touchnovel Chapter 62 Don't eat my tree!
Chapter 62 Don't eat my tree!
Halfway through the meal, Arthur put down his wooden spoon, his expression becoming more serious: "Old man, I have something to ask you."
Her grandmother looked at her: "Ask away."
"Has anything unusual happened in the gray area recently?"
The room fell silent. Grandmother thought for a moment and said, "No."
Yinye was taken aback: "Really not?"
Grandmother looked at her: "You want it?"
"Of course not!" Yinye sat up straight immediately. "I just wanted to confirm!"
Grandma took a sip of tea and said slowly, "The Gray Area is the same as before. People climb trees to pick fruit early in the morning, people quarrel at noon, and people play cards under the trees in the evening. The old carpenter scolded his grandson for being stupid the day before yesterday. A child picked fruit from someone else's tree and was chased and beaten twice."
Ella listened intently: "Why would picking fruit result in being chased and beaten?"
Silverleaf explained in a low voice, "The Life Tree is very important to the Gray Elves. It's very impolite to pick things from someone else's Life Tree."
Ella became curious: "Can I pluck your Tree of Life?"
Yinye looked at her warily: "What do you want to do?"
Ella pointed to the silver-leaf tea tree by the window: "Its leaves look like they could be used to make tea."
Silverleaf roared in fury: "Don't you dare eat my tree!"
Ella said, feeling wronged, "I was just asking."
Grandmother smiled and shook her head: "She also ate her own life tree when she was a child."
Yinye was stunned: "I didn't!"
"When you were three years old, you were gnawing on a tree branch, saying you wanted to taste what you tasted like."
Ella looked on with awe: "Silverleaf, you are so clever."
Arthur, however, remained vigilant: "Has no outsider come? Nor has anyone from the royal court appeared?"
Grandmother shook her head: "No, people from the Royal Court rarely come to the Gray Domain. It was rare before, and it's become even rarer recently. But with your arrival, the Gray Domain is incredibly lively today. There are already three circles of people gathered under the tree, all guessing whether Silver Leaf has caused trouble outside and has been brought back by the Imperial Knights."
Yinye's vision went black: "Who said that?!"
Grandmother thought for a moment: "It seems to be the child who sells ash potato cakes."
Yinye slammed her fist on the table in a rage: "She stole my socks when she was little! What right does she have to spread rumors about me!"
The dinner table became lively again.
Arthur asked a few more questions about the details, and his grandmother answered them all readily. There were no missing people in the Gray Zone, the Tree of Life was fine, and no strange white-skirted elves had suddenly appeared in the village.
Everything sounded normal, and Gin-yeo's shoulders slowly relaxed.
Perhaps the fake Esta only used something within the Gray Area, but nothing happened to the Gray Area itself.
Grandmother is still here, the Tree of Life is still here, and the dried meat still tastes the same. She suddenly realized that her worries along the way had been a bit silly; it was indeed that Chu Sheng who had corrupted her.
Spending too much time with him makes me feel like something terrible is about to happen.
Thinking of this, Yinye subconsciously looked towards the door.
Chu Sheng isn't here; I wonder how he and An Bowen are doing at the royal court.
Yinye wrinkled her nose.
He's probably not very serious.
"What are you thinking about?" Grandmother suddenly asked.
Yinye snapped out of her daze: "It's nothing."
Just then, the silver-leaf tea tree outside the window suddenly trembled slightly.
Yinye noticed and suddenly turned her head to look at the window.
The leaves of that silver-leaf tea tree were standing upright, their silvery-gray surfaces gleaming with a faint green light.
Arthur stood up as well, and at the same time, the entire treehouse suddenly shook!
The soup bowls on the table made a slight clinking sound, the dried fruit hanging on the wall swayed, and the strings of dried meat under the beam bumped together.
Then, a loud bang came from a great distance!
"Buzz—"
The spoon in Yinye's hand fell onto the table. Grandmother stood up, supporting herself on the edge of the table, her expression changing.
Arthur walked quickly to the window and looked towards the direction of the royal court.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out outside the treehouse. Someone was shouting under the tree, a child was crying, an old man opened a window, and a gray elf ran down the ladder, thumping the wooden planks with his footsteps.
"Buzz—"
A second sound rang out. Arthur picked up his holy sword and said in a deep voice, "Go out and see."
Grandmother reached out and stopped Yinye.
Yinye turned around: "Grandmother?"
Grandmother looked at her, her fingers slowly loosening.
"Go."
Yinye bit her lip and nodded.
The treehouse door was pushed open, and a night breeze rushed in. The sea of trees in the Gray Zone swayed in the wind. And in the distance, a ghostly green light shone from the forest.
Yinye squinted.
The first green ripple spread out from the depths of the Sacred Tree Forest.
The emerald green light spread along the treetops, past the tall ancient royal trees, past the low gray treehouses, past all the vine bridges and nutshell wind chimes, and finally swept silently over their heads.
Yinye felt something gently touch her pointed ears, and she instinctively shrank her neck.
Ella tilted her head back, her dog ears standing straight up, her paws shifting nervously. "What's that?"
Arthur had already stood on the edge of the platform outside the treehouse, holding the holy sword in her hand, which faintly shone with a layer of pale golden holy light.
Audrey squatted gracefully on the railing, her cloak clinging to her body in the night wind, her pupils narrowed to slits.
Grandmother walked out, supporting herself on the door frame.
"Grandmother," Silverleaf gripped her arm tightly, "What is the Sacred Tree... doing?"
Grandmother did not answer.
The second ripple has arrived.
"Buzz—!!!"
This time, the deep rumble was closer. A gasp came from below the treehouse.
"The sacred tree has resounded!"
"Get under the tree! Hurry to the tree!"
"No, don't run around, check the Tree of Life first!"
The entire gray area was in complete chaos. The suspension bridge between the treehouses swayed, and many gray elves emerged from the houses, some wearing robes, some barefoot, and some holding a deck of cards.
An old grey elf leaned out of the window, a nightcap on his head, and shouted, "Whose unlucky kid is setting off firecrackers again?"
Someone next door immediately retorted, "Are you out of your mind? Open your dog eyes and look around!"
"But the sacred tree can't just make that sound on its own!"
"It's called the Sacred Tree, what's wrong with it making a sound!"
"Does your lucky charm ever get up in the middle of the night to play cards?"
"My luck is better than yours at playing cards!"
Yinye felt a little dazed as she listened to the familiar noise.
This is what a gray area truly is.
Even if the sky falls, the gray elves will still have to argue first.
Grandma stood in front of the treehouse, looking up at the circles of green light spreading out in the distance.
My grandmother must have been very beautiful when she was young. Although she is now short and old, and her back is a little hunched, her green eyes are still very bright.
But now, there is only bewilderment in those eyes.
"Old man," Arthur asked in a deep voice, "have you ever seen anything like this before?"
"No," Grandmother shook her head. "I've lived for over nine hundred years and have never seen a sacred tree like this."
A third ripple spread out from afar. This time, the trees throughout the entire gray area lit up briefly.
Ella suddenly sniffed: "Wait a minute!"
Everyone looked at her. Ella looked down at the treehouse below, her nostrils flaring rapidly, her dog ears twitching from side to side.
"Not over there."
Arthur immediately asked, "What do you mean, not over there?"
"Down there," Ella pointed to the ground beneath the tree, her voice serious, "there's something down there."
Yinye's heart skipped a beat, and she looked in the direction Ella was pointing.
Below the treehouse are countless life trees in the gray area.