Chapter 133: Kindred

Chapter 133: Kindred

Facing the large hammer whooshing overhead, Bran also made up his mind. He would treat it as another Trial. Just like when he first entered the Vast Plain, where peace hid danger, hadn’t he gotten through that too?

During this time, being caught up in schemes and bullying small fry had made Bran somewhat lazy. This time, being entangled by the Ancient Tree’s newly grown vines made him reflect and wake up. He had actually failed to notice it in advance, and after being entangled, he did not respond in time. Part of the reason was certainly that their Magic Fields were intertwined, leaving them neither on guard against nor monitoring each other. But before he was trapped, he had a chance to break free, and he didn’t seize it.

When was the last time he swung his twin blades?

Bran let out a humorless laugh. The twin blades behind him gave a light hum and fell into his hands. The Ancient Tree probably still lacked a sparring partner…

As Bran went wild, the situation where his blades and the hammer were knocked from his grasp also became frequent. The explosive sounds of weapon s clashing began to echo within the City Manor.

…

Zoya had not been in a good mood these past few days. Although she rarely clung to Bran’s side anymore, the daily routine of greetings and chats had always been maintained. The only difference was the length of time, but this habit had been ruthlessly interrupted.

She already knew the Ancient Tree was a powerful being. Although she didn’t believe it at first, with Bran’s reminders and warnings, she gradually came to believe it.

However, she still couldn’t understand. A tree, just standing tall here, how could it prove its power?

She didn’t like the Ancient Tree because she found that Bran cared more about the Ancient Tree than about her.

That day, when she habitually walked towards Bran, she noticed something unusual. For example, the White Wolves around were gone, and there were no other Northlanders in sight nearby.

The Ancient Tree finally showed her a powerful and extraordinary side—it was actually swinging a pair of large hammers!? The whooshing wind heard from afar turned into a fierce gust blowing in her face as she got closer.

This might be the reason why everyone else had disappeared, but she wasn’t afraid! Bran was there, so everything was safe. So, as usual, she calmly walked towards Bran. She turned a blind eye to Bran’s waving gestures and turned a deaf ear to Bran’s attempts to stop her.

Until the oncoming hammer grew larger and larger before her eyes. At that moment, she truly felt the taste of Death. Although she had heard Bran talk about it before. Bran told her that the taste of Death is your whole life; when it comes, your whole life is just an instant. In that instant, your life will flow backwards until you hear your first cry.

She didn’t hear a cry. She was pounced on, pounced on by the Black Cat Huahua. Then this Black Cat bit her collar and dragged her far away, leaving only a trail of water. That was really embarrassing…

The terrifying image of the Ancient Tree swinging the hammers was deeply implanted in her mind. She began to regret it! She understood why the Ancient Tree had aimed such a blow at her head. Because she had once secretly come under the tree, away from everyone, and cursed at it softly for a long time.

At that time, she thought, what if I curse at you? You can only shake your canopy to show your anger.

She finally knew the taste of Death, just as Bran had said. It was just a bit of a pity that she didn’t hear the cry from when she was born. This was also a good harvest, she tried to comfort herself.

…

Zoya was lucky, although she didn’t know how lucky she was!

The Ancient Tree could not only shake its canopy, but also think. It had its own joys, angers, sorrows, and pleasures, but it had always been happy. It had never felt the emotion of anger before. The Fairy was very good to it, Bran was very good to it, Huahua was very good to it, and those Northlanders were very good to it.

Among these people, it most wanted to be with Bran and Huahua. It felt they were kindred. Communication at the spiritual level made their interaction extremely smooth. They would tell it many interesting experiences. In those experiences, they always appeared together, always relying on each other. They told it this was called — sharing life and death. It also wanted this. It even felt that the three of them were already — sharing life and death.

But that day, it felt anger and finally learned what anger was. It had been curious before, what was this emotion? Someone had satisfied its curiosity, and now it wanted to give something in return. This person who brought it the emotion of anger — Zoya, Bran’s friend.

Zoya, this little one, actually wanted to ruin their relationship!? It would teach her a lesson, right in front of Bran and Huahua…

When it still wanted to scare Zoya again, a single sentence from Bran calmed all its anger.

“Be polite to our guest.”

“Guest? Hmm, one should be polite to guests.” So, it watched as Huahua dragged Zoya away.

Bran made no move, especially after seeing the water trail on the ground. He could only pretend he hadn’t seen anything. His later explanation was that he was trapped by the Ancient Tree at that time, unable to move and unable to see his surroundings clearly.

…

Bran was quite impressed by the little girl Zoya. A normal person who got a scare like that would probably need to hide for a while. He thought he wouldn’t see her for the next few days. But at dinner that day, Zoya reappeared as if nothing had happened.

Impressive!

What impressed Bran most was that Zoya actually discussed the taste of Death with him; she seemed to really like that feeling. So, to test it, Bran invited Zoya to meet under the Ancient Tree again. As a result, Zoya’s face turned pale, and she firmly refused the suggestion.

However, this did not stop Zoya’s interest in continuing the discussion, which was interesting.

Was there something going on? Did Zoya offend the Ancient Tree? Was that blow not accidental? This was not a good sign. If everyone who offended the Ancient Tree got such a blow, how many people would be left alive in the city in a few years? When it was time to leave in the future, he really would have to take it along, at least he could restrain it a bit.

Bran thought this, and couldn’t help but carefully look Zoya up and down a few times. A vague bloodthirstiness, a pursuit of the thrill of Death, actually had a bit of a Shadow of his former self.

It really was: Birds of a feather flock together.

…

Zoya had indeed entered the right door and was living happily and contentedly. But during this time, the lives of the White-robed Ones were rather hard, especially after they misunderstood Bran’s intention. They personally took action to clean, repair, and build their outpost, hiring no one else.

Bran did not correct this misunderstanding. A group of Wizards, using their own abilities to build their outpost, might bring some unexpected surprises. In this World, while people pursued individual power, they gradually went against their true hearts, against their own nature. But as he observed, Bran found that Wizards were the ones who should most keep to their true hearts, because power was nurtured from within it.

He hoped the White-robed Ones would adapt to everything here as soon as possible, just like Zoya, and show their true nature.