That night, after returning from the Forbidden Area, no one could sleep.
A single oil lamp lit the small house.
The flame flickered in the night wind, and the shadows of the people twisted and distorted on the walls like crumpled paper figures.
Little Frost sat by the rusty bicycle, her hand resting on the frame, gently wiping it down.
Mu Yingying lay on the wooden bed, eyes open, staring at the crack in the ceiling.
The Tang Dao lay beside her hand, the sweat stains on its handle still damp, reflecting a moist patch of light under the oil lamp.
White Peace sat on the other side, also wiping the bicycle with a handkerchief.
Gu Jiao didn’t return to the small house all night.
She went directly to her residence in the town center and had people wake up the core members of the patrol team.
White Night floated above the bicycle basket, keeping watch.
The compass needle always pointed toward the Forbidden Area.
The dark red light flickered like a heart that wouldn’t stop.
She could still recall the image of those faces squeezed together in the flower bud, screaming.
The voice calling for mother, a childish tone twisted into something horrible by some force, wouldn’t go away no matter how hard she tried.
“An’an.”
“What’s up?” White Peace responded.
“You said you’ve seen this flower in other worlds.”
“Mm.”
“Those worlds… what happened to the people in the end?”
White Peace was silent for a few seconds.
“In some worlds, the flower bloomed before anyone discovered it. Everyone died.”
“In some worlds, people found it and organized to cut it down. They cut it, and more than half died.”
White Peace stood up and gently hugged White Night.
“Don’t worry. I can handle it.”
“But you couldn’t solve it then. Are you saying there’s a price for using your power now?”
White Night wasn’t stupid; she immediately grasped the crux of the issue.
“There is a price. The price is that I will age again. That’s why I agreed to let Gu Jiao find more help.”
“And this aging isn’t irreversible. As long as I get close and cuddle with White Night, it will get better.”
White Peace explained with a smile, then gathered a strand of her white hair and held it out to White Night.
“Little White Night, if you’re worried, you can try kissing it.”
White Night was startled, but without hesitation, she lowered her head and kissed the white strand. That strand of white hair actually changed color and turned black again.
“See? I wasn’t lying, was I? So just cuddle with me more and it’ll be fine.”
White Peace said, rubbing her cheek against White Night’s, causing White Night’s soul body to blush red like a bubble tea pot.
Gu Jiao arrived at dawn.
She hadn’t slept all night, with dark circles under her eyes and nerves wound tight like steel wire.
Behind her were two people, the two vice captains of the patrol team.
Lao Zhou was in his forties, taciturn, with a scar crossing his face from his left brow to his right cheek.
He had followed Gu Jiao for three years, never saying an extra word, just doing whatever was asked.
When he entered the small house, his gaze paused on White Peace for a moment, then moved away, expressionless.
Xiao Yang was just over twenty, with a buzz cut and bloodshot eyes.
He looked like he hadn’t slept either.
His emotions were much more on display than Lao Zhou’s; when he entered and saw White Night floating above the basket, his eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open, until a glare from Lao Zhou shut him up.
A Jiu also came.
He stood at the door and didn’t enter, his gray robe sleeves hanging low, covering his woodenized left arm.
Gu Jiao got straight to the point.
“You all know the situation. In the Forbidden Area, there’s a man-eating Sinister Flower. It’s been raised for three years and has consumed over 300 people. Within three days, it will bloom. Once it blooms, the whole town will die.”
Lao Zhou had no reaction. He had already heard this from Gu Jiao.
Xiao Yang’s face turned white in an instant.
“Three… three days?”
“Three days.” Gu Jiao didn’t give him time to process. “So we only have three days to prepare. This morning, I’ll call a town meeting and announce the matter of the Forbidden Area publicly. Then we’ll organize everyone who can fight.”
“Wait.” Little Frost cut her off, and everyone looked over.
“You’re planning to say it publicly. What about Fatty Zhou?”
Gu Jiao’s brow furrowed. “Fatty Zhou…”
“He’s Lao Xing’s accomplice. He knows better than anyone how many people he’s sent to the Forbidden Area over the past three years. If you expose the Forbidden Area publicly, will he just sit back and do nothing?”
Gu Jiao was silent for two seconds.
“No. But he doesn’t have any Artisans, only a bunch of hired thugs. If it really comes to a fight…”
“If it comes to a fight, you’ll have to divide your forces.” Little Frost’s tone wasn’t heavy, but every word was like a nail. “On one side, you deal with the King Flower; on the other, you guard against Fatty Zhou stabbing you in the back. How many fighting people do you have total?”
Gu Jiao pressed her lips into a thin line. “The patrol team has a full complement of thirty-two. After returning from Hundred Flower Valley, only nineteen are left. Adding the scattered Artisans and capable Awakened in town, we can scrape together no more than forty.”
“Forty people.” Little Frost repeated.
“And part of them will have to watch Fatty Zhou.”
“And we need people to protect the ordinary civilians who can’t fight.”
“And we need people to go into the greenhouse to clear the Offspring Plants.”
“And we need people to take on the King Flower head-on.”
With every point she made, Gu Jiao’s face darkened.
“I can handle the King Flower alone, but I won’t waste too much life force on people who aren’t relevant to me, so you’ll have to do your best.” White Peace spoke, her gaze sweeping over Gu Jiao and the others.
Of course, she wasn’t referring to Mu Yingying and Little Frost, since she could tell that White Night cared a lot about these two aunties.
“I don’t want to suppress the King Flower and hundreds of Offspring Plants at the same time. The King Flower’s power source is those Offspring Plants; each one is connected to a dead person’s resentment, its foundation. Killing only the King Flower’s main body won’t work. We have to sever its connection with the Offspring Plants at the same time; otherwise, it will continuously recover through them.”
“So we need people.”
“Right. And we have to act at the same time. The Offspring Plants are divided into three layers. The outermost sixty or so are the weakest, the middle forty are more aggressive, and the innermost twenty are directly connected to the King Flower’s main root—the core. We attack from the outside in, advancing layer by layer.”
Little Frost nodded. “Then we’ll split into three teams.” Her tone changed; she wasn’t discussing anymore, she was deploying. “First team clears the outer layer. Lots of people, average strength is fine—burn and chop. Second team attacks the middle and inner layers; they need to be strong. Third team—you—suppress the King Flower head-on.”
White Peace glanced at her. “You’re not being polite.”
Little Frost didn’t take the bait. “Sister Gu will lead the first team. Her bee swarm can attack multiple targets at once, and with the patrol team using fire, the outer Offspring Plants shouldn’t be a problem.”
Gu Jiao nodded.
“Second team—me, Mu Yingying, and A Jiu. A Jiu’s Flower Planter ability can interfere with the Offspring Plants’ growth speed. I’ll be the main attacker, Mu Yingying will support.”
Mu Yingying sat up on the bed. “No objections.”
Little Frost’s deployment was clear and efficient, every point hitting the mark. Gu Jiao looked at her and remembered the phrase Mu Yingying had said: “The tone of talking money with an investor.” No. This wasn’t the tone of talking money.