Chapter 39: Mushroom Hide and Seek

Chapter 39: Mushroom Tag

The weather was nice today, with sunlight streaming through the window and falling on Shen Ji. Chubby mushrooms of all sizes rolled around him, and the sun evenly covered each one in a blanket of light, making them shimmer.

Such a beautiful morning should be spent sleeping in, not getting woken up.

"Shen Ji, Shen Ji!"

The System was calling out.

"Wake up, wake up! Why are you so hard to wake up once you're asleep?"

"Open your eyes quickly."

Shen Ji groggily opened his eyes and slowly sat up from the bed. A few chubby mushrooms rolled to the ground with a soft *splat* as he moved, but the mushrooms didn’t mind. After flattening into pancakes, they turned into strands of mycelium, climbed back up the bedpost, wrapped themselves around the bed, and continued snoozing.

Rubbing his temples, feeling a bit off, Shen Ji picked up his ringing phone.

"Hello?"

Li Zhiyan, who had been about to ask why it took so long to answer, swallowed his words.

That drowsy tone, paired with Shen Ji’s naturally cool voice, sounded incredibly enticing, making one want to appear before him right then and there to see this half-asleep person.

"Hello? Why aren’t you saying anything?" Shen Ji frowned. "Who is this?"

"It’s me," Li Zhiyan finally spoke up.

The sound disrupted Shen Ji’s sleep-addled thoughts. He rubbed his eyes and glanced at the phone screen. "Li Zhiyan?"

"What’s the matter, calling so early in the morning?"

Perhaps because he had just woken up, or maybe due to a bit of morning grumpiness, Shen Ji lacked his usual gentleness. He didn’t politely address him as Mr. Li but used his full name instead, his tone not particularly friendly. Yet, this tone made Li Zhiyan raise an eyebrow in satisfaction.

He loved it when Shen Ji dropped the pretense—it felt more lively than when he was being sarcastic.

He absolutely adored it.

"Why aren’t you at the shelter?"

"The shelter?" Shen Ji checked the time and belatedly realized he was already late for work.

Then it dawned on him—wait, Wen Jingyu had given him time off.

"I’m on leave, of course I’m not at the shelter," Shen Ji said, puzzled. "Why are you at the shelter, Mr. Li?"

"I’m here to fill out an application."

"What application?"

"An application for Dr. Shen Ji to accompany the team to F City."

That woke Shen Ji up completely. He was surprised. "I’m going to F City too?"

"Chu Ye applied for it. I’m just here to sign the application form on his behalf."

"I looked into it."

"A Class C psychic mutant in F City has been polluted. They’ve exhausted all means but couldn’t handle the pollution. After contacting Chu Ye, they hoped he could recommend a doctor for treatment. Chu Ye, after weighing the options, decided it was necessary to save the Class C mutant, so he submitted an application to the shelter."

"Wen Jingyu has already approved it. He’ll probably notify you soon."

'Is it also the Gardener’s Contaminated Seed?'

"Probably not. According to the records from yesterday, F City has no records of victims being sent to the plantation in the past three years, so it shouldn’t be related to the Gardener’s contamination incident."

Shen Ji yawned. 'What a hassle. I don’t want to go.'

"I’d recommend going. Even though it’s not the Gardener’s Contaminated Seed, you already want to go to the Gardener’s plantation to settle scores with it. This is a perfect excuse to go. Besides, in the original storyline, a major contamination incident will occur in F City. I suggest you consume that pollution."

'To enhance our strength?'

"Exactly. Whether it’s to deal with the Gardener or to prepare for the future, we should enhance our strength."

"Mr. Li, I’m just an ordinary medical staff member. Why would I be assigned elsewhere?" This was what puzzled Shen Ji the most. "Is it because I’m in charge of Mr. Chu Ye’s medical care? But I only handle delivering medicine. Basic medical treatment is handled by other doctors."

Li Zhiyan seemed affected by Shen Ji’s tone and yawned as well.

"If they’re assigning it to you, it’s because they believe you can handle it. Don’t underestimate yourself. Everyone recognizes your abilities."

"That’s all. I’ll wait for you this afternoon."

Shen Ji found it strange. "You’re not leaving this afternoon?"

"Are you that eager for me to go?"

"Is Mr. Li planning to switch to the shelter?" Shen Ji turned the tables, his tone gentle and full of anticipation. "If that’s the case, I’d warmly welcome it. Mr. Li would definitely make an excellent doctor for treating pollution-related illnesses."

Li Zhiyan: ...

After a few seconds of silence, he let out a tsk.

"You’re right."

Shen Ji: ...?

"After handling the Gardener incident, I’ll come to the shelter part-time for a few days to be your colleague."

"If we’re going to recruit, we need to adapt in advance. We can also get to know each other better. I’m sure we’ll become a great pair."

Shen Ji: ...

He hung up the phone and tossed it onto the pillow.

Like hell I want to be a great pair with Li Zhiyan.

Shen Ji pulled out a dozing small mushroom from beside him and squeezed it a couple of times to vent his frustration. The small mushrooms were soft and squishy, like cotton.

He replayed the conversation with Li Zhiyan in his head and finally noticed something off.

Shen Ji frowned subtly. "They don’t actually think I’m a Healingtype mutant, do they?"

"Huh? An S-class pollutant posing as a Healingtype mutant??"

But thinking about it now, it did seem that way.

Li Zhiyan had referred Chu Ye to the Q City shelter for treatment. The doctors at the shelter showed him special care and regard, showering him with bonuses until his hands were tired. Most importantly, everyone under Shen Ji’s care had been cured by him, and even those who weren’t fully cured saw a significant drop in their pollution level.

Shen Ji: ...

System: ...

"So, you'd already established your persona without us knowing?"

"A hidden, self-sacrificing, high-level Healing-type mutant who never takes credit and lets actions speak louder than words? Holy shit, that's practically a divine being descending to earth!"

Shen Ji: ...

Well, he was completely awake now. Shen Ji got up to change clothes, and the small mushrooms clambered out of bed too.

They tangled around Shen Ji's wardrobe, whining and chirping: Let's go eat all of Li Zhiyan's little butterflies right now!

How dare he wake our master so early in the morning!

Shen Ji: ...

"Ah, poor little mushrooms. They just want to stand up for their master, but end up getting scolded instead. Good mushrooms, bad master!"

"Are you sure they aren't just greedy? Are Li Zhiyan's butterflies really that delicious? They can't stop thinking about them?"

The small mushrooms crowded eagerly in front of Shen Ji.

They go 'ying'! The little butterflies are delicious!

They taste like ice cream!

Mint ice cream! Super tasty!

He patted the little mushrooms on their heads, Shen Ji opened the wardrobe and pulled out his coat. Yawning, he draped it over his shoulders and decided to head over to the shelter right then.

He pushed the door open and walked out.

Since he'd left in a bit of a hurry, he hadn't smoothed out the wrinkles on his coat properly, nor had he buttoned it up. This was a stark contrast to his usual rational and proper image, giving off a casual, almost disheveled vibe that, paired with his naturally aloof features, which just made him even more captivating.

It happened to be shift change time for the medical staff when he stepped out, so there were quite a few people around.

They saw Shen Ji and greeted him.

"Good morning, Xiao Ji."

"Good morning, Doctor Ji. You look really handsome today."

Shen Ji responded politely, "Good morning to you too."

"Also, my surname isn't Ji."

"Oops, we're so used to calling you Xiao Ji, we forgot Doctor Xiao Ji's surname isn't Ji."

"..."

"Tell me, did you have everyone call you Xiao Ji so you could hide your identity and fake your death more easily? Look, now they've all forgotten your surname is Shen, not Ji."

System, if you still remember, it wasn’t me who asked them to call me Xiao Ji—they just inexplicably started calling me Xiao Ji and forgot my surname is Shen.

On the other end, Li Zhiyan wasn't bothered by Shen Ji hanging up on him.

During their conversation, the score was tied 1-1, and occasionally his win rate was even higher.

As Chu Ye put it: he's shameless enough, but Doctor Shen still has some face to save.

This time, aside from helping Chu Ye fill out the application form, he mostly came to the shelter to search for the elusive mycelium.

Coming to the shelter inevitably meant checking on the Undertaker's corpse. It had been under study for several days now. Even though there was no chance of it getting up again, as the person in charge, Li Zhiyan still needed to check in occasionally.

He arrived at the special research lab, where several staff members in hazmat suits were dissecting the Undertaker's body. Li Zhiyan could hear their discussions.

He signed his name on the inspection log.

After signing, he took a look around.

"The pollution aura here…" Li Zhiyan mused thoughtfully, "It's a lab studying pollutants, yet the pollution control is so effective."

Li Zhiyan snapped his fingers, and a little blue butterfly formed in the air. The butterfly circled the entire lab before finally landing on Li Zhiyan's fingertip.

Li Zhiyan tilted his head.

"Not here."

He turned and left without disturbing the researchers.

Just as he was leaving, one of the doctors who had finished the dissection spoke up.

"Speaking of which, where's that doll that was here before? It's gone."

"You didn't know? The research was successful. The doctors at headquarters helped refine the special medicine. That thing's pollution level was too high, so this morning it was signed off to be sent to the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center. It should be on the truck by now."

"I see. Something with such high pollution should indeed be sent to the treatment center early."

Li Zhiyan then went to the patient ward, where the butterflies had been eaten the previous night. The patient in the isolation room had already been discharged, so it was empty.

On his way to the ward, Li Zhiyan consciously checked the pollution levels in various areas of the shelter.

To his great surprise, the pollution level in almost every corner of the shelter was remarkably low—lower than even normal environments. Yet, shelters were never places with low pollution levels; the pollution released by contaminated patients, big and small, usually turned the entire shelter into a minor polluted zone.

That's why shelters needed to hire large numbers of mutants to assist with medical work.

If Director Wen didn't have a special method to control pollution levels, then there must be some pretty little thing gobbling up all that pollution.

Little mushrooms that eat pollution—what exactly are they?

Are they pollutants? Or someone's Talent?

Given that he couldn't sense any pollution from them, Li Zhiyan leaned toward the idea of it being a Talent.

A Pollution Talent that's a mushroom? That sounds delicious.

They could even produce and consume themselves—how enviable.

"If it is a Pollution Talent, whose could it be?"

He initially thought it might be Shen Ji's Pollution Talent. Although both the shelter and Li Zhiyan had assumed he had a healing-type Talent so far, Shen Ji had never revealed his Talent. In fact, he had previously said he wasn't even sure what his Talent was. If his Talent had mutated, it wouldn't be unusual.

Besides, during the nightmare incident, the only ones who could move normally were Li Zhiyan and Shen Ji.

But now, Shen Ji was on vacation and not at the shelter, yet those mushrooms were still at the shelter eating his butterflies last night.

As everyone knows: Pollution Talents cannot separate from the human body. Only special mutants like Li Zhiyan can materialize pollution and separate it from their bodies.

"I was hoping if it was Shen Ji, I could ask him for a few to raise."

Li Zhiyan muttered to himself, "What a pity. If it were Shen Ji, he would have generously given me some of it."

/

Shen Ji arrived at the containment facility, where the staff on duty stopped him upon seeing him—clearly, Director Wen Jingyu's medical suspension was being strictly enforced.

He called Wen Jingyu, and only after confirming that Shen Ji could be allowed in did the staff wave him in with a smile.

"Oh, Doctor Shen, you’ve finally recovered! You have no idea how much the doctors here have been asking about you while you were sick."

Shen Ji badged in. "Thank you all for your concern. I’m all right."

"Doctor Shen, make sure to rest well. Don’t push yourself until you collapse again next time."

"Of course, of course."

Shen Ji didn’t go to the quarantine zone first. Instead, he headed to Wen Jingyu’s office. Wen Jingyu had already known he was coming from the earlier phone call and was waiting for him in the office.

Seeing Shen Ji knock and enter, Wen Jingyu smiled and gestured to the chair opposite him.

Although Wen Jingyu very much wished for Shen Ji to stay in City Q permanently—giving them a backup option for extreme infectious crises—he understood that beyond City Q, there were other cities, each with countless contaminated patients.

He couldn’t keep Shen Ji trapped in the City Q containment facility for selfish reasons, so he agreed.

In this era, all containment facility doctors were part of one network. They could remain in one place forever or be anywhere they were needed.

"Xiao Ji, this relief assignment is pretty straightforward. The director of City F is a friend of mine, and I’ve already cleared it with her. You just need to go and help; you don’t need to worry about anything else."

Shen Ji nodded. "Thank you, Doctor Wen."

"No need to thank me. Just remember to protect yourself, understand?"

"If Li Zhiyan asks for your help, just pretend you didn’t hear him. He’s such a high-ranking S-Class Mutant—what could he possibly need our Doctor Xiao Ji’s help with?"

Shen Ji nodded seriously, his tone gentle yet teasing. "Aside from my official duties, I definitely won’t stick my nose where it doesn’t belong."

Wen Jingyu let out a hearty laugh, patting Shen Ji’s shoulder with evident delight.

Though he knew full well that Shen Ji was just saying that. If Shen Ji were truly someone who avoided getting involved, why would he have come to City Q in the first place, treating so many contaminated patients? Why would he have agreed to help Li Zhiyan during the Peach Blossom Calamity incident, not even minding when he got dragged into it as a result?

He knew exactly what he was doing and understood the consequences he might face.

It was this selflessness that made Wen Jingyu admire him, even touched him.

"I’ll leave it at that. Do you want to see Mr. Li? For some reason, he came to the containment facility today and has been poking around the patient wards ever since. He even checked yesterday’s security tapes in the monitoring room. When I asked what he was doing, he wouldn’t say."

"Maybe he’s waiting for you, and he’s just bored in the meantime."

"Really?" Shen Ji sounded puzzled. "He’s been waiting all this time without any real business?"

"No." Wen Jingyu was equally baffled. "Maybe S-Class Mutants just have unique quirks."

Though Li Zhiyan’s personality was indeed unique, it didn’t seem like him to wander aimlessly around the containment facility. Given his preference for sitting over standing and lying down over sitting, would he really go out for a stroll when he had no work to do?

"Ah!"

The system blurted out, "I get it now!"

The system had finally realized what was wrong. "Crap! Shen Ji! I know why Li Zhiyan has been wandering around the containment facility!"

"Yesterday, those mushrooms didn’t eat all the butterflies—one slipped through and tailed you to the containment facility, where it was eventually eaten! Li Zhiyan is here looking for the mushrooms!"

Shen Ji: …

He turned to scan the crevices in the containment facility walls.

As if aware they’d caused trouble, the hyphae were hiding; not a cap in sight.

Rather than scolding the small mushrooms, it was better to do damage control now. Shen Ji quickly left the admin building and headed toward the patient wards.

"He’s in Ward I right now, and he’s carrying some kind of device…"

"Could it be a special scanner?"

"Shen Ji, are we going to be discovered? Is the plot truly irreversible? According to the original story, Chen Guo was killed around this time, and the corruption was exposed now too!"

"Don’t panic," Shen Ji said. "Li Zhiyan has only discovered the hyphae. He hasn’t realized yet that I’m their master."

"There’s still a chance."

Even as he said this, Shen Ji had his doubts about the situation.

If Li Zhiyan discovered that the hyphae’s operation was based in the containment facility, he would realize that their master was someone inside. And the most likely candidate was Shen Ji, whose abilities were still unclassified. Moreover, Shen Ji had dropped plenty of hints—for instance, the containment facility’s contamination recovery rate had significantly improved since his arrival.

Shen Ji worriedly wondered if he were truly exposed, would there still be time to pretend to be a Healing-type mutant?

After all, the small mushroom’s ability to devour contamination was essentially the same as a Healing-type mutant’s methods.

Amid his internal struggle, the elevator doors opened, revealing Li Zhiyan right there in the doorway.

The moment he saw Shen Ji, Li Zhiyan blinked. "You’re here."

Shen Ji quickly composed himself. "What brings you here, Mr. Li?"

"Got a sec?" Li Zhiyan didn’t answer the previous question but instead changed the subject. "Can I make a request?"

Shen Ji looked at him curiously. "What is it?"

"Can I temporarily borrow the flower I gave you?"

Shen Ji: …?

"Because my garden was destroyed, and I really don’t have any usable flowers right now, so I’d like to borrow the one I gave you," Li Zhiyan explained. "I promise I’ll take good care of it!"

"…"

'System, do you have any idea what Li Zhiyan is talking about?'

"No idea. This protagonist isn’t normal—he’s got something wrong with his brain. It’s perfectly normal for us not to understand his train of thought."

So Shen Ji’s confusion turned into bewilderment. He and Li Zhiyan went back to the dormitory to retrieve the flower from the balcony. Shen Ji had kept it thriving—the pale blue petals stretched out gracefully, like a graceful blue swan extending its neck, exceptionally beautiful.

Then the two of them returned to Ward I.

Shen Ji watched as Li Zhiyan placed the flowerpot on the corridor floor of Ward I.

But that wasn’t all. Li Zhiyan then reached out and gently touched a petal, causing several butterflies to pop into existence, fluttering around the flowerpot.

After finishing this, Li Zhiyan pulled Shen Ji over to squat by the doorway of the nearby waiting room, keeping a covert watch on the flower.

Shen Ji finally broke the silence. "Mr. Li."

"What are we doing?"

"Mushroom fishing."

"...Mushroom fishing?"

Seemingly noticing Shen Ji's confusion, Li Zhiyan explained further.

"I caught some strange hyphae in a nightmare before. Those hyphae were very beautiful, but later they ruined my garden and apparently escaped to the shelter."

"I listed what they ate: Peach Blossom Calamity seeds, my flowers, and my butterflies."

"Since the Peach Blossom Calamity seeds can't be replaced, I can only use flowers and butterflies now."

Li Zhiyan said with enthusiasm, "It's been a long time since I last went fishing, but this feels more like sparrow-catching than fishing."

Shen Ji: ...

*System, were we worrying for nothing?*

"Although every bit of delay helps, for some reason, I feel particularly unwilling."

The system lamented, "How could a protagonist like Li Zhiyan discover the filth in the original work and eventually cause the plot to have a bad ending?"

*You shouldn’t blame Li Zhiyan for this; you should blame the author for the bad ending.*

"Little reporter, don’t be a hypocrite. We should hate both!"

They were crouching at the entrance of the waiting room for a long time. During this time, Zhang Qingli came to deliver medication to a patient and saw Shen Ji. He pointed at Li Zhiyan in confusion and asked what they were doing.

Li Zhiyan replied that they were catching sparrows.

Zhang Qingli gave a puzzled look around, confirmed that this was a shelter and not a forest, then nodded at them.

He told them to remember not to scare passersby and left.

"As expected of Zhang the Bodhisattva! He didn’t even complain and just told you not to scare passersby!"

Finally, Li Zhiyan got tired of crouching. He turned his head and yawned.

The hyphae instantly seized the opportunity. In Shen Ji’s sight, they swiftly descended from the ceiling, their tendrils quickly striking out. Whoosh, and a little butterfly was gone.

Shen Ji: ...

They'll risk anything for a meal!

After yawning, Li Zhiyan looked at the flowerpot in front of him.

"Is one of my butterflies missing?"

"Did you see anything just now?"

Shen Ji shook his head without changing his expression. "I didn’t see anything."

"That's weird. Did I see a ghost?" Li Zhiyan stood up, walked to the flowerpot, and counted the butterflies again.

Shen Ji followed him over and remarked gravely, "Maybe it really was a ghost."

"Are ghosts scarier than pollutants?"

"Not exactly."

Li Zhiyan reached out his hand, and the butterflies landed on his arm in unison. Soon, the butterflies vanished into thin air.

Shen Ji studied Li Zhiyan and, after a few seconds, asked a question.

"Mr. Li."

"You don’t seem particularly concerned." Shen Ji was referring to his behavior of placing the flowerpot in the corridor. "If it’s actually something you discovered in the nightmare, shouldn’t you be more serious about it?"

"Really?" Li Zhiyan thought about it in confusion. "But I never sensed any threat from that thing."

There was dislike, risk aversion, and a desperate desire to escape capture, but no hostility whatsoever.

Pollutants are aggregates of obsession and malice; they harbor almost pure malice and appetite toward everyone. But Li Zhiyan didn't get that sense from those small mushrooms.

Li Zhiyan followed them from the nightmare to his garden and then tracked them to the shelter. Aside from eating a few butterflies and destroying his entire garden in a fit of pique, these small mushrooms haven't caused any actual harm. They didn’t even emit a Pollution Aura, hiding in the shelter while consuming a lot of pollution in the air.

Harmless and timid.

Apart from being impossible to catch, they have no flaws.

Li Zhiyan isn't picky. If it weren’t for this, he wouldn’t have kept a garden of contaminated flowers. In his view, there is no concept that "pollutants must die."

*"Innocent until proven guilty."* Li Zhiyan very generously shared with Shen Ji, "Don’t you want to see the translucent small mushrooms?"

"They’re really beautiful."

"Indeed, the protagonist in the original work has previous form for sparing pollutants." The system’s voice carried a hint of hesitation. "He isn’t zealous about justice or dedicated to his job; he acts entirely based on his preferences."

"Perhaps in the normal plot, the filth would still be hidden, remaining an unknown S-class pollutant, and never enter the human population. Li Zhiyan might encounter it somewhere and even have a civil conversation with it, without either attacking the other."

But this was impossible.

By the time Shen Ji transmigrated, the filth had already entered the human population and caused the shelter’s pollution leak incident, resulting in widespread pollution in City Q.

He looked at Li Zhiyan’s face. At this moment, Li Zhiyan was still tinkering with the flowers in his arms, trying to find a way to coax out the small mushrooms without damaging the flowers.

Shen Ji thought: *Getting familiar with the protagonist really isn’t a good thing. I can’t bear to hurt him now.*

Shen Ji withdrew his gaze, a hint of helplessness in his eyes behind the black-framed glasses.

Pity. They were destined to be enemies.