Chapter 165
Xing Nuo, his small basket slung over his shoulder, crouched down by a tree, his hands gripping a mushroom, pulling with all his might.
With a final tug, the mushroom came loose, and he landed on his bottom with a thud.
He pulled himself up, using the tree trunk for support, and listened to his classmates bragging about the size of the mushrooms they had picked.
Xing Nuo looked at the mushroom in his hand. Mine’s the biggest!
A shadow crept over the mushroom farm at the foot of the mountain.
Xing Nuo, crouching down, using a small stick to search for mushrooms under the bushes, saw the approaching darkness and rubbed his eyes.
He poked An Zimuo, who was busy digging a hole.
“An Zimuo, you see that dark thing?”
An Zimuo shook his head, engrossed in his task.
“No. Xing Nuo, wait! I finish digging hole! Plant mushroom…then next year…we come back…giant mushroom!”
Xing Nuo didn’t reply, watching as the shadow, like a rising tide, engulfed the teachers and the other children, then him.
At the Rongcheng SIA headquarters.
Qi Yao and his team sped towards the mountain in their car.
“Any information about this monster?”
“No, but there’s a mushroom farm at the foot of the mountain. The school has a partnership with them. They often take students there for field trips.”
Qi Yao’s heart sank. “Are there any students there today?”
His teammate, wearing glasses, sighed and nodded.
“Yes.”
“Qi-dui, be careful. In this dungeon…you might not be human.”
In the forest.
Xing Nuo, now a small, pale golden mushroom, was trying to hide from the sun under the shade of a tree.
“Sun so annoying!”
“I know, right! When will it rain? I like rainy days!”
Xing Nuo wiggled his cap. Rainy days the best!
Raindrops on my cap…soaking into the soil…everything cool and damp…so comfy!
He moved closer to the tree and, seeing a dejected-looking mushroom beside him, said consolingly:
“It’s okay. After next rain…you’ll have cap again!”
His friend, An Zimuo, the mushroom, had no cap, just a stem.
He was constantly being mocked by the other mushrooms and was always sulking.
“I don’t understand! Why I no have cap?!”
Xing Nuo also didn’t understand. He looked at An Zimuo, then said hesitantly:
“Maybe…someone pulled it off?”
An Zimuo, indignant, yelled:
“Like being bald?!”
As a mushroom, having no cap, and his stem being dark and ugly, he felt even more self-conscious.
Xing Nuo’s own cap was small and pale gold, almost translucent, like sunlight filtering through it.
He nudged his friend with his cap.
“It’s okay. We go find Mushroom King. He can help you gwow new cap!”
The Mushroom King was the most powerful mushroom in this forest. He could definitely solve An Zimuo’s problem!
An Zimuo’s eyes lit up with hope.
“Okay! Let’s go!”
He couldn’t wait to have a cap again and silence those mocking little mushrooms!
A few nearby mushrooms, hearing them, said worriedly:
“Xing Nuo, don’t go! The Mushroom King is scary! What if he eats little mushrooms?”
“Yeah, An Zimuo, even if you’re ugly and have no cap, we won’t abandon you! Mushroom community vewy inclusive!”
This only made An Zimuo feel worse.
He pulled himself out of the soil and turned to Xing Nuo.
“Xing Nuo, come! We no talk to these mushrooms!”
Xing Nuo also pulled his mushroom roots, thin, thread-like tendrils that helped him absorb nutrients and move around, out of the soil.
The two little mushrooms, bidding farewell to their mushroom teacher, started their journey up the mountain.
The Mushroom King lived at the peak, a figure of both awe and fear, and although many tried to seek his help, he didn’t meet with just anyone.
Xing Nuo, as they walked through the forest, would quickly pull his cap down and burrow into the soil at the slightest sound.
Seeing An Zimuo still walking, oblivious to the danger, he would pop back out and knock him over with his cap.
“An Zimuo, hide in soil! Quick!”
An Zimuo, finally realizing the danger, would quickly burrow into the soil.
The two little mushrooms hid, one with only its stem showing, the other with only its cap.
A rabbit hopped over, sniffed at the two mushrooms, then, seeing them burrow deeper into the soil, lost interest and hopped away.
After the rabbit left, Xing Nuo cautiously peeked out.
“Okay, safe now!”
An Zimuo eagerly pulled himself out of the soil, his little tendrils moving quickly as he hurried up the mountain.
“Have to find Mushroom King fast!”
Xing Nuo followed him, humming. “Yes. Then you’ll have cap…like other mushrooms.”
They walked for a long time and reached a small stream.
Xing Nuo circled the stream, sighing, not knowing how to cross it.
An Zimuo was about to throw himself into the water, trying to swim across,
when Xing Nuo stopped him.
“No, we too light. Water will carry us away…then fishies will eat us.”
He looked at An Zimuo and added:
“Zimuo, you alweady no cap…if fishies eat youw stem…then you weally gone.”
An Zimuo, horrified, his eyes wide, paced anxiously by the stream.
“Then what we do?! Can’t cross stream…can’t find Mushroom King!”
A red carp surfaced and spat a stream of water at them.
“You silly! We fish no eat mushrooms! Not yummy!”
Xing Nuo, almost splashed by the water, took a couple of steps back, looking at the carp.
“Okay. You no eat us…but we still can’t cross.”
The carp splashed around in the water, then, seeing the little mushroom’s pretty, golden cap, wanting to scare him, jumped out of the water.
Xing Nuo and An Zimuo, startled, quickly burrowed into the soil.
Only after the carp’s laughter subsided did Xing Nuo realize he had been tricked.
“You bad fishy!” he yelled, popping out of the soil.
The carp, its tail swishing playfully, chuckled.
“Yes, I am. What are you going to do about it?”
Xing Nuo, frustrated, unable to cross the stream, suddenly heard someone call his name.
A little boy, carrying a small basket, ran towards them.
Before Xing Nuo could even see him clearly, the boy was already there.
“Quick! It’s a human!”
Xing Nuo and An Zimuo quickly burrowed into the soil, trying to hide.
Lu Qi crouched down and poked the little golden mushroom, seeing it burrow deeper.
“Xing Nuo, why you mushroom?”
Xing Nuo, hearing his name, tilted his cap, puzzled.
How does he know my name?
But he didn’t dare come out, afraid it was a trick.
Humans ate mushrooms!
He waited, not hearing any other sounds, not even breathing, and cautiously peeked out.
He saw Lu Qi staring at him.
Xing Nuo: !!!
Doomed!
Zaizai will be mushroom soup!
Lu Qi’s eyes, sparkling with blue light, looked at Xing Nuo’s pretty, golden cap, and he smiled.
“Xing Nuo, you turned into mushroom?”
Xing Nuo, having been discovered, sighed and said:
“I always mushroom.”
Lu Qi, a large question mark appearing above his head, his blue eyes flickering, his circuits overloading,
What does that even mean? Aren’t you human?
Xing Nuo shook his head, looking at the human boy.
“Not! You no know widdle mushrooms?”
He wondered if this boy was a bit slow.
Lu Qi, his database lacking any relevant information, his processors overheating, couldn’t answer.
Could Xing Nuo actually be a mushroom?
