“Hic...” Barton hiccuped.
He hadn’t eaten that fast in a long ti. The last ti, as far as he could rember, was when he and his companions had snuck into a hunting cabin to feast on roasted at.
The empty stew can flew from his hand and rolled across the stones toward the cave entrance. The tin can ca to a halt against a rubber boot that had just stepped inside.
Barton looked up and, seeing Lu Li had returned, asked, “Well? Will this place do for you?”
“Is there any fresh water?” Lu Li asked, setting his umbrella down by the entrance.
“Fresh water? You an a spring? There’s a small lake on Quiet Hill, about the size of the sawmill.”
“But you said it was dangerous there.”
Barton shrugged. “It’s the only source of water in the Elm Forest, unless a new river or lake has appeared in the last eight years.”
The slightly ironic remark sparked a new thought in Lu Li’s mind.
Rainwater was drinkable. He could carve out a few hollows in the rock to collect it, or simply stock up on barrels.
Barton watched with curiosity as Lu Li paused, lost in thought. He himself continued to inspect the small cave by the light of the oil lamp.
The cave was dry. Only near the very entrance, closer to the outside, did it feel damp. There was no risk of rainwater seeping through the ceiling.
“What do you think?” Lu Li asked Anna.
“As a shelter, it’s more than adequate.”
Lu Li agreed. However, the emotions of the Elm Forest and the unknown anomaly on Quiet Hill remained potential threats.
It seed he would have to ask the Traders about these places when he got back.
Aside from the tool marks on the walls and the discarded can near the entrance, the cave showed no other signs of human presence. After a quick look around, Lu Li returned to Barton and, gazing down at the seated man, asked, “Rested enough?”
“A little more... But if you’re planning on heading down, then I’m rested enough,” Barton began to protest, then imdiately thought better of it.
“Then let’s go.”
Lu Li tightened the valve on the oil lamp, covered the extinguished lantern with a piece of oilcloth, and led the way out of the cave.
The rain drumd against his umbrella, running off the edges in a solid curtain of water. Lu Li paused at the cave mouth, his eyes scanning the ground as if searching for sothing.
“What is it?” Anna asked.
“We could plant your sister here,” Lu Li said, looking at a patch of ground to the right of the cave.
There was a patch of soil, and the nearest withered tree stood seven or eight ters away. If they planted Enni there, the two wouldn't interfere with each other.
Assuming, of course, that tree was truly dead.
Lu Li had ways to check.
Barton was still fussing around in the cave, pulling on his rain slicker.
Holding the umbrella, Lu Li walked toward the tree. As he drew closer, he didn’t feel the sorrow that perated the forest, not even when he stood right beside it and saw the deep grooves in its trunk.
The tree was dead.
“Best not to touch the trees!” Barton’s voice cut through the downpour. Having pulled on his rain slicker, he walked over to Lu Li and stared at the withered tree, its bark as wrinkled as his own face.
“Hm... If it has no emotions, that’s another matter.”
Lu Li and Barton walked around the dead tree and started back the way they had co.
The rain had washed away their tracks, but Barton found the path without hesitation.
The sorrow of the Elm Forest enveloped them once more. Lu Li was silent, having no questions to ask. Barton was also quiet, lacking the energy to speak.
Noon was approaching. The sky seed a little brighter than it had on their way in, but it remained completely overcast.
They once again passed the Tree-Lord. The rope on its branch, the axe in its trunk, the skeleton at its roots—all of it silently told so story.
Lu Li, walking behind Barton, suddenly stopped.
Barton, unsuspecting, walked on a little farther before he sensed sothing was wrong and turned around.
He followed Lu Li’s gaze, and his heart skipped a beat. He began to back away discreetly.
“I’m fine,” Lu Li glanced at him, then looked away again. “Do you think...” he mused, “I should help it?”
“What?” Barton, who had just been feeling a pang of sha for wanting to flee, froze. He stared at Lu Li in disbelief. “Are you joking? You want to help these... monsters?”
“Has no one ever tried?” Lu Li asked thoughtfully.
“No, and you’d better not either,” Barton warned.
“Why?”
“They won’t be grateful to you!” Barton shouted, standing several ters away. “Rember what I said? They only have emotions!”
In response, Lu Li took a step toward the Tree-Lord.
Most, if not all, who entered this forest tried to stay as far away from the trees as possible.
But Lu Li was different.
He was about to beco a neighbor to these trees, whose very emotions could drive a person to suicide.
Good neighborly relations were very important.
“I thought he was a smart young man, but he’s just crazy! Dammit, dammit!” Barton cursed under his breath. Without another thought, he turned and limped away, vanishing into the rain.
“He ran off.”
Anna’s voice sounded beside him. “I won’t let them harm you.”
“Protect
from a distance,” Lu Li said.
“What...?”
“They attack with emotions. I might be able to resist, but you can’t.”
“But...”
“Your range is several dozen ters. That’s enough. If it looks like I’m in trouble, stop .”
With that, Lu Li approached the Tree-Lord, step by step.
The skeleton at its roots grew clearer. The empty eye sockets seed to speak a silent ssage.
The sorrow and anguish intensified. Painful mories began to surface.
Lu Li lowered his gaze and stopped before the Tree-Lord.
He glanced over at Anna, who had appeared beside him, then gripped the damp axe handle with both hands and, without a mont’s hesitation, yanked!
The rusty axe flew from the trunk, taking a handful of wood splinters with it. In that sa instant, an indescribable force enveloped Lu Li. An unimaginable, all-consuming sorrow flooded his mind...
An eternity, or perhaps just a mont, seed to pass before Lu Li ca to his senses and opened his eyes.
He was lying in Anna’s arms. Raindrops shattered against an invisible barrier a few ters away, streaming to the sides.
His face was wet. It was impossible to tell if it was from tears or the rain.
“What happened?” Anna asked, her voice laced with anxiety and a faint chill. “You passed out the mont you pulled the axe free... I had to move you away from it!”
Lu Li nodded and pushed himself to his feet. Once he’d composed himself, he looked toward the spectral Tree-Lord, now fifteen ters away.
Sorrow and despondency still hung in the air, but through it all, Lu Li sensed sothing else emanating from the tree... joy.
His risk had paid off.
Now, one mber of his new neighbor’s family was no longer hostile to him.
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