The cracks in the ancient trees burst out with a strong emerald glow. The chasm began to extend outward, spreading throughout the tree. With an earth-shattering loud bang, the thousand-year-old tree shattered. Its detrition withered quickly and flew like ashes through the woodland.

Only a stump more than a man tall remained, like a corpse.

"! Fell short! The middle-aged man scolded and retreated outside the forest. His men followed him and fled.

The creatures of the mountains did not chase them, they gathered around the dead stakes, and let out a mournful cry in unison.

The little carpenter clutched his stomach and stroked the stump with his trembling hands, crying breathlessly.

Suddenly, the withered skin peeled off a little. The little carpenter watched in amazement as large chunks of bark peeled off until the entire stump collapsed, revealing an erect human figure.

That human form is Boss Gao.

It's just that that's what it looked like when it was a new adult. The facial features and limbs are covered with a layer of rough bark. Even the whites of his eyes shimmered with a blue glow.

Boss Gao tried to move his limbs, and felt very stiff. The walking movement was of course unnatural, but he managed to get up reluctantly, albeit in a somewhat strange position.

The little carpenter looked at him, a smile bloomed on his tearful face, he slowly got up and stretched out his hand to Boss Gao.

Boss Gao looked at his hand and didn't understand what it meant. But he also learned the movements of the little carpenter, and slowly stretched out his fingers like branches, and gently touched the little carpenter's fingers.

The creatures of the mountains shouted for joy and quickly dispersed. The little carpenter led Boss Gao and walked out of the forest step by step. Boss Gao's steps have never become light, but he is finally familiar with the movements, and his feet are extremely steady and steady.

The little carpenter took Boss Gao back to his home, which was a wooden house on the mountainside, which he had built with the old carpenter. The shape of the wooden house is very simple, and it is not eye-catching in the mountains and forests.

When the old carpenter saw Boss Gao, he was naturally startled. However, he soon gladly accepted Boss Gao, kindly touched his body, and left him at home.

"Master! Give him a name! The little carpenter said happily.

The old carpenter looked at Boss Gao's size, smiled, and said, "Let's call it Gao Song." ”

After that, Boss Gao lived in a wooden house, learned human language and life, listened to the old carpenter tell the story of the past, and listened to the little carpenter tell the story of the market.

Boss Gao was in this wooden house and began to learn to be a man. The old carpenter treats Boss Gao like a child who has not been involved in the world.

The old carpenter told him that to be a man is to have something to do, and that is life. Like the little carpenter, he became the old carpenter's apprentice, giving the old carpenter a hand and taking charge of their daily life.

Occasionally, when the little carpenter comes back from the mountain, he will bring back spring water full of aura. After Boss Gao drank it, he became more and more refreshed.

Until one day, Boss Gao looked at the figure of the little carpenter entering the mountain and felt a little lonely.

When the old carpenter saw him, he silently went back to the house.

The next morning, the old carpenter got up early. He woke up Boss Gao and walked into the mountains and forests with him.

For the mountains and forests, the old carpenter is much more familiar than Boss Gao. Although Boss Gao has grown for thousands of years, he has never left the place where he grew up half a step. Although the old carpenter is only a few dozen years old, he can go over the mountains and mountains, and the roads he has walked, the things he has seen, and the things he has thought about are beyond the reach of the high boss.

The old carpenter got tired of walking, so he sat down, took out his kettle, and drank some water.

Boss Gao looked at the surrounding scenery, although confused, he felt comfortable.

"Happy, aren't you?" The old carpenter looked at him and said with a smile: "To be a man, you must be able to 'think', you must have something to do, and you must also learn to rest and look at the scenery around you." ”

Several birds landed on Boss Gao's body, his bark-like skin making the birds think he was an old tree. Boss Gao looked at these birds, his eyes were a little wooden, but he felt a pulse dissipate from his chest to his body.

For the first time, he smiled on his usually stiff face.

The old carpenter saw it and smiled with satisfaction, but the smile was fleeting. He took out an axe and handed it to Boss Gao, and said in a deep voice:

"Cut down a tree."

Boss Gao's pleasure disappeared, and confusion and fear took over his heart again. In unfamiliar language, he stumbled:

"For ...... What the? ”

"To be a human being, you must learn to love and also learn to hurt." When the old carpenter spoke, the spirit of strength seemed to disappear: "To be a human being, you must first know that you have a difference from them. ”

The old carpenter said, pointing to the depths of the mountain forest and saying, "If you want to be a man, and you think that you are still a tree, in the end you will not be able to do anything." ”

Boss Gao couldn't understand what the old carpenter meant, he hesitated for a long time, and finally took the axe.

The old carpenter did not rush him, but sat by and watched. Boss Gao looked at the woods in front of him, and his mind was confused. It seemed that a century had passed, and Boss Gao moved slowly. He took the axe, walked to a large tree, and slowly cut it down.

"You know trees, go to trees that are not yet spiritual, but have enough to make wood." The old carpenter suddenly said, "You can choose how to do what you have to do." How can I let myself start to learn to be a human being, and how can I let myself be used for heaven and earth, instead of harming the same kind. ”

The old carpenter put his hands behind his back, turned to look at the mountains and forests in the distance, and finally said:

"The measure of all things is in your own hands."

Boss Gao looked at the old carpenter's back for a long time, and finally turned around. With his eyes closed, he shuttled through the woods for a while, and finally chopped down an axe and slashed at a large tree.

On that day, Boss Gao carried a whole giant tree back to the wooden house without the slightest difficulty. The old carpenter, while being surprised, finally laughed again:

"What the hell is a youkai?"

Boss Gao began to learn to work as a carpenter, but his brain was still not as flexible as that of humans. But as a dryad, he has a natural affinity for wood, and a patience that can stand in the mountains for thousands of years, which is incomparable to mortals. Although his movements were stiff and slow, he was very measured in every movement, and soon he was better than the little carpenter.

Boss Gao is becoming more and more like a person. Despite the slow change, his body is indeed slowly fading the characteristics of the tree. The more he understood, the more his distress followed.

For the old carpenters and small carpenters who often go down the mountain to buy and sell, Boss Gao is extremely envious. I don't know when it started, when the two of them went down the mountain, he would hold on to the door frame, watch the backs of the two slowly go away, and be alone for a long time.

Another day when Boss Gao was home alone, he sat on the steps of the wooden house, silently carving an object in his hand. It was a man carrying a gourd of rock sugar.

The little carpenter told him that sugar gourds were the best thing in the world. He painted a portrait of Boss Gao selling sugar gourds, and that kind of information from the outside world fascinated Boss Gao.

The sound of footsteps came over the deep forest, and a crisp girl's voice came:

"Is anyone there? I'm a herb picker passing by here, asking for a bowl of water to drink! ”

A little girl with a medicine basket appeared in front of Boss Gao.

She looked at Boss Gao, and immediately turned pale with fright.

"Demon ...... Youkai! There are youkai! ”

The little girl was so frightened by Boss Gao's face that she turned around and ran, colliding with the little carpenter who had just returned.

The old carpenter stood behind them and saw everything. He smiled and helped the little girl up and said:

"Don't be afraid, girl. He's not a monster, he's born like this, he's our family. ”

The little girl looked at Boss Gao in shock, and muttered softly, "You look so scared of people......"

Boss Gao listened, and the wood carving in his hand fell to the ground. He stood up and walked back to the house in a lonely manner under the gaze of the three men.