Let them offer their loyalty!

Actually, as early as when Guan Xiao brought Qiu Tu the intelligence today, Qiu Tu already sensed that something was slightly off.

It wasn't so much that the matter had spread to Huang Shangzong—after all, Huang Shangzong had just stepped down as the Speaker of Dongye State, and much of the intelligence network still belonged to him.

What was truly odd was... that upon learning about this matter, Huang Shangzong flew into a fury and even led his personal soldiers to confront Qiu Tu in person!

Qiu Tu and Huang Shangzong had worked together for a while before. While Huang Shangzong was indeed prone to impulsive decisions and recklessness, often disregarding consequences,

when it came to military matters, he was always exceptionally calm.

If not for his military prowess, Huang Shangzong wouldn't have been able to rise to the position of Speaker.

Aside from knowing Huang Shangzong's personality, what further convinced Qiu Tu that something was wrong was...

This matter had been reported to Huang Shangzong just last night!!

Qiu Tu wasn't some melodramatic protagonist in a poorly written soap opera, hiding everything until the breaking point before revealing the truth.

When Xue'er was poisoned and sent to his bed—a matter this sensitive—Qiu Tu, of course, had immediately notified Huang Shangzong after ensuring his own safety.

So... after bringing Xue'er back to the villa and settling her in, Qiu Tu had Yanyan call Huang Shangzong.

Upon learning that his daughter had suffered such a fate, Huang Shangzong was both furious and deeply worried!

He then instructed Yanyan to retrieve a special Cataclysmic treasure from Xue'er's safe, one capable of video communication, and directly initiated a call.

Through the video, he clearly saw Xue'er's condition and realized the gravity of the situation.

He also witnessed Qiu Tu feeding Xue'er a potion, after which she returned to normal (thanks to the Order Space's effects) and fell into a peaceful sleep...

Afterward, Yanyan stayed in the room to care for Xue'er, while Qiu Tu went outside with Huang Shangzong to continue their discussion.

During their conversation, Huang Shangzong's immense anger was palpable, even as he suppressed it in his tone.

His first suspect was... the Evil God of the Disaster Zone.

After all, Qiu Tu's strength was far from weak; he had already reached the Fifth Order, making him a top-tier combatant of the Eighth Sanctuary.

For someone to so silently and effortlessly place Xue'er on Qiu Tu's bed, their capabilities must also be extraordinary.

Most likely, they also possessed Fifth-Order strength. So... the possibility of the Evil God orchestrating this rose sharply.

As for the Evil God's motives? There were countless possibilities.

Over the past two months, Qiu Tu and Huang Shangzong had joined forces to crush the Evil God's influence time and again.

One had killed or captured three or four Evil Gods, while the other had overthrown thirteen cities under the control of the Evil God.

Although the two hadn't yet advanced deeper into the Disaster Zone, the internal Evil Gods were clearly beginning to fear Qiu Tu.

On top of that, Muye's immensely versatile abilities made her undoubtedly a key associate of many Evil Gods.

It was entirely plausible for an Evil God to seek revenge against the two of them.

Huang Shangzong's second suspect was the Sixth Sanctuary's Envoy Team.

Particularly Kou Yu from within the team.

The primary reason was Kou Yu's strength.

As someone who had recently stepped down as Dongye State's Speaker, with Dai Yukang also having established Dongye State's Security Bureau system,

Dongye's intelligence network was nearly transparent to Huang Shangzong.

Thus, he knew about the suspicions surrounding Kou Yu's potential status as a Fifth-Order Calamity Being.

Moreover, the Sixth Sanctuary's Envoy Team had exuded a peculiar atmosphere throughout this entire matter, making him suspect whether Kou Yu was the one pulling the strings.

As for motives... Huang Shangzong speculated it might have something to do with Qiu Tu.

He believed Qiu Tu, renowned for stirring up major incidents, could have meddled in matters related to the Sixth Sanctuary, prompting Kou Yu to either warn or frame him.

Of course, Princess Xi was also a suspect. After all, she might have framed Kou Yu in an attempt to win over Qiu Tu.

After carefully listening to Huang Shangzong's suspicions last night, Qiu Tu found some merit in his reasoning.

After all... lacking God's Perspective and several key pieces of intelligence, it was reasonable for Huang Shangzong to focus primarily on the Evil God.

Especially considering... the Evil God's high positional frame and concealed methods, yet their descent into the real world always comes at a significant cost.

This perfectly aligned with the logic of "able to infiltrate Qiu Tu's surroundings but merely placing Xue'er on his bed."

In fact... Qiu Tu felt this might be the very contingency Old Pang had prepared.

Thinking of Huang Shangzong's relationship with Old Pang, Qiu Tu deliberated for a moment before pretending to speak casually, "Old Huang..."

"Your analysis does make a lot of sense."

"But... I still feel something is off."

If it had been the old Huang Shangzong hearing Qiu Tu's rude address and ambiguous response, he would have lost his temper long ago.

However... Qiu Tu's current strength equaled his, and his position was on par, with only a half-step lower status in the Sanctuary hierarchy. They were already peers in every sense.

Moreover, Qiu Tu had just saved Xue'er, leaving Huang Shangzong with no room for temper tantrums.

He asked, "Does Speaker Qiu have any other theories?"

Qiu Tu couldn't possibly accuse Old Pang outright, so he smiled and replied, "No."

Then, shifting his tone, he said, "But... you know me—I've always had sharp intuition, and I just feel this isn't so simple."

It had to be said, Qiu Tu now held a certain level of authority in Huang Shangzong's mind.

Even if Huang Shangzong lacked a discerning eye for character, he couldn't ignore the opinion of someone who had repeatedly performed miracles right in front of him.