White Night felt her skin crawl under the old woman’s unblinking stare.
Su Shuanger and Mu Yingying immediately stepped forward, placing themselves side by side in front of White Night, their bodies tense with readiness, fearing this weird old woman might suddenly attack.
But the old woman showed no sign of aggression.
She chuckled slowly. “What are you afraid of? This old woman doesn’t eat people.”
Mu Yingying, full of wariness, had no desire to let such an unpredictable and dangerous person join their group.
She quickly tried to dissuade her.
“Old woman, the Hundred Flower Valley we’re heading to is extremely dangerous. The journey there is chaotic. We can barely guarantee our own safety, let alone look after you.”
“Who says I’m old? I’m only fifty-eight this year. How is that old?” The old woman raised an eyebrow, her tone matter-of-fact.
“Besides, I don’t need you to look after me. I’m here to look after White Night. It’s precisely because I know the journey is perilous that I came specifically to protect him.”
“Fifty-eight years old?” Mu Yingying’s eyes widened in disbelief.
The old woman before them had a full head of white hair, a face carved with deep wrinkles, and a body stooped like a piece of deadwood.
She looked at least eighty-five, not a day under sixty.
“What? Doesn’t look like it? Or do you think I look exceptionally young?” the old woman asked cheerfully in return.
“Y-yes, you look quite spirited,” Mu Yingying hurriedly agreed, going along with her words, but her heart was pounding.
No one knew what might happen if they angered this weird old woman.
“You’re a sweet-talking girl, a bit slick, but what you say is still pleasant to hear.” The old woman offered her blunt assessment.
Without waiting for their agreement or disagreement, she shuffled forward with faltering steps and walked directly into the middle of their group.
The group instantly felt as if facing a great enemy, every muscle tensed.
But the old woman just laughed again.
“Why are you all staring at me? The flowers in Hundred Flower Valley are about to bloom. If we don’t hurry, it’ll be too late.”
In the time it took to say that, she had already seamlessly integrated herself into the group as if she had always been one of them.
Everyone exchanged glances, at a loss for what to do for a moment.
They couldn’t exactly forcibly drive her away.
She had personally said she knew that weird little girl in Hundred Flower Valley. No one knew what misfortune might befall them if they rashly refused her.
White Night didn’t sense a shred of malice from her.
Even the Warning Compass on the RV remained completely quiet, not deviating in the slightest.
It still pointed steadily towards the direction of Hundred Flower Valley, as if there was no danger around them at all.
Unable to drive her away, yet filled with apprehension keeping her, they ultimately had no choice but to reluctantly compromise and continue their journey with this mysterious old woman.
Strangely enough, the old woman looked like she was shuffling along slowly, but instead of slowing down to accommodate her, the group subconsciously quickened their pace, wanting to use their speed to shake her off.
But no matter how fast they walked, the old woman always followed unhurriedly within the group, sticking close to White Night’s vehicle, never falling behind.
Seeing they couldn’t shake her off, White Night simply took the initiative to speak, probing indirectly.
“Old woman, may I ask what your relationship is with that little girl in the valley?”
“Her and me? Our relationship is no ordinary one.” The old woman gave White Night a mysterious smile, revealing a toothless, empty gum line when she grinned.
“But it’s a secret for now. Before long, you’ll naturally know.”
White Night saw she couldn’t get any useful information and didn’t know what else to say for a moment.
Instead, the old woman spoke again, looking at White Night with eager eyes. “Little White Night, do you have any candy on you?”
“No,” White Night shook her head, feeling somewhat surprised.
She hadn’t expected this seemingly weird old woman, who was completely toothless, to also like candy.
The group continued forward. As dusk approached, they finally stepped into the territory of Hundred Flower Valley.
The wildflowers in the valley had indeed begun to bloom one after another. Flowers of all colors dotted the mountains and fields.
Quite a few people had already rushed here ahead of time. Seeing dusk approaching and the flowers about to bloom, everyone was desperately charging deeper into Hundred Flower Valley.
Even the Weirdness that usually pounced on people on sight couldn’t be bothered to attack now. They were madly surging deeper into the valley as well.
For a moment, countless people and Weirdness merged into a torrent, all rushing in the same direction.
White Night and her group weren’t in a hurry to charge forward, but Gu Jiao beside them seemed to lose her senses. She started to follow the crowd into the valley, but fortunately, Su Shuanger was quick-eyed and swift-handed, grabbing her arm.
“What are you doing?” Su Shuanger sternly stopped her.
“It’s a crush of people now, with countless Weirdness mixed in. Rushing in is just asking for death. Wait a bit.”
Pulled back like this, Gu Jiao jolted awake, a look of alarm on her face.
“I just… suddenly lost control. My mind was set on charging in. This place really is sinister. Even though arriving early or late is the same, with so many people now, we should indeed go slower.”
Even as she said this, her gaze remained firmly glued to the depths of Hundred Flower Valley, unable to shift away.
“Stop looking, stop looking. Keep staring and your eyes are going to pop out,” Mu Yingying teased, but inwardly she was on high alert.
Even someone as calm and collected as Gu Jiao had nearly lost her composure and acted out of character here. The sinister nature of Hundred Flower Valley far exceeded their imagination.
“This place is so sinister. What if we get influenced and lose our minds too?” Mu Yingying couldn’t help but whisper.
“From now on, we watch out for each other. If anyone seems off, the others call them awake immediately. Absolutely no acting alone,” White Night immediately instructed in a serious tone.
“Little White Night, don’t worry. With me here, nothing dangerous will happen.” The old woman beside them spoke up with a smile, her expression still leisurely, clearly completely unaffected by the valley’s weird aura.
As soon as she finished speaking, the sounds of fierce fighting came from the depths of Hundred Flower Valley. The commotion was enormous, clearly audible even from this distance, and the sounds of battle were growing denser and louder.
Except for the still-leisurely old woman, everyone’s expressions instantly grew more solemn.
But they had already mentally prepared themselves. They maintained their unhurried pace, step by step walking deeper into the valley.
The path under their feet was a continuous downward slope. The further in they went, the more they could feel the vastness of this mountain valley.
According to Gu Jiao, last time she came, she didn’t even walk half the valley’s distance and never even caught a glimpse of the valley floor.
That was enough to show just how deep Hundred Flower Valley was.
The deeper they went, the more corpses lined the roadside, all people who had died here fighting over the already matured exotic flowers.
“Eating these mature flowers can greatly increase one’s strength. Last time, it was because I ate one that my power grew by a large margin.” Gu Jiao looked at the flowers by the roadside, her breathing gradually growing rapid again.
“If I can find a higher quality flower in the depths this time and eat another one, I’ll definitely break through my bottleneck and reach a new level of strength.”
As she spoke, she unconsciously quickened her pace again and patted the beehive on her back, releasing quite a few bees. She was clearly growing impatient again.
“Don’t be impatient. Haste makes waste.” Mu Yingying reached out and pressed her hand heavily on Gu Jiao’s shoulder.
“The people ahead are fighting with bloodshot eyes. If you rush over now, you’ll just get dragged into the slaughter.”
Gu Jiao jolted awake again and hurriedly, clumsily, recalled all the bees she had released.
These bees carried her aura. Releasing them recklessly would only unnecessarily attract enemies.
The group continued deeper towards the valley floor. The sounds of slaughter in their ears grew more violent and clearer.
As they walked, the ground was everywhere stained with blood.
Flowers of all colors were soaked in dark red. Countless corpses lay haphazardly by the roadside, both human and Weirdness, piled upon each other, a shocking and gruesome sight.