The Tree That Wanted to Be Human

The shopkeeper glanced at Ye Fu.

Ye Fu asked softly, "What's the condition?"

"Take good care of this pear tree."

Ye Fu looked the pear tree over. Its branches were lush with leaves, and it was quite a pretty sight. He shook his head and said, "I'm guessing your master's condition doesn't end there."

The lively glint in the attendant's eyes flickered for a moment. Then he nodded and said, "My master said that anyone who understood that was fated to meet this pear tree. He charges no rent to someone with such a fate."

"And then?"

"And then, my master said the rent would go up each time the pear blossoms withered."

Ye Fu chuckled. "Your master is an interesting man. In that case, I've gotten myself a bargain."

The attendant frowned. "What makes you say that, sir?"

Ye Fu smiled, strode forward beneath the pear tree, and turned to say, "I mean, your master might never collect a single payment of rent from me in his lifetime."

The attendant froze for a moment, then shook his head. His gaze grew somewhat less animated as he looked at Ye Fu, the liveliness gone from his eyes. "My master planted this pear tree with his own hands all those years ago. Even when he was the one tending it, the tree only flowered for one month each year." He said no more after that. He was beginning to doubt whether Ye Fu really was the person fated to meet the tree.

"Then wouldn't that mean your master doesn't want to rent it out and is making things difficult on purpose?"

"Of course not. My master said this pear tree is waiting only for the one fated to meet it."

Ye Fu smiled. "Do I look like the one it's waiting for?" He offered no explanation, and he was also well aware of what was so wondrous about the pear tree. If an ordinary person were to tend a tree like this, never mind its blossoms withering-it might never flower in a lifetime.

But Ye Fu, a man whose heart was set on living a quiet life, was no ordinary person.

The attendant said, "I can't tell, of course. You're welcome to try, sir."

"Are there any formalities to complete?" Ye Fu asked.

The attendant took a scroll from inside his robes. By the look of it, it was made of leather. "This is the lease agreement. You only need to put your handprint on it, sir. I'll take care of the rest for you."

"Well, that's convenient."

This suited Ye Fu perfectly. Before transmigrating, what he had hated most was running around dealing with all sorts of formalities, going here and there until he was sick of it.

"Would a bloody handprint be all right? My master said that would be best."

The shopkeeper, who had been silent all this time, frowned and asked, in the spirit of providing Ye Fu with conscientious service, "I don't recall the lease agreement having any such requirement."

"My master said so." The attendant was neither warm nor cold in response to the shopkeeper's questioning.

For the second time, Ye Fu said, "Your master is really interesting." He added, "I'd like to meet him sometime."

Hearing this, the attendant seemed to lift his chin almost instinctively. "I'm afraid it would be very difficult to meet my master."

Ye Fu smiled and said no more.

He held out his index finger and bit it lightly. In truth, he couldn't bring himself to bite through it, nor could he understand how people in television dramas managed to bite their own fingers until they bled. This was only for the two men's benefit; what he had actually done was force a drop of blood onto his fingertip.

The bloody fingerprint landed on the agreement, completing the lease.

"Now you're free to move in, sir. I'll bring you the rest of the paperwork later this afternoon."

With that, the attendant didn't linger a moment longer. He turned and left.

Behind him, the shopkeeper muttered, "How strange. I've never seen anyone rent out a place like that."

Ye Fu said little about the matter. Instead, he turned to the shopkeeper and said, "I hope you can do me another favor."

Having roughly guessed that there was something unusual about Ye Fu, the shopkeeper was considerably more sincere. After all, he knew Ye Fu would be staying here for some time, and establishing a friendly connection now might prove beneficial.

"Go ahead, sir."

"I'm from out of town, and I have no registered identity here. Could you help me get one?"

The shopkeeper thought for a moment, then said, "That's no problem. A trip to the household registry office with some money should do it. Though really, sir, there's no need for you to do that. Here in Black Stone City, having a registered identity isn't much use."

"I'd still like one. At the very least, I ought to know who I am." Ye Fu smiled.

For some reason, the shopkeeper always felt that there was an inexplicable sadness about Ye Fu when he said this. He found that sadness somewhat relatable, like the melancholy of a person far from home.

Chapter 8: The Tree That Wanted to Be Human

The shopkeeper left.

In the end, Ye Fu decided to keep using the name "Ye Fu." He was afraid that if he used another name and lived with it long enough, he would forget what his original name was.

Even if he had come to a new world, he couldn't just forget the past on a whim. At the very least, he had to remember where he came from, what his name was, and who he really was. Otherwise, wouldn't his life lose its original meaning?

After turning it over in his mind, Ye Fu found no way to console himself. He stood beneath the pear tree, stroking the deeply furrowed bark on its trunk.

"This is a tree that wants to be human."

He sighed.

Ye Fu had seen the pear tree's true nature at first glance. It was uniquely blessed by heaven. Something unknown had endowed it with spiritual awareness and an understanding of human nature. It was currently cultivating in its sleep, and its flowering meant that it was in a state of cultivation. It was a very interesting pear tree, and one that would be quite amusing as well.

He knew roughly how difficult cultivation was for nonhuman life. A minor tribulation every year and a major one every three years was no joke; those who failed to endure them were essentially cut off from the path of cultivating immortality.

Perhaps out of a certain fondness for things worth cherishing, Ye Fu gave the pear tree some attention. It was that attention that made him realize what set the tree apart.

It was pure, pure to the extreme. It had no desire to increase its strength or attain the Dao and become an Immortal. It wanted only to take human form, and nothing else. That was what Ye Fu could hear in its heart.

Ye Fu had always admired things that were focused on one matter to the utmost, and in this respect, the pear tree showed it very clearly.