Okay, so, as it turns out, the fruit is actually filled with flesh and even the seeds are something that you can eat. I don't know why that is but I chalked it up to either evolution not existing here or that it does and the reason for why the fruit is like this is because of the Qi feeding and sustaining the tree to the point of being able to produce delicious fruits ripe with flesh.

The last one makes the most sense to me so I'm sticking with that one.

Xie Wen said something but I didn't quite hear it because I tuned it out for my own thoughts. She continued for a while and I eventually decided to listen in to it, "-And no, just because the fruit is big-" an understatement, the damn thing is almost my size, I'd say that it's closer to Titanic but sure, Xie Wen, you do you. "-doesn't mean that you can eat it roughly. The food's size and your attitude towards it don't correlate."

Foxy whined, "No. That's not how that works." Xie Wen faced me, "Yu Song, can you tell her that she doesn't need to rush her food?"

I stayed silent and simply smiled. Xie Wen narrowed her eyes and shot me a glare, "Do you expect me to take care of her for you?"

I shrugged, "Hey, she isn't harming anyone isn't she? And besides, there's plenty of food for all of us," I smirked as a thought popped up, "And besides, Xie Wen, I can always grab more if you want to add weight-"

A rock hit my forehead. Okay, so bad idea then.

"-I was talking about you being malnourished!" I said as a diversion.

"And you said it as if you were mocking me? What was that about?" Okay, so the Diversion didn't work. I wilted under Xie Wen's harsh look and she huffed, "But yes, you have a point. Yu Song. Go up that tree and grab me a fruit."

"Okay!" I excitedly replied. So Xie Wen is gonna give me the opportunity to say sorry for her, isn't that nice?

I got up and grabbed both swords but Xie Wen stopped me from taking hers, "We need it to cut this one," she pointed at the Fig while pressing the sharp edge of the blade on its flesh, causing transparent juice to leak out. To be fair, it is a good reason so I let it be.

"Ah..." I looked at Xie Wen and she stared back, "This bark is harder than I thought it is." I said.

She nodded, "Good observation, the trees here are pretty powerful defensively while also providing ample food for those capable of cutting them. I think I read about it being both a good defense mechanism as well as a way for them to hunt."

What? "What?" My words mirrored my thoughts, "What do you mean hunt?"

"As I said, the trees have good defenses which means that if you don't grab hold properly of its bark while climbing, you can fall down to your death." The way she said it so calmly made me want to shiver. "And before you ask, the bait is the fruit."

"Oh." That... makes sense. "Can I borrow your sword?"

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"No."

So climbing the tree is harder than I thought it would've been and as I held on for dear life with both hands by the hilt of my sword, I'm starting to think that maybe Xie Wen wanted this to happen? Maybe? I don't know, I tried to look at her to see if she's smirking but the tree suddenly felt very tall and the ground was just so far and my heart started to stir- I was scared to look down.

"Okay, this is fine," It really is, I still have my sword and right as long as I be careful, I'm gonna be fine and I wouldn't fall! "I just have to... find a way to stabilize myself while I take my sword out of the tree and stab it somewhere else. "Sounds easy enough."

That's exactly what I did; and whenever I have to stab my sword higher, I would press the heel of my boots into something thick enough to hold me while I clutched the bark tightly, holding on for dear life.

For a while, I got into a rhythm. That is, until I reached a place high enough for me to start to worry about falling to my death and by then, I'm just very, very careful about what I'm doing. I did things slowly yet fast enough that I can make progress and climb the tree today instead of tomorrow.

Also, I did not notice that the winds were this strong!

'Climb, hold, stabilize, lift, then climb.' I thought as I did the process again, I found stable footing somewhere in the middle of the tree and I looked around, the view was still beautiful right as long as I didn't look down. 'I have this going, at least.' A smile grew on my face, 'Let's do this.'

Climb- I pulled my right hand and pushed myself up to where my sword is.

Hold- I stopped, took a deep breath, and tried to find any place I can put my weight in.

Stabilize- I put my foot somewhere thick and grasped a piece of bark.

Lift- I removed the sword and stabbed it somewhere else.

Climb- I repeated the process and then suddenly, I slipped-

"YU SONG!!!"

- I held onto my sword as tight as I could, my heart is beating loudly inside my head and the winds ravaged my ears. My breathing was hard, ragged, and faster than it has ever been before. I felt scared as shit but I finally had the courage to look down and as I did, I smiled; Xie Wen is there, staring at me with wide eyes, her fists were clenched and I can see the barest of hints that her face is pale.

'Awww. She does care.'

That couldn't have made me any happier. I stabilized myself and took in a deep breath, circulating my Qi helped too and I only now realized that I can probably use it to form ice on my palms and stick to the bark. 'Just like a certain Arachnid-man.'

"YU SONG! DON"T YOU DARE SMILE AND LOOK CAREFREE! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" My smile widened and I started making my way down.

I kept smiling and I don't know, I couldn't help it, I really find Xie Wen's reactions way too cute, sure, my life may have been endanger just now but Xie Wen is my point. I looked down again and met her worried glare with an amused look. I don't know if it was directed at me or not but I think she's trying to kill the tree with her eyes? 'Cute.'

When I got down, I showed her my ice hands with a grin, "See? All apart of my plan, I bet you're regretting sending me up there in punishment now-" Something warm tackled me and then my chest started to get wet, "Hey, it's okay, I'm alive aren't I?"

"I'm sorry!" I rubbed her back and stayed silent, "I- I thought that you were gonna be fine and- and-" her sobs got worse and I rubbed her back. I looked at Foxy and she tilted her head in confusion in response.

'So much for that.' I thought. So, the Fox didn't get near to get hugged by Xie Wen. What's next? Oh, this one- "You know that if I were to fall, then I'd clearly just catch myself right? I'm gonna be fine!"

She stopped crying and hammered my chest harshly, "Stop pretending. You were scared."

"You're right. But I'm alive now aren't I?"

She nodded, "Yes. You are. Now don't do that again. You could've just apologized."

"Without kowtowing? What about cutting my limbs?! If I do just that then you're not gonna leave me alive!"

She rolled her eyes, "Your jokes are as bad as ever."

"You totally love them! You just pretend not to care."

"Nope."

Heh, jokes on her, I caught the bearest hint of a smile before she turned around.