Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 208: Is there anything I need to explain?
The road leading to the corridor on the bottom floor is the road that the Martial God Emperor Karna left just now. The long 120 stone steps require a double jump to climb up each step. The princess walking on it feels like she is walking on the stairs leading to the kingdom of giants. Every step brings her closer to the final battlefield.

When you reach the top platform, you will see the majestic stone gate standing silently, its uncarved surface covered in dust, like a giant guarding from ancient times to the present, overlooking all the tiny travelers passing by.

Avella stood in front of the huge door that was tightly closed. She slowly raised the key in her hand, and a few system prompts popped up in front of her:
[Do you want to open the road to the rulers? Yes/No]

[Since you defeated the guardians of the first four corridors, the power of the original ruler has been weakened and is currently only one-fifth of its original strength.]

[Warning: The enemy ahead is extremely powerful. If you are not sure of victory, it is best not to challenge it lightly. ]

"It's been weakened four times and the warning still pops up. It's worthy of being the final BOSS." Alice in her mind sighed, and then asked casually: "How is it, do you feel the pressure, Ovira?"

"Sister Alice!" Metien called out immediately, stopping her from continuing. The pink-haired girl had finally managed to ease Ovella's nervousness through chatting and talking, but Alice was still fanning the flames, which was really annoying.

Alice realized that her question was a little inappropriate when she was called like that. She said with a slightly awkward tone, "Uh, it's nothing. I just asked casually. Ovella, you don't have to take it to heart."

Avella herself didn’t really care and shook her head gently: “It’s okay, I don’t feel any pressure anymore.”

"because--"

At the same time, in Rostin City, in the Fairy Sleep Inn, in the underground herb garden.

As she spoke, she pressed the [Yes] option: "I have already made up my mind."

Thumping, fluttering—

Gray and white feathers were scattered all over the sky, and the clear and transparent bird calls accompanied by the sunlight penetrating the gaps between the branches and leaves made people feel a bit of the warmth of early spring. Although it was a cold snowy month outside, in the underground garden of Rostin City, it was warm and gentle like spring all year round.

The lantern on the waist swayed slightly, and the lonely boat drifted into a bottomless darkness, like a brewing storm, gradually drowning out the faint firelight.

"Fly." Mrs. Tree stared at the bird's back as it flew away, and murmured in a low voice, as if talking to herself or to someone far away: "Fly to where you want to go, to see the scenery in the garden, or to fly freely in the outside world. Don't stay in one place... Because in this world, everything has its own destiny."

This is true for both humans and birds. They have feet and wings, are free and unrestrained, and can go wherever they want. No one can restrain them, and it is impossible for anyone to restrain them.

The dry and thin fingertips were slightly raised, transmitting the old man's words into the distance.

A tree that digs its roots deep into the ground and clings to mudstone also has its own destiny, but that destiny is predetermined, just as a tree cannot leave the ground it grows on, perhaps at some point in its life, or perhaps in an old dream.

Where are all the birds that once built their nests on her branches, the squirrels that once stored their fruits in her tree holes, and the wild animals that once left their footprints under her shade? Have they disappeared into a place far, far away that she cannot reach as time passes?
But this absent-mindedness did not last long. When the pecking sound like wood was no longer heard from her palm, Mrs. Tree's thoughts broke away from her memories. She saw a few birds still standing on her palm, looking at her eagerly. Their ignorant expressions seemed to be saying, "Is there anything else you can give me to eat?" She couldn't help but smile, and gently raised her hand and sent it in the direction of the tree canopy.

"You have finally made it this far, Your Highness." She looked up at the lush treetops, her eyes as cloudy as mist, but full of wisdom accumulated over the years: "The intuitive premonition from the depths of the spirituality is never wrong. Those travelers who have come from afar are indeed changing your destiny. They are the light in the lamp, and will guide you to open up a path to light..."

The princess walked in without hesitation.

……

"As your teacher, let me teach you this last lesson."

……

Under the majestic oak tree, a kind and gentle old woman raised her hand to call a few flying birds, which landed on her skinny arms, as if they were on the withered branches of a long-dead old tree. She fed the birds a few fallen acorns gently and slowly, feeling the touch of their sharp beaks carving her palms, her eyes slightly absent-minded, as if at this moment, she recalled the memory of being a tree.

The key in his hand suddenly turned into a hazy glow and merged into the ancient stone door. With a loud rumbling sound and the falling sand and dust, the road to the end of the story gradually opened up in front of everyone.

"But the fate of living beings is always fluctuating between gains and losses. What you gain will be lost, and what you gain will be lost. Are you ready to reduce what you want to increase? Are you ready to lose what you want to gain? If you have never thought about these questions, you are not truly mature."

In front of the iron gate of the herb garden, a sunflower with a human face was sleeping soundly while hugging her flower pot, completely forgetting her duties as a gatekeeper. Just as she dreamed that she had come to a paradise with fertile soil, abundant sunshine, and no Xie Mi to disturb her sleep, she suddenly heard a familiar old voice in her ears: "Little sun, wake up, don't sleep anymore."

"Hmm... who is it?" Little Sun replied in a daze in his sleep: "I'm sleeping, don't disturb me... unless... you are here to give me... um, a gift..."

The old voice smiled kindly and gently: "Haha, it's me, Little Sun. Come and do me a favor. If you agree, I will give you the oak branch you have always wanted. How about it?" "Oak... branch?"

As if catching a certain key word, the sleeping Sunflower suddenly opened her eyes wide and stammered, "Mrs. Shu, Mrs. Shu!? Were you calling me just now?"

"Yes, little sun, would you like to help me?"

"Of course!" Although he knew that Mrs. Shu couldn't see, Little Sun still put on a loyal expression as much as possible and said righteously: "Since it is your request, I will do my best to help! Ah, and——"

She lowered her voice somewhat embarrassedly: "The oak branch you just mentioned..."

"Don't worry, I'll give it to you." There was a hint of smile in Mrs. Shu's voice.

Little Sun was instantly full of energy: "Then just tell me what you need me to do! Even if it's... uh, nothing."

She originally wanted to say, "Even if I have to cross snowy mountains or seas of fire, I will never hesitate." But when she thought of her roots still buried in the warm soil, her ambition was immediately extinguished, and she acted as if nothing had happened.

Madam Shu knew her character very well, so she didn't take it too seriously. She said slowly in an old but gentle voice, "Haha, don't be so nervous. I just want you to call Shesta and Shelia over for me. I have something to tell them."

Explain?

This statement is not quite right.

Xiao Yang hesitated for a moment and did not do it immediately. Instead, he lowered his voice and asked, "Mrs. Shu, are you going to... leave the hotel?"

Mrs. Shu neither admitted nor denied it. She smiled and said, "Some things have to be done. Besides, I have been waiting for so long."

It had been so long that she almost forgot what her teacher looked like and what her mood was like when the rain fell.

Little Sun was still hesitant: "Then, will you come back?"

This time, Mrs. Tree did not give her an answer because she could not promise something she could not do.

Little Sun's mood instantly dropped. She hugged her flower pot, humming and refusing to move, as if this could delay Mrs. Tree's departure and even change the decision she had made.

Mrs. Tree has been staying in this herb garden since she became conscious. She used her magic to open up a nursery full of vitality, created a soil that nurtures spirituality, and personally sowed each potion seed, loosening the soil, watering, and fertilizing them, watching them grow and flourish.

Every potion in the herb garden gained its own consciousness under her watch. When they opened their eyes, the first thing they saw was her kind and gentle smile, and they kept it in mind with pure admiration and respect. The same was true for Little Sun. She couldn't imagine what the herb garden would look like without Madam Tree.

but.

"Don't be willful, little sun." The adult who always cherished the old wish and was willing to give everything for it said in a gentle and soothing tone: "Have you forgotten what I once told you, if one day I have to part with you, I hope to see your smiles, not your tears. Do you want to disappoint me, little sun?"

"..."

Little Sun said nothing, searching for traces of this memory in her mind. When she found out that Mrs. Shu had indeed said these words to her, but it had been so long that she had almost forgotten them, the words of persuasion that were still on her lips suddenly stopped coming out.

She hummed in a sullen voice and reluctantly pulled her roots out of the soil in the flowerpot: "I understand, Madam Tree, I'll go call someone over now..."

Before she finished speaking, she ran away holding her flower pot. Her back did not look like she was delivering a message, but rather like she was escaping from something in a panic.

Listening quietly to her footsteps gradually fading away until they drifted away in the wind, Mrs. Tree sighed silently. She knew that Little Sun still found it difficult to accept this because young people always have unrealistic expectations of the world and hope that everything can last forever. But where in the world are there such good things?
“Gains and losses, separations and reunions, are all about making choices.”

"Ugh."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)