Di hutan, Emil menemukan kamp ayahnya yang ditumbuhi lumut bercahaya. Buku harian ayahnya mengungkapkan bahwa lumut itu tidak membunuh — melainkan menyerap ingatan manusia. Ayahnya memilih untuk menjadi bagian dari hutan, merasakan kedamaian abadi namun kehilangan jati dirinya.
Emil does not burn the moss. Instead, he places his palm against the largest tree. The green spreads up his arm — not painfully, but like a mother’s embrace. He hears his father’s voice one last time: Lagaslas Sub Indo
“Is there a way out?” Emil asks.
Emil diberi pilihan: membakar lumut dan melupakan ayahnya selamanya, atau menyentuhnya dan ikut lenyap. Dia memilih untuk menyentuh — tetapi menarik kembali tangannya di saat terakhir. Lumutnya mundur. Ayahnya tetap menjadi pohon, tetapi Emil pulang ke Manila dengan membawa suara tetesan di dalam dadanya. Di hutan, Emil menemukan kamp ayahnya yang ditumbuhi
“Yes. Burn it. But burning it means forgetting. Your father will not remember you. You will not remember him. The village will lose its protector — because the moss also stops landslides and keeps the river clean.” Emil does not burn the moss
“You have his eyes,” she whispers. “Leave before the green takes you.”
In the heart of the Philippines, deep in the Sierra Madre, lies the village of Kinabuyan — a place forgotten by time. The earth there is black and fertile, and the rice terraces glow like stairways to heaven. But the villagers do not speak of the forest beyond the last terrace. They call it Ang Lugar ng Lagaslas — “The Place of Dripping.”