Sandongg was cooperating quite well.
At least, that was Li Yingling's impression based on its attitude; Sandongg's small face was taut with seriousness.
Whenever Li Yingling asked a question, Sandongg would ponder it earnestly before offering a serious answer based on what it knew.
"Is there anything unique about this place?"
"N-no..."
"Are there any strange phenomena here? For example, surges of spiritual power."
"Sandongg has been here for a long time... n-never noticed anything."
"Then, is there any information you know here? The kind that others don't."
Sandongg racked its brains, then cautiously raised its head and whispered:
"Does it count that there is a rabbit here that became a demon and is very fierce?"
Li Yingling frowned slightly and remained silent.
Looking at its expression, it seemed quite cooperative, but its words were of no use whatsoever.
This flower spirit appeared quite harmless as well, and Li Yingling did not really want to feed it a Vitality Pill.
Sandongg stole a glance at Li Yingling's expression, naturally understanding that its answers did not satisfy this human cultivator, who seemed easy enough to talk to.
But it simply did not know much.
Sandongg had never even left Flower Ridge. It had awakened in Flower Ridge, grown up in Flower Ridge, and watched the sun and moon rise and set, and the seasons turn, all within Flower Ridge.
It had not seen much of the world; most of its knowledge and hearsay came from stories told by others.
In its only brief and hazy memory, Sandongg seemed to have encountered another flower spirit at some point.
It was a very long time ago; Sandongg could not even recall what that other spirit looked like.
It was so long ago that Sandongg suspected the spirit might have been something it dreamed up.
At that time, Sandongg seemed rather muddled. The other flower spirit seemed to have guided it for a while, teaching it how to avoid danger and other skills.
However, that memory had become blurred beyond recognition, and Sandongg had long since treated it as a dream.
When one is lonely for too long, one dares not hope for companionship.
Without possession, one does not experience loss.
But Sandongg was certain that this was not what Li Yingling wanted to hear either.
Yet, Sandongg dared not fabricate stories. What if it were asked to lead the way, and they dug three feet into the ground to find nothing, and then decided to bury Sandongg along with them?
Sandongg's taut face broke into a fawning smile—look how cute Sandongg is, can you let Sandongg go?
Li Yingling sighed softly at this. Under Sandongg's horrified gaze, she reached out and gently rubbed its head.
Feeling the gentle caress on top of its head, Sandongg's horror gradually subsided into calm.
It cautiously looked up at Li Yingling's face, which wore a faint smile.
Li Yingling picked up the Wood Essence Crystal and handed it to Sandongg:
"Although you don't know anything and seem a bit silly, your attitude is decent. This is for you."
Sandongg looked at the Wood Essence Crystal, then at Li Yingling.
To be honest, it really didn't have the courage to take the Wood Essence Crystal from Li Yingling's hand.
What if... after taking it...
After all, human promises are not as reliable as raindrops falling from the sky.
When rain falls, it can nourish flowers and grass; brilliant flowers are the trace that raindrops have been there.
Human promises, once spoken, turn into air, leaving no trace behind.
This wasn't Sandongg making things up; it was what Sandongg had seen with its own eyes and heard with its own ears—so many people making so many promises, yet almost none of them were fulfilled.
Humans were all like that.
This human cultivator looked beautiful and her demeanor was very gentle.
What if she was enforcing the law by using bait...
Just like that tiny piece of Moon Essence.
Li Yingling looked at the timid Sandongg, and without a word, forcibly stuffed the Wood Essence Crystal into its arms. Then she stood up, looked at the other two, and spoke:
"Shall we record this and move to another place, or search this area thoroughly?"
Zhang Miaoyu answered the fastest: "I defer to the leader."
"You decide," Xie Lingyu also spoke indifferently.
Before the team split up, Chu Xingchen had specifically instructed them to listen to Li Yingling regarding matters of searching for things, as her luck was better.
But if it involved plotting some scheme or stirring up trouble, they needed to be careful.
Xie Lingyu hadn't paid much attention to this statement at first, but seeing Chu Xingchen's repeated warnings and his solemn expression, she had agreed.
So far, it seemed they were still within the scope of searching for things.
Li Yingling turned her gaze to the surroundings, covered in vibrant flowers. Under the moonlight, every flower seemed to be glowing and radiating light.
The moon was very bright today; even a mortal could take in the various brilliant colors of these flowers.
Li Yingling had once fantasized about whether there truly existed a sea of flowers in the world as wonderful as a dream.
With such beautiful scenery, Li Yingling suddenly felt that taking it slow was fine. Matters were not urgent at the moment; they could set off after playing for another day or two. She might never come to this place again.
Her Master had also said—One must learn to stop walking for one's own sake.
Li Yingling used to think this was just an excuse for her Master to be lazy, but now it seemed to make a lot of sense.
"Then let's search around?" Li Yingling suggested.
Zhang Miaoyu was still the fastest to cast a vote of approval.
Xie Lingyu nodded lightly, her gaze shifting to Sandongg, who was still tense and trembling slightly.
Flower spirits were naturally not rare to Xie Lingyu; what didn't the Tianyan Sect have?
However, this was the first time she had seen a flower spirit shivering so much, as if afraid for its life.
If nothing else, she found it rather cute.
Flower spirits were generally weak and had gentle natures.
Basically, they could be classified as harmless.
Xie Lingyu looked at Sandongg, who was completely captivated by the small piece of Moon Essence. After thinking for a moment, she took out a spirit stone and placed it in front of Sandongg.
This little flower spirit was as poor as Chu Xingchen was back then.
The little flower spirit was pitifully poor; back then, Chu Xinghen was poor in an interesting way.
Sandongg cautiously glanced at Xie Lingyu, whose face was calm and expressionless, and whose aura carried a slight coldness.
Li Yingling looked at the little flower spirit and proposed:
"Since you won't accept it as a gift, then consider it payment. Tomorrow morning at Mao hour, at this same spot, can you take us to see where the good scenery is around here?"
Sandongg looked at Li Yingling with a somewhat dazed expression.
However, Li Yingling didn't say anything more. She just smiled, waved her hand, and said goodbye:
"See you tomorrow, Sandongg."
After speaking, Li Yingling took Xie Lingyu's hand and walked out.
Sandongg watched the three leave. Beside it were two large spirit stones and a Wood Essence Crystal, and in its hand, it still held the tiny Moon Essence.
Under the moonlight.
Pale blue spiritual power emerged, rippling through the flowers. She picked a few beautiful blooms and wove them into a small flower garland to wear on her head.
Li Yingling smiled and shook the woven flower garland, wanting to place it on Xie Lingyu's head:
"Auntie Xie, you would definitely look good wearing this."
Xie Lingyu lowered her head slightly in acquiescence.
Zhang Miaoyu said with envious tone: "Leader... I want one too."
"Hmph, you have a share too."
"Then I'll make one for the leader too!"
Sandongg watched the laughing figures of the three gradually leaving; no one looked back at it again.
It lowered its head to look at the things they had so casually left behind.
It was as if they weren't afraid at all that it would take the things and break the promise.
Or perhaps they simply didn't care whether it would keep the appointment or not.
Sandongg pursed its lips, looking at the spirit stones before it, not knowing what to do.
This kind of one-sided agreement was simply too unreasonable.
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