This sudden but baffling urge was not a result of the stifling beauty just inches away from him. Neither was it because of the alluring fragrance that exuded from the ivory teeth that bit down on those pink lips. And it was definitely not because the growing boy with eighth-grader syndrome had finally matured to satisfy his hormones.
It was because Shi Xiaobai realized the girl's gentleness.
She would always appear when he was most exhausted. She would silently and noiselessly accompany him.
She had never participated in the most exciting escapades he encountered but every time the story came to an end, or when the figurative participants of a banquet scattered, she would be there for him when he felt empty, enervated, lost or at a nonplus.
When he turned his head, she would always be where the lights waned.
Thank you for being this gentle.
She lit a silent candle with a warmth that would not disturb his hibernation.
Shi Xiaobai did not know what the urge meant but he knew that such an urge was beautiful and pure. It delighted him.
He did not stop his urge.
The youth's ice-cold but somewhat parched lips suddenly imprinted themselves on the girl's warm but soft cherry lips.
"Uh…"
Kali moaned. With her strength, she naturally could react in time to such a sudden 'attack.' She could easily dodge but she did not do so. She even consciously pursed her lips, making preparations to 'welcome' him.
Hey, hey! You are being too shameless!
The girl's blue eye resembled a lake that had a rock dropped into it. Ripples stirred that phased the lake's reflection, producing shimmering flashes.
The tender snow-white face seemed to be masked by the most mesmerizing rouge, suffusing the most delicate and charming pink embarrassment.
Kali did not reject the sudden kiss from the youth. Instead, she was delighted with it.
Normal girls would enjoy an atmosphere under the moon and in front of flowers. A suggestive mood had to be built up and only with enough romantic development would they want to partake in the perfect mutual kiss at the most opportune moment.
However, she was no ordinary girl. Compared to the sweet talk of comparing her to the beautiful moon, she placed greater importance on the spotless true feelings of her beau.
A kiss was a way to express an indescribable outpouring of emotions between lovers.
He liked her.
That was enough.
It was truly good.
The girl's lips curled into a happy curve like a smiling crescent in the night sky.
"Uh!"
The girl suddenly widened her eyes.
T… Tongue?
No, don't come in!
Uh! Shi Xiaobai, when did you learn to be this naughty!?
Kali felt overwhelmed by embarrassment. Simultaneously, she felt that the World Tree powers in her body were beginning to decline.
'Purity' was the source of the World Tree's power. Kissing was an act that besmirched that purity. It would have caused her to lose her strength but she could not reject the happiness in her heart. Therefore, she steeled her heart to ignore the tiny amounts of power she was losing.
But with the youth's additional act of intimacy, the speed at which her powers were decreasing became faster. It was no longer at a speed she could ignore.
No!
Stop—
With a thought, Kali instantly appeared in another corner of the room. Her face was flushed red as she panted heavily. She could still feel that there was a strand of crystalline liquid hanging by the corner of her mouth. She was so embarrassed that she nearly fled to the other end of the world.
"Xiaobai, I…"
Kali opened her mouth and wanted to say something when she suddenly fell into a daze.
The youth had turned green.
His hair, eyebrows and all the hair on his body had turned green.
His skin, blood vessels, bones, organs, and everything in his body had also turned green.
That was a lush and luxuriant, tender and fleshy green!
But!
It was only for an instant!
The greenness vanished!
The green youth resembled a withered green leaf. He went from greenness to a withered yellow. The declining process of withering only happened for a short instant!
This instant was something that even Kali's perception failed to grasp.
"Xiaobai!"
Kali screamed. With a thought, she teleported in front of Shi Xiaobai. However, before she could probe the youth's situation or even extend her hand to take his pulse, the youth crumbled.
He crumbled like a withered leaf reducing to pieces in the cold wind!
Shi Xiaobai's body crumbled into countless withered fragments!
Kali stood there in a daze. Her heart tightened as it felt a pain so immense that she could not breathe.
In the next instant, when the withered fragments were reduced to dust, dissipating into the air, Kali saw that there was a seed floating in mid-air.
A dried and dark yellow seed that was void of all vibrancy.
The blue eye that nearly froze finally lit up once again.
"I see, you are…"
The girl's face was suddenly covered in tears.
She plopped down, kneeling on the bed. She trembled as she extended her hand to hold the seed. She embraced it gently in her bosom, clutching it close to her heart.
When her tears rolled down her face, the girl vanished.
Replacing her was a warm blob of light and a mass of pure darkness.
They existed side by side, wrapping the seed within as though they formed a world.
They were waiting for the seed's fate.
The next morning.
Speechless opened the door and subconsciously looked at Shi Xiaobai's room. Instantly, he stood rooted.
A green and towering tree had broken through the room's ceiling. It spread out across half the yard and the tree was growing towards the sky.
In the middle of dawn, the green tree's branches were blooming with purple flowers.
Where… is this?
Shi Xiaobai slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the clear blue sky and a towering thousand-year-old ancient tree that pierced through the clouds.
He remembered that he was clearly in a room at Crown Prince Manor. Due to an urge, he kissed the soft lips when he suddenly felt a fragrant air coming from it as though it was ambrosia.
He suddenly had an irresistible 'hunger' that made him stretch his tongue in, 'greedily' extracting it. Following that, he lost consciousness.
When he opened his eyes again, he realized he was in this unfamiliar place.
What place was this?
Where was Kali?
Shi Xiaobai surveyed his surroundings in a daze.
He discovered that he was situated in a primordial jungle.
The trees were intertwined with each other. They extended their branches with lush leaves that formed a cloud of emerald green. A towering camphor tree was in front of him. Its bark was dark green in color and its thick and odd branches seemed like dragons coiled around the tree.
A gentle breeze blew over, producing a rustle through the leaves that resembled a dragon's sigh.
Shi Xiaobai headed into the jungle when he suddenly saw a black gigantic centipede that was as large as a majestic hill. It was slowly crawling over. Wherever it passed, the trees would topple. It seemed to leave behind a wake of destruction as though a gigantic worm was crawling across grass.
Mud and gravel had been splayed in its path. Its thousands of feet smashed at the ground, causing twisted cracks to emanate through the ground as though a spreading crack in ice.
Shi Xiaobai looked in surprise at the animals he could see in the jungle. He knew most of the birds and worms he saw but all of them had an odd characteristic. They were many times bigger than what he knew them to be.
That were centipedes the size of anacondas, magpies the size of a hawk, squirrels the size of a lion… However, compared to the trees that reached hundreds of meters into the sky, they appeared very tiny.
There was green everywhere and the air was especially fresh. Suddenly, he saw a lake in the distance. It was emerald green and clear. It reflected the ancient trees like a mirror.
Shi Xiaobai walked towards the lake.
Whoosh!
A wooden arrow suddenly tore through the air at him!
Although the wooden arrow shot at him from an odd angle, its speed was not fast. It was also rather weak.
Shi Xiaobai gently lifted his hand and precisely clasped the arrow with two fingers.
"Huh!"
A girl's voice clearly sounded in the distant shrubs. It had a surprised tone.
"Who's there?"
Shi Xiaobai asked as he turned to head towards the shrubs.
"You, you are not permitted to come over!"
The eyes hidden in the shrubs blinked in panic. They shimmered like stars in the sky. She had delivered a rapid warning that lacked any form of threat.
Shi Xiaobai stopped and asked, "This King isn't a bad person. This King won't harm you. The only question This King would like to ask is where this place is."
"Liar! Granny said that humans are all baddies!"
The girl had her bow and arrow ready as the tip of the arrow carefully peeked out of the shrubs. She had the arrow trained at Shi Xiaobai as she said nervously, "Also, this is a forbidden ground. How… How did you enter?"
Shi Xiaobai was slightly taken aback. By saying 'humans are all baddies,' didn't the girl mean that she was not human?
Where was this place?
What sort of biological creature that had a childish girl's voice hid in the shrubs?
"Baddie! Go, go! If you don't go, I'll shoot you!"
The 'girl' seemed afraid of humans. Her voice sounded extremely nervous and her wooden arrow was quivering.
It would only be a waste of time if this carried on. It was likely that the 'girl' would not take the initiative to come out of the shrubs.
With this thought in mind, Shi Xiaobai suddenly used Crab Steps without any warning. He charged forward with a whoosh and in a blink of an eye, appeared behind the shrubs. He reached out and grabbed the 'girl.'
"Ah!"
The 'girl' immediately screamed. "Baddie! Let me go! Let me go!"
Shi Xiaobai focused and could not help but be surprised. She was really a girl.
She had two purple pigtails that struck his arms as she shook her tiny head in panic. Her fair and supple legs kicked out from her snow-white dress, kicking his shin.
She was clearly a six or seven-year-old girl.
"Let me go! Let me go!"
The girl struggled with all her strength as she screamed at the top of her lungs while crying.
"Don't be afraid. This King will not harm you!"
Shi Xiaobai helplessly released the girl's collar and took a few steps back with his hands raised.
The girl immediately ran to the back of an ancient tree like she was a frightened rabbit. After some time, she carefully peeked out her tiny head and stared warily at Shi Xiaobai.
Only then did Shi Xiaobai manage to make out what the girl looked like. His eyes instantly widened.
The weeping beauty had an exquisite face. Her crystal-like and bright blue eyes were staring intently at him. It was filled with nervousness and fear.
"Kali!?"
Shi Xiaobai was stunned. Although the girl was only around seven years old, her facial features were identical to Kali's!
"Ah!"
The girl immediately said in a fluster, "Baddie! How do you know my name!?"