Little Twig~

Ye Zhao spread her hands. "Then there's nothing I can do. You can stay in the vase."

World Tree Branch: ...

It began emitting that strange frequency again. It wasn't like human speech, with words, nor did it sound like an animal howling. Anyway, Ye Zhao understood it: it wanted to grow, to flourish with vitality, to find a place where it belonged.

Ye Zhao sat down on the ground, fished a milk candy out of her pocket, and unwrapped it as she spoke. "You won't go even when I tell you to. What am I supposed to do? You don't really expect me to make you a planet, do you? You give me too much credit. My feeble mental strength couldn't handle that."

"Do you eat candy?"

"You've probably never tried it. Here, have a taste."

Ye Zhao dropped the unwrapped candy into the vase. There was still water inside, and the candy sank straight to the bottom as its sweet flavor slowly dissolved into the water.

All the little twig's leaves and branches trembled.

Ye Zhao unwrapped another candy and popped it into her mouth, smiling. "Tasty, right? I told you, no one can resist the charm of candy! Not even trees!"

Little Twig: ...

Ye Zhao stood up, holding the vase. "Come on, we should head back."

Ye Zhao felt as though she'd been gone for a very long time. Her consciousness had floated through the universe for ages, as if centuries had passed. But in reality, only a few hours had gone by since she returned to Blue Star.

In those few hours, more and more people and ghosts had gathered around the Black Hole. A dense mass of ghosts blotted out the sky. They took all kinds of shapes, their faces twisted, and they lunged