Chapter 33
Ding-a-ling-ling…
The living room was unlit in the dead of night. The sudden ringing of the alarm was jarring, and the dim phone screen provided the only light in the room. Even though they were prepared, as midnight arrived, everyone’s hearts tightened.
A soft rustling sound came from the window. The moving shadows of the plants were cast inside by the moonlight, a sight that made one’s skin crawl. Xu Meng subconsciously tightened her grip on the fruit knife in her hand, cautiously staring at the plants.
Before this, all the potted plants in the room had been cleared out. For now, this house was the only safe zone.
Jiang Liu stood up straight, swiped her thumb to turn off the vibrating phone, and finally heard a familiar sound from upstairs.
Swish, swish…
Xu Meng turned around nervously, only to see two huge plants—the white camellia and the gardenia—rushing down one after the other. They crouched in front of her and Jiang Liu in a protective stance, their branches and leaves slightly enclosed to form a semi-circular defensive barrier.
Knowing that someone had secretly wished for her protection was one thing, but seeing the familiar gardenia with her own eyes, Xu Meng’s eyes reddened. Her trembling hands gradually steadied. She took a deep breath and looked at Jiang Liu. “I’m ready.”
It was a cloudy night. The moon looked as if it were wrapped in a thick winter quilt, only vaguely showing its face. The dim light fell into the living room, and everyone wore an expression of grim determination.
Zhao Ziming carried a machete, standing beside Cheng Ji with Zhang Xiaochen flanking him.
Cheng Da held the unconscious Li An’an tightly, his young face filled with solemnity.
Zhang Xiaochen let out a loud whistle, his eyes glinting with excitement. “Shall we go?”
Knocking out Li An’an wasn’t his most important mission; what came next was the main event.
In the dim night, Jiang Liu’s footsteps were exceptionally clear. A faint smile played on her lips as her fair fingers rested on the doorknob, a glimmer of light also appearing in her eyes.
“Let’s go. After this fight, we can go back to the hotel and rest!”
With her command, the door creaked open. The plants in the yard finally found a breach. Slender branches shot through the crack in the door, wrapping around Jiang Liu’s waist with lightning speed and yanking her forcefully outside.
Almost simultaneously, several wide lily pads swept over, snapping the creeping vines with a whoosh and lunging towards Jiang Liu.
“Everyone, hold on tight!”
Jiang Liu adjusted the rope on her body. As soon as she finished speaking, she was flung into the air, with the people behind her strung together by the rope like a string of candied hawthorns, flying out after her with a whoosh.
“Damn it, can’t this thing be a little gentler!”
Zhang Xiaochen was the last in line. Pulled up by the inertia of the swinging rope, he nearly crashed straight into a plant’s mouth. Terrified, he cursed loudly and quickly reached out to grab a vine, narrowly avoiding disaster.
These things moved incredibly fast, reaching the garden entrance in a flash. The night wind howled in their ears, and Zhao Ziming’s hair was a mess. He practically shouted.
“Damn, this is awesome! Isn’t this way faster than an electric tricycle?”
He adjusted his position, swinging his machete frequently with his right hand to deal with the pursuing plants below. As soon as he opened his mouth, he got a gust of wind and nearly choked.
Strangely enough, the monsters below only chased and bit at them, rarely attacking Jiang Liu, who was held by the lilies above. Even if a few reckless ones did, they were quickly dealt with by the white camellia following closely behind.
Looking at Xu Meng, her treatment was even better. She was completely enveloped in the gardenia’s pure white petals, as if lying on a soft chair, her face filled with excitement.
“Sister Jiang, how come these monsters are playing favorites!”
Cheng Da held Li An’an tightly, his voice trembling with fear.
He was afraid of heights! Jiang Liu had only said they were going to the garden tonight; she never said they’d be riding a roller coaster!
“Just hang in there!” Jiang Liu spared him a glance, her beautiful eyes perfectly clear.
She had originally planned to use Li An’an to verify her theory, but when Xiao Si mentioned making a wish, a bold idea had suddenly popped into her head.
What if the wish she made while planting the flowers was to find Li An’an?
Lilies were often given as bouquets, symbolizing good luck and wishes coming true.
With the dual buff of the flower’s meaning and the ritual of planting, she refused to believe it wouldn’t work!
Fortunately, her gamble paid off.
Li An’an, Cheng Ji, and now herself had all been chosen by these mutated flowers. The place she was being taken to had to be their destination.
Amidst the howling wind, the corners of Jiang Liu’s lips curved upwards as she quickly scanned the ground below.
She didn’t know how these things moved, but the scenery flashed by like an illusion. Before Jiang Liu could get a good look, the surrounding sounds were suddenly muted, replaced by the deafening sound of her own heartbeat filling her ears.
Wait a minute…
Jiang Liu’s pupils constricted. Before she could even cry out, her vision was suddenly enveloped by something unknown. It felt as if something was wrapping around her body, layer by layer. A ringing in her ears from lack of oxygen buzzed, her mind went blank for a moment, and she was already sinking into the ground.
The rope around her waist was silently cut. Zhao Ziming, who was closest to her, suddenly felt his body lighten. Without any support, he plummeted to the ground.
The people behind him fell one after another. Except for Xu Meng, they all fell rapidly. Even if the height wasn’t fatal, they would at least end up with broken bones.
The smile on Zhang Xiaochen’s face froze. He stared in the direction where Jiang Liu had disappeared. “Wait, where did she go?”
He didn’t want to face-plant!
Accompanied by Cheng Da’s deafening screams, Zhao Ziming’s heart leaped into his throat. He frantically tried to adjust his position in mid-air, almost ready to close his eyes and await death.
“Tsk.”
A sound suddenly came from mid-air, a single, exasperated click of the tongue. Then—
The white camellia condescendingly extended a branch, hooking Zhao Ziming’s collar from mid-air and just barely slowing his descent, causing the entire chain of people behind him to halt as well.
A cold sensation touched the back of his neck. Zhao Ziming shivered, his voice a little weak. “Brother Camellia! I have no words to thank you for this great kindness!”
Another impatient sound was heard, this time much clearer, as if someone had muttered “troublesome” under their breath. The voice was strangely familiar.
Before Zhao Ziming could react, he saw the white camellia shake its branch disdainfully. He was thrown to the ground with a thud. While it wasn’t too high, he still landed in a perfect face-plant.
He scrambled up from the ground, looking at the white camellia with a constipated expression and scratching his head.
Why was everything in this instance so weird? Even a flower was targeting him?
That thing didn’t have this attitude when it was protecting Jiang Liu!
But now was not the time to think about that. He slapped his forehead and ran towards the spot where Jiang Liu had disappeared.
The others behind him also reacted, stumbling over to the same spot.
“She got buried too?” Zhang Xiaochen put Cheng Ji down and shook his hands, his face full of disbelief.
That was Jiang Liu. How could she have fallen for a trap so easily?
“Damn it.”
Zhao Ziming scanned the area, a chill running down his spine. His usual carefree expression turned cold.
This wasn’t the children’s playground where Cheng Ji had been buried. The surroundings were just as desolate and deserted. Even the faint moonlight was blocked by the tall trees, making it so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.
The only fortunate thing was that the moment they arrived, the pursuing plants had all vanished. Even the gardenia that had been protecting Xu Meng stood at a distance, hesitating to approach.
“Looks like we’ve reached their lair,” he cursed inwardly and started digging with his machete.
Seeing his actions, the others didn’t dare to delay and followed suit. Without tools, they used their fingers, getting on the ground and clawing at the dirt.
Conversely, Cheng Ji, who had been restless since waking up, suddenly fell quiet for some reason, sitting dazedly on the ground without a sound.
It had rained the previous night, so the soil was still damp. After digging for a while, they still found nothing. As time ticked by, Zhao Ziming grew more and more anxious.
“Hee hee hee.”
A shrill, childish voice echoed, making everyone hold their breath in the darkness.
“Who’s playing games? Get out here!” Zhang Xiaochen cursed.
“Don’t waste your energy. She wants to stay, just like him.”
The voice sounded quite pleased. It wasn’t in a hurry to attack them, but rather, it slowly conversed with them.
As the voice fell, a mist suddenly rose around them. The surrounding scenery gradually receded, as if they had been dragged into another dimension, leaving only the patch of ground in front of them visible.
Countless fireflies appeared from nowhere, illuminating the surroundings like tiny night lights and revealing a massive, looming figure.
Cheng Da subconsciously looked up and instantly froze.
It was a giant peony flower, blooming in magnificent splendor. Its layers of petals were like high-quality silk, shimmering with a dazzling luster in the night.
Graceful, magnificent, and completely at odds with its childish voice.
The next second, Cheng Da’s heart stopped, and his eyes filled with a blood-red rage. “Brother!”
The person standing beside the giant peony with vacant eyes was none other than Cheng Ji.
The ‘Cheng Ji’ seemed not to hear his call at all, merely standing by the peony with his head bowed, looking respectful and obedient.
“What did you do to him?” Cheng Da’s voice was already cracking. He shot forward like an arrow, but Zhao Ziming quickly grabbed him.
“Calm down!” he said, gripping Cheng Da’s wrist tightly.
The peony tilted its massive flower head, as if in confusion. “Didn’t you want him to disappear? You were jealous that he stole your parents’ affection. I was clearly helping you!”
“That’s not it! I didn’t!” Cheng Da was practically screaming, his voice so loud it startled Zhao Ziming.
The shrill voice seemed to carry a strange magic. A single sentence was enough to make Cheng Da burst into tears, collapsing to the ground as if all his strength had left him.
“What’s so bad about admitting your desires? Come here, and I’ll give you what you want,” it whispered, like a demon luring Cheng Da into the abyss.
Zhao Ziming sensed something was wrong and subconsciously covered Cheng Da’s ears, but—
The boy, with a sudden burst of strength, broke free from his arm and stumbled towards Cheng Ji.
He was so fast it could hardly be called human speed. Zhang Xiaochen took two steps but couldn’t keep up. His expression changed. “Come back!”
Cheng Da was deaf to his companion’s calls, his mind consumed by a single thought—just one more step, and his wish would come true.
The next second, something unexpected happened.
A cloud of dust suddenly rose in front of him. A figure shot out from underground and grabbed Cheng Da’s arm.
Covered in dirt but unable to hide the dazzling brilliance on her face, Jiang Liu stood there as a fissure appeared before Cheng Da, like an impassable chasm, blocking his path.
“Don’t go.”