Home at the Treetop

About two months ago, the sisters Moen and Xia Duo received orders from the Council of Elders to investigate the disappearances of their missing compatriots.

In truth, the sisters had been quite puzzled by this. Such tasks were typically assigned to personnel responsible for external affairs, rather than being issued specifically to individuals.

However, it was a direct order from the high-ranking leadership, and they could hardly refuse. Furthermore, neither of them had ever left the vicinity of their homeland and were filled with curiosity about the outside world, so they accepted the mission without hesitation.

Yet, shortly after they embarked on their journey, strange disappearances began occurring within the Star-Song Forest itself.

Normally, given the elves' aloof nature and long lifespans, it was common for them to leave their dwellings to explore the world and experience different ways of life.

As such, a temporary loss of contact was not rare in elven society and did not necessarily imply that something unfortunate had happened.

But this time, the disappearances involved the child of one of the Elders. After multiple failed attempts to locate them, the Elder finally realized the gravity of the situation.

As the investigation deepened, the elves were shocked to discover that the number of mysterious disappearances was far greater than they had initially imagined. In a span of just a few dozen days, hundreds of similar cases had been confirmed.

Such a malicious series of events not only sent the elven leadership into an uproar but also caused a massive stir among the populace.

Many elves began to speculate that an outsider conspiracy was at play, suggesting that they had secretly infiltrated the Star-Song Forest to kidnap innocent elves.

Though the Council of Elders was deeply confused, they decisively ordered the closure of the border, conducted strict inspections of caravans already in the forest, and deployed large numbers of troops to search for anything suspicious regarding outsiders.

Flora, an acquaintance of Moen and Xia Duo, was a trainee priest who had been sent to assist in reinforcing and monitoring the tree wall.

Even the Divine Concealment Squads responsible for guarding the World Tree had many of their members reassigned. It was hoped that their expertise in stealth and tracking would help the regular soldiers find clues more quickly.

However, the search teams scoured the area for over ten days, practically turning the border region upside down, yet they failed to find even a single suspicious shadow.

This high-intensity search work left the members of the search teams exhausted and gradually bred a sense of resentment. This was what led to the tension they displayed when they first encountered Starlight and the others.

“It wasn’t just that. As a special forces unit, the ‘Leaf-Cutter’ squad was likely being assigned to this kind of task for the first time, which definitely caused some frustration among them,” Moen chimed in with a shrug as she listened to the conversation.

“Yeah, who told them to usually just stay on standby near the World Tree? Still, I really didn’t expect disappearances to happen inside the Star-Song Forest too. Does this have anything to do with what we were investigating? Argh! My head hurts!” Xia Duo replied weakly, leaning against the vines with her hands over her head. She had hoped to find useful information upon their return, but the situation had only become more complicated.

“Indeed. The main problem lies in the speed of information relay. Hey, Po Kong, is there any way to transmit information in real-time?” Starlight, who knew next to nothing about intelligence work, turned to Po Kong with an inquiring look.

Seeing his gaze, Po Kong curled his lip helplessly and replied, “I don’t know. While the Shadow Court has its own unique methods of communication, as far as I know, crossing city-states takes at least a day or two to receive a message. Mastering information in real-time is essentially impossible.”

The group discussed the matter for a long time during their journey but still failed to find any useful clues.

“Um... excuse me, we’re almost there. Moen, do you two want to go home first or report back to the Council?” Flora’s voice came from the side as she pointed toward the distant horizon.

Starlight followed the direction of her finger and saw a massive shadow looming in their field of vision.

“Is that... a mountain? No, wait, could that be the World Tree!?”

Indeed, that mountain-like, majestic shadow was none other than the Mother Tree that the elves relied upon for survival.

Although Starlight had read descriptions of the World Tree in novels and records many times, he was still deeply shaken when he finally saw the giant tree with his own eyes.

Words like ‘huge’ or ‘tall’ were completely inadequate to describe the scale of that colossal tree. The castles and high-rises built by humans were simply not in the same league.

They were flying through the sky on the Snow-Winged Eagle, and even from dozens of kilometers away, the canopy of the World Tree still appeared much higher than they were.

It stood between heaven and earth like an ancient temple, the sunlight spilling over its winding branches and making every leaf shimmer with a golden luster.

“I think you should drop us off at home first. We need to get Starlight and the others settled. My sister and I can go to the Council Chambers later,” Moen replied.

Upon hearing Moen’s answer, Flora nodded, stood up, and gently patted the Snow-Winged Eagle’s talons.

“Da Bai, did you hear that? We’re going home first~”

The Snow-Winged Eagle let out a low, long cry, then slightly adjusted its flight path and began to descend.

Before long, they entered the shadow of the massive canopy that blotted out the sky.

The vast canopy was like an endless parasol, with countless interlacing branches and leaves forming a boundless green ocean above them.

Although the sunlight was almost entirely blocked by the dense foliage, it was not dark beneath the canopy. Looking up, one could see many points of light, like bright lamps, flickering among the leaves.

Most elves living beneath the tree built their homes on the roots of the World Tree or on its sub-trees. Even a small section of a root provided enough space to build several houses.

By now, they could clearly see the various uniquely shaped houses nestled below, as well as the monstrous beasts living in harmony with the elves, passing through the area from time to time. All signs indicated they were drawing closer to their destination.

While Starlight and Po Kong were still admiring the surrounding scenery, the Snow-Winged Eagle carried them down to the top of one of the sub-trees.

Although this sub-tree was merely a sapling growing from the roots of the World Tree, it still stood dozens of meters tall, and even the branches at its peak were sturdy enough to support the weight of several people.

“Well, I’ll leave you all here! Sigh, I’m so jealous that you guys get to go home. I still have to head back to the border for another ten days of duty. I’ll find you for a meal when I’m back!”

After letting the four of them off, Flora gave them an envious look before boarding the basket beneath Da Bai’s feet once more to bid them farewell.

At that moment, Starlight peered down through the gaps in the leaves and caught a glimpse of a small house built upon the great tree, blending almost seamlessly with the trunk.