Vice Warden Shao An's remark instantly yanked Yang Qing from the depths of paranoia, pulling him back to solid ground.
"Treefolk?" Yang Qing repeated, his incredulous gaze fixed on the grey flames.
"Could Bai Chen have their bloodline?" he muttered, his brows knitting together. "But I didn't sense any signs of it," he added, mentally retracing every detail of his interaction with Bai Chen, searching for anything he might have missed.
With his powerful soul and cultivation base, recalling memories with perfect clarity—as though reliving them—was no challenge for Yang Qing. Yet, no matter how closely he examined his recollections, he found nothing that hinted at Bai Chen possessing a treefolk bloodline. This only deepened his confusion.
It wasn't that treefolk were so distinctive that anyone could pick them out in a crowd; most people would struggle to recognize one. But for Yang Qing, it was different.
