Chapter 79 - 78: Life Tree Totem?

As soon as the thought arose, she immediately remembered an ancient drawing she had once seen on a yellowed parchment scroll at her grandfather’s house. It was a tree with a perfectly straight trunk and symmetrical branches extending from both sides. At the tips of the branches were some mysterious symbols.

She had once asked her grandfather what those symbols meant, but he said he didn’t know either. Later, she searched for related information online and concluded that the symbols represented the sun, moon, stars, and beasts. One website claimed that this drawing was a tree totem—the mythical Life Tree. It was said that the Life Tree was the "cosmic axis" in shamanic beliefs, symbolizing the structure of the universe that connects the three realms of heaven, earth, and humanity, as well as the reproduction and immortality of life.

Sev Steele hadn’t paid much attention to this drawing. In her eyes, it was just a doodle on an animal skin made by her grandfather’s ancestors when they were too bored during the winter. It had absolutely nothing to do with any mysterious, lofty religious beliefs. But now, seeing a similar tree totem at the bottom of this wooden box, she suddenly began to doubt her own judgment. She wondered if it really had something to do with the Life Tree.

Sev carefully stroked the wood grain, falling into deep thought. In a daze, her finger seemed to be pricked by a sharp splinter. A slight stinging sensation spread, followed by a distant, chaotic murmuring ringing in her ears. The voices seemed as far away as the horizon, yet they lingered right inside her mind.

Sev couldn’t hear it clearly, let alone make out what the voices were saying. She only felt her body go limp as her vitality was continuously drained away. Unbeknownst to her, her face had gone as white as a sheet. From her crouching position, she collapsed straight onto the floor. Her head rested weakly against the edge of the wooden box, making it look as though she might pass away at any second.

Nearby, Rose had just finished soothing the transplanted Coco Holden and Curly. She was just about to help her mother plant the mutated wild garlic when she saw Sev in this state. Terrified, she burst into tears with a loud WAAAH.

Hearing the noise, the three boys rushed over, only to see their adoptive mother looking as if she were on the brink of death. They had seen this kind of appearance before, and they immediately panicked, completely losing their wits.

Rusty was the most composed of the bunch. He decisively told Rose, "Rose, hurry up and give Mom some green light." He then turned and instructed Firestone, "Firestone, go find Mr. Hanson. Ask him to come help take Mom to the doctor."

For a child not yet eight years old to manage this much in an emergency, Rusty was quite remarkably calm in the face of danger. But in reality, he was panicking fiercely inside. Their adoptive mother had only just started making money, finally ensuring they were well-fed every day. Their family had also just secured the rattan-weaving partnership with Boss King. Seeing their days improving bit by bit, if their adoptive mother died now, all their hopes would burst like bubbles.

At this thought, Rusty couldn’t hold back his tears, letting them fall like rain. Affected by him, Zephyr started sobbing and sniffling outright.

Rose didn’t hold back at all. An endless stream of green light continuously sank into Sev’s head. The little girl didn’t actually know the specifics of what to do, but she knew that the most important organ in a person’s body was the head. Her mother’s current condition was clearly nothing like the exhaustion and fatigue from that night. Rose figured that as long as she could protect her mother’s head, once Mr. Hanson arrived and took her to the doctor, she would definitely recover.

But her mother’s body was like a bottomless pit. She kept feeding her green light, and her mother absorbed it all, yet there was no sign of her waking up. Desperate to save her mother’s life, Rose went all out, recklessly emptying herself as she channeled all the green light in her body to her mother. Her mother’s complexion eased slightly, but Rose’s tiny body grew unsteady, tottering as if she might fall.

Gritting her teeth, she stumbled into her mother’s bedroom and dug out an alloy jar from under the pillow. Inside the jar were nine beautiful green stones—a little secret between her and her mother. Her mother had told her that she couldn’t tell this secret to anyone, not even her brothers. Her mother had explained that these beautiful green stones were called Wood Element Crystal Cores, and they could help her quickly replenish her energy.

Clutching the jar, Rose hurried back to her mother’s side. She took out the two largest crystal cores and gripped one tightly in each hand. She felt a vast amount of green light inside the cores, flowing slowly into her body like a gentle stream. But this wasn’t enough. She began to use her mind to control the green light, willing it to enter her body faster and in greater quantities. Then, she struggled to transfer all the newly absorbed green light into her mother.

Rose relentlessly channeled the green light into Sev until the two largest Wood Element Crystal Cores turned to gray powder and scattered on the floor. Gritting her teeth again, she took out the next two largest Wood Element Crystal Cores and clenched them in her hands. This time, the sensation was noticeably different. As the green light flowed from her palms into her body, every inch of her skin stung as if being pricked by needles. Fine beads of sweat broke out on Rose’s forehead, but she still refused to stop funneling the green light to her mother.

Just then, Firestone rushed over with Hayden Hanson.

Seeing the little girl trembling in agony, Hayden immediately recognized that she had forcefully absorbed too much energy, causing damage to her meridians.

"Stop it right now! Do you have a death wish?!" he scolded loudly.

"But I can’t stop! Without the green light, Mom will die!" Rose cried, shaking her head.

"No, she won’t. Your mother is just an ordinary person; her body can’t absorb too much energy," Hayden said. "She’s just sick. I’ll take her to the hospital."

He bent down, picked Sev up in his arms, and turned to leave.

Rusty hurried to follow him, and the other three children tried to trail behind as well, but Hayden stopped them. "All of you stay home. The hospital won’t let too many people in."

Left with no choice, the three little ones obediently backed off.

Watching her mother being taken to the hospital, Rose’s heart finally settled a bit. Her body went limp, and she nearly collapsed. Firestone hurriedly carried her to the bedroom, carefully placed her on the bed, and tucked her in with a blanket.

"Rose, you absolutely can’t get sick too! WAAAH!" Firestone finally couldn’t hold it in and began wailing loudly.

With their mother collapsing, he felt as if the sky over their home was falling. He had heard that hospital bills were incredibly expensive. If his sister got sick too, their family simply didn’t have the money to treat them both. Seeing his second brother cry, Zephyr bawled even harder.

While the house was in utter chaos, not far down the road, Hayden looked down to see Sev opening her eyes.

"Hanson, what are you doing?" Sev asked with a blank look on her face.

"You passed out just now. Firestone came over to ask for my help, so I was planning to take you to the hospital," Hayden explained. Seeing her awake, the worry in his heart finally eased a little.

"I feel fine now. You can put me down," Sev said.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Hayden carefully set her down. Fearing she might be unsteady and fall, he deliberately held onto her arm to support her.