Covered by leaves, the white-headed tree marten quietly stood upright on the top of the tree, watching the young man and the others go away.
"What do these two children have to care about?"
The vocal organ of the tree marten is not as flexible as that of humans, and it cannot speak human words. But it can still transmit its thoughts to some special beings.
"Wrong, it's three. Those three children are very special."
The person talking to the tree marten was a man wearing a sapphire blue priest uniform, and he was also standing on the canopy of the tree.
The fragile branches cannot bear the weight of a person, but this person can stand on the top of the tree, which is very strange.
It's just that the leaves under his feet don't seem to feel any weight, and are still swaying on the branches with the breeze.
"That squishy human baby is also special?"
The tree marten turned around and tugged at his trouser leg.
The man understood what it meant. He bent down and extended his right hand to the tree marten, and the tree marten followed this hand and skillfully climbed up to his shoulder and sat down on it.
"Well, they are all special."
The man nodded.
But his attention was not on the three of them. This man's eyes were exploring further places.
"Then why don't you give something to that little doll?"
The tree marten was puzzled.
In its impression, this man has always been very easy-going and never stingy.
Since this person really cared about the baby, there was no way he wouldn't do something.
"If she survives safely, it is my gift to her."
There was a chill in the man's voice when he said this.
Is it an illusion? It feels like he is smiling.
The tree marten looked up, but couldn't see anything because he was wearing a mask.
"More, there will be a lot of time in the future, I will teach her slowly."
"You want to accept her as your disciple?"
Hearing him say this, the tree marten's eyes widened.
"Um."
"Tsk, tsk, how long has it been since you had an apprentice... ten years?"
The tree marten dug its ears with its paws and recalled the innocent little girl who had been with this man many years ago.
"I don't remember, it must have been a while."
The man's answer was very vague, and the tree marten knew it. This guy who knew almost everything must be aware of these trivial matters.
"I can't afford your 'it's been a while'. We haven't seen each other for a long time, and you just said 'it's been a while'."
The tree marten complained. It knew that this man's lifespan was beyond its comparison, but it was still a little unhappy.
The man chuckled and said, "Ha, is that so? Then consider this an apology to an old friend."
After saying that, a white gemstone about the size of a peanut appeared in his palm, and then he raised his hand flat to his shoulder as if holding a plate.
"Bai Lingshi? Hehe! That's pretty much it."
The tree marten picked up the gem in one mouthful and then swallowed it directly.
After eating this gem, the tree marten's hair became smoother and its eyes were brighter.
"The taste is still as good as ever! You should bring more next time."
"I try my best."
The man's smile never diminished, and he nodded in agreement to the tree marten's request without any hesitation.
"Forget it! Maybe next time you come to see me, I will go to see the tree mother."
Speaking of this, there was also a trace of sadness in the eyes of the tree marten. It was not like the guy in front of him who could laugh and talk about the years. No matter how much it swallowed spiritual things to extend its life, it could not avoid death.
"At that time, you can give things to my descendants!"
"This...you have to find a female white-headed tree marten first."
The man hesitated for a while and pointed out a key issue.
"Hey! Don't underestimate me! I will definitely find it!"
The tree marten, which was painfully stabbed, jumped up from the man's shoulder. In addition to kicking around on the man's shoulder with its legs, it also scratched his head with its claws because he was wearing a hood.
The tree marten doesn't worry about his claws actually scratching him.
White-headed tree martens are very rare in themselves, and they usually like to travel alone, making it easier to search for spiritual objects without having to worry about "dividing the spoils."
Therefore, the living areas of white-headed tree martens are often far apart.
It is indeed a problem for these white-headed tree martens whether they can find a member of the opposite sex to reproduce.
"If you want to deliver something, why don't you deliver it yourself instead of asking me to act in it?"
After making a fuss for a while, the tree marten saw that the guy had no reaction and lost interest, so he turned to the previous topic.
"It's not appropriate for me to come forward before the time comes."
The man shook his head. He never did unnecessary things, even if he went through all kinds of twists and turns, it was necessary.
"Tch! I really don't understand how complicated things are always so complicated for you swashbuckling guys."
The tree marten scratched his ears with his paws, and then asked: "Why did you give such good things to that stubborn boy? Do you also want to accept him as your disciple? And that little girl is really good, how did you do it?"
Give her a useless flower?"
"I owe that boy something, so I'll just give him some compensation... If I have a chance in the future, I might be able to give him some advice."
"Huh? You actually owe someone else something."
The tree marten became interested. It knew how rare it was for this guy to say that he owed others.
"Heh...as for that flower."
This person didn't seem to intend to explain in detail. He transitioned the topic directly to the next question, and by the way, he sent a white spirit stone to the tree marten.
"That's Yuffie's favorite flower."
"Yuffie...oh! Isn't that the girl who was with you back then? Is that little girl okay?"
As the tree marten spoke, he swallowed the white spirit stone and patted his bloated belly with satisfaction.
"She fulfilled her wish before leaving without any pain."
The man closed his deep and wise eyes, and even the tree marten didn't know what he was thinking.
"Ha?! Isn't it?! How can you humans have such a short lifespan? That little girl is still young by human standards, right?"
Of course, the tree marten understood the implication of the man's words. It had no appetite now. Even if the man handed over another white spirit stone, it had no desire to eat it.
"Many deaths are not due to the limits of one's own lifespan."
"But how could you not be able to protect her?"
It understood this truth, but it couldn't believe that the guy in front of it would not be able to protect its beloved disciple.
"Fate cannot be expressed."
When the man said this, there was a rare struggle in his words, and it seemed that he was also helpless.
Seeing that the tree marten refused to eat the white spirit stone, he wanted to take it back.
"I bother!"
The tree marten jumped up and swallowed the white spirit stone in his hand.
"Isn't it rare that you have nothing that you can protect even against your fate?"
"No."
The man answered this question very simply, but then he felt that something was missing, so he added:
"If you insist on saying that there is, then it is fate itself..."
The tree marten was annoyed by the man's words and asked:
"If fate wants you to die, will you die obediently?"
"Well, that's right."
Knowing that being angry or whatever is useless, the tree marten could only sigh: "Alas! I don't understand you."
"I've known you since you were just born, and I've followed you in this world for more than ten years, but I still can't understand you."
The tree marten recalled the time when it still had the heart to travel far away, and chose to follow this human around the world.
For the white-headed tree marten, it was also a long time. But many times, it could not understand this man's behavior.
"You don't need to understand so much, you have to know that you are just a tree marten."
He was telling the truth. The white-headed tree marten doesn't need to think too much. It just needs to find spiritual creatures to fill its stomach every day.
"Tch! Isn't the angel of the gods great?"
However, it is a thoughtful white-headed tree marten, and it will not live its life so simply.
"You guys should be more careful. The spiritual energy in your body is much weaker than before. Although I still can't see through your background, isn't this monster like you about to reach its end?"
The white-headed tree marten is born with the ability to sense spiritual energy, and its parents met because they were attracted by the almost unlimited spiritual energy in this person.
"..."
In this regard, the man chose to remain silent.
"Forget it, even if you weaken at this rate every year, you will definitely live longer than me. I don't care about your life or death in a few hundred years!"
The tree marten that feeds on spiritual energy knows very well that spiritual energy is linked to life. The weaker the spiritual energy, the weaker the vitality of the creature.
Although the spiritual energy of the man in front of me is still abundant at first glance, he seems to be the same sun that radiates light and heat without limit as before.
But the tree marten remembers what level of aura this person possessed decades ago.
Compared with then, he looks like a frail patient now.
"Ha, I'm really flattered that you would care about my life and death within a few hundred years."
After chatting with an old friend for a while, the usually serious man couldn't help but tease him.
"You...forget it! I don't think you have any problem living until the world is destroyed."
"That will be a bit tiring, so I won't do it."
This topic is about life and death and is a bit heavy.
The tree marten wanted to find something else to talk about, and after thinking about it, it thought of the necklace that the man had specially stolen.
"That necklace belongs to that girl from before, right?"
"Well, I want to confirm something. Yuffie... is really a stupid child."
The man couldn't deny this. After seeing what was hidden in the necklace, he felt dumbfounded.
"Are you actually regretting it? You failed to protect her."
"...I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."
"Hey! Don't run!"
The man pinched the back of the tree marten's neck and gently placed it on the branch.
Then before the tree marten could pounce on him, he disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"Shit! It's still the same as before, no one can catch up if you want to run away!"
The tree marten sat down among the branches, its weight causing the tough branches to sway.
It looked up at the sky and thought about the walking route of the previous people.
"Oops! They won't be able to get out of the woods before dark, right?"
Now the tree marten is anxious,
It knows the situation of this forest, and also knows that there are some dangerous "uninvited guests" coming to this forest.
This night in the forest is a real "dangerous night".
"Are you sure you don't care? With that kid, they can't afford to go out."
The tree marten shouted to somewhere in the sky, knowing that the person would be able to hear it.
Sure enough, after a while, the man's voice came to his mind: