Chapter 919: Let the Flowers Bloom
Goat Brother has been gone for a few days now.
Just as I had predicted, I never saw him again after that one time.
The entire "Bliss Bank" was empty overnight, leaving behind only some shattered statues.
Jiang Ruoxue and I spent several days searching the entire city for any trace of Goat Brother, but we had no idea what he would turn into.
Would he become more like a "goat," or more like a "man"?
If it was a goat, what kind of goat? If it was a man, what would he look like?
Finding the White Goat was no simple task. Jiang Ruoxue and I stumbled around the city like two headless flies, our mood shifting from initial anticipation to final lifelessness.
The novelty of the "next plan" only lasted a few days before we fell back into our previous state.
We lived numbly, and the path ahead slowly became shrouded in fog.
We even traveled through alleys we'd never entered before, finding various "Zodiacs" hidden in corners, yet we never saw the White Goat.
"Zhichun... don't you think it's too quiet?" Jiang Ruoxue asked, her head drooping.
We were resting in a narrow alley, with a Human-grade "Zodiac" standing not far away.
"Quiet...?" I glanced around the street. "Are you talking about here? It's true, there aren't many people."
"No." Jiang Ruoxue shook her head. "Zhichun, ever since White Goat left, everything here has been too quiet..."
The moment she finished speaking, the "Zodiac" a few steps away suddenly started soliciting, clearing his throat and saying to us, "Would you two like to join my game?"
Jiang Ruoxue and I glanced at him but neither responded. "Zodiacs" like this were everywhere. His game was set up in a hidden path, so he probably rarely saw "participants."
Jiang Ruoxue looked at me again, her expression solemn. "Zhichun, don't you think the atmosphere feels strange now...? The 'upper level' is quiet, the 'Zodiacs' are quiet, even the 'participants' are quiet... It seems like no one is making any big moves. Is everyone waiting for something, or are they on guard against something?"
I felt Jiang Ruoxue was right. Ever since Goat Brother disappeared, everything seemed to have calmed down. Even the most powerful "participants" had scaled back their actions considerably.
The "Paradise Gate," which had been constantly challenging the "Zodiacs," had recently stopped gambling with them, instead seeming to conserve their strength.
What was everyone doing? Why was the atmosphere here so different from before?
"I really feel like something's off..." Jiang Ruoxue frowned at me. "Zhichun... this situation feels like the calm before a storm. It seems like some huge karma is about to be born... Everything here is going to turn upside down..."
Yes... this was exactly Goat Brother's plan. One day, he would return here and turn everything upside down.
But where was he now?
I sighed, turned my face, and my gaze happened to land on the Human-Monkey standing a few steps away.
He had been staring at Jiang Ruoxue and me the whole time.
His mask was a bit strange. Although it was a "Human-Monkey," it resembled a rotten baboon face.
"Would you two like to join my game?" he asked again.
"No," Jiang Ruoxue said. "Don't waste your breath. We're not here to find the 'Path.' Save your words."
I furrowed my brow slightly, as if something had occurred to me.
"Two, if you participate... I'll give you a fake flower made of plastic," the Human-Monkey said again. "Really not willing to give it a try?"
"A fake flower made of plastic...?" Jiang Ruoxue slowly raised her head, staring at the Human-Monkey along with me.
His figure overlapped with someone from our memory.
"You... you are..." Jiang Ruoxue started to speak, but I quickly pulled her back.
"Ruoxue, you can't say the name," I warned.
The Human-Monkey hadn't called out our names, for fear that we might recognize him.
So he had indeed come here, becoming a Human-Monkey in "Path City."
This meant he had gambled to death the previous Human-Monkey, and it also meant "Jade City" had completely failed.
Even if Gu Yu had returned there to reshuffle everything with everything he had learned from "Path City" and "Vortex City," it still wouldn't cure the city's serious illness.
But how long had Gu Yu been here? After all, it had been years since we last met him. Had he just arrived in this dark alley, or had he been here for years?
Seeing the complex expression on Jiang Ruoxue's and my faces, he knew we recognized him.
"It's fine if you don't join the game," he said again. "But I still want to give you the flower."
He pulled out that familiar black stick from his pocket and handed it to me.
"Human-Monkey... aren't you going to give us a flower?" I said, holding the black stick. "We're not magicians. We don't know how to use this prop."
"Make it bloom," the Human-Monkey said, his voice choked with emotion. "If there's any way, please help me..."
"Help you...?"
"The flower can't bloom... the iron walls around it are too hard..." the Human-Monkey said. "I could never break through those hard iron walls, but there's a very beautiful flower inside. If you can't bring the 'flower' out, can you find a way to bring the 'seed' out... That is the 'hope' seed... I'm begging you. If you can really take the hope away, I will find a way to repay you."
Jiang Ruoxue and I weren't idiots. We understood the meaning of his words perfectly.
"You shouldn't be joking, right?" I sighed. "That's not our 'flower,' nor our 'seed.' This iron stick has always been with you, and you couldn't make it bloom. Why expect that handing it over to an outsider will get them to do it for you?"
"I've tried every method..." the Human-Monkey said, lowering his head. "But the flower and the seed are stuck tight... The hard, black iron walls are closing in. Sooner or later, they'll crush the flower and then the seed. My train of thought has stalled, but maybe someone else will think of something I haven't..."
"But the iron walls are too hard," I said. "Jiang Ruoxue and I are just ordinary people. Our fingernails would break against those walls. So I won't take the risk, and I won't let Ruoxue take the risk either. We've done enough for one magician."
Upon hearing this, Gu Yu's gaze died, and he slowly lowered his head.
He should have known how rude his request was. No matter who was left in "Jade City," they were completely unrelated to us.
We had already told Gu Yu a lot about the "Land of Eternity" and the "Zodiacs," and even led him down this path of escape, relatively safe. Now he wanted us to risk going to "Jade City." This time, there was no way I would agree.
"I'm sorry." The Human-Monkey lowered his head in disappointment. "I was letting my imagination run wild... Thank you both."
"What does the flower think?" Jiang Ruoxue suddenly asked from the side.
"The flower?" The Human-Monkey looked at her.
"Does the flower want to bloom?" Jiang Ruoxue asked again. "Does she want to bloom on her own, or does she want someone to take the seed away?"
"Ruoxue..." I reached out and pulled her. "What are you going to do?"
"Zhichun, everything is 'karma,'" Jiang Ruoxue said to me. "What we're facing now was already destined a long time ago."
The Human-Monkey let out a deep sigh and said, "I don't know if the 'flower' wants to 'bloom,' but I'm sure she wants someone to take the seed away."