Chapter Fifty-Eight: Chen An's Observation
The morning mist had yet to disperse when Chen An carried a clay bucket toward the yard gate. His footsteps came to an abrupt halt beside the fence.
He narrowed his eyes at the Withered Willow three zhang away. Yesterday, it had only had a few scattered tender buds, but now it had sprouted clusters of lush green new branches! The branches looked carved from green jade, their bark covered in down like Silver Frost. In the faint morning light, they glimmered with a pale golden halo.
Stranger still were the swollen leaf buds at the tips of the branches. Fine cracks had already split them open, revealing curled tender leaves shaped like sparrow tongues, their edges inlaid with an exceptionally thin silver line.
"It's growing... way too fast!" he muttered, walking closer before squatting down.
His fingertips brushed over the new branches. They felt cool and supple, and a faint vitality flowed into him through his fingers, dispelling his morning weariness. The scorched-black soil around the roots had actually grown slightly damp, while thick, clear Amber Sap seeped from the cracks in the parched bark. A crisp, sweet herbal fragrance spread through the surroundings, attracting several Blue-winged Butterflies to flutter and dance around the tree.
At noon, warm sunlight bathed the entire Small Courtyard. Chen An squatted on the threshold, chewing half a water radish, but his gaze remained fixed as though drawn by a magnet to the Willow Tree in the corner, which changed with every passing day. His eyes were full of wonder that a farmer like him could hardly understand.
Sure enough, a faint, indistinct layer of pale blue mist lingered among the Willow Tree's branches and leaves.
The mist did not resemble ordinary water vapor. Rather, it seemed like a