"What! A heartbeat!?"
Hearing me say that, Su Su was also startled. She thought this thing looked just like the mushrooms they used to see in the mountains, but she had never heard of a mushroom with a heartbeat before.
I swallowed hard. Although it was hard to believe, the sensation I felt just now was undeniable.
The moment I touched that sub-entity, its interior beat twice in a strange way, like a heart.
After a while, I found that the sub-entity was still quietly staying in the same place without showing any abnormal behavior. I still suppressed the strange feeling of unease in my heart and reached out to the grayish-white sub-entity again.
It's late at night, and suddenly being faced with a mushroom that seems to have a heartbeat would make anyone a little uneasy.
However, just to be on the safe side this time, I took out a small piece of repair leather and wrapped it around the grayish-white fruiting body before continuing.
There's no way around it; the cautious habit, after entering this world, has been thoroughly ingrained in my bones by the harsh realities of various events.
I'm not sure if this strange mushroom is poisonous, or if its sap will affect my skin.
I dare not gamble; it's best to be cautious.
This time, I could see that the thing twitched twice as if it had a life instinct the moment the leather covered the body.
Su Su and I exchanged a glance and whispered some instructions.
"Master, watch out!"
I nodded and placed my hand on the grayish-white fruiting body. This time, I could still feel as if I were holding a small heart that was beating in my hand, seemingly very uneasy.
Once I was sure that the thing was not in any immediate danger, I started to exert force and try to pull it out of the ground.
As I gripped the bottom of the oval-shaped fruiting body and pulled hard, my heartbeat became even more rapid.
If it weren't for the many strange things I've encountered in this world, and the extraordinary courage I've developed from dealing with death multiple times, I wouldn't have been able to overcome these challenges.
Otherwise, an ordinary person would be scared half to death if they encountered such a bizarre thing, and would not dare to do anything reckless as to try to pull it out and study it.
These Haru are really weird; I wonder where they found this strange thing.
I don't even know how to categorize this thing in front of me. It has the white mycelium of fungi, and it also has a heartbeat like an animal.
If it can absorb nutrients through mycelium, could it be some kind of peculiar symbiotic life form?
Ignoring its throbbing, I pulled harder and up, pulling up a section of white mycorrhiza about the length of my little finger from the ground.
As I pulled the fruiting body out completely, the heart-pounding throbbing stopped at that moment, and it lay quietly on the leather in my hand like an ordinary mushroom.
There was a liquid that looked like blood flowing from the tip of the pulled-out root, but I can confirm that it was not blood.
When the blood-like red liquid flowed out, Su Su and I both smelled a faint fragrance.
The scent is like diluted jasmine mixed with the refreshing aroma of grapefruit. It's kind of magical; smelling it makes me feel much more refreshed.
Now is not the time to continue studying this thing. We've looked at it over and over again, but we still don't really know what it is.
I carefully wrapped the grayish-white fruiting body in leather and placed it on top of my backpack to prevent it from being damaged by the other items inside.
If we have enough time, we'll try to get back to the tribe after we finish our investigation so that the chief and the high priest can see this thing.
They have more dealings with Haru, so maybe they'll find out what this thing really is.
I've now obtained the samples from this trip, but I still plan to explore that mysterious stone bungalow.
My intuition tells me that there are far more secrets inside than we currently know.
As for the difficulty, it was also the part that gave me the biggest headache. There were no guards on the surface, but they were just as effective as guards.
Because you have no idea how to take appropriate measures in an unguarded place, or how many unseen eyes are secretly watching this place.
Through the firelight, I could vaguely see that the man-made stone house seemed to have no door; it was now covered by thick vines and weeds, making it look more like a hidden cave.
The stone house is about fifty meters away from me and Susu, but we can't go around it because the fire is just over ten meters in front of the stone house.
In the firelight, it would be virtually impossible to slip into the mysterious stone house that so many double-haru were watching so closely, right under their noses.
I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down. I reorganized all my thoughts and used reverse thinking to deduce the current situation.
First of all, there's no doubt that no matter what positive approach I take, it's impossible for me to get in.
But just because we can't get through doesn't mean we can't get those Haru out of the fire's glow.
Now we can only focus on how to lure those Haru away and use a diversionary tactic to get into the stone house.
The idea is good, but how should we distract these Haru sitting around the fire?
At that moment, scenes from the Three Kingdoms period that appeared many times flashed through my mind. The best way to attract attention was to kill and set fires.
This tactic has proven effective in battles between two armies. In ancient times, the principle of "supplies first" was emphasized when leading an army into battle.
The fastest way to achieve victory is to raid the grain supplies. If you have enough men and horses, it would be best to just rob the grain directly.
When manpower is insufficient and the actual combat strength is not enough to support a battle to seize and transport grain, the commanding general will prioritize burning the grain and cutting off the enemy's retreat.
Of course, I'm just using this example as a metaphor; I don't actually intend to rob Haru's food.
Our current situation is like that of an army that is not strong enough to fight a major war; we can only use the weaknesses that the enemy cares about to hinder their actions.
Thinking of this, a sinister smile appeared on Lao Liu's face.
There's no food or fodder for us to burn right now, but there's something that Haru cares about even more than food and fodder: the things they've worked so hard to grow.
The layer of dead branches on top would make excellent fuel. Imagine what kind of wonderful expressions they would make if I were to set fire to a field of Haru in this high-oxygen environment.
This plan is highly feasible, but we don't have enough manpower right now, so we need to call Dante over as well.
Ensuring everyone's safety is the most important thing. If we can't escape, even if we have a huge secret, it will be useless.
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