This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 223, Section 222: The Premature Collapse

Outside the entrance to the Amethyst Underground City.

"Get out of here! Don't set up tents here!" the guard shouted gruffly, impatiently poking at several ragged, pale-faced civilians with the end of his spear.

One of them, hunched over, pleaded, "Sir, please have mercy... we're just surviving on these mushrooms."

"Who stopped you from picking mushrooms?" The guard frowned, pointing his spear into the distance. "There's a resettlement area on the edge of town. You can build wooden houses or pitch tents, it's up to you! Why are you crowding into this entrance? This is where adventurers come and go!"

"But... if we live too far away, we won't be able to get any mushrooms outside the dungeon," another voice timidly chimed in. "And there are monsters in the dungeon..."

"Everyone's like this, why should you few be pitied? If you don't leave, I'll slash your tent!" The guard turned the other end of his spear, the cold metallic edge flashing before their eyes, finally forcing them to hurriedly pack up their belongings and retreat in fear.

Vera and her two companions caught a glimpse of the brief conflict from afar, but their gazes did not linger. They merely frowned slightly before turning towards the dungeon gate.

The news that the demons sent spies to sabotage farmland has already spread far and wide.

Now that the autumn harvest has ended in a dismal failure, this silent war has temporarily come to an end. At the cost of many spies, the demons have wiped out nearly half of the kingdom's food production.

The "free" mushrooms that grew wildly outside the Amethyst Dungeon were like a glimmer of hope in the darkness, and quickly spread among the starving people.

Initially, only a few people lingered outside the underground city, but in just over a month, it evolved into a continuous wave of refugees arriving in several batches every day.

The guards' actions were not problematic, and the guild agreed to let the refugees pick mushrooms to fill their stomachs, but it was unacceptable for all the refugees to crowd into the dungeon entrance.

In fact, even with a designated resettlement area on the edge of the town, the sudden influx of a large population has significantly increased the difficulty of managing the town.

However, these are matters that the big shots mentioned above need to concern themselves with, and have nothing to do with the adventurers.

As Vera and her two companions were about to enter the dungeon, a series of heavy footsteps, mixed with the clanging of armor plates, approached from afar. They instinctively stepped aside to make way for the main passage, only to bump right into a group of people staggering out.

"Old Bear!" Vera called out first.

"Vera? Filyn? And Filyn!" The burly old bear carrying the massive tower shield stopped in his tracks, his filthy face showing surprise. "What a coincidence, we've run into them again!"

The old bear, fresh from a battle in the underground city, had his leather armor splattered with semi-dried dark red bloodstains, mixed with mud and suspicious slime. His heavy boot soles were covered with local mycelium, and he exuded a strong smell of sweat and the unique stench of the underground.

Nevertheless, his eyes shone brightly, and a smile unconsciously appeared on his lips, clearly indicating that he had gained a great deal.

His gaze swept over Vera and the other two, who were all ready to go, and his tone was filled with concern and confusion, "Wait... if I remember correctly, you guys came out before us just two days ago, right? You haven't even caught your breath yet, and you're already going back down? Can you handle exploring like this?"

"Old Bear, you're really lucky! Just this morning, the material purchase price in the guild hall jumped up by another ten percent!" Fei Ling couldn't help but say, her voice full of envy and frustration. "We're so unlucky. We just sold all the materials we collected yesterday, and we hear this terrible news just one day later!"

"Huh? It's gone up that much?!" Old Bear was taken aback at first, then burst into a loud laugh. He patted Vera's shoulder forcefully with his large, fan-like hand. "Hahaha, it's nothing, it's nothing! It's good news! When you guys come up here, I'll treat you to drinks!"

The two groups passed each other. Old Bear took a few steps forward, then suddenly turned around as if remembering something, his hearty smile fading slightly: "By the way, Vera! Watch out! I don't know if it's because too many people have gone down recently, but the monsters are much more ferocious than usual. Be careful on the road."

"Thank you for reminding us, we will pay attention!"

After bidding farewell to the old bear team, who were returning laden with spoils and whose laughter was fading into the distance, Vera and her two companions did not linger and entered the dungeon, intending to rent a Puji as usual.

When the three arrived at the familiar Puji rental point, the scene before them took them by surprise.

On the empty fungal carpet, a lone fat Puji, responsible for collecting fees, sat all alone, while the lighting Puji that should have gathered around were all gone.

"Is this... all rented out?" Fei Ling asked uncertainly.

Vera frowned slightly, her tone tinged with helplessness: "Yes, it seems so. Ever since the King of Puji was taken away by that duke's daughter, the remaining Puji have been less active, and their numbers have obviously decreased. Now that so many teams are flooding into the dungeon, there aren't enough Puji for lighting... It's not surprising."

With no other option, Fei Yin raised her staff, and a ball of orange-yellow light condensed at the tip.

Their goal for this trip remained the sixth floor; however, they had been almost completely oblivious to the "monster berserk" warning Old Bear had given them.

This was mainly because the dungeon was too "lively," and they encountered several groups of adventurers along the way. The allure of the increased purchase price was astonishing; now, the adventurers had practically scraped the ground clean on the first few levels, leaving very little chance of encountering any escaped monsters...

……

Upon reaching the sixth floor, Vera finally experienced the so-called "monster berserk".

The tree spirits and Puji that used to linger on the sixth floor are nowhere to be seen. In their place are rampaging stone-skinned wild boars, and flower spirits and demonic vines that will attack even when they have already entangled their prey.

Fortunately, the group was prepared and did not get injured. Instead, they took advantage of the monster's impulsiveness to easily obtain a lot of materials.

However, while walking up the seven flights of stairs, they encountered a group that had encountered an accident.

Two adventurers were half-dragging, half-carrying a companion whose face was ashen, large beads of cold sweat rolled down his forehead, and his left arm was completely bare from the shoulder blade down!

A young man in a stained priest's robe was pressing down on the injured man, chanting prayers rapidly, while a white light enveloped the man's severed arm.

Vera's eyes sharpened, and she quickly stepped forward: "Do you need help? We have tourniquets and emergency medication!"

The leading swordsman in the group glanced warily at the newcomer, only relaxing his brow after recognizing Vera.

“Thank you for your kindness! But we have a healer in our team, and the medicine is… barely enough.” He pointed to another team member who was taking a small bottle out of his waist bag and pouring medicine into the injured person’s mouth.

"What happened?" Fei Ling asked, looking at the horrific severed arm. "What kind of formidable opponent did you run into?"

The swordsman's face showed a hint of lingering fear and regret: "It was the seventh floor. The water level on the seventh floor has somehow dropped significantly, making it impossible to lure underwater monsters anymore. This guy," he pointed to the wounded man with the severed arm, "relying on his good swimming skills, he held his breath and thought he could dive down to see if there was any opportunity..."

He took a deep breath, as if he could still see that terrifying scene: "He hadn't gone very deep when a huge black shadow suddenly leaped up from the bottom! It was as fast as lightning, and in one bite... it bit off his arm! If it weren't for the quick reaction of our team's mage, who used an impact spell across the water to slightly deflect the thing, he would have been swallowed whole. He was only able to escape because of the blessing of the God of Light..."

"The water level is dropping?" Vera frowned, trying to find a reasonable explanation from her memory and experience.

In that brief silence, the mage from the opposing team, who had been quiet all along, suddenly raised his head, his gaze fixed on a seemingly empty space to the side, his face full of confusion: "What... what is this?"

The rest of the people, including Vera's team, immediately looked in the direction he was looking, but found nothing.

Vera instinctively wanted to go forward to check, but was grabbed by the arm by Fei Yin beside her.

Fei Yin's fingers were icy cold, but she used considerable force.

She herself was also staring intently in the direction the monk was pointing, her delicate brows filled with confusion and an indescribable unease. Clearly, she had also sensed something unusual, but couldn't understand what it was.

The mage strode to the "empty" place, stretched out his right hand, his fingertips glowing with a faint light of probing magic, and traced and sensed in the void.

His expression grew increasingly solemn, even carrying a hint of academic fervor: "Strange...so strange! There are clearly no strange objects here, so why is the magic presenting such a chaotic knot..."

scoff!

A sickeningly loud sound, as if space itself had been ripped apart, suddenly rang out!

A grotesque, twisted crack with unstable edges suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

The mage's face remained blank and confused, and before he could even show a trace of horror, his body was split in two by the suddenly appearing rift, right before the horrified eyes of Vera and the others.

The upper body slid down with a frozen expression of astonishment, while the lower body remained upright for a moment before being cut into several pieces by the expanding and contracting cracks!
Time seems to have frozen.

Everyone's mind went completely blank during those two seconds of absolute silence.

Until a sharp, explosive sound burst from the throat of a female adventurer: "Ahhhhhh!!!"

(End of this chapter)