Little Mushroom 小蘑菇-Chapter 53: Summer

Summer had come to the Abyss.

Below the Highland Research Institute, a deep green that covered everything rose and fell, like a mighty ocean connected to the pale blue sky. In the distant mountains, a flock of black winged monsters circled, letting out long warbling cries.

Their cries and the wind were delivered together to the mountain peak. Above the corridor, the foliage and clustered flowers of the vines swayed, and snow-white petals drifted down to land on An Zhe. He raised a hand to catch one, holding it in his left hand, and fiddled with the tip of a vine with his other hand.

Lu Feng reached out to remove the petals on his shirt collar and hair. Feeling the man's movements, An Zhe turned back and pulled the vine over to Lu Feng. "Look."

He had just discovered a new snow-white bud on this vine.

Of course, whether there were new buds on this vine or whether the buds were big or small or black or white would not pique Colonel Lu's interest. The Colonel expressionlessly leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.

"Tsk." Across from them, Dr. Ji let out a sound akin to admiration. He leaned against the windowsill, left hand shaking a reagent bottle and right hand hanging at his side.

In the last battle to defend the Northern Base, Dr. Ji had lost his entire right arm and the lower part of his right leg. He had carried out the conversation with the Highland Research Institute in the midst of such terrible agony. As for why he survived instead of dying from excessive blood loss, it could only be attributed to the mercy of God.

He later applied to transfer to the Highland Research Institute. His brain had been unaffected, but in this age without artificial limbs, a right arm and half a leg were more than sufficient to put an end to the scientist's life. He had not come to continue his own research, but ratherbecause of his admiration for Pauli Jones and his willingness to contribute his own body for new research. With the help of dozens of experimental volunteers whowere similar to him, the research institute determined six safe frequencies that could be propagated, among which was a creature that had the ability to regenerate limbs.

In short, Dr. Ji was now like any other regular person, although he was still not yet accustomed to his new limbs.

An Zhe turned to look at Dr. Ji, wishing to see what he was clicking his tongue about this time.

Dr. Ji was looking at Lu Feng. At the same time, he lifted his hands and sharply clapped twice.

"You've been seen by me, Colonel Lu," he said. "If I hadn't seen it, I would've truly thought that you were planning to forever be an honorable gentleman, a qualified father. Oh, you seem to be too young, so you can be a competent older brother instead."

Lu Feng plucked the last petal from An Zhe's neck, then gave a flat look at Dr. Ji.

"Jibran," he said, his tone of voice straightforward, "I've overestimated your personality."

"Okay, okay okay okay." Dr. Ji raised both hands in surrender. "I was wrong, I've underestimated the mighty Arbiter's moral standards."

Lu Feng said nothing.

"It was my mistake, I admit it. It's not that your personality is too respectable, it's that my moral standards are indeed rather low." Dr. Ji continued begging for mercy. As soon as he shifted his gaze, he saw An Zhe, who was looking at him while holding on to Lu Feng's wrist.

"Supposing I was given such a little darling"—he grinned, held out a hand, and made a gesture—"I'd tie him to the bed, and then..."

Lu Feng shot him a cold look.

"... and then dissect him." Dr. Ji shut up after he finished his sentence.

"There's something wrong with Dr. Ji's brain," Lu Feng said to An Zhe, his head lowered. "You can consider using your hyphae to treat him."

"There's absolutely no need!" Nearby, Dr. Ji went pale with fright. "I'll just leave."

This suggestion of Lu Feng's to plot Dr. Ji's murder also failed to pique An Zhe's interest. An Zhe stood on tiptoe and planted a kiss on the side of Lu Feng's face.

Once again, Dr. Ji said, "Tsk."

Lu Feng said, "You can go now."

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

"Is this how you're going to treat your best friend, Colonel Lu?" Dr. Ji asked.

"Yes."

"What, I don't even have the qualification to watch you two play house?" Within Dr. Ji's voice was a trace of heartbreak.

"No."

The phrase "play house" piqued An Zhe's interest, so he once again lifted his head to look at Dr. Ji.

"So cute." Dr. Ji looked at him as well, an odd light flashing in his eyes. "He'd cry for a long time after being dissected, wouldn't he?"

An Zhe always had the feeling that Dr. Ji had been possessed by something. Perhaps he had fused with Mr. Shaw.

Dr. Ji crossed his arms and let out a sigh before shifting his attention back to his light blue reagent bottle.

"Colonel Lu, you really won't try it?" he asked. "Extract No. 1014 doesn't have any side effects. In combination with a minor frequency adjustment of the magnetic poles, after three subjects were injected, one of them had perfect nightvision. This is something that you yourself brought back from the Abyss a month ago."

Sunlight shone in from the gaps between the vine leaves and onto the slender glass tube, the reagent sparkling within.

Lu Feng merely glanced at it.

Beneath the doctor's expectant gaze, An Zhe answered in Lu Feng's stead. "He doesn't want it."

"Tch." Dr. Ji turned and left with his reagent, fiddling with his communicator. "Pauli is calling me. Goodbye."

An Zhe said, "Goodbye, Doctor."

Lu Feng truly did not want it, An Zhe knew.

Moreover, Colonel Lu did not need to obtain those strange enhancements or abilities at all, for he already came and went freely from the Abyss.

While An Zhe was lost in fanciful thoughts, he latched onto the nearby lush vine with his hyphae. He had been eyeing it for a long time.

"Don't eat things willy-nilly." Lu Feng spotted his movements.

"This can be digested," An Zhe argued.

He extended a strand of hyphae to show Lu Feng. The hypha climbed up to the cuff of the Colonel's black uniform sleeve and formed on the silver sleeve buttons a verdant new leaf that gently trembled in the wind.

This was An Zhe's recent amusement. Ever since he discovered he could safely fuse with all living and nonliving things, he tried many of them—apart from the ugly ones.

On one relatively successful occasion, he turned himself into a room full of drifting willow catkins and nearly choked the Colonel.

But fusion was not always safe either. Just as Lu Feng said a long time ago, polymorphic-class monsters would sometimes make mistakes when changing form. Not long ago when he was drinking potato soup, out of his love for this plant, he went to the laboratory and fused with a small piece of potato, then unexpectedly fell unconscious and woke up only after three hours had gone by. Pauli had said, This is because your frequency as a mushroom and the potato's frequency are too different, so rejection occurred. It was the same when fusing with other things. Although the results were always positive, the process was full of uncertainty, just like how a piece of sodium would dissolve in water but the process would produce an explosion.

From then on, Lu Feng prohibited him from eating things willy-nilly.

But An Zhe wished to eat this small piece of vine. This action would not cause any harm to the vine's life, and furthermore, the vine had no abnormalities. It was just a quiet and beautiful blooming vine.

An Zhe gently scraped a small opening in its skin, and juice seeped out.

It was very... quiet. As the pale green juice saturated the hyphae, a wind from the Abyss blew through the cold sky, stirring this vine that was attached to the research institute. The sun, moon, stars, everything in the sky shone upon it. An Zhe closed his eyes. It seemed like his body was likewise relaxing, and Lu Feng was right at his side, so he did not need to worry about anything. Allowing Lu Feng to half-hold him, he sat down on the bench in the dark green corridor.

Perhaps his condition was normal and the vine was also normal. Lu Feng had not allowed him to eat this vine, but he did not stop him either.

That was an implied acceptance.

He lay in Lu Feng's arms, grabbing his hand, his thoughts very disorganized. It was like he was soaking in

warm water.

"It's been growing here for many years, and it was originally a vine that wouldn't flower," he said. "Later, some winged animals brought pollen over, so then it had white flowers. It thinks they're very pretty, and it's very happy."

As he softly rambled about the feelings he experienced from the vine and its memories, he reached up to hold Lu Feng by the shoulder and burrowed deeper into his embrace. He rubbed his head against Lu Feng's neck, then pressed his cheek against the slightly cool silver tassels on the other man's chest, feeling very comfortable.

Lu Feng hummed to indicate that he was listening.

A vine's feelings and memories were very simple things, but there were also some things that couldn't be described in human language. An Zhe scraped together a few words. "It also wishes to have blue flowers. Then... it also hopesthat birds or butterflies and bees will come again and pollinate its flowers. After pollination, it can bear fruit."

Then there was nothing else to talk about.

Lu Feng ruffled An Zhe's hair.

Just then, Lu Feng's communicator lit up, and he picked it up. An Zhe also looked at the communicator screen, which showed a message from the already departed doctor. "You really won't consider Extract No. 1014? Your friend truly needs you very much. He needs a test subject."

The doctor still hadn't given up on peddling his extract.

With a smile, An Zhe watched Lu Feng push a button and reply with one word. "No."

The doctor replied, "Why is your attitude so cold? Isn't night vision good? You don't need it? Don't you want it? Every time you go to the Abyss, I worry for your safety. It's only after you inject Extract No. 1014 that I can rest easy."

He spoke as if it were actually true.

Lu Feng replied, "Aren't infrared glasses easy to use?"

"Then you can consider Extract No. 1015, pure black membrane wings with an average wingspan of four point three meters. You'll be able to fly, and it looks great. I sincerely hope you can experience the feeling of gliding through the air. Won't you consider it?"

"Don't need it," Lu Feng said.

The speed at which the doctor replied was swift. Even through the screen, his resentment as he quickly typed could be felt.

"Times have changed, Mr. Arbiter."

"You must forget the doctrine of human lineage, lay down the prejudices in your heart, and embrace foreign genes."

Lu Feng's reply was as simple and cold as before.

"Thank you."

"It's not right of you to be like this. Do you need psychological counseling?"

"No."

"You're beyond saving!" The doctor went so far as to send an exclamatory voice recording.

It was followed by a text message. "Just when will you be able to cure your obsession with clean bloodlines and morals? You once exiled yourself. Have you still not come back yet? I wish to splash you with extract."

It was clear that the doctor was already irate.

He was always like this after failing to peddle his extracts.

With an expression that was as calm as always, Lu Feng replied, "I'm very normal."

"Choose between 1014 and 1015, and I'll believe you."

Lu Feng said nothing.

"See, you're beyond saving," the doctor said.

Lu Feng frowned slightly. After a long time, he tapped out a single word on the communication interface and sent it.

"Ugly."

A brief silence.

"You really are something," the doctor said.

Lu Feng loosened his grip, and An Zhe held the communicator, smiling as he read.

He thought, the doctor unexpectedly just learned it, whereas he had guessed it long ago.

After the "bell toll," many people voluntarily took in some frequencies that were certified to be safe. Some people grew wings, while others obtained the ability to photosynthesize. Of course, some people experienced harmless rejections, and there were even a rare few who obtained nothing despite fusing.

But Lu Feng refused such things.

Of course, the reason was not at all like what the doctor said, with Lu Feng having an obsession with bloodlines and not allowing the makeup of his own species to be contaminated by other monsters.

The true reason was very simple.

Lu Feng felt that those monsters, or xenogenics, were all very ugly.

Having him peacefully coexist with the humans at the research institute who had fused with other creatures' genes? Fine. Having him also try to grow some other things? Not a chance.

He hated it.

An Zhe put the communicator aside and looked up at Lu Feng's face. His point of view was just right for seeing all the details.

Lu Feng had an unforgettable face, but few would dare to look directly at him, and even fewer would carefully examine his features.

An Zhe felt that his eyes were the most good-looking point about him, as distinctive as the crisp, biting wind atthe top of the mountains in the Abyss. He reached up to touch the Colonel's thin eyebrows. When he was making the mannequin, there was a time when Mr. Shaw had repeatedly admired the blank mannequin head that only had eyebrows and hair, clicking his tongue in admiration. Well done.

Further down were long and narrow deep green eyes half-covered by eyelashes, their appearance cold and lonely. Within those eyes, it was possible to dimly see one's own reflection.

An Zhe thought that if a human looked like this, they indeed had the qualification to disdain other things for being ugly.

He looked at the communicator again, and there was another message from the doctor.

"So what you mean is that I'm not good-looking either?"

The Colonel did not reply.

He turned back again to look at Lu Feng and burrowed even deeper into his arms. For some reason, he just wanted to do so right now, and he strangely felt a little lethargic.

Lu Feng pulled him closer and asked, "What is it?"

An Zhe shook his head, having suddenly thought of a problem.

He looked at Lu Feng but said nothing.

An Zhe was a mushroom who often slept early and woke up early, with eyes that were usually clear and bright, but now it was like they were fogged over with a layer of wetness.

Lu Feng lowered his head, getting a little closer.

An Zhe said in a small voice, "I'm also a xenogenic."

"Mm-hm," Lu Feng said. "Little xenogenic."

An Zhe asked, "Do you think mushrooms are also ugly?"

"Not you. You're fine," Lu Feng said. "The color white is pretty."

"Then what if I were a gray mushroom?"

"It'd be all right."

"What about a black mushroom?"

"That's fine too."

"What about a rainbow mushroom?"

"Hmm." Lu Feng looked at him expressionlessly. His voice was flat as he said, "I'd give you a white mushroom to eat."

This man had a trait where his expression would look more serious the more he teased others.

So An Zhe also expressionlessly said, "I'll eat you."

With a soft laugh, Lu Feng scooped him up and changed their positions so that they went from a horizontal hold to facing each other.

An Zhe flopped forward as though he were boneless and just happened to bump his forehead against Lu Feng's. It was unusual, for he normally did have bones. But right now he was feeling lazy down to the marrow of every single bone, so he did not draw back. The rubbing from Lu Feng's high nose bridge was a little ticklish, so he rubbed back, then buried his head in the hollow of Lu Feng's shoulder.

Lu Feng encircled him, and he unconsciously continued rubbing against Lu Feng.

Seeming to smile, Lu Feng held him a little tighter.

The communicator lit up and went out, then lit up again as Dr. Ji continued tirelessly sending slanderous messages. Lu Feng glanced at the doctor's irate words, thought of the conversation from earlier, and turned to An Zhe.

He asked, "Are my moral standards very high?"

"Huh?" For a while, An Zhe did not understand what he meant. After some thinking, he said, "You're a good person."

"Oh."

Feeling that perhaps his answer was somewhat perfunctory, An Zhe added, "You're very good to us."

Lu Feng asked, "What about to you?"

"To me..." An Zhe pondered it. "Sometimes you aren't very good."

"You can give your answer one more time," Lu Feng said.

An Zhe stubbornly said nothing, which made Lu Feng laugh again. When he laughed, his chest vibrated a little, and they were so close that An Zhe could feel it.

Lu Feng said nothing else.

So An Zhe began to think.

Of course, Lu Feng was good to him. Getting wounded while in the Abyss was inevitable. Sometimes only a trickle of blood would ooze from his arm, but the way Lu Feng treated his wounds would make him feel like his arm had been broken with the amount of care he took to do so. If An Zhe wished to do something, he would not stop him. If An Zhe did not wish or agree to do something, he would not demand it of him either, although such a thing seldom happened.

However, this man often bullied him over some small matters. Starting from the chaotic prison disaster, when they had just gotten to know each other, this man had revealed his true nature.

Lu Feng was quite good to Dr. Ji as well, although it appeared that the two of them were exchanging cutting remarks every day.

Then others—

Of course, there was nothing to nitpick in the way Lu Feng treated them.

Supposing the research institute encountered a calamity, no matter who shared a room with Lu Feng, Lu Feng would inevitably make that person leave first while he himself faced the danger alone. If someone asked for help, Lu Feng would definitely not refuse them either.

But that was all. If not for essential and work-related interactions, he would not communicate more than necessary with anyone other than Pauli.

In fact, the people of the research institute had very amicable relationships. Mutual banter and quarrels were both very common occurrences, and there were many peaceful conversations and collaborations as well, but it was obvious that the mighty Arbiter would not join in.

An Zhe thought that the Colonel had been protecting people from afar for too long, to the point where he had forgotten how to mingle with them, or perhaps he had never learned how to at all.

He said, "You can also lower the expectations you have for yourself a little."

"How?"

An Zhe had no clue how he was supposed to do that, so he replied, "Think for yourself."

Lu Feng said, "Okay."

The timbre of his voice was also very chilly, seeming to contain a smile; it was a very youthful sound.

An Zhe thought that he was a mushroom that had joined human society to a certain extent. In this place, he still had much to learn. But the same was true of Lu Feng. In that way, they were exactly the same.

So he said, "For example, if you wish to be friends with the people of the research institute, you can eat with everyone and bring them fruit when you come back from the outside."

These sorts of methods may not be applicable to Lu Feng. He was only giving examples, and of course Lu Feng would understand.

"I don't really wish to," Lu Feng said. "I have you to eat with and bring back fruit for."

"That's different."

"Hm?" Lu Feng's voice took on the slight nasal sound it often had when he was teasing An Zhe. "What's different?"

An Zhe did not really wish to talk to this man, so he bit Lu Feng's neck. It seemed to hurt, so he kissed the same spot to make up for it.

Lu Feng's voice contained a smile. "You're right."

An Zhe felt that he and the Colonel had been talking past each other from the beginning. He wished to sit up and knead Lu Feng's face.

So he put his hands on Lu Feng's shoulders and moved back a little.

Right at that moment, his body suddenly went limp for no reason, and he nearly failed to stabilize himself as he fell forward.

... Right onto Lu Feng.

Lu Feng supported him. "What is it?"

An Zhe shook his head, for he was unable to describe how he was feeling.

Lu Feng touched his forehead, but he discovered nothing. An Zhe rested against his shoulder and took a hurried breath, unable to muster up any strength as he said, "I don't feel well..."

"Where are you not feeling well?"

An Zhe just dazedly wrapped himself around Lu Feng. It was difficult for him to describe how he was currently feeling in human language. It was like... like receiving the season's call, waiting for something to happen. The last time he had this sort of premonition, it was the day his spore left him. But this time was different.

Was he going to produce a new spore and begin another round of withering and rebirth? No, that wasn't right either. Right now, he only wished to be a little closer to Lu Feng. Lu Feng held his hand. The Colonel's hand was very cold, but then An Zhe realized that Lu Feng's temperature was normal and that it was himself who was very warm.

He rubbed against the hollow of Lu Feng's shoulder, shook his head, and closed his eyes, and some blurry images appeared before him.

Wind. The summer wind blew from someplace south of the Abyss. The jungle was a deep green sea, heaving and churning in the wind, and the vine's new leaves gently swayed as well. Summer was its flowering period. In the spaces between the leaves and branches, snow-white flowers grew like mushrooms popping up from the soil after the rain, and petals filled the sky.

Then came waiting.

Waiting for what?

Waiting for birds, waiting for butterflies.

What would the birds and butterflies do?

He whimpered in discomfort.

It was that vine's problem. He had just disregarded Lu Feng's warning and eaten the sap from one of this year's new vines before these strange symptoms presented themselves. It was like that time when he ate a piece of potato and passed out for three hours.

Lu Feng tilted An Zhe's head up and gently patted his cheek. "An Zhe?"

An Zhe was clearheaded, but he had lost control of his body. To clearly see his condition, Lu Feng lifted him up a little, which made him very uncomfortable. As An Zhe kept trying to lean against Lu Feng, he mumbled, "The vine..."

"What? Pain?"

An Zhe hauled over one of the soft vines dangling from the corridor at random. "The vine."

Holding him, Lu Feng breathed a faint sigh of relief. Indeed, An Zhe did not look like he was in pain right now.

He patted An Zhe's back, and An Zhe whimpered as he tried to burrow into Lu Feng's arms.

Lu Feng glanced at the nearby cascade of flowering green vines.

Behind the vines was the white building of the research institute. Fortunately, this place was not far from their living quarters.

There was a faint aroma of flowers on the wind, something that had always been there. Now there was an additional cool fragrance that was faint to the point of being nearly imperceptible, like the scent of grass and small white flowers after the rain.

It was what mushrooms liked as they grew. After a few rainy seasons, it would become the scent of the mushrooms themselves.

The mighty Arbiter let out a rare soft sigh.

He held An Zhe by the shoulders, making him meet his eyes.

An Zhe tightened his grip on the fabric of his sleeve and looked up at him, fine droplets clinging to his wet eyelashes.

"You are a mushroom," Lu Feng said. "You can't eat things willy-nilly. "

An Zhe looked at the vine. There were no vines in the world more normal than this one, but he was still very uncomfortable. Only by being close to Lu Feng could he find relief, like how the vine's white flowers insisted on waiting for butterflies.

With a frown, he returned Lu Feng's gaze.

Lu Feng looked down at him as well.

Then he was picked up.

"Will you keep that in mind now?"