Chapter 26 - 26 24 The Strange Tree

26: Chapter 24: The Strange Tree 26: Chapter 24: The Strange Tree Xiao Jie thought to himself, I’m really too smart, yes, that’s how I’ll do it. “If you’re not full, let’s see if you still have the mood to frolic and run around.” As soon as he decided to act, Xiao Jie waved the Shepherd Whip, and with a Thundering Whip strike, there was a crackling sound, and the flock of sheep slowly started moving. First, he drove the flock to a nearby pasture, watching them scatter and start grazing. After waiting for about two or three minutes, Xiao Jie ran to the other side and cracked the Thundering Whip again. Crack! The sheep slowly started moving again, and as a result, their satiety progress indeed increased slowly. Of course, he couldn’t push them too hard, because he had to make sure the flock was full by the time it ended. In this manner, he herded them to the side every two or three minutes, interrupting their grazing continuously, ensuring their satiety did not fill up too quickly. Sure enough, if a sheep doesn’t get full after a long time, it will give up running around and focus intently on finding grass to eat. Even those previously mischievous ones didn’t care anymore, hastily lowering their heads to nibble on grass. Xiao Jieke wasn’t going to leave it at that, knowing they could start causing trouble again once they were full. He ran back and forth, herding the flock here and there, and after a few rounds, all the sheep were quietly grazing, afraid they wouldn’t get any grass if they were late. Xiao Jie finally let out a sigh of relief at the sight, knowing that there would be no more problems. While herding, he calculated the time, and before long another hour had passed. Just as the flock was about to get full, the time was up. System Notification: Through constantly pasturing the flock, you have gradually mastered the techniques and tricks of Sheep Herding. Your “Pasture” skill has improved, now it’s at Master level. System Notification: After spending a long time in contact with the flock, you have gradually mastered the habits of these animals. You have gained the related skill “Beast Knowledge” from the process of herding sheep. Xiao Jie thought, here it comes! Although it’s a comprehension skill, it should be somewhat useful. [Beast Knowledge (Knowledge Skill) Skill Introduction: Through long-term interaction with animals, you have gained a certain understanding of them and thereby learned knowledge about wild beasts.] Uh… What’s the use of this thing? This skill didn’t appear in the Skill Bar, but in the Skill Book, and it belongs to the same category as Life Skills. Xiao Jie opened the skill, and inside there was something like a row of pages. Each page had a title, Beast Knowledge: Beast Chapter (unlocked), Beast Knowledge: Demon Beast Chapter (unlocked), Beast Knowledge: Immortal Beast Chapter (unlocked)… All of them were in an unlocked state, with just a bit of content in the very first page of Beast Knowledge: Domestic Beast Chapter. [Goat (Domestic/Wild Beast) Biological Skills: Wild Goat Charge, Mountain Climbing Skill. Taming Difficulty: entry-level. Challenge Level: 1-3. Beast Introduction: A common herbivorous animal, adept at climbing mountainsides, fond of nibbling on grass and plant roots. Very common in hilly areas and often domesticated to provide meat, milk, and fur.] That’s it? Xiao Jie couldn’t help feeling speechless; this skill wasn’t very useful, at best it was just a collection of data. He speculated that as he came into contact with more wild beasts in the future, the content within could gradually increase. The subsequent chapters, if unlocked, could enhance his understanding of monsters, but it would not aid in increasing his strength as before. However, this was a skill attained through comprehension, which meant that any player performing tasks like sheep herding or pig raising could probably comprehend it. But the skills he comprehended himself were definitely much more powerful than this one. Thinking this made Xiao Jie feel a little better inside. He drove the flock back to the pen, ready to rest a bit before the third round. Suddenly, a figure hurriedly ran towards him. “Sui Feng, Sui Feng, come quick, I’ve encountered something strange.” Xiao Jie looked up and saw that it was I Want to Be Immortal, running over in a fluster, holding a logging axe in his hand. “Eh, have you become a logger? What’s got you so excited?” “A rare encounter, I’ve encountered a rare encounter.” Speaking hurriedly, he began to recount his situation. Originally, “I Want to Be Immortal” had intended to comprehend the Sword Weapon Specialization and learn to be a Swordsman from Xiao Jie. So, he went to look for Wang Daniu to get a task, only to find out that Wang Daniu said they temporarily had enough firewood and didn’t need any wood chopping at the moment. However, the adjacent Wood Workshop mentioned they were short on lumber and asked “I Want to Be Immortal” if he was interested. Since it was all about chopping trees, “I Want to Be Immortal” simply took on a woodcutter’s task. Armed with a logging axe, he went up the mountain to fell trees. Things started out quite smoothly. With reminders from Xiao Jie, knowing that work requires skill, he focused on chopping wood all morning, earning several dozen copper coins, and successfully comprehending the Axe Weapon Specialization skill. However, he didn’t obtain the Combat Skills he desired, which left “I Want to Be Immortal” somewhat disappointed. But he still had some resilience. Although Xiao Jie said that a Satori-like moment was not something everyone could achieve, he still put all his effort into chopping trees. Chopping away, he stumbled upon a strange tree. Most trees on the mountain were withered yellow, a few were lush green, but this tree alone had golden leaves and stood out starkly from its surroundings. “I Want to Be Immortal” didn’t think too much about it, wondering if it might be a Top-Grade one, the kind that could yield high-level materials when chopped. But when his axe struck, the tree unexpectedly sprayed out blood. Frightened, “I Want to Be Immortal” wasn’t sure what to make of it, so he hurried to seek Xiao Jie’s counsel. Bleeding? Hearing “I Want to Be Immortal’s” experience, Xiao Jie was also quite surprised. This was truly rare. In this game that followed a fantasy and mythological style, a tree that bled was definitely strange and peculiar, either celestial or demonic. “Come on, lead the way and show me,” said Xiao Jie. Abandoning his shepherding task, Xiao Jie followed “I Want to Be Immortal” to the back mountain. This part of the mountain range, situated at the southernmost end of Ginkgo Valley, encircled Ginkgo Village. Aside from a grassy hollow, it was covered with trees as far as the eye could see. Amidst the stretch of withered yellow and verdant green trees, they saw the golden-colored odd tree stand out. Xiao Jie recognized it at a glance. “This is a ginkgo tree!” said Xiao Jie in surprise as he looked at the leaves. “Where’s the blood you mentioned?” “It was on the trunk—huh, the cut has disappeared,” said “I Want to Be Immortal,” perplexed. “Shall I try another chop?” “No, let me do it. Your axe is too heavy. What if it’s an NPC, and we kill it by mistake?” said Xiao Jie. As Xiao Jie took a swing at the tree, sure enough, a fresh spurt of blood emerged from the freshly cut bark; the dark red blood oozed down the trunk, giving it an eerie and startling appearance. It really was bleeding… Xiao Jie was surprised, staring at the bleeding ginkgo tree and falling into deep thought. Feeling uneasy, “I Want to Be Immortal” said, “Feng, what do you think is going on? Can this tree still be chopped?” Xiao Jie suddenly smiled. He remembered a story he had read before. “Have you heard the story of Cao Cao and the Pear Tree God?” he asked. “What, Cao Cao and the Pear Tree God? That’s not in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, is it?” “Of course, it’s there. The book of Romance of the Three Kingdoms includes this story. It’s in the old TV series but not in the recent adaptation of the Three Kingdoms.” The story had made a deep impression on Xiao Jie when he read it. Now faced with a situation that seemed so immersive, he began to tell “I Want to Be Immortal” about it. “The story goes that after Cao Cao became King Wei, he wanted to become the Emperor, so he planned to build a palace under the pretext of constructing a royal garden. Some worried that Luoyang lacked the large beams needed for such construction. Cao Cao said to his subordinates, ‘I’ve heard there’s a big pear tree at the base of Longmen Mountain; it’s taller than a dozen Zhang and as thick as a grinding plate. Isn’t that perfect?’ So, he sent people to cut it down.” This great pear tree, supposedly over two thousand years old, was enormously tall with a profusion of branches and leaves. In the spring, the flowers were white as silver, and in the autumn, the pears glowed like gold. The locals felt this tree was extraordinary and called it the ‘White Pear Immortal.’ When Cao Cao sent men to chop down the tree, the locals pleaded with them to stop, but Cao’s men didn’t take them seriously. However, the axe could not make a dent in the tree. The men started to fear, especially as the locals described it with such mystical reverence. Not daring to move rashly, they had to go back and report to Cao Cao.” Cao Cao would not believe any of it. He personally led people to cut the tree. The elderly villagers came quickly to dissuade Cao Cao, ‘Prime Minister, this tree has become a god. It cannot be chopped down! For years, anyone who dared to harm even a single leaf suffered from sores or illness, and some even lost their lives.’ Having campaigned across battlefields for many years, Cao Cao was not superstitious. He declared boldly, ‘In my forty-plus years traversing the realm, from the Son of Heaven to the common folk, all fear me. What demon or god would dare to oppose my will!’ Having said this, he drew his Sky-Supporting Sword and swung it at the tree.” The result – a resounding clash and blood splattered everywhere. Cao Cao was shocked and startled. He threw down the sword, mounted his horse, and returned to the palace. That night, Cao Cao had uneasy rest. Half asleep and half awake, he dreamt that a white-haired old man, ‘with loose hair and holding a sword,’ approached his bed. “Who are you?” Cao Cao exclaimed in his dream. The old man answered, “I am the spirit of the pear tree. The locals call me the White Pear Immortal.” Cao Cao then asked why he had come. The old man replied, “You are here to plead guilty! I transformed into a pear tree to guard against the evil dragon. For the sake of building a palace, you disregarded the safety of the people and insisted on harming me. Do you realize your fault?” With that, he drew his treasure sword and struck at Cao Cao. Cao Cao cried out and awoke, realizing it was a dream, but from then on, his headaches recurred.” PS: Thanks to the book friend ‘Chance Encounter at the Edge of the Sea’ for the reward of Alliance Hierarch; extra chapters will be added. Currently, two chapters are owed.