Lu Xin had a very strange dream. It was so strange that it felt like it had really happened.
He stood on a boundless green plain.
Underfoot was a soft, carpet-like lawn, each blade of grass shimmering with light, and with every step he took, a cluster of unknown wildflowers bloomed beneath his feet.
They withered quickly after he lifted his foot, turning into golden specks of light and disappearing into the air.
Lu Xin looked around and raised his head in surprise. There was no sun or moon in the sky, and it was clear and cloudless.
But light was everywhere. He could feel the warmth and softness enveloping this space. A tear even fell from the corner of his eye due to this peace.
It was too strange—a familiar sense of unfamiliarity.
In the distance, a giant ancient tree grew in the middle of the plain. Its canopy blotted out the sky, each leaf burning with raging fire, and magma flowed through the veins of its trunk.
Lu Xin knew he should walk toward that tree, but he didn’t move. Because there was still a person standing in front of it.
She had long crimson hair, a robe woven of flames fluttering in the breeze, and golden sun-like eyes that encompassed everything before her. Her snow-white, delicate skin made her even more magnificent. Her height far exceeded Lu Xin’s, her figure was full, and there was a motherly gentleness in every move she made.
She looked at the dazed Lu Xin, her eyes filled with tender smiles.
“Hello, my name is Ignia. Welcome here.”
The woman bent down and introduced herself warmly.
Ignia?
Lu Xin blinked. He felt like he had heard or seen that name somewhere before, but now he couldn’t remember it at all. He looked around. He should have been sleeping in his bed, so this must be a dream.
He collected his thoughts and bent down to the person in front of him. “My name is Lu Xin. Lu as in ‘road,’ Xin as in ‘hardship.’”
“Lu Xin, that’s a lovely name.”
Lu Xin looked at the ancient tree behind Ignia.
Up close, he realized how insignificant he was. Compared to this tree, he was probably less than a speck of dust.
“Is it beautiful?”
“Huh?”
“Is this tree beautiful?”
“Yeah, I’ve never seen such a huge tree before.”
Ignia gently caressed the ancient tree, her eyes showing tenderness.
Lu Xin was a little entranced by her appearance. She was truly beautiful, every movement exuding maternal kindness.
Ignia turned to look at Lu Xin and softly explained, “It’s been a long time since anyone came here.”
“A long time since anyone came? But aren’t I dreaming?”
Faced with Lu Xin’s confusion, Ignia covered her mouth and giggled.
Her elegance made Lu Xin dazed again.
“A dream? That’s right.” She approached Lu Xin and looked at him dotingly.
“Then in your dream, is there anything you want to do?”
Lu Xin quietly looked at the plump and gentle woman in front of him.
There was not a trace of impure thought in his heart. In fact, no living being would have such thoughts when facing Ignia.
Seeing that Lu Xin didn’t speak, Ignia reached out a slender hand to stroke his head and offered her suggestion:
“Your dream is very empty. How about filling it together and making it full of life?”
Lu Xin looked around. The boundless plain had no life at all, and indeed it felt lonely. But what did she mean by filling the dream with life? Was she asking him to conjure other animals out of thin air?
Ignia seemed to see through Lu Xin’s thoughts. She raised her hand, and a clump of mud appeared.
“You can freely create the life you wish to see. This is a very interesting process.”
Lu Xin took the clump of mud in surprise.
He felt like a child playing with mud, and there was a lady watching him from beside him.
That made him feel even more like he was being taken care of by an adult.
Ignia gently took Lu Xin’s hand and sat him down on the grass. Her voice was soft as a breeze in his ear:
“Don’t know what to do? Then let’s start with the sky.”
“What kind of creature do you hope to see in the sky, Lu Xin?” Ignia patiently guided Lu Xin as he played with the mud.
What kind of creature did he want to see in the sky? Lu Xin thought seriously for a moment, then looked up curiously.
“Can I make a dragon?”
“Dragon? Of course, you can. Lu Xin has a great idea. I look forward to seeing the dragon you make.”
Ignia gave great praise to Lu Xin’s idea. In fact, she affirmed every word and every action of Lu Xin.
Lu Xin’s cheeks flushed slightly. He began to knead the mud in his hands. Well, maybe he just wasn’t cut out for playing with mud.
After a bit of kneading and fiddling, a slender creature appeared in Lu Xin’s hands.
Apart from being recognizable as having a pair of wings, it was hard to associate it with a dragon.
Ignia carefully picked up the dragon Lu Xin had made and looked at it with adoration.
“It’s great. Do you want to see it in the sky?”
“Uh… maybe not.” Lu Xin took back the dragon and kneaded it back into a mud ball.
“Let me make it with you.” Ignia spoke softly.
She reached out and placed her hands over Lu Xin’s. They were very close, and Lu Xin could feel the warmth behind him.
“Whatever shape you want to give it, it will become. If you press hard, it will dent; if you are gentle, it will smooth out.”
Lu Xin looked at her hands. Those fair, slender hands were stained with mud but didn’t look dirty.
Ignia noticed Lu Xin’s gaze. She held Lu Xin’s hand firmly, with a helpless yet doting expression, and said:
“Lu Xin, have you ever seen a real dragon?”
Lu Xin shook his head. He had only seen them in picture books.
The mud in Ignia’s hands began to take shape.
Her fingers guided Lu Xin’s hands as they skillfully pinched the mud.
The dragon’s scales, claws, wings, bones… Ignia was very skilled, as if she had really seen a dragon before.
“Every creature has its own personality. Lu Xin, what kind of dragon do you want it to be?”
Lu Xin thought for a moment. “A gentler one?”
“Gentle? That’s a very interesting personality for a dragon.” She chuckled softly. Her fingers lingered on the dragon’s head for a long time as she patiently shaped its appearance.
“This is the last step. The dragon’s eyes are the hardest.” She stopped moving and said softly.
Lu Xin looked at the mud that had already taken on the rough shape of a dragon.
It lay quietly in Ignia’s palm like a sleeping young beast.
“A dragon with its eyes open is fighting—it lives in this moment.”
“A dragon with its eyes closed is sleeping—it lives in a dream.”
Ignia looked at Lu Xin in her arms and said softly, “Do you want it to open its eyes or close them?”
Lu Xin looked at the dragon. Its outline was so clear that he could even imagine what it would look like with open eyes.
“Open them, since you brought it into this world.”
Ignia smiled at Lu Xin with affection.
She opened the dragon’s eyes for it. She placed the mud dragon on the grass.
A ray of light fell on it, and the mud began to change.