Chapter 40: Mushroom Hide and Seek

Chapter 40 The Mushrooms Play Hide-and-Seek

After that day, Li Zhiyan seemed to have reached a subtle balance with Shen Ji, even though he hadn't confirmed his identity.

While waiting for the trip to F City, Li Zhiyan would occasionally release some butterflies in the containment facility to observe the hidden hyphae. The hyphae, in turn, would take advantage of Li Zhiyan’s inattention to sneak a few bites of his butterflies. Yet, they maintained this tacit understanding, coexisting without major conflicts, even appearing remarkably friendly.

Seeing this, the system remarked, “…Not even the author could have imagined that mushrooms and butterflies could become mute friends.”

This comment earned Shen Ji several days of sarcastic remarks.

Things went on like this until the day they were preparing to leave for F City.

Shen Ji was packing his belongings in the dormitory. Since this was an official trip, he needed to prepare his luggage. As this was a medical support mission coordinated with the guard team, he had to wear the containment facility’s support uniform.

After taking off his jacket and white shirt, Shen Ji was bare-chested when he caught a faint, unusual scent.

“What is this smell?”

Shen Ji raised his arm and sniffed. A strange, cool fragrance emanated from his body—a crisp scent reminiscent of a refreshing breeze, like winter snow or spring leaves under the wind.

He hadn’t noticed it before, but now, as he prepared to change clothes, the scent became more pronounced.

“It’s the smell of pollution.”

“Pollution?” Shen Ji pointed at the small mushroom rolling on the bed. “Their smell?”

“Yes and no. The small mushrooms have strong concealment properties and are odorless. However, if they consume a large amount of a certain type of pollution, they might emit traces of other pollution-related scents.”

“But recently, the hyphae haven’t been eating any strange pollution. Why would they suddenly emit other pollution smells?”

“Have you forgotten?” Shen Ji said. “They ate Li Zhiyan’s butterflies.”

“That makes it even stranger,” the system wondered. “Li Zhiyan is a mutant. Mutants’ pollution is controllable and shouldn’t carry the pollution aura of contaminants. Why would Li Zhiyan’s butterflies have the same pollution aura as contaminants?”

Shen Ji raised an eyebrow slightly.

Hearing this, Shen Ji suddenly realized something.

Shen Ji still considered himself human, so even though he was now a contaminant, he wouldn’t attack humans. The hyphae, derived from him, carried some of his subconscious tendencies and thus wouldn’t actively attack humans either. So far, they hadn’t even glanced at mutants.

Yet, they actively sought out and ate Li Zhiyan’s butterflies and found them delicious.

“Is there something off about the protagonist? Any special settings?”

“That’s unclear. It’s normal for the protagonist to have special settings, and it’s also normal for us not to know because the author left it out due to the rushed ending.”

“But Li Zhiyan actually has some secrets. The original work mentioned that he hid certain things.”

“However, more importantly, how are we supposed to hide the fact that we carry the scent of Li Zhiyan’s pollution from him?”

“That’s simple.”

Shen Ji opened a drawer and took out a bottle of perfume. He sprayed it directly onto his chest.

With a spritz, a slightly bitter lemon scent instantly masked the faint cool breeze fragrance.

“What do you think humans invented perfume for? Of course, to mask body odors.”

“…”

“Wait, what? When did you buy perfume? Why do you keep perfume in your dormitory drawer?”

“It’s normal for reporters to have all sorts of miscellaneous items. I habitually bought some after arriving here.”

Shen Ji took off his jacket and changed into the containment facility’s support uniform. The uniform was white and slightly loose for ease of movement. After putting it on, Shen Ji attached the facility’s nameplate to his chest and sprayed more perfume on himself.

He was afraid that Li Zhiyan’s dog-like nose might detect the scent even through the perfume.

The original work didn’t specify how sharp Li Zhiyan’s sense of smell was, only describing him as a human pollution detector. But from their actual interactions, Shen Ji was certain that Li Zhiyan was even more troublesome than in the original work. Many of his abstract behaviors hid intelligence far greater than imagined.

For example, using butterfly death locations to determine the hiding spots of the hyphae.

After hastily organizing his things, Shen Ji set off.

Arriving at the meeting point, Li Zhiyan was sitting on a bench looking at his phone, yawning as he scrolled. Aside from him, Chu Ye hadn’t arrived yet.

Shen Ji checked the time—less than half an hour until departure.

He walked over to Li Zhiyan. “Mr. Li, you’re here early.”

Li Zhiyan looked up at him. Although it was late autumn, the sun had already risen. Shen Ji stood in a position that blocked the sunlight, backlit so that Li Zhiyan could clearly see his features. The sunlight spilled over him, making his white containment facility uniform seem to glow.

“Doctor Shen is also early.”

“It’s polite to arrive a bit early,” Shen Ji said as he sat down beside Li Zhiyan. “Did Mr. Li arrive early out of politeness too?”

“No, I have no manners.”

Shen Ji: …

He really had no shame saying that.

Li Zhiyan spoke casually, “I set my alarm too early. After being woken up, I had nothing to do, so I came ahead of time.”

“No luggage?”

“Not needed.” Li Zhiyan snapped his fingers at Shen Ji. With a click, a little blue butterfly appeared in the air. “Butterflies are self-cleaning.”

Li Zhiyan said proudly, “See my hair? It’s this long, but I don't have to wash it!”

Shen Ji: …

He’d only heard of cats and dogs grooming themselves.

“But what’s that smell on you?” Li Zhiyan frowned and leaned closer. Shen Ji could feel Li Zhiyan’s breath brushing against his neck.

It wasn’t particularly warm—more like a gentle breeze, soft and slightly cool.

“Did you drink lemon water?”

Shen Ji took out the perfume from his nearby luggage bag and sprayed it directly at Li Zhiyan’s White Hair. With a spritz, Li Zhiyan instinctively leaned back and then noticed the same scent in the air as the one on Shen Ji.

He suddenly understood. “Perfume?”

“You don’t seem like the type to wear perfume.”

“Really? What kind of person do I seem like, then?” Shen Ji asked Li Zhiyan.

His posture was very proper, his gaze equally so; the shelter uniform he wore made him appear both dapper and gentlemanly. The scholarly aura brought by his black-rimmed glasses accentuated his exceptionally handsome features. Shen Ji was someone whose outward appearance inspired trust, his calm and steady demeanor making him particularly striking.

And then this reliable person, trusted by both parents and children, had sprayed perfume on himself today.

Whoa, even more captivating.

"You've never worn it before," Li Zhiyan said.

"That's because working at the shelter has a dress code," Shen Ji sighed. "Do you know how long this bottle of perfume has been sitting around unused?"

With an expression that said 'I understand,' Li Zhiyan replied, "That's rough."

He tugged at his own hair to smell the freshly sprayed scent, seeming to like it quite a bit, and offered the ends on the other side of his hair to Shen Ji.

"Spray some here too."

Shen Ji didn’t refuse. He sprayed that small section as well, releasing a slightly bitter lemon scent with a hint of freshness. Shen Ji leaned in and sniffed it too.

Because they were so close, Li Zhiyan could easily smell Shen Ji's scent.

Aside from the faintly bitter lemon perfume, Li Zhiyan also detected a strange, cool fragrance emanating from him, as if it were coming from within his body. He had a good nose; even masked by another scent, he was sure he wasn't wrong.

Moreover, he felt this fragrance was familiar.

Li Zhiyan instinctively leaned forward, and their foreheads touched.

Shen Ji was the first to pull back, putting a full step between them, his dark eyes filled with disdain.

This big butterfly with no sense of social boundaries.

Just then, something clicked, followed by the sound of something hitting the floor and rolling a couple of times.

Shen Ji and Li Zhiyan both looked over simultaneously.

Chu Ye was crouched down, trying to sneakily pick up the fallen object. His crouched form was imprinted in both their eyes, and finally, Chu Ye stood up with a sheepish grin.

"Well," Chu Ye said, "should I let you two carry on?"

"Just pretend I’m not here."

Both of them continued to stare at him.

"Alright, alright," Chu Ye picked up the object he had dropped. "Anyway, everyone’s here. Let’s get going."

As the medical support staff on the trip, Shen Ji still needed to sign one last application. While Shen Ji was signing, Chu Ye discreetly elbowed Li Zhiyan.

Chu Ye’s face was full of curiosity.

"What’s going on between you two?"

Last time, Chu Ye had learned from Li Zhiyan that he "preferred men." As Li Zhiyan’s friend, he naturally wanted to help, so he got the scoop from Zhou Ye and Jiang Ying.

Soon, he also found out that Li Zhiyan was trying to recruit Shen Ji into the guard team, and playing favorites at that.

Even though he had the privilege to pick team members, he insisted on getting Shen Ji’s agreement.

And that line—"I think he’s very free"~

So cheesy.

"I saw it all. You two were smelling each other."

Li Zhiyan gave him an unimpressed look. "How does every action sound so twisted when it comes out of your mouth?"

"So, were you smelling each other or not?"

"Yes, but it’s because Shen Ji was wearing perfume. I was just smelling the scent, not kissing or anything."

Chu Ye shrugged; he was just telling the truth.

"My relationship with Doctor Shen isn’t as skeevy as you think."

"Then what kind of not-like-that relationship is it?"

Li Zhiyan thought for a moment, then nodded in conclusion. "Compared to love, what I feel for Doctor Shen is appreciation. Do you understand appreciation? It’s higher than love, and higher than you, my friend."

Chu Ye:...

Ugh, even cheesier.

/

After arriving in F City, Shen Ji parted ways with Li Zhiyan and Chu Ye. The two of them needed to go to the F City Pollution Prevention Center to get details, while Shen Ji’s assignment was at the F City shelter.

The shelter had sent a car specially for him.

The driver was also wearing the shelter uniform, an instantly recognizable outfit, identical to the one in Q City except for the badge.

This familiarity put Shen Ji much more at ease.

Finally arriving at the F City shelter, that sense of familiarity washed over him even more powerfully.

"The shelters in every region are completely cookie-cutter," the system noted. "Exactly the same as the one in Q City."

A silver-haired, glasses-wearing female doctor greeted him at the entrance.

Though her hair was silver, it was neat and clean. She also liked to make eye contact, but unlike Li Zhiyan, her gaze was full of warmth. Even when making eye contact, you didn't feel challenged, only that she was a kind and gentle person.

"Hello," the female doctor smiled at Shen Ji. "I’m Bai Xuyue, Director of the F City shelter."

Her voice was measured, steady, and warm.

Shen Ji was somewhat surprised. He quickly reached out to shake Bai Xuyue’s hand. "Director Bai, hello. I’m Shen Ji."

"I know you," Bai Xuyue said with a smile. "Earlier today, Old Wen called me. He told me his star student was coming to help us out and asked me to make sure you're well taken care of."

"Not at all, I’m just an ordinary staff member."

"I understand," Bai Xuyue patted Shen Ji’s shoulder. "No need for that. Let’s get to work first. I’ll take you to see that patient."

Shen Ji nodded. "Alright."

The elevator went all the way down, stopping only at floor -13. On the way out, Shen Ji checked the sign to confirm this was the IV Ward.

The IV Ward was the shelter’s least populated ward. According to Pollution Prevention Center regulations, if a patient reached Stage IV pollution and could not be controlled, to prevent them from mutating into a pollutant and causing greater harm, a disposal consent form would be signed, and they would be sent to the Pollution Decontamination Center for processing.

Thus, the number of patients who could remain in the IV Ward was exceedingly small.

They continued inward, almost to the innermost isolation room, where Shen Ji finally saw the patient he was tasked with treating.

It was unclear how long the person had been unconscious. He lay on the ground with his eyes closed, his entire body caked in dirt. The dried mud had cracked, and through the fissures, Shen Ji could see the patient’s raw, red flesh, the skin so fragile it looked like it would crumble if touched.

Shen Ji glanced at the pollution level: 83.

That level would definitely land him in the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center.

“His name is Bai Yangshu, F City's only psychic mutant, C-Class, and also my son.” Bai Xuyue looked worriedly at the person inside. “Doctor Shen, since you were able to cure Mr. Chu, you’ll be able to cure him too, right?”

“Whether it's for the sake of all of F City or just for me, we cannot afford to lose him.”

Shen Ji looked at Bai Xuyue, and after a few seconds, he spoke, “I will do everything in my power.”

Bai Xuyue nodded, relieved. “Thank you, Doctor Shen.”

She opened the isolation room, and the moment the door opened, a wave of pollution rushed out. The sheer intensity made Bai Xuyue frown slightly.

They both hurried inside and promptly locked the isolation room door behind them.

“This is exactly why we had to isolate him in the deepest area. He has already started releasing pollution. In theory, at this stage, there’s no treatment left—only the Pollution Harmless Treatment Center. But both I and the Pollution Prevention Center wanted to give it one more try.”

“Psychic mutants are incredibly precious.”

Shen Ji rolled up his sleeves, secured his cuffs neatly, giving off a vibe of professional detachment, then crouched down and placed his hand on the patient.

“Can you tell me what happened when he was contaminated?”

“Actually, he was contaminated by the S-class pollutant ‘Wrath’.”

Shen Ji looked at her in surprise. “Wrath?!”

“Yes.” Bai Xuyue sighed.

“Wrath,” an S-class pollutant, holed up in one of the four major forbidden pollution zones, “Abyss Zero.”

It was recorded as the most powerful pollutant in human archives.

Unlike Gardener’s cruelty, Wrath is completely insane. Like a menstrual cycle, it causes small earthquakes every three months with regularity, and a major earthquake every two years.

This has been a major headache for humanity.

Just as animals sense earthquakes and flee in a panic, each quake causes low-level pollutants to sense the danger and riot. In places where humans occupy the Earth’s main habitable areas, once pollutants riot, it’s the ordinary people who suffer.

So, after one major earthquake, the captain of the guard team, who—after working half a month of overtime—was furious, named it “Wrath.”

“Bai Yangshu was one of the personnel sent to suppress the aftermath of the last minor earthquake at Abyss Zero. During the mission, one of their team members got separated. As the only psychic mutant, he decided to search for the missing member alone. Soon, the rest received his location signal, but when they found him, he and his teammate were both unconscious on the ground.”

At that time, their bodies were covered in mud. The team tried to wash it off, only to horrifiedly discover that the washed-off mud was mixed with bits of their shattered skin.

They had been contaminated.

Despite having just been contaminated, their pollution level was as high as 61, entering pollution Stage III.

Shen Ji asked, “What about his teammate?”

“He didn’t make it. He passed away.”

Shen Ji apologized, then continued treating Bai Yangshu.

Hyphae burrowed from Shen Ji’s palm into Bai Yangshu’s body. After entering new territory, they curiously looked around, soon spreading throughout his entire body. Shen Ji also assessed the level of pollution inside this person.

It was terrible, no less severe than Chu Ye’s condition back then.

At that time, Chu Ye’s body had been implanted with a Contaminated Seed, but Gardener had held back because he didn’t want him dead. But for Bai Yangshu, it was different.

His internal organs had turned into mud, charred black as if thrown into lava. The hyphae circled around the charred pollution again and again, then cautiously took a bite from the edge.

Eek! So hot!

The mushrooms are getting burned to death!

Even Shen Ji felt a burning sensation on his fingers as if they were on fire. He frowned slightly and moved his hand to another spot.

Despite the heat, the hyphae didn’t give up. To them, the type of pollution didn’t matter at all; they would greedily devour all pollution, whether hot, cold, spicy, or bitter. Perhaps only a Siberian freezer could slightly restrain them.

Beside him, Bai Xuyue watched Shen Ji’s treatment intently, trying to memorize the entire process. But Shen Ji merely kept his hand on the patient’s chest, his eyes fixed on the patient. He didn’t say a word or make any unnecessary movements.

Bai Xuyue’s heart pounded with worry.

When she learned that the Pollution Prevention Center had found Chu Ye, Bai Xuyue was beyond excited. She didn’t dare let her guard down until they explicitly told her: Chu Ye agreed to bring the pollution disease doctor who treated him.

A doctor working at Q City Shelter, very likely a Healing-type mutant doctor.

She proactively called Wen Jingyu. She could hear Wen Jingyu’s concern and how highly he thought of this young man, as well as his trust in him.

But Bai Xuyue was still nervous.

Could the patient be treated? If he could, when would there be an effect? When would he wake up?

Bai Xuyue wanted to ask these questions badly, but Wen Jingyu told her this was a special doctor with a hidden identity who couldn’t be exposed, so she couldn’t ask any of these questions.

After about ten minutes like this, Shen Ji let out a sigh and stood up.

“His condition is very serious. We can’t rush it. Let’s stop here for today. I’ll come back tomorrow.”

“Of course, of course!” Bai Xuyue said. “As long as there’s any effect, I’m already immensely grateful.”

As the Director of F City Shelter, Bai Xuyue knew exactly how difficult this pollution was to handle. One could even say: the fact that Shen Ji didn’t outright say he couldn’t treat it had already moved her.

After all, she had long prepared herself for the worst outcome: having to personally send her son away.

She took Shen Ji to get a temporary access pass for the shelter and walked him out. After everything was done, Bai Xuyue returned to the Ⅳ ward.

The person in the isolation room remained exactly as before, eyes closed without even a flicker of movement. If not for the faint breathing, Bai Xuyue would have thought he was already dead, that what lay here was just a corpse.

After watching him for what felt like a long time, Bai Xuyue sighed softly and turned to leave.

Just then, *ding dong*—an alarm suddenly sounded from the communicator on her wrist.

“Warning! Pollution level in isolation room G-13-30 has decreased!”

“Warning! Pollution level decreased by 3 points. Attending physician, please investigate!”

“Warning! Pollution level decreased!”

Bai Xuyue was stunned. She whipped her head around and indeed saw the pollution level on the monitor had dropped by 3 points in a short time.

She couldn’t help but take off her glasses, rub her eyes, and check again.

“The pollution level dropped?! How could that be…!”

“But even the Healing-type mutants from the shelter headquarters don’t get results this quickly!”

Her eyes went wide in surprise.

It took her a moment to process before she exclaimed in awe, "...A high-level Healingtype Mutant."

"Class B? Or a Class A?"

Bai Xuyue’s eyes welled up as her heart finally settled back into place.

"...How does Old Wen have such incredible luck? He actually stumbled upon something this amazing."

/

Entry to the shelter was strictly controlled. During this period, Shen Ji needed to frequently enter and exit to treat Poplar, so the F City shelter issued him a temporary access pass.

"That person corrupted by Rage might have some issues."

Shen Ji looked up, "What issues?"

At that moment, Shen Ji was sitting at the bus stop waiting for the shuttle bus. It was a bus heading to the Pollution Prevention Center. Since it was just past afternoon and not yet the shelter's off-duty time, there were no other people waiting around him.

"Do you remember what I mentioned before? F City experienced a terrifying pollution incident that caused widespread casualties across the city. I suspect Poplar is connected to that contamination."

"Rage's contamination is even more stubborn than the Gardener's. The Gardener doesn't directly contaminate humans but combines them with Contaminated Seeds—the contamination grows as long as the human lives. But Rage rapidly transforms humans with an efficiency as high as 90%. Many people even mutate into pollutants immediately upon approaching the Zero Abyss."

"If a Class C Mutant mutates into a pollutant, it would be at least Class B."

Shen Ji thought it over for a moment, "But in the original plot, Li Zhiyan wasn’t in F City at this time, right?"

"Of course, the protagonist was still handling aftermath in Q City back then. After all, the Class A Pollutant Chen Guo had just wreaked havoc, and the casualties in Q City were no less than those in F City."

"We also accelerated the outbreak of the Gardener's Contaminated Seed. According to the original setting, this seed would have stayed dormant until Li Zhiyan dealt with Chen Guo and the Filth before erupting. By then, Q City would be in shambles, Li Zhiyan would have overused his Talent and became a fool, and it’s uncertain whether he could have handled it immediately."

Shen Ji imagined this scenario, and anger instantly flared up within him.

Damn unscrupulous Gardener, daring to reap the benefits after his death!

"Calm down, calm down. This is the original plot that didn’t happen, not reality."

"Even so, it’s not acceptable." Shen Ji pushed up his glasses, his dark eyes filled with cold intensity. "Even if it didn’t happen, it still goes on the record."

"..."

Oh, this petty little journalist.

Ding, Shen Ji’s phone chimed.

Shen Ji pulled out his phone and saw a message from Li Zhiyan.

He opened the text—familiar photo, familiar tone, the familiar Li Zhiyan sending another baffling "blessing."

"Troublesome protagonist: Colorful mushrooms, not sure how they taste."

Shen Ji stared at the brightly colored mushrooms in the photo, lost in thought. He examined the picture more carefully and confirmed it was taken at an ornamental plant specialty store. Shen Ji was certain those mushrooms were dyed.

"Shen Ji: This thing is obviously dyed. You might as well eat preservatives instead—at least they won’t kill you."

"Shen Ji recalled a message."

"Shen Ji: They must be delicious. Mr. Li, you should definitely try them!"

Li Zhiyan: ...

Li Zhiyan stared at his phone in confusion for several seconds, then glanced at the brightly colored mushrooms beside him. After a moment, he stood up and took a few steps.

He still couldn’t figure it out.

"Who pissed him off?" Li Zhiyan wondered, baffled. "He’s so angry."

"Why tell me to eat preservatives? I didn’t provoke him, did I?"

"Wait?" Li Zhiyan gradually grew astonished. "Doesn’t everyone know preservatives aren’t edible?"