Jasmine leaned her eyes in close to take a look, discovering that the sap of that tree bark possessed a very deep, bright red color. It was viscous and thick just like blood; if she had not witnessed with her own eyes the moment Elvius snapped it down from the tree, she would have thought that the other party had been stained with bloodstains from somewhere.
Moreover, she did not know if it was merely Jasmine's own hallucination or not, but she constantly felt that on that piece of tree bark, there was a strange fragrance, sweet and intense, overwhelming even the moldy scent of the forest.
"This tree bark..." Jasmine pointed her finger at the object in Elvius's hand.
"This thing?" After having recorded the sentence he wanted to record, with the bright red handwriting standing out prominently on the background of the old paper, Elvius finally breathed a sigh of relief. Elvius saw Jasmine staring intently at the tree bark in his hand, so he decisively held the tree bark out in front of Jasmine's face.
"This is the bark of the Pinkkin Tree. Every time I cannot find a Quill, I like to snap a piece down to use as a pen. It is extremely convenient, and the color is also very beautiful, is it not?"
The Pinkkin Tree is an endemic species of tree within the Dry Tree Forest. Just like the name of this forest suggests, although a mature Pinkkin Tree can grow taller than twenty meters, its outward appearance is just like dry wood that has suffered from drought and lacked water for a long time. The layer of bark is cracked and grey; throughout the year and months, it does not sprout new buds or green leaves at all, looking as if it had died and dried up a long time ago.
"Do you want to taste a bit?" Elvius broke off a small amount of the tree bark and put it into his mouth. His lower jawbone moved, making *clack clack* sounds as he chewed a few times. The tree bark was chewed into small crushed fragments by him, and then, following the gaps in his bones, they fell down to the ground. Only the bones that were smeared with the tree sap were dyed a crimson red, looking quite horrifying.
"This thing is edible?" Jasmine looked at that thick and ugly piece of tree bark, holding some doubt regarding Elvius's suggestion.
"When I was still alive, I once ate this thing to stave off hunger." Elvius said, his voice sounding nostalgic. "You know, inside the Dry Tree Forest, where would there be anything edible? It is just that the time that has passed has been too long, so I do not really remember its taste anymore. I only vaguely remember that it can fill the stomach."
Elvius looked at the crumbs of tree bark falling to the ground, his face showing regret because he could not truly digest it.
Jasmine rubbed the piece of tree bark in her hand a few times. The sap oozing out was slightly sticky; when it adhered to her fingertips, it felt cool. The color looked very pure, and even when leaning into the light of the orange fire, looking at it revealed a very beautiful bright red color.
A thought flashed through Jasmine's mind, and she looked at the tree bark in her hand pensively.
If this type of tree was edible, and furthermore had such a beautiful color, perhaps it could be used as a dye or as reserve food?
In the end, Jasmine still did not personally taste what kind of flavor this Pinkkin Tree bark had. However, under the assistance of Elvius, Jasmine led a few guards to peel off quite a lot of tree bark and store it in the horse carriage, piling it up to fill a corner of the carriage compartment.
Although temporarily she did not know what other uses these tree barks might have, just the fact that they were edible was already very precious for the Black Dragon Castle, which lacked clothing and lacked food.
Perhaps because it was the first time meeting a skeleton that knew how to speak, and one that was an interesting poet at that, Jasmine appeared slightly excited. She pulled Elvius into a conversation, and once they started talking, it lasted more than half the night. She asked about all sorts of things, from the sky to the sea, regarding this land. Finally, she was so tired that she fell asleep beside the pile of fire without even realizing it.
The weather the next day was still somewhat gloomy. Thick fog covered the forest and the grassland. Jasmine worried that it would still rain in the afternoon, making the road slippery and dangerous, so she was in no hurry to depart.
This camp area, after all, had a grass hut to shelter from the rain. Of course, there was also a little bit of reluctance to part with the newly acquainted skeleton friend, the person who had brought a rare bit of joy during this arduous journey.
Jasmine was awakened by the sound of singing. That singing voice carried a few parts of an unreal feeling, hollow and echoing. If one did not ponder carefully on the content within, the melody was extremely graceful and pleasing to the ear, very suitable to serve as background music in the desolate wilderness.
Jasmine opened her eyes and stretched her body once. Just then, she saw a stark white skeleton standing on the patch of grass singing deeply and affectionately, his hand placed over the place that used to be a heart.
There was a Sparrow that did not know where it had flown from, attracted by the singing voice, perching on Elvius's skull. Every time Elvius sang a word, the Sparrow would use its small, lovely beak to peck lightly on the bones of the skeleton, creating pleasing *click clack* sounds, as if it were keeping the rhythm. The scene actually looked to have a few parts of strange harmony between life and death.
Once the song ended, Jasmine realized that Elvius was singing about their encounter from the previous night. He used piles of flowery words to praise their friendship, just as if before last night they were not strangers who had never communicated, but rather were soulmates who had been lost for many years, with feelings so profound they could move the blue sky.
"Good morning, dear Lady Jasmine. Will you continue your journey today?" Elvius gathered the Sparrow on his head into the palm of his bony hand in a gentle manner. The Sparrow tilted its neck; one bird and one skeleton moved in unison to look toward Jasmine.
"Good morning, Elvius." Jasmine greeted Elvius, smiling in a friendly way. "Today it might still rain, so we cannot depart."
"This is truly news that makes one feel sad at heart. In this season, the rain is always especially plentiful, making my bones also become moldy." Elvius released the Sparrow to let it fly away. He did not know from where he pulled out a leaf as big as a hand, and again began to bend down and write. The other party seemed to not forget to compose at any time and any place, afraid of wasting any moment of emotion.
"But I am very happy because you did not leave immediately. You know, at the edge of the Dry Tree Forest, wanting to meet a person who knows how to talk is not easy, especially a person who knows how to enjoy art like you.
Oh, of course, my meaning is not that I hope you will stay. Every person has their own journey, even I am the same, but we can always meet each other on the journey."
"Mm, this proves that we have a destiny." Jasmine heard Elvius starting to ramble on endlessly again, so she responded with a sentence just for the sake of politeness, tidying up her clothes as she spoke.
Because there was plenty of time, Jasmine arranged for the guards to dig a stove to cook rice. Yesterday they had caught quite a lot of clean rainwater; they could cook a pot of piping hot Bean sprout soup.
The fragrant scent of fresh bean sprouts being cooked spread out, blending with the warm steam to dispel the cold of the early morning.
Adding a little salt and eating it together with dry bread, each person could be shared two or three delicious bowls; everyone slurped it up with full satisfaction.
The Old Butler had prepared a lot of Bean sprouts for them. Some Bean sprouts were still growing fat white shoots inside the wooden barrels, enough for them to eat all the way to Ankera Town without worrying about starving.