Kemei's words were not unfounded.
He still remembered the first time he had gone to the Withered Tree Stronghold. When he descended into the tree hollow, One-Eyed Dragon had remained tense and vigilant throughout, allowing him to stand only at the outermost edge of the hollow and forbidding him from taking even half a step farther inside.
Even when he had merely shifted forward a tiny step on instinct, One-Eyed Dragon had immediately shouted him down.
At the time, Kemei had assumed One-Eyed Dragon feared that he was hiding a weapon and might threaten the companions deeper inside the tree hollow.
But now that he thought about it, what if the truth was not that simple?
Could it be that the tree hollow itself concealed a secret, and One-Eyed Dragon had stopped him to keep him from noticing the clues?
There was another question they had never been able to figure out before: the Forty Thieves could clearly have left, so why had they chosen to hold this place to the death, refusing to budge?
They had once guessed that perhaps Evil Spirits wandered nearby, making the thieves afraid to act rashly.
Even they themselves found that explanation hard to believe. Evil Spirits did not roam near the Withered Tree Stronghold every day. As long as their scouts obtained accurate intelligence, they could have moved the entire group while the Evil Spirits were far away and found another place to settle.
But they had not.
From beginning to end, they had remained entrenched in the Withered Tree Stronghold, never leaving even an inch, nor allowing outsiders to lay a finger on it.
They had not understood it before, only felt that something was off.
But now, using "the withered tree is a reference point" as the foundation of their reasoning,