Chapter 36: Peach Blossom Calamity

Chapter 36: Peach Blossom Calamity

Meanwhile, where was Li Zhiyan?

He was crouched on a rock in a familiar city, deep in thought.

East City, the area where the S-class pollutant Undertaker had once erupted.

"Oh, I see," Li Zhiyan said with sudden realization. "I'm a public figure. When Female A's pollution erupted, I happened to be working in East City and was even featured on the homepage of the Pollution Prevention Center's website. So, as someone with a specific identity and recognition in her memory, I was sent here."

Finally figuring it out, Li Zhiyan sighed, "Fame is such a pain."

He stuck his hands into his pockets and turned to walk forward, but after just two steps, he paused again.

The nearby grass was densely packed with wild fungi. He stared at them for a long time.

"It's so far away anyway, running a bit late shouldn't matter."

"But this is a dream. Anything I eat would be like air—probably have no taste either."

Saying this, Li Zhiyan bent down and plucked a mushroom. He shook the stem, watching the cap wobble unsteadily.

In the end, he regretfully tossed the mushroom back to the ground and set out on foot toward the peach tree.

In dreams, there's no sense of time, nor of spatial distance. Butterflies fluttered ahead of Li Zhiyan, guiding the way. Soon, he saw the enormous peach tree and was certain that Female A, the dreamer, was under that tree.

Now, all he needed to do was wake Female A and dig out Gardener's cursed seed, and this pollution incident would be over.

Just thinking about his work being nearly finished boosted Li Zhiyan's spirits.

The butterflies, influenced by Li Zhiyan, flapped their wings vigorously, clearing the path ahead.

They ripped through the dreamscape, linking two completely different directions, allowing Li Zhiyan to step directly beside the peach tree. As he took that step, just as his shoe was about to touch the ground, he suddenly sensed something.

Li Zhiyan stepped back and watched a round mushroom roll away from under his foot.

"Huh?" Li Zhiyan crouched down to look at it. "A mushroom?"

It was a very pretty mushroom, translucent pinkish-white, with a chubby cap curled into a little ball. It rolled away with a soft, bustling sound.

When he looked back, he saw even more little mushrooms curled into balls behind him.

Some of the mushrooms were round, some flat, and some were mere mycelium.

They were all scurrying toward a certain direction, like a mass migration or as if their "friend" had been bullied, so they were banding together fiercely for a fight.

Li Zhiyan watched them, crouching as if observing children playing make-believe, for quite a while.

Finally, he exclaimed, "Have I finally been poisoned from eating poisonous mushrooms?"

"But I didn't eat any just now, did I?"

So, he directed a butterfly to carefully land on one of the mushroom balls. The blue butterfly settled on the mushroom's cap, the translucent mushroom ball and the glowing blue butterfly overlapping, making for an incredibly beautiful sight.

The mushroom didn't notice at first, but after moving a short distance, it finally realized something was wrong.

Li Zhiyan saw it shake its cap, releasing pale pink mushroom spores into the air, creating a faint, hazy, mist-like effect.

Those spores, invisible to the naked eye, settled on the butterfly's wings. Before the butterfly could flap its wings to brush them off, the spores transformed into strands of mycelium that entangled the entire butterfly. In an instant, the butterfly was completely consumed.

Li Zhiyan's eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"It ate it?" Li Zhiyan's voice held a mix of awe and shock. "So easily?"

If Pollution Talents were ranked, Li Zhiyan's talent would undoubtedly be number one, because his butterflies could turn into flames that burn away pollution.

What did that mean?

If it weren't for the fact that these flames were also harmful to humans, Li Zhiyan could have incinerated all the pollution in the city with a single fire.

Such a pollution-restraining talent was actually devoured whole by a sudden little mushroom.

Watching it happily sprout more mycelium after devouring the butterfly, it even seemed to find it delicious.

"What kind of pollution is this?"

Though abstract, Li Zhiyan wasn't a fool.

He loved eating poisonous mushrooms, but that didn't mean he couldn't recognize pollutants.

"A new contaminated seed from Gardener? No, Gardener's terrible taste could never cultivate such a pretty mushroom."

Li Zhiyan pondered, "The mushroom's appearance is normal, no pollution sensed, gathering in groups, suspected of hive mind."

"Could it be another S-class pollutant?"

He reached out to grab a mushroom for study, but just as he extended his hand, a terrifying wave of pollution suddenly erupted from under the peach tree.

Li Zhiyan snapped his head around, and the little mushroom, as if finally noticing him, darted away without a trace.

He dashed toward the peach tree.

No mistake about it—it was the pollution aura of the S-class pollutant Gardener.

/

At the same time, in the real world.

Jiang Ying was handling documents. She had already pulled several all-nighters, with little sleep and no dreams.

Tonight, another unexpected incident occurred. A guard team member reported: someone who had accepted someone's confession couldn't be awakened after falling asleep. Their family called the police, and the guard team tried various methods, even calling in a support doctor from the containment center. After examination, the doctor confirmed there was nothing wrong—the person was just asleep and in the REM phase.

Colloquially: they were dreaming.

Afterward, Jiang Ying began receiving reports of people who had accepted confessions falling asleep and being unable to wake up. Without exception, they were all dreaming.

Jiang Ying sat there frowning. Finally, she remembered something—hold on, there was one more person who had accepted a confession: Li Zhiyan.

The containment facility operated independently and had no guard team stationed there. Moreover, Shen Ji and Li Zhiyan had private interaction, with only records indicating Shen Ji's support in this mission.

She immediately called Director Wen, hoping Wen Jingyu would confirm Shen Ji's current status.

Director Wen was truly alarmed. He hurriedly went to knock on Shen Ji's dorm door and eventually had the dorm manager forcibly open it.

Shen Ji was also unconscious.

Because of this, Director Wen's tone was quite sharp. He questioned why the guard team hadn't assessed the risks before allowing Shen Ji to participate in the work. Shen Ji was their containment facility's doctor, always considering the patients. He didn't care about himself, but did that mean the guard team could also disregard his life?

Jiang Ying could only apologize profusely, hoping Director Wen would trust Li Zhiyan. Now, Li Zhiyan was already dealing with the pollution incident in the dream, and she believed Doctor Shen would wake up.

Hearing Li Zhiyan's name, Director Wen let out a soft sigh.

"Right now, aside from trusting Captain Li, I have no other options." Director Wen softened his tone. "I apologize for speaking harshly to you earlier—I was just too anxious. Xiao Ji has always been such a good kid; he never minds sacrificing himself to help his patients, and it pains us to see him that way."

"We're colleagues, and I understand the pressure you're under. I'm sorry I lost my temper."

"It's alright," Jiang Ying replied with a slight laugh. "Director Wen, just knowing you trust me is comfort enough."

"The Captain will definitely protect Doctor Shen."

After hanging up with Director Wen, Jiang Ying closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

"Captain, it's all up to you now."

"If you can't handle this properly, the Doctor Shen you have your eye on might never be recruited away."

Just as she finished her thought, the communicator on Jiang Ying's desk suddenly rang. It was her work communicator, so she answered without even checking the caller ID.

"This is Jiang Ying. What's happened?"

"Captain Jiang..." An unfamiliar male voice came through the other end. Jiang Ying paused, glancing at the screen—it was the captain of a guard team. Though they had exchanged contact information, they had hardly ever spoken.

Moreover, this squad was on rotation tonight and not assigned to any mission.

"Hello, Captain Sun. This is Jiang Ying."

The voice on the other end sounded disoriented, like he'd just woken up. After a few seconds, he continued groggily, "Captain Jiang, I really like you."

"From the moment I first saw you, I haven't been able to take my eyes off you. I’ll work hard to transfer to your side—please give me a chance."

Jiang Ying drew a sharp breath and hung up immediately.

A confession?!

She quickly dialed the person in charge of the local patrol, but the line was busy—it wouldn’t go through.

Frowning, Jiang Ying ended the call. Before she could try again, phone rings suddenly echoed around her. Reacting swiftly, she grabbed her service weapon, stood up, and opened the door. Outside the conference room, uniformed security personnel stood arrayed—colleagues who had stayed behind to work this shift.

Each held a ringing phone, their empty eyes fixed eerily on Jiang Ying, dark and depthless like carved puppets.

Jiang Ying held their gaze, her expression steady.

She spoke gently, "Don’t answer your phones."

Jiang Ying, deputy captain of Special Operations Team Six, formerly assigned to the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center, a B-level mutant with the Talent "Gentle Words." When activated, her voice can influence pollutants and ordinary people affected by pollution, preventing further casualties.

The arms of those about to answer their phones trembled, their faces twisted as if in struggle.

Unfortunately, their resistance failed.

One by one, they shakily answered their phones. From the receivers came confessions in different voices, countless voices merging into a strange, collective murmur.

It was an utterly profound eerie sensation—the voices of men and women, old and young, blending together into an overwhelming psychic pollution.

Jiang Ying pressed hard against her temple.

A headache was building, as if something was trying to invade her mind and take control of her thoughts.

When she glanced down, she found herself clutching a peach blossom branch in her right hand.

She quickly threw it to the ground and stepped back, but her vision swam with static—the invading presence remained.

At the same time, everyone in the room turned in unison toward Jiang Ying, each now holding a peach blossom branch.

They raised the branches toward her.

"We really like you," they said. "Will you accept me?"

Jiang Ying retreated swiftly into the conference room, locking the door from inside and securing all windows.

The contamination had fully erupted.

"This is beyond B-level," Jiang Ying leaned against the door, pressing her temple firmly. "No good, I have to warn the others."

Struggling, she made her way to the computer and sent out an alarm. Just then, her phone rang again—it was the officer in charge of the watch near the peach tree.

Her fingers fumbled several times before she managed to answer. "This is Jiang Ying."

"It's Li Yan! Captain Jiang, it's bad! The peach tree has bloomed at night—countless petals are falling in the wind! Everyone here is making confession calls! Cough, cough..."

"Captain Li?!"

"It's so choking, there's so much pollen..."

"...Cough, what am I doing here?"

"Right, I should confess to her—I can’t live without her... I need to be with her right now, no more waiting."

With a crack, the line went dead.

Jiang Ying bent forward in pain, her phone slipping from her hand. Behind her, the door shook with a heavy impact.

Through the surveillance feed, Jiang Ying saw the crowd outside battering the door. They murmured words of love while using weapons to break through, their eyes burning red, peach blossom branches pinned to their chests.

Bracing herself, she linked the surveillance feeds from various areas. As expected, it wasn’t just here—almost everywhere, people were awakening in the middle of the night and making confession calls.

Their eyes were red-rimmed like rabbits', filled with love, yet their pollution levels were climbing.

The pollution detectors screamed with sharp alarms, but the piercing noise couldn’t drown out their murmured affections.

Men and women, old and young, healthy and sick, joyful and weeping—countless voices tangled together into a grotesque, distorted symphony.

"...This isn’t right," Jiang Ying clenched her teeth hard.

"This sound... it’s not normal."

/

"Its pollution is increasing!"

The system alerted Shen Ji.

At that moment, in the dream, Shen Ji was facing off against the Gardener, who had possessed Lu Kexin's body.

The dream wasn’t Shen Ji’s domain, but the Gardener wasn’t using its own body either. In fact, the Gardener could only transmit a portion of its pollution from a distance, completely unable to match Shen Ji.

It seemed to realize this too and began accelerating the growth of its seeds. Once the seeds matured, it could reclaim the plants into its own garden.

So the Gardener wasn’t truly confronting Shen Ji—it was buying time.

"The peach tree has bloomed in reality. Everyone within range is affected, and pollution levels are skyrocketing! This pollution is being fed to Lu Kexin."

"We have to sever these contamination channels first."

But Shen Ji didn't listen to the system.

His pupils had long turned into a pale white, his eyes filled with a fierce, predatory glint. Hyphae coiled around him, densely enveloping the area. More and more hyphae rushed in, no longer possessing the soft, cute demeanor they had as small mushrooms, now carrying an extremely terrifying pollution aura.

One mushroom is cute, maybe a pile of mushrooms is cute too, but if you open your eyes and find the whole world covered in mushrooms, would you still think they're cute?

As greedy devourers, they are hunters, forever maintaining their voracious nature.

"Dig it out," Shen Ji stared at the green-eyed gardener. "If we eat this one, we won't have to worry about food for a month."

"It's like compressed rations from the uninhabited zone."

The hyphae swarmed forward, attacking from all directions, coiling around 'Lu Kexin' and tearing at the pollution. The gardener tried to sweep them away, but for every one pulled off, more would coil around.

They tore off a leaf, scrambling to devour it, but then Lu Kexin vanished completely.

The hyphae tumbled to the ground, raising their mushroom heads in confusion, trying to find the compressed rations that had just been in their grasp.

The next second, Shen Ji with an expressionless face turned to look to the side. The hyphae condensed into a mushroom wall in front of him. A peach blossom branch struck the mushroom wall. Lu Kexin, her neck tilted, stared at the hyphae and Shen Ji, then let out a cold laugh before disappearing again from Shen Ji's sight.

"It's a dream," the system frantically analyzed. "The dreams of those affected in the real world are connected to Lu Kexin's dream. It's a nightmare and peach blossom's Contaminated Seed, capable of manipulating dreams and hiding in others' dreams."

"As long as these dream connections aren't severed, we can't capture its main body."

"Leave this to Li Zhiyan to handle," Shen Ji waved his hand, and the hyphae dispersed.

"But we don't know where Li Zhiyan is right now. He might not even know what's happening in the real world."

"Don't underestimate him because of his occasional abstract behavior. He's still the protagonist of this book, after all," Shen Ji said. "No matter where he is now, he'll step in to handle it."

"He is Li Zhiyan."

In the real world, Jiang Ying's headache made her mentally disoriented. She could hear the people outside still banging on the door, the sounds continuously rushing into her mind.

In her daze, she seemed to see the peach tree, and under the peach tree, a faceless person was waving at her. So Jiang Ying lowered her head and saw the peach blossom branch clutched in her hand.

Just as she was about to raise the peach blossom branch and walk toward the faceless person, she heard the sound of a finger snap.

"Stop sleeping," Li Zhiyan's voice rang in her ear. "Wake up quickly."

Jiang Ying's eyes snapped open, the sharp pain instantly fading. She turned her head abruptly and saw a blue butterfly fluttering by her ear.

The blue butterfly landed on her knee, fluttering its wings as if showing off its beauty.

There was no more banging on the door, no more alarm sounds.

Jiang Ying scrambled up and looked at the monitor. Outside the door, everyone had a blue butterfly floating in front of them. After staring for a few seconds, those people rubbed their eyes, yawned, and lay down on the spot to sleep.

It wasn't just here—almost every affected area was filled with butterflies.

The butterflies danced on this terrifying night, their points of light illuminating everyone's faces. They stared at the butterflies, mesmerized, and stopped making confession calls or accepting anyone's confessions.

Just like that, as they watched, they began to feel tired and lay down to sleep.

The night fell quiet again, the world fell silent again. The peach tree was still in full bloom, but no one was affected by it anymore.

"Captain," Jiang Ying smiled, feeling like crying but instead forcefully patted her head and began wartime command.

There must be others who, like her, retained consciousness. Find these people and continue the fight.

This was her job now.

Under the peach tree, Li Zhiyan withdrew his hand, his pale blue eyes filled with disdain.

"I knew it. That gardener's terrible taste wouldn't produce anything good, and now it's going crazy."

"Sooner or later, I'll tear down its plantation and plant a row of chrysanthemums on its grave."

"Now let me see where it is... over here, right?"

At the same time, the system was somewhat surprised. "The protagonist really handled it."

"Li Zhiyan's Pollution Talent directly displaced the gardener's nightmare, cutting off the gardener's pollution source. All the affected people fell into a real sleep. Damn, it really happened just like you said!"

Shen Ji curled the corner of his mouth slightly, a cold smile fleeting across his face.

"No matter what, he is humanity's S-Class Mutant, humanity's guardian."

"He wouldn't stand by and watch people in the real world become the gardener's pollution petri dishes, nor would he allow it to freely drain human life to accelerate the Contaminated Seed."

Lu Kexin's figure appeared in front of Shen Ji. It seemed not to have reacted yet, only looking at its palm in confusion.

The next moment, it saw overwhelming white hyphae.

The system watched as the hyphae enveloped Lu Kexin entirely. The gardener could appear in another area through the Contaminated Seed but couldn't use non-Contaminated Seed Talents. Unable to drag more people into nightmares in the real world, it was helpless, forced to watch as the Contaminated Seed was pulled out and devoured by the hyphae.

That was its sprouted plant, a sapling that was about to grow.

The system thought strangely: The little reporter and the protagonist, who should have been opponents, completed a cooperation without meeting.

Shen Ji was confident that Li Zhiyan would handle the pollution, and indeed, it happened.

One severed the gardener's pollution source, while the other dealt with the gardener's Contaminated Seed. If either had acted alone, they might not have handled it so quickly or perfectly.

Hiss... So they actually work well together?

The system began to question its own programming.

But soon, a familiar aura reminded the system that now was not the time for doubt.

"The protagonist is coming," the system said. "The protagonist will arrive here in 2 minutes. Shen Ji, leave quickly!"

Shen Ji controlled the hyphae, tearing at the Contaminated Seed. The gardener was still struggling, emitting thick pollution aura.

"Not yet," Shen Ji replied. "If we don't crush this seed, the gardener will definitely make a comeback."

"The protagonist will arrive in 98 seconds, Shen Ji!"

"Our initial goal was to survive without exposing ourselves! We absolutely cannot follow the original story's path!"

Shen Ji didn't respond, and the hyphae kept devouring intently.

"Reporter!" The gardener felt the Contaminated Seed in its neck being pulled out, its roots slowly detaching from this body. Powerless, it could only stare at Shen Ji with hatred. "I'll remember you."

"You'll regret not backing down here!"

Shen Ji narrowed his eyes slightly, a silvery-white light shimmering in their depths. The hyphae coiled around him, glowing with a white hue, like scales or shimmering sequins.

"Then let's see who will regret it."

The hyphae pulled out the Contaminated Seed, gnawing delightedly on this hard-won feast, cheering inside Shen Ji's mind.

Whoa! So tasty!

Wow! Such a big portion!

Thank you, Master! Master, you eat too!

We won't be hungry once we're full!

The system let out a distressed wail, entirely different from the small mushroom's.

"Ahhh! Hurry up! The protagonist is right outside! Only 10 seconds left!"

"No way! There's not enough time! There's absolutely no way to avoid it! Are we destined to have our covers blown and meet the protagonist, then fake our deaths?!"

"Wahh, I can't bear to leave the shelter. Shen Ji, let's change our names and lay low in another shelter!"

Shen Ji turned to look at the road ahead. The dream was hazy and fantastical; within this vast white mist, a figure took shape, surrounded by blue light. Shen Ji knew it was Li Zhiyan—those butterflies were guiding him, leading him here.

Was it really time to meet like this?

Just then, over the system's wails, Shen Ji suddenly heard his own name.

"...Xiao Ji!"

Someone was calling.

"Come on, hurry up and wake up, stop sleeping!"

"Xiao Ji? What will it take to wake you?"

"...It's too dangerous; we can't leave him here."

Shen Ji's eyes snapped open, and the system's wails cut off abruptly, even dragging out a long note due to the suddenness. It took a few seconds for it to catch itself and shut up.

"Awake?!" Wen Jingyu exclaimed in delighted surprise, looking at Shen Ji. "Everyone, Xiao Ji is awake!"

Everyone instantly crowded around Shen Ji.

Wang Anle, Cheng Gu, Zhang Qingli, and even Qi Yuanhai, who had come to discuss their trapped predicament—many people surrounded him, each letting out a sigh of relief, though worry still lingered in their eyes.

"...Ah, I forgot. You were just asleep, not trapped in a nightmare, so you can be woken up."

"As long as you're awakened, you can immediately snap out of that nightmare."

"Wow," the system said in a flat mechanical tone, uttering words of surprise. "It seems they've been calling for you since Li Zhiyan handled the contamination."

"I've gotta say... these people really care about you."

Shen Ji was helped up by them, still slightly dazed. He sat on the bed for a while, and during this time, the others stayed silent, quietly waiting for him to collect himself.

After a minute like this, Shen Ji finally raised his head.

He smiled at them. "Thank you. I heard you calling my name."

"So I woke up."

The people present glanced at each other, and finally, they all smiled too.

"You scared us to death. I thought you'd never wake up, Xiao Ji."

"Don't say such things; it's bad luck!"

"Come on, it's the apocalypse already, and you're still so superstitious!"

/

Li Zhiyan stood in the open space, looking at the fallen female A. There was a huge hole in her neck, as if something had been stuffed there and then violently torn out. She didn't die peacefully—as a host for the Contaminated Species of the Gardener, peace was never an option for her.

"I definitely saw someone here just now. How did they disappear in an instant?"

Li Zhiyan mused, "Shiny and quite beautiful, not something the Gardener's terrible taste could create."

"What was it? Those pretty small mushrooms?"

So Li Zhiyan reached out, and blue butterflies formed at his fingertips, fluttering down to the bloodied hole.

Soon, a glimmering small mushroom was lured out by the butterflies, quietly extending its hyphal tendrils.

Looking at the small mushroom, Li Zhiyan finally smiled.

"Caught you."