Chương 402: Uncomfortable Heart.

Verdantia looked at the <Lignified Tree House> and smiled softly.

"Today, I'll be in your care again, child." Liu Shu heard the clear fondness in Verdantia's words, and the suffocating feeling inside her somewhat calmed down. After all, having affection for the Tree House meant having affection for Liu Shu, their mother, right? The blue-haired Sylvan giggled and hugged Verdantia's arm intimately.

"Come, come. I've already prepared quite thoroughly." Verdantia smiled and allowed herself to be pulled by the relatively short Sylvan.

"Elu, are you always so eager to do things?" Elu laughed.

"Of course not." She smiled brightly at Verdantia and spoke softly.

"I am like this only when I do things with Sister Verdantia." Verdantia chuckled.

"Always saying silly things. Let's go." They entered the Tree House and walked up to the last floor. While walking up the stairs, Elu muttered.

"Why can't Lady World Tree tell the Tree Houses to create something to lift us up? It's somewhat tiring walking up all these floors." Verdantia blinked and smiled.

"Well, I can ask Liu Shu later about it. She is usually busy, though." Elu's face turned slightly dark, and she muttered.

"She is probably busy paying attention to another Sylvan. Aren't there others besides Sister Verdantia in a relationship with her?" Liu Shu's internal anger surged.

'I don't know why I am getting angrier, but I really want to punish this woman!' Verdantia frowned and commented.

"You are slightly young, so I won't say anything harsh. However, it is because of Liu Shu that we can have a place like this one." Elu humphed.

"Sure, sure. Sister Verdantia always speaks well of Lady World Tree, regardless of what she does. Even when she is never paying attention to you." Verdantia commented, confused.

"Why are you so fussy today?" Elu and Verdantia reached the top of the stairs, and they walked left through the passageway.

"I'll tell you when we are inside." Then, Elu opened the door and walked into the house. Verdantia followed right after. Verdantia moved with familiarity, placing her leafy overcoat on a perch at the side. The gorgeous green dress she was wearing came into full view, showing her gorgeous curves and beautiful fair skin. Elu glanced at her and blushed.

"Sister Verdantia, you are so beautiful." Verdantia sat on a couch and relaxed her body, closing her eyes for a moment.

"Sigh. Thank you. You are also very pretty, Elu." Elu approached from behind, jumping and hugging her.

"Hehehe. Sister Verdantia~." Liu Shu's roots twitched. However, she still didn't act. Her gaze, though, was becoming increasingly cold. Verdantia opened her eyes and looked sideways with a calm gaze. She raised one hand and knuckled her forehead.

"Don't hug me like that." Elu made an exaggerated sound.

"Ouch!"

"Ah." Verdantia sighed and stood up, gently rubbing her forehead.

"Did I hit you too hard? Sorry, I am sometimes too unaware of my increased strength." Elu shook her head and hugged Verdantia again, her face buried in her ample chest. Verdantia frowned but then sighed, patting her head.

"There, there. You wanted to show me something, no? Let's see it." Laughing happily, Elu nodded and turned around.

"Come, come! I think I created something super nice." They moved to a room full of different plants, and Elu pointed at a rather large one. It was a plant over two meters tall from the ground to the highest point. The plant's petals spread out like a massive sunflower, and its head dropped down like a bell. Then, long vines flowed down like a curtain from the tip of those long petals, almost touching the ground. Elu spoke with a proud expression.

"This is a plant I've grown with seeds that Lady World Tree did not influence! It has a concealing nature and… Well, it's easier to explain if we go under it! Come, come!" Verdantia and Elu walked and stepped into the vines. Liu Shu tried to look inside, but something strange happened.

'Huh? I can't look inside?' She noticed that when she tried to see or hear what was happening inside the vines, she couldn't. Something like this, completely outside of her control, made the World Tree's ruthless nature ignite.

'This plant…!' Her core ignited with twisting emotions, and she quickly latched her roots around that plant, then…

'Tree House, kill it!' RIIPPP!!!!

"... you! Ah!?" Elu's voice reached Liu Shu again, but she didn't hear anything other than a scream when her roots twisted and destroyed the plant apart. Elu's face paled, and she shouted.

"M-My plant!? What are you doing, Tree House? Stop!" However, following her mother's orders, the Tree House's walls sprouted with powerful vines and coiled around all the plants in the entire house, destroying and swallowing them. [Congratulations on defeating <World Concealing Plant Level 31>. You've earned 0 Experience Points.] [Congratulations on defeating <Sylvan Estrus Plant Level 23>...] [Congratulations on defeating <Abundant Cornflower Level 14>...] The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"No! No! WAIT!" Verdantia was also startled and shouted.

"Child, stop!" However, the house didn't stop and destroyed everything in less than ten seconds. Inside Elu's house, nothing remained. Not even the notes she had written. Everything that Liu Shu could see that had anything to do with that plant was torn to shreds and swallowed by the Tree House. Elu fell to her knees, and tears began falling from her eyes. Verdantia's face turned somewhat stern, and she scolded.

"You… Child! Why did you do that? These children didn't do anything wrong."

"Oh, they didn't?" Liu Shu's indifferent, cold voice filled the room, making Elu hiccup out of fear. Verdantia was also surprised.

"Liu'er? What happened? Why did you do this?" Liu Shu spoke coldly.

"Elu is a traitor. I am going to drag her and feed her to the ants."

"W-What!? I am not! Sister Verdantia!" One of Liu Shu's actual roots appeared and coiled around Elu's waist. However, before Liu Shu pulled, Verdantia summoned vines on her own and coiled them around Liu Shu's root, stopping her. At that moment, Liu Shu felt a strange, sharp pain in her core.

'Why are you protecting her?' Verdantia's face was somewhat serious when she spoke soothingly.

"Liu Shu. I don't know how you got this misunderstanding. However, Elu is not a spy or anything. She's been working with me for almost eight years already, and I know perfectly well everything she's done."

"..." Liu Shu didn't answer straight away. Eventually, she asked.

"Then why did she create a plant that can block my senses?" Verdantia paused, her face somewhat complicated.

"Listen to me first, okay?"

"Don't avoid my question. Answer, Sylvan Elu. Why did you create a being that can block the senses of a World Tree? What do you want to hide?" Elu's face paled, and her face filled with sweat and fear. Verdantia tried to interrupt.

"Liu'er…"

"Shut up. Did I ask you? Are you her mother? Or is she mute? She might've broken her vocal cords from speaking too much to you, right?" Verdantia was baffled by this temperamental burst. She had only seen Liu Shu this cold and cruel when dealing with her enemies. She frowned and waved her hand, trying to gently pull away Liu Shu's root, coiled around Elu.

"You are scaring her. First, let her go so that she can answer." This hurt Liu Shu even more. Her tone turned completely cold, and she snorted.

"She will die either way. Even if she is not a traitor, she was trying to seduce the chosen mate of a World Tree. The punishment for that is death. So die." Then, before Verdantia could say anything, she squeezed with her root.

"AHH!" [-100, 000]! [-100, 000]! [-100, 000]! [-100, 000]! Even if the strength she could exert with such a thin root was not much, it was more than enough to deal with a <Second Energy Cycle>. Verdantia's eyes widened, and she panicked for a second, using too much strength with her vines.

"Liu'er, stop! Stop!" Seeing blood start to pour out of Elu's mouth, Verdantia caught Elu's falling body and used her healing skills.

'Huh? I caught her?' Verdantia's stomach sank, and she looked toward the root. Her eyes widened when she saw what she did. The root was torn in two, with sap dripping drop by drop onto the ground. Meanwhile, Liu Shu was staring blankly at her broken root. The pain from this was less than a pinch, but somehow, Liu Shu felt that this otherwise negligible wound was the most painful she had ever received.

Verdantia dropped Elu's body to the ground and quickly grabbed the torn root, frantically pouring out her healing energies.

"L-Liu Shu!? A-Are you okay? Okay, darling, I am sorry, I didn't mean to—" Liu Shu whipped her root, smacking her hands away, and then retreated them into the wall, leaving a small blue puddle of her sap behind. Verdantia's limbs felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar, and all blood drained from her face.

"Liu Shu? Answer me, love. You know I didn't mean to hurt you! Liu'er? Love?" Of course, Liu Shu understood in her head. However, each time she wanted to speak, her core felt stuffy, blocking her words. Not wanting to look at that area, she retreated her consciousness, and the <Avatar> opened her eyes. She leaned backward, looking at the ceiling of the <Core Room>.

"... Sigh." Liu Shu closed her eyes and swept every house with plants growing in her domain. Each time she found a plant with a concealing nature, she would destroy it either personally or by telling the Tree Houses to act. They were rather easy to find after knowing how the sensation worked. She only needed to find the holes in her <World Tree Eye> domain.

"Ah. There is a hideout here…" [Congratulations on defeating…] [Congratulations on defeating…] …

"Oh, another one here." [Congratulations on defeating…] [Congratulations on defeating…] [Congratulations on defeating…] …

"One with Nexus people at the edge of the Wall Forest?" Once she destroyed the concealment, Liu Shu muttered.

"There are even some <Third Energy Cycles>... Well, it doesn't matter. They are all quite weak." [Congratulations on defeating…] [Congratulations on defeating…] [Congratulations on defeating…] [Congratulations on defeating…] … [You've earned a total of 101, 400 Experience Points.] Liu Shu spoke without any joy.

"Not bad. 300 days' worth of Experience Points."

Level: 57 [0/327, 220] Flor's voice reached her at that moment.

"Liu Shu? Liu Shu? Why am I receiving reports that you are attacking people's houses!? What is going on?" Liu Shu spoke indifferently.

"A new law will be added. Working on <Concealing> matters is prohibited." Flor was baffled.

"Huh? That's one of the essential sciences, love. We need it if we want to infiltrate enemy World Tree Domains." Liu Shu paused her massacre.

"Oh. Well, whatever. I'll stop now, then. I've detected a few hideouts in the process, though. I'll give you the locations. Also, concentrate all concealing experiments in a single area that I can check at any moment. I don't like having places where my eye can't reach." Flor was about to answer when the doors of her office burst open. A disheveled Verdantia stepped inside, her face drained of color.

"Flor, help me!" Liu Shu looked at Verdantia for a second, startled. Her limbs were trembling, and her voice was hoarse. Her body was covered in cold sweat, and her eyes were trembling and about to burst into tears. Flor was also surprised and quickly flew to her side.

"What happened? Come, come, drink something and relax." Verdantia shook her head, her voice trembling.

"No, no! I don't have time. Liu Shu, I hurt her because I was being hasty! I was confused and didn't clarify things in time, and now she is ignoring me! Please tell her to speak to me! I can explain everything!" Flor blinked twice and hummed. Then, she looked up and smiled.

"Speak with her, love." Liu Shu didn't answer for a second, glancing at Verdantia with some reluctance.

'I still feel angry inside…' However, she also didn't want to be like this with the person she loved.

'Ugh…' Therefore, she spoke flatly.

"Come to my <Core Room>." Hearing Liu Shu's voice, Verdantia's legs softened in relief, and she fell to her knees. She quickly nodded.

"Yes, yes! I will go now. I will be there in a moment." Meanwhile, Liu Shu's eyes moved in Elu's direction and saw her trembling in her bed. Seeing that she didn't die, a cold and ruthless feeling surged in her heart.

'Should I…' Still, her roots paused.

'Hm. I'll hear what Verdantia wants to say first.'