I am the sacred tree, evergreen for eternity.

Yu Su no longer deliberately released spiritual energy, nor did she allow the branches and leaves to grow excessively lush.

His trunk is about the same thickness as ordinary trees of the same age, and the size of the crown is just right, neither too conspicuous nor too weak.

Even the roots moving underground became cautious, avoiding routes that might attract attention.

Time flowed by like water, and he quietly remained an inconspicuous old elm tree.

More than a decade passed peacefully.

It was an ordinary evening.

Several figures clad in animal skins emerged from the dense forest and stumbled toward his shady spot.

When Yu Su sensed them, her first reaction was not curiosity, but vigilance.

He had seen humans before—the child who had saved his life years ago by extinguishing the flames with animal skin and pouring water on him was a human.

But that was a very, very long time ago, so long that he wasn't even sure if that human child was still alive.

What he was now perceiving were five adults.

They were wrapped in animal skins, their skin was dark and rough, their hair was disheveled and loose, and they held simple wooden spears and stone axes in their hands, the tips of which were still stained with dried blood.

Their breathing was rapid and heavy, and their steps were unsteady, indicating that they had clearly run a long distance.

As soon as they rushed into the shade of the trees, two people collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

The branches and leaves of Yu Su swayed slightly, then returned to calm.

He did not release any spiritual energy, nor did he make any unusual moves.

He was just an ordinary tree, providing an ordinary shady spot.

Before the humans could even catch their breath, a low roar came from the dense forest.

Several gray-black figures darted out of the bushes with astonishing speed.

There were six giant wolves, each the size of a calf, covered in gray mane like steel needles, with foul-smelling saliva dripping from their mouths, and their blood-red eyes fixed on the humans under the shade of the tree.

The five savages suddenly stood up, gripped their weapons, and shielded their most seriously wounded companion behind them.

Their bodies were trembling, their jaws were chattering, but no one ran away, no one threw down their weapons.

Although the hands gripping the wooden spears trembled, they never loosened their grip.

The giant wolf did not rush to pounce.

They spread out in a fan shape, slowly approaching the shade of the trees, emitting low, threatening growls from their throats.

Clearly, they are enjoying the sight of their prey struggling in its death throes.

Yu Su's roots stirred slightly underground.

He saw the undisguised fear in the eyes of those savages, the whiteness in their knuckles as they gripped their weapons, and the horrifying wound on the leg of the injured man being protected behind him.

They couldn't run anymore, they couldn't fight back, and their escape route had been blocked by the giant wolves. Outside the shade of the trees, the howls of even more wolves echoed through the dense forest.

They were in dire straits.

Yu Su was silent for a moment. He remembered many years ago, when the thin human child used animal skin to extinguish the flames on his body and poured precious water on his scorched roots.

The child didn't even receive anything in return; he simply touched the leaf and turned away.

"The arising and ceasing of things are all due to cause and effect."

In the end, he couldn't bear it.

The roots emerged silently from the ground, moving with lightning speed, and wrapped around the limbs of the six giant wolves before they could react.

Those roots were as tough as iron chains, and no matter how the giant wolf struggled and tore at them, it could not break free. The ferocious howl stopped abruptly and was replaced by terrified whimpers.

The wild men under the shade of the tree were stunned.

They stared blankly at the roots that suddenly sprouted from the ground, watching them bind the giant wolf's limbs tightly as if they were alive, yet without harming them in the slightest.

A young savage instinctively tried to poke the roots with his wooden spear, but the older one grabbed him and held him down.

Then, a voice rang in their minds.

It is not language, not writing, but a pure transmission of consciousness, clear and gentle.

"Run!"

The five savages shuddered. They looked at each other in terror, then at the large, leafy tree behind them.

The tree stood quietly, its branches swaying gently in the breeze, indistinguishable from the surrounding trees.

But they were inexplicably certain that the sound was indeed coming from that tree.

After a brief silence, the older savage gritted his teeth, gripped his stone axe, and strode toward the nearest giant wolf.

The giant wolf was bound by the roots and could not move. It could only watch helplessly as the savage raised the stone axe and chopped it hard on the head.

Then, the older savage turned over and knelt down, bowing deeply to the trunk of Yu Su's tree.

The other four followed closely behind, their foreheads hitting the mud with a dull thud.

They didn't speak, they didn't even dare to look up, they just kept kowtowing, again and again, devout and fearful.

Yu Su did not respond.

He shouldn't have responded, just as a tree shouldn't have had any consciousness.

His act of helping was already risky; any further interaction with these humans would only bring more trouble.

The five savages knelt for a long time, but seeing that the tree still did not react, they finally stood up.

They dragged the six giant wolf carcasses to the tree roots, arranged them respectfully, and then disappeared into the dense forest, looking back every few steps.

Yu Su thought the matter was over and done with.

However, around midnight, he perceived a dense array of human figures.

It was a whole team, at least fifty people, men, women, young and old, who came from all directions of the dense forest.

They were wrapped in all sorts of animal skins, carrying torches and wicker baskets, and marched in a large group into his shaded area.

Leading the group was the older savage from earlier in the day, followed by several equally aged tribesmen who appeared to be elders of the tribe.

They stopped in front of Yu Su, said something loudly in a language Yu Su couldn't understand, and then knelt down in unison.

The rest of the clansmen followed suit and knelt down, forming a dense, dark mass.

Someone cleared a flat area next to the tree roots, someone brought over dry branches and fallen leaves, and someone took out two dark brown stones and started to make fire by rubbing sticks together.

Sparks flew, dry leaves ignited, and a bright flame leaped up beside the roots of Yu Su's tree.

They carried the largest wolf to the fire, skinned it, cut off its flesh, and placed the fattest piece of wolf leg meat on the roots of Yu Su's tree, supporting it with a large leaf.

Everyone knelt down again, foreheads touching the ground, chanting prayers that Yu Su couldn't understand.

But Yu Su sensed that intention.

"This is a sacrificial ceremony."

A weak but tenacious will rose from the kneeling crowd, like a wisp of smoke, carrying piety, gratitude and awe, slowly drifting towards him.

That thought contained no specific language, only the purest emotion—

They regarded him as some kind of guardian spirit of the mountains and forests, as a god who gave them life, and as someone worthy of being sacrificed with their most precious prey.

Yu Su did not respond to that thought.

There was no release of spiritual energy, no transmission of information, and no unnecessary actions.

He stood quietly, letting the night wind rustle his branches and leaves.

The savages waited for a while, and seeing that the tree neither brought down any miracles nor any punishments, they stood up happily.

They divided the wolf meat among themselves, buried the bones under the roots of Yu Su's tree, and carefully took away the remaining wolf skin and bones. Then, holding torches and singing songs that Yu Su couldn't understand, they disappeared into the night.

As Yu Su watched the receding flames and felt the faint nourishment emanating from the pile of wolf bones beneath the tree roots, an indescribable emotion welled up within her.

He neither drove them away nor responded to them.

Not long after, waves of wild men migrated from all over the country. They cut down the surrounding trees, used the trunks and animal hides to build simple huts, and established a small village around Yusu.

Smoke rose from the shade of the trees, and the cries of children, the calls of women, and the shouts of men mingled together to create a noisy yet vibrant cacophony.

On this wild and desolate land, an ordinary tribe has emerged.

Under Yu Su's shade, a group of noisy neighbors appeared.