Chapter 368: Jiuyuan Township

"really……"

Yoshiyuki finally came to the thick tree, took a breath, and sighed to himself.

"It doesn't look that far from a distance, but it takes a lot of time to actually walk here... I wonder if the eldest lady is also looking for a high place to look out? I really hope I don't accidentally fall... Well, there are spells, so if you react quickly, there won’t be any problems.”

"Hehehe, which girl are you looking for? Maybe you can get a clue by asking me, little girl?"

"Uh, who is talking to me?" Yi Xing was shocked and immediately placed his hand on the wooden knife out of habit.

Then he remembered that he now had two knives, and the other one was more convenient for killing people, so he pressed his left hand on the handle of the demon knife.

This gave him the feeling that his wife and daughter were fighting with him.

If the knife were compared to their bodies, the tip of the knife would probably be their feet.

As for the hilt, it is the head.

In other words, he can hold the heads of Missy and Ji at any time and chop them with their feet.

Two-sword style is not his strong point.

Yoshiyuki's posture is not to draw out both swords, but to draw one of them to fight depending on the situation.

For him, it made no difference whether he made the first blow with his left hand or right hand.

He can immediately switch to using two-handed swords with the next move.

"It's me! Old man! It's not dangerous to you!" The thick and low voice still came from the tree, but it was unclear where it came from: "Don't be so nervous?"

"By the way, where are you? Hiding in a tree?" Yi Xing looked up in confusion, but found nothing: "Are you invisible?"

"It's not on a tree, but on me! Go around to the back and you can see my face!"

After hearing this, Yi Xing walked around to the back of the giant tree in confusion.

Sure enough, I saw who the speaker was - to be precise, it was the "talking tree".

Because this is a tree spirit!

It has a kind human face.

He looks like the old man, with his eyes closed and a long beard.

A bit silly, but quite cute.

He also opens his mouth when speaking.

But even though he didn't open his eyes, he could still see Yi Xing's appearance. This is really very strange.

"Oh... little girl, you are quite tall! Among the women I have ever met, you are the tallest! Hahaha!"

"...Thank you for the compliment." Yoshiyuki didn't bother to clarify that he was a boy, and asked helplessly along the topic: "You mentioned before that you might have seen the person I am looking for? Is it true?"

"Hahaha... I did see her! She is a very cute girl. Although she is a bit far away, I can still see clearly what she looks like and where she is! This must be very useful information for you. .”

"Really?!" Yi Xing was a little surprised after hearing this: "What does she look like? I have to confirm if she is the person I am looking for!"

"I can't tell you in advance. Unless..."

"...As expected, there are conditions." Yoshiyuki sighed, feeling that it was reasonable: "My name is Maekawa Yoshiyuki, what do you need me to do to exchange information?"

Grandpa Tree: "Hahaha, the little girl is indeed very sensible! I have been here since a long time ago, so long that I have forgotten my first name. Everyone calls me Grandpa Tree, so you should call me that too!"

Grandpa Tree: "Don't worry, I won't make any requests to embarrass you. I just want to ask you to do a small thing for my old tree."

Yoshiyuki: "Please tell me."

Grandpa Tree: "As you can see, I am a tree and cannot move."

Grandpa Tree: "Originally, in this wilderness, only small animals accompany me every day, and few people come to chat with me."

Grandpa Tree: "I have always been used to living like this. I spend every day leisurely like this, occasionally chatting with people passing by, and I am very happy."

Grandpa Tree: "It wasn't until ten years ago... Someone built a hut near here. A little boy named Taro Hirai started to come to play with me often."

Grandpa Shu: "I was really happy...but the good times didn't last long, and Taro moved to the nearby Qingqiu Village."

Grandpa Tree: "But Taro will still run out of the village from time to time to play with me and tell me stories about the new friends he made there!"

Grandpa Shu: "...but gradually, Taro comes less and less, and he hasn't even come to see me recently."

Grandpa Tree: "Is it one year...or two years? Maybe more..."

Grandpa Shu: "I miss Taro very much... and I am also worried that something has happened to him. So I started to find someone to help me take the message and go see if Taro is okay?"

Yoshiyuki: "I understand."

Yoshiyuki: "Just to see if he is doing well and remind him to come see you more, right?"

Grandpa Tree: "...No, don't do that."

Grandpa Shu: "Don't force that kid to come see me. There must be some reason why Taro didn't come. Maybe he's too busy studying?"

Yoshiyuki: "...Yeah."

Grandpa Tree: "After we find Taro, just see if he is okay."

Grandpa Tree: "You can see the village if you keep walking to the north. You can also see it more clearly after climbing up to my tree crown."

Yoshiyuki: "Okay, I understand. I'll help you with this, and you must remember to keep your promise."

Old man: "Of course. Don't worry, little girl!"

Yoshiyuki: "Speaking of which, what kind of place is this?"

Grandpa Tree: "Humph...here? I have lived for a long time, and I remember many of its names in the long river of time..."

Yoshiyuki: "Just tell me the latest one!"

Grandpa Tree: "The latest name is Yehuayuan. It's a very appropriate name, right?"

Yoshiyuki: "...It's very appropriate, but I think it's too casual. Because this is a plain with many wild flowers, it's called Wild Flower Fields..."

Yoshiyuki: "Ah no, wait! That's not what I want to ask - I mean, where is this world?"

Grandpa Tree: "Huh? The world?"

Grandpa Tree: "What a strange question...little girl, don't you even know this?"

Yoshiyuki: "Well...because I lived somewhere else before, so..."

Grandpa Tree: "That's it. I understand."

Grandpa Tree: "This world is called Jiuyuan Township..."

Grandpa Tree: "A long time ago, when I was just born, I was called this name."

Yoshiyuki: "Jiuyuan Township..."

Yoshiyuki: "Jiuyuan...hometown..."

Yoshiyuki: "...Hmm!"

Grandpa Tree: "Huh? What's wrong, little girl? Do you have a headache?"

Yoshiyuki: "No...no, it's nothing."

A very nostalgic feeling came over me.

Yoshiyuki always felt that he had heard this name before, or even visited this place before.

……but why?

He tried to think of something.

However, deep in the memory, there is still darkness.