Chapter 67: Five Mushrooms, Two Fungi

Chapter 67: Five Mushrooms, Two Fungi

Moon City.

From one sturdy building after another—each marked by mottled traces of age—many humans walked out. Some were clearly deformed. Others had already begun to show signs of mutation.

They exchanged glances and saw the same confusion on one another’s faces:

There are still two or three months before the Sun Ceremony. Why has the High Priest suddenly summoned everyone to the square?

Did something major happen? Carrying worry, fear, and puzzlement, Moon City’s residents moved through one street after another and entered the city-state’s only square.

At that moment, the high platform was empty. The one who had summoned them seemed not yet to have arrived.

Moon City’s residents gathered in an orderly manner according to the districts they belonged to and began speaking in low voices.

“Why hasn’t the High Priest arrived yet?”

“Doesn’t he like waiting, and hate making others wait?”

“What exactly happened? Why summon every resident in the city except the guards so suddenly?”

…

Amid voice after voice, atop a tower near the square, behind crystal glass, High Priest Nim leaned against a wall and stared at the square while enduring something with a twisted expression.

His gray-white hair rose by itself. Tufts of short black fur grew upon his face. The flesh between his ribs and around his waist wriggled and condensed into swollen lumps.

These abnormal changes vanished and appeared in turn, as though Nim were suffering one seizure after another. He looked both uncanny and frightening.

More than a minute later, Nim finally calmed down. He exhaled a long breath and raised a hand to wipe away the cold sweat on his forehead.

Just now, he had been resisting the madness accumulated inside his body.

In truth, no matter which Beyonder pathway it was, the higher the Sequence, the stronger the tendency toward madness and inhumanity. This gradually exceeded one’s own humanity, and external anchors were required to help maintain sufficient balance.

Normally, at Sequence 4 and Sequence 3, this situation was not especially obvious. Once one reached the level of angels, however, even with enough anchors to “fix” them in place, they would still from time to time sink into dark, negative, and mutated states, and would have to endure and resist alone until things eased.

It was like a sacred, solemn existence who, at ordinary times, seemed entirely normal—able to answer your prayers, converse with you calmly, and even crack a few jokes—yet at certain moments could only hide in a dark room, concealed among shadows, tearing away the surface skin to reveal a sinister side and all kinds of signs of madness.

As for Nim, because he had frequently eaten the flesh of monsters and accumulated no small amount of toxins, pollution, and madness, he had to endure similar suffering even at Sequence 4.

Of course, Sequence 4 and Sequence 3 Beyonders who did not understand acting and advanced through time or luck alone could also end up this way.

After adjusting his condition, Nim left the room. With the help of an illusory Door, he appeared directly on the high platform at the center of the square.

All discussion immediately subsided. Moon City’s residents turned gazes full of confusion and unease toward the High Priest.

Nim swept his gaze around the crowd and spoke straightforwardly.

“The hunting team led by Adal encountered an outsider.”

An outsider! Moon City’s residents’ eyes abruptly widened. It was as if thunder from high in the sky had descended directly into the city.

In more than two thousand years, Moon City had encountered an outsider for the first time! Of course, this referred to a rational human capable of communication, not monsters.

Nim inhaled silently, then continued, “He calls himself a missionary who spreads divine radiance. He caused that stretch of grayish-white fog to show obvious changes. He removed the pollution and toxins accumulated inside Adal and the others, and treated the mutations in their bodies.”

As he spoke, Nim nodded toward the side of the high platform. Adal and Xin, who had been hiding in the shadows, immediately passed through the torches and walked to his side, using their own condition to prove his words.

“Hiss…”

“God…”

“That’s Adal and Xin?”

“They really, really…”

Cries of amazement escaped uncontrollably. Shock and astonishment intertwined, almost becoming tangible.

Adal and Xin looked at each other. Then they took two steps forward and recounted their hunting team’s experience exactly as it had happened.

They spoke of the point of firelight that had appeared in the darkness; of the cross that had emitted pure, bright light; of the cane that could treat mutations and diseases; of the grayish-white fog parting to both sides and showing signs of forming a Door; and of the joy the hunting team members had felt upon discovering their improved condition. As Moon City’s residents listened, they gradually fell silent.

Among them, some had unknowingly begun shedding tears, because in the midst of unspeakable exhaustion and extreme repression, they had finally seen a ray of light.

Those tears were slightly warm and salty. They flowed across cheeks, slipped past lips, and dripped onto the ground.

Those who still remained rational and clear-headed raised their arms and voiced their doubts.

“Could that missionary be some special monster from the depths of darkness?”

“Have Adal and Xin already been controlled or affected, making them behave this way?”

After the wave of questions calmed, Nim said in a low yet clear voice, “I have examined them, and I have used sealed artifacts to examine them as well. For the time being, I have found no abnormalities.

“I will have them remain in the Black Tower and undergo at least fifteen days of observation.”

After making that promise, Nim paused, then said, “The missionary named Gehrman Sparrow will cultivate bitterly near the grayish-white fog for a period of time. He permits us to go there and feel the radiance of the god he believes in, to listen to the corresponding teachings. Every day, when lightning is most frequent, he will conduct one purification and treatment.

“Everyone may choose to go, but you must report beforehand, obey arrangements, and may not act privately or affect the city-state’s defense. Those who go there will also be quarantined for fifteen days after they return, just like Adal, Xin, and the others.”

All of Moon City’s residents fell silent. They looked at one another, unable to make a decision.

At that moment, Rus and the other hunting team member who had returned to the city earlier to inform the High Priest—but who had not received purification and treatment—stepped forward.

“High Priest, I want to go!”

“Very well. Tomorrow, I will personally lead this… team…” Nim gave a gentle nod and agreed.

He had originally intended to give such a team a title, but could not think of an appropriate description. He could only stammer briefly and skip over it.

In his heart, there was actually one name, but he did not dare speak it aloud:

Pilgrims.

With Rus and the other member taking the lead, several Moon City residents stepped forward, expressing that they were willing to take the risk and try.

When the frequency of lightning shifted from low to high and a new day arrived, a Moon City team of seven or eight people carried beast-hide lanterns and began trudging through the darkness toward the edge of that grayish-white fog.

After who knew how many alternations of darkness and light, a spark of firelight suddenly entered Rus’s eyes.

It was a campfire burning slowly. On the other side sat Gehrman Sparrow, wearing strange clothing and a strange hat, holding a long iron-black skewer and roasting something.

Around the campfire lay the corpses of one monster after another. On these corpses grew all kinds of strange things. Some were plump and pure white, as though liquid would burst out with a poke. Some had black as their base color, inlaid with blood-red threads and patterns like fat marbling. Some were covered in golden speckles, their caps as large as palms…

These things grew densely, covering different parts of the monster corpses, carrying a strange yet tempting beauty.

After moving forward a few steps, High Priest Nim realized that the thing Gehrman Sparrow was roasting was one of those strange objects. Drops of oil fell from it, sizzling in the fire, making the flames brighter and letting an irresistible aroma spread.

Gulp. The Moon City residents in the team instinctively swallowed, overcome by a fierce appetite that was almost impossible to restrain.

Every cell in their bodies seemed to be screaming madly:

I want to eat!

I need to eat!

Give it to me!

Sitting on a rock, Klein raised his head, pointed at the vivid things growing from the monster corpses around them, and said in a low voice, “They are called mushrooms. There are different kinds. If you are willing, you may pick them and eat them yourselves, but do not touch the completely black ones. Also, they must be fully cooked before they enter your mouths. Otherwise, you will suffer a terrible curse.”

Moon City’s High Priest Nim thought for a moment, then answered on everyone’s behalf. “We wish first to listen to the teachings of your Lord and feel His radiance.”

Klein nodded gently. While turning the barbecue skewer he had summoned from the gaps of history, he said, “You may sit and listen.”

Once those seven or eight Moon City residents had sat across from the campfire, he said solemnly, “I came from the Giant King’s Court.”

This was a term Moon City’s residents were all familiar with. Their spirits immediately stirred, and their attention moved away from the food roasting over the campfire and toward Gehrman Sparrow.

Next, Klein described, as he had before, the state of the City of Silver and the situation outside the cursed land. He also mentioned the city-state ruins he had seen along his journey.

The Moon City residents listened with sighs, longing, disbelief, empathy, and grief too deep to contain.

Halfway through, Klein suddenly stopped speaking. He withdrew the long iron-black skewer in his hand, brought it to his mouth, and bit into a mushroom.

Rich meat juices immediately seeped out, washing his mouth with a slightly scalding heat.

After spending more than half a year in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, Klein had overcome his aversion to mushrooms. After all, Danitz was often sent by him to handle various matters and could not always carefully prepare food for sacrifice. The gaps in between could only be filled with mushrooms.

Closing his eyes in satisfaction, Klein held out the long iron-black skewer and smiled.

“You may try some.”

High Priest Nim was still hesitating, but Rus had already reached out, thanking him as he took one mushroom down and put it into his mouth.

He ate too quickly, so his mouth was scalded. His expression twisted for a moment, then suddenly froze.

Afterward, his expression slowly relaxed, gradually revealing intoxication, enjoyment, and longing.

At last, tears flowed from Rus’s eyes before he could stop them. In a low, sobbing voice, he said, “This is… this is the most wonderful food I have ever eaten…”

Even if, generation after generation, their sense of taste had undergone mutations, humans could never truly adapt to toxins and madness. They longed for sugar. They longed for fat.

At that moment, every Moon City resident heard the emotion in Rus’s voice.