Chapter Ninety-Nine: Discourse and the Forest (Second Update)

The younger sister, nicknamed “Paper Bird Who Doesn’t Eat Cilantro,” wrote: “First it was oak trees all over the world suddenly growing and blooming, and now it’s the Sutrilan White Oak fire suppression. Does our world really have things like witches and wizards?”
520—Think About You: “Who knows? Anyway, judging by this video, the fire-extinguishing scene on the white oak doesn’t look like special effects. And since the news showed the faces of those two men, I doubt this is fake.”
Purple Moon Descends: “I can’t say too much, but pay attention to my username—there are reasons for all this. I’m involved, and there are things I just can’t talk about. Even saying this much might get me a warning. Just… everyone, be careful.”
Destiny Is in Your Hands: “Whoa, are you okay up there? You’re really bold to say that. I… well, I’m a coward, so I’ll keep quiet.”
Ukulele: “What are you all talking about? Purple Moon? Isn’t that just radiation that causes mental illness? At most, it’s like nuclear radiation, right? How does this have anything to do with oaks?”
Nervous Dai Xiaowei: “@Ukulele, are you dense? How do you not get it? I don’t know whether those two up there are telling the truth, but I think what they mean is our world isn’t as ordinary as we think. If they’re hinting at being silenced, then it’s pretty clear the authorities are hiding something from us.”
Ukulele: “@Nervous Dai Xiaowei, bro, really? Don’t start rumors! You’re making me nervous.”
Nervous Dai Xiaowei: “I’m not spreading rumors, I’m just drawing conclusions from what those two said. If anyone’s spreading rumors, it’s them, not me.”
“Also, don’t you think it’s strange? Why has the Purple Moon appeared so often in the last three years? And so many people online say entire mountain regions are being sealed off. Combine that with the oak news—can’t you connect the dots?”
“...”

Ji Yu clicked on the most liked and replied-to comment.

What he saw was exactly the exchange above.

This thread alone had over a thousand replies and tens of thousands of likes. As the most popular comment, it sat squarely at the very top of the news post, impossible to miss.

Within it, the comments grew increasingly conspiratorial as the discussion went on. Ordinarily, a post like this should have been deleted by Xinbo’s moderators by now.

Yet, strangely enough, it remained, even as anti-government sentiments began to surface. It was never taken down, still visible beneath the news article.

Ji Yu also looked at other news reports on the Orsay White Oak incident.

They were all more or less the same, reiterating the same facts as the main report.

This time, there were no overwhelming accusations of “Western hype.” All the reports were unnervingly neutral and objective.

Seeing this, Ji Yu felt he could make an educated guess.

Lion was truly easing their restrictions on public discourse.

With this gradual relaxation, perhaps within a few months, countries around the world would reveal the whole truth about the Purple Moon.

The Purple Moon was appearing more and more often, and the dangers posed by the domains were escalating at an exponential rate.

If the authorities continued to keep things secret and one day failed to contain a domain, how could they possibly justify evacuating millions or even tens of millions from the cities nearby?

With all this in mind, Ji Yu figured the situation at the northwestern domain must have deteriorated significantly, and the current loosening of restrictions was intended to help the public gradually accept reality.

At the very least, when the government finally made the announcement, people would not be caught completely off guard and panic even more.

“Let public opinion ferment naturally for a while?” Ji Yu mused, continuing to scour the web for related or similar news.

Meanwhile, as Ji Yu was busy gathering information online, on one side of the Jishui Mountains, the young deer was busily constructing its new home.

In the darkness, the little deer shone with a brazen, radiant light.

Shrouded in this intense brilliance, its form was completely concealed.

Like a moving beacon, wrapped in vibrant threads of life essence in every hue, the deer traversed the mountains back and forth.

On the far side of the range, the forest was even denser—and the deer’s task was to gather life essence from beyond the mountains.

Then, on the forest corridor side, it transformed the nearby area into a vast, circular woodland.

The forest was to be made up of five concentric rings.

Each ring spanned three kilometers.

The pattern was simple: a three-kilometer band of forest, then a three-kilometer band of flowers and grasses, and so on, ultimately forming a colossal ring-shaped forest thirty kilometers in diameter.

In the past two weeks, the deer had already completed the first ring.

Four more rings remained to be created.

It was an immense undertaking, especially since every tree in each ring had to be pushed to its absolute limits.

Even the smallest, innermost ring required tending to over a thousand trees, and the farther out, the more plant and tree life had to be nurtured.

Thus, the little deer spent its days in ceaseless labor.

Yet, for all its busyness, the deer showed no sign of fatigue; if anything, it delighted in the work, happily continuing its construction.

During this time, the herd of spotted deer had grown to three thousand strong.

Spread across the forest, they made for an impressive sight when gathered.

Moreover, in the past two weeks, eleven more deer had managed to ascend from the first to the second stage of life.

Adding to the previous seven, the little deer now had eighteen second-stage spotted deer at its command.

Though still far from the target of one hundred, Ji Yu believed the goal would be reached in three or four months.

Even accounting for delays, it shouldn’t take more than half a year.

After all, the authorities’ attitude toward the little deer had changed dramatically.

In the past two weeks, interactions between humans and the herd had become frequent, and people had even taken the initiative to enter the forest corridor.

Neither the deer nor Ji Yu objected.

The reason was simple: after all, hadn’t they just delivered another thousand spotted deer?

With so many gifted, and no ill intent from the humans, Ji Yu saw no reason to impose strict limits on their actions.

Moreover, the humans now behaved with proper restraint.

As a result, a hundred-person observation and communication team was now stationed in the deer’s territory.