"Pat, pat...."
As Ah Qing's exclamation burst out, the skull inside the tomb chamber seemed to be startled. From within the skull, black tendrils spurted forth like exploding spikes, as if the spirits of the dead had been unleashed.
The skull, in extreme panic, extended six black tentacles and, clumsily, jumped off the table, trying to escape using its tentacles.
But its visual ability might not be great either. Having landed on the ground, it took no more than two steps before crashing headfirst into a stone bathtub, almost toppling the tendrils inside.
"......."
Ansheng looked exasperated as he watched the skull dash wildly around the tomb chamber, crashing into the walls repeatedly.
After hitting the wall a dozen times, the skull seemed to have had enough; it flipped over completely, using the skull bowl to cover the black tendrils inside, completely giving up.
"Are you sure it was calling you? This thing is purely here to act cute, isn't it?"
Ansheng, speechless, looked at Ah Qing, while Momo and others also descended into the tomb chamber, joining in to watch the skull.
"Uh... It was indeed it, but strictly speaking, it wasn't always calling me. I just knew it was here."
Ah Qing displayed a thoughtful expression, using a more accurate adjective to describe the feeling to the little fox.
To Ah Qing, the black tendrils within the skull were essentially a black ball.
It lay leisurely in the bowl, humming a little tune, its tiny feet swaying back and forth.
Its demeanor was very calm, not speaking, yet Ah Qing could sense its presence.
After injecting the Spirit Particle Potion, the existence of the skull and the black tendrils was like an NPC with a giant red exclamation mark above its head in a game.
Ah Qing found it hard to ignore its presence, even if he wanted to.
"And then? What else did you feel? You can't just come up and say: Cheers, and then 'ton ton ton' it, right?"
Ansheng picked up a stone and threw it at the skull, which was completely flipped over, with a crisp "crack" sound.
Momo and the others curiously looked on, wondering what use this "treasure" they found after traversing mountains might have.
"Pat...."
The skull extended its tentacles to touch the place where it had just been hit, confirming there was no damage, then retracted them.
"Hmm...."
Displaying a somewhat awkward expression, Ah Qing hesitated for a long time before speaking in a voice as soft as a mosquito:
"The skull... it hid little snacks, I can feel it hid lots of little snacks, making my stomach growl. The little black ball is planning to eat the snacks alone."
To come, to see, to feel hungry—that was all Ah Qing felt concerning the skull.
A premonition told Ah Qing that the ball in front of him was very dishonest, secretly hiding some tasty treats.
"Hey! My Ah Qing says you hid some food, where did you hide it, take it out, and I won't hit you."
After listening to Ah Qing's description, Ansheng turned his gaze back to the skull, letting out a sort of playful growl.
"....." The skull extended its tentacles to prop itself up, shaking its head very vigorously.
No, I swear there's no food!
"That's strange..." Ansheng, equally perplexed, looked toward Ah Qing.
"There is..."
Seeing the skeptical glances around her, Ah Qing puffed her cheeks slightly, walked down the stone steps, and flipped over the skull next to the bathtub.
With everyone including Ansheng watching, Ah Qing reached her hand into the bottom of the skull, her fingers closed around it, and the black ball inside let out a "squeak" and softened.
Ah Qing fiddled inside for a while, and the black ball escaped from the skull, gasping heavily.
"Ah Qing tickled it until it couldn't breathe properly, nearly passing out...." Momo glanced at the black, gel-like substance, explaining the secret war that erupted momentarily.
Ansheng: "......"
No way, what kind of divine intervention was that from Ah Qing, being able to tickle a fungus into pleasure?
"Look! I told you it was hiding snacks, the little black ball isn't being honest and likes to lie!"
Ah Qing lifted the skull high, displaying a peculiar mushroom growing on the inner wall of the skull.
That odd mushroom was very small, slightly larger than a single enoki mushroom, its cap pure black but covered with tiny colored spots, growing from the center of the skull's crack.
"Pat!?"
The black tendrils lying on the ground were stunned to see the "snack" Ah Qing spoke of was a mushroom; its entire fungus went numb.
Simply put, mycelium is the tree, and mushrooms are the seeds through which mycelium reproduces.
The mushroom inside the skull was a spore created by the black tendrils, perceived after the spirit particles revived.
If the environment were favorable in the future, it would release spores to breed a colony. If unfavorable, it would consume the mushroom as a nutrient pack gradually.
"Pat...."
The black ball crawled to Ah Qing's feet, hopping around in an attempt to reclaim the skull, its entire fungus turning a reddish hue.
"Mushroom..."
Upon seeing the peculiar mushroom inside the skull, Ansheng displayed a strange expression on his fox-like face.
Fungal Parasitic Beasts, black slime beasts, black giant fungal trees, purple-black fungal humanoids. Ansheng had smashed all these forms of special life from the Second Epoch.
Witnessing their hysterics, he had also seen them distort reality to unleash telekinetic strikes.
But never had he seen them produce mushrooms. Various fungi seemed only to reproduce by splitting, never through mushroom spores.
Yet here Ah Qing was, finding a mushroom.
"Xiaolan, do you want to have mushroom soup tonight?"
Ah Qing, carrying the skull in one hand and the black ball in the other, ran up to the upper level of the tomb chamber and asked the little fox.
Ah Qing, like presenting a treasure, smiled brightly and handed the skull to Ansheng.
"Thanks, but the household rule is, foxes can't put things they find on the ground into their mouths." Ansheng subtly pushed away the skull.
The mushroom was surrounded by a layer of spiritual particles, undeniably a nutrient as potent as Treasure Tree Spirit Liquid.
But it was just too ugly; the multicolored spots against a matte black surface seemed poisonous enough to kill.
"Hold on, don't rush to eat it. Let me ask what exactly this thing is..."
Digging through Ah Qing's pocket, Ansheng took out her phone, snapped a photo, and sent it via WeChat to Old Li to inquire on vacation.
While waiting for a reply, Ansheng exited the tomb to the surface, sat inside the Benz, and sipped on a cola.
The physically red-hot black ball, faced with Ah Qing's generously hospitable offer, pondered momentarily, grabbed two bottles of Spirit Particle Potion from her, settled into the armrest box, and sipped on the potions joyfully.
"Beep....."
Ah Qing's phone buzzed with a WeChat notification. Li Wenkang sent a message:
[Whoever found it, eats it. Non-toxic, said to be a complete fungal fruit containing rich nutrients and even has a gene awakening effect.]
[For others, its consumption bears no harm but is as effective as any regular Spirit Particle Potion.]
Li Wenkang's message clearly reflected a concern about leakage, hence the lack of detail.
"A fruit that only a complete black fungus can bear."
"Promotes gene awakening..." Ansheng instinctively glanced at the black ball in the armrest box, his expression one of shock as he said:
"You actually haven't been neutered?!"