Gu Jiao clearly harbored an extremely deep wariness toward the existence White Night had mentioned, which was why she pressed for details with such intensity.
Listening to her questions, White Night naturally had no intention of easily revealing all the information she knew.
Instead, she probed with a counter-question, “What does that existence you mentioned actually look like? Tell me first, so we can see if our descriptions match up.”
Hearing this, seeing White Night’s cautious attitude, Gu Jiao’s conviction only grew stronger internally.
Even though White Night hadn’t answered directly, she was almost certain that White Night’s black bowknot must have come from that very existence.
She steadied her mind, gathered her words, and began to speak.
However, when mentioning that existence, her voice still carried an unconcealable dread, and even her expression showed a tense, fearful tightness.
“That existence appears as a little girl, but her strength is unfathomable, her power terrifying beyond imagination. She usually wears a black dress.”
White Night knew immediately that Gu Jiao was talking about the same little girl who had given her the black bowknot.
She nodded solemnly at Gu Jiao. “It’s indeed her. Since we’re talking about the same one, then there’s no problem.”
Gu Jiao instantly let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly asked, “Then… are you willing to cooperate with me? You can make any other requests, as long as I can fulfill them, we can discuss.”
“Other requests?”
Seeing that White Night and Mu Yingying had no objections to the cooperation itself, Su Shuanger immediately took over the conversation.
President Su was always skilled at this kind of bargaining.
She spoke with clear logic, “This journey we’re about to undertake is fraught with peril; we’re risking our lives. The Hundred Flowers Dew you mentioned can only be brewed once we reach the destination, but our risks begin the moment we set out. We can’t just follow you on empty promises.”
“Then what do you need? I’ll try my best to meet your demands.” Gu Jiao was quite sincere.
“To avoid having nothing to fall back on if something truly goes wrong. Here’s the deal: we are currently very short on Ghost Crystals. You provide a batch first as a deposit for this cooperation,” Su Shuanger stated. Ghost Crystals were what they lacked most right now.
Hearing this, Gu Jiao nodded without the slightest hesitation.
“If you need Ghost Crystals, I can certainly give them. That place is inherently dangerous; besides the native perils, we must also be wary of other people heading there. Every bit of strength you gain increases our chances of success in this cooperation by one point.”
These weren’t just polite words; she was truly investing heavily.
As soon as she finished speaking, she directly pulled out a heavy, bulging bag from a pouch she carried, filled to the brim with Ghost Crystals.
“I can give you all the Ghost Crystals I have on me,” she looked at the three of them, her tone grave.
“But you must promise me that you will definitely see this cooperation through with me and cannot back out midway.”
Su Shuanger reached out and took the bag. Her fingertips sank slightly, and a slight heft told her the contents were substantial, certainly no small amount.
She turned and exchanged a glance with White Night and Mu Yingying. The three reached a silent consensus.
Mu Yingying then looked at Gu Jiao and spoke, “Rest assured, since we’ve agreed to cooperate, we won’t make empty promises just to swindle your Ghost Crystals. After all, we also need your Hundred Flowers Dew. Cooperation benefits both sides.”
Her tone shifted, getting straight to the core.
“However, right now, you need to make it clear to us: what exactly is the nature of the place we’re going to? What specific dangers are there? That way, we can make thorough preparations in advance.”
“The place we’re going to is a Hundred Flower Valley.” Mentioning this place, a look of lingering fear instantly appeared on Gu Jiao’s face.
“Right now, the flowers there haven’t bloomed yet. Only three days from now, when the hundred flowers are in full bloom, will the strange phenomena there manifest.”
“As long as you stay within the range of the blooming flowers, an Artisan’s skills will rapidly improve. Even ordinary people can benefit from enhanced physical constitution.”
“But the greater the benefit, the greater the danger.” Her voice lowered.
“If you stay inside for too long, a person will completely lose themselves, eventually becoming nourishment for those flowers, reduced to a handful of fertilizer. On my last visit, I almost stayed there forever, becoming flower fertilizer.”
“Fortunately, I had an item on me at the time that could stabilize my Divine Soul and maintain clarity. It saved my life at the last moment, but that item was completely destroyed. It was also at that time that I saw that existence.” Gu Jiao’s breath hitched slightly.
“She stood amidst the sky full of blooming flowers. With just that one glance, I understood from the terrifying aura and power emanating from her that this entire Hundred Flower Valley, all these strange phenomena, were her handiwork. I only caught a fleeting glimpse before desperately fleeing for my life. Thankfully, that existence didn’t make things difficult for me; she didn’t forcibly keep me to become fertilizer.”
“Knowing it’s so dangerous, you still want to go again? Aren’t you really afraid of death?” Mu Yingying couldn’t help but ask.
“Who isn’t afraid of death?” Gu Jiao gave a wry, helpless smile.
“But in times like these, if you don’t desperately improve your strength, you’ll die sooner or later anyway. Rather than waiting for death, it’s better to take a gamble.”
These words struck a chord with Mu Yingying. She nodded in deep agreement and said nothing more.
White Night stood to the side.
The image of that little girl flashed through her mind, and she had a vague feeling that this matter was far from ordinary.
That Weirdness existence always adhered to the principle of Equivalent Exchange.
She never gave benefits for free, never allowed someone to gain power without paying any Price.
Thinking of this, she looked up at Gu Jiao and asked bluntly, “After you came out of that Hundred Flower Valley, aside from the destroyed item, did you feel like you had lost something? Or that something was missing from your person?”
The question caught Gu Jiao off guard.
She shook her head after a moment. “After I came out, my strength did improve. Aside from that item protecting my clarity being destroyed, I didn’t feel any other loss. Why? Is there a problem?”
Seeing White Night’s grave expression and knowing she clearly had a lot of insider information about that existence, Gu Jiao pressed urgently.
White Night then explained to her in detail the rule that the little girl adhered to Equivalent Exchange and never bestowed benefits for free.
After hearing this, a chill ran up Gu Jiao’s spine, making her skin crawl.
She repeatedly confirmed that she hadn’t lost any body parts, and her strength had genuinely improved. But the more this was the case, the less certain she felt internally.
Had something crucial been taken from her without her even noticing?
For a moment, she felt a surge of hesitation, even wavering on whether to go to the Hundred Flower Valley again.
But then she reconsidered. For a Beekeeper like her, that Hundred Flower Valley was an immense opportunity.
As long as her bees could collect nectar from those blooming hundred flowers, her skills were bound to break through to the next major realm, and her strength would undergo a qualitative leap.
Thinking of this, that bit of hesitation was instantly suppressed.
Gu Jiao looked up at the three of them and spoke solemnly, “This journey is indeed perilous, but fortune favors the bold. I’ve decided to go. I imagine you also urgently need the Hundred Flowers Dew. Our cooperation will proceed as planned. What do you say?”
“Three days from now is the day the hundred flowers bloom. We’ll set out together then. In the meantime, you just focus on refining those Ghost Crystals and try to improve your strength as much as possible,” Gu Jiao continued.
“When the time comes, not only will everyone from the entire Hundred Flowers Town go, but people from other surrounding towns, and even many Weirdnesses will be drawn there. The scene will definitely be chaotic and dangerous. Every bit of strength is another guarantee of survival.”
“As for your daily food and living supplies, I’ll have someone deliver them to your residence on schedule. You don’t need to worry about these things; just focus on cultivation.”
Gu Jiao had thought things through very thoroughly, arranging every aspect clearly.
White Night, Mu Yingying, and Su Shuanger had no objections to this. They all nodded in unison, agreeing to the cooperation.
“Auntie Ying, Auntie Frost, don’t you think this Gu Jiao is just too strange?”
After Gu Jiao left, White Night spoke up to continue the conversation with her two aunties.
There were still many questionable points in this matter, making it hard for her to feel at ease.
“She is indeed very strange. Clearly, it’s so dangerous, yet she seems obsessed, determined to go…”
“I feel that even if she hadn’t met us, didn’t have the black bowknot, this time, with it being a near-certain death situation, she might still be obsessed with going to the Hundred Flower Valley.”
Su Shuanger speculated with a grave expression.