When Jiang You turned around, she found Man Lianyu lying on the ground not far away. She had appeared at some point and was seriously counting the organs on the monster tree.
The monster tree had taken the bait.
Jiang You nodded. "Very good. It seems you really are an unusual tree."
After that, Jiang You reopened the tablet, handed it to the monster tree, and thoughtfully opened a game for her.
While the monster tree played the game, she asked questions.
With all her thoughts focused on the game, the monster tree answered Jiang You's questions almost without thinking. She did not even bother making things up.
Every so often, she would let out a howl because of a botched move.
The dozens of mouths on a single tree bickered noisily.
"Do you know what this is?"
Jiang You cut open her palm, and the writhing red threads gathered into a ball in her hand.
An eyeball came over and examined the thing in Jiang You's palm. "Of course I know. This is the Earth Mother!"
"What is the Earth Mother?"
"It's something that grows underground, but it's very rare. Every creature here likes the Earth Mother, but the Earth Mother doesn't like other creatures!"
"What does the Earth Mother look like?"
"The Earth Mother has no fixed form. It can take all kinds of shapes. The red threads in your body are the Earth Mother's blood. Did you eat a very large Earth Mother?"
The monster tree answered while playing, squeezing in the reply whenever she had a spare moment. "Human—no, Jiang You, may I ask if the Earth Mother tastes good?
"A very, very long time ago, I saw an Earth Mother, but I didn't have a mouth back then, and I didn't know trees could eat