The world enters the fungal world

Chapter 95 The Mysterious Carriage (10,000-word update, please subscribe and vote)

Qian Lili retracted the giant hook, her left hand hanging down, the gray-black color on the surface fading, revealing her original flesh and skin. She looked at Zhou Xigang with a smug expression.

In her opinion, her giant hook fungus was much cooler than the steel-skin fungus.

Zhou Xigang looked on with longing, and suddenly felt that his own steel-skin mushrooms didn't taste so good anymore.

Lin Muying said, "This giant hook fungus can attack from a distance and is controlled at will. It is indeed powerful. It seems that Wei Tian is sincerely apologizing. This symbiotic fungus is a treasure."

She could sense that Qian Lili's giant hook fungus was more powerful than the symbiotic bacteria they had obtained so far.

All five of them stood up and, following Fang Mingxuan's suggestion, took a walk around the supply point to familiarize themselves with Supply Point No. 5.

"This place is called Supply Point 5. There should be Supply Points 1 through 4, but I don't know where they are."

As Zhou Xigang looked around, silently memorizing the terrain, he casually remarked to himself.

Lin Muying frowned slightly, then suddenly said softly, "Have you ever thought about something that I find quite strange?"

Li Yu glanced at her and asked, "What's the problem?"

Lin Muying looked around to make sure no one could hear them before speaking softly, "We are here for special reasons, but what about these natives? Where did they come from? Do you remember what was written in Xiao Gang's booklet? Reach your peak within a month, or earn 10,000 gold coins."

"Now that I think about it, the peak period mentioned here refers to the peak state of the Spore Stage. Bai Xiuluo said that only those at the peak of the Spore Stage are qualified to enter Lingxu City. Does that mean that earning 10,000 gold coins will also allow me to enter Lingxu City?"

Li Yu nodded thoughtfully and said, "That's very likely. So when Xiao wrote that, he was telling himself that at least one of these two things must be achieved."

Lin Muying glanced at Li Yu and said, "Don't you find it strange? Where did these people at the supply point come from? I originally thought they came from Lingxu City, but now I realize that's not the case. Moreover—these people all look to be only around twenty years old. I don't see any children or elderly people here. It's really too strange."

This statement silenced everyone. Yes, these people were natives. Where did they come from? Why did Xiao Gang's booklet list Lingxu City as the address, leading everyone to assume he was from Lingxu City?

But now it seems that Bai Xiuluo and Wei Tian are desperately trying to advance and break through, just to be qualified to enter Lingxu City. Doesn't this mean that they are not people of Lingxu City at all?

Zhou Xigang muttered, "Thinking about it now, it really is strange. Next time I see Bai Xiuluo, I'll have to ask him where they came from. Surely they didn't also travel through time like us."

While chatting, the group deliberately avoided other people and walked around the perimeter of the supply point to observe the surrounding environment.

Along the way, we saw people coming in and leaving from the ruins, and almost everyone seemed to be in a hurry.

Most of them were covered in dust and dirt, their leather armor and clothes were tattered, and many of them were stained with blood, clearly from a long battle with the fungal beasts.

Finally, they arrived at the east side of the supply point and saw a main road.

The road is six or seven meters wide, extending from the supply point through the light shield and into the distance of the city, with no end in sight.

Although the road surface was covered with fuzzy fungal spores after the light shield was removed, it was still clearly visible to everyone that it was a road.

There are no giant mushrooms blocking the way, nor are there any abandoned vehicles lying around. It must have been that various obstacles were cleared away by humans to form this road.

According to Bai Xiuluo, following this road to its end leads to Lingxu City.

People were hurrying around the supply point, coming and going from all directions, but there was no one around this road. There were only the five of them.

Fang Mingxuan stared at the road, his face showing excitement, and couldn't help but take a few steps forward.

Li Yu immediately blocked him.

"Mingxuan, calm down."

Fang Mingxuan turned to look at him.

Li Yu frowned slightly and said, "Even Bai Xiuluo can't get into Lingxu City. Even if we go now, we still won't be able to get in."

Lin Muying chimed in, "That's right, there are still thirteen days left anyway. Even if you're in Lingxu City now, you won't be able to see her if you go now."

Fang Mingxuan realized that he had acted impulsively. He knew that he could not enter Lingxu City now, but as long as he thought that Xiaoyue and her child might be there, he could not control his impulse. He wished he could rush to the end of this road right now and enter Lingxu City to find Xiaoyue and her child, as well as his parents.

Li Yu sighed and said, "I also miss my parents and family very much, and I really want to go into Lingxu City to see what's going on, but now is not the time. If we go forward along this road, we will reach the eastern district on the map, which used to be the Yunze District of Jiangcheng. The map indicates that this area is a dangerous zone, and we cannot take risks."

Fang Mingxuan pursed his lips, lowered his head, and said in a low voice, "I understand, I just couldn't help myself."

Li Yu patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, we'll definitely find a way to get into Lingxu City. Didn't Bai Xiuluo say that if one or two of us reach the top level, we'll have hope? There are still thirteen days left, we still have time."

As Li Yu spoke, he looked toward Yunze District. He was very familiar with Yunze District because his home was there.

He longed to go home and visit, but the map marked Yunze District as a dangerous area. Although maps cannot be trusted completely, he dared not take any risks.

Fang Mingxuan asked, "Shall we go to the hotel now?"

Li Yu took a breath, suppressing his longing for home and his parents, and nodded gently, saying, "Given the current situation, it's definitely too late to do it by normal means. Since we can't avoid the bacterial outbreak and it's a certain death, the only option is to try our luck at the hotel. Bai Xiuluo must have a reason for caring so much about the North District. If there really is some big secret hidden there, finding the secret might help us break this deadlock. There's no other way right now, we can only take this gamble."

"Let's go," he said, looking north.

The hotel was their only hope of breaking this deadlock. Regardless of whether there were any taboos in the northern district, they had to give it a try.

Everyone understood that Li Yu's words made sense, so they prepared to pass through the supply point and then return along the same route they had come from.

After walking only a dozen meters towards the supply point, Li Yu suddenly heard a noise coming from a distance behind him and couldn't help but turn around to look.

Upon seeing this, he stopped, a look of astonishment on his face.

At the end of the main road leading to Lingxu City, three vehicles appeared in the distance.

Li Yu, with his sharp eyes, immediately recognized the vehicles, even from a distance. These were not the cars commonly seen in the previous world, but three giant six-wheeled vehicles pulled by fungal beasts.

These chariot-pulling mutated beasts resemble horses from the old world, but they are much larger and stronger than ordinary horses. They have broad and sturdy shoulders and backs, strong and powerful skeletons, and thick limbs like giant pillars. Their whole bodies contain powerful explosive force.

Its body surface is not ordinary horsehair, but covered with a warm and thick fungal texture, with a dark brown base color and interspersed milky white fungal patterns.

It has a thick neck, and its mane is not hair, but rather soft, fluffy tufts of mycelium, light grayish-brown in color, that sway gently in the wind as it runs.

A large, rounded cap grows on its head, with a flat, wide cap and rounded edges. As it runs, it sometimes closes up and sometimes opens up.

Li Yu couldn't recognize what kind of fungal beast it was, but he could sense that the beast seemed to contain boundless power. Its giant hooves, half fungal and half keratinized, stomped on the furry ground, splashing up fungal spores everywhere.

Trailing behind a giant carriage, they moved with astonishing speed and power along the main road toward the supply point.

Three enormous carriages came rushing in from afar with a thunderous roar. Their imposing presence caused Li Yu and his group of five to change color and instinctively retreat to the side.

Zhou Xigang, Qian Lili, and the others were all dumbfounded. No one expected to see such a giant carriage in this world, and there were three of them at once.

"Could it be that... fungal-infused beasts can also be tamed?" Zhou Xigang muttered to himself, as there was no information about such fungal-infused beasts in the booklet.

Soon, the three carriages approached the supply point along the main road. Many people at the supply point were startled by the imposing sight and turned to look in their direction.

Li Yu saw that all three carriages were occupied by men dressed in black armor and black knee pads. They were driving the carriages, pulling the reins, and quickly rushed into the supply point along the main road, passing by Li Yu and his group of five.

The wind whipped up by the passing carriages and hit their faces, giving them a sense of oppression as if a mountain were descending upon them, almost suffocating them.

As they entered the supply point, the black-armored men on the three carriages pulled on the reins and began to slow down. These three horse-like beasts were very intelligent and had slowed down on their own.

The appearance of the three carriages caused quite a stir at the supply point, but everyone only dared to look around or watch from a distance; no one dared to approach.

Li Yu recalled Bai Xiuluo's warning: these black-armored men were not to be trifled with.

The local inhabitants at the supply point must all know this rule, and no one dares to approach the carriage casually.

Three carriages stopped beside the tent in the center, and the three men in black armor who were driving them jumped down from the carriages.

Li Yu and Lin Muying, along with the other four, watched from afar, all feeling a bit curious.

"No wonder they built that road, it turns out it's for these carriages to travel on—" Li Yu heard Zhou Xigang mutter to himself beside him.

"Where did they come from? What are they doing here? What's in that carriage? Aren't they afraid of being attacked by the fungal beasts?" Qian Lili asked in a low voice.

Zhou Xigang said softly, "Idiot, where else could it be from? It's naturally from Lingxu City."

Upon hearing this, Qian Lili's expression changed, and she simply looked towards the distant tent without saying a word.

Of the two couples who were buying and selling goods in the two tents, the woman in the floral dress came out.

She smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

The three men in black armor bowed to her when they saw her. One of them smiled and said, "Miss Liu, you're too kind. It's what we should do."

The woman in the long dress, known as Miss Liu, walked to the tightly closed tents and opened them one by one. From a distance, Li Yu could see that the tents were filled with a large number of boxes.

"It's all here."

One of the men in black armor nodded, then turned to the onlookers and said, "Anyone willing to come and help carry the boxes? You won't be treated unfairly."

Upon hearing this, the people looked at each other, and many of them hesitated. Zhou Xigang quickly handed the iron spear and backpack to Qian Lili, and rushed out without hesitation.

Seeing someone take the lead, more than a dozen people quickly followed suit and came out.

The men in black armor were clearly pleased with Zhou Xigang for being the first to rush out, and they nodded slightly at him.

When Zhou Xigang saw them nodding and smiling at him, he was overjoyed, feeling even more comfortable than drinking an ice-cold soda on a sweltering summer day.

These black-armored men are no ordinary people; if one could gain their favor, one might truly rise to the top in one step.

Li Yu and the other three hadn't expected Zhou Xigang to be so proactive, and could only shake their heads inwardly. However, they couldn't help but admire him; he was quick-witted and knew how to flatter, something they couldn't match.

"Move these boxes onto the carts, be careful not to break them." One of the men in black armor directed the others as they began to move the large number of boxes piled up in the tents onto three horse-drawn carts.

Li Yu guessed that these boxes probably contained various kinds of fungi that had been acquired. After all, at this supply point, people collected edible fungi to sell every day, and the accumulated amount was quite astonishing. It was impossible for them to be piled up in the tent forever; they definitely needed to be transported away.

"So it seems the edible fungi they bought were being transported to Lingxu City via these carriages," Li Yu thought to himself.

Zhou Xigang and a dozen others quickly moved all the boxes onto the carriage.

"Alright, here you go, fifty gold coins each." One of the men in black armor took out a stack of gold coins, fifty for each person.

The dozen or so people immediately beamed with joy. No one had expected that they would earn fifty yuan just by moving boxes for a short while, which was much more profitable than selling edible fungi.

Many of the onlookers immediately showed expressions of regret, wishing they had gone up and moved the boxes as well.

Zhou Xigang deliberately lined up last. When it was his turn last, after everyone else had received their money, he hurriedly waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "No need, no need. It was just a small favor. It's our honor to help you gentlemen. We can't possibly accept money."

He shook his head repeatedly as he spoke, his face full of sincerity.

As soon as he said that, almost everyone looked at him, especially the dozen or so people who had received money earlier. They looked at him strangely, and some of them cursed him in their hearts as a sycophant.

The black-armored man who gave him the money was taken aback. He looked Zhou Xigang up and down, then laughed: "You're quite an interesting guy, ha, ha."

The other man in black armor laughed as well: "What's your name?"

Zhou Xigang hurriedly and respectfully gave his name.

"Zhou Xigang, right? — If you don't want it, then forget it. When you get to Lingxu City, you might have a chance to see us, ha, ha ha."

Zhou Xigang nodded hurriedly in agreement, his face full of flattery.

Qian Lili looked at Zhou Xigang in the crowd and couldn't help but cover her eyes with her hand, whispering, "My God, I really can't stand his lapdog look. I just can't stand it."

The woman in the long dress glanced at Zhou Xigang, her eyebrows furrowing slightly, and said to one of the men in black armor, "Han Feng, remember to come a day earlier next time. I have some business to attend to when I return to Lingxu City that day."

The black-armored man, whom she called Han Feng, was taken aback and asked, "A day earlier? Do you mean the 13th?"