42: Tie Zhu's words awaken many doubts.

Zhao Tiezhu, snot and tears streaming down his face, recounted his tragic experiences. He then curiously sized up Liu Qingtian, the talking demon tree, and the beautiful Elf Young Miss beside him, his gaze darting between the two, filled with gossipy curiosity.

"Brother Tree... uh, Senior? Senior Liu?" Zhao Tiezhu tentatively addressed him. "Your appearance is quite unique! By the way, how did you meet this Elf Young Miss? In this desolate wilderness, did you manage to stage a hero saving the beauty scene?" He winked, and despite his disheveled state, the gossipy and sarcastic spirit unique to a social animal began to burn.

Liu Qingtian responded simply with his mind: "She was being hunted, severely injured, and fell near me. I dealt with her pursuers." He omitted the existence of burying netherworld and shadow of annihilation, only mentioning his own intervention.

Sela also nodded quickly, smiling kindly at Zhao Tiezhu, and added with a clumsy but understandable mental message: "Tree Venerable saved me and helped me heal. Tree Venerable is a very powerful and kind strong practitioner."

Zhao Tiezhu's eyes lit up: "Wow! A classic fortuitous encounter opening! Senior is awesome!" But then he rubbed his chin, a look of envy mixed with suspicion on his face, muttering, "But why does this plot seem a bit familiar to me... A desolate wilderness, a severely injured beauty, conveniently falling next to you, and being pursued because she carries a treasure..."

He suddenly looked up at Liu Qingtian, his gaze becoming somewhat strange: "Senior Liu, if I may ask, when she was being chased, was she by any chance holding something special? Or did she say something that only you could help with?"

Liu Qingtian paused slightly, then conveyed: "She was carrying a void-meditation stone at the time, pursued by the Black Wind Vulture Clan. This Venerable acted with the intention of acquiring this stone and the natural essence from her body." He did not conceal his partial motives.

"void-meditation stone? Sounds very Advanced!" Zhao Tiezhu smacked his lips, then his expression became even more subtle. "And then? Was she especially grateful, and then told you where her home was, inviting you there? Or begging you to send her home?"

Liu Qingtian: "...This Venerable wished to explore this world. She mentioned that her tribe's direction was roughly the same as my destination, so I gave her a ride back to the Qinglan Tribe."

"What happened then?" Zhao Tiezhu pressed, his eyes wide.

"The tribe had been destroyed, all its members perished, leaving only her. According to the remnants of the Ancient Tree Spirit guarding her tribe, it was done by the Wood Spirit Dynasty Imperial Guards, on the charge of colluding with extraterrestrial demons." Liu Qingtian calmly narrated.

Thump!

Zhao Tiezhu plopped onto the ground, slapped his thigh hard, an exaggerated "I knew it" expression on his face, and began shouting in Chinese at the top of his lungs:

"Oh my goodness! Big Brother! My Senior Liu! Have you really never read web novels or something?! This trope is practically worn out!"

"In the desolate wilderness, a peerless beauty just happens to fall next to you, severely injured! And she just happens to be carrying a treasure! The pursuers are neither too strong nor too weak, just strong enough for you to deal with! Then she's eternally grateful to you and takes you home! But when you get home, lo and behold! The whole family is gone! Only she's left! The enemy is the biggest Imperial Dynasty in the area! And the reason is absolutely ridiculous, something about colluding with extraterrestrial demons? Isn't this just a classic case of killing to seize treasure and then framing someone else?!"

Zhao Tiezhu gesticulated excitedly: "Most importantly! Senior, think about it carefully! How could a little elf have that kind of spatial talisman? Even if she did, how could she be so coincidental as to open the portal right next to you, this 'extraterrestrial demon'? That's way too coincidental, isn't it?! Even a scriptwriter wouldn't dare write this!"

"And a 'remnant Ancient Tree Spirit'? It doesn't appear early or late, but as soon as you arrive, it pops out to give its last words and a quest? This NPC trigger is way too timely!"

He took a breath, looking at the silent Liu Qingtian and Sela, who was bewildered by the incomprehensible Chinese. He lowered his voice slightly, but his tone became more urgent:

"Senior! Do you really think all of this is fine? Do you really believe you're the Son of Destiny, shaking your kingly aura, and beauties and treasures fall into your lap, along with a bonus main revenge quest? Wake up, Big Brother! This looks like you're being used as a pawn! That little elf girl either has problems herself, or she doesn't even know she's a bait! The target might be you!"

Although Zhao Tiezhu was just an ordinary social animal, his years of immersion in web novels made him an expert on various tropes and anti-tropes. His barrage of criticisms and analyses, though full of personal speculation and exaggeration, felt like a bucket of cold water poured over Liu Qingtian's heart.

Liu Qingtian's tree soul fluctuated violently.

Before, he was not without doubts. Sela's appearance was indeed a bit coincidental. But at that time, his own condition was extremely poor, and he urgently needed energy to recover. Sela's natural essence and void-meditation stone were attractive to him, and she seemed to have a pure mind and her injuries were real, so he temporarily suppressed his doubts and chose to intervene and travel with her.

Later, the tribe was destroyed, the Ancient Tree Spirit entrusted him, he obtained star key fragments, and learned of the Burial Dragon Valley clue... a series of events followed, making him temporarily overlook the initial sense of coincidence.

Now, being so directly exposed by Zhao Tiezhu, an outsider and a Fellow Villager from a similar information-saturated world, those overlooked doubts instantly resurfaced and magnified!

Yes, it was too coincidental.

So coincidental it was like a meticulously designed script!

How could an elf capable of using a spatial talisman be so utterly defeated by a few Ghost-Faced Vultures, whose highest cultivation was only Spirit Refining Realm? Where did that spatial talisman come from? Why did it just happen to open near him?

Why did the Ancient Tree Spirit wait until he arrived to give its last words, hand over the fragments, and point to Burial Dragon Valley? Why did the Wood Spirit Dynasty use the excuse of "colluding with extraterrestrial demons"? Did they already know that "extraterrestrial demons" would arrive? Or... were they probing? Luring?

Sela... what role exactly was she playing in all of this? Was she an innocent victim, or... a pawn unaware of her own role?

Liu Qingtian's thoughts turned cold, and countless willow branches moved without wind, emitting a dangerous aura.

Although Sela didn't understand Zhao Tiezhu's words, she could feel Liu Qingtian's change in emotion and the sudden oppressive atmosphere. She asked nervously in a low voice: "Tree Venerable... what's wrong? What are you talking about?"

Zhao Tiezhu saw Liu Qingtian's reaction and knew his words had an effect. He quickly added: "Senior, I'm not saying this Elf Young Miss is necessarily bad; maybe she's also being used. But it's always good to be cautious! This plot is too standard, so standard it makes my heart pound! You really need to be careful!"

Liu Qingtian remained silent for a long time before his cold thoughts slowly emerged, this time directed at both Zhao Tiezhu and Sela: "Your words are not without reason. While coincidences exist in the world, too many coincidences imply human intervention."

His massive "tree eye" looked at Sela, his thoughts carrying scrutiny: "Sela, I ask you one more time. Where did your spatial talisman come from? When you fled, why did you choose this direction? Have you ever mentioned your journey or encounter to anyone?"

Sela's face turned pale, frightened by Liu Qingtian's sudden serious and cold thoughts, especially hearing words like "coincidence" and "utilization." Although she couldn't fully understand, she vaguely sensed that Tree Venerable was suspicious of her.

Tears welled up in her eyes in desperation, and she quickly waved her hands, explaining with a tearful mental message: "Tree Venerable! I didn't! That spatial talisman was passed down in the tribe a long time ago; there was only one, for saving lives. I didn't know where it would send me. The situation was urgent at the time, so I just used it... I've never told anyone about meeting you! I don't know why the tribe ended up like this... I really don't know..."

Her words were chaotic, but the grievance, panic, and sincerity in her emotions did not seem feigned.

Liu Qingtian carefully perceived her mental fluctuations and indeed found no traces of deception. Either her acting skills were superb, or she genuinely knew nothing.

Zhao Tiezhu also rubbed his chin, observing Sela, and muttered, "She doesn't look like she's faking it... So she's the type who gets sold out and even helps count the money?"

Liu Qingtian's doubts within his tree soul were not entirely dispelled, but he temporarily chose to believe Sela's innocence.

Perhaps, she really was just a pawn placed in advance, completely unaware of her role.

And the mastermind... is likely related to the Wood Spirit Dynasty, to the Black Vine Imperial Guards, and even to the Seal mystery of this Cangmu World.

Was his arrival perhaps calculated by certain entities from the very beginning? Was it because of the star key? Or because of burying netherworld?

The situation instantly became confusing and fraught with danger.

Liu Qingtian looked at the ancient altar, then at the still-frightened Zhao Tiezhu and the panicking Sela.

What he thought was just a simple recovery and treasure hunt had unexpectedly drawn him into a massive vortex potentially targeting him.

"This place is not suitable for long stay." Liu Qingtian said decisively, "Regardless of the conspiracy behind it, strengthening one's own power is the Righteous Path."

He needed to fully recover as soon as possible and find a way to leave this world.

"Zhao Tiezhu, are you willing to follow this Venerable?" Liu Qingtian looked at this unexpected Fellow Villager. Although this person was talkative, his thinking was unconventional and often provided unexpected perspectives.

Zhao Tiezhu immediately nodded like a pecking chicken: "Yes, yes! Senior, please take me with you! I don't want to be stuck in a rock crevice again! I'm telling you, even though I'm not good at fighting, my mind is quick, and I can tell you jokes to relieve boredom!"

Liu Qingtian: "...Keep up."

He no longer hesitated, his massive tree body turned, deciding to leave Burial Dragon Valley first and find a hidden place to cultivate in seclusion, thoroughly digest what he had gained, restore all his strength, and then plan for the future.

However, just as they were about to leave the valley entrance—

Liu Qingtian's tree soul suddenly tensed!

Through the Myriad World Roots, he sensed a large number of powerful auras converging from all directions, sealing off the entire exit of Burial Dragon Valley!

One of these auras was chillingly cold and decayed, with characteristics of black vines, and its strength had surprisingly reached Wutian Realm Perfection!

Another aura was vast and majestic, containing Imperial Dao pressure, and was actually at the Initial Stage Golden Body Realm!

A cold voice boomed into the valley like rolling thunder:

"Listen, extraterrestrial demons inside! You have been surrounded! Hand over the stolen Sacred Object immediately and surrender! Otherwise, today will be the day your bodies and souls are utterly destroyed!"

They came so fast!

In Liu Qingtian's tree eyes, a sharp cold light suddenly intensified.

Indeed, it was a trap!