The Whole Family Are Villains, I’m the Group Pet 166

Chapter 166

While Lu Qi was still processing this information, Xing Nuo seized the opportunity, exchanged glances with An Zimuo, and the two little mushrooms pulled themselves out of the soil.

They scurried away, their tiny tendrils a blur, disappearing into the undergrowth.

“Run! Run!”

Lu Qi, stunned, looked down. The little mushrooms are gone!

His eyes flickered with blue light, and he followed their trail.

Xing Nuo and An Zimuo hid in a bush, Xing Nuo’s bright, golden cap easily visible, so he covered it with a dry leaf.

He peeked out cautiously, not seeing the human, and sighed in relief.

An Zimuo, leaning against a wild potato, his stem swaying, sighed dramatically.

“Nasty human! He wanted to catch us…make mushroom soup!”

Xing Nuo, peering out from under the leaf, looked at the distant mountain peak and frowned.

“Mushroom King lives so far…we’ll never reach him.”

As the two little mushrooms worried, sunlight filtered through the leaves, making them wilt.

“Stupid sun! Gonna dry up my stem!” An Zimuo yelled, then burrowed into the soil, sulking.

Mushrooms disliked the sun, preferring damp, shady environments.

Xing Nuo was still very small, not even as big as a human hand.

But he had big dreams. He wanted to be the biggest, prettiest mushroom on this mountain!

As big and beautiful as the legendary Mushroom King!

Xing Nuo, seeing An Zimuo wilting in the sun, his stem looking even uglier now, moved closer and shared his leaf.

“It’s okay. We use leaf…block sun. When clouds come…we continue journey.”

An Zimuo sighed. “Okay.”

Then, he exclaimed, “Leaf really works! Not so hot now!”

Xing Nuo also felt cooler. He peeked out from under the leaf and, not seeing the sun, saw Lu Qi standing there, shielding them with his hand.

Xing Nuo stared at Lu Qi’s icy blue eyes, a flicker of recognition in his own.

“How you find us?”

Lu Qi, looking down at the tiny mushroom, his voice softening, smiled faintly.

“I can always find you.”

Xing Nuo, not understanding, but seeing the human shielding them from the sun, his fear lessening, asked:

“You came to mountain…to catch mushrooms?”

Before Lu Qi could answer, An Zimuo, seeing him, his eyes widening in alarm, pulled himself out of the soil and bravely charged at Lu Qi.

“Human, prepare to die!”

He launched himself at Lu Qi, who easily dodged, and An Zimuo landed headfirst in the dirt.

Xing Nuo quickly popped out of the soil and nudged his friend with his cap.

“An Zimuo! Wake up!”

An Zimuo, having knocked himself unconscious, his stem sticking out of the soil, his delicate tendrils waving in the breeze, didn’t move.

Xing Nuo, frantic, circled him, trying to pull him out, but he wasn’t strong enough.

“What to do?”

Lu Qi, still shielding Xing Nuo with one hand, used his other hand to pull An Zimuo out of the dirt.

He dropped the unconscious An Zimuo on the ground and wiped his hand on his clothes, a look of disgust on his face.

“So dirty.”

Xing Nuo, relieved that An Zimuo was okay, looked up at Lu Qi.

“Thank you. You good person.”

He hadn’t taken advantage of their vulnerable state, but had even shielded them from the sun and helped An Zimuo.

Xing Nuo, exhausted from their long journey, went to rest under a large leaf, leaning against its stem.

“Human, why you on mountain? This mushroom tewwitowy.”

Lu Qi, hearing the little mushroom call him “human,” as if having truly forgotten his own humanity, crouched down, his chin resting on his hand, and looked at him.

“I’m not human. I came to find you.”

Xing Nuo, not remembering him, tilted his cap.

“You came to mountain before…pick mushrooms…saw me?”

Lu Qi shook his head, his blue eyes flickering as he looked at the little mushroom.

“No. We’re friends.”

Xing Nuo had said those words himself, and Lu Qi had treasured them, often using them to tease An Zimuo.

“Fwiends?”

Xing Nuo was shocked. When had he become friends with a human?

Lu Qi nodded firmly, his voice low.

“Xing Nuo is human. You forgot? You’re in elementary school…live in Happy Family residence…have daddy and brothers…”

Xing Nuo didn’t remember any of that.

He shook his head vigorously.

“No. I widdle mushroom!”

Then, looking at Lu Qi, he suddenly realized.

“I know! You ate poisonous mushroom! Youw head dizzy!”

Lu Qi sighed, patiently explaining:

“I don’t eat mushrooms. I’m not human. I don’t need to eat.”

Xing Nuo was now even more certain that Lu Qi had been poisoned.

He thought he wasn’t human, and he thought a mushroom was!

He looked at Lu Qi sympathetically.

“It’s okay. Poison will wear off…then you wemember.”

Lu Qi, giving up on this topic, asked:

“Xing Nuo going up the mountain? Why?”

Xing Nuo, thinking the human was a bit slow, but seeing an opportunity, said:

“Yes. We go find Mushroom King…help An Zimuo gwow new cap. You want come? He can help you too…with youw poisonous mushroom pwobwem!”

Lu Qi, of course, wouldn’t refuse. He took out his basket, lined it with soft grass, and carefully placed Xing Nuo inside.

“You stay in basket. I carry you up.”

Xing Nuo bounced slightly in the basket and said:

“You forgot An Zimuo!”

Lu Qi turned and, picking up the ugly, unconscious mushroom stem, tossed it into the basket.

An Zimuo, already dizzy, was now even more disoriented.

He lay there, motionless.

The sun emerged, its summer heat filtering through the leaves, shining on the little golden mushroom.

Xing Nuo’s pale gold cap shimmered in the sunlight, almost translucent.

Lu Qi plucked a large leaf and placed it over the basket, shielding the little mushroom from the sun.

Xing Nuo, peeking out from under the leaf, watched as Lu Qi crossed the stream.

To avoid getting his shoes wet, Lu Qi was carrying them, his bare feet stepping into the water.

Xing Nuo noticed that his feet weren’t normal, but made of silver metal,

shaped like human feet and ankles, their movements smooth and fluid.

And with the occasional flicker of blue light in his eyes, Xing Nuo was now convinced that Lu Qi really wasn’t human!

So, Lu Qi hadn’t eaten a poisonous mushroom and wasn’t hallucinating?

Then, could it be true that he was the human?

But I’m a mushroom! he thought, his mind reeling. I have to meet the Mushroom King and become a big mushroom!

What’s so great about being human anyway?

As the basket swayed, his little mushroom head filled with questions.

Lu Qi was usually quiet, letting Xing Nuo do most of the talking.

He hadn’t spoken during their journey, and only as they neared the peak did he finally ask:

“Almost there. Where’s the Mushroom King?”

An Zimuo, having finally woken up, sat up in the basket and looked down.

The green mountain stretched below them, the clouds seemingly within reach, the view breathtaking.

They had reached the peak!

Xing Nuo and An Zimuo climbed out of the basket, their voices filled with renewed determination.

“We go by ouwselves now!”

Lu Qi watched as the two tiny mushrooms, smaller than his hand, bravely marched towards the highest point of the mountain, the little golden mushroom still carrying its leaf parasol.

He wasn’t a mushroom and couldn’t enter the Mushroom King’s territory. He could only wait for them to return.

The final stretch was easier, the air cool and crisp, a gentle breeze occasionally ruffling their caps.

And the little mushrooms, adept at hiding, quickly burrowed into the soil whenever they sensed danger, reaching the peak safely.

They stood there, a few steps away from the giant mushroom, almost as tall as the surrounding trees, its massive cap blocking out the sun, and gasped in awe.

“Wow, that’s the Mushroom King?”

An Zimuo, the most excited, immediately knelt down, bowing his stem.

“Oh, great Mushroom King! Pwease help me!”

Xing Nuo also bowed, but he discreetly peeked at the giant mushroom.

It was pure black, with intricate patterns, its stem thick and white, spores scattering in the breeze.

The Mushroom King, awakened by their chatter, opened its eyes, its gaze falling on the two tiny mushrooms, smaller than the leaves at its feet.

“You are…?”

It looked at them, its voice deep and booming, then chuckled.

“Two newly sprouted little mushrooms. What do you want?”

An Zimuo quickly explained his predicament:

“Mushroom King, I want a pretty cap! Like other mushrooms! Then they won’t laugh at me!”

Xing Nuo nodded, his voice sweet and childish.

“Mushroom King, pwease help An Zimuo!”