Xu Yi's directness offended the Li tribe people, and Duō's muscles tensed, causing him to step forward involuntarily.
How could their Li tribe ancestors' records possibly be shown to outsiders so casually.
The shaman's wrinkles deepened.
From Xu Yi's attitude, she understood that the other party would not back down.
On the way here, the shaman had been uneasy. She had prepared for the worst, only to find that things had developed beyond her expectations.
The Li tribe people were incapable of defeating those three.
This answer cast a shadow over the shaman's clear eyes.
Her next choice would very likely determine the life or death of the Li tribe.
The shaman had to be cautious, hence her long silence.
The shaman's silence also made the Li tribe people realize the gravity of the situation. Their gazes towards Xu Yi and the other two grew more menacing, as if they wished to tear the trio apart at any moment.
Setting aside Xu Yi and Ji Bu Wàng, even Guǎn Sù could ignore such stares with indifference.
An eerie silence spread amongst them, and finally, the shaman compromised.
However, her compromise was not to bring Xu Yi and the other two back to the Li tribe, but to frankly admit that she had been lying just now.
"I know what you are looking for. He is here."
"Here?"
Xu Yi and Ji Bu Wàng instinctively looked at the strange ancient tree.
Could this tree be related to Senior Si Xiang?
"Shaman..."
Duō hesitated.
The Beast King Fruit was the Li tribe's greatest secret.
Was it truly necessary to reveal this secret to these oddly dressed individuals?
After making her decision, the shaman suddenly looked ten years older, her back even slightly hunched.
It was evident that this decision made her extremely uneasy.
She looked at Xu Yi and the other two with a peculiar gaze, "You are looking for the man who appeared here seven hundred years ago, wearing the same clothes as you, aren't you?"
Xu Yi was startled, and then a spark flashed in her eyes.
The shaman had revealed a crucial clue: the ancestors of the Li tribe had met Senior Si Xiang in the past.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain how the shaman guessed their intentions and accurately described the person they were looking for.
"That's right, we are here to find him."
Xu Yi's voice could not hide her urgency.
She felt that this was the final step before returning to the Jiuzhou Continent.
As long as they knew how Senior Si Xiang had left, they could replicate the method to return.
Xu Yi's burning gaze fell upon the shaman, who had to exert great effort to control her trembling body.
This involuntary action was purely instinctual, which further solidified her choice.
She slowly raised her finger, pointing towards the ancient tree, "The person you are looking for is there."
"Wh-what?"
Even Xu Yi, who had weathered many storms, was stunned.
The shaman's brief statement seemed to have robbed her of her ability to think.
The shaman said Senior Si Xiang was at the location of the ancient tree.
But Senior Si Xiang had left...
Boom!
A bolt of lightning exploded in Xu Yi's mind.
Her blood instantly froze, and a chill shot from her spine to the top of her head.
No, there was no evidence from beginning to end that indicated Senior Si Xiang had returned to the Jiuzhou Continent.
Guǎn Sù had only said that Senior Si Gou had disappeared from the Green Sea, so their ancestors had unconsciously assumed Senior Si Xiang had left.
But there was another possibility.
That Senior Si Xiang had not left, but had perished in this Green Sea.
Xu Yi was shocked by her own speculation, her hair standing on end.
She stiffly turned her head to look at Ji Bu Wàng, only to find that Ji Bu Wàng was also looking at her.
Ji Bu Wàng's expression was grim, his eyes clouded with an impenetrable fog.
He too understood the chilling implication of the shaman's words.
"Impossible! You're lying!"
Just as Xu Yi and Ji Bu Wàng fell silent, a high-pitched voice, like a sharp sword, cut through the strange atmosphere.
It was Guǎn Sù.
Guǎn Sù was trembling all over, veins bulging on his forehead, the fruit paste in his hands dropping continuously.
If not for the last shred of his reason, he would have charged forward to beat the babbling shaman to death.
She was lying!
Senior Si Xiang had clearly already left!
How could he have died here?
The other party was a cultivator, an existence that the tribal people living on the Beast King Continent could not rival.
Who on this continent could defeat him, and who could kill him!
"Esteemed Immortals, she was lying just now, and what she's saying now must also be false! Don't believe her!"
Guǎn Sù roared, trying to suppress the panic in his voice with sheer volume.
He told himself over and over that Senior Si Xiang could not possibly be dead, yet his face grew paler and paler.
Given the shaman's previous demeanor, Xu Yi dared not fully trust her words.
After a few moments of silence, she coldly spoke, "Evidence. I want proof."
"This tree is the evidence, and the fruit in his hand is also evidence."
The shaman's expression did not change despite Xu Yi's questioning.
Her voice was steady.
So steady that Xu Yi could no longer find any flaws.
Xu Yi could only shift her gaze back to the tree.
Because of the shaman's words, Xu Yi looked at it with extraordinary seriousness this time, and thus discovered some details she had not noticed before.
For instance, the tree had a thick trunk and lush branches. Upon closer inspection, one could see many protrusions on the trunk.
Those protrusions were about the size of a fist, like marks left by someone striking outwards from within the trunk.
This association made Xu Yi's heart tremble. She bit her tongue, forcing herself to dismiss this thought from her mind.
Besides this, there was another distinctive feature on this ancient tree: many thick vines were entwined around its trunk.
These vines were like shackles, tightly binding the body of the tree.
Xu Yi's scalp tingled as she had another ominous premonition.
Coupled with the discomfort she had felt upon entering this place,
Xu Yi's heart sank.
"What exactly are you trying to say? What is so strange about this tree and this fruit!"
Guǎn Sù was driven to the brink of madness by the shaman's words.
His emotions told him not to believe.
However, his reason could not deceive himself again and again.
He could only bluster, using it to comfort himself.
"Seven hundred years ago, the ancestors of the Li tribe were hunting nearby when they suddenly heard a strange noise coming from this direction..."
The shaman told them a story.
A story that even the Li tribe leader and its members had never heard before.
Seven hundred years ago.
As the ancestors of the Li tribe were returning from hunting, they inadvertently passed by this place and were attracted by a strange sound that seemed to come from nowhere.
That sound was as if someone's mouth was blocked, only able to let out muffled whimpers of pain.
The ancestors of the Li tribe thought that other tribesmen had accidentally entered this place and encountered danger, so they prepared to rescue them. Then they saw a scene they would never forget.
That scene was later recounted by them to the shaman of the Li tribe, and then the shaman painted a scroll based on the described scene, which was passed down from generation to generation until it fell into the hands of the current shaman.
At this moment, the shaman was recounting the specific events of that year according to the contents of that scroll.