Chapter Forty: The Wrath of the Tree Spirit

"What a pity..." Jia Zhengjin stared blankly at the spot where the forest fairy had vanished, sighing with regret. "Such adorable little fairies—I really wanted to become good friends with them..."

"That’s probably not going to happen," said Wolf the werewolf. "I think, Master, there are other matters you should be worrying about right now."

"What matters?" Jia Zhengjin asked, turning to him in confusion.

"There's no way you’ll befriend the forest fairies after this. Burning down the forest has made them your enemies. We’d better run while we still can," Wolf replied, "otherwise, we’ll be in big trouble!"

"But all the skeletons have been burned. What trouble could there possibly be?" Jia Zhengjin shrugged off his concern, but the next second, he was left dumbfounded.

"Uh oh, too late," Wolf muttered, his face falling.

With a sharp crack, a charred giant tree behind them suddenly sprang back to life in the most spectacular fashion, yanking its roots free from the earth and using them like legs to walk. At the same time, two thick vines shot out from its branches, tightly wrapping around Jia Zhengjin and Wolf and hoisting them into the air.

"What in the world is this?" Jia Zhengjin struggled with all his might but found the resilient vines impossible to break free from. "The tree’s alive! This makes no sense! Why does it even have a face? Is it glaring at me? It’s glaring at me, isn’t it?"

"Of course it is, Master! You burned down a huge swath of forest, and now the forest fairies have to use up a tremendous amount of magic to restore their home! This is a treant, summoned by the forest fairies—one of the more powerful natural beings," Wolf explained.

"Aren’t you a werewolf? Hurry up and defeat it!" Jia Zhengjin shouted.

"I’m weak right now, just like you, from being roasted in that forest fire. I’ll need at least an hour to recover! Once I’m back to full strength, I could definitely take it on, but right now, we’re in trouble!"

"An hour? All my loot will be gone by then!" Jia Zhengjin was frantic. "No way! Absolutely not!"

"This is beyond whether you want to or not, isn’t it? Ahhhh—" Wolf didn’t finish his sentence before the treant abruptly whipped its vines, spinning Wolf at dizzying speed and wringing a pitiful cry from him.

"Hahaha! You’ve turned into an electric fan!" Jia Zhengjin barely finished laughing before he too was sent spinning through the air. "Whoa—!"

The world spun wildly around them, and the sensation was unbearable. Fortunately, after a while, the treant seemed to tire of its game and finally decided to let the two of them go.

But Jia Zhengjin did not feel relieved, for in the next instant he felt himself soaring upward, rising higher and higher toward the clouds. Glancing to the side, he saw that Wolf was also flying through the air alongside him.

"What’s going on?" he asked.

"Do you really need to ask?" Wolf replied helplessly.

"Are we flying?" Jia Zhengjin blinked.

"To be precise, we’ve been thrown!" Wolf answered grimly.

"So what should we do?" Jia Zhengjin asked.

"Scream, of course! Aaaaaah—!" Wolf opened his mouth and let out a panicked howl.

"Right!" Jia Zhengjin nodded, his face immediately contorted in horror. "Aaaaaah—! We’re going to die in style!"

The two of them were flung high into the air, tracing an elegant arc before plummeting back down toward the forest below. From this height, hitting the ground would mean instant death.

Luckily, their landing spot was a familiar cluster of mushrooms—the very ones that often appeared around his base.

"Got it!" Jia Zhengjin had a flash of inspiration. Before hitting the ground, he quickly pulled out a torch and waved it vigorously.

Sure enough, the mushrooms, attracted by the heat, quickly gathered beneath them, hopping and jostling about.

With a soft thud, both Jia Zhengjin and Wolf landed atop the mushrooms, their squishy bodies breaking the fall and saving their lives.

"We’re saved!" Wolf let out a sigh of relief. "Master, you do have a bit of sense after all."

"This is what power looks like! Real power..." Jia Zhengjin gasped for breath, still shaken and drenched in cold sweat from the ordeal.

"The forest isn’t welcoming us anymore. We should retreat while we can," Wolf advised, swiping his claws to dispatch a few of the pesky mushrooms.

"No way! Forget the skeleton army—just the loot dropped by that triceratops skeleton has to be something good!" Jia Zhengjin protested. "How could I just let those treasures disappear? That would be a crime!"

"What do you suggest, then? If we go back into the forest now, the treant will just toss us out again. Next time, we might not get so lucky—we could die for real! You’ve burned down half the forest. The fairies won’t forgive you so easily," Wolf reminded him.

"I can’t just stand by while my loot vanishes before my eyes!" Jia Zhengjin shouted in frustration.

"Forget it. Besides the treant, there might be more skeletons, or even undead creatures like ghouls. It’s way too dangerous! In our current state, we don’t stand a chance. If you wait an hour for me to heal, I’ll be able to protect you," Wolf urged.

"No way! By then, the loot will be long gone." Jia Zhengjin shook his head stubbornly. "I have to collect it now!"

"I really don’t recommend this," Wolf said, his face glum. His master was just too stubborn.

"Wolf, let me ask you something," Jia Zhengjin mused. "What do forest fairies like? How can I please them so they’ll forgive my mistake?"

"Don’t bother! The thing forest fairies love most is flowers, plants, and fruits. But they can use magic to make all those things themselves—why would they need you? Besides, if you pick flowers from the forest as a gift, they’ll only get angrier! They care about living flowers, not ones that have been cut," Wolf replied with a shake of his head. "So just give up."

"Living flowers..." Jia Zhengjin’s eyes suddenly shone. "I’ve got it!"

"Don’t tell me you’re up to something, Master..." Wolf said, instantly worried.

"I’m not that stupid," Jia Zhengjin laughed. "I have blueprints for a garden manor! I can build a beautiful garden mansion for the forest fairies. With that, they’re bound to forgive me!"

"Garden mansion? What’s that?" Wolf looked utterly baffled.

"Never mind about that! Hurry and gather all kinds of flowers for me—ten of each color. I’ll go back and make a watering can and be right back!" With that, Jia Zhengjin turned and sprinted toward the base, leaving Wolf standing there, dumbfounded.