The tree demon Jodi has two hobbies.

One is eating little elves.

The other is pretending to look for a husband, and then after coming up with a bad story, she transforms into her true form and says, “You’re amazing! You’re the husband I’ve been looking for!”

Most of the visitors are scared out of their wits and run away without looking back.

Some people, however, try to flatter her in hopes of receiving gifts.

Jodi will give them a big treasure chest.

What’s inside the chest?

An adult Cannibal Crab with valuable pearls on its back, truly a precious treasure in the sea.

However, these beautiful cannibal crabs are usually very irritable, especially after being locked in a box for many years.

If the person is lucky enough to survive in the chest, they move on to the next step.

Jodi will give them a sword and tell them that it is the great Sword of the King. Holding it will make them a great ruler!

But this sword has been sealed by the ancient gods, so it needs the blood of the “Nymph of the Lake” to restore its power.

Once the power is restored, the Sword of the King will turn the holder into a demigod, becoming the absolute ruler of this southern continent.

At this point, Jodi will deliberately reveal a flaw.

Whether pretending to be asleep, injured and weak, or claiming to be suffering from a backlash of magic, she creates various opportunities for the person to attack her.

Once the person stabs her with the sword, Jodi will squeeze out the tears she had been brewing.

“Why? Why… why would you do this to me!”

Just when the person is feeling triumphant, Jodi will kill them.

“Accept my righteous judgment! Unfaithful person!”

The unfaithful person falls in regret and pain.

The lonely woman puts away the fake sword and continues to seek her place in the world…

And so, the story of the female tree demon and her husband continues, never-ending.

However, recently, Jodi has been hiding in the sea and hasn’t come out much.

The situation is not very good.

A deity has appeared in the forest, shrouded in white mist, making it impossible to see their true form. The aura and pressure that only a deity possesses makes Jodi afraid.

However, it seems that the deity’s focus is on the elves and the Elf Lake, and has not targeted her.

Strictly speaking, the tree demon is also an elf.

But the elves never see it that way, and there is no other tree demon in this land.

Jodi finds it very strange.

The elves like trees but dislike tree demons.

Isn’t the tree demon just a tree that has grown smarter?

Later, she gradually understands.

The elves like the stupid and harmless trees because they pose no threat, provide them with the power of the forest elements, and can be easily manipulated and reshaped by them.

The elves don’t like things that are too smart.

Jodi finds it very unfair.

Why can’t a tree stand up for itself? Why does a tree have to obey the elves?

Jodi decides to vent her anger for all the trees.

She controls the symbiotic forest, intertwining the roots underground and drilling into the Elf Lake. This way, every elf that dies returns to the Elf Lake, and she absorbs and devours the elves through the roots, understanding what the elves are really thinking and what their lives are like.

Most of the elves are even more foolish than she thought, and each one is more or less the same, which is really boring.

Jodi shifts her attention to the outside world.

Those foreign adventurers are much more interesting than the elves.

And so, the never-ending stage play of the tree demon and the unfaithful person continues…

Not long ago, Jodi met a brave man. He was looking for a slave trader and seemed to have a past.

Unfortunately, the man had no intention of participating in the unfaithful person’s drama.

This made Jodi deeply regretful.

Forcing the man to participate would not only spoil her mood, but also scare others, damaging her reputation as the “Nymph of the Lake.”

In the end, Jodi is searching for other people’s stories and creating her own stories for her own amusement.

Living alone for hundreds of years can be boring.

Just as Jodi is preparing to avoid the power of the deity and hide in the sea to avoid trouble, a group of people suddenly finds her on the beach.

The first person is the man who was looking for the slave trader before, and it seems he has brought help. In addition to a young man in black, there are several armed dwarves.

Jodi finds it amusing.

The key to winning the Nymph of the Lake is not about having more people.

“Hello? Are you the Nymph of the Lake?” the young man asks.

He has slightly dark skin, looking like he’s been traveling for a long time. He is wearing a black robe, carrying a bag wrapped in sheepskin, and has a shiny conch shell at his waist.

What impresses Jodi the most is that he looks into her eyes with great seriousness when speaking.

“Can I really obtain treasures by telling stories to you?” he asks.

“Of course.”

And so, he begins to tell a story.

For many years, Jodi will remember that small story.

“In Yao City in the western continent, there was a young man named Mu Ke. He fell in love with a beautiful girl and had to win her favor by rolling the dice…”

“…In the end, he lost to another beloved woman, and until the day he died, he could never say it. He could only ask her, ‘Am I really that bad at the game?’”

The no-longer-young girl said, “No, I think it’s good, very interesting.”

“He became the ghost of the theater, always waiting for his game to be staged.”

This is the story of “The Phantom of the Theater.”

Jodi finds it unsatisfying.

She hands the young man a gem. “Tell me another one.”

The young man happily takes the gem and tells her story after story… until the sky starts to brighten, and the sun rises from the sea.

It is at this moment that Jodi realizes, something is wrong!

“Do you want to be my husband?” Jodi returns to the main topic.

“Um… you’re very wealthy, right?” the man asks cautiously.

“Of course!”

“Then I’m willing!”

“…”

Jodi feels a little strange.This guy was clearly with her just for the money, and she didn’t know whether to call it frankness or sheer poverty.

“Because I want to travel everywhere, and without money, I’d have to work my way through, which is such a waste of time,” he explained. “If you have money, could you support my travels?”

“I want to turn everything I see and hear along the way into stories.”

The man opened a sheepskin wrap and handed her a thick book: “You can read Yao Clan script, right? This is full of stories and legends I’ve noted down while traveling through three cities.”

“But there are many more people whose stories haven’t been sung. They’ve done great deeds that need to be recorded, and I want to write everyone’s story.”

Jodi glanced at the thick leather-bound book, half of it filled with dense text.

She transformed in an instant, the fairy-like appearance in white vanished without a trace. Her skin turned a greenish hue, and her eyes became orange with just a tiny black pupil.

The female dryad’s skin was covered in runes, and crows circled around her.

Jodi stuck out her tongue like a serpent’s, and sneered, “Would you still want to be my husband now?”

“I would!”

He answered without hesitation.

Jodi thought to herself, this guy’s got guts.

With a gesture, she summoned a large treasure chest from the sea.

“Too much, too much.”

The man waved his hand: “I’m traveling everywhere, just a bit of travel money will do. I can’t carry all this.”

“…”

Jodi was a bit troubled.

This guy came prepared.

Next up, the Sword of Kings.

Jodi drew the glittering sword, speaking of the power and authority it carried. However, the man seemed uninterested, even yawning absentmindedly.

Instead, the three dwarves behind whispered among themselves. They spoke in dialect, but Jodi, with her high intelligence, understood them with just a bit of listening.

“Is this sword made of gold? That’s amateurish, a gold sword would bend at the slightest touch, too soft and useless.”

“Even gilding won’t do, this fairy doesn’t seem to know much about smelting and forging.”

“She must be a novice, look how frail she is, her arms are like dry twigs, barely able to swing a hammer.”

“There’s no furnace around either, the gold on this sword is probably fake.”

“Fake at first glance.”

Jodi clenched her fists in anger.

These damned little dwarves, always nitpicking!

Stay calm, Jodi!

You are a smart and elegant dryad.

She looked at the man before her, maintaining a smile on her face.

But the man shook his head at the sword: “I don’t want to conquer anyone…”

“I’ve been a slave before, beaten and scolded, I hope there will be no more slaves in the world.”

He said with a smile, “Whether prophets or heroes, monsters or mortals, surely they all want to be remembered and praised.”

“Only gods will live forever, immortal. We are born lonely and insignificant, always to be drowned in the river of time. If we can be remembered as stories, that’s already a fortunate honor.”

“…”

Jodi listened with a touch of melancholy.

“What’s your name?”

“Pawa.”

“Alright, Pawa. From today on, you have a wife. I will give you money to sing the stories of me and everyone else, do you agree?”

“I… agree.”

“I will eat you when you are about to die, so I can obtain the stories of your life. Are you still willing?”

“Like that? Sounds good.”

Pawa scratched his head, “The island where I live, there’s a group of people next to it who do just that, wives eat their husbands to raise the children. Raising kids is really not easy.”

Jodi sighed.

Such a foolish man.

“It’s time for you to go. Head north from the forest, towards the Elf Lake, keep going until you find a pile of rocks with gems, pearls, and agates beneath them. Take them and go.”

“Eh? But we’ve just become husband and wife,” Pawa said, stunned.

“I’m telling you to go!”

If he didn’t leave, he would incur the wrath of the gods.

Jodi looked into the distance.

The vague white shadow of the deity had already descended, and she felt its chilling presence very clearly.

All the monsters in the forest were eyeing her greedily.

The deity must have discovered what she had done to the elves and Elf Lake long ago.

In the end, she got a different story.

Jodi was satisfied.

Suddenly, sunlight descended from the sky, enveloping Jodi and Pawa in warmth, making them the center of attention.

A blindfolded woman in black flew down from the sky.

She landed gracefully on her magic wand.

The woman in black spoke softly, “This is the blessing of the deity for you and your husband.”

“Much appreciated!” Pawa said excitedly.

Jodi was stunned for a moment, then quickly knelt down like Pawa, expressing her gratitude.

“Lastly, lift the curse on Elf Lake. The deity has forgiven you, Jodi,” the woman in black said.

Jodi hurriedly replied, “Yes, of course… I obey! I’m immensely grateful for the deity’s mercy.”

She glanced at the young man beside her.

If she had children with this guy, would they be a little tree, or a baby?

Or perhaps a running treant?

Or a tree with a human head?

It seemed like such a hassle… Jodi felt a bit of a headache.

Thanks to: Bu Yan Bu Yu for supporting with 100 starting coins, Eight-Star Hotel for supporting with 100 starting coins, Yales Tarklawley for supporting with 100 starting coins.