Mythical Creatures Strategy Guide

Chapter 64 The Zhang Family

Beneath each of the Life Trees in the Gray Zone, golden light gradually emerged from the soil.

Some names are so bright that they gild the leaves around them; others are so dark that after breaking through the soil, they wobbled a couple of times and almost fell back into the mud, only to be caught by the gray elves beside them in a panic.

A grey elf uncle hugged his life tree and cried, "I'm not even married yet! Tree, what does it mean when you spit this thing out at me? Whose bastard is this?"

The old man next to him cursed and kicked him: "Shut up, even the trees think you're noisy."

After he finished cursing, he squatted down and carefully held up the name that had surfaced with his hand.

Looking at the golden light, Yinye suddenly noticed that the Life Trees throughout the entire Gray Domain were drooping their leaves.

Those crooked trees, straight trees, tall trees, short trees, trees that bear fruit, trees that don't bear fruit, and trees with leaves that look like poop, all quietly drooped their branches.

They usually grow in their own way, none of them yielding to the others, but today they did the same thing: brought out what was buried under their roots.

Grandmother slowly turned around and looked in the direction of the sacred tree.

The Gray Domain could not see the tree itself, only the green light spreading out from the depths of the forest. Each time the green light swept across, the Gray Domain's life tree trembled slightly.

Grandmother squinted: "The sacred tree is calling them."

Yinye looked up: "Who are you calling?"

"These names," Grandmother said, "the sacred tree is calling these names back."

Upon hearing this, Audrey's pupils contracted to a thin slit: "I understand!"

Everyone turned to look at her.

"The fake Esta stole the true names of the royal elves and buried them in the roots of the Gray Realm's Tree of Life!" Audrey stood up, her face filled with shock. "She wanted the Gray Elves to be chosen by the Sacred Tree!"

A gray elf youth asked blankly, "Chosen? What for?"

"To establish a new royal court," Audrey murmured, "to establish a new elven royal family."

The young man was stunned, still clutching a pot lid in his arms: "Me? royalty? My wife kicked me out to sleep in the woodshed last night."

Audrey continued, "But she didn't expect that after the Sacred Tree awoke, the first names it would seek out were still these."

"The records of the Cat Territory state that the names of the royal elves are passed down. After they die, their true names return to their roots, and the Sacred Tree will call out that name again when it bestows a child next time. But these names are now buried under the Gray Domain Tree of Life, and the Sacred Tree cannot find them, which is why it calls out to them again and again."

Arthur's face darkened: "You mean...?"

"The true name of a living royal elf never leaves its body." Audrey looked at the golden light in Silverleaf's palm. "And these names have already been removed."

"Then they..." Yinye gritted her teeth, "they're all dead?"

Audrey did not answer, and her grandmother silently closed her eyes.

In the distance, an old grey elf suddenly knelt down. He held a golden nameplate in his arms, his lips trembling: "This... I recognize this. When I was little, I went with my father to the royal court to sell dried berries. The elf who collected the dried berries had this name, and she even gave me a piece of honey cake."

He grinned, as if he wanted to laugh, but didn't: "Back then, she even complained that my hands were dirty and told me to wash them before eating."

An older woman next to her held up the nameplate and said blankly, "I recognize this one too. She used to come to Gray Domain to buy Moonlight Fruit. She thought our fruits were too small, and spent a long time picking and choosing, but in the end she bought them all."

"I thought she looked down on people, but she's probably just worried we won't be able to sell them."

The old grey elf, hunched over, wandered through the crowd, softly reciting each name he passed.

More gray elf voices rang out.

My grandmother mentioned this name!

"Isn't that the tall girl who guards the east gate? When I was a kid, I sneaked off to the royal court, and she dragged me back by the ear."

The people of the Gray Zone gathered around their Tree of Fate, holding those golden names in their hands.

They once envied the royal court, and perhaps were even a little jealous of it, but no one truly hoped that the royal court would all die.

"Royal elves..." a grey elf child clung to his mother's leg and whispered, "Are there really none left?"

Not far away, beneath another tree of life, new golden light emerged.

A young grey elf rushed to catch it, shouting anxiously, "Mother! Come quick! This one's exhausted! It's going to fall!"

His mother rushed over, slapped his hand away, and knelt down to carefully hold the gold characters in her palm. The gold characters shimmered twice in her hand.

Grandmother slowly walked to Yinye's side.

"A lot." Yinye's mood wasn't very high. "Grandmother, too much."

Grandma looked at the entire gray area. Under the treehouse, beside the vegetable garden, by the suspension bridge, near the stream, everywhere was golden.

Audrey went to her grandmother's side: "These names can't stay here for too long."

"Why?" Yinye immediately looked up.

"They've been away from their roots for far too long." Audrey looked at the increasingly dim golden light. "Their true names should have returned to the sacred tree. It's a miracle that they've survived buried under the Gray Domain's Tree of Life until now."

Yinye's hand trembled: "Will they disappear?"

Audrey paused for a moment: "Perhaps, there aren't many records in the literature."

Ella crouched down to the side, brought her nose close to Silver Leaf's hand, and gently sniffed it.

"It's tired," Ella whispered. "It wants to sleep."

Silver Leaf looked down at her palm, where Estella's name lay quietly. The golden light had dimmed considerably, and the gold shone softly in her hand.

Yinye had never met Estar before, only seen fake Estar.

But she had seen other royal elves.

Back then, she secretly went to the entrance of the royal court to sell the first batch of dried meat she had made, but was stopped by a royal guard. Yinye remembered that she had a faint floral scent and, standing in the sunlight, was so white that she seemed to glow.

The guard bought a small bag of dried meat and earnestly said it tasted good before chasing her away.

Silverleaf was overjoyed for several days. Later, she heard from the people of the Gray Domain that whatever the Royal Elves said sounded nice, but shouldn't be taken seriously.

At that moment, an even greater commotion arose in the distance.

"besides!"

"I have one under my tree too!"

"Don't push! Don't step on the names!"

The Gray Domain was fully awake. People who were still sleeping ran out of the treehouse, the elderly were helped to walk towards the Tree of Life, and playful children were pulled back by adults, not allowed to touch the golden words.

Every tree of life bows its head, and every name shines brightly.

Grandmother took a deep breath and shouted to the gray elves around her, "Don't panic! Protect the names first! Elders who can recognize the ancient language, go and check each house! It's okay if you can't recognize them, just don't let them fall back into the mud!"

"And then what?" someone asked loudly.

Grandmother looked in the direction of the sacred tree, where it lit up again.

She was getting tired of shouting and said softly, "Afterwards, send them back."

"Where to send it?"

"The Sacred Tree".

A commotion broke out in the crowd.

The Sacred Tree. That's the sacred tree of the royal court, the root of the elven royal family, a place rarely approached by the grey elves. In the past, when the grey elves went to the royal court to trade, they could only go as far as the outer market.

A young grey elf, holding the name in his hand, hesitated and asked, "Will the royal court allow us to go to the Sacred Tree?"

After he said that, the surroundings quieted down a bit. The people around him stared at him as if he were a fool.

Who would stop the royal court now?

Yinye slowly stood up and suddenly remembered the day she left home.

She found her grandmother annoying, the Gray Realm annoying, and the Sacred Tree Forest even more annoying. She wanted to go to farther places, to stand on a bigger stage, and to let everyone know that gray elves could have their own girl band.

But now she realizes that after traveling so far, what she really wants to return to is her home.

Silver Leaf looked up: "Let's take them home."