Little Mushroom

An Zhe sank into a dream.

He had such a dream long ago—the day he left Lu Feng.

Sometimes, when it was clear during the day and when he was awake, he would fall into the dream again. It was probably the hallucination of a dying man. He didn't mention it to Polly. The coughing up blood, high fever and pain everywhere had already caused Polly too much worry.

In the dream, his body was divided into two halves, half at the Highland Research Institute and half in an unknown place with no pain and without the heavy human body.

In the dream, he had no eyes, no ears, no sense of smell and no human consciousness. It was like the feeling of being buried in the rain-soaked soil when he was born. Mushrooms had their own senses that couldn't be described with the human language.

He knew that he wasn't far from Lu Feng's side. This must be a delusion after leaving Lu Feng but this didn't prevent him from getting closer to Lu Feng in his dream.

The dream wasn't always happy. Sometimes, he was placed in a closed container and accompanied by cold liquids. In the beginning, Dr Ji was next to him. Later, it was Polly and many people coming and going. He had nothing to do. If Lu Feng was next to him then he would wrap around Lu Feng. If Lu Feng wasn't present, he would soak in the liquid and reflect on his life.

Those distant memories surfaced of being in the soil, in the rainy season, in winter and at the base. When thinking of certain things, he would lean closer to Lu Feng, this person's fingers touching his mycelium. He seemed to finally be staying quietly with this person and didn't want to wake up. In the real world, he and Lu Feng could never do this.

However, when he recalled his memories a few hundred times, he still had no dreams and chose to wake up. He found himself alive. Now looking back on that day, he no longer remembered the emotional fluctuations that left many other places blank.

He just remembered he was standing by the door and Lu Feng turned from a lush spring. He stared like this and didn't dare to go forward. He had too many dreams and fished for the full moon too many times.

Until Lu Feng came to him. He had cried many times when this person was absent. His heart would tremble violently whenever he thought about Lu Feng but at this moment, when he really saw Lu Feng, he couldn't help smiling.

He reached out to touch Lu Feng's silhouette. Was this person thin or not? He couldn't tell. It had been too long, he hadn't seen this person for too long.

Only then did a line of tears slip from the corners of his eyes. He retracted his hand and stared at Lu Feng, only to be hugged by this man. Lu Feng wiped the tears off his cheeks and his head fell on Lu Feng's shoulder. An Zhe's voice was hoarse as he whispered this person's name.

"It's me." Lu Feng stated.

The people in the lab congratulated them. Polly had even brought a person back to life—he couldn't imagine the principle at all. The people in the laboratory used many terms such as genes, frequencies and samples. He heard it all through a fog but human technology was so amazing that he accepted it.

It had been three years since he jumped into the Simpson Cage. The outside world had calmed down.

The era of genetic confusion ended with a ringing bell and his frequency was sent to the whole world. It was impossible to evaluate if this was good or bad because at that moment, all tangible things were infected by the frequency and gained stability. Humans were always human and monsters were always monsters. They could undergo polymorphic mutations but the governing consciousness was always the master from the moment the bell rang.

As for why this was the case, Polly's explanation was that after many experiments and comparisons, the frequency resolved by the Simpson Cage was closer to the definition of matter itself.

For example, facing an apple and an orange, the human knew it was an apple and an orange, but the apple itself didn't know it was an apple and the orange didn't know it was an orange. They would never know and only humans knew.

Just like a mushroom didn't know its beginning and a short-lived cicada didn't know the seasons, the biology of humans could only be analyzed through appearance errors, They didn't know what made up themselves and what made them human. It was an incomprehensible system.

It was just that when the Simpson Cage analyzed the basic particles, they briefly glanced at an insignificant reflection of truth and saw the clues of real definition, grasping several frequencies worth mentioning. In this symphony of the universe, human beings were most likely to be disturbed by the notes of other creatures while this inexplicable mushroom with his own consciousness was the stable frequency that could tolerate everything. Once this stability was given to the world, a short-lived peace came.

"This is probability," Polly Joan said, "Probability is fate and life is chance."

An Zhe had just been fed a slice of apple by Lu Feng when he heard this. The newly picked apple just needed to be bitten and it was full of a sweet and slightly sour juice. An Zhe forgot what he wanted to say and was blocked by another piece.

"What about an orange?" He asked, "What is the taste of an orange?"

Lu Feng had told him to wait for autumn. Polly invited them to eat apples and future oranges.

On the way back to the room, An Zhe finished eating half an apple and the other half was left to Lu Feng—he had intended to cut the colonel's pieces but Lu Feng didn't let him touch the knife. An Zhe didn't argue with the colonel over this type of thing. If it wasn't for the fact that the other person was Lu Feng then he wouldn't even want to cut the apple. He was sleepy and it was time for a nap.

However, he couldn't sleep. He held a tablet and looked down at it. The tablet stored all the data he had searched for in the 10 days since he woke up. An electronic version of the Base United Daily News, research records copied from Dr Ji's computer, laboratory manuals copied from Polly's computer and many other similar things.

Lu Feng sat beside him. An Zhe quickly turned around and didn't show it to this person. Lu Feng laughed softly and stuffed the remaining half of the apple into An Zhe's stomach.

The apple might be delicious and the colonel was also very good but An Zhe didn't want Lu Feng to be by his side when looking at this information. He was always suspicious and felt that Lu Feng was watching his screen.

The hateful thing was that as soon as he woke up, he found that Lu Feng had occupied his former room in the institute. Everything in the room was exactly the same as before he died but the owner had changed. He tried to get Lu Feng to move next door but Lu Feng told him with no expression, 'If you don't want to be in the same room as me, continue to sleep in the nutrition tank.'

An Zhe, "…"

Three years hadn't made this person's character kinder, not even the slightest bit. Thus, he could only share a room, a desk and a bed with the colonel. In the end, An Zhe felt so suspicious that he couldn't continue to look at the materials and was sleepy to the point where he had to sleep.

"It's boring."

In bed, Lu Feng held him from behind and he looked at the white walls in a dazed manner.

The colonel's voice was icy like the frozen stream. "Where do you want to go?"

"I think…" An Zhe stared at the wall, slight confusion in his eyes. He had a place to go. It was a place that apart from him, only Lu Feng knew about. An Zhe had never mentioned it even to Polly.

"I want to find An Ze," he whispered.

In the cave where it all began, An Ze's bones were still waiting for him. He had a lot to say to An Ze.

He remembered every word An Ze had said to him. An Ze said that he was a person whose life was meaningless. An Zhe wanted to tell An Ze about the upheavals at the Northern Base and the source of the last bell.

If it hadn't been for meeting Lu Feng and An Ze, nothing would've happened. Thus, fate fluctuated with countless coincidences. However, the Abyss was so large that he couldn't find the cave. In addition, no one was willing to accompany him to find it. It became a distant wish.

"But I can't find it," he murmured. "I don't know anything and don't remember."

"I will go with you and look for it," Lu Feng whispered in his ears.

An Zhe's eyes widened.

Everything was like a dream. The next day, after saying goodbye to Polly, their armoured vehicle was dropped by the transport aircraft into the middle of the Abyss. The captain was the pilot of PL1109. Before bidding them farewell, he instructed them to remember to look for Hubbard and Tang Lan. They had disappeared after the monster siege at the institute. Now the only thing that could be confirmed was that Tang Lan was still alive despite being seriously injured. Their corpses hadn't been found within 10 miles.

"I seriously suspect that they healed up, got lost and then lay eggs." The captain made a final inference and left on the transport plane.

Lu Feng opened the door of the armoured vehicle and settled down. The ground was like velvet grass. An Zhe stared into the distance. It was late spring and the dark green of the Abyss spread in an endless manner. The leaves rolled in the wind and the sound of birds flying could be heard far away. He had come to this place again.

He stared at Lu Feng, who had unexpectedly accompanied him here. "Why are you here?"

Lu Feng raised his eyebrows. "Don't you want me to come?"

"It will take a long time. Don't you work for the humans?"

"The Trial Court is dissolved." Lu Feng watched him while speaking. "If there is a war or if I am needed then I will go back to the base."

There was no pain, hatred or anything else in those cold green eyes. He seemed to have lost something, making him feel relieved. An Zhe reached out to remove a falling soft leaf from Lu Feng's shoulder and was embraced by Lu Feng.

"Now I want to be with you." He heard Lu Feng say lightly in the silence.

"…Why?" He held Lu Feng's shoulder and rested his chin on the man's shoulder. He didn't say what he was asking but he knew that Lu Feng knew. The two of them always didn't need to say much. He knew he liked Lu Feng but he didn't know why Lu Feng liked him.

Lu Feng took a step forward so that An Zhe's back rested against the car. He raised his head to see Lu Feng. Those eyes were just as quiet and clear as they were when they first met at the base's gates.

Lu Feng watched him for a long time. For three years, he often dreamed of that day. At that time, his soul was caught in a thorny quagmire that he was unable to extricate himself from. This was how he met An Zhe.

An Zhe was a human, a heterogeneous, a monster. He should be killed, he shouldn't be killed. He was everything that couldn't be defined, he was the craziest possibility. He was like everyone in a pool of blood.

"Why did you walk into the Simpson Cage?" Lu Feng suddenly asked.

An Zhe thought about it before shaking his head. "I don't know."

Then An Zhe whispered, "So you don't know."

"I know." Lu Feng leaned his head against An Zhe's forehead and spoke softly, "Because you are a small mushroom."

This perfunctory answer made An Zhe raise his eyes with disgruntlement. Then he saw the undercurrents surging in the green eyes and his gaze couldn't help softening.

In the Abyss, everything grew. In fact, he remembered every sentence Polly had said.

The entire universe was in constant turmoil and human consciousness was a glimmer of light produced in a transient stability. A story took place in the book but the book was burned by fire. The frequency of the magnetic field was like cold air and could resist that fiery heat. His frequency turned the paper into asbestos, keeping it alive in the fire.

However, the flames were still burning. The unknown fluctuation and the unpredictable upheavals would come again. Perhaps at hotter temperatures or in completely strange forms. Maybe it was the next second and maybe 10,000 years. But—

It didn't matter. All of them had received an end they couldn't expect.

He leaned against the car and smiled at Lu Feng. Lu Feng leaned over and kissed the corner of An Zhe's eyes. Then he turned to one side and started to calibrate the compass and navigator.

He fiddled with the compass and navigator while An Zhe continued to read through his information, which was almost the same as before. After five minutes, he had completely read all of it and clicked the lock screen button.

At this time, Lu Feng also finished his work. They came from the south. There was a lake in front of them, a dense forest to the east and a swamp to the west.

"Where to go?" Lu Feng asked.

"I don't know." An Zhe's attitude was a bit pessimistic.

Lu Feng suggested lightly, "To the east."

"Why?"

Lu Feng put aside the navigator and explained, "I don't know where your cave is but I know where I saw you for the first time."

It was okay not to say this. The moment he said it, An Zhe's mood became completely bad. He looked up at Lu Feng, eyebrows furrowed slightly and eyes red like he was about to cry. Lu Feng felt a rare moment of helplessness and reached out to hold An Zhe's face. "What's wrong?"

"You don't like me at all." An Zhe frowned.

"I like you."

An Zhe raised his voice. "Then what about my spore?"

Lu Feng hadn't mentioned his spore to him at all. This man was so far previously so An Zhe didn't dare ask. He could only find news materials in order to figure out where the inert sample went. However, it was nowhere. It wasn't until he turned to the end that he saw something about an 'inert extract' and there was a photo of a glass bottle with a spore the size of a jujube pit.

Now Lu Feng kept his mouth shut and the spore was nowhere to be found. There was only one possibility. It was raised to death.

Hearing this sentence, a smile appeared in Lu Feng's eyes. An Zhe was so angry that he couldn't sleep properly.

"You raised it to become smaller and smaller." His eyes were misty and he was about to cry. "Now it is dead."

"No."

"It is dead." An Zhe grabbed his arm, throat choking. "You aren't good at all… give it back to me."

"Don't cry." Lu Feng reassured him. "What is your spore to you?"

"It…" An Zhe tried to describe it in human language but he could only say, "It is a spore."

"Is it important?"

"It's important." An Zhe was trembling with anger. "I can die but I must plant a spore. I thought you would protect it so I gave it to you."

"More important than your life?"

"…Yes."

"For any creature, only one's life is the most important."

"The spore is the most important thing." An Zhe retorted in a relentless manner. "You aren't a mushroom."

"Okay." Lu Feng's voice was still gentle. "So it is your child?"

An Zhe bit his lip. In the mushroom world, there were no parents, no children, no loved one and no friends. The mushrooms in the Abyss were different from other mushrooms. He couldn't use human relationship to describe his relationship with the spore. He couldn't say it was his child and could only say, "I gave birth to it."

"I raised it."

"You didn't take care of it at all."

"Really?" Lu Feng wondered, "Then why did it see you in the Lighthouse but actively drifted to only me?"

This old thing was mentioned again. An Zhe was still worried about Lu Feng raising the spore to death and then he suddenly remembered the appearance of the spore. Neither was a good thing. He didn't know and could only say, "I gave birth to it."

Lu Feng smiled again.

The sky spun.

An Zhe was pressed under the body of this man. Lu Feng's fingers lightly slid across his belly. In the weakest and softest place, the slightly cool fingertips caused a shudder.

An Zhe gasped softly.

Lu Feng lowered his head and whispered in An Zhe's ear. "Let's see if you can give birth to another one."