Time has left deep ravines on the old man's face, and a polished wooden stick extends from his empty trouser leg and hits the floor.
The non-stop heavy rain made the weather outside only about 10 degrees, but the old man was only wearing a patched linen top. Fortunately, he didn't get caught in the rain, and the linen clothes barely stayed dry.
The old man sat across from the desk and looked around the detective agency curiously before looking at Lu Li: "Young man, what do you want to know?"
"I need a guide who knows every aspect of the Elm Forest."
"I think that person is me." The old man showed a proud look. "When I was 13 years old, I worked as a woodcutter in the elm forest until 11 years ago. I can name every tree king there."
People in this world generally age prematurely, and the poorer they are, the more so. The old man with a stooped back and gray hair may only be fifty years old.
Even so, it means that he has stayed in the Elm Forest for more than twenty years.
"Tree King?"
"Those unusually thick and old trees, like a village that protects people, protect the surrounding trees."
This was obviously beyond Lu Li's common sense - before this, Lu Li had never known that the forests of this world would undergo such changes.
And it seems that people have long been accustomed to it.
In order to avoid overthinking, Lu Li asked: "Does the Tree King have his own consciousness?"
"Consciousness? No...how is that possible? They are not human beings." The old man Barton laughed, feeling that the young man in front of him was a little whimsical: "The tree king is just...an emotion of the forest."
Although the word "emotion" also attracts imagination, it is slightly better than "consciousness".
"Please elaborate."
"Of course, that's why I'm here." Barton lowered his head and recalled the time for a while, then said slowly: "The tree kings are like the incarnation of the forest. When you get close to it, you will feel the emotions emanating from the forest...
...I know what you want to say, but the forest has no consciousness, and it doesn't think like us. Just like ants... they can move, hunt, and eat, but what drives them is just instinct."
"These changes appeared more than ten years ago, and we knew nothing about them before. When we felt the emotions of the forest, some people were so afraid that they threw away their axes and fled back to the city, while some people continued to chop.
The tree... will starve to death if we go back empty-handed."
"But we found that nothing happened. We only became a little sad when cutting down trees... Until one day later, a stupid man went to cut down a tree king... I heard about this from other woodcutters.
Yes, the lumberjacks working for the boss of the lumber mill went to cut down a king tree that might have been hundreds of years old. What happened next? Everyone died. When someone approached, they only saw the corpses around them and the sadness that made people feel uncomfortable and wanted to cry.
mood."
"Then the police and some mysterious guys came out to take them away. Then some rumors spread, saying that when they were cutting down the king tree, the mood of the forest affected them and made them all commit suicide. The last part of the woodcutter put away the ax to do other things.
While working, the other group of woodcutter remained as they were, but no longer approached the tree kings or harmed them. Although the factory owners were greedy, there was no point in exchanging human lives for the tree kings, so fewer and fewer people died because of the forest.
…”
"After that, the forest didn't hurt us, and we tried our best not to hurt the woods."
This is why during the nascent period of industry and capital, a forest of elm trees close to the city still stood in the north of the city.
"Is every forest like this?" Lu Li asked.
"Yes, every forest that is large enough has emotions. The oak forest in the west, the maple forest on the back of the mountain, and I heard that the same is true for the Shadow Swamp Jungle further away."
Lu Li had been to Shadow Swamp, and the jungle there was lifeless—perhaps because the dove, the mother of the swamp, had occupied the magpie nest.
"Are you a detective? Did a lumber mill owner ask you to investigate there? There should be only dead silence there now..."
Lu Li knew what he was referring to, "Plant Disaster".
Although most of the world doesn't consider plants stopping growing to be a serious matter.
"My target is not those trees." Lu Li said. "I want to know how many caves there are."
"Cave?" Barton looked at Lu Li strangely, but he had also received many strange tasks, such as finding a purple four-leaf clover.
"There are many caves near the cliffs and quiet hills, and there are some hunters' cabins and lumberjack cabins if you need them."
"You can hide it and let people in."
"There are some caves near the cliffs and the silent hills."
“The view is wide and you can see Belfast and the sea.”
"There are several caves near the cliff."
"Then let's go."
"Now?"
"Do you have anything else to do?"
"No, let's go. Being young is good..."
Lu Li prepared a lot of ponchos. He gave one to Barton and asked Barton to wait under the eaves. He held up an umbrella and went to the street to call for a carriage.
A few minutes later, the carriage stopped in front of the longhouse, picked up Patton and drove into the rain, which gradually faded away.
There are still many residents repairing rain leaks on the streets. Occasionally, some waste pickers are seen holding tattered cups, standing under the eaves and looking confusedly at the heavy rain outside.
And the night watchmen appeared more frequently than yesterday.
There was no strange rain in the area today, and the only thing that drove them to action was a warning three hundred miles away.
Lu Li looked away and was about to say something to Barton when the carriage suddenly stopped suddenly.
"What's going on?" Barton asked strangely, the sound of rain covering up the movement outside.
Lu Li opened the curtain and saw a steam locomotive blocking the front of the carriage. Several night watchmen in black uniforms got off the locomotive and walked to the carriage to negotiate with the coachman.
Seeing Lu Li, the night watchman showed a friendly smile: "I am a police officer from the Houston Police Department. We are chasing a fugitive. Have you seen him?"
Lu Li did not answer. His eyes fell on the night watchmen who were scattered and vaguely surrounding the carriage, and he suddenly understood what they were going to do.
He took out the investigator badge from his arms and said calmly: "I am an investigator, and the breath you feel is my assistant."
"Assistant..." The night watchman was slightly startled when he saw the badge, and made a hidden gesture.
The night watchmen who gathered around stopped.
The vigilance and doubt in the eyes of the night watchman never weakened.
"She's not in a good condition." Lu Li added.
This sentence has many meanings. The night watchman guessed what he was saying. He lowered his guard and returned and said: "Please be careful."
"Thanks."
The night watchmen returned to their carriages, drove off the street, and the carriage continued forward.
"Anna, control your breath." Lu Li tilted his head and said.
Barton didn't know who Lu Li was talking to, but the scene that happened earlier let him know that the young man in front of him was no ordinary little detective.
Decades of life have taught Barton many things, such as not asking what you shouldn't ask.
