Chapter 29
Lu Shiyu was silent. He had made all kinds of plans. He was afraid that some people might pick poisonous mushrooms, so he picked some non-toxic edible mushrooms himself as examples. He was also afraid that Tang Zeyu would not cook the mushrooms well and get food poisoning, so he deliberately let the soup cook for a while longer. But something still went wrong.
"But apart from the hallucinations, there seems to be no other problems," Gray Wolf looked around at everyone and said, "What about you guys?"
"I don't feel dizzy anymore, and I feel much better." The lion shook his head and looked much better.
"Aside from the hallucinations, I haven't felt anything unusual. Even the strange feeling from inhaling the spores has disappeared," the fox said, folding its front paws together. "Although there are some issues with what I see, the damage I suffered from the mushroom spores has healed. Perhaps some of these mushrooms are reacting. It's truly amazing."
The red panda raised her head from the pages of the book, and even the face of an animal to others could sense the depression on her face.
"This kind of mushroom isn't mentioned in the book. I've read the mushroom chapter several times and haven't seen it."
"Maybe the author just didn't include it. With so many mushrooms, there are bound to be a few missed ones," the gray wolf said, raising a front paw to stroke the red panda's head. "If it's not in the book, then you can record it yourself."
"Yeah!" The little panda nodded vigorously while holding the thick book.
On the other side, the cheetah was chewing mushrooms expressionlessly while watching the interaction between the wolf and the red panda. The lion saw that she was still eating mushrooms and secretly moved its head closer.
"Why are you still eating? Didn't I say there was something wrong with the mushroom soup?"
The cheetah swallowed the mushroom, glanced at the lion and said, "It's not poisonous, and there's no problem. I might as well finish it. Otherwise, are you going to starve?"
The lion suddenly realized: "That makes sense!"
After testing by the fox, it was confirmed that the mushroom soup was indeed edible, but for some unknown reason this strange hallucination occurred. There was no other problem after eating it, only the effect of seeing others turn into animals. It was as magical as the legendary magic mushrooms.
After picking the problematic mushroom out of the soup pot, the fox stored the special mushroom in a jar. The few of them continued to eat the mushroom soup as if nothing had happened. If you ignore the strange scene in each other's eyes, it would be normal.
The red panda held the bowl and couldn't help laughing at the scene. He said, "It's just like being close to animals in the zoo."
The people who were eating with their heads buried in their bowls raised their heads and looked at each other, and suddenly felt that it was really true.
It’s just that in everyone’s eyes, others have turned into animals while they themselves still look like humans, and the scenes everyone sees are somewhat strangely different.
Tang Zeyu held the bowl of soup and looked at the smiling little panda holding the bowl. He resisted the urge to rub his head and lowered his head to drink the soup silently.
"Yanhong Yanhong! What kind of animal am I?"
Shaoxing Yang held the cheetah's shoulder, and the cheetah rolled its eyes very obviously.
"It's a stupid dog."
"Dog?" Shao Xingyang stood up suddenly: "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! I'm so handsome, I must be a local tyrant at the very least!"
The foolish lion muttered as he walked around in circles. The fox beside him said silently, "Now you really are acting like a silly dog."
Facts have proven that animals are indeed much more likable than humans, and even ferocious beasts appear much cuter.
Lu Shiyu couldn't help but look left and right. After looking at the gray wolf, he looked at the fox. After looking at the fox, he looked at the cheetah. He remembered that the last time he saw these normal creatures was when he visited the zoo as a child. A long-lost sense of familiarity came over him. In addition, he knew clearly that these were his teammates and not real beasts and would not attack. Lu Shiyu observed them even more unscrupulously and intensively. It was a pity that he was still a human being after all, so he couldn't try his hand at it.
Because Lu Shiyu didn't know how he looked to others, he thought he was a ferocious beast like everyone else.
In fact, in the eyes of others, Lu Shiyu is now just a curious little panda, looking at them with sparkling eyes. Even if he is staring at people, it is difficult for him to feel resistance. After all, who can refuse a smiling little panda?
After simply eating mushroom soup, the physical abnormalities of the three people who inhaled the spores almost disappeared, but the hallucinations caused by the mushroom still existed.
"This isn't going to work," the lion yawned and said, "When will the effects of this mushroom ever end?"
The gray wolf glanced at the red panda and said, "It doesn't really affect my movements. I should be well by tomorrow at the latest."
The red panda glanced at the people who were beginning to feel sleepy after eating, and finally his gaze stopped at the gray wolf with a puzzled look. Why was the gray wolf always wagging its tail?
The red panda's eyes gradually became anxious. The gray wolf seemed to have noticed something and said seriously, "It's all an illusion, an illusion."
"Is that also an illusion?" The cheetah swung its tail and pointed in a certain direction. Everyone looked in that direction and saw that it was actually a cow.
However, its overall appearance is more like a cow, and it is essentially a deformed creature. The most obvious thing is probably that it is covered with mushrooms.
The lion shook his head, a little bit unable to believe his eyes: "What is this? A cow?"
When the mushroom cow saw the people, it did not run away, but stood there quietly looking at them. The mushroom tail behind it swung slightly, proving that it was still alive.
"No, this is not an illusion." After the gray wolf saw it clearly, he lowered his body and prepared to attack. "Be prepared, this is also a deformed creature."
The atmosphere instantly became tense, and several people's hands were already on their weapons, but Mushroom Cow still stood there calmly and motionless.
The exploration team was told during training that if they encountered distorted creatures outside the base, they should not attack unless there was any danger, because distorted creatures were different from normal creatures, and humans' experience in dealing with normal animals might become the culprit that killed them. The final experience drawn from empiricism was not to rely on experience, and to avoid conflict with distorted creatures as much as possible unless the other party took the initiative to attack.
So now the situation has arisen where I won't move unless the enemy does. The two sides have been deadlocked for a while, and the Mushroom Cow has neither moved forward nor intended to leave. But if the status quo continues, they may need to move away from here and find a safe and suitable place to sleep at night, which will waste a lot of rest time.
The red panda peeked out from the back: "Will it be non-aggressive?"
They looked at each other but remained on guard. Seeing that they didn't respond, the red panda bravely walked to the front.
The red panda stretched out her hand tentatively, still some distance away from the mushroom bull. If the mushroom bull attacked now, she could immediately retreat back and avoid it.
A situation beyond everyone's expectations occurred. The mushroom bull not only did not attack or retreat, but instead actively put its head forward and placed it in the palm of the red panda, looking like a well-behaved domestic pet.
The red panda didn't expect this result, and tried to stroke the mushroom cow's head with his hand. The mushroom cow seemed to enjoy it, making a "moo" sound and closing its eyes to let the red panda rub it.
"Look," the red panda turned its head happily, "it really won't attack anyone."
The cheetah walked forward cautiously and wanted to try to touch it, but the mushroom cow immediately dodged as if it had encountered some plague god.
Yan Hong: “…”
"I think we should just get rid of it," Cheetah said calmly, "We can't sleep with it here."
After all, no one dares to sleep next to a deformed creature defenselessly. Even if it looks harmless now, who can guarantee that it will not do something after people fall asleep?
"Ah, don't be like that," the red panda waved his hands anxiously, "If you're worried, just drive it away."
"Are you sure?"
As the cheetah walked forward, the mushroom cow moved backward, until it walked a distance, then the cheetah turned around and walked back, but the mushroom cow also followed back.
The cheetah turned around and looked at the mushroom cow that followed her back, and walked towards it again. The mushroom cow retreated again, but as long as she went back, the mushroom cow would follow.
"See, there's nothing we can do," the cheetah bared its fangs. "If we don't deal with it, it'll come back like a ghost."
After the mushroom cow came back, it continued to rub the red panda's hand. If someone who didn't know was there, they might think they had a very good relationship.
The fox seemed to have thought of something and walked forward. The Mushroom Bull did not resist him like it resisted the cheetah, but was as intimate with him as it was with the red panda and wanted to get closer, but the fox did not want to contact it so he avoided it.
"Why does this cow still look down on people for what they want to eat?" The cheetah shook its ears in dissatisfaction.
The gray wolf seemed to have thought of something, so he asked the fox to come back and the lion to get closer to see what was happening. As a result, the mushroom cow also got close to the lion, but when the gray wolf went over, the mushroom cow began to retreat as if it had seen a cheetah.
"I see," the fox said with a look of astonishment. "Now I know why the cow treats us differently."
The cheetah said angrily, "Why?"
The fox curled its lips and said, "Didn't you notice that Chen Yunliang, Lu Shiyu, and I, who are all close to it, have something in common?"
Something in common? The cheetah pondered for a long time, then looked up at the fox: "...What is it?"
The fox sighed, not seeming to expect her to think straight. "Because we all inhaled the spores before."
"Hey?" The red panda who was rubbing the mushroom cow suddenly turned around and said, "The three of us did inhale the spores. Could it be that it got close to us because of those spores, and it ran away because Tang Zeyu and Yanhong had never been exposed to the spores?"
"That's probably it," Chen Yunliang said, looking at the barely noticeable dots on his clothes. "Some spores are attached to our clothes, but because of the hallucination, they haven't been noticed."
Lu Shiyu and Chen Yunliang looked down and saw that there were indeed tiny dots stuck on their shirts and pants.
"Wait! Lu Shiyu, your hand!"
The cheetah suddenly spoke, and the red panda, who had been looking down at his clothes, raised his head and looked at his hands in confusion.
"What's wrong with my hand...Ah! This is!"
In the eyes of others, Lu Shiyu looked like an animal so it was not very obvious, but Lu Shiyu himself could see it very clearly. He knew that his originally smooth skin had been covered with pieces of hyphae at some point, and several small mushrooms had grown out of it, covering his forearm without him even knowing it.
Tang Zeyu frowned and stepped forward to pull Lu Shiyu back away from the Mushroom Cow. The Mushroom Cow wanted to follow Lu Shiyu but was stopped by a cold light.
Tang Zeyu drew out his long knife and pointed it at the mushroom bull, with undisguised threat and anger in his eyes.
"Get away from me."
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