Grandfather Lawrence Returns

Evan Xiao thought for a moment. "Let me put it this way... Suppose you're an orphan, adopted by a pack of wolves in the forest."

Grace: "Huh?"

"Then one day, you suddenly meet humans. They take care of you and treat you really well. You're over the moon."

"Mm..."

"But then, one day, the wolves and humans start fighting. To protect the wolves, you kill the humans who cared for you, and even—out of desperation—eat their flesh and drink their blood. Would you feel okay about that?"

"I would never do that!"

"Grace." Evan Xiao looked at her and said, "Spirit Trees are the mothers of all living things. They have consciousness."

"What do you mean by that? I don't get it."

"That Beanie is a Spirit Tree sapling," Evan Xiao explained. "Otherwise, it couldn't possibly absorb the Spirit Tree's divine power."

"What?" Grace suddenly understood. "You mean... when you said eating flesh and drinking blood, you were talking about... Beanie?"

Evan Xiao nodded. "But... the Spirit Tree did it willingly. Otherwise, a sapling could never absorb the divine power of a mature Spirit Tree."

This was what Evan Xiao found most puzzling.

Why would that Spirit Tree let Beanie absorb its divine power and sacrifice itself to save Grace?

From what he knew about the Sacred Spirit Trees, although they had consciousness, they never interfered in the struggles between living beings.

Whether it was humans, beasts, demons, or gods, they never got involved.

So, in the eyes of humans, they were just trees.

"Willingly? Spirit Trees really are worthy of everyone's worship! I have to go comfort little Beanie!"

"Go ahead."

Grace entered the pocket dimension and hugged Beanie's trunk tightly.

"Beanie, I'm so sorry!" Grace said.

Beanie's leaves lifted slightly.

"I'm so sorry!" Grace stroked it gently. "From now on, I promise I won't let you suffer like this again!"

Beanie's tendrils curled around her, as if hugging her back.

"Beanie, are you really a Sacred Spirit Tree?" Grace stared at its current form, which looked nothing like the majestic Spirit Tree.

Beanie lifted a leaf but didn't respond, as if it didn't understand what "Sacred Spirit Tree" meant.

So Grace tried a different approach: "Was that tree you absorbed the divine power from your kind?"

Beanie nodded its leaf.

"...So you really are a Sacred Spirit Tree!" Grace exclaimed, her face full of wonder. "If I'd known, I would've treated you much better before!"

"Beanie, next time, I'll get you tons and tons of spirit jade to eat so you can grow into a towering tree! How does that sound?"

When she mentioned "lots of spirit jade," Beanie's leaves perked up a bit, looking a little more lively.

Grace felt that 'lots of spirit jade' was the perfect comfort for Beanie...

But where was she going to find so much spirit jade?

...

This time, moving to Yan City meant the whole family was planning a permanent relocation.

All the family's properties were carefully inventoried and handed over to the clan.

Naturally, all the masters of the house would go too.

Any servants who wanted to go could come along.

Those who didn't want to go were given a sum of money and let go.

...

After Tuoba Hong left, Zhuo Minghan also departed.

He went to pick up Grace's grandfather.

Now that Colin Gu had fallen, he could finally come home!

About half a month later, when everything was nearly packed, Grace's grandfather returned.

Grandfather had lost an arm, and his chin was burned—clearly, surviving that battle was pure luck.