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Chapter 536. Investigating Reasons. Unpleasant Discovery. [AotSC]
🕑 Added 2025-09-12 19:06:28 +0000 UTCWith her ability to sense everything, Liu Shu used one week to understand what they were planning deeply. During the first day, she already had some results.
A woman who left the Town Hall walked toward the Explorer Association and approached the counter. “Hello, I am here for the root base.”
Liu Shu tilted her head. ‘Is that a code of some sort?’
Her guess was correct, as the attitude of that receptionist became solemn and a bit nervous. His eyes darted around, as if he were fearful of something sprouting around him. Liu Shu’s Avatar showed a complicated expression. ‘If you are so scared, it means you know it is wrong. If that’s so… why would you do something like this? Sigh…’
The man cleared his throat. “Please, use the seventh root pass; it's the one with the canopy cover.”
The woman nodded faintly and walked toward the side of the reception room. The bark parted, and the woman stepped inside a hidden passage. Liu Shu was surprised. ‘Huh?’ Her senses focused, and soon, she could see through the concealment. ‘When did this passage appear?’
Her gaze, following the woman, became heavier as she noticed an oddity. ‘The <Lignified Tree> that houses the Explorer Association is strangely silent as well…’ Her roots gently touched the tree, and she spoke softly. ‘Baby, are you there? How are you feeling?’
The Lignified Tree tried to send her a message, but there was some kind of interference in her roots. Liu Shu’s real face slowly opened her eyes, coldness reflecting in her green irises. Then, she turned to look over.
Many who walked around the city noticed the torso of the World Tree twisting faintly as its gaze fell somewhere within the city. Those curious moved over, but soon, the World Tree closed her eyes again and returned to her resting position.
“What happened?” Someone asked, confused.
A middle-aged woman muttered. “It is indeed rare for Lady Heavenly Willow to move. What was in the direction she looked? I can’t really recall.”
“Too many things to narrow it down…” A middle-aged man with knowledge of the city layout spoke. “Still, something must’ve happened. I could feel a trace of anger in Lady Heavenly Willow’s gaze.”
Meanwhile, the <Lignified Tree> had her tangled roots untangled by Liu Shu, allowing it to communicate with Liu Shu without problems. A childish voice reached Liu Shu, full of wrongs. “Mama, these people are doing some shady business. I can’t really act myself because I am unsure of what they are doing, but they have taken control of some of my body functions.”
Liu Shu’s anger surged for a second before she pushed it down. Right now, she didn’t need to show a blazing anger but a cold and calculated wrath. To relax one of her many children, Liu Shu spoke gently to it. “I hear you now, baby. Don’t worry. Bear with it for one more week, okay, love? I will soon clean up those who bothered you.”
The Lignified Tree hugged Liu Shu’s roots with her own like a spoiled child. “Okay, Mama! Hehe. I can finally talk with Mama again!”
Liu Shu’s heart was soothed for a moment, knowing that nothing too extreme happened to one of her babies. Nevertheless, below her relief, there was a scorching feeling of hatred that she needed to deal with.
Their conversation was not done through normal speech, but through tree speech. Thanks to the tree being high-level, it didn’t last that long, only around two and a half hours.
During those hours, Liu Shu didn’t stop focusing on the woman carrying the documents. That woman arrived at a small room and placed the stacks of papers on the table. “Here it is. This is the latest activity of the Dungeon delving groups from the government and the army.”
The man on the desk nodded faintly and snorted. “Do they think that the dungeons are theirs or something? They are lucky that we are not that interested, or Lady Heavenly Willow would’ve suffered a bit.”
The woman’s face showed a trace of worry. “Um… Vice Association Master, what if Lady Heavenly Willow notices? Won’t we be in danger?”
“How could that be?” The man shook his head. “You don’t really understand how large the Explorer Association is. While they don’t micromanage small branches like ours, we are still part of the large network that the power forms. If Lady Heavenly Willow dares to do something, she will receive some heavy repercussions. So, at worst, we will be done with a small warning.”
The woman thought back on the Nexus and the Reform group with a worried heart. “I know that the association is stronger than the Abyssal Void Nexus, but… Even the Nexus didn’t react to the annihilation of their group. Won’t the Explorer Association also ignore us?”
The man looked at the woman with a confused expression. “What’s wrong? You’ve been acting strange today.”
The woman used a finger to tangle her hair. “Just… I feel anxious. I almost got caught today by Lady Verdantia. It seems that she is wary of our actions, and she has noticed a few traces.”
“How?” The man asked, surprised. “We even used duplicated reports to not raise suspicions. There should’ve been no chance for them to know…” The man paused for a moment. “Perhaps… did the <Town Hall> tree say anything to Lady Verdantia? It shouldn’t have noticed with the Rune Amulets you are wearing, though.”
The woman shook her head. “I am not sure. But I just feel anxious.”
Hearing her tone, the man pondered for a bit. Having worked in Golden Sap City for over two decades, he knew better than to underestimate their World Tree. “If she noticed… You! Go tell the people to check if the <Lignified Tree> has its communication nodes clogged.”
The woman’s face crumpled. “Y-You, what did you do to the <Lignified Trees>? Don’t you know that messing with them is the army’s bottom line? They are like everyone’s precious children, and there is no one who even dares to say a single peep to them!”
The man rolled his eyes. “Do you think I don’t know? We never hurt it; we just blocked its ability to communicate and slightly manipulated the body with arrays so that we can modify it at will. Of course, none of this is painful for it. At most, it would feel as if someone were moving its hands and legs during the time we make modifications. Other than at those times, the <Lignified Tree> is free to do as it pleases.”
The woman’s eyes widened. “Y-You… What will you do when the <Lignified Tree> spills the information to Lady Heavenly Willow! You can’t keep it silent forever!”
The man leaned back, looking at the nervous woman with a calm gaze. “That won’t happen anytime soon. And, if it happened, shouldn’t you check it quickly instead of interrogating me?”
The woman’s face changed colors a few times before she turned around and moved quickly. Liu Shu listened to the conversation with icy cold eyes. ‘You think you can manipulate my child and be free of consequences? It seems that people have started to forget the purge I did back then towards those who bothered my babies. Another one should refresh everyone’s memory.’
Part of her consciousness moved and contacted Flor. “Make an announcement for everyone to gather in the main plaza a week from now.”
Flor, who was relaxing and looking out of the window, blinked twice and looked at Liu Shu. Her red eyes showed a hint of concern, while her long red hair gently spread on her chest. “What’s wrong, love? Your tone sounds cold.”
Liu Shu spoke faintly. “Some people have started forgetting that my babies can’t be touched, not even if the effects are ‘mild’ and ‘unharmful.’”
If they were just conspiring, Liu Shu would deal with them through the law. After all, her tyranny was usually directed towards those outside of her power. Moreover, Golden Sap City’s law was not forgiving.
However, they dared to touch her bottom line: her beautiful saplings. Liu Shu thought coldly. ‘Since they’ve forgotten that the houses they live in are the children of a World Tree, I’ll remind them.’
Flor also turned serious. The Flower Fairy would not allow her grandbabies to suffer. They already went through a rough patch when they were younger, and she didn’t want to feel upset once more.
Meanwhile, the woman who arrived with the array masters at the bottom of the Lignified Tree sputtered, her hands trembling. “Check it quickly! We can’t make a mistake here!”
She observed as the array masters moved while biting her long nail. ‘Why did I even join this? I was dissatisfied that I couldn’t climb higher, but my pay is not bad at all. I am living a comfortable life that allows for luxuries from time to time! Stupid and greedy woman!’
The array masters stood up, and the leading researcher spoke calmly. “As I told you, miss. The array is perfectly fine. The Lignified Tree is still bound and can’t send messages to Lady Heavenly Willow.
The woman’s anxiety was reduced by half, her legs almost softening from the relief. “That’s good… That’s good…”
When they all left the basement, a ripple of ternary essence spread from the middle as runes scattered around. With the ripple, the intact array scattered like light, showing a broken pattern with blue-veined roots wriggling about. Liu Shu sneered. ‘A bunch of useless people think they can see through my Runic Illusion Field? Ha! Overestimating themselves.’
In the entirety of the Golden Sap Arborarchy, only three people could match Liu Shu’s skill in runes. Those were Mariane, Mariane’s mother, and an uncle from Harmonixia’s family.
After the woman went up, she communicated with the vice-chairman of the association and then went out. Strangely, she noticed a bunch of people gathered around the Explorer Association. Confused, she approached an old man and asked. “Sir, may I ask why there are so many people gathered here?”
The old man smiled faintly, showing a healthy complexion. “Lady Heavenly Willow looked in this direction a while ago, so people are speculating.”
The woman’s body turned icy cold, as if her soul had dropped to the pit of her stomach. As she turned to look at the gigantic World Tree, she heard a voice in her head. “Say a single word about your suspicions, and you’ll be swallowed by the very soil you are walking on.”
The powerful voice almost shattered her soul with just its pressure. It was so vast and influential that her Phoer was damaged during that simple sentence, nearly forcing her to cough blood. ‘S-She knows…’
The old man, noticing the sheer terror and despair flashing in the woman’s face, frowned a bit. “Um… Girl, are you okay?”
However, the woman didn’t answer and quickly left the place. However, each time she took a step, her mind flashed with the idea of roots coiling and pulling her underground. That day, the woman couldn’t sleep, eat, or do anything of value.
Comments
Winter
I wonder if the association will become a bigger enemy eventually than the Nexus.
Plateworm
Tftc seems like people are still quite fast at forgetting important stuff
