Chapter 43

Meng Ziqiu clearly remembered that he fell asleep in the car, and when he woke up he found himself on a commercial street. Both sides of the street seemed to be shrouded in a layer of fog. There were people walking on the street, but he could not see their faces clearly. For a moment, he thought he had fallen into a trap woven by a mirage demon.

The street was not very long, but it was surrounded by fog and nothing was clear except for a large carved door where the fog ended. The door was covered with black tiles, and under the raised eaves hung a string of quaint bell-shaped hangings.

He stood in front of the door for a while, then raised his hand and knocked on it. The door slowly opened, and the first thing that caught his eye was a beautiful folding screen—

The lines of the screen are irregular, stretching out naturally. The screen surface between the frames is made of materials that look like floral silk and Hang Luo. The screen has many colors but not mixed, and the textures are different but comfortable to look at. There is also a clever halo of light flowing in the gaps where the silk meets, making the whole screen seem alive.

Meng Ziqiu's gaze lingered on the screen for a moment, and then he felt someone was staring at him.

Following the line of sight, behind the rising mist is a pair of beautiful red phoenix eyes. The owner of the eyes is holding a cup of tea, sitting leisurely on a recliner.

Since they had just met not long ago, Meng Ziqiu was naturally impressed: "...Senior?"

He heard the senior utter a faint "hmm", and the mist obscured his face, making his eyes seem even more mysterious in the hazy state.

"Please choose a table and sit down."

……table?

When Meng Ziqiu pushed the door open just now, he only saw a folding screen. After the senior looked at him, he realized that there was no one else in the shop except him. And when the senior mentioned the table, he saw a short tea table one meter away from him. On the tea table were flowers that should not have appeared in this season. Before the senior mentioned it, he would not have noticed these things at all.

There were twelve tables, each corresponding to the twelve flower orders. Meng Ziqiu didn't know the secret, so he carefully chose the one closest to him and sat down.

After he sat down, the plum blossom branch on the tea table suddenly trembled, and under his gaze... it turned into a hyacinth.

"It seems that I shouldn't invite you to taste tea at this time." The hyacinth flower spread its petals wantonly, and Meng Ziqiu heard the senior's slow and calm voice, "Meng Ziqiu, it is your flower."

…

"Boss! Boss!"

A familiar voice lingered in his ears. Meng Ziqiu slowly opened his eyes and realized that he had just been dreaming.

But...why did I have such a strange dream?

Before Meng Ziqiu could think deeply, Qin Fei had already braked the car urgently. He pointed at Meng Ziqiu's hand with a serious face. Meng Ziqiu looked in the direction Qin Fei was looking and saw a fresh hyacinth lying on his knees. Under their gaze, the hyacinth gradually faded, and its edges slowly broke into star-like spots of light, and then gradually dissipated into the air.

Meng Ziqiu said softly: "It turns out it wasn't a dream..."

Facing Qin Fei's worried eyes, he smiled soothingly: "I heard that the powerful people who have achieved success in cultivation in the inner world can invite people to meet in dreams thousands of miles away. I have personally experienced it today."

"The person who invited me into his dream probably had no ill intentions towards me," he said. "He was a senior whom we met in the old building before."

The senior you met in the old building?

Qin Fei: "...Marquis Buye?"

Meng Ziqiu nodded.

While the two of them were talking in the front, Yu Tu, who was pretending to be asleep in the back, quietly opened his eyelids a little and peeked at their movements. When he saw the hyacinth disappearing on Meng Ziqiu's knees, his toes in his shoes were so embarrassed that they scratched at the air.

He can use energy to create things, and of course he can also let others take out the finished products of energy creations. However, the energy in his body is really not enough. He has already tried his best to let Meng Ziqiu bring Hyacinth from the dream to reality for a short while.

In the front row of the car, Qin Fei continued to ask his own questions: "Boss, you met with Senior Buyehou in your dream, and you spent so much effort, but you didn't say anything important, and you only brought out a hyacinth?"

Meng Ziqiu: "Perhaps for the older generation, meeting in a dream was just a trivial matter."

Yu Tu, who secretly raised his ears to listen: "..."

No! It's a waste of energy! When you went in, Meng Zu, the speed of energy loss instantly increased three times! He almost didn't manage his expression well!

"The senior asked me to sit down at any table I chose, perhaps wanting to say something to me. But after I sat down, the plum blossoms on the table turned into hyacinths, and the senior said it was not time for me to have tea yet, and that hyacinths were my flowers." Their whispered conversation continued, "and then... I woke up."

Meng Ziqiu smiled bitterly: "Maybe there is some deep meaning behind your words, but unfortunately, I really don't understand it."

Yu Tuan closed his eyes carefully.

What's the deep meaning? He also wants to know!

He had to explain why the plum blossoms inexplicably turned into hyacinths. Although he used mysterious words to temporarily fool people into a dream, Yu Tu firmly believed that Meng Ziqiu would come back sooner or later if the matter was not resolved. If he couldn't explain it, wouldn't all his efforts to build up his status be wasted? Even comics couldn't help him make it up!

While the two people in front were chatting and thinking about the hidden meaning in the words of the senior Marquis Buye, Yu Tu secretly took out his mobile phone, adjusted the light to the lowest, then turned on the 1,000 degrees and started searching———

[The meaning and meaning of different colors of hyacinth]

[The meaning of hyacinth varies in different countries]

[Positive and negative meanings of hyacinth flowers]

…

Let him think carefully about what to write the story the next time they meet.

*

The sun was rising high in the sky, and several people in the back seat of the car woke up one after another. Susu stretched out in the car, and her two big fluffy tails swung back and forth happily. She had already come back to life with full blood.

"Lili~" She pressed her claws on Yin Li's exposed arm, leaving a faint plum blossom mark on her, "Good morning!"

Yin Li's long, straight black hair was a little messy. She smoothed it over with her hands and smiled back, "Good morning."

"Good morning! It's already 11 a.m." Qin Fei's voice came from the front passenger seat. "But you woke up on time. We'll be at the service area in five minutes. Think about what to eat in advance. We have to hurry."

Gu Hongying: "It's Team Meng's turn to drive now."

"Yes." Qin Fei turned his head, "It's our boss who really cares about me. You guys all sleep like piglets, especially Gu Hongying, who talks in his sleep and even grinds his teeth!"

Gu Hongying: “……?”

He looked puzzled: "How come I didn't know I was talking in my sleep and grinding my teeth?"

He thought about it and apologized sincerely: "I'm really sorry."

Meng Ziqiu suddenly said, "A Fei."

The smile on Qin Fei's face froze: "I was wrong, I was wrong, I shouldn't have lied to people!"

Gu Hongying was stunned at first, then pretended to be furious: "Brother Qin!!!"

Amid the laughter of others, the car drove into the service area. They had a breakfast and lunch, then Gu Hongying took the lead in buying two large bags of snacks and brought them back to the car before continuing on their journey.

Lu Yayin was the driver in the afternoon, and Meng Ziqiu was the driver in the evening. Because everyone slept too much during the day, no one could sleep at night. Gu Hongying opened two large bags of snacks and filled all the space in the back seat. Then, he produced a stack of cards from his hand like a magician: "Come on, everyone, eat snacks and play games!"

Lu Susu's foxy head popped out from Yin Li's shoulder: "What game?"

Gu Hongying unfolded the cards in his hand into a small fan and said with a smile: "UNO!"

"Let's set a rule this time," he said, "The person who plays his cards first can designate someone at random... Well, it's not convenient to take risks in the car, so let's just tell the truth!"

"Sister Yayin, Brother Qin," Gu Hongying asked, "Do you want to come play together?"

When Gu Hongying said this, his eyes were fixed on Qin Fei, and it was obvious that he had bad intentions.

Qin Fei raised his eyebrows: "When you play games with me, don't lose so badly that you even reveal the embarrassing fact that you wet the bed when you were a few years old!"

Gu Hongying provoked: "I wonder who will finish telling their embarrassing story first!"

Yu Tu pulled Gu Hongying's arm and lowered his voice: "Don't flip over!"

"What are you talking about?" Gu Hongying also lowered his voice, "I have been invincible since I was a child!"

Although they lowered their voices, it was no different from speaking directly in the car. Qin Fei and Lu Yayin looked at each other and mouthed, "Join hands?"

The two happily reached an agreement, and then——

When Gu Hongying only had two or three cards left in his hand and victory was in sight, Lu Yayin slowly threw down a [+4].

Gu Hongying: “…”

Not only did the number of cards in his hand not decrease, but it increased by four in an instant.

After Gu Hongying shouted UNO, the remaining card in his hand was exactly the color of this round. Qin Fei grinned and silently threw out a universal card, changing the color from blue to red.

Gu Hongying: “…”

The victory that was in hand was reduced to ashes.

Gu Hongying was not having a good time, and Lu Yayin and Qin Fei were not having a good time either, because Gu Hongying's luck was really good, and Qin Fei was unlucky in one round and was stacked with two [+2] and one [+4], so he instantly had eight more cards in his hand. Lu Yayin could obviously have been the winner in the end, but in the end she was either reversed or skipped for four consecutive rounds, and was dragged back from the finish line.

They were fighting fiercely, sometimes unlucky and sometimes lucky. Only Lu Susu, who was picking cards with her fox claws, felt the sadness that no one else could feel—she would be affected by the war in every round. If she kept on shaking, she would become a transparent fox without any secrets!

In this round of sniping between the two sides, Yu Tu successfully took advantage of the opportunity to escape. As the winner of this round, Yu Tu looked at Lu Yayin and Qin Fei who were in the same group, and then looked at Gu Hongying and Yin Li who formed a temporary fighting alliance, and finally his gaze slowly fell on Lu Susu.

Luo Susu, who was rubbing the bag of potato chips, asked: “……?”

Her foxy face was filled with fear: "Don't bully me like this, to be honest, it's me again!"

"You are not a human yet." Yu Tu looked at Lu Susu's desperate eyes and said sincerely, "How about you tell me how you and Yin Li met?"

This obviously sincere statement made Lu Susu wag her fox tail happily: "You worry for nothing. Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"The process of my acquaintance with Lily is a fairy tale!" Lu Susu's fluffy tail swayed behind her. "The demon tribe had a long period of time before they became intelligent. When I was still unable to transform, I was particularly yearning for the outer world. So one day, I made up my mind and left the tribe!"

"I was young at the time and had never been to a human settlement, so it was natural that I got lost! But—" Susu stepped on the bag of potato chips she had just finished eating and said in a rhythmic voice, "I'm so pretty, so cute, and my fur is so smooth, so it's not easy for me to find someone to be my friend! Lily was fascinated by me the first time she saw me. She approached me cautiously and insisted on bringing me food and drinks every day. I was moved by her persistence, so we became good friends!"

As soon as you hear this long string of words, you know there is some water in it. It's probably the kind that will flow onto the ground if you squeeze it. It's not that the process of their acquaintance was fake, but that there was definitely some beautified rhetoric used in the middle - you can tell from Yin Li's expression as she was trying to hold back her laughter.

Qin Fei touched his chin and said, "If I win the next round, why don't I hear about the stupid things you two did during your time together?"

Lu Yayin: "I'm going to listen to Yin Li's version next time."

Gu Hongying: "I really want to know how old you two were at that time?"

Susu: “……?”

"To be honest, you can't catch a fox like me and pluck its fur!" She yelled, "You are going too far! I don't want to play anymore!"

Suddenly a voice said, "How about you drive?"

The voice was so sudden that everyone in the back seat of the car looked towards its source. The person who spoke... turned out to be Meng Ziqiu.

Lu Susu widened her beautiful eyes: "Meng Meng Meng Group, are you serious?!"

She is still a fox now!

"Sorry." Meng Ziqiu lowered his eyelashes, "It was just a joke."

The voice just now was so lively, and it was like a liar shouting that he didn't want to play anymore. For a moment, it actually overlapped with the past.

"Actually..." Gu Hongying turned his gaze to Lu Susu, "It's not impossible?"

Ten minutes later, the car stopped by the roadside. Luo Susu was wearing a seat belt, with her front paws on the steering wheel, her face dazed.

"Are you crazy to let a fox drive a car?"

Gu Hongying: "You are not an ordinary fox. We believe you."

Lu Yayin: "Don't worry, our special team's cars have been specially modified, and you can't see anything inside from the outside of the glass."

"You can't see through the glass in front of the driver's seat either," Qin Fei said. "No one needs to worry about seeing a fox driving a car."

Yin Li: "I remember your tail is also very flexible, Susu, do you want to use it to help?"

Yu Tu: "You see, everyone trusts you. You don't want to play cards anymore. How about you open it?"

Susu: QAQ

"Or... just let me go back and continue playing."

…

Another half an hour passed, and seven groups of armed vehicles slowly hit the road. Lu Susu placed its front paws on the steering wheel, with its two tails hanging loosely on both sides of the steering wheel, ready to adjust the turn signal and other buttons at any time.

"As expected, human potential is infinite." Qin Fei kept an eye on Su Su while playing cards, "Foxes are no exception."

Gu Hongying: "He drives really well, much more steadily than when I was learning to drive."

Yin Li: "The lives of all of us in the car are in her hands, she must be very concerned. UNO!"

Yu Tu: "Wild card, skip it!"

After Lu Susu took over the driving position, Meng Ziqiu naturally stepped down. After their enthusiastic invitation, Meng Ziqiu also joined the UNO army.

After several rounds of fierce competition, almost everyone answered a question. After another round of competition, Yu Tu won. He breathed a sigh of relief and was a little nervous, but a smile appeared on his face: "This time I choose Meng's team."

Meng Ziqiu raised his eyes and smiled, "What do you want to ask me?"

Yu Tu thought for a moment and said, "The team that came to rescue us two days ago was from Special Team Nine. They had four people in their team. Why are there only three in Team Seven? Is there no limit on the number of people in a team?"

"How can this be considered sincere?" Lu Yayin smiled and pushed Yu Tu, "You can't be so blatant and let them win just because they are from Team Meng!"

Qin Fei was stunned for a moment, and he looked at Meng Ziqiu with some worry: "Boss..."

"There's nothing to hide." Meng Ziqiu patted Qin Fei on the shoulder. "Before Yayin and Afei joined Team 7, all my teammates died in a B-level mission."