Chapter 160: The Rose
Xia Lu Nong didn’t know what his brother and Yan Xi Nian had discussed.
By the time he woke up the next day, the tension from yesterday had completely dissipated, as if the argument had never happened.
Xia Lu Nong glanced at his brother, then at Old Liu, and kept quiet.
Today, they were heading to Shangyan District to find that rose.
It was deep winter now, and Xia Lu Nong didn’t know what kind of rose it was. Would it shed its leaves? Would it be hard to find?
He quickly recalled the tips for growing roses from the books he’d read, jotting down notes and organizing his thoughts.
Meeting a rose of this caliber felt like meeting a major figure, and he had to think everything through in advance. Otherwise, things could get tricky if the negotiation fell apart.
Besides him, not many people seemed to care about the rose.
To Old Liu and the others, no matter how powerful a plant was, it couldn’t move from its place and had limited capabilities. They didn’t see the need to worry.
But Xia Lu Nong disagreed.
Plants had far more abilities than people imagined. For example, their family’s pepper tree not only had offensive capabilities but could also exchange information with other plants and gather intelligence.
Xia Lu Nong prepared carefully.
Old Liu and the others were also making preparations, studying maps and trying to figure out what was in Shangyan District before the disaster, so they could collect supplies along the way.
After a tense breakfast, they boarded the armored vehicle and set out.
The road was rough, and it took them over an hour to enter the Shangyan District.
Xia Lu Nong had worried that it would be difficult to find the rose in such a vast area.
But as soon as the armored vehicle entered Shangyan District, they saw large patches of roses blooming among the ruins along the roadside.
Red, white, yellow, pink… various colors of roses emerged among the green leaves, trembling slightly in the cold wind, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Good heavens!” Ban Niu’s voice came through the walkie-talkie. “These roses are gorgeous! If rose enthusiasts had seen them before the disaster, they would have been drooling!”
Xiao Tang exclaimed at the same time, “These flowers are so beautiful! Look at those double-petaled ones! Can we take some back to the base to plant?”
The voices of the other members of the convoy chattered through the walkie-talkie:
“These roses must have evolved some frost resistance; otherwise, how could they be blooming in this season?”
“Do you think these roses can be traded for supplies? People at the base would love them.”
“I heard that some roses are actually hybrid tea roses. Should we get into the rose business? Haha!”
The group broke into excited discussion.
Xia Lu Nong wasn’t familiar with these team members and couldn’t tell who was saying what based on their voices alone. He frowned slightly, staring at the roses outside with a strange expression.
Xia Huo Qu nudged his shoulder. “What’s with that look? Did you notice something?”
Xia Lu Nong replied, “I feel like all these roses are from the same plant.”
Xia Huo Qu’s face showed surprise. “The same plant, or just originating from the same one?”
If they were the same plant, that would mean this rose was enormous—beyond what they could imagine.
Xia Lu Nong pressed his face to the window, his eyes fixed outside. “I’m not sure. I just feel like they’re the same, their aura is identical.”
After a pause, he added, “It’s possible they all originated from the same plant, but something tells me it’s not that simple. I’m leaning toward all these roses being part of one single plant.”
Before he finished speaking, the three others in the vehicle immediately turned to look outside, their faces slightly pale.
Yan Xi Nian’s voice came through the walkie-talkie: “Everyone, turn around. Something’s off in Shangyan District. We’re pulling out.”
After he said that, there was a brief pause on all the walkie-talkies. The lively chatter stopped in an instant.
Without asking questions, the two armored vehicles in front and behind swiftly turned around and began heading out of Shangyan District.
Xia Lu Nong kept his eyes glued to the window, both fearing and hoping that the roses would react in some way. He couldn’t even explain his own feelings.
But the roses outside remained still, gently quivering in the cold wind like any ordinary roses.
Ordinary roses, though, weren’t this large or this beautiful.
These roses were blooming so massively, it felt like midsummer—or as if they were at some grand wedding or other special occasion.
Xia Lu Nong could almost smell the faint, sweet fragrance of the roses.
It drifted lightly through the air, seeping into the vehicle despite the filtration system.
Everyone’s sense of smell was sharp, and they all noticed the scent at the same time.
Xia Huo Qu’s face changed, and he quickly pulled out several gas masks, motioning for them to put them on.
Yan Xi Nian spoke heavily over the walkie-talkie, “There might be something wrong with the scent of these roses. Don’t breathe it in, and let’s get out of here as fast as we can.”
The others had smelled it too. Ban Niu said, “Roger that. Captain Yan, the scent seems harmless. We’ve been smelling it for a while, and there’s no sign of any effects. Even A-Ye, who shifted into his beast form to test it, is still fine.”
A-Ye, now in his rabbit form, sat nearby, giving a light tap on the armored vehicle to show his agreement.
Yan Xi Nian spoke firmly, “Don’t be careless. Let’s leave first and figure it out later.”
“Understood!”
“Copy that.”
Kong Zhi gazed at the roses outside. “I’ll shift into my eagle form and fly up to take a look.”
“Alright,” Yan Xi Nian said. “Let’s get a little farther away first. It’s too dangerous here.”
The convoy turned around and left.
The sea of roses remained unchanged, though it seemed like the fragrance had grown stronger.
Once they had distanced themselves from Shangyan District, Kong Zhi transformed into a golden eagle, carrying Xia the cat into the sky.
They hadn’t scouted from the air before, but now that they were flying, the two immediately realized that the sight from above was even more overwhelming than from the ground.
From the sky, the entire district was covered in a dazzling sea of flowers.
Xia the cat let out a “meow.”
This made no sense—how could such a large area be covered in roses? The amount of energy needed for that would be unimaginable.
And besides, what benefit would there be to blooming so vividly in the middle of winter? The whole situation was too eerie.
Xia the cat immediately suspected that the roses were attracting prey.
The flowers and their fragrance were likely part of their strategy for luring in victims.
The golden eagle, sharing Xia the cat’s thoughts, let out a cry, signaling for him not to act impulsively. They should observe the situation first and investigate further after gathering more information.
The eagle and the cat circled in the sky.
With Xia the cat’s sharp eyesight, he still couldn’t pinpoint where the main stem of the rose was.
This enormous rose seemed to be everywhere, yet nowhere at the same time.
Xia the cat started to doubt his earlier judgment—maybe this vast field of roses was made up of different plants, not a single one.
But then, he reconsidered. If that were the case, the honeysuckle wouldn’t have specifically warned them.
Xia the cat’s emerald-green eyes filled with confusion.
Many things after the great disaster defied everyone’s imagination.
After thinking for a while but coming to no conclusions, Xia the cat decided to drop it for now.
The golden eagle and Xia the cat landed.
Yan Xi Nian approached them and asked, “So? Did you discover anything?”
Xia the cat shook his head, transformed back into human form, and, with his brother’s help, put on a down jacket as he said, “This situation is too strange. Logically, if such a large area of roses came from a single plant, there should be a thicker main stem. But from the air, we didn’t see anything.”
Kong Zhi added, “When we looked from above, each rose seemed to have its own roots; they didn’t appear to be connected.”
One of Old Liu’s team members cautiously asked, “Could it be that you’re mistaken? Maybe this is just a large area of roses spreading out, not one plant.”
The group voiced their opinions:
“That seems possible. Roses are hardy plants, and under the right conditions, they can spread rapidly.”
“That may be true, but I tend to trust Xiao Nong’s abilities and intuition more.”
“Yeah, I trust Xiao Nong too. It’s best to make bold assumptions but verify carefully. I think we’re handling this well.”
Xia Lu Nong rubbed his temples, “I can’t be sure now. I don’t think I’m enough on my own. Let’s let Xia Hua Jiao try—maybe it will discover something.”
In his cat form, Xia Lu Nong had an extremely sensitive sense of smell. The overwhelming scent of roses was making his nose hurt, and now even his head was starting to ache.
After some discussion, with no better plan, they decided to follow Xia Lu Nong’s suggestion and let Xia Hua Jiao have a go.
Xia Hua Jiao, who had been in a half-dormant state since they left, was brought down from the vehicle.
It swayed its branches, turning its crown curiously toward Xia Lu Nong with a questioning “swoosh?”
Xia Lu Nong gently pressed his cheek against the tree’s trunk and said, “Can you communicate with these plants and see if you can find out anything?”
“Swoosh!” Xia Hua Jiao agreed.
Feeling drowsy, it didn’t think too much and simply hopped over to the roses, trying to use its branches to communicate with them.
Xia Lu Nong watched intently, prepared to intervene at any moment if needed. He wanted to jump in directly but feared alarming the roses and causing unnecessary complications.
Since Xia Hua Jiao was also a plant, if this entire area of roses really was one single plant, it wouldn’t be as sensitive to Xia Huajiao’s probing.
At least, it wouldn’t notice anything wrong immediately or react against them.
Xia Hua Jiao, not understanding the tense atmosphere, didn’t take any special precautions and brazenly ran over to ask the roses.
Plants don’t communicate with sound like humans do—they exchange chemical signals, which is direct and fast.
Xia Lu Nong could easily read these chemical signals, allowing him to understand what the plants were saying.
As soon as Xia Hua Jiao began conversing with the roses, Xia Lu Nong immediately realized that his guess had been correct. This entire field of roses was indeed one plant.
The roses reacted to Xia Hua Jiao in the same way, and the chemicals they released were identical.
However, there seemed to be something wrong with the plant. It was as if this rose had undergone a mental split, similar to how a human might experience psychological fragmentation.
It made sense on the surface, but there was a strange, unhinged feeling during communication.
This was bad.
Xia Lu Nong’s heart sank.
This rose was in worse shape than if it were dead.
Due to some massive trauma or other unknown cause, the rose had become abnormal.
For them, a deranged rose was far more dangerous than a rational one.
