Chapter 49 Betrayal? You did it on purpose! What are you going to do? ...

The whole world was pitch black.

In the rift valley, because there is no sunlight, the fluorescent substances in the petals of the laurel grass have been almost completely metabolized, so it will no longer glow even if you step on it.

Actually, according to the previous holographic data, this rift valley is nearly 500 meters deep and 400 meters long, and its shape is quite strange.

Normally, the length of a rift valley is several times its depth, but the shape of this rift valley looks... as if something suddenly cut it off.

And coincidentally, the direction that Suanni pointed in was exactly where the rift valley was "cut off".

The system was searching for data in the direction pointed out by the Suanni. For a moment, it was so quiet that even breathing seemed to echo.

However, the silence only lasted a few seconds before the system's voice rang in everyone's minds.

[There seem to be signs of energy fusion!]

The Suanni replied lazily, "Oh, 'seems like'?"

system:......

The system snorted: [I'm not going to argue with you.]

After saying that, it added, "[But this energy is a bit strange.]"

Qianchuan and Fuyu: "Strange?"

System: [I don't know how this happened, but that energy fluctuation pattern is actually recorded in the database. Let me check... Found it, hmm? A mutated sunflower!?]

Not only the system, but Qianchuan and the others were also dumbfounded.

Fu Yu pressed further, "System, do you mean there are mutated sunflowers in this rift valley?"

As Fuyu continued, he himself realized how absurd his words were.

The rift valley is only so big. Qianchuan and Xiaojiu had already walked through it once at the beginning, and they didn't see any plants other than laurel grass.

Moreover, the mutated sunflower has a debuff that makes people manic, restless, aggressive, and destructive.

If this flower really exists, there's no reason why they should be unharmed.

But the system said: [That's right.]

This is too bizarre, so bizarre that it's almost eerie.

Fu Yu asked incredulously, "Then what you mean by energy fusion...?"

The system hesitated for two seconds before saying: [You can think of it as pouring a glass of plain water and a glass of salt water together and then scooping them out again. On the surface, it looks the same, but the water has actually changed.]

Fu Yu tried to understand, then his eyes widened: "So... something got in here!?"

System: [You could say that, except you can't see or feel it.]

Fu Yu took a deep breath and asked in as calm a tone as possible, "Then, is this thing a mutated flower?"

Although Fu Yu found the mutated flower quite terrifying, at this moment he really wanted to hear the system say "yes".

However......

[Of course not.]

Fu Yu was completely unable to calm down.

He was initially excited when he learned that this place had become a different world plane—after all, it was finally safe here.

There's no danger of space collapsing at any moment, no fear of being torn apart by spacetime turbulence, and no worry about being found by humans at any time...

But now the system says that there's something in this world that they can't even perceive!?

Fu Yu instinctively hugged his arm tightly, and in his panic, he couldn't help but start digging his fingertips into the flesh of his arm.

In the darkness, he suddenly felt something stick to his back.

The moment the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, he heard that familiar, hoarse voice.

"Ayu, hug me."

Fuyu immediately turned around and hugged the other person tightly as if he had found a lifeline.

But as soon as he hugged her, he noticed that the sensation in his hands was a little off.

The next second, that sweet voice rang out against his palm: "It's too crowded! It's too crowded!"

Another, softer voice howled: "Aaaaah, you stupid fish, let go!"

It turned out that Xiao Jiu, with the two fur balls perched on her shoulder, ran directly behind Fu Yu, wanting to give her the same hug, but Fu Yu turned around immediately.

Fu Yu used a lot of force when he hugged them, almost squeezing the Taotie and Suanni into two fluffy pancakes.

However, after this commotion, Fuyu forgot his fear and panic, and for a moment he just frantically apologized to Xiao Jiu, Taotie and Suanni.

Qianchuan, who could see perfectly well in the dark, shifted his gaze back to Xiao Jiu and the other three.

Qian Chuan looked up at the sky: "How about this, I'll go take a look. System, you and the others can stay here and continue picking flowers. The price of laurel grass is getting lower and lower, and I don't know what will happen next. Let's sell as many as we can with these points now."

System: [Huh? Are you going there yourself?]

Qian Chuan nodded: "This level of darkness has no effect on me, and if we convert it into pet data, my level is the highest, so I am the most suitable to go."

Among them, Xiao Jiu had the worst eyesight, while Fu Yu was slightly better, but still nearsighted.

While Taotie's eyesight was better than Xiao Jiu's and Fu Yu's, it was only about the level of an ordinary human, far from the level of Qian Chuan and Suanni.

The system thought about it and agreed.

It reviewed the data again and carefully explained to Qianchuan: "According to the previous scan results, there are actually no dangerous objects in this world, but due to the energy fusion issue, the energy fluctuations..."

It paused, then simplified its expression: [Although you won't see the mutated sunflowers throughout the entire process, the flower debuff might suddenly appear in certain places, so be careful.]

Qian Chuan smiled and said, "In that case, it seems that I am the only one who can be the pioneer of exploration."

That debuff only doesn't affect three people: Xiao Jiu, Taotie, and Qian Chuan.

The system didn't say anything more. After explaining to Xiao Jiu what he was going to do, Qian Chuan walked alone into the darkness in the distance.

At first, no one thought there was anything wrong with it. After all, although Qian Chuan looked like a five or six-year-old child, he was actually a powerful demon with extraordinary strength.

Even if he were to encounter that "invisible and imperceptible thing" for some bizarre reason, as long as the other party was not at a level about to ascend, he would have no problem dealing with it.

However, an hour passed.

There was no sound at all in that darkness.

Fu Yu frantically rubbed his hands, muttering to himself, "Impossible, impossible... It's such a short distance, how could he not have come back for so long?"

Xiao Jiu, clutching a handful of laurel grass, approached him, following his voice: "Ayu, what's wrong?"

Fu Yu quickly composed herself: "N-nothing, I was just so bored that I was talking to myself."

Xiao Jiu responded and stuffed the flowers in her hand into Fu Yu's arms: "Flowers, they're pretty, A Yu, play with them."

After hearing Fuyu say that he would no longer be bored, Xiao Jiu ran off to continue harvesting the laurel grass on the cliff.

It was too dark in the rift valley, and Fu Yu could only hear the crisp sound of plant stems breaking as Xiao Jiu and the others picked flowers, occasionally mixed with a few yawns from the Suanni.

He frowned deeply, looking at his enormous fish tail.

Fu Yu asked the system, "System, I remember you said before that I would be able to recover today, right?"

[Yes. Your current health is 59.9%. At your previous recovery rate, it should recover to 60% in about an hour.]

The system then said: [Wait until your health reaches 60%, then eat two more general-purpose food blocks. After that, you should reach 100% health.]

Fu Yu responded with a sound of agreement and then said nothing more.

He held the laurel leaves in his hands, lost in thought.

At the edge of the cliff, Xiao Jiu also heard Fu Yu's conversation with the system. Although he couldn't understand it very well, he could hear Fu Yu's anxiety.

He asked, "Ayu, what's wrong?"

The Suanni twitched its ears: "He's worried about Qianchuan, isn't he?"

Xiao Jiu: "Worried?"

Suanni: "You want to know what's wrong with Fuyu, that's worry. Fuyu wants to know what's wrong with Qianchuan, he's worried about Qianchuan."

Xiao Jiu thought for a moment and said, "Xiao Jiu, I'm worried about Qian Chuan."

The observer immediately had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, the next second Xiao Jiu said, "Xiao Jiu, find Qian Chuan."

He had barely finished speaking when he released the net from his hand and decisively took a large step deeper into the crack—

Then it fell to the ground with a "thud".

system:!

System: [Host, are you alright?]

Xiao Jiu: "Xiao Jiu, it's okay, it's alright."

Suanni: "System, you're too nervous. This flower is very elastic; even if you fall from the top, it won't hurt."

Hearing the Suanni's "You're making a fuss over nothing" tone, the system immediately became furious: [You're just a cold-blooded, heartless cat!]

Suanni: "Oh."

The system got even angrier.

While they were arguing, Xiao Jiu had already climbed out of the flower net.

He didn't care whether he could see or not, and just kept walking forward.

He had only taken two steps when his foot sank further down into the netting.

Xiao Jiu turned around: "Doggy?"

Taotie used its two claws to cling to Xiao Jiu's shoulders, its entire body hanging on Xiao Jiu's back as if it had no bones.

Taotie said in a sweet and soft voice, "Little Jiu, stay here."

Xiao Jiu didn't say anything, so he rubbed his head against her face, saying, "Stay here, okay? Okay?"

Once Xiao Jiu said "okay," he loosened his grip and slid off Xiao Jiu's back in a flash.

He immediately skipped and hopped away, shouting as he ran, "Going to find Qianchuan!"

The whole sequence of movements was quick and smooth; before anyone else could react, Taotie had already vanished.

As Fuyu, who had just moved over, listened to the fading sound, she subconsciously said, "I hope nothing bad has happened..."

The Suanni, perched on the flower net, raised its tail and yawned: "Even if there's something, we should be worried about encountering their 'thing'."

Fu Yu thought about it and realized that it made sense.

Those are Taotie and Xuan Turtle!

So Fuyu didn't think too much about it. He gathered the flowers that Xiao Jiu had picked into a pile so that he could sell them all at once later.

However... another hour passed.

In the darkness not far away, all was still silent.

This time, even the system found it strange: [This shouldn't be happening...]

The entire crack is only 400 meters long, how could these two have been gone for so long?

Could something really have happened?

The system momentarily questioned its own data that "there is no danger in this dimension."

Just then, a familiar announcement rang out from above.

[Ding—Pet data updated]

[Name: Fuyu, Health restored to 60%, proceed with cultivation?]

Fu Yu hurriedly called out, "Xiao Jiu!"

Xiao Jiu remembered what Fu Yu had just told him, so he nodded and said, "The mall."

It was just exchanging grain blocks, it wouldn't take long. A few seconds later, Xiao Jiu came out with four grain blocks.

Two were given to Fuyu, and two to Suanni.

Suanni was surprised to find himself among them. He glanced at Fuyu in the darkness but didn't take it, saying, "I'm not hungry."

The items you get from the store can't be put back; if you don't eat them, they just sit there.

Suanni drawled, "This place is too dark. If we let go, we'll never find it again. Xiao Jiu, you have to keep holding on like this. Don't let go."

Xiao Jiu, still clueless, replied, "Okay."

Fu Yu muttered, "Why are you bullying Xiao Jiu like this?" and then took the two grains of grain, saying, "Give them to me, I'll eat them."

Xiao Jiu isn't very bright, but the system isn't stupid.

After witnessing the whole thing, it was a little moved.

I don't have many points left. I only got 100 points after picking laurel grass for two hours, so I'll save them as much as possible.

By giving up the grain, Suanni saved 100 points!

Just as the system was about to say something, it saw the Suanni flick its tail, drawing a number in the air.

The system understood it instantly.

The Suanni said: Replenish me three times.

system:......

It knew it! It was all for nothing!

Fu Yu was unaware of the "confrontation" between the system and the Suanni in the darkness; he was simply gnawing on the grain.

[Health level has fully recovered]

[Name: Fuyu, Level: 27, Upgrade Value: 0, Growth Value: 0...]

Fu Yu continued to gnaw on it.

[Upgrade Value +200]

【Name: Fuyu, Level: 29, Upgrade Value: 100%, Growth Value: 0】

Upgrade failed, insufficient growth points.

As the announcement was being broadcast, a small, orange-red light appeared.

Under the light of the flames, patches of red scales suddenly appeared on Fu Yu's cheeks, and the next moment, these scales spread down his neck.

In the blink of an eye, his entire body seemed to be covered with slices of pigeon blood ruby.

As a gentle breeze swept around him, all the red scales on his body peeled off, revealing snow-white skin and a pair of long, shapely legs.

Her cascading black hair swayed in the wind, and a vibrant red hue graced the corners of her eyes.

In the gentle breeze, he was like an elf born from rose petals, breathtakingly beautiful.

His two eyelashes, which resembled butterfly wings, fluttered slightly, and a strong joy burst forth in his deep blue eyes.

Fu Yu excitedly called out, "Little Nine—"

System: [Put your clothes on.]

Fu Yu: "......"

Fu Yu deftly transformed fish scales into a red, fitted outfit and put it on. Then, he conjured a red cloth strip, grabbed his hair, braided it a few times, and tied it up with the cloth strip.

After he finished getting ready, he squatted down, looked into Xiao Jiu's eyes, and said, "Xiao Jiu, wait here. I will bring them all back. You can trust me, okay?"

This action was actually quite unreasonable, and since Qian Chuan, who would usually be the first to raise objections, was not there, and Suanni, who always spoke up unexpectedly, remained silent, no one stopped him for a while.

Hearing the familiar question and looking at Fu Yu's earnest face, Xiao Jiu simply nodded as always: "Okay."

A gentle smile immediately bloomed on Fu Yu's face, bright and beautiful.

Xiao Jiu blinked and exclaimed loudly, "Ayu, it's beautiful!"

Fu Yu was stunned for a moment, and then, as if paint had been spilled, his entire face turned bright red in an instant.

"No, no... Xiao Jiu, you pick the flowers, I'll be right back."

He had just stood up, his face burning, when he heard a voice say, "Take it."

Fu Yu turned his head and saw something flying towards him.

He instinctively reached out to take it, and only when the thing spread along his skin to his wrist did he realize what it was.

A ball of orange-red fire.

Fu Yu: "......"

Although the horizontal fish can be harmless no matter what it does as long as its vital energy points are not broken, it still feels a bit strange to see itself turn into a "fiery palm".

However, he still looked at the Suanni who had thrown the fire to him: "Thank you."

It was so dark there that, with his eyesight, he would have to walk in the dark without any light. The flames of the Suanni really helped him a lot.

Just as Fuyu was about to run forward, he fell down with a thud onto the laurel grass covering the ground.

He quickly raised his head: "I'm fine! I just haven't walked in a long time."

Seeing Xiao Jiu trying to run over to help him, he quickly said, "No need, no need, I can really do it."

After saying that, Fuyu got up again and tried to run forward. He swayed from side to side and never regained his balance. Sure enough, he fell down after a few steps.

Fu Yu stopped Xiao Jiu from helping again: "I'm fine! I'm okay!"

system:......

What should I do if I'm starting to feel uneasy?

Every time Fuyu fell, he would raise his left hand, which was covered in flames, high. Later, he seemed to find it troublesome and simply kept his left hand raised like that, as if holding a torch.

After he ran away, stumbling and falling, the surroundings returned to silence.

The rift valley wasn't straight; after Fuyu rounded a bend, the glow of the fire disappeared completely in no time.

In the darkness, Suanni suddenly spoke up: "System, tell me, doesn't this look like the Calabash Brothers saving their grandfather?"

system:?

System: [Don't say such scary things!]

However, an hour later.

A tiny figure also stepped onto the path that the other little ones had walked before.

He had an orange kitten on his head, and a flame was burning on the kitten's tail, so wherever he went, the darkness was dispelled.

The system was still sighing over the "Calabash Brothers saving Grandpa" incident: [Why is Fuyu in such a hurry? We could have gone together.]

The Suanni, perched atop Xiao Jiu's head, lazily remarked, "His companions are all renowned powerful demons, so why is he in such a hurry?"

Hearing Fu Yu repeatedly say that he could handle it and refuse anyone's help, the system fell silent.

As Xiao Jiu listened, she slowly walked forward step by step.

It wasn't that he didn't want to walk faster, but the net-like flowers under his feet were growing looser and looser, with uneven patches. Sometimes he would sink in because of their flexibility, and sometimes it was no different from walking on hard ground. He was prone to slipping and falling.

System: [The soil here is very similar to the cliff face; the data shows uneven structure...]

Before the system could finish speaking, Xiao Jiu suddenly stopped.

The system quickly asked, "[Host, what's wrong?]"

Xiao Jiu: "Xiao Jiu, listen to the water."

[You mean, you heard the sound of water!?]

But how could that be?

According to the holographic imagery, although the Moon Spring under the Elf Tree has transformed into a river, it has not flowed into this rift valley; instead, it has rushed in the opposite direction.

Therefore, theoretically, there is no water near this rift valley.

But Xiao Jiu just nodded heavily: "Xiao Jiu, listen."

The system was momentarily stunned.

Suanni, however, slowly yawned.

The system immediately sensed that something was wrong.

It tentatively asked the Suanni, "Do you know something?"

Suanni: "Huh? Are you kidding me?"

He raised his little paw and shook it: "Do I look that powerful right now? Even a system like yours, which is tied to the world, can't detect this. How could I possibly know?"

The system thought about it and realized that what he said made a lot of sense.

Before it could think it through, Suanni said, "Since things are already like this, let's just go and take a look. There's no point in thinking about it here."

System: [...]

It went through its own data.

The data shows that all results are normal, with no warning signs, indicating that there are no dangerous factors in the world.

But the system still felt that something was off.

After walking for almost ten minutes, Xiao Jiu stopped again.

He stood in front of a cliff, tilting his head in confusion.

System: [Host, what's wrong?]

Xiao Jiu thought for a moment and said, "Xiao Jiu, listen, the sound of water."

system:? ? ?

It paused for two seconds, and after confirming that it hadn't misread the image, it checked the holographic image data it had previously recorded.

It was completely bewildered: "[But...but this is clearly a wall...]"

Could it be that the cliff is hollow, and there's a river or something behind it, which is why the sound of water is coming from there?

The system suddenly paused: [Wait.]

It immediately asked the Suanni: "Why did you just give Fuyu Fire?"

Suanni: "Of course, it's to provide light for him."

The system's voice sounded somewhat cold: [Then why didn't you summon a flame before?]

The area beneath the rift valley has always been pitch black.

The little guys fell from the ground, reunited, and discussed everything, all in complete darkness. Even when Xiao Jiu and Taotie were picking flowers later, it was all done in complete darkness.

Whether it was picking flowers or anything else, the Suanni did not summon any firelight throughout the entire process.

But why did he suddenly give Fuyu a spark?

The Suanni did not answer.

The system did not require him to answer.

It continued, "[This world has just been formed; all its internal structures are unstable, and they have an urgent need for energy, whatever that energy may be.]"

[Your firelight is the same!]

The system snapped, "[You did this on purpose! What are you trying to do?]"

The Suanni ignored it.

He jumped onto Xiao Jiu's shoulder: "Xiao Jiu, didn't you say there was the sound of water over there? Come closer and take a look?"

The Suanni whispered devilishly in Xiao Jiu's ear, "Xiao Jiu, did you hear that? I had a fight with the system. If you go over there, we won't fight anymore."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jiu immediately took a step forward.

Without any hesitation, he walked straight toward the cliff face.

The next second, the cliff face in front of Xiao Jiu suddenly began to shake, as if a stone had been thrown into the water.

The laurel grass on the cliff surface also suddenly lit up with fluorescence.

The system was now finally certain that Suanni had planned this all along!

The system had no idea what the Suanni was up to, and was both angry and anxious: [Host, don't—]

At that moment, a wave of energy suddenly burst out from behind the net.

It was like an invisible giant mouth, swallowing Xiao Jiu and Suanni in an instant.