"Does your master tell you everything?"
"Yes, unfortunately, I can't communicate with my master, so I can't chat with him. It would be great if you were here."
Tian Jing rolled her eyes. *Her*? She was separated from this so-called master by hundreds or thousands of years. How could she be here?
This ancient pine tree was at least seven or eight hundred years old.
Its master should have been a physician skilled in martial arts.
Tian Jing told Li Zhengguo her guesses, and of course, also relayed what the little pine had said.
Li Zhengguo agreed. Ancient times, seven or eight hundred years ago, was an era that valued martial arts over literature. "So this tree can understand human speech but can't communicate with ordinary people?"
"I suppose so. It couldn't communicate with its master, and it said it would be great if I were here."
Tian Jing's casual remark angered Li Zhengguo. He drew his wood-cutting knife again and walked towards the pine tree.
Tian Jing grabbed him. "What are you doing?"
"Chopping it."
"Why?"
"To subdue it. Isn't its current master you?"
Tian Jing: "..." It sounded rather unreasonable.
"Don't come near me, don't come near me."
Seeing Li Zhengguo approaching with the wood-cutting knife, Xiao Song hurriedly called for help, "Little girl, quickly tell this man to stop."
The childlike voice calling her "little girl" made Tian Jing chuckle. "He says his master is me, and if you're disobedient, he'll chop you into submission."
"Don't chop me, it hurts."
The little voice cried out in pain, but Tian Jing was not softened. She had seen too many kind-hearted people in the apocalypse die at the hands of children, and she never let age influence her emotions, not even now.
Seeing Tian Jing indifferent, Xiao Song quickly offered an incentive. "Didn't you ask me to return something? I'll return it now."
Tian Jing snorted. "I didn't ask you to return anything. I told my man to chop you to death, and you offered to return it yourself."
"Yes, yes, I offered to return it myself. Quick, look at my wound. The green sap flowing from it is the return."
"I'm not going. If I go, you might steal my powers again. You're too cunning."
"No, never again. Your man is too fierce. He nearly cut me in half with one chop. I'm afraid of him and his knife."
"Alright then." Tian Jing felt that the pine tree had indeed softened. She then asked Li Zhengguo to check the cut on the pine tree to see if green sap was flowing out.
"Yes, there is." Li Zhengguo saw that a sticky green sap was flowing from the cut he made.
"Xiao Song, what's the use of this green sap?"
"It's essence, my core essence."
"Essence?" Tian Jing was a little bored. "If I cut you down, I can extract it too."
"It's different."
"How is it different?"
"It's just different."
"You won't say? Keep chopping."
"I'll talk, I'll talk. Stop chopping me. When I'm injured while alive, the green sap that flows out can heal external wounds."
"How do you use it?"
"You can use it directly. Minor injuries heal with five or six drops, and serious injuries need more."
"Nonsense. Why can't your own wounds heal?"
"My wounds heal more slowly because this comes from my core, and the core recovers slowly."
"How long has your master been dead? How do you know the efficacy of your sap?"
"My master has been dead for a very, very long time. I'm talking about the efficacy when my master was alive. I don't know about now."
"Then I'll try it first. If it doesn't work, hmph, next time, we'll come back to chop you, chop you to death."
Tian Jing also wanted to test the essence's efficacy. "Li Zhengguo, go collect the green sap. Xiao Song says it can heal wounds."
As Li Zhengguo approached the pine tree with a tea mug to collect the sap, he saw that the sap flowing from the wound was meager, and the wound was slowly healing. He raised his knife and chopped at the wound several times.
Xiao Song cried out in pain, "Bad people, all bad people."
Tian Jing sneered at it. "Serves you right! Who told you to steal my powers? It's only because you're still useful that he didn't chop you to death. Otherwise, hehe."
Li Zhengguo filled the small tea mug before letting Xiao Song off the hook.
After being mocked by Tian Jing, Xiao Song stopped talking. Even when Li Zhengguo chopped it again, it remained silent.
Tian Jing felt unaccustomed to this. "Xiao Song, why aren't you talking anymore?"
After a long while, Xiao Song replied listlessly, "What is there to say?"
"Um, are you angry?"
"Wuwuwu..." Xiao Song cried sadly. "Master told me not to let anyone discover the difference in my sap. He said humans are very, very wicked."
"To survive, I told you. Your man took a lot, and it will take me a long time to recover."
"From now on, will you come and take it whenever you need it, regardless of my life or death, my wishes? Wuwuwu, I miss my master. Only he was the best to me."
Tian Jing felt a pang of guilt. She had been a bit harsh. After all, this pine tree's consciousness was stronger than Xiao Lu's, almost like a human's.
"What's wrong?" Li Zhengguo walked over to Tian Jing with the tea mug.
Tian Jing told him Xiao Song's lament.
Li Zhengguo was stunned. "I didn't know I hurt it so deeply. After all, there's a lot of moisture in a tree."
"This is flowing from its core."
"What should we do? Should we return it to it?"
Tian Jing felt it probably couldn't be returned, but she still asked Xiao Song.
"It can't be returned. it flows out automatically from the wound, just like your human blood doesn't return once it flows out."
"Then, let me help you." Tian Jing disliked this feeling of indebtedness.
"How will you help me?"
"I'll absorb plant energy and transfer it to you. This time, you are not allowed to move erratically. You're only allowed to absorb what I transfer to you, otherwise, my man chopping you to death will be your own fault."
"Okay, okay!" Xiao Song's tone became cheerful. "I promise not to move erratically and not to absorb energy from your body anymore."
"Tiantian." Li Zhengguo was very worried. Although he couldn't hear Xiao Song, he understood what Tiantian was about to do from her words.
"Don't worry, hold the knife and watch. If you see I'm not doing well, chop it."
Li Zhengguo stopped persuading. He would support whatever Tiantian wanted to do.
Tian Jing sat cross-legged beside the pine tree, while Li Zhengguo stood guard with his knife.
Xiao Song happily waited for the little girl to transfer energy to it. The energy it had stolen earlier was too delicious.
As soon as Tian Jing's hand touched the trunk, she felt the weakness of the life force in the core of the trunk. She circulated her power to the extreme, absorbed a large amount of plant energy, circulated it through her body, and then transferred it to the pine tree.
As soon as Xiao Song absorbed this energy, it felt that it was not as pure as the energy stolen from the little girl, but it was no worse than the water its master poured for it.
It absorbed happily and greedily, working hard to mend the depleted life force in its core.
Li Zhengguo felt a gust of wind sweep towards the pine tree. Then, he saw the pine tree's crown retract and expand, retract and expand.
After a long while, Tian Jing removed her hand from the trunk and continued to sit in meditation, circulating and compressing the residual plant energy in her body. After a short time, she opened her eyes and stood up.
"Li Zhengguo, let's go into the mountain cave and take a look."
"This pine tree?"
"It's sleeping."
Li Zhengguo, holding his wood-cutting knife and Tian Jing's hand, walked into the mountain cave in the center.