About an hour later, Tian You's figure finally returned.
From a distance, Li Chonglou saw his disheveled appearance, as if he had just been through a battle.
As the person approached, his clothes were seen to be riddled with holes and his face was covered in dust.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Tian You waved his hand and then took out a small flower from behind him.
It was only palm-sized, but entirely yellow, looking unremarkable, just like the wildflowers encountered by the roadside.
"This..."
Li Chonglou's brow furrowed slightly. He could actually sense a trace of curse power from it.
"What's wrong, Brother Lou, do you recognize this flower?"
Li Chonglou's reaction aroused the curiosity of the two, and they couldn't help but cast their gazes over.
Naturally, he couldn't admit to such a thing, so Li Chonglou immediately shook his head and said, "This is the first time I've seen it. But is this thing really as you say?"
Li Chonglou successfully shifted the topic, and the attention of the two returned to the yellow flower.
"The moment you saw it, I was also puzzled. This thing actually has experts guarding it. I feel like it's no different from the ordinary ones."
Tian You frowned, having almost perished for this thing just now.
Su Qi, who was beside them, took the yellow flower and examined it carefully. Tian You sighed, "I suddenly feel like I might have been tricked. There's no discernible difference in this thing."
Su Qi couldn't find anything unusual after looking for a long time and could only sigh and put down the yellow flower.
Only Li Chonglou, who had a general idea of what was going on, said calmly, "Do you have any samples of ordinary yellow flowers? Let me take a look?"
"You haven't even seen ordinary yellow flowers yet?"
The two cast doubtful glances. In Wushan Town, these yellow flowers were basically the first thing to investigate.
Li Chonglou calmly replied, "The first thing I did when I came here was to visit Du Tian, and then I found you. Where would I have had the time to look at these yellow flowers? I didn't know this flower would be related to Du Tian."
The two nodded. This explanation was reasonable and nothing to be suspicious of.
However, with their attention back on the yellow flower, they began to sigh again.
"What do we do now? These yellow flowers are completely indistinguishable."
In the original plan of the three, after discovering the abnormality of these yellow flowers, they would use them as bargaining chips to negotiate with Du Tian. That's why Tian You had risked collecting these yellow flowers guarded by experts.
Su Qi couldn't think of a good idea either. Seeing this, Li Chonglou couldn't help but suggest, "It's quite late now. Why don't we rest first and ask around in town tomorrow? Perhaps there will be other clues."
The two exchanged glances and nodded in unison.
"That's the only way. Brother Lou, why don't you stay over at my place tonight?"
Li Chonglou glanced around. Apart from two beds, there was nothing else.
Spreading his hands, he said, "I'll head back to the inn in town."
Su Qi apologized, "I'm sorry, we didn't expect anyone else to come, so we only prepared two simple beds. I'll escort you down."
The two of them lived on the mountainside as well, and there was still a small path to get back to town. Li Chonglou was merely an ordinary person in their eyes.
Having an expert escort was the most normal thing. Li Chonglou also considered this point, so he didn't refuse.
"Then I'll trouble you, Brother Su Qi."
"It'll only take a few minutes, no trouble at all."
Saying this, whether to show off or for some other reason, Su Qi directly lifted Li Chonglou with his arm. His internal energy circulated, and in the next moment, he transformed into an afterimage and disappeared outside the door.
These few minutes were not the time it took to get down the mountain to town, but rather directly transported Li Chonglou to the doorstep of the inn!
As the two figures stopped, Li Chonglou immediately clutched his abdomen and, hunched over, quickly ran to the side.
Then came a bout of retching!
"Sorry, sorry, I forgot you weren't used to this speed."
Hearing these insincere words, Li Chonglou rolled his eyes internally, though his retching was also feigned. He had to play the part convincingly.
A few minutes later, Li Chonglou finally stood up and said in a somewhat weak tone, "It's okay. I know you were in a hurry. This is fine. I should be able to sleep well tonight."
Li Chonglou chuckled. Su Qi, with feigned concern, booked the room for him and then left.
Li Chonglou didn't say anything more. After returning to his room, he fell sound asleep not long after.
On the other hand, after Su Qi returned to the wooden house, Tian You immediately greeted him.
"How was it? Did anything unexpected happen on your end?"
Su Qi smiled confidently, "Don't worry, you'll have results tomorrow. By the way, when does the organization plan to make contact?"
"They contacted us long ago. I heard it was just an ordinary person. The higher-ups were initially reluctant to send anyone. Only after I repeatedly emphasized his identity did they send out the captain."
Su Qi said with some surprise, "The captain is coming? This has even alerted the captain?"
Tian You shook his head, "That's not the reason. The General Bureau has been cracking down heavily lately, and the organization's forces can't be mobilized at once. Currently, only the captain is free, and he's not leading a team, just coming alone."
"You scared me. I thought they were bringing a small team."
Tian You said calmly, "If a whole team were to come, why would we need any schemes? We could have captured the person directly."
Su Qi nodded, "That's true. But even if it's just the captain, it should be enough, as the main forces are still with the General Bureau."
At this point, the two suddenly looked at each other, then exchanged a knowing smile.
The night passed in the blink of an eye.
Li Chonglou felt as if he had only closed his eyes for a moment before it was the next morning.
However, the person who woke him was not Su Qi or Tian You, but an unexpected figure.
Qiu Bai.
"Is there something you need?"
Li Chonglou glanced at his phone. It was only around seven in the morning. More importantly, Qiu Bai had no other issues; the only topic of discussion was waiting for his news.
Therefore, Li Chonglou couldn't understand why Qiu Bai would suddenly approach him.
He also refused to say anything over the phone, only telling him to go to his house first.
After saying this, Qiu Bai hastily hung up the phone. Li Chonglou was stunned for a moment before tidying up briefly with a face full of confusion.
An hour later, he arrived outside Qiu Bai's house. Strangely, the previously open doorway was now tightly shut.
A gut feeling that something was wrong instantly arose in Li Chonglou's heart.
"Old Lin, how about a fusion?"
A decisive refusal echoed from the soul bottle.
"Don't call me unless there's a fight. I don't want to reincarnate so soon."