Ning put up a hand to block the sun that was far away at the horizon. "Well, at least I am far enough from the mountain that there is sunlight now, albeit in the form of a perpetual morning sun," Ning thought.
Then, he walked into the forbidden forest that was right next to Famir's house. As soon as he walked into the forest, he couldn't help but get shocked.
'Holy Sh*t. He wasn't lying when he said the trees were tall. No wonder his father died after falling from such height,' Ning thought.
The trees were not just tall, but also very dense. Just 10 meters into the forest, the light inside had reduced by half in terms of brightness.
"This is dozens of times more scary-looking than the forest outside of Starsight city," Ning thought. He had gotten an idea of what the fruit looked like from the system, as well as learned what the tree looked like too.
So, he kept an open eye for the fruit along the way.
"Well, fortunately, there are no monsters here. I would've had to waste my time if there were," Ning thought. "Also, how the hell did Famir's father even make his way through this forest. More than that, how did anyone even find Famir's father's body?" Ning wondered.
As far as he could see, not a single sign of humans were in the vicinity. People truly didn't like going into the forest. After nearly an hour of trekking, Ning finally found the tree that resembled his image in his mind.
The tree was very tall, at around nearly a hundred meters tall, and was about 5 meters in diameter. It was a straight tree with no branches at all. Instead, the trunk of the tree was covered with tangled vines that started from the top of the tree.
At the very top of the tree was a single fruit that was floating towards the sky, tethered only by the small vine it was attached to.
Ning grabbed the cluster of vines and walked up. As soon as he placed his hands on the tree, the vines moved to give Ning a better grasp.
"Huh?" Ning thought in confusion. He then placed his left foot on the vine, and it too opened up to give him a better foothold.
"That's not bad," Ning thought and started climbing. He hadn't even climbed 10 meters up when he realized it was a very comfortable climb until now. However, in the back of his head, he could tell that this was too easy.
"Why would the tree make it too easy for me to climb?" Ning wondered. "Could it be… that this tree is going to let me go halfway to the top and then throw me down?"
That was a definite possibility. "After all, Famir's father did die from falling too," he thought.
Still, he wanted to see what the tree was going to do. The entire way through, he expected the vine he was stepping on to loosen up suddenly and have him fall 50 meters onto the ground.
However, rather surprisingly, nothing happened. The entire way through, the tree was very supportive of his climb. 'What the hell?" Ning thought.
He then saw the fruit in front of him. It was a large peach-like fruit that was about the size of dried coconut. "So this is it, huh?" he thought and grabbed the fruit.
Just as he was about to pull it out, suddenly, two green flaps appeared from either side of the tree and caught him there.
"What the hell?" Ning was surprised. "What is this?" he shouted.
Suddenly, the walls started secreting a pungent-smelling viscous liquid. They slowly slid down the wall and made their way to the center where Ning was.
"Could it be… This is a carnivorous plant?" Ning thought in surprise. However, he wasn't scared. The fruit was still in his hands. He ripped the fruit and immediately told the system to teleport him back to Famir's house.
Without delay, Ning disappeared. He appeared outside Famir's house and dusted himself. "What was that? No wonder it helped me climb so far up. It wanted to eat me," Ning thought.
"Did Famir's father really die by falling from such a tree?" Ning thought. "System, give me information on that tree just now."
Information flooded Ning's mind and he started to learn about the tree. The tree was a carnivorous tree that liked to kill humans and animals to gain their nutrients, as well as their minute amount of Aether.
It provided a fruit as a lure and helped everything get to the top just so it could eat it.
"That's… interesting. There is no way Famir's father should have fallen from such a tree," Ning thought. He could sense some sort of hidden plot of someone.
Ning decided to ignore that thought for now. He looked at the fruit in his hand. He walked into the house and found Famir asleep next to his sister's bed. Even as he fell asleep, he didn't leave her alone.
"Famir, wake up," he said.
"Huh?" Famir slowly opened his eyes and started rubbing them. "What is it father?" he said as he stood up. Only then did he realize who was standing in front of him.
"Oh," he thought when he remembered everything. Sadness welled up inside him once more.
"Hey, Kid. You can cry or do whatever you want to, but do it after you've healed your sister," Ning said.
Famir's body shivered a little. "Di— Did you get the fruit?" he asked. Ning threw the peach towards Famir.
"This… this is it. This is the fruit from the book, the one that sister ate," Famir said. "Thank you so much, senior." Famir started thanking him relentlessly.
"Alright, do that later. First, let's help your sister. Bring me a bowl," Ning said.
"Yes," Famir said and ran out to the kitchen before bringing back a wooden bowl. Ning took the bowl and placed it on the ground.
"Let's start."
