Chapter 2262: One Flower Covers the City

This hole can fit two or three people with zero pressure.

They just lay there solidly on the ground; Sun Hongye couldn't see stems or leaves, and couldn't help reaching out to touch a petal.

Fleshy, very firm, elastic.

Flowers growing this large is spectacular, but not beautiful.

But they have Dan Qixiang, richer and more intoxicating than jasmine.

"First time seeing flowers this big!" Sun Hongye recalled, "I read in idle books about a kind of man-eating flower, seemingly also stemless and leafless, but able to emit a strange rotten stench to lure prey."

"Good memory." Pu Hua pointed at the giant flowers on the ground and laughed, "These are man-eating flowers."

"..." Sun Hongye withdrew his hand like lightning, "But this fragrance?"

Man-eating flowers emit rotten stench.

"We made some modifications to it. Otherwise, who could stand inside this room?"

The temperature inside was a bit high; ordinary people would sweat after standing a while; the floor was all soil, damp and humid, occasionally crawling with a snail or two. If you added a foul stench, anyone entering would probably flee immediately.

At this moment, two flower ants emerged from small pits in the ground, each the size of a calf.

Zhu Xiuer took out a token and waved it before them: "To the Chixiao Golden Hall."

The flower ants turned, gently touching the giant flowers on the ground with their antennae.

Who knows what code they pressed; after about three to five breaths, a huge flesh bubble squeezed out of the man-eating flower's cavity with a squelch.

Dark red, somewhat transparent and somewhat sticky.

"This is called a spore ball. Get in."

Zhu Xiuer was concise and to the point, directly crashing into the flesh bubble.

Don't look at her body full of stiff bristles and hard spines; this spore ball's outer membrane didn't break, but was instead squeezed into by her.

Sun Hongye and Pu Hua also squeezed in; the feeling was like a person jumping into a mud pit — cold, damp, and chilly, not comfortable at all.

But they still went in, like ants squeezing into a giant soap bubble, and the soap bubble didn't burst.

"Sit, it's about to start moving." Zhu Xiuer spoke, her voice muffled and hollow in the cramped space.

"This isn't a teleportation array, is it?"

Sun Hongye looked around; outside the spore ball were dark red walls, also fleshy, covered everywhere with thick red lines like blood vessels, looking a bit scary.

"Of course not!" Zhu Xiuer curled herself into a ball, otherwise her bristles would poke people, "Even with abundant spiritual energy now, creating a teleportation array covering the whole city — how much would that cost! Daily teleportation back and forth — how much would that cost! Even Beijia wouldn't be that extravagant, only setting them up between the floating island and the ground."

Pu Hua snickered.

Zhu Xiuer used to treat money like dirt, but later, following the Great Emperor, she was influenced by what she saw and heard, and unconsciously her every word became about money money money.

"This thing is a demon puppet with earth-traveling ability." Zhu Xiuer stomped on the spore ball, "This man-eating flower's main trunk roots deep beneath the entire Ju City; the spore ball we ride travels between the plant's branches and stems, originally used to transport nutrients."

Sun Hongye understood, startled: "One plant? A single man-eating flower can penetrate the entire underside of Ju City?"

Elsewhere, one tree forming a forest is already remarkable; beneath this Ju City, there is actually one flower covering the city!

"Yes."

Zhu Xiuer didn't say more.

Normal demons simply cannot grow to such exaggerated volume.

This man-eating flower is Dong Rui's proudest work, serial number exactly ninety-nine.

He had divine blood, had the Son of God's blood; thus referencing the Flesh Fortress concept, he remodeled this man-eating flower demon puppet into a massive underground network carrier.

"We ride the spores. Meaning, this man-eating flower treats us as nutrients being transported?"

"Worthy of teaching. Precisely."

"... It doesn't eat people?" Voluntarily sitting inside a man-eating flower's mouth still takes courage.

"The man-eating flower's main consciousness has been erased, and with Xuanjing sustaining it, it no longer hunts living things. But it retains part of its instinct; once attacked, the flowers retract underground, and the plant can also self-repair." Pu Hua continued, "Using this method for long-distance personnel transport, though speed is a bit slower, energy consumption is less than half that of a teleportation array."

The man-eating flower itself needs spore balls to run throughout its body transporting nutrients; carrying extra people is no problem.

This internal transport system is efficient and energy-saving.

As they spoke, the spore ball started moving, faster and faster, sometimes swaying.

But overall, fairly smooth.

About fifty breaths later, it slowed down, finally stopping.

"Arrived."

The three squeezed out of the spore ball again, this time emerging from another orange-red house.

The Chixiao Golden Hall was already close at hand, looking even more towering and magnificent.

With Zhu Xiuer holding the token in front, the three passed through the palace gates smoothly.

Behind the gate stood an ancient maple, its trunk thicker than old door panels. This was an ancient tree planted in the Chixiao Golden Hall since the Tindao Sea period.

Walking here, Zhu Xiuer raised her front claw and drew a circle in midair.

The air ahead rippled; a round mirror over a person's height slowly emerged from the void.

"This is the Haoyuan Golden Mirror." Zhu Xiuer and Pu Hua stopped, "Please enter, Jiuyou will come see you soon."

Enter?

Sun Hongye tried reaching into the mirror; touched nothing, but it was slightly cool.

Since setting foot on Julu Port, the strange things he'd seen were countless; by now he was long unfazed by the strange.

He steadied his mind, took a step into the mirror.

The next second, he found himself standing under an osmanthus tree, facing a Vermilion Cloud Gate.

Step and the scenery changes.

The palace walls all around were very high.

Two palace attendants stepped forward, smiles exceptionally warm:

"Mr. Sun, please come this way. The Emperor is receiving envoys and will see you shortly."

He looked back, and the Haoyuan Golden Mirror had already vanished; only the discomfort in his stomach reminded him that he had just been transported.

……

Sun Hongye was led to Liufang Stream.

This is a stream, with clear water flowing down the stones, winding through three bends, murmuring softly. The palace attendants say that after a new rain, the stream becomes a waterfall.

It is called "Liufang" because fresh flowers grow thickly on both banks of the stream, like two long hanging flower carpets; when the morning breeze blows, a faint fragrance drifts in the air.

Turning back again, Ju City lay beneath his feet.

Liufang Stream is situated on the mountainside, a hundred zhang above the ground; from here one can see the greater part of Ju City in full view.

Looking down from above, the city's layout is orderly, shaded by green trees, combining beauty and grandeur.

Regarding the size of Ju City, he now has a more immediate impression of it.

By the stream stands a small pavilion, with two guards in front, their spines as straight as tree trunks.

The palace attendants asked him to wait there a moment, then bowed and withdrew.

Sun Hongye saw a small clay stove burning on the table, a pot heating water on it, and on the table a lacquered wooden box and a basket.

With no one around, he casually opened the lacquer box, and a cool air escaped. Inside lay plump strawberries, each one bright red and glistening.

He then lifted the cloth covering the basket and found it filled with large red dates.

Sun Hongye stared for a moment, and memories of the past suddenly surfaced.

Thanks to 2TNT sneakers for the reward~~

At noon today I can add a dish of soy sauce water small shrimp!