Chapter 91: Prophecy Book Event

Chapter 91: The Prophecy Book Incident

"Have you read this novel?"

Shen Ji gave a nod.

Li Zhiyan was silent for a good while. Just as Shen Ji thought he was about to offer some unique opinion, he finally spoke.

"Contaminated before the red fog? That means the generation gap isn’t ten years—it’s thirty."

Li Zhiyan said, looking deeply concerned. "Ten years is manageable; we can change our ages. But thirty years? How do we fake that?"

"...Is that what he’s worried about? I knew his brain was messed up, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad."

The system couldn’t help but complain, "Shen Ji, can we not pick him? What if your child inherits his intelligence?"

"Can two men get pregnant?"

"Two men can’t get pregnant, but you two are contaminated beings! With contaminants, anything is possible!"

Li Zhiyan stared at Shen Ji in shock. "How can two men get pregnant?"

So Shen Ji took the system’s words out of context and repeated, "Anything is possible!"

"..."

Li Zhiyan hesitated. "Having a child is such a serious matter—we should discuss it carefully. If it really doesn’t work out, I’ll give birth to a butterfly, and you can grow a mushroom for fun."

"..."

How could someone be this unhinged?

Shen Ji looked at Li Zhiyan strangely, as if he didn’t understand why birthing a mushroom was such a big deal. He reached over, plucked the small mushroom from nearby, placed it on the table, and showed off his rapidly sprouting mushroom.

"Wow, you can even birth mushrooms," Li Zhiyan praised.

After complimenting him, Li Zhiyan finally said, "I understand. I’ll help you look into this book. But can you disguise yourself right now?"

Shen Ji rested his chin on his hand. "Hm?"

"The Shelter Director is about to be lying in wait outside your dorm," Li Zhiyan said. "All I'm good for is burning things down, not patching people up. That’s all on you."

Shen Ji looked puzzled. "I’m not a doctor. I don’t know how to heal people either."

"You do."

Li Zhiyan gripped his hand earnestly. "Believe me, you really do."

And just like that, Shen Ji was oddly dressed in the shelter’s white uniform. He examined the clothes curiously, his hair now cut short at Li Zhiyan’s insistence. A small black mushroom hid in his sleeve, whimpering quietly, and even his pale eyes had turned black.

Then, Shen Ji was faced with an anxious Director and a whole shelter of patients.

"Shen Ji’s memories have been a little distorted by the diary, so there might be some inconsistencies," Li Zhiyan explained. "Sometimes he might need a moment to react, so please don’t expect too much."

"Of course, of course!" The Director nodded eagerly. "We’re just grateful Dr. Shen is here to help!"

As Li Zhiyan and the Director spoke, Shen Ji turned to look at the top of the shelter.

Small white and blue mushrooms were hiding in the cracks of the ceiling. When they noticed Shen Ji looking, they immediately waved their mycelia at him.

Master! We’re here!

We’ve been super obedient! We’ve already eaten some of the pollution here!

Master, master!

Without a word to the two beside him, Shen Ji walked into the shelter. Li Zhiyan glanced at him but didn’t stop him.

"I’m not a doctor," Shen Ji muttered as he walked. "Li Zhiyan said I used to be a journalist. Journalists don’t heal people."

"You don’t need to heal them," the System replied. "You just need your little mushrooms to eat the pollution inside the contaminated patients. It might cause some damage, but it’ll save their lives. It’s a mutually beneficial solution."

Shen Ji looked puzzled. "How do you know this will work?"

"Because I’m the System. The System is omniscient!"

Shen Ji placed his hand on the isolation room’s glass. After the diary incident last time, most of the shelter’s equipment had been destroyed. The X City shelter had only managed to replace the pollution detectors; the surveillance systems were still awaiting replacement, leaving it to the Academy of Sciences staff to work overtime on repairs.

Mycelia spread from his sleeve, and in that instant—BANG!—the shelter’s pollution detector let out an earth-shattering alarm before breaking with a snap.

"...Holy shit! Rein in your pollution!"

"Tch."

"Don’t ‘tch’ me! You’re supposed to be hiding! You can’t let humans find out!"

Reluctantly, Shen Ji withdrew his pollution. The next second, Academy of Sciences staff came running over with detectors. Their eyes were wide with fear, dark circles heavy under their eyes like overworked cattle. But after multiple checks, they found nothing unusual.

"Huh?" Cattle A scratched his head in confusion. "No anomalies. What’s wrong with the equipment?"

"Maybe it’s defective?" Cattle B wondered.

"Let’s just replace it. Whether it’s defective or not, it’s junk now," Cattle C said.

Shen Ji calmly turned and moved to the next area, touring the entire shelter as if he were on a sightseeing trip.

In each area, he left behind a bunch of small mushrooms, mingling with the white and blue ones. But the black mushrooms were different—they quickly took over the work of the white and blue ones, burrowing into the patients’ bodies and feasting voraciously.

After this series of actions, nearly half of the contaminated patients soon woke up.

The awakened patients were terrified. They said they didn’t know why, but they felt extremely scared, as if something was threatening to eat them if they didn’t wake up immediately.

They were so frightened that they struggled back to consciousness.

The pollution doctors: ...?

When Li Zhiyan came to pick up Shen Ji from the shelter, he saw a group of pollution doctors crowded around Shen Ji in the meeting room.

Each of them had stars in their eyes, trying to strike up a conversation with him. But Shen Ji simply sat there, flipping through a book, his eyes reflecting only the words on the page. He ignored everyone around him, appearing aloof and detached.

This was indeed quite different from the old Shen Ji.

As a journalist, Shen Ji had been skilled at disguising himself. He carefully controlled his words and actions, every part of him meticulously packaged. Even his gaze seemed calm and gentle, making people instinctively trust him.

But now, having lost his memories as a journalist, his true nature was exposed. He made no effort to socialize, couldn’t be bothered to talk to people, and didn’t care how others viewed him.

He simply coldly ignored everyone, immersed solely in his own world.

What a rebellious and adorable mushroom.

Li Zhiyan reached out and knocked on the conference room door. Everyone inside turned to look at the entrance—except for Shen Ji.

He had no choice but to speak up. "Shen Ji."

Hearing his name, Shen Ji finally lifted his head and glanced at him, his deep black eyes so dark they seemed to swallow the light.

"I'm here to pick you up."

Shen Ji set down the book in his hands and obediently walked out the door. Without paying any attention to the others, Li Zhiyan reached out to grasp Shen Ji's wrist and pulled him along.

Shen Ji tried to pull away a few times but ultimately couldn't shake free, so he let Li Zhiyan hold on.

"Still hungry?" Li Zhiyan asked him.

Shen Ji thought for a moment, then nodded. "Hungry."

"...No matter how much you eat, you never feel full? You shouldn’t be called 'Foulness,' you should be called 'Gluttony' instead."

Shen Ji retorted, "Gluttony is a terrible name!"

Fine.

Li Zhiyan led Shen Ji forward. Although Shen Ji was out of it, he still noticed that the route seemed off—it didn’t look like the way they had come.

Shen Ji asked curiously, "Where are we going?"

"To find you something to eat," Li Zhiyan replied.

The snow from the Silent Frostlands hadn’t yet melted, and the air outside remained bitterly cold. A harsh wind howled past. Li Zhiyan glanced at Shen Ji, who seemed somewhat huddled and shivering.

Small mushrooms whimpered and hid beneath Shen Ji’s clothes; a few even pushed through his inner shirt, burrowing their way up from his waist.

Shen Ji didn’t seem to mind, simply curling up slightly as he observed the small mushrooms on his body.

"Are you afraid of the cold?" Li Zhiyan asked.

He didn’t remember Shen Ji being afraid of the cold. Before, Shen Ji had often moved about in the snow. In fact, when the Silent Frostlands first appeared, Li Qingan had sought Shen Ji’s help—he had traveled alone all the way to the cut-off City X.

Shen Ji cupped the mushrooms in his hands, watching them tremble in his palms. "The mushrooms are afraid of the cold," he said.

Hearing this, Li Zhiyan raised an eyebrow subtly and thought for a moment.

Then, Li Zhiyan took off his coat and draped it over Shen Ji’s shoulders before removing his gloves and carefully putting them on Shen Ji’s hands.

"Is that better?" Li Zhiyan asked.

Shen Ji looked up at Li Zhiyan. After a few seconds, he frowned and said, "The smells have all blended together."

It took Li Zhiyan a moment to understand what Shen Ji meant.

Had their contamination scents merged?

"Well, there’s nothing to be done about that. I’ve been wearing these for a while," Li Zhiyan said, pulling him along. "Let’s hurry. We’re almost there."

Soon, they arrived at the Pollution Fissure Research Institute.

The massive research institute had been temporarily abandoned, empty except for the temporary protective mechanisms still in operation. As they stepped inside, a wave of warmth greeted them.

"Where are we going?"

"This way."

Li Zhiyan led Shen Ji through the institute’s front hall and into the rear section, finally stopping at the edge of a cliff. The cliff was covered in ice and snow. Li Zhiyan crouched down, brushed away the snow, and Shen Ji saw flowers buried beneath.

The flowers were beautiful, transparent like ice crystals. Their petals trembled in the snow, and even their leaves were white.

They looked exactly like crystal flowers, and a faint aura of contamination emanated from them.

"Almost every pollution fissure gives rise to contaminated plants. Moth Valley has Moth Flowers, the botanical garden has Crystal Trees, and even the pollution inhibitors commonly used in containment facilities are made from contaminated plants gathered around Abyss Zero."

Li Zhiyan said, "I’ve been searching for them all day. I didn’t expect them to be hidden under the snow."

He broke off one of the crystal flowers and handed it to Shen Ji.

"Before anyone else finds them, eat up."

Shen Ji found Li Zhiyan strange.

This person didn’t seem worried at all about whether Shen Ji might eat all the humans or claim this place for himself.

He had the nerve to bring him here for an all-you-can-eat buffet.

"Then, will you eat all the humans?"

No!

"Then it’s settled."

Shen Ji took the flower from Li Zhiyan’s hand. His eyes reflected the image of the flower as mycelium stretched from his hand, tentatively climbing onto the stem before settling on the petals.

It was cold, but fragrant!

In the end, Shen Ji didn’t eat the flower. He brought it back to his dorm, found a random transparent cup, and placed it inside. He set the flower on the balcony, thought for a moment, then moved it to the dining table. Staring at the beautiful flower, Shen Ji finally spoke.

"It looks delicious."

But he felt a little reluctant to eat it.

Well, he could always eat it before it wilted.

/

"Before the Red Mist incident?" Gao Yuan sat on the floor, frowning in confusion. "Why are you asking about that?"

"I’m investigating something," Li Zhiyan replied casually. "From what I know, you’re one of the mutants who fully experienced the Red Mist incident. Your mental state has been stable lately, and you’ve mostly recalled what happened back then, right?"

Gao Yuan waved his tentacles. "Not everything. Maybe you could ask Doctor Shen to treat me again?"

"Don’t push your luck. Doctor Shen is busy," Li Zhiyan refused. "Besides, you avoid him whenever you see him. Maybe you should treat that PTSD first."

Gao Yuan: ...

He didn’t know why, but whenever he saw Doctor Shen, he felt afraid and wanted to hide. Rumor had it that when Doctor Shen was treating him, he let out earth-shattering screams. So many doctors heard it that they almost thought he was on the verge of death, only to find him sitting obediently as Doctor Shen administered acupuncture.

The whole containment facility spread rumors that he had been beaten into submission by Doctor Shen.

Gao Yuan wanted to refute, but the instinctive fear he felt upon seeing Doctor Shen told him that refuting might not be an option.

So, Gao Yuan pretended not to know anything, saving at least a little face.

"Before the Red Mist incident, there were already signs of contamination. The social atmosphere was very strange back then, with all sorts of supernatural legends spreading online. After the Red Mist incident, it was proven that they were all real. Most of the contamination from the Red Mist incident has since disappeared. Which one are you referring to?"

"Like... a prophecy book?"

Li Zhiyan wasn't sure either; he'd only gotten this little bit of info from Shen Ji.

He knew very little about the Red Mist Event; after all, he had slept through it. After waking up three years ago, he only had a basic understanding of this apocalypse, just enough not to be found out as an outsider.

"A prophecy book?" Gao Yuan thought for a moment. "Huh, now that you mention it, I do seem to have some impression."

"Tell me everything you can remember."

Gao Yuan snorted. "Then you owe me an apology."

Li Zhiyan was puzzled. "Apologize? For what?"

"Apologize for wanting to grill my tentacles! Only if you apologize will I tell you."

Li Zhiyan: ...

After spending all his time messing with people, he never thought he'd have to apologize for his past abstract behavior today.

"Sorry." Li Zhiyan apologized without missing a beat. "It was wrong of me to think about grilling you when I was hungry. That was my mistake; I was getting ahead of myself. Mr. Gao is an S-Class Mutant from the Pollution Prevention Center, a hero to humanity! How could I have such thoughts!"

"I was so terribly wrong!"

Gao Yuan: ...

What’s the difference between this apology and no apology at all?

But it didn’t matter; Gao Yuan had already recorded it. Next time he met Li Zhiyan, he'd play the recording on a loop a hundred times right in front of him!

"In the early stages of the Red Mist Event, the whole world was in complete chaos. Pollution incidents were everywhere, and this Prophecy Book Event was just a small piece of it. Back then, major pollution incidents were rampant, and no one paid this little thing any mind. I also heard about it from others."

"A novel appeared on everyone’s phones. Supposedly, this novel showed up even before the Red Mist Event, clearly spelling out the occurrence of the Red Mist Event and the subsequent pollution incidents."

"However, everyone who read this novel couldn’t talk about what was in it. Whenever they tried to speak about it, their mouths would be sewn shut. Like this, soon all the victims contaminated by this incident died, their mouths sewn shut and tongues cut out. Once all the victims died, the incident just died down."

Li Zhiyan thought for a moment. "So, the victims didn't know either?"

"Of course, that was pollution that appeared even before the Red Mist Event. Back then, there were no proper anti-pollution procedures like that."

Li Zhiyan thanked Gao Yuan and hung up the phone. Then he turned and headed back to the dorm.

Shen Ji’s dorm door was unlocked. Li Zhiyan gave it a push and it opened. The room was pitch black. He turned on the light, and the moment it lit up, he saw the flower placed on the table.

The flower was blooming beautifully, a faint pollution aura lingering in the room. Li Zhiyan locked the door behind him.

At this time, Shen Ji was already asleep.

After the issues arose, Shen Ji had started overeating but also getting extremely drowsy. Every day, it seemed like all he did was eat and sleep.

A little tri-colored mushroom was curled up next to Shen Ji, keeping him company as he slept, looking well-behaved and cute.

Li Zhiyan sat by the bed, at a loss.

He wanted to push the little mushroom away and lie next to Shen Ji himself, but he was worried that moving the little mushroom might wake Shen Ji up. He was just sleeping so cutely.

Finally, after some thought, Li Zhiyan let out two or three butterflies. A blue little butterfly flew around the little mushroom. The little mushroom, all confused, was jolted awake by the butterfly’s scent. Before it could react, it instinctively went for the little butterfly. Just like that, Li Zhiyan used the little butterflies to lure the little mushroom away from Shen Ji’s side.

Once the little mushroom was gone, Li Zhiyan immediately lay down beside Shen Ji.

And so, the confused little mushroom, after snacking on the little butterfly, wanted to return to keep its owner company, only to find its original spot taken by a big butterfly.

The little mushroom instantly woke up furious.

Damn big butterfly!

That’s our spot!

Thief! Robber! Spot-stealer!!

Wah, the little mushroom is so sleepy, it wants to sleep with its owner!

In the end, the little mushroom, all wronged, shuffled over to the other side of Shen Ji and snuggled up to sleep.

Shen Ji blearily opened his eyes. He looked forward and only saw Li Zhiyan’s head of white hair. Shen Ji scrunched up his brow and tried to move, but Li Zhiyan pulled him closer.

"I tied my hair today," Li Zhiyan announced proudly. "This way, you can't pull my hair!"

Shen Ji didn’t get it. After buffering for a few seconds, he chose to close his eyes and continue sleeping.

"You're so adorable, baby."

Li Zhiyan gently breathed in the scent of Shen Ji’s hair and also closed his eyes.

Meanwhile, Shen Ji was dreaming.

Everything in his dream was hazy; he felt half-awake.

In this blurry dream, Shen Ji heard the system’s voice.

"You’ve digested the pollution from the diary, so it’s dredged up the memories you'd forgotten."

"Ten years ago was the same. After devouring the diary, you recalled some memories from when you were human, which is why you went to search for your past."

The system’s voice gradually blurred. Shen Ji had the faint sensation of opening his eyes.

He saw a blinding white light shining on his face. Ahead were people wearing blue surgical gowns, holding instruments, as if... doctors performing surgery?

Soon, Shen Ji heard voices again.

"So lucky. Got stabbed twice, lost a lot of blood, but his internal organs weren’t damaged at all."

"And the heavy bleeding stopped very quickly."

"Reporter Shen is a good person. Good things happen to good people; he’ll definitely be fine."

Click. The operating room door opened, and someone walked in from outside.

"What's all the racket in the ER?"

"Someone ate undercooked *jiàn shǒu qīng* mushrooms and started hallucinating. Kept insisting there was a terrifying monster here, trying to run out. His family had to strap him to the bed, but he still struggled, almost broke his own wrist."

"That serious, huh?"

"Yeah, just sedated him. He's finally calmed down."

"The surgery is over. Stitch him up and wheel him out."

As the lights faded, Shen Ji’s consciousness dissipated again. When he opened his eyes once more, he clearly saw a familiar scene.

He lay in a hospital room, wearing an oxygen mask, but strangely, the oxygen machine was sounding an alarm, displaying a low oxygen warning. Shen Ji sat up from the hospital bed, a sharp pain instantly shot through his abdomen. Frowning, he pressed a hand to his stomach and felt bandages.

He removed the oxygen mask, Shen Ji braced himself against the wall as he got off the bed.

The constant ringing of hospital alarms continued, as if every room had pressed the call button, yet not a single nurse came to address the issue.

Passing by the window, Shen Ji saw the view outside.

It was a thick, dense red fog, covering the entire city. Beyond the overwhelming red, nothing was clearly visible. He could faintly make out grotesque faces within the fog and occasionally heard the sound of firecrackers outside.

Shen Ji found his phone on the hospital bed; it had 13% battery left. He called his superiors.

No one answered. None of the numbers he called were answered.

Not even 110.

Throwing the phone back on the bed, Shen Ji made his way to the door. With all his strength, he pulled it open, and in the next moment, he saw countless mushrooms.

The plump mushrooms were crowded together, filling the entire corridor. The moment the door opened, the mushrooms, as if they were conscious, began squeezing into the room. In an instant, they had taken over the entire ceiling of the hospital room and continued to spread.

"...What is this?"

Shen Ji’s eyes snapped open. The small mushrooms hung from the ceiling, looking down at Shen Ji lying in bed.

Master!

They swayed happily.

Master is awake!

Shen Ji sat up in bed and felt his hand being held. Turning his head, he saw Li Zhiyan sleeping beside him, gripping his hand tightly.

Puzzled, he rubbed his neck.

"Shen Ji?" the system’s voice spoke. "Not corruption, right?"

Shen Ji didn’t answer the question but instead asked doubtfully, "Can a person be contaminated by two pollutants at the same time?"

"Of course," the system replied. "Contamination is like a virus. A person can catch a cold while also suffering from gastroenteritis—that’s being eroded by two viruses. Under the influence of both, a common cold might turn into a fever or pneumonia, and gastroenteritis could trigger severe vomiting."

"So, being contaminated by two pollutants is even more dangerous than being contaminated by one."

Shen Ji frowned slightly.

After a few seconds, he spoke again, "I think I dreamed of the 'Red Fog Incident.'"

"I didn't actually die, did I?"