Honey Thorn

After reading the reply, Chen Miemie inwardly cried out, “Clever.”

This pen pal had actually left him with another cliffhanger this time, making him extremely curious about what would happen after she made her choice.

“What a difficult decision. If it were me, what would I choose?”

In the end, the two people corresponding with each other were not sages who had seen through the ways of the world and weathered countless storms. They were merely young people who had suddenly found themselves in a new situation. In an unfamiliar environment, they had abruptly been burdened with pressures far beyond what anyone their age should have to bear. Hesitation, confusion, and unease were all inevitable parts of the journey.

Of Chen Miemie’s three major sources of information, he had already consulted Lady Scab and Bridge Princess. His investigation into Kong Rong had not gone smoothly, so he had resorted to the last route available to him: a witch.

Early the next morning, Silence sent him a message, asking him to meet at the city library.

The message had not been sent by Silence herself, but by one of her subordinates, a witch named Honeythorn.

Chen Miemie met the witch outside the library.

The witch’s outfit was somewhat contradictory—both extravagant and unfashionable.

She looked fairly young, with an exceptionally slender waist. She wore a yellow-and-black striped Lolita-style dress, its skirt cut out in a honeycomb pattern, and a large hat with a veil covering her face.

Up to this point, she looked very much like a young lady from a wealthy family.

But hanging from her waist was a huge, battered case. It was incredibly rustic—not “rustic” as a figure of speech, either. It actually had dirt all over it.

“Greetings, Descendant of the Third Seat.”

Honeythorn extended her hand. She held it rather high—not quite in the manner of someone offering a handshake, but more as if she expected him to kiss the back of it.

“Hello, Ms. Honeythorn.”

Chen Miemie took the hand she offered. He knew that hand-kissing was one of the witches’ forms of etiquette.

The moment his fingers touched hers—

“Bzzzzzz!”

A huge swarm of bees burst frantically out of the case at Honeythorn’s waist. They formed an arrowhead in midair and charged straight at Chen Miemie.

“Return!”

Honeythorn gave a sharp command.

At the sound of her voice, the bees stopped in midair half a meter from Chen Miemie. They maintained their formation, the tip of the arrow still aimed at Chen Miemie… or rather, at the hand holding Honeythorn’s.

“They’re friends. Say hello.”

At her next command, the swarm immediately changed formation, forming the shape of two hands shaking in midair.

Chen Miemie quickly withdrew his hand. “Are those bees you raise?”

“Not exactly. But I can dispatch them. My codename is [Swarm]. I can summon and command every bee in the entire city.”

Chen Miemie was curious. “If you can summon them, why carry such a huge beehive around with you?”

Honeythorn removed her hat, revealing the bee-like compound eyes beneath its brim.

“My case isn’t for keeping bees. I love honey. It contains honeycombs—my portable food supply.”

She needed no further introduction. Chen Miemie immediately knew that Honeythorn was a formidable woman, and that her combat ability was definitely astonishing.

Honeythorn escorted Chen Miemie all the way to the door of Silence’s office. In the end, she even followed him inside.

Silence’s office was unbelievably quiet. It had not seemed so quiet from outside, but once they entered, the bees in Honeythorn’s portable hive became especially noticeable.

Silence gave Honeythorn a cold look. “Too noisy. Make your bees quiet.”

Honeythorn hurriedly muttered a series of words toward the case, and the commotion inside subsided considerably.

“Chen Miemie, Honeythorn can see the world through the eyes of her swarm, and transmit information through their stingers. She has a handle on what is happening in most parts of the city. If you need to find someone or gather information in the future, you can go directly to her.”

Chen Miemie’s eyes lit up. Honeythorn not only looked like she could fight; she could also monitor the entire city. She was a major intelligence expert.

He quickly moved closer. “My apologies for failing to recognize your stature. I never realized you were the head of intelligence. Consider me your friend from now on.”

Honeythorn had not expected Chen Miemie to change his attitude so quickly. Faced with the Descendant of the Third Seat’s sudden enthusiasm, she could only respond in kind.

Reluctantly, she took a chunk of honey from the case. “Want some?”

Chen Miemie could see how unwilling she was to part with it. He also noticed the dozens of bees clinging to the honey in her hand. He shook his head. “Thank you, but I don’t eat things that sweet.”

Upon hearing his refusal, Honeythorn’s face brightened. She swiftly put the chunk of honey back into the case, then stuck the honey-coated fingers of that hand into her mouth. After tasting the sweetness, she wore an expression of bliss.

Silence did not want to spend any more time with these two clowns. “Honeythorn should know the situation regarding the Great Banyan at Evergreen Academy. I won’t pass along a message. You can talk to her in person.”

“The Great Banyan? Hmph, I hate the Great Banyan.” Chen Miemie had not even begun asking questions when Honeythorn bristled.

“Why?”

“Banyan trees don’t flower. They produce figs directly, and their pollination requirements are ridiculously demanding. They won’t accept ordinary bees; they insist on using a special species called fig wasps. Hmph.”

Chen Miemie missed the point entirely. “What’s there to be angry about?”

“How could I not be angry? Fig wasps don’t produce honey. They’re practically freaks among bees.”

“Oh, I see. You’re angry because you can’t get any honey from them.”

“That’s not it. I’m not short of a little honey. The problem is that after fig wasps finish pollinating the tree and laying their eggs, their bodies are broken down inside the fig’s fruit and converted into nutrients for the fruit to absorb. The fig wasps help the banyan tree, only to be eaten by it afterward. Hmph. I hate the Great Banyan.”

Chen Miemie felt as though he had learned something new, but he still had information to ask about.

“What do you know about that Great Banyan and its caretaker, Kong Rong?”

“Caretaker?” Honeythorn seemed puzzled. “What does caretaker mean?”

“The people at the school say Kong Rong is responsible for maintaining the Great Banyan—watering it, fertilizing it, pruning its branches, getting rid of pests, trimming its roots, and so on.”

“Hmph. They’re lying, or they’ve been deceived. The Great Banyan doesn’t need any of that. The Great Banyan and Kong Rong are one and the same.”

Chen Miemie felt even more confused. He tried to sort things out. “Wait. Are you saying that Kong Rong himself is the Great Banyan?”

“More or less, but that isn’t quite accurate. Kong Rong isn’t human. He belongs to the Spiritkin, one of the eight great races. He is a spirit born from the Great Banyan.”

“Then why isn’t he a tree demon, if he was born from a tree?”

“That is the difference between the Spiritkin and the demon race.

“If the tree itself developed intelligence and gained consciousness, used its own body, and the entire tree could run around wherever it pleased, then it would be a tree demon.

“But if a tree and other things worked together to give birth to a spirit body outside the tree itself, then that spirit would belong to the Spiritkin. The original tree would remain where it was, while a Spiritkin came into being out of thin air.

“To put it simply, Kong Rong was born because of the banyan tree, but he is not the banyan tree.”

Chen Miemie frowned. “Why does that sound so similar to the birth of an anomaly?”

“Before receiving the recognition of the sun and moon, the Spiritkin, demons, and humans were all anomalies to begin with.”

Chen Miemie had not yet finished digesting this new knowledge when Silence suddenly spoke.

“That Great Banyan is dying. It isn’t sick; its lifespan has simply come to an end. No amount of maintenance will make a difference.”

Chen Miemie thought of a question. “What will happen to Kong Rong if the Great Banyan dies?”

“I don’t know,” Honeythorn replied.

“Don’t know?”

“Exactly. We don’t know. If Kong Rong was born solely from the Great Banyan, then it would be simple—the tree dies, and the spirit perishes.

“But in truth, the conditions required for the birth of a spirit are extremely demanding. A single banyan tree, even a large and long-lived one, would be nowhere near enough to give birth to a spirit.

“The banyan tree may have played only a part in Kong Rong’s birth.”

“Then what about the rest?”

“That is Mr. Kong’s secret. Outsiders have no way of knowing.”

Chen Miemie got answers to some of his questions, only to find himself burdened with even more. In a daze, he walked out of the library.

At the library entrance, he brushed past a person completely shrouded in a cloak.

As the figure walked, a sharp, right-angled bulge showed faintly beneath the cloak at their waist.

“That figure looks familiar. Where have I seen them before?”

Chen Miemie gave it no further thought and turned to leave.