The sky was not yet fully bright. Morning light pressed against heavy clouds, making the whole of Hundred Flowers Town feel damp and cold.
The moisture clung to the skin, causing a tightness in the chest.
The square was filled with people. Gu Jiao stood at the very center, with the elite guards behind her.
The artisans took their positions.
Old He carried iron spikes, Old Woman Chen held a medicine bucket. Aunt Liu stood to one side with a sewing kit on her back, while Xiao Meng adjusted the Pressed Flower Album at his waist.
The patrol team lined up in two rows.
Everyone held weapons, and torches crackled constantly. Though no one retreated, their expressions remained grim.
A Jiu stood to the side. The woodification on his left arm had climbed to his shoulder, shaping the outline of his gray robe.
Everyone gripped their short blades tightly.
The sharp edges reflected human figures in the dim light. Gu Jiao spoke.
Her voice wasn’t loud, yet it broke the atmosphere of the morning.
“Today is the third day. The King Flower could bloom at any moment. We’ve long since run out of retreat.”
The square fell into silence, only the howling of the wind remaining in their ears.
“I know everyone is afraid. I am afraid too.”
She paused, her gaze sweeping over every face before her.
“But fear is useless. If we don’t want to leave our homeland, we must fight to the death today.”
No one said a word. There was no room left to retreat. The gate to the Forbidden Area was pushed open.
The scene inside was even worse than three days ago. All the Black Flowers had swollen in size, with sap flowing down their petals.
When boot soles stepped on them, sticky threads pulled up when lifting the foot.
The soil surface was covered with roots, and the air reeked of decay.
A few young team members vomited uncontrollably as soon as they approached, but fortunately their companions supported them.
White Peace walked at the very front, casually stepping barefoot over the scorched earth. The plants sensed danger and began to shrink back.
White Night floated on Little Frost’s shoulder, the needle on the Compass spinning incessantly.
A Jiu lowered his voice to warn.
“That thing definitely knows we’re here.”
White Peace’s tone was calm and direct.
“Of course it does. It’s smart. It’s waiting for us to go deeper so it can bury us all at once.”
Little Frost carried the large Iron Hammer forged by Old He.
“Everyone be careful. Next, we follow the plan. Sister Gu will keep them busy outside, and the rest of us push forward.”
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately scattered.
Gu Jiao led the team to clear the edges, while Little Frost’s group of three charged forward. Xiao Meng and Old He stood by in the rear.
Old Lu held the defensive barrier, and Old Woman Chen and Aunt Liu were in charge of emergency treatment. White Night circled above to scout the situation.
“The outer east side target is shifting! Sister Gu, circle around from the north immediately!”
Gu Jiao quickly changed the formation and forcefully opened a beehive. The bee swarm flew out carrying medicine.
Worker bees flew into the gaps and stung fiercely, slowing the plants’ writhing speed. The vines softened and drooped.
“Cut them down!”
The patrol team charged forward, their blades striking heavily against the main stalks. The hardness of the stalks exceeded expectations, and the blades only cut halfway in.
Black sap splashed from the cracks. Contact with the skin would cause ulceration.
Lao Zhou pushed aside an injured brother, grabbed a blade, and chopped three times. Only then did he sever the connection point.
Their advance on the outer perimeter wasn’t slow. The juvenile plants were very fragile and could be eliminated by injecting anesthetic.
But the sap posed a huge obstacle. Contact with skin caused ulcers, and getting it in the eyes could lead to blindness.
Old Woman Chen ran through the center carrying two large buckets of medicine.
This elderly woman over sixty displayed astonishing stamina; wherever there were shouts, she would go to support.
After half an hour, most of the outer plants had been felled.
Even so, some team members were dragged into the depths, and when rescued, their bodies were severely damaged.
These wounded were handed over to the rear for centralized management. Overall losses were not heavy, and everyone got a brief respite.
Aunt Liu crouched on the ground, quickly suturing the wounds of the injured.
She bandaged and treated the injured in succession. The scene was chaotic, but her stitches were steady. White Night loudly reported the breakthrough position.
The situation on the mid-level battlefield grew increasingly severe. Little Frost swung her Iron Hammer at the target. After a loud bang, only a white mark remained.
The recoil numbed her arm. These monsters were clearly harder to deal with than the outer ones.
The monsters ahead were covered in solid scales; ordinary blades were completely ineffective against them.
“Apply medicine or cut the joints if possible!”
Mu Yingying charged in from the front, her long sword coated with medicine cutting into the gaps in the vegetation.
The medicinal properties cracked the armor in several places. Little Frost slammed down the Iron Hammer heavily. The armor shattered, and the torso broke apart.
Body fluids splattered around, and she hastily used footwork to dodge. A small amount of residual splash was blocked by her specially-made inner clothes.
These plants had barbs and an attack range of nearly several meters. They surprisingly understood coordinated combat.
Three large individuals launched a harassment attack simultaneously—one acted as bait, while the other two blocked escape routes.
“Watch out for a sneak attack from behind!”
Little Frost heard the warning and immediately rolled to the side.
“There’s something under your feet!”
Mu Yingying backhandedly severed the roots drilling out from the ground.
The severed parts instantly mutated and grew, swelling back to normal in a few seconds.
“Try to destroy the main roots! I’ll buy us an opening!”
A Jiu pressed forward from the side without fear, forcing his woodified hand into the soil.
Soon, sounds came from deep in the soil.
The suppression caused A Jiu’s body to degenerate quickly, with the woodified area spreading to the back of his arm.
Little Frost did not hesitate. She immediately leaped high into the air.
A Jiu’s interference created an opportunity for the Iron Hammer to smash the core part.
The monsters were destroyed one after another, but the team’s advance speed clearly slowed.
Little Frost was severely exhausted, and Mu Yingying’s weapon edge was chipped.
A Jiu had half his body solidified, so he had to rigidly let that half fall to his side.
A young wounded soldier was wrapped in vines. Despite teammates’ best efforts to help, he was still pierced through a vital point.
The team’s casualties increased sharply. Aunt Liu’s emergency tools were used more and more quickly.
There were too many wounded; she could only wrap them with simple medical cloth.
Old He set up iron stake defenses on the edge, each time wedging them at optimal stress points.
The heavy iron tools were deeply buried and fixed into the soil, their angles perfectly locking the enemy’s moving joints.
The aberration wasn’t stupid; it noticed Old He. The plant’s main root quickly approached from a blind spot, striking directly at his back.
Old He coughed up blood from the impact, but he still held his tools and did not retreat or dodge.
The barbs left bloody gashes on his shoulder. He leaned half against the iron frame.
“Looks like I’m too old to be useful anymore.”
Old Woman Chen rushed over to pour medicine. She tore off a piece of her own clothing to bandage and stop his bleeding.
“These old bones still spouting defeatist talk! Once we hack down this piece of trash, I’m waiting to drink a victory toast with you!”
Old He was transferred back to the rear position. He watched the backs of the crowd.
‘This old life should have been lost long ago, but by luck I survived every time. Can I survive this time?’
The battle entered a white-hot phase. A man’s voice came from the center of the structure.
“A Jiu, hurry… I’ve temporarily tripped it up… Don’t miss the opportunity, everyone…”
The man’s voice ended, causing a drastic change in the situation. The plant group came to a halt. The force of their strikes also weakened.
“The core is frantically draining nutrients—it’s Manager Xing! He overused his life force to use a killing move. This is our chance!”
A Jiu gritted his teeth and was the first to charge into the deep zone.
“Don’t miss this great opportunity! Force your way in immediately!”
Gu Jiao was responsible for leading the team to clear the outer ring monsters, while Old Lu used the terrain to deal with any stragglers. The core hinterland was revealed.
More than twenty tall plants were tightly arranged, their surfaces covered in hard armor and sucker disks.
Through some unclosed gaps, the blurred outlines of the dead could be glimpsed. The faces of those people were twisted in expression.
A Jiu recognized the faces of several acquaintances. He gripped his short blade tighter.
Everyone immediately charged in. The sound of metal clashing exploded in the area. Poison liquid sprayed, and everyone hastily dodged.
At that moment, the King Flower in the depths was transforming. Its bud flashed with blood-red light incessantly. The entire greenhouse shook along with it.
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