The Native Aricans were busy again today.
Not long after they had successfully driven away the white ranchers who ca to invade, a young Native Arican man—an unfamiliar face—ca running hurriedly out of the reservation. He found Karl in the crowd and spoke to the old man in a low voice for a few monts.
Afterward, Karl waved to the surrounding Native residents, gathering them around him and giving a few instructions.
Once the crowd dispersed, just like yesterday, they headed to their respective farms, drove so livestock out of their barns, and brought them into the reservation.
From beginning to end, everything was shrouded in mystery—no one knew what they were doing.
The Winton tribe’s reservation was not open to outsiders, and Everly had no intention of trespassing, so as not to provoke the Native Aricans’ displeasure. In any case, once today passed and tomorrow arrived, she would be able to ask for the information she wanted. There was no need to risk complications at the last mont.
In the afternoon, it was a rare day without snow. Since Karl had gone to the reservation and there was no one to keep Old John company, the three of them decided not to stay cooped up in Karl’s house. Instead, they got into their rented car and went for a drive around the area.
The village lay near the edge of the Great Plains of Yanifly State. To the east and south were all farms; to the west stretched a coastal saline-alkali land; and to the north stood a mountain range called the Dekakulo Mountains, extending from southwest to northeast. This range intersected with the Iramore Mountains in distant Dwight State, and on the map, the two together roughly ford a mirrored “卜”-like shape.
The Kamas River, which irrigated vast areas in the northern Great Plains, originated at the foot of the Dekakulo Mountains.
Originally, the three planned to visit the river’s source and take a look at the mountains and snow-capped peaks in the background.
However, after the car finally made its way over the undulating hills and reached the vicinity of the Dekakulo Mountains, they discovered that a large area at the foot of the mountains had already been enclosed with tal fencing and turned into a mining site.
“What the—? The travel guide I found didn’t ntion anything like this!” Misha complained, pulling up the guide on her phone. It had been published two years ago.
“It’s probably a newly built mining site. Didn’t Grandpa Karl ntion before that a mining company once wanted to cooperate with the Native Aricans to mine in the reservation? This is likely that company.”
With the land already fenced off, it was naturally impossible to enter at will. The ugly barriers and the massive tal fras of mining machinery completely ruined the majestic and striking atmosphere of the mountains.
The three of them spent quite a while holding up their phones, trying to find a good angle, but no matter what they did, they couldn’t capture the kind of scenery shown in the guide. In the end, they could only turn back in disappointnt.
On the bright side, although the drive was a failure, at least they had successfully wasted so ti—great!
By the ti they returned to the village, it was almost dinner ti. The Native Aricans who had gone to the reservation had already co back, but Quilla wasn’t at the dinner table. It was said that she had stayed behind to help complete the final ritual.
After staying here for a few days, Everly had learned that these Native Aricans worshipped a sacred tree. Rituals like this were held every year and counted as a routine activity for the Winton tribe.
Since every ti the ritual was ntioned, her internal “danger radar” had never reacted, Everly figured it probably wasn’t anything bad.
After dinner, she browsed the forums with Misha for a while, then returned to her bedroom and went to bed.
Late at night.
Everly was fast asleep when she suddenly heard a series of urgent dog barks.
The sound ca and went, as if filtered through a thick layer of frosted glass, muffled as it seeped into her dreams, tugging her out of the haze of sleep.
The sensation was strange—like being pulled out of a warm, soothing hot spring just as you were enjoying it, your whole body abruptly leaving that cozy warmth and entering a cold, crisp environnt.
Her mind, muddled and hazy with sleep, snapped awake. Everly’s eyes flew open, and she could still hear Buddy barking.
“Woof! Woof woof!”
What’s going on… is there danger?
Everly reacted on instinct, reaching under her pillow to grab the handgun and protective charm she had hidden there in advance, then sprang out of bed in one swift motion.
Buddy was a spiritual dog, but not of any special lineage, so its spirit was quite weak. Everly couldn’t see Buddy’s spirit form—she could only hear the dog’s barking constantly coming from beside the bed, now on the left, now at the foot. She could practically picture an invisible dog anxiously jumping around and spinning in circles where she couldn’t see it.
However, although Buddy’s barking was urgent, it wasn’t sharp or piercing. Rather than a warning of danger, it sounded more like it was trying to get her attention.
Everly’s “danger radar” also showed no reaction. She looked around, but found nothing unusual in her surroundings.
So what’s going on…?
Thinking it over, Everly suspected that Buddy might be trying to convey so kind of ssage.
In her distant, carefree childhood, there had been one ti when Buddy had accidentally discovered a nest of young kangaroo rats in the wild that had lost their mother. Back then, Buddy was still very young and curious about everything. It had run excitedly to Everly, circling around her feet and barking nonstop, eventually leading her to that nest of plump little baby kangaroo rats.
Those kangaroo rats hadn’t even been weaned yet and were especially difficult to care for, but Buddy had liked them very much. So Everly ended up rescuing them, even bringing them to her elentary school, where the energetic class took care of them together… if she rembered correctly, they were eventually eaten by cockroaches.
Ahem. Anyway, comparing Buddy then to Buddy now, Everly had reason to believe that Buddy might be trying to lead her sowhere.
With that thought, Everly got out of bed, stepped onto the floor, and cautiously took a couple of steps forward.
“Woof! Woof woof!”
As she moved, Buddy’s voice also shifted slightly toward the direction of the door.
That was enough for Everly to confirm her guess.
“Wait for , Buddy.”
Everly called out into the air, then quickly walked over to the coat rack, taking down her jacket and pants and putting them on.
Once dressed, she slung her backpack over her shoulders, stuffing it with all kinds of useful—and not-so-useful—self-defense items. Following the sound of Buddy’s barking, she carefully and quietly opened the door.
Her grandfather was old, and Everly herself was still confused about where exactly this trip would lead, so she didn’t wake Old John or anyone else.
Pushing her stealth to the limit, Everly stepped cautiously down the creaking wooden stairs, making her way to the first floor of Karl’s house. Guided by the dog’s barking, she slipped out through the front door and into the freezing village.
A gust of icy wind imdiately enveloped her.
Fortunately, thanks to her usual training, even on such a cold night, wrapped in her down jacket, Everly still felt warm all over.
With the recent blood-sucking monster incident at the nearby farms—and having seen that branch-like, slender creature through the telescope the night before—Everly was extrely alert to her surroundings at night.
Moving through the darkness, she stayed on guard while trudging through the uneven, snow-covered ground. Before she knew it, a man-made barrier net and a conspicuous sign ca into view ahead—the entrance to the Native Arican reservation.
“You’re taking into the reservation?”
Everly muttered in surprise.
“Woof—!”
Buddy responded, already darting further ahead. By the ti the next bark sounded, it was coming from deep inside the reservation.
Everly had no choice but to follow.
After all, no matter what, Buddy would never harm her…
The entrance to the reservation wasn’t locked, and the surrounding fence was only symbolic, marking the land as belonging to the Native Aricans and warning outsiders not to enter without permission. As long as Everly could overco the psychological barrier, all it took was a single step to cross into the reservation.
Following Buddy’s barking, Everly stepped onto a slightly dry dirt path, weaving between the low trees on either side as she ventured deeper into the reservation.
Every so often, Buddy’s voice would ring out ahead, guiding her along the way.
Tonight, the moon hung in the sky, and after her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could just barely make out the path.
Besides the village outside, there were also so Native Aricans living within the reservation. As an uninvited intruder, Everly didn’t dare turn on her flashlight. Using the faint moonlight, she pressed forward along the dirt road, moving quietly in the dark.
After about ten minutes—climbing a few hills and passing several forks in the path—the surrounding trees visibly thinned.
At the sa ti, the air began to carry a familiar, briny scent of seawater. Listening closely, she could occasionally hear the soft “whoosh” of waves breaking against rocks and sand.
So she must be approaching the beach?
Everly, still puzzled about where Buddy was leading her, crested a hill and looked down. Below, in a small mountain hollow, a fire glowed.
Her thief’s instincts flared. At the sight of the fire, she imdiately crouched low, hiding in a cluster of trees and using the low saltbush to conceal her body. Peeking out cautiously, she observed the glowing center.
The hollow lay between two slopes.
It was about the size of a basketball court. Around its edges, wooden fras had been set up, each holding a tal brazier. The firelight she saw ca from the burning wood in these braziers.
Inside the circle of braziers, at the edge of the hollow, stood a small, conical bark house.
From its shape, it matched exactly the kind of Native-style dwelling Misha had been so eager to see when they set out for Tunumo. The entire house was made of wood and bark, resembling a half-sphere of chocolate but with a slightly pointed roof. Outside, on the walls and the porch, hung ornants made from feathers and animal teeth, and nearby stood a tall, painted totem pole, giving the place an ancient and mysterious air.
Everly guessed that the bark house must be where the priest lived, because not far from it, a small altar had been constructed.
The altar was built from pale gray bricks, shaped like a four-sided pyramid with its top cut off. At the base, four torch holders burned brightly at each corner. The top platform—whether due to the lighting or sothing else—looked pitch black, coated with a layer of sothing resembling tar.
Besides the bark house and the altar, the rest of the hollow was entirely dominated by an enormous banyan tree.
Its trunk was extrely thick—by rough estimate, it would take five or six Everlys to wrap their arms around it. The bark was gray-white and deeply fissured, draped with dense arrays of feathers, animal furs, and skeletal remains.
Following the trunk upward, the banyan’s canopy nearly covered half the clearing. It spread like a giant umbrella or a floating green cloud, majestic and imposing, with countless pale-red aerial roots hanging down.
Like the trunk, the canopy also had scattered ornants of feathers, furs, and bones, giving the massive banyan not only grandeur but also a sense of mystery and strangeness.
However, the tree was not in good condition.
Whether from external damage or pest infestation, nearly a third of its canopy was marked by withered yellowing leaves, dusted with powdery, mold-like substances.
The aerial roots hanging from these yellowed areas were weak and sparse, often breaking before even reaching the ground.
Half of the tree was vibrant and thriving, the other half decayed and withering—this was the first impression the giant banyan left on Everly.
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