Chapter 700: Main Text Side Story – Under the Tree Peach Blossom
“Peach! Peach, look what I found!”
On a lush green meadow, a petite figure wrapped in leaves was busy with woodworking. Just yesterday, Peach had brought back a tree that was dozens of meters tall, chopping it in half to make a place to shelter from the wind and rain.
Peach turned her head to look outside the cave, only to see another child, also covered in leaves, running back excitedly. The child had a long red mark on their forehead and looked cute, carrying a fluffy little beast on their back. The little beast tilted its head, apparently having been dead for quite some time.
The returning child proudly threw the animal’s corpse in front of Peach, their long ears bobbing up and down with excitement.
“Look! I’ve never seen such a beautiful animal! It must be something new created by the Supreme God. I just saw it falling from the Great Void not long ago!”
Peach sighed at this, but still glanced at the little beast her brother brought back. After a careful look, the animal had neither strange odors nor any extra tentacles or twisted limbs, which was a marked improvement compared to the dangerous monsters that had fallen from the Great Void before.
It seemed that the Supreme God’s creations, apart from the trees, would soon include other things as well.
Peach glanced outside the cave again and noticed a massive void formed in the azure sky above. From that void, torrents of water fell like waterfalls, turning the barren continent into a shallow surface of water, and frequently creatures fell from that hole—most of them twisted monsters.
“Though it looks nice, G, Mother doesn’t allow us to go over there. If you run toward the Great Void again, I won’t come to save you.”
“That’s unfair! Ch also goes out often; why don’t you say anything about her? That’s not fair!”
“Because she doesn’t cause trouble. She knows where she should go and where she shouldn’t. Unlike you, who always runs around and gets into trouble, making me have to save you. And this is Mother’s command—she said we are not to go near there!”
“Mother, mother, mother… Hmph! You always say you’ve seen Mother, but you’re clearly lying! None of us have seen her; we can’t even hear her speaking often. What gives you the right to say you’ve seen her? If you ask me, you’re definitely deceiving us! Mother has never said that!”
“What did you say?!”
Peach turned angrily and put down her small tools, staring at her slightly taller brother G. Her momentum did not diminish at all.
As the first-born elf, the designated eldest sister by Mother, G was startled by Peach’s serious expression and took a few steps back. However, he did not accept defeat as before; instead, he puffed out his chest and shouted loudly, his face turning red.
“I say you’re the one who’s lying! You’ve never seen Mother! I’m already taller than you, yet you still keep bossing me around! I don’t need you to boss me around!”
Peach remained silent, but the expression on her face grew increasingly displeased. She raised her tiny fist, scaring G to tremble, yet refusing to back down, he kicked the animal corpse that was carelessly left aside. His innate strength as a mythical being sent the little beast’s body flying against the wall.
“Boom!”
The innocent animal corpse exploded, filling the cave with a massive noise. Most importantly, the blood and flesh sprayed out, soaking their usual resting place—the bed and table nearby.
“You brat!”
Veins bulged on Peach’s forehead, and her younger brother G, with tears in his eyes, showed no signs of surrender. Their quarrels were not a new occurrence; G had grown increasingly curious about the outside world as he matured, unwilling to stay in the mountains where they were born every day, and more unwilling to listen to Peach, who steadfastly followed Mother’s commands.
To put it plainly, it was a minor rebellious conflict.
“I’m not coming back! You stay here!”
With red eyes and a pout, G turned to leave, while Peach kept her fist raised, still watching as he turned to exit the cave, before suddenly making a loud noise and disappearing.
Peach glared hatefully at the mess in the cave but said nothing and went back to her woodworking.
“Click.”
After assembling for a long time, the two pieces of wood just wouldn’t fit together. At that moment, Peach couldn’t help but sigh and looked toward the sky outside the cave, where the Great Void was issuing thunderous sounds, likely from creatures continuing to fall.
In recent days, the Supreme God had dropped even more creations than usual, and the fluctuations in the crevice above the Great Void were quite strange. G was still throwing a tantrum and running off.
Peach pondered for a few seconds, then dropped the pieces of wood in her hands, temporarily ignoring the bloodstains behind her, and walked out of the cave to survey the surroundings.
At the entrance, a little girl with black hair and long ears, looking like a beautiful rogue, was lounging on the grass not far from the cave, leisurely resting her eyes. When she saw Peach walk out, she opened her blue-golden scattered pupils lazily and greeted her.
“Sister~”
This was their younger sister, Ch.
Peach frowned slightly, taking on the attitude of a little adult, and asked, “Where’s that guy G?”
“Oh, I don’t know. He might have run off again. Maybe he went to the Great Void.”
“Great Void.”
There was really no other option. In this vast forest, only the three of them—the beings brought forth by Mother—could speak, while everything else was either plants or all sorts of strange and dangerous monsters that fell from the Great Void.
Those monsters had strong desires to attack, were ugly, and according to Mother, were “failures” created by the Supreme God; they were exceedingly dangerous, which is why Peach obeyed Mother’s orders not to let G run over there.
But after arguing just now, Peach felt she had to go check on G.
“You stay here. I’ll go look for G.”
“Okay~”
Ch lay back down without a move, looking calm and at ease. This younger sister made Peach feel relieved, but it seemed she was a bit too easy-going.
The world was not quiet; dense jungles were already filled with the chirping of strange insects and the curious observations of birds perched on branches looking at Peach on the hill. These were all the successful creations that had remained; those dangerous “failures” would mysteriously disappear after a short time, and Peach didn’t know why.
However, the creature that her annoying brother brought back should count as successful too, considering he actually managed to kill it.
Peach suddenly stomped on the ground, launching herself into the sky toward the distant Great Void.
The future Tree Continent had not yet fully formed; at this moment, it resembled more of a larger island, housing various successful creations, with fresh water continuously seeping down from the Great Void outside the island.
Peach, G, and Ch were the only three wise beings on this island, having been born here for over a decade.
Young Peach believed that this world only contained them, while everything outside was barren; yet G thought differently. Having spent so long on the island, he felt there was a broader world beyond, and perhaps secrets yet to be discovered above the Great Void, wanting to explore.
In some ways, G was right because there were many more “Great Voids” beyond the island, but he didn’t know that the Great Void, along with the Spirit Realm beyond the crevice, was where Ramastia constructed creations, which were then cast into the world.
Beyond the Great Void was the Spirit Realm; for creatures that had just been born for a little over ten years like them, it was indeed quite dangerous.
At this moment, the closer little Peach got to the massive Great Void above, the more her heart raced. She had come here before, often catching her wandering brother, but she had never felt this way before.
Tch, that guy G!
“G?!”
Peach had no choice but to stop at the trunk of a big tree, calling out her brother’s name.
But after a couple of calls, Peach suddenly recalled what G had said earlier and felt it was not worth it. That remark had wounded her, causing a sense of grievance and anger to rise within her tender heart.
Because G was right, Peach had indeed never seen what their mother looked like.
They had only been born for just over a decade, knowing nothing about their mother or this world; since their birth, she had only been able to live here through Mother’s fragmentary guidance.
She believed that Mother would not harm them, and Mother had specifically told Peach to protect her younger siblings because she was the eldest sister. That was why Peach had been meddling in G and Ch’s safety every day.
Clearly, she was doing it for their sake, yet G continued to oppose her!
Forget it, let him wait out there to die! She didn’t care about him anymore!
The more she thought about it, the angrier Peach became. Ready to turn back and leave halfway, at that moment, a vague cry suddenly reached her ears.
“Ah, ah, ah!”
It was G’s voice.
Peach had just been about to move when she froze in place. After hesitating for a bit, she sighed and turned back, grimacing as she sharply kicked the branches and dashed toward the source of the cry.
“Ah, ah, ah, ah!”
“Boom!”
At the edge of the island, G, clad in leaves, suddenly punched a twisted strange creation in front of him, which exuded a heavy aura of authority and possessed significant power that caused fluctuations in the world with each move.
However, G, filled with youthful bravado, remained calm. He frequently snuck out to the Great Void; what sort of failed creations hadn’t he seen before? He was already addicted to this kind of fighting—it was just exhilarating!
“Gululu!”
The twisted creature before him seemed to have just emerged from the fresh water outside the island, countless orifices opening wide, and from them, long tentacles extended like tongues, causing G both a tingling sensation and a surge in fighting spirit.
He clenched his fists, envisioning that annoying creature as Peach. His once black hair gradually turned white—that was the power granted to him by Mother being activated.
“Now…”
G grinned, watching the twisted creature charge toward him like a mountain. He suddenly spread his fingers, and the creature, along with the space and time around him, bizarrely began to solidify, as if frozen at that very moment, unable to advance or retreat.
“Gege.”
But the creature was indeed remarkably powerful, and G’s methods were too immature. Just as he thought he had it restrained, he relaxed his grip to deliver a fatal blow, only for the next moment to find the space around it suddenly shattering, and countless tentacles surged towards him from its mouth.
“Ah, ah, ah!”
G screamed, but his fist was quicker, slamming hard into the creature’s face.
“Boom!”
The tremendous force directly sent it flying. G gasped, about to continue his attack, when suddenly Peach dropped down from the sky and smashed right through that creature, landing on the ground.
G froze for a moment, looking at his sister, now shorter than him, and indignantly said, “What are you doing? I almost had it dead!”
“Hehe, I only saw you nearly mess up. These failed creations will disappear in no time; why keep looking for them? Did you put yourself in danger just because you were bored?”
“I’ll tell you, they don’t just vanish! I studied them before; if I kill them and secretly bring the corpses back near the cave, they won’t disappear for months! But after I dump them at the edge of the island, they’ll disappear overnight!”
“Huh?”
Peach slightly stunned, looked down at the already-dead failed creature, kicked the corpse, and said to G, “So what? What’s the point of studying these? I just want you to pay attention to your own safety. Is that so hard?”
“I don’t need you to manage me! I’m already taller than you! I could’ve easily dealt with it earlier.”
As G stubbornly argued back, he suddenly paused, staring at Peach with wide eyes, and quickly pointed behind her.
“Peach! You… behind you!”
“My…”
Peach blinked and suddenly realized a huge shadow loomed over her. She turned her head to look back, only to be shocked to see a gigantic red dragon head floating at the edge, its massive dragon eyes staring blankly at the two little ones.
Wha… what is this?
This entity—so powerful!
“Of course, they will all vanish. That’s because I’m here to clean them up. A few months ago, I was wondering why one of Mother’s failed creations went missing; turns out you little ones secretly took it away. You carry the scent of the World Tree. When did she create you? How come I didn’t know?”
“Ah, ah.”
Peach was so frightened that she couldn’t say a word. Their little powers dwarfed in front of the incredibly powerful dragon; just his breath made Peach and G speechless, and G, more embarrassingly, collapsed to the ground, unable to stand.
“Who… what are you?”
But at a critical moment, Peach managed to squeeze out the words, looking at the dragon and asking.
The dragon chuckled, lifting its gargantuan paw as if it were a mountain. With a flick, the failed creature beneath them instantly turned to ash and vanished.
“I? I am Fei, a sibling of the World Tree, a progeny of the Supreme God.”
Peach nervously swallowed hard, watching the offspring created by the World Tree tremble before her. Fei felt a sense of amusement, recalling the previous suffocation.
As mentioned earlier, the three demigods each had their respective duties.
Fei is responsible for guarding the crevice, while the Heavenly Lock is responsible for guarding the world’s boundaries, and the World Tree is rooted deep in the world, tasked with safeguarding reality.
According to the original classification, these failed creations, which pose a potential threat to the world and have a strong aura of authority (chaos), should be cleansed by the World Tree after falling. However, the World Tree stated that the Great Void, which creates these failed creations, passes through the crevice before entering the world. Therefore, it should have been responsible for reviewing and eliminating the failed creations at the crevice, and any that fall into the world are due to Fei’s actions, so he must also be responsible for their cleanup.
Fei’s disposition is well understood by the other two demigods, as the days spent dutifully guarding the crevice are few. Day by day, he runs around the world like a street kid, so Ramastia agreed with the World Tree’s statement and allowed him to deal with the remaining failed creations.
Originally, the Dragon God could leisurely sleep and roam around, but now he had extra work, all because of the nonsense (truthful speech) of the World Tree.
At this moment, looking at the two offspring secretly created by the World Tree, he, as the demigod uncle, found a certain malicious delight rising within him.
Suddenly, Fei’s dragon face fell, looking at the trembling G, he extended his dragon claw in a threatening manner and said to him,
“Hehe, you secretly took that failed creation away earlier. This is a great sin. Tell me, how should I punish you?”
“Ah? Punish me?”
G turned pale with fear, incredulously saying this.
“That’s right. Should I eat you? Or should I lock you in water so that you can never move? How about finding a place to bury you, then putting a huge mountain on top of you, leaving only your head exposed, keeping you like that for a few hundred years. How does that sound?”
“A few hundred years?!”
Heaven pity, G has only lived for a few years! If he’s stuck in one place for a few hundred years, he would rather die!
But how could a child discern the truth of a demigod’s words? Both Peach and G believed Fei’s words to be true. And indeed, the adults who scare children are detestable. Out of revenge against the World Tree, he unrestrainedly extended his claws and further intimidated G, ready to lift him up,
“That’s right, since you’ve been caught today, come with me and accept your punishment.”
“No, please!!”
G trembled in fear, and just when the dragon claw was about to descend like a shade over the sky, Peach shouted loudly with a pale face,
“Stop!!”
Fei was slightly taken aback but then saw another elf, not even as tall as the little boy, suddenly blocking his way, extending his arms and raising his head, loudly declaring,
“He is my brother! I won’t let you take him away!!”
“Oh? Just you?”
Fei sneered, and his gigantic claw suddenly swept down. Peach’s face changed, and he hurriedly retreated while also dragging his frightened G, who had already gone limp with fear.
“Run!”
“Boom!”
With a huge sound that shook the earth, it was merely thunder that was loud but had little rain; if Fei truly wanted to act, these two little fellows would fall instantly.
But even this threatening attack caused large trees on the island to bow down, while Peach was blown away by the immense force. She twirled several times in the air while holding onto her brother and rolled a few times on the ground, getting covered in dirt, yet still recklessly ran towards the cave with her brother.
Peach was utterly terrified, her every muscle trembling uncontrollably, and tears streamed down her face.
But even so, she ran wildly with her brother, unwilling to stop.
“Hey.”
Fei was somewhat surprised, not expecting that this little girl created by his sister was so strong. His massive dragon form crawled up the island, menacingly advancing forward, chasing after them as if bullying little chicks.
Every now and then, he would casually exhale terrifying beams of light and fire walls, blocking their escape routes, causing the whole island to tremble.
Holding G, Peach didn’t even dare to look back; she just held onto him tightly and ran forward.
At this moment, her mind was blank. Or perhaps it was just that a still-innocent soul, when encountering such a situation, only had instincts left. She didn’t know if running back to the cave would help, or if she could stop this divine offspring behind her. All she could do was run.
What she only wanted was to escape with her brother.
“Hahaha.”
Peach cried, unable to control the tears flowing down her face, and behind her, Fei’s gleeful voice followed along as his huge claw descended, causing Peach’s body to tremble even more,
“Hehe, where do you think you’re running off to?”
“Eh!”
“Sis, woo.”
In her arms, G’s whimpers prompted Peach, who was originally unable to move quickly, to accelerate again. She stamped her foot on the ground and didn’t dare to leap into the air, instead using the cover of the nearby trees to surge forward suddenly.
She didn’t know that at their speed, in Fei’s eyes, it was incredibly slow. Just as Fei wanted to lift his claw again to intimidate the two poor children, a golden beam of light suddenly fell from the void above, striking him on the head.
“Buzz, buzz, buzz.”
“Roar!!”
Fei was knocked to the ground by the immense force of that golden beam, so enraged that he raised his dragon head and roared. But what came crashing toward him was more golden beams.
He hurriedly flapped his wings and flew up, dodging in mid-air, but because of the Loom of Fate, no matter how he dodged, the beams could accurately hit his body, causing him to turn and fly away in embarrassment.
“Roar!!”
The terrifying roars from the sky made Peach not dare to look back at all; she just tightened her hold on G and dashed forward, quickly returning to the vicinity of their dwelling cave, where Ch was smilingly cleaning up the animal carcasses that G had kicked out earlier. Seeing them return, he came out with a smile and said,
“You’re back!”
“Haha, ha.”
But Peach, with a face full of tears and sweat, placed her limp, frightening brother on the ground. Then, she carefully ran to the entrance, afraid that the terrifying giant dragon would catch up.
“What happened, sister?”
“Don’t come out! Stay inside and don’t say a word!!”
Peach looked nervously at the outside of the cave, her tiny body shaking with fright. Ch could only nod in agreement, turning to look at G, who was sobbing on the ground.
“Ow, oh sister. I was wrong. Woo.”
Peach gave G a pale glance but didn’t scold him, only clenching her small hands, watching the sky outside that was about to darken, softly saying,
“It seems to have quieted down. Let’s all rest early. Don’t go out, do you hear me?”
“Mm, woo, woo.”
That night, G and Ch had already fallen asleep. G was too scared to sleep the night before, but after experiencing the battle and fright today, being so young, he couldn’t withstand this kind of night without sleep and soon fell asleep beside his bed, caught in nightmares.
The cave was pitch black; Peach didn’t dare to light a fire. Just leaning against the cave entrance, as the older sister, she couldn’t rest easy, so she steadfastly stayed at the cave entrance, guarding against the giant dragon coming after them.
Half the night had passed, and any slight noise made Peach, whose mind was already shadowed, frightened.
That terrifying roar and breath added even more fear to her drowsiness and exhaustion.
“Woo, I was wrong. Woo.”
She turned to look at her already sleeping brother and sister in the cave, finally feeling the strength within her wane.
Peach trembled as she hugged her tiny, cold form, and even though her eyelids were extremely heavy, she still refused to close her eyes.
What if—
What if that giant dragon came again? If they were all asleep, they would certainly be eaten together.
Peach thought this, her body shivering more violently due to fear and cold.
She lowered her head, gradually growing sleepier, and even the strongest will to protect her brother and sister could not compete with her young body at this moment.
She silently slumped down at the cave entrance, finally returning to being a young child, her eyelids struggle as they trembled, trying to open but becoming increasingly drowsy.
“…”
Suddenly, Peach recalled what G had said that morning.
In fact, she had never seen their mother’s true form, even as the eldest sister; she felt fear and trepidation. Yet, she had never shared this feeling with G or Ch.
Only at this moment in the dead of night, did Peach, unable to control herself, close her eyes, her little body curling up, shrinking weakly against the hard floor at the cave entrance.
At this time, outside the cave, glowing points like fireflies suddenly flew in from an unknown place. They first passed over Peach, then over G, who was struggling in a nightmare, and finally over Ch, who was still smiling in her sleep.
After that, they ultimately surrounded the only one not sleeping in a bed, but rather steadfastly leaning against the cave floor—Peach.
The little golden lights circled around her, growing more and more, warmer and brighter.
“Mmm…”
Peach groggily opened her eyes, the drowsiness and haziness making it hard to discern reality from dreams, and she could only let out a pitiful sound in her baby voice.
And before her, the firefly-like golden light had gathered into a bright figure of a loving, faceless long-eared woman.
That figure gently extended warm hands, cradling the little elf who had fallen asleep on the hard floor in her arms, allowing her to lean against the soft embrace formed by the glowing light.
“Mmm…”
The large warm hands patted her back, making Peach comfortably stretch out her body in the embrace, while that hand gently stroked her head, caressing her long ears and black hair, causing Peach to relax even more.
This unprecedented warmth and sense of security made Peach linger, feeling as light and comfortable as if floating in the clouds.
She was so sleepy, increasingly so.
If she fell asleep now, it would surely be the most comfortable sleep, right?
She thought so but couldn’t find any words to describe her current feeling.
Her dazed, blank mind struggled to function, and Peach could only mumble sleepily,
“Mother…Mother.”
The glowing figure paused slightly, then smiled gently, holding the little Peach even tighter.
Just before she was about to fall asleep, a loving female voice gently echoed in her ear,
“You did a great job, Peach.”
“Peach?”
“Peach?”
Valentina called out to Peach in her mind with a hint of worry, since usually Peach would already be awake by this time after getting up. However, it had already been several hours, and no matter how Valentina called her, she did not respond, making Valentina very concerned.
Could something have happened?
“Woo.”
Just as Valentina was very worried, a small child’s whimper echoed in her mind, causing Valentina to breathe a sigh of relief while also being unable to help but chuckle.
“Owo, what time is it, you small fish?”
After a moment of silence in her mind, a long yawn followed, and Peach’s tired voice echoed again.
“It’s ten o’clock, Peach. You were just like a little child, still lying in bed? Your voice is so cute.”
“Ha, small fish.”
Peach’s voice instantly awakened, and even though it still had a child’s tone, to Valentina, it felt completely different.
It was as if one moment she was still hiding in her mother’s swaddle, and the next, she was an ancient creature who had lived who knows how many thousands or tens of thousands of years.
Thinking of this feeling, Valentina became a bit curious and asked Peach,
“By the way, Peach, your appearance as a child before wasn’t actually your original form, right?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Peach had always maintained a child’s appearance, but Valentina remembered seeing a glimpse of her true form in Zhenbing’s dream; her true identity was not a child, but an adult.
“Then why do you always appear as a child?”
“I like it. Is that not okay?”
“How to say, it feels a bit of a contrast, clearly the eldest sister of the entire elf race, but your true form looks like a child of the mother. Or is it because you are nostalgic, Peach, that you always appear in your ‘past’ form?”
“Oh, you’re so annoying, small fish, asking so many questions. I was already irritated from being woke up from my dream by you, and now I have to talk.”
“Sorry, Peach.” Valentina smiled slightly, apologizing insincerely but still feeling a bit curious and couldn’t help but ask, “Do you also dream, Peach?”
“I may be an elf, but I’m not a monster. Is dreaming strange?”
“I’m just curious. If it’s you, what kind of dream would you have? Since you loitered and lingered, it should be a beautiful dream, right?”
“Mm-hmm. Just a bit about the past, that’s all.”
“You really do like the past, Peach.”
“Mm-hmm. Alright, why did you wake me up, small fish?”
This time, Peach didn’t evade the question, but simply replied and directly asked Valentina what the matter was.
“The method you taught me earlier was very effective. Now the Parasol Tree has also gotten on the right track. I wonder how the Moon Princess would feel about the current Parasol Tree if she were still around, and if she would be satisfied.”
“Hehe, could the method I taught you be wrong? As for what she would say, she would say…”
Peach chuckled, but as the words reached her lips, the smile and sentences suddenly stuck in her throat. She remained silent for a while before continuing to smile and say,
“You did a great job, Valentina.”
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