Chapter 113: The Third Recollection

While Songzhen was telling stories to Liuzong and the others, changes were also unfolding near the ancient tree. Songzhen’s servants suddenly began kneeling repeatedly, fervently praying without cease.

At this moment, Songzhen directed his seated servants to rise and move toward the great tree.

Before he could even reach it, the ancient tree reacted: the black panther’s head, which had been placed within the tree, was violently expelled, smashing heavily into Songzhen.

Songzhen was knocked flying, landing before Liuzong and the others along with his servants.

Yet Songzhen paid no mind to being thrown aside. Swiftly, he picked up the black panther head, his face etched with shock as he exclaimed, “How can this be? How is there a third kind of response? This cannot be right—something must be wrong!”

Seeing Songzhen in such a state, Liuzong asked with concern, “Songzhen, what’s happened? Is there anything I can do to help?”

Songzhen remained astonished, shaking his head repeatedly. “There must be an error. This cannot have happened.”

Liuzong was at a loss for words. He finally shook Songzhen gently to help him regain composure and asked again, “What happened? How can we assist you?”

Regaining some clarity, Songzhen looked at Liuzong and suddenly burst into tears. “It must be a disaster in the tribe—something terrible. The appeal channel has given a third kind of response.”

As Songzhen explained, Liuzong came to understand the gravity of the situation. The appeal channel was the means by which the Kurast dwarves communicated with their ancestral spirits for final judgment. The spirits’ replies came in only two forms: guilty or innocent. The only variable was the length of time taken to respond. A lack of response was impossible.

But the current situation presented a third kind of reply: the ancestral spirit had vanished, unable to respond further, so the sacrifice was returned.

For the Kurast dwarves, this was the most unacceptable outcome. To them, they could perish, but their ancestral spirit could never disappear.

The disappearance of the ancestral spirit meant that an entire tribe would lose everything, becoming eternal servants to others.

As Liuzong struggled for words to comfort Songzhen, Xu Ying picked up the black panther head, puzzled. “What is this?”

Songzhen turned to see Xu Ying touching the black panther’s eye, her finger stained with a pale green liquid that resembled vomit.

Upon seeing this fluid, Songzhen’s expression changed drastically. He leapt down from his servant’s back, grabbed the panther head, and examined it thoroughly before shouting, “This cannot be real. The ancestral spirit cannot be harmed.”

“Do you know something?” Liuzong asked seriously.

Songzhen hesitated, then nodded, pointing to the pale green liquid. “This is tree sap—the very essence of the ancestral spirit.

The ancestral spirit we speak of is the soul of a Kurast who has reached at least the level of a shaman. Upon death, they merge their body with a great tree. Their spirit is preserved through the tree to protect their descendants.

Inside the tree, the ancestral spirit occupies a unique space. Any descendant who dies without reaching shaman level has their soul merge with the tree sap and flow into this space, nourishing the ancestral spirit. Because this sap is vital to the spirit’s existence, no drop is ever allowed to escape.”

At this point, no further explanation was needed. The presence of this green liquid meant that Songzhen’s ancestral spirit had either perished or suffered grave harm.

Liuzong asked, “Besides your ancestral spirit, are there others in this forest?”

“Of course,” Songzhen replied decisively, perhaps acknowledging that he could not now aid his own spirit. “No one really knows how many ancestral spirits exist here, because any who reach shaman level can become one.”

“Do ancestral spirits ever war or communicate with each other?” Liuzong inquired further.

Songzhen considered before answering, “War is impossible. No one knows if one spirit is related to another, and the ancestral spirits form a vast network over this forest—it’s unthinkable they would fight among themselves.”

Liuzong pondered this. “So they are connected. Could you find another ancestral spirit and ask if something has happened?”

Hearing this, Songzhen’s expression darkened. He shouted an order for his servants to prepare for battle.

Turning to Liuzong, he said, “Thank you for the advice. I won’t stay here any longer. I must seek answers—find out what’s wrong with my ancestral spirit. By the way, aren’t you headed to the ancestral camp? I’ll have someone escort you. If anything happens, you can have them send a message to me—I will come.”

He then pointed to one of his servants, a Kurast dwarf who immediately leapt to stand beside Liuzong, scanning their surroundings before settling less than ten centimeters from Liuzong’s feet.

Liuzong noticed that no matter where he moved, the dwarf remained at the same close distance—a natural instinct he chose not to interfere with. He nodded to Songzhen, saying, “I wish you all the best.”

Songzhen nodded in return, saying nothing more, then commanded his servants to depart swiftly.

Only then did Liuzong and the others notice how quickly and nimbly the Kurast dwarves moved. Though small in stature, they leapt high and moved fast, disappearing into the treetops in the blink of an eye.

Try as they might, Liuzong’s group could find no trace of the Kurast dwarves, a realization that left them feeling defeated. They understood that if they were to fight the Kurast dwarves in the forest, victory would be unlikely.

After Songzhen and his group had gone far, Liuzong and his companions returned to their previous lunch spot. The food had grown cold, so they packed it up, preparing to leave.

At that moment, Liuzong asked suddenly, “Do you eat meat raw or cooked?”

He spoke with his head lowered, so the Kurast dwarf servant knew the question was for him. The dwarf replied happily, “Cooked. We eat it cooked. Are you savages who eat raw meat?”

Being looked down upon by a Kurast dwarf was unpleasant, but for the sake of having cooked food in the future, Liuzong politely asked how to start a fire in this forest.