I Return From Hell

Chapter 37: Chapter 35: The Bustling Joyful Picking Garden

”Brother, your slander has caused me immense psychological distress. I could call the police on you at any time. But I’m a man who prefers to handle things peacefully, so I’ll let it go this time. If there’s a next time, don’t blame me for getting rough.”

Seeing the message, Xia Yu actually felt a wave of relief.

’Handle things peacefully?’

’You’re just trying to use this as a chance to sound me out, aren’t you?’

’If you really weren’t scared, you could have just ignored me or gone straight to the police. You have time to reply to my message? Time to give me an explanation?’

She sent the video of Liu Daqing abusing Number 7.

Meanwhile.

Liu Daqing was on pins and needles, his eyes glued to his phone.

The crafty old fox had already thought of numerous countermeasures.

Originally, when he learned the White Building was under investigation and that many of its high-profile patrons had been taken down in a single day, he’d panicked. He had already bought plane tickets, ready to flee with his family.

But then, he saw the message from Xia Yu and was unexpectedly delighted.

’What did this mean?’

’It meant the evidence against me was out!’

He didn’t panic, though. Instead, he calmly began to play along, trying to ascertain the other party’s objective, identity, and whether they had any other evidence or backups.

”A reply.”

He hit refresh. A new multimedia message had arrived. He opened it, and a familiar scene unfolded before him, making his eye twitch violently.

’This evidence is critical.’

’If this gets out, it won’t just be a matter of prison time. The tigress at home will never let me go. Everything will fall apart.’

Fortunately, he was used to high-stakes situations. His composure was unshakable, and he quickly reined in his emotions to analyze the situation. ’The reply was prompt. That means the other party is just as desperate to achieve their goal.’

’This is negotiable!’

After a moment’s thought, Liu Daqing replied, ”What do you want?”

Xia Yu: ”One million in cash. Face-to-face transaction.”

’So it’s about money after all.’

’That makes things simple.’

But looking at the figure—one million—made Liu Daqing frown.

’Such crucial evidence, and they’re only asking for this little?’

’That’s not greedy enough.’

’Something isn’t right.’

He sent a probing reply: ”Fine. When and where?”

Xia Yu: ”Tomorrow, three in the afternoon. By the strawberry greenhouse at the Joyful Picking Garden. We’ll see each other there.”

Liu Daqing: ”Alright.”

Their exchange ended.

’A man that shrewd must have guessed I have a backup. The reason he didn’t ask is obvious—he wants to capture me during the in-person exchange!’

Xia Yu instantly saw through his intentions but wasn’t concerned.

Information about the Joyful Picking Garden incident surfaced in her mind:

Time: Begins tomorrow at 3:30 PM, lasts for one hour.

Danger: Unknown.

Resources: Crystal Cores, one sunflower seed.

’Even though it’s winter, the greenhouse crops at the Joyful Picking Garden have ripened recently. It’s also the school holidays and a vacation period for some workers, so quite a few people will be at the garden.’

’The number of Mutants is bound to be huge.’

’No wonder no one made it out alive in my past life.’

Of course, danger and opportunity coexisted.

The more Mutants, the higher the chance of finding Crystal Cores.

But what drew Xia Yu’s attention most wasn’t the Crystal Cores, but that single sunflower seed.

According to her memories, after the Joyful Picking Garden underwent the Mist Event, an originally unremarkable sunflower seed had grown tenaciously. After two years of the Apocalypse, some unknown change caused it to rapidly swell into a behemoth over thirty meters tall. The area for thousands of meters in every direction became a forbidden zone.

Humans.

Mutants.

Creatures from the Different Dimension Space.

And more.

Any living thing that drew near died, becoming its nourishment.

When faced with the sudden, immense influx of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power, the transformations that humans and plants underwent were fundamentally similar.

Humans were classified as Mutants, Spiritual Transformers, and Spiritual Ability Users.

Correspondingly, plants were classified as Mutated Plants, Spiritual Transformation Plants, and Spiritual Plants.

The difference was...

The chance of a plant becoming a Mutated Plant was lower, less than ten percent in fact.

This was because plants’ natural ability to adapt to Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power far surpassed that of humans and animals. The ones that did become Mutated Plants were mostly domesticated varieties, typically found within cities or in greenhouses.

The odds of a plant becoming a Spiritual Plant were even more minuscule, practically negligible. Even for the few that did, their superpowers were all related to the Wood Element.

The vast majority of plants became Spiritual Transformation Plants.

Moreover, all three types—Mutated Plants, Spiritual Transformation Plants, and Spiritual Plants—shared a common trait: Gathering Spirit.

They gathered Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power. Cultivating near them could accelerate one’s own absorption of Spiritual Energy; the closer one was to the plant’s main body, the faster the absorption rate.

Therefore, many major factions would transplant large numbers of Spiritual Transformation Plants when establishing their bases.

And this giant sunflower was a suspected Spiritual Plant.

Making its value even higher.

Later, Zhao Guohui had personally led a team to investigate and confirmed this fact, but they were unable to determine its superpower.

Unfortunately, it was too powerful. Zhao Guohui and his team couldn’t get near its main body, let alone transplant it. They were left with two options: destroy it or give up.

While they were deliberating, it was once again shrouded in mist. When the mist finally dissipated, the sunflower had vanished completely, suspected of having been taken away by a powerful creature from a Different Dimension Space.

’If I can plant this sunflower seed at the base, control it, and use it for my own ends, the base’s defense rating is sure to soar.’

’It’s the perfect ally for defending the base.’

Xia Yu was determined to get it, no matter what its superpower turned out to be!

Meanwhile.

After their exchange ended, Liu Daqing heaved a huge sigh of relief. He started contacting his driver, ”Xiao Wang, you’ll come with me to the Joyful Picking Garden tomorrow afternoon. Remember to bring extra men.”

A knock sounded at the door.

”Come in.”

Liu Daqing hung up the phone.

Liu Zhi Xiong walked in and asked bluntly, ”Dad, you’re going to the Joyful Picking Garden for fun? Isn’t my issue still unresolved? How can you not be the least bit worried?”

”The school is going to decide the recommendation spots as soon as the next semester starts.”

”If we wait any longer, it’ll be too late.”

A wide smile immediately spread across Liu Daqing’s face.

He adored his son and wouldn’t dare upset his little prince. He quickly assured him, ”Before the year is out, I’ll absolutely make that Xia Tian withdraw voluntarily.”

”I’m not going to the picking garden for fun. I have some business to take care of.”

Hearing this, Liu Zhi Xiong curled his lip in disbelief.

’What business could a clothing factory manager possibly have at a picking garden?’

”Hmph.”

”If you don’t sort this out by the end of the year, I’ll do it myself.”

He turned and stormed off.

Watching his son’s petulant display, a flicker of helplessness crossed Liu Daqing’s eyes. He was also trying to figure out how to deal with Xia Yu. After all, with Nian Dali burned to death in that fire, he couldn’t be relied upon anymore.

’I absolutely cannot let Xiao Zhi get involved in this dirty business. It would ruin him.’

That was his bottom line.

「The night passed uneventfully.」

Before they departed, Liu Daqing glanced at the four burly men in the car with him, plus his driver Xiao Wang...

’This should be enough.’

He nodded in satisfaction and said, ”Let’s go.”

「At half past two in the afternoon.」

Xia Yu arrived at the Joyful Picking Garden in a taxi.

The place wasn’t large, but it was bustling with people coming and going. There was nowhere to park.

Luckily, some people were already starting to head home, as winter days were cold and the sun set early.

The garden consisted of dozens of greenhouses and a farmhouse with a courtyard, exuding a strong rustic charm.

The greenhouses were filled with all sorts of vegetables—tomatoes, eggplants, lettuce—and fruits like grapes and strawberries. There was even one glass greenhouse growing sunflowers, rumored to be an experiment by the owner.

In the farmhouse courtyard, the owner’s little mutt stood on its hind legs, repeatedly bowing to the passersby in a ridiculously cute display.

Carrying a picking basket, Xia Yu looked just like any other young woman there for a day of fun. She wandered between the greenhouses, quickly memorizing the layout of the entire place.

She spent an especially long time near the sunflowers.

「Half an hour later.」

The moment she reached the strawberry greenhouse, she felt ten gazes lock onto her at once...