Chapter 224: Is This A World Tree?
I kept shifting my gaze between the old woman and Jia Lian, the latter having gone still after she realised who she was looking at.
"Your... Grandmother?" I asked, moving over to stand by Jia Lian’s side.
She nodded her head slowly, not taking her eyes off the old lady.
"She... She passed away... A few years ago... From cancer... It... It was sudden and... We didn’t get to say goodbye..."
I frowned and looked back at the old lady who was still standing under the tree and smiling at Jia Lian.
Her gaze shifted to me and her smile widened, "Aiyo! Xiao Lian ah! You got boyfriend already ah? Why never tell Ah Ma?"
Jia Lian’s breath hitched and she looked at me in a panic before looking back at her, "Ah.... Ah Ma... He... He’s not my boyfriend..."
"Ah? Why not? So handsome boy you still don’t want? What you waiting for? Ah boy ah? You single or not? Xiao Lian here very nice girl leh, you want?"
I looked back at Jia Lian, wondering what I should say but she just gave me the same confused look as well.
I turned back to her, "Umm... Sorry auntie... We’re a little bit more complicated than that..."
"My Lord? Who are you talking to?" Olivia asked, coming up to my side and giving me a worried look.
I gestured towards the old lady, "Do you guys... Not see her?"
The rest of the girls all looked in the direction of where Jia Lian’s grandmother was standing at, a figure that was impossible for them to miss, and turned back to give me a look like I was crazy.
"What are you talking about, Qing?" Diana asked, pressing her palm to my forehead like she was checking my temperature. "Are you ok?"
Siti gave me a look of concern, "There’s no one there, Qing. Are you alright?"
I turned back to Jia Lian and she was giving me a look that said she was definitely not imagining the person that we were both seeing.
I narrowed my eyes at the old woman, trying to see if she was some kind of illusion or something.
But when I concentrated on her, I realised that she was somehow connected to the tree itself and through the tree’s connection, there was also a very faint connection to Jia Lian.
I didn’t want to believe it... But all the evidence pointed to what I really believe was happening here.
"Jia Lian..." I muttered, leaning over to her. "I think... That’s your real grandmother... Or at least... Her spirit..."
Jia Lian tensed up and I’m pretty sure she already knew that as fact. It was just that she wasn’t ready to believe it yet until I said it out loud.
She took a few steps towards the old woman, her hands reaching out to her for a moment but then sudden;y pulling back, as though afraid that her grandmother would disappear the moment she touched her.
"Ah... Ah Ma... You... How have you been?"
The old lady waved her hand at her, "Aiyah. Same, same lah. Why you so skinny now? You need to eat more!"
Jia Lian hesitated before she started moving closer to her grandmother while I followed behind her.
At this distance, I finally realised that the old lady was a little translucent and I could see the tree glowing behind her slightly, making her look like a ghostly figure.
Jia Lian must have also seen that as well since she also stopped in her tracks.
The fact that the old lady hadn’t even moved from her spot meant there was something anchoring her there as well.
Jia Lian seemed to want to say something but stopped herself a few times before she finally opened her mouth.
"Ah Ma... Do you... Do you remember... The hospital?"
"Aiyah. Of course lah. I know I not here anymore lah, Xiao Lian. Your Ah Ma worry about you that’s why I come here. You see, you so skinny now, never even eat properly. You tell your Papa to feed you more hor1. Or else your Ah Ma will go back down there and scold him."
Jia Lian let out a giggle despite herself. Even I couldn’t help but smile at how unexpectedly normal the conversation was despite what was happening here.
The other girls were standing a few steps behind us, still giving us a confused look and looking like they wanted to question us but I stopped them with a finger to my lips.
Jia Lian moved forward another step and tried to reach out her hand to touch her grandmother, only for her hand to pass through her.
Jia Lian choked at the sight, the tears that she had held back starting to flow past her cheeks.
Her grandmother let out a sigh, "Xiao Lian ah... Ah Ma have to go now... You must remember to take care of yourself hor."
Jia Lian nodded, her tears still flowing down her face, "Ah Ma... You... You take care too..."
The old woman smiled at her before suddenly turning to me, "Ah boy ah. Thank you ah. You let me see my Xiao Lian again."
I blinked and pointed at myself, "Me?"
She smiled at me, "Your tree. Very bright. I see Xiao Lian here and your tree took me down here to meet her. Thank you ah."
Without waiting for a response, her figure shimmered and disappeared into light particles to float into the tree, disappearing completely.
Jia Lian watched the light particles float up to the tree, her face looking serene despite the tears that were flowing down her face.
She then turned to me and, unexpectedly, moved forward to hug me tightly.
"I... I didn’t get to say goodbye to her before... She... She left before I could say goodbye... Tha... Thank you, Qing..."
I held her close to me while patting her head and making soothing noises, giving her time to calm herself down.
I then turned towards the other girls who were still looking confused so I went ahead to explain.
"So... Apparently... My tree has some kind of ability to get the attention of the dead... Jia Lian’s grandmother just appeared and spoke to her earlier before she... Passed on I guess?"
All of them stared at me for a good few seconds, then at Jia Lian who was still sniffing in my embrace, then at the giant tree that was behind me.
"Get the attention of the dead?" Diana muttered carefully.
"Apparently so... Her grandmother’s spirit appeared here and said it was the tree that guided her here."
Ava tilted her head, "Ara? Does that mean... The tree is able to bring back the spirits of the dead? How interesting..."
I raised an eyebrow at her, "What is it? You sound like you know something?"
She looked up at the tree with a thoughtful expression, "I wonder... If this was merely just a coincidence or it’s all connected somehow. We had a World Tree back in our world which was said to be an anchor and a connection to different worlds. Some said that it also connected to the spirit world where the dead reside and the branches serve as paths to connect all the different worlds together."
She then went up to the tree and pressed her hand against its trunk, looking up at its leaves as though contemplating something.
"I had my suspicions when I first saw it but... Now I am sure..."
Siti tilted her head at her, the Mortal Goddess looking especially interested in the topic, "Might you be saying that this is another World Tree?"
Ava stared up at it for a moment before turning back to shake her head, "No. It is not a World Tree. This functions like one and acts like one... But it’s basically something else that is pretending to be a World Tree."
I frowned, "Pretending to be? What do you mean? Is it malicious?"
"Ara? Ufufufu~ Forgive me, that might not be the right way to say it. A more accurate way to explain is that it has no choice but to take this form because what its true form is supposed to be is too incomprehensible to this place that this is the only way for it to exist while still maintaining its function."
I blinked at her, "What does that mean?"
"It means this is something that goes beyond even a World Tree... But its true form cannot be perceived in a physical state here unless..." She paused and turned to give me a serious look. "Unless you are able to comprehend it, my Divine."
"That... Honestly gave me more questions than answers."
"Ufufufu~ My apologies, my Divine. But such is the world of divine beings like yourself. The answers to things related to you are rarely straightforward. Which I believe the two Goddesses there have also learned from you, have they not?"
I turned my gaze to Siti and Diana, remembering what I told them about the esoteric understanding of their abilities.
Right... I guess the lessons I give them also apply to myself...
Ava then giggled, "Ufufufu~ I don’t think now is the time to think about that anyway, my Divine. Shouldn’t you be showing us your soul space?"
Oh right. Err... Where shall we start?
Hor = is more of a Singlish term used to emphasise a point or seek agreement. In this case, it’s like saying "tell your father to feed you more, ok?"