The other planet wasn’t far. The coordinates Sylvia prepared were generally clustered together.
This time, Ye Muo wasn’t as awestruck by the docking process, though he still remained pressed up against the observation deck screen.
That all changed when they landed in a clearing surrounded by golden forest.
He was already turning back to share his insights before they even landed properly, “It really is golden!”
“En, it is.”
Norton tugged him back a bit by the collar.
Saude turned off the screen before extending the passageway.
There was a real chance of falling now. Ye Muo shifted back a bit more and hugged Norton’s leg.
Meanwhile, Pangzhua was already eagerly rearing up. It probably wanted to rest its front paws on the screen for a closer look, but it fell empty this time. Alarmed, its four paws dug frantically into the passageway as it slid down.
After realizing that nothing was wrong, it feigned nonchalance and withdrew its claws, sliding slowly down the rest of the way.
The other Grantz gradually filed out.
There was a thick layer of leaves covering the ground. Ano called out to Ye Muo from below, “Come here, Muomuo.”
Ye Muo sat down in place and pointed to Pangzhua. “Muomuo’s going down like that too.”
“Well that’s simple.”
Bert dragged him over and pushed his little head down. “Lean forward.”
Ye Muo did as he was told. Then, he was gently pushed down the passageway by his head. He let out a quiet shriek, only to come to a stop before the sound was half out.
He raised his head. After a moment of thought, he started waddling down like a little duck.
Norton paused in the middle of going to retrieve him. When he eventually made his way to the other end, Ano picked him up and deposited him on the ground.
Ye Muo gasped as he stepped on the soft leaves. It felt different than stepping on a lawn. It was curiously soft, not to mention the noises!
He marched in place like a kitten making biscuits. “Crispy!”
Soon, Ye Muo started hopping around. “It’s bouncing Muomuo.”
Pangzhua hurried back after rolling out and ducking ito the woods. It dragged a thick branch laden with apples to Ye Muo’s feet.
The branch seemed to have recently been removed judging by the still-fresh sap.
Ye Muo was pleasantly surprised. “Apples! Why are apples like this?”
Bert lightly swept him off his feet with a kick. “Apples grow on trees, dummy.”
It didn’t hurt, but Ye Muo didn’t get up from where he was sitting. “Bad Bert. Bullying Muomuo.”
He wasn’t that mad though. The ground was so soft and comfortable to sit on. Ye Muo chomped down on one of the apples in front of him while Pangzhua started gulping them down one after the other.
Ano quickly arrived to uphold justice for him. “I’m telling Sylvia right now.”
Bert immediately put him in a headlock.
Ye Muo was still biting the apple. When he let go a while later, the apple was unharmed aside from an imprint. Still, Ye Muo was satisfied. “Sweet.”
Aria walked over and stuffed a small berry into his mouth. Ye Muo clutched his mouth and carefully looked around. When he noticed Norton looking at him, he asked in a small voice, “Candy?”
“It’s a berry. It grows in the bushes over there. Want to go see?”
“Yeah. Muomuo’s gonna go.”
Aria carried him over and let him sit in front of a fruitful bush. Ye Muo stayed there and started snacking on berries. Once he had his fill, he looked up, his mouth ringed with dark berry juice.
“Can bushes grow gummy bears?”
Before Aria could respond, Bert leaned over and told him, “Of course. Trees can even grow chicken drumsticks!”
“Muomuo wants drumsticks!”
Aria slowly turned to Bert before stuffing Ye Muo into his arms. “Muomuo, Bert said he wants to go find a drumstick tree with you.”
“Hurry up and thank Bert. There’s no way he would lie to you, right?”
Ye Muo happily raised his arms. “Thanks, Bert.”
Then he looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to take him to the mythical drumstick tree.
Bert: “I don’t think you want to eat them.”
“Muomuo does want to!”
A flock of birds startled nearby, taking to the air. Pangzhua soon burst through the bushes from that direction, coughing out a few feathers. It trotted over to Ye Muo and spat out a small bird egg.
Ye Muo immediately changed his tune, “Muomuo wants to eat little eggs.”
Bert breathed a sigh of relief, “Then I’ll take Muomuo to look for eggs.”
He set Ye Muo on Norton’s shoulders. “Hold on tight. Let’s go loot some bird nests.”
They’re all in the trees anyway. When the time comes, he would just fool him into believing the eggs were immature drumsticks, Bert thought.
Ye Muo was already nervously grabbing Norton’s hair due to the sudden change in location. Norton steadied him without a word, calming him down enough to feel excited again. “Muomuo’s so high up.”
Norton set off once he was securely in place.
The others gradually followed suit.
A cool wind blew through, causing countless more leaves to fall.
　　……
“Next is summer.”
Bert casually swiped to a planet. “Let’s go to the beach.”
Ye Muo had been stuffing all his new treasures into the chest. There were so many leaves, a big handful of berries and several feathers he’d picked up.
Bert’s words made him start counting off his fingers again. He just learned the concept of the four seasons. “Winter is the season for sleeping in, autumn is for good eating. What about summer?”
Dylan was the one who answered, “Summer…”
He paused for a few seconds, “…is very hot. You can take a cold shower to cool off.”
Ye Muomuo’s hand shot into the air. “Muomuo wants a cool shower!”
Norton’s gaze moved from Ye Muo to Dylan.
Dylan quietly bowed his head and pretended nothing happened, feeling a modicum of guilt.
Ye Muo was so enchanted by the sea that he forgot to gasp in awe. He had been staring out at it since the starship parked on the beach.
He didn’t even register that he had been changed into swim shorts and now had a little yellow duck swimming on.
Ye Muo was carried by Norton across the sand and straight to the sea.
Most of the others had already jumped in.
Ye Muo started trying to wriggle free and join them. He cheered up as soon as he was set in the water, his hand automatically grabbing the swim ring.
Norton watched over him close by, bringing him back up whenever he tipped over.
Adrian emerged from underwater and presented a beautiful large shell to Ye Muo. “Look at this.”
Ye Muo gasped in awe, but both his hands were occupied with the swim ring. “Muomuo, Muomuo doesn’t have hands.”
Adrian casually tossed the shell onto the beach. “Let’s leave it there for now. I’ll bring it back for you later. There’s a coral reed down there. I’ll go take a second look.”
With that, he disappeared again, leaving behind the barest of splashes.
Ye Muo was stunned for a moment. Then he turned to Norton. “Muomuo wants to look at the something reef too.”
Norton made a sound of acknowledgement and removed him from the swim ring. As he held Ye Muo in front of him, the child started paddling on instinct.
Norton covered himself and Ye Muo in a delicate layer. Then, he covered Ye Muo’s eyes and dove into the sea like a fish.
Ye Muo sensed the change as well. Although he was surrounded by water, he could still breathe.
Norton slowly uncovered his eyes.
The Grantz could survive in space, much less the seabed. Even without using psychic power, their astounding physique allowed them to survive in inhospitable environment like underwater or in space for quite some time.
Ye Muo had no time to think about anything else. A school of fish swam past him in this azure underwater world, only to soundlessly scatter as Ano swam over.
Ano swam a circle around him before leaving.
Ye Muo started paddling his hands and feet like a little frog. Yet as soon as he started floating up, Norton caught him and brought him towards Ano.
The coral reef was over there. Fish of all colours and patterns weaved through the structure.
Norton took him to the side. Ye Muo saw a behemoth leisurely swim by from behind them.
Ye Muo wanted to gasp again, but only a few bubbles emerged.
Then he started blowing bubbles for fun.
　　……
Ye Muo liked the sea very much. He insisted on visiting the seabed every time. He liked to enthusiastically dig into the sand as well. He even dug a place for Pangzhua to relieve itself– although someone put a stop to it immediately and Pangzhua was carried by the scruff of its neck to relieve itself far away.
Even Bert felt like Ye Muo might act up when it was time to go. Maybe he would throw a tantrum and turn on the waterworks. He was already prepared to coax a little fountain.
Actually, Ye Muo easily accepted they were leaving. He even raised both arms in celebration. “Muomuo’s going home.”
He wasn’t sad either. Like when they visited the other planets, Ye Muo still watched from the window as they entered port. Theodore and Pangzhua kept him company.
Ye Muo stayed in the observation deck for a long time before looking up doubtfully. “Muomuo doesn’t recognize this place anymore.”
The other Grantz stood up and crowded around.
The palace itself as well as the surrounding city had all been decorated. There were bunches of balloons being released into the air.
The starship was already considerably low in altitude as it headed towards the palace. For a time, the colourful balloons were all that could be seen.
Helene placed a flower crown on Ye Muo’s head.
Ye Muo raised his head questioningly before being taken aback. Everyone was looking at him.
“It’s a celebration.” Ano gently told him.
“Of what?”
Norton: “Of your birth.”
Ye Muo thought about it before cheering up. “They’re celebrating Muomuo!”
“En.”
The entire city is celebrating you.
　　……
Sylvia and Adlet had long been waiting at the port. The palace had also been decorated in and out. Even the port was filled with fresh flowers and colour-coordinated ornaments and ribbons.
Ye Muo didn’t pay those things much mind. First, he made a beeline over to hug Sylvia and Adlet.
Then Norton scooped him up and carried him towards the palace wing they lived in. He started grabbing whatever caught his attention along the way, soon accumulating a whole handful of loot. “I like coming home. Muomuo likes home.”
Dinner was especially bountiful that night.
Adlet didn’t even restrict Ye Muo’s dessert intake after the meal. Ye Muo looked anxiously between all the cupcakes on display. He wanted all of them, but his stomach was almost full. Thus, he circled the table again and again.
Until Bert stopped him. “Why don’t you just take a bite out of all of them,dummy?”
“Muomuo doesn’t waste food. Muomuo’s a good kid.”
“Bert’s a bad kid.” He added in a whisper.
Amused, Bert scooped him up and picked up a cupcake. “Then do you want a bite of the bad Bert’s cake?”
“Yeah. Bert’s nice. Thanks Bert.”
Ano soon jumped in, “You can have a bite of mine too.”
The others followed suit. Even Theodore offered a cupcake.
Thus, Ye Muo got to sample a whole bunch of different cupcakes.
　　……
In the afternoon the next day, when everyone gathered in the lounge after a meal.
Ye Muo pulled out the treasures he had brought back and started giving gifts to Sylvia and Adlet.
He had been tending to his collection on the way back. Aria had throw out the wilted berries in secret. They might not be edible anymore after so long. Surely Ye Muo didn’t notice?
Ye Muo didn’t dare remove his gloves on the winter planet, so he only took a tiny rock and a small length of frozen tree branch. The ice had melted away so it was just an ordinary branch now.
Therefore, the rock went to Sylvia and the branch went to Adlet.
Ye Muo shared the winter he had seen with them in a stammering voice before solemnly bestowing them the gifts. “Here, the presents from winter.”
Autumn’s gifts were a pile of leaves and feathers. The duo got a bit of both.
Summer was represented by a pile of beautiful shells, a box of sand and pretty rocks. All was generously distributed.
Ye Muo counted off his fingers several times before looking up, confused. “What about spring? Muomuo doesn’t know about spring.”
Bert was munching on the nuts they picked before. He casually tossed an empty shell at Ye Muo. Ye Muo turned around, holding his head.
“Isn’t that the season at home, dummy?”
Theodore mentally countered that the most habitable climate wasn’t strictly spring, but something closely similar.
Ye Muo’s eyes opened wide in realization. He glanced out the window at the greenery. There was a tall tree in the distance that Pangzhua and several other lions were lounging under. Ye Muo’s swing was also there. So he was in spring all along.
Ye Muo hugged his plush as he lay down in his sunlit spot once more. Norton was already by his side when he glanced over, so Ye Muo dragged his hand over to cover himself.
Theodore stopped by his side and started recharging.
The room became quiet.
Sylvia and Adlet sipped on tea at the round table.
Bert lay on the sofa with a bag of nuts as drowsiness washed over him.
Jacob peered out from the treehouse affixed to the walls above before preparing to nap as well.
Aria lay on the recliner with a book over her face. She was already fast asleep.
The other Grantz lay haphazardly on the floor with Ye Muo. They kept a certain distance out of respect for their big brother.
Ye Muo rolled over so the sunlight could reach his tummy too. Norton’s hand shifted with the movement.
His feet were warm too. The sunlight really was wonderful.
Author’s Corner
Muomuo divides the gifts. Muomuo is very generous.
That’s all, folks. Now onto the main story.
