Chapter 170: This Feels Mildly Inconvenient

The moment I woke up cold, I already knew that the day was going to be shit.

I had three walking furnaces, more blankets then a girl would ever need, and for some reason, today was the day that I woke up cold.

I need to point out that I didn’t chose violence, it was chosen for me the second my furnaces walked off to do something else.

Taking in a deep breath, I opened my eyes to try and find a blanket, because at least they wouldn’t walk away, only to discover that not only was I alone, but all the blankets were too far away for me to easily reach.

Apparently, I had outlived my usefulness and now the men around me were trying to freeze me out.

Looking over at the TV, I let out a bit of a sigh. It was still on, but it was stuck on the screen "Are you still watching?" Of course I was still watching. I don’t have to be awake to watch TV, didn’t everyone know that?

Pressing enter so that the series could continue, I raised an eyebrow. ’Worst Ex Ever’ was now starting on the second season. It seemed fitting.

Sitting up, I looked around the room. Chenghai wasn’t in the kitchen making breakfast, Lingyun wasn’t rubbing my feet, Zhenlan wasn’t sitting in his chair, and Yuche was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, they were all standing by the window, looking out through the curtain like something new was going on outside.

What made it even worse was the fact that my vine, my baby was sitting on Yuche’s shoulder, leaning forward like it was Christmas morning and it was desperate to go and open presents.

Well... clearly I had become chopped liver. The only thing I could do now was kick all the guys out to fend for themselves and live my life like the princess I knew I was.

I dragged one hand down my face before I forced myself to my feet. Maybe there was a completely reasonable explanation as to why I was cold. Maybe I was just cranky without my morning chocolate.

Deciding that I would give the guys one last chance, I came up behind Yuche. "Please don’t tell me someone else wants to move in," I grumbled.

But none of the men man answered immediately.

That was definitely not a good sign.

Seriously, I had just gotten rid of the military. How could a new group be already trying to get my house. Was it cursed? Did I need to find a priest to preform an exorcist? Because I was pretty sure that this was bullshit.

When they continued to be quiet past what I considered to be an acceptable point, I poked Yuche in the back.

"You didn’t get robbed, did you?" I asked suspiciously. "Because if someone stole my snacks, I’ll kill everyone in this room and then myself."

Lingyun looked at me over his shoulder, opened his mouth, and then closed it again with a weird look on his face.

"No," Chenghai admitted slowly. "I don’t think we got robbed. Maybe? I don’t know."

The man sounded so dazed and confused that it finally got my attention.

Letting out a long sigh, I walked between Yuche and Zhenlan toward the front window. The baby vine jumped from Yuche’s shoulder and onto mine, vibrating hard enough now that it felt like I had shoved an electric toothbrush down my shirt.

That definitely wasn’t normal.

I looked outside.

And froze.

Green.

Nothing but green.

The street was gone.

The neighboring houses were gone.

The military barricades were gone.

Everything outside the mansion walls had transformed into what looked like a tropical rainforest overnight.

Massive trees towered over rooftops while vines thicker than a man’s torso twisted around streetlights and telephone poles like they had always belonged there. Grass reached almost waist height in some places while enormous flowers bloomed between cracked pavement and abandoned vehicles.

The sounds were wrong too.

Birds.

Insects.

Leaves moving in the wind.

It felt less like Rongdu and more like someone had dropped our house directly into the middle of a jungle.

"What the fuck happened to my yard?" I demanded.

Nobody answered.

Mostly because apparently nobody knew.

Yuche crossed his arms slowly. "It was like this when we woke up."

"That is rude."

Chenghai rubbed one hand across his face. "Rouxi... the trees are taller than the houses."

"Yes. I noticed the giant trees, Chenghai. Thank you."

One of the flowers outside slowly turned toward the house.

Bright red petals unfolded outward while the thick green stem bent with unsettling smoothness. It looked almost cartoonish. Like one of those giant plants from old Mario games.

Then the center split open into a mouth full of jagged teeth.

Lingyun immediately stepped back. "Absolutely not," he hissed while shaking his head. Like just that movement was enough to turn everything back to how it was before we fell asleep last night.

The plant slammed toward the front window with enough force to crack the glass slightly.

Yuche moved instantly, grabbing my arm to pull me backward while Chenghai reached for one of the weapons near the doorway.

I didn’t move.

Instead, I stepped closer to the window and knocked twice against the glass.

Tap. Tap.

The flower froze.

"Try it again," I said calmly with a slight smirk on my face.

Nobody spoke behind me.

The flower remained perfectly still.

I narrowed my eyes slightly. "See this?" I tapped the glass again. "Protected."

The massive plant slowly lowered itself a few inches.

Good.

"Even think about touching one of my people and we’ll see which one of us has the bigger teeth."

The earth beneath the flower suddenly shifted and the plant vanished underground instantly. I knew it wasn’t dead, but at least I put it on a time out for a few seconds so that it could think about what it had done.

Then Lingyun spoke carefully. "I don’t think plants are supposed to listen."

I snorted softly. "Neither are people. Doesn’t stop me from trying."

Nobody laughed at my joke.

Tough crowd.

The baby vine stretched higher around my shoulders like it was trying to look out the window better while the jungle outside swayed gently in the morning breeze.

Then, slowly, the ground near the flower shifted again.

A tiny bit of green carefully poked back out of the dirt. It was moving much slower this time, like a puppy trying very hard not to get yelled at again.

I pointed at it immediately. "Behave."

The plant froze so fast it almost folded in half.

Yuche stared at the window for several long seconds before finally looking at me. "Should I even ask how you’re doing that?"

"I have a winning personality."

"That is absolutely not it."

I looked back outside at the endless wall of green swallowing the city one street at a time.

Then I sighed.

"Well," I muttered. "This feels mildly inconvenient."