The Bodhisattva sat in one place in the vast universe.
At one point, infinite spiritual light flew from his brow, cast towards the boundless expanse; some landed on certain planets in the universe, some landed in other small worlds, and some even flew out of this universe, heading towards a mysterious place unknown to anyone.
Many of the remaining small worlds in this universe were also on the verge of collapse, and the Bodhisattva intended to bring all the beings from there over.
He divided his thoughts, transforming into myriad forms.
However, though the Bodhisattva had a grand vow, he still could not find peace.
There was an unextinguished obsession in his heart.
Thus, another spark of spiritual essence flew out of the universe.
...
The world of Hollow Knight.
The bugs of Hallownest gradually moved to live on the surface.
Here, there was abundant food, comfortable sunlight, and the bugs lived together in friendship.
The Repair Bug tribe, along with dozens of other insect species, restarted the old Builders' Guild, and a brand new bug world was truly established.
The new Hallownest had a new King.
And the choice of this bug was beyond doubt.
The Princess of Hallownest—Hornet.
A new order had been established in the new Hallownest, and in the Dirtmouth plaza, two statues were erected to commemorate the great bugs who sacrificed themselves for the revival of Hallownest.
The two little ones, each wearing a pale mask, faced each other on a lotus-like fountain base, comrades who advanced hand in hand, and warriors who met their match.
"In memory of.
Hollow Knight.
Fool King.
Your great deeds and achievements,
Make all of us who hear the epic bow our unyielding heads.
Your sacrifice brought true light."
Nati sat on a bench in the plaza, gazing at the statues. After a while, he picked up the paper and pen he had placed aside, put them on his short legs, and began to write a letter.
He wrote a letter every day.
It always began: "Little one, it's been a long time…"
Then he would ramble about various trifles; everything he had experienced over this long time was meticulously recorded.
It always ended: "…Your Nati, who misses you."
He would deliver these letters to the old house in the Forgotten Crossroads; initially, he delivered them himself, but later, when his juniors grew up, he had them run the errands.
The basement Simon had dug out was already filled with envelopes and had to be expanded several times later.
"Little one, it's been a long time. I feel myself aging more and more now; some bugs already call me Elder. But, I'm not that old.
"Paya is doing well. She's been busy with some new things lately, you know she loves to invent. She's not very popular with other bugs, they say she's an old stubborn one. I don't like them saying that about her; I can't do anything, I just feel sad inside.
"Lately, I keep thinking about the day I found your egg. Writing this, I also realized it's been a long time since I visited our house. I feel a long-lost vitality surging in my heart, and I understand now, I'm coming to find you…"
Nati rolled up the letter, tossed his tentacle-pen aside, and hurried towards the well outside the town.
The lifespan of bugs is, after all, brief. Repair Bugs cannot be considered those higher beings that can be called sacred; their wisdom is limited, and their bodies are also limited.
Nati felt it was time for a journey of memories.
If he didn't set off soon, he would truly be too old to move.
Many bugs greeted him along the way; some flew in mid-air repairing streetlights, others leaned out from behind counters, and the sunny streets were bustling with bugs, many gathered in twos and threes, laughing and chatting.
Such a sight truly makes one forget the decaying state of Hallownest in the past.
Bugs have short lives, so their speed in forgetting pain is also exceptionally fast.
Looking up, in a massive circular opening that occupied half the sky, the sun emitted a magnificent light that bugs found impossible to gaze upon directly.
Once, we had to kneel on the ground, begging for light.
Now, we enjoy the most fervent sunlight, to the point of being a bit dazzling, and even feel a little nostalgic for that silent darkness.
The new generation of bugs all enjoy the light and are well-adapted to it, but—Nati leaped down the well, landing softly on the platform below, standing in a beam of light, surrounded by impenetrable shadows, the shadows of the earth—Nati felt incredibly at ease.
He descended platform by platform; bugs are small, so gravity is not much of a threat to them.
Nati thoroughly enjoyed the fall.
Yes, the vitality of his youth once again filled his increasingly shriveled body, and gradually, he felt his increasingly heavy shell become lighter.
Nati clutched the envelope in his hand; the Underground welcomed an old friend.
Wandering crawlers, cautious Gorms; he even passed through the old village of the Merchant Bugs, greeting a few old Merchant Bugs who were unwilling to leave the Underground.
When he rushed to the old house, the hand gripping the letter suddenly loosened.
The letter fluttered like a falling leaf, unfurling in the air, and landed at the foot of a bug.
The letter was picked up.
The Repair Bug greeted Nati, his voice soft.
"Nati, long time no see."
It was Simon.
...
One by one, small worlds were drawn into the Lu Yuan Bodhisattva's palm-sized universe. He grew stronger and stronger, and increasingly closer to the Way of Heaven.
His existence gradually spread out.
There were many other universes formed by superior affinity, some young, some already completely perished.
Yuan Stream, Yuan Abode, cyclical and recurring.
Universes are like fish, and superior affinity is the river.
Lu Yuan Bodhisattva, he is also a fish, but he wants to be a bird.
...
A ray of spiritual light crossed the cosmic void.
All Simon saw were bizarre and fantastic scenes. He saw a giant head, with two eyes of different hues. The head's lips moved, seemingly speaking. Simon couldn't hear or understand. He fell onto the head's bridge of the nose, but didn't touch a physical entity; he fell into the head.
A giant ring then appeared out of thin air. Simon saw fleeting images on this mirror-smooth disk, but he couldn't see them clearly.
After flying past the disk, he flew through a world full of light, then saw a pockmarked, grayish sphere. He fell into the sphere through one of its holes, and inside there were different worlds.
In short, he kept falling.
...
Nirn, northern Tamriel, Skyrim province.
4E183, Nightscourge Month.
Gales, mixed with heavy snowflakes, raged incessantly. Nightscourge Month's Skyrim was ruled by the power of cold. If one encountered a person or beast frozen to death by the roadside, it would not be uncommon; even the most cold-resistant Nords should hold such wind and snow in awe.
A tall, robust Nord woman, carrying a steel longsword, traversed a sea of gray-black Tundra rocks. She wore a tattered leather armor on her upper body, stained with fresh blood, which had frozen solid in the low temperature. As the woman moved, blood clots occasionally fell off. Her lower body had only an apron, which could not cover her swollen belly at all.
Now, amniotic fluid and blood flowed between her legs; she was going into labor.
The woman's face was colder than the wind and snow; the blood had drained her body heat, and her limbs trembled unconsciously.
The sun on the horizon was about to set. She found a small, sheltered hollow, where some soft snowflakes had accumulated. She decided to give birth there.
Looking around, this desolate frozen land, rocks and soil beneath millennia of ice and snow, covered with fragmented, mournful gray lichens, and the setting sun, about to dip below the horizon, cast a deathly mist over this desperate place. The wind and snow still blew incessantly; snowflakes often were blown up again by strong winds before they even hit the ground, creating a white torrent of snowflakes near the surface.
Wolf howls echoed in the distance.
The woman leaned against a rough stone, an ancient stone whose edges had been worn away by glaciers and seawater, and whose coarse surface had been eroded by strong winds. At this moment, it surprisingly gave a feeling of comfort. Although it was cold and hard, the woman clearly did not care.
She remained silent, like a mute. A small pool of blood had already accumulated beneath her, the blood congealing, with ice crystals floating on its surface, pure white ice floating in the turbid blood.
The woman took out a red potion bottle from the small satchel on her back. It was a healing potion, with only one sip left. The woman hesitated for a moment, then put the bottle back into the satchel.
The wolf howls sounded again.
And they were closer.
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