The Whole Family Are Villains, I’m the Group Pet 167

Chapter 167

The Mushroom King was a mushroom-shaped monster.

It looked down at the two small mushrooms bowing before it and said:

“I can’t help you.”

An Zimuo, his entire mushroom body bouncing in agitation, cried out:

“But why?! You’re the most powerful monster here! You must have a way!”

The little golden mushroom, Xing Nuo, also looked at the giant mushroom with wide, adoring eyes, thinking, If only I could be that big and stwong!

One shake of his magnificent cap, and all the other mushrooms would bow down!

“Wow!” Xing Nuo couldn’t help but exclaim, his small cap raised, his stem straight. “Mushroom King, how can I be like you? So big and pwetty!”

The Mushroom King chuckled, its cap shaking with laughter.

“Little mushroom, you can’t grow that big!”

“Now go away, little mushrooms. You’ll grow a new cap eventually. Don’t disturb my nap.”

It roared, and a gust of wind swept the two little mushrooms away.

Xing Nuo landed on the ground and was picked up by Lu Qi, who gently brushed the dirt off his cap with his shirt.

“Are you okay, Xing Nuo?” Lu Qi asked, his voice filled with concern, holding the little mushroom carefully.

Xing Nuo, still dizzy, leaned against Lu Qi’s hand and sighed.

“Mushroom King can’t help An Zimuo.”

Lu Qi glanced at An Zimuo, who was still lying on the ground, his stem drooping dejectedly, and shrugged.

“So, are you going back down? Or going home?”

Xing Nuo tilted his head, puzzled.

“Home? We mushrooms can live anywhere. No fixed home. But…go back to mushroom gwoup…okay. Two mushrooms…too dangerous.”

Just then, he received a signal from the mushrooms at the foot of the mountain.

“Bad men coming!”

At the foot of the mountain.

A security cordon had been set up, and the nearby residents and guesthouses evacuated.

Qi Yao, fully equipped, holding a prop he had bought from a player at a high price, exchanged glances with his teammates and entered the forest.

The air inside was cool and damp, a welcome change from the summer heat.

The soil was soft and loose, the sunlight filtered through the thick canopy, creating dappled shadows.

Qi Yao, wearing a gas mask, cautiously took a few steps, then accidentally kicked a mushroom.

He was about to look down when he realized the mushroom was gone.

His teammate, who had been monitoring the energy readings, asked:

“Any sign of the missing students and teachers?”

To prevent being transformed by the dungeon, Qi Yao was wearing a Human Form Stabilizer prop, but it only lasted for three hours.

They had three hours to rescue the students and teachers and defeat the dungeon monster!

But they still didn’t know the monster’s level.

His teammate shook his head and sighed.

“The energy readings are stronger near the peak. The monster is probably hiding there. As for the missing people…”

Qi Yao, his first time in a non-humanoid dungeon, wasn’t sure if they would revert back to their human forms after the monster was defeated.

He sighed and continued up the mountain.

The mushrooms, having gathered, followed the humans, keeping a safe distance.

“What are they doing here?”

“I know! They’re here to catch mushrooms!”

“Run! Run!”

The little mushroom class monitor yelled:

“No! They want to hurt mushrooms! We have to fight them!”

The other little mushrooms, their caps tilted, looked at him, puzzled.

“But what do we do?”

The class monitor, his voice filled with bravado, yelled:

“I don’t know!”

The mushrooms grumbled, then, receiving a message from the two little mushrooms on the mountain, cheered, bouncing excitedly.

“Yay! We’ll lead them there!”

Halfway up the mountain.

With Lu Qi’s help, Xing Nuo quickly reached the stream.

“I asked mushroom fwiends…to bring bad men here. Look! Big hole! We hide here…push them in!”

An Zimuo jumped down, looked into the deep pit, and then jumped back up, yelling:

“Yes! Chase bad men away from Mushroom Mountain!”

Lu Qi, skeptical, his eyes flickering with blue light as he calculated, gathered a pile of dry leaves.

“We cover it…make a trap. If mushrooms follow my instructions…ninety-five percent chance…they fall in.”

Xing Nuo gasped, impressed.

“You so smawt! But Lu Qi, why you help mushrooms? You weally not human?”

Lu Qi wasn’t helping the mushrooms. He was helping Xing Nuo.

Xing Nuo was human, so he helped humans. Xing Nuo was a mushroom now, so he helped mushrooms.

He looked at Xing Nuo and said again:

“I’m not human. Xing Nuo is.”

Xing Nuo, hearing his words, his little mushroom body frozen, stared at him, his mind reeling.

He looked towards the peak, where the giant mushroom monster, partially hidden by the trees, its spores scattering in the wind, could be seen.

Xing Nuo, his eyes filled with confusion, his mushroom vision allowing him to see the glowing spores drifting through the forest,

felt a tiny spore land beside him, near the stream, quickly taking root, absorbing nutrients from the soil.

His confusion vanished, and he lifted his cap.

“No. Don’t say that. I widdle mushroom.”

Lu Qi, meeting his gaze, understood.

“Okay, you’re a mushroom. Now we hide…wait for bad men.”

Xing Nuo nodded and let Lu Qi put him in his pocket, then they hid behind a large tree.

An Zimuo hid behind a potato plant, his stem blending in perfectly.

The mountain wasn’t very tall, and the climb only took a couple of hours.

Xing Nuo, peeking out of Lu Qi’s pocket, watched the pit, his eyes fixed on the path Lu Qi had marked.

Soon, they heard voices approaching.

“Why are these mushrooms attacking us?!”

“Run! Cross the stream! The mushrooms can’t follow us!”

The mushrooms had a unique defense mechanism: they released a poisonous mist, the prettier the mushroom, the stronger the poison, capable of momentarily stunning humans.

And they were quick to hide, making them difficult to catch.

The ability users, having learned their lesson, not wanting to waste time on a few small mushrooms, continued up the mountain.

Qi Yao, their leader, was in the front.

As ability users, their physical abilities were enhanced, and they quickly reached the spot where Xing Nuo and Lu Qi were hiding.

The mushrooms that had led them there had already burrowed into the soil.

Xing Nuo glanced at Lu Qi, who, understanding, placed him on the ground.

Xing Nuo quickly released a cloud of shimmering, golden mist, beautiful and dreamlike in the dappled sunlight, like a thin veil of gold.

The mist reached the humans, and although their gas masks offered some protection, they still inhaled some, their vision blurring, their minds becoming hazy.

The one who had inhaled the most stumbled and, his mind addled, giggled.

“I’m a mushroom! Hehehe!”

Before his teammates could stop him, he fell into a pile of leaves.

One more step, and he would have fallen into the hidden pit!

His teammates tried to pull him out, but Qi Yao, his mind still clear, yelled, “Retreat!” But it was too late.

Two of them had already fallen into the pit!

Xing Nuo, his mission accomplished, quickly ran back to Lu Qi, who put him in his pocket, and watched the remaining humans trying to rescue their teammates.

He studied their leader, “Qi-dui,” whose determined expression seemed familiar.

He tilted his cap, listening to their conversation.

“Qi-dui, leave us! This prop has a time limit! Go on without us!”

“Yes! If the prop’s energy runs out, who knows what will happen to us!”

Qi Yao, looking at his trapped teammates, his jaw clenched, his arms bulging, cursed under his breath.

Xing Nuo, hearing their words, focused on the word “prop.”

He glanced at them and noticed a small jade pendant hanging around each of their necks.

No prop…humans turn into stwange things?

He gestured for Lu Qi to come closer to the stream and said loudly:

“I so useless! Didn’t make them all fall in! Let’s go up mountain…tell Mushroom King…humans here!”