Chapter 2 Mushrooms Enter Beijing / Excerpt: That injured hand gripped his wrist tightly, like iron shackles, impossible to pry open.
On this day, at Qinghua Mountain.
The sky was just beginning to lighten, and everything was still a gray-white expanse. A few bare tree trunks revealed the desolation of deep winter. The soil not far away was slightly loose; a withered branch glanced at it without making a sound, then turned away and looked away.
"call--"
A bright orange umbrella stands out against the gray-white landscape of Qinghua Mountain. Aside from it, the most vibrant colors are the few drops of deep red beside it, which look like they have been dried for a long time but have yet to blend into the soil.
The orange-yellow fungi shook their heads, and the plump white stems struggled out of the soil.
"Whoosh—"
I can finally transform into human form.
Unnoticed by anyone, Yao Ruyi transformed from a palm-sized orange-capped mushroom into a handsome young man amidst a halo of light. His skin glowed with a bright white luster, the bones in his neck were clearly visible, and his eyes were undeniably beautiful.
He slowly rose to his feet, a strand of orange-yellow hair peeking out from behind his left ear. He looked to be eighteen or nineteen years old, but his eyes held a maturity and scholarly air that surpassed that of most young men his age.
However, the coarse white cloth that the white fungus transformed into looked extremely cheap. It was probably something that poor families wouldn't be willing to let their children wear. After wearing it for a while, their wrists were rubbed red.
Yao Ruyi pretended not to care, but stared intently at the red swelling for a long time.
"Hmm—"
He has cultivated in Qinghua Mountain for less than a hundred years, and now he can already transform into human form. In the eyes of other mountain spirits, this is an opportunity and a rare blessing.
That day, the man's blood fell on him, and it was through this encounter that he gained this opportunity. The man exuded a rich, golden dragon aura; the book says that those who possess dragon aura are…
The emperor, the ruler of the mortal realm.
Yao Ruyi thought to herself.
However, a single drop of blood from a man falling on his head was enough to transform him from a novice monster into a mushroom spirit capable of taking human form.
Yao Ruyi calmly looked at her hand, which had inexplicably turned into white mycelium again, a hint of dissatisfaction flashing in her light brown pupils.
He muttered under his breath, "This is too unstable."
He needs to find that man, not only to benefit from his dragon aura, but also to repay his debt of gratitude.
Otherwise, it would take several hundred years for him to fully stabilize into human form. By then, it would be questionable whether this mountain would even still exist.
His eyes grew brighter, and Yao Ruyi took a deep breath. He still hadn't read enough books. Once his humanity stabilized, he would take the imperial examination and become an official. That way, he could stay in the capital as a human and benefit the people.
As dawn broke, Yao Ruyi's orange hair became increasingly prominent in the sunlight. Startled, he hurriedly braided two strands of hair and hid them behind his ears. The mycelium, as expected, transformed back into a hand at that moment.
Looking at him from all angles, he could blend into the crowd without any flaws. The boy nodded in satisfaction, but the smile on his lips was stiff and awkward.
We went down the mountain and into the city.
A tattered cloth outfit is the most common sight in the mountains and fields, and one would hardly attract any attention wherever one goes. But this young master is different. Even in a white cloth robe, he cannot hide his imposing noble air, and people always think he is a young master who has left home to travel.
"Whose young master wears tattered clothes? They don't even look as good as ours."
"Besides, it's winter, how can he stay warm wearing so little?"
The two young men, dressed similarly in tattered clothes, looked puzzled and confused. They were also thinly clothed, and each had an extra layer of winter clothing compared to Yao Ruyi. The books they held looked like they had been read hundreds of times; the edges of the pages were yellowed and wrinkled, as if a slight breath would cause them to crumble completely.
The muttering was extremely soft, but Yao Ruyi still heard it clearly.
The boy pouted helplessly; he didn't want to, after all. To conjure up a decent-looking robe, one needed cultivation.
Fortunately, he wasn't afraid of the cold; it didn't matter how thinly he wore.
His eyes were dim, and his resentful gaze swept over the wisps of fungus beneath his right robe.
It seems he needs to speed things up; he needs to find that man in the next few days.
The two walked ahead of Yao Ruyi, who had just come down from Qinghua Mountain and happened to run into this group of scholars heading to the capital. They said that a great Confucian scholar was giving a public lecture this month.
Yao Ruyi was immediately delighted; what a coincidence! He had to go and take a look.
He cleared his throat, stepped forward, and patted the man who had just spoken on the shoulder. "Hello, how many days will it take to get to the capital from here?"
The man hadn't expected Yao Ruyi to take the initiative to speak to him. Thinking that he had just been talking badly about her behind her back, he felt a little embarrassed. "No, in less than two days."
The young man's cheeks flushed slightly, especially after meeting Yao Ruyi's eyes.
"Thanks."
"It's nothing."
His smile wasn't quite natural yet, but the young man opposite him turned around very quickly, rubbed his reddened earlobe, and muttered under his breath, "That's really strange."
That's strange.
Perhaps his smile isn't natural enough?
With a sudden tightening in his heart, Yao Ruyi looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to him, then secretly flashed two incredibly bright smiles.
"hiss--"
It pulled a strand of hair!
From the moment Yao Ruyi took the initiative to strike up a conversation, the three seemed to become familiar with each other, and the other two would call Yao Ruyi to join them when they stopped to rest at the post station.
"Brother, are you also going to the capital to listen to that teacher's lectures?"
The other young man was quite handsome and always had a smile on his face when he looked at people. He gave Yao Ruyi half a dried-out steamed bun and asked her a question while he was eating it.
"Yes."
"But there are other things too," Yao Ruyi said with a smile. As he answered the questions, he watched the young man's actions, imitating him by breaking off a piece of steamed bun and putting it in his mouth, chewing it in a very professional manner.
One bite, two bites, three bites...
Yao Ruyi frowned, a metallic taste of blood rising in his throat.
"Brother Yao?"
The young man, surnamed Gao, noticed that Yao Ruyi's expression was off and quickly asked her what was wrong.
"It's nothing, it's nothing."
Yao Ruyi waved her hand repeatedly and quickly returned the steamed bun in her hand, "I suddenly remembered that I had already eaten when I came down the mountain. You didn't bring much food either, so you should keep it for yourself."
His understanding and compassionate manner moved the two people opposite him to tears.
"Alright! Thank you for your understanding, Brother Yao! If we meet again in the future, please don't hesitate to ask if you need anything!" They ran into Brother Yao early this morning, and even though he hadn't eaten all day, he still looked like this. Gao Qi reached out and took the steamed bun, putting it in his pocket, his earnestness impossible to hide.
Yao Ruyi smiled and waved her hand. The three of them had rested enough, so they continued on their way.
He slowed his pace and walked behind the two. The sky was dim, and he used the warm yellow sunlight to look at the scrapes on his ankles, the red marks on his elbows, and the cuts on the back of his neck...
Oh, and there's also the throat that got scratched by a hard steamed bun.
Yao Ruyi's mood worsened. His magical power was now extremely weak. Not only could he not even control his human form, but he also couldn't cast any spells. In fact, his body was even weaker than that of an ordinary man.
No, she's not like an ordinary woman either.
Just now, he had seen several slender women riding past them, swords in hand. Gao Qi and Zhang Li stared, completely mesmerized.
Feeling irritable, Yao Ruyi wanted to kick away the pebbles on the ground, but quickly moved them away just before she hit them.
My heart is pounding!
Yao Ruyi breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness, otherwise I would have had another wound."
Before they knew it, Yao Ruyi had fallen some distance from the two of them. As Gao Qi was talking, he suddenly realized that someone was missing and quickly turned around. "Brother Yao? Hurry up and catch up."
"They're here!"
Sure enough, just after noon the next day, the group saw the city gates of the capital.
"We've finally arrived!"
"So this is the capital city!"
A group of scholars stood at the city gate of the capital, tears welling in their eyes, while Gao Qi choked up and could not speak.
Yao Ruyi breathed a sigh of relief; they had finally arrived.
He frowned and looked down; his right ankle was already blistered and bleeding.
"Come on, Brother Zhang, Brother Yao, let's go in quickly!"
Gao Qi grinned from ear to ear, excitedly hooking his arm around the two of them and heading towards the city gate, only to find that he couldn't hook his arm around Yao Ruyi. "Hey? Brother Yao, aren't you going?"
Yao Ruyi felt a lump in his throat. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the sleeve that Gao Qi had just tugged at. It was empty underneath, with only a few wisps of fungus shimmering with a soft white light.
"I, I..."
"I understand!"
Gao Qi wiped his face, exchanged a smile with Zhang Li, and both of them had the smugness of someone who had been through it all. "Brother Yao, you're probably too excited! If we can really get into officialdom in the future, we can stay here forever!"
"Yes, yes, yes."
Zhang Li smiled helplessly, "Quickly, Brother Yao, let's go together."
Yao Ruyi had just caught her breath when she saw someone reach out to her left arm and suddenly backed away.
But they were still a step too late.
Zhang Li paused, but by then their hands were already linked. He smiled and let go of Yao Ruyi's hand, patting her shoulder. "Let's go, let's go."
Yao Ruyi nodded repeatedly, not even realizing how natural his smile looked.
Her heart was still pounding, and Yao Ruyi patted her chest as she followed the two into the city. Thank goodness she had just transformed into human form in her excitement, otherwise she really wouldn't know how to explain it.
I was on edge all day because of this.
The soldiers at the city gate were extremely strict in their checks. Yao Ruyi carefully handed over the document she had conjured with her last bit of magic, and was soon allowed into the city.
The three of them stood in the open space, staring blankly for a long while.
Gao Qi's eyes reddened again.
"Brother Yao, would you like to find a place to stay with us brothers?"
Yao Ruyi shook her head, "I still need to go find someone."
Zhang Li smiled. As expected of a young master from a wealthy family, he said, "Until we meet again."
"Until we meet again."
The three parted ways. Yao Ruyi carried only a bundle, which, like his linen robe, looked utterly worthless. His face was smudged with dust, giving him a disheveled appearance. Walking through the market, one might mistake him for a beggar from somewhere.
"Miss, Miss, please stay away from that person. Otherwise, Madam will blame me."
"Hey, hey, stay away from my stall. Look how dirty you are."
...
Soft grumbling and complaints continued to be heard, and Yao Ruyi frowned slightly.
"Hey! Young man, do you have nowhere to go?"
"Our clothes here are absolutely gorgeous. Would you like to take a bath and change into them?"
As Yao Ruyi turned his head, a woman dressed in flamboyant attire kept winking at him. She leaned against the entrance of a restaurant, swaying her figure alone. When she saw him looking at her, she smiled even more brightly.
"No need."
"Alright, we'll talk about it another day."
If he wasn't mistaken, this place should be the brothel mentioned in the book.
The woman wasn't annoyed by his refusal; she simply smiled, waved, and moved on to her next target. Meanwhile, the two wealthy young men watching the spectacle laughed heartily.
"Why did you refuse? Judging from his appearance, he doesn't even have money for food."
"Then Miss Liu couldn't stop him; perhaps he just didn't like that kind of thing."
After they finished speaking, lewd smiles spread from their eyes to their faces. Their fine clothes gleamed in the sunlight, clothes that ordinary people probably couldn't afford in several lifetimes.
"Please don't laugh at me, gentlemen. Let's go inside and have a good drink."
Her alluring eyes captivated the two men, who were led astray and swayed into the shadows.
As Yao Ruyi walked, he flipped through the notebooks. The books in his hands were left behind by predecessors who had successfully transformed long ago. One of the notebooks contained a map of the capital city.
It was drawn with bamboo, and the road was crooked and difficult to see clearly.
"Left? It seems to be right again." Yao Ruyi stood at a crossroads, lost. If he found the right way, he could sneak into the palace tonight, and maybe his transformation would be stable by tomorrow.
Then he can focus all his energy on scientific research, and incidentally repay his debt of gratitude; he will definitely help in any way he can.
However, that person is the emperor, so he probably doesn't need the help of a mushroom spirit.
"Let's go this way."
It was already dark, and looking into the alley, everything was shrouded in a gray haze. There wasn't even a single imperial guard patrolling the area.
Yao Ruyi swaggered inside, completely unaware of a shadow flashing past on the wall.
Outside the side door, Gu Huizhou clutched his wound tightly with his right hand, a cold, self-deprecating smile playing on his lips. If he were to die here today, he probably wouldn't be able to rest in peace.
His breathing was faint as he listened to the subtle sounds around him.
Someone is coming.
Why would anyone walk this way at this time? Their steps are firm and light; they're not from their side.
But at the same time, there was a faint sound.
The hand that had been covering the wound slowly moved to the sword. Blood gushed from the wound, quickly spreading to the corner of the wall at his feet.
They are separated by only one wall.
Gu Huizhou could already see the assassin's shadow on the opposite wall.
Three, two, one...
"Ouch—"
A crisp sound.
Yao Ruyi's eyes widened in disbelief; it seemed he was about to reach the palace. But at that moment, his legs transformed into mycelium.
Is he going to cultivate in this place for hundreds of years?
It would be better to stay on Qinghua Mountain and not come down.
That's what he was thinking.
"Who are you--"
Gu Huizhou, using the last of his strength, walked out of the alley and looked at the handsome young man who had fallen at the corner, his brows furrowed with murderous intent.
Yao Ruyi's heart was pounding. He didn't remember what the person looked like, but he was absolutely certain he would remember the smell.
It's him!
"I--"
"Bang—"
Before he could finish speaking, the man suddenly lost his strength and collapsed to the ground. His sword also fell to the ground at Yao Ruyi's feet. Only that injured hand gripped his wrist tightly, like iron shackles, impossible to pry open.
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[Qingxin][Qingxin][Qingxin] We meet!
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