CH 56.1

July 18, 2023 by Wyrd

The iron cage fell onto the round platform in the center of the auction hall.

The young man staggered forward, gripping the iron cage tightly. Half of his hair slid forward from his left shoulder.

Layers of white and red gauze wrapped around his body, with intricately drawn dark runes entwining and winding, as if they were imprints left by the gods on his body.

Just like the three-petaled blood flower in the corner of his right eye.

It drove people crazy.

After leaving the Holy Water, his body seemed to show signs of withering, with blood vessels faintly visible.

Centered around the round platform, one after another, people stood up from their seats, crazily, obsessively, excitedly staring at the faintly visible blood vessels beneath his pale skin.

He was not mature enough to bloom yet; the blood vessels only faintly revealed a trace, not clear enough.

But he could already capture those colors, red almost to the point of blackness.

Red and black were the most forbidden and sacred colors in the Furen County, the colors closest to the deities.

This young man who opened the show was the most exciting “flower servant” in these years.

Seeing him was like seeing the fulfillment of all desires.

“One million gold coins!”

“Five million gold coins!”

“Ten million gold coins!”

Before the boss even started speaking, the people below eagerly competed to bid for him.

They stood up, wildly waving their arms at him, shouting out their bids hoarsely, as if possessing him would grant them everything.

They absolutely had to acquire him, no matter the cost!

Their eyes emitted a strong white light, no longer able to see clarity in their pupils.

Boss Qi, who was backstage and witnessed this scene, excitedly rubbed his hands together. As he looked at the young man, he already saw the fulfillment of his own desires.

The bidding below continued without stopping, lasting for a long time until a deep and aged voice resounded.

“One hundred million gold coins,” the voice said.

The bidding voices reluctantly and resentfully ceased.

Ning Su blinked, surprised to discover that he was worth so much. He followed the sound to see who the big spender was.

It was an elderly person, but it was difficult to determine his exact age. His face had few wrinkles, and his hair was black. However, he emitted a sense of old age that couldn’t be concealed.

The iron cage was opened, and Ning Su slowly walked out from inside.

The old man nodded slightly at him, then looked toward the backstage area and said, “Boss Qi, bring out his companion.”

With the circular stage as the center, the auction house presented four semicircular sections, each separated by a black track that served as a pathway for pushing the iron cages or for pedestrian use.

Boss Qi walked over from one of the black paths and brought several players along.

Ning Su took a glance and saw Zhu Shuangshuang.

Boss Qi pulled Zhu Shuangshuang out of the iron cage and said, “This is his companion, and they have the best relationship.”

The old man nodded, about to speak, when the black-clothed girl beside him suddenly spoke up. Her voice carried a hint of laughter and an excited sense of pleasure. “No, not her. It’s the long-haired male flower servant.”

Her status seemed to be quite high, and her words captured the attention of the entire audience.

Everyone’s gaze shifted along with her words, focusing on Ning Changfeng standing at the side, causing another uproar.

Ning Changfeng smiled at Ning Su, seemingly pleased with the effect he had caused.

The old man stood up and said to Boss Qi, “According to the rules of the flower servant trade, companions have priority. I’ll take him as well. Boss Qi, let’s make it cheaper.”

Ning Su proudly glanced at Ning Changfeng.

Ning Changfeng remained calm, as if unaware of the meaning behind Ning Su’s expression.

Indeed, there was a principle among selling flower servants, which stated that if someone bought a companion of a flower servant, they would have priority in purchasing that flower servant.

The players present understood this, but they were unsure why such a purchasing principle existed.

Due to this principle, the old man could privately negotiate with Boss Qi. In the end, no one knew the exact amount for which Ning Changfeng was sold.

Ning Su was placed in a room on the second floor, watching the auction continue below.

The night before the welcoming ceremony was a night of revelry.

One by one, high-grade flower servants were brought up in cages. The people below dressed appropriately, crazily made bids. With each purchase of a flower servant, their excitement grew, and their blood boiled, evident in their bloodshot and swollen eyes.

The auction continued late into the night and suddenly came to a stop.

Ning Su looked out of the window and saw fireworks blooming in the sky, accompanied by cheers from the outside.

The welcoming ceremony had arrived.

The room’s door was pushed open, and a servant said to Ning Su, “Master Flower Attendant, it’s time for us to go back.”

On the way back, Ning Su still rode in a carriage, but this time it was a blacker and more luxurious one.

The carriage had two windows. When Ning Su lifted the curtain, he could clearly see the scenery outside along the way.

This street was the same one they took when entering the Furen County.

Fireworks continued to burst in the night sky, illuminating it with countless lights, dispersing the darkness in a human-like manner.

No matter how distant the deep darkness of the universe, the night sky in this instance was truly as bright as day.

Under the fireworks, the wide street was adorned with colorful lanterns, arranged at different heights.

Beneath the lanterns were people dressed in splendid clothes, with various flowers adorning their heads, ears, and garments that Ning Su had never seen before.

It should be flowers, but they didn’t have the bright colors commonly seen in flowers. They were all in dark, oppressive colors like deep black, purple-red, and dark blue...

They had excited smiles on their faces, happily watching fireworks on the street. Occasionally, someone would make a familiar gesture with their hands.

Their palms meet and overlap in front of their chests, forming a lifting posture.

Sun Yangtai had done this gesture before.

When he expressed his hope for Ning Su to meet the Flower God and escape from the sea of suffering.

In the distance, there was a song that Ning Su couldn’t understand. A group of flower servants danced a strange dance on the ground while humming a melody that sounded odd, “Yi yi a a.”

After watching for a while, Ning Su realized that this distorted dance imitated plants - their growth, blooming, and fruiting of plants using human bodies.

Amidst the swirling blood drops, their bodies twisted and turned beyond human limits, mimicking the dark and creeping growth of plants in the melody.

In the end, their bones shattered, flowers bloomed, and the fruit of death appeared.

The period of welcoming the gods was indeed lively and crazy.

Ning Su was taken to an ancient mansion located on the outskirts of Furen County.

Although it was on the outskirts, it was not desolate. There were quite a few courtyards and mansions like this in the surrounding area.

After getting off the carriage, Ning Su saw several carriages stopping behind him. Players and several flower servants from this instance emerged from the carriages, some of whom he didn’t recognize.

That night, the old man reaped a bountiful harvest.

They were all arranged in a courtyard of this mansion.

An old woman smiled and said to them, “This is your residence. Treat it as your own home, and if you have any needs, feel free to tell me.”

Then she began to assign rooms. Each big house here had two small rooms. Ning Su and Ning Changfeng were assigned to one room, while Zhu Shuangshuang and Su Wangsheng were assigned to another.

Zhu Shuangshuang: “We have different genders. Wouldn’t it be more convenient if I stay with the girls?”

The old woman replied, “There are two rooms inside, so it won’t be a problem.”

The players observed carefully and noticed that those who were assigned together were already familiar with each other. They wondered how she knew.

She didn’t restrict their freedom in the courtyard and even told them, “Tomorrow is the first day of the welcoming ceremony for the gods, and it will be bustling outside. You can go out and have a look.”

After saying this, she left.

Zhu Shuangshuang asked, “How did she know about our relationships?”

Su Wangsheng said, “Perhaps when we were with Boss Qi, he secretly observed us, and he told this family about it.”

“But why would he observe us?”

Another player replied, “In any case, it’s to make us uncomfortable.”

The players learned about the family who bought them at the auction. They discovered that they were the renowned Ye Nan family from the Furen County.

The Ye Nan family bought a total of twelve flower servants to train them as flower attendants for this year’s Flower God Festival.

Among them, four were native flower servants of this world, and the other eight were players.

In addition to Ning Su, Ning Changfeng, Zhu Shuangshuang, and Su Wangsheng, there were four more players who were assigned to two different houses.

Among the four, two were members of the Hongyu Guild, who entered the instance together with Jia Chensheng. The other two were players who rarely spoke, and the four couldn’t figure out their background.

If it wasn’t for Zhu Shuangshuang joining a guild, Ning Su and Su Wangsheng would have never been able to figure it out either.

As for Ning Changfeng, he was a lone wolf who paid little attention to others. Apart from a few skilled players he had crossed paths with, he knew even less about ordinary players.

The person speaking was one of the members of the Hongyu Guild, saying, “Hello, my name is Dai Dong.”

The Hongyu Guild ranked third among the game base guilds and was known as the Intelligence Guild of the Game Base.

They earned the title “Intelligence Guild” because they not only possessed a wealth of information about the game’s virtual worlds but also had an exceptional understanding of the players in the base. The information trading market within the Game Base was under their control.

Dai Dong looked at Ning Su and asked, “Are you satisfied with the house you just bought through our guild’s real estate agency?”

Ning Su nodded busily and replied, “Yes, I’m very satisfied.”

With his response, other players immediately understood that the Hongyu Guild had extensive knowledge about several players, and one could even say they had a deep understanding of all the players in the base.

If one considered the game instances as a set of exam questions, Shi Tianzhu, who was experienced and intelligent, could be seen as the one who created the questions, while the Hongyu Guild possessed the question bank. Their expertise lay in using the question bank to deduce the intentions of the question creator.

“In all the instances we’ve experienced, there has always been either terror or pain.”

This was the purpose of the system: to make them fearful or suffer, and then harvest death.

“Currently, the environment we are in doesn’t seem to have the same deathly terror as Boss Qi’s dark warehouse. Therefore, we should be cautious about pain.”

“They are well aware of our relationships and even allow those with good relationships to live together. While they don’t restrict our communication and interactions, they are highly likely to target our relationships. We might ultimately face a life-and-death confrontation.”

“Don’t reveal too much about our pasts to each other. Don’t get too emotionally involved. Prepare yourselves mentally and maintain a detached attitude.”

Members of the Hongyu Guild were truly skilled at analyzing game instances.

Their reasoning was very convincing.

Zhu Shuangshuang said, “Fortunately, I didn’t share a room with Su Su.”

Ning Su made a sound of acknowledgment. “Hmm.”

Su Wangsheng & Ning Changfeng: “?”

It was already the middle of the night, and the group didn’t say much. They had been standing in the water prison, a place not meant for sleeping, for a whole day and night. With a house now available to sleep in, they were all eager to go inside and lie down.