique love— you are mine.”
Duan Min paused, his eyes trembling. He suddenly recalled a scene from a sunset bathed in crimson light: a girl, her hair slightly dishevelled from sleep, picking and choosing flowers on the windowsill, handing him a pot of jasmine. Her profile, half-reflected in the rosy glow of the sky, her almond-shaped eyes crinkling, as she said, “This is for you. Jasmine represents pure and beautiful friendship.”
He never imagined that decades later, he would rediscover the meaning of jasmine as sincere love.
“You are mine.”
He clutched the note tightly.
In the quiet of the night, moonlight gently fell upon the white jasmine flowers outside the window, their delicate petals swaying in the breeze.
….
A person and a stick figure appeared in the blank space. You Xu squatted for a while before she came to her senses: “Quick, quick, I want to see the mission replay.”
78 lay down in a comfortable position, glanced at her, and said: “You don’t have any points, and you still want to watch it.”
You Xu stood up: “Didn’t I complete the mission? Trust value 100, corruption value 0.” In this kind of newbie mission reset, some people even got the highest score, how come she didn’t have a single point?
78 said leisurely: “But you are a new contract, we don’t have any relevant new regulations here, so we have to assume your points are zero.”
You Xu suddenly remembered something else: “Didn’t you guide the host to do the later missions? How come you’re still a trainee system?”
78 said profoundly: “You should know that if you’re at the bottom for too long, you won’t even be at the bottom anymore.” Everyone else goes from trainee to full-fledged, but this one goes from full-fledged to trainee.
You Xu: “How long have you lived?”
78 scratched its forehead: “Over a thousand years, I guess.”
“…” After over a thousand years, still a trainee, that’s really too ambitious.
“Alright,” 78 clapped his hands and stood up, saying, “Let’s go to the next world.”
Then, it used its forehead to draw circles, teleporting You Xu there.
The white light in her mind faded, and You Xu immediately regained her senses, instantly feeling the extreme tension in her body, as if she had been frightened.
She immediately felt something sharp and cold against her neck, a life-threatening instinct triggering a fear that soaked her clothes with cold sweat.
You Xu: What’s going on? Why am I about to be killed the moment I transmigrated?
A faint smell of blood filled the room, coming from the person behind her.
Before You Xu could even process the timeline and carefully choose her words to escape, a voice sounded outside the door: “Excuse me for disturbing your rest, Miss. A demon has intruded into the Medicine Valley. We are searching for and apprehending it. May I ask if you have been disturbed?”
You Xu opened her mouth, but before she could utter a word, the claws on her neck pressed deeper. She didn’t know if they had broken the skin, but there was already a slight stinging pain.
The threat was unmistakable.
Her life hung by a thread.
“Do you know what to say?” he said in a low voice behind her, enunciating each word clearly.
The author has something to say:
Some may not agree with the ending of this small world, so let me explain again, albeit weakly.
Duan Min’s body was experimentally modified, and he was also injected with the blood of the Zombie King. Logically, he should live as long as the Zombie King.
As an ordinary person, You Xu was destined not to spend a hundred years with him, and since she didn’t personally complete the killing mission, her previous points weren’t high enough to sustain her for thirty years. After all, the puppet’s body isn’t old; Duan Min can control the puppet, but that doesn’t mean he can make it young again.
The initial inspiration for this story came from a dream I had about a puppeteer’s lover passing away, and he and his lover, transformed into a puppet, staying forever together. [I just like to make up a story based on a small scene.]
For thirty years, they did everything they wanted to do together, understood each other’s hearts, and were forever together in another way; their love was eternal. This is the most perfect ending in my mind.
It seems quite a few people like this story, thank you all~
Next world: Demon King Heart-Eating Fox × Sickly Health-Preserving Girl
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