Chapter 2: The Horrifying Night of Mycelium
The night was as dark as ink, and the dampness in the alley carried a putrid, sweet - fishy smell that hit the nostrils. Ji Tian stood on the small path paved with blue bricks, gazing at the old man in front of him by the dim light of the streetlamp. The old man's face, covered with wrinkles, seemed to have been over - carved by time, resembling a clay Buddha enshrined in a temple, with a strange sense of mercy. Faint green lights flickered in his cloudy pupils, like bubbles rising from the depths of a swamp, sending chills down one's spine. Ji Tian's gaze involuntarily shifted to the old man's right hand - at the stump of the severed little finger, several clusters of white - fluffy parasol mushrooms opened and closed slightly with the old man's breathing rhythm, as if some living thing was secretly peeking.
"Comrade Good Samaritan, would you be so kind as to show me the way?" The old man's voice was hoarse and low, as if squeezed out from the depths of his throat. Each word carried the sweet - fishy smell unique to mycelium. Leaning on a walking stick, when the tip of the stick struck the ground, it made a sticky, gurgling sound, as if there was something wet hidden in the brick joints. Ji Tian felt a chill run down the back of his neck. Looking down, he saw that the black mycelium seeping out from the gaps between the blue bricks was quietly weaving into a spider - web, firmly sticking his and the old man's shadows to the mottled wall.
"Go this way," Ji Tian tried his best to suppress the unease in his heart and crushed the Amanita phalloides that suddenly sprang up beside his foot with the heel of his shoe. The mushroom let out a soft "pop" when it was crushed, emitting a faint stench. He tried to make his tone sound natural. "Go straight for three hundred meters and turn left. There's an old - fashioned traditional Chinese medicine doctor who specializes in treating osteoporosis." Before he could finish speaking, a strange noise suddenly came from above the old man's head - the sea - urchin - like mushroom on his head suddenly burst, black mist gushed out, and dozens of barbed mycelium shot out like tentacles towards Ji Tian.
Ji Tian instinctively took out his phone to confirm the direction, only to find that the navigation interface had somehow switched to a crosstalk mode, and a rough voice shouted, "You scoundrel! Turn right!" Without thinking too much, he darted into the right - hand fork. The rear - view camera of the phone swept across behind him, and the old man's figure appeared on the screen - he was twisting his neck in an anti - joint posture. The mycelial membrane growing in the sunken part of the back of his head was wrapped in soy - sauce - colored pus, thick and sticky like over - fermented natto, exuding a disgusting smell.
Ji Tian gasped for breath. He had originally thought that this fork would lead to the familiar food street, but what appeared in front of him was a scene beyond his imagination. The entrance of the alley was completely sealed by a mycelium - woven cocoon. Embedded in the wall was a foreign man, fixed in a "big" shape. A crack split open at the back of his head, and fluorescent mycelium protruded from the crack, slowly burrowing into his nasal cavity, as if sucking something out. Ji Tian lowered his head and groped in his trouser pocket, wanting to take out a telescopic baton for self - defense, only to find that the handle of the baton was already wrapped in a layer of mucus. When his fingertips touched it, a strange smell of the sour stench of luosifen mixed with the cold fragrance of a mortuary in a funeral home wafted up.
"You have deviated from the path of cultivating immortality." The phone navigation suddenly switched back to a soft, loli - like voice, with a hint of mockery in its tone. Just then, a slight tearing sound came from the shadow at the base of the wall. Ji Tian looked in the direction of the sound and saw a chubby girl squatting there. She had been playing with a stray cat before, but now she had changed into a different appearance - her index finger had been completely eroded by mycelium, becoming long and soft, and she was slowly picking her ear. Every time she dug, spore dust fell in a rustle, glowing with a strange fluorescence in the dim light. The bun on her head, which had originally resembled a cloud of merit, was now hollowed out by mycelium, turning into a broken lantern hung with cobwebs, swaying precariously.
The air in the alley became heavier and heavier. Mycelium mucus gushed out from the cracks in the wall, wrapping the entire space into digestive - tract - like folds like a flood. Ji Tian looked around and found that all the shop signs had turned into the shape of mushroom caps, hanging wetly on the doorframes, exuding a putrid smell. The number 13 house number loomed in the mycelium wave, like a signpost guiding some kind of fate. The old man's figure somehow split into three, approaching from different directions. A few scallions stuck to the hem of his trousers had, under the nourishment of the mycelium, blossomed into bright red Amanita muscaria, dazzlingly bright.
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Just when Ji Tian felt that there was no way out, a dilapidated bus suddenly crashed through the mycelium wall. The tires made a harsh screeching sound as they rolled over the mycelium. On the windshield of the bus was pasted a yellowed missing - person notice. The printed words were a bit blurred, but the words "Wanted: Zhang Degui, a hallucinogenic murderer due to mushroom - eating" were still clearly visible. The young man in the photo had a pale face, and the incision of the missing little finger was eerily flat, as if it was a mark left by some kind of ritual. Ji Tian's heart skipped a beat. This detail made him feel an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
"The vehicle is about to mutate." The countdown of the navigation sounded in sync with the sound of the mycelium cocoon breaking, with a rhythm so urgent that it seemed to be urging for one's life. Ji Tian gritted his teeth and leaped onto the bus the moment the old man pounced. The mycelium - covered face was inches away, and the five fingers snapped shut like a Venus flytrap. The fluorescent spores at the fingertips brushed past the back of his neck, leaving plum - blossom - shaped burn marks that stung painfully.
The situation inside the carriage was even more诡异. A layer of mycelium carpet wriggled on the floor, like the skin of a living thing. Five passengers were frozen in their seats in stiff postures. A burly man in black had a cluster of mushrooms growing on his head, and the QR code on the surface was actually refreshing automatically, as if transmitting some data. The glasses of the bespectacled man next to him had been eroded by mycelium, and the constantly deforming and recombining chemical formulas on the lenses glowed faintly. The double - ponytail girl by the window was lowering her head, and at the ends of the mycelium hanging from her hair tips were miniature skulls, making a crisp sound like wind chimes as the carriage jolted, clear but ear - piercing.
Only a girl wearing a peaked cap seemed relatively normal. She suddenly pulled out a military knife from her waist and stabbed it hard into the seat. The blade picked up a ball of mycelium, inside which was wrapped half a human finger bone with dried blood still remaining on it. "Newcomer, do you know why this bus is called 404?" She said in a calm tone, pointing to the flowing mycelium galaxy outside the window. "The personal information of all the unlucky people who get on this bus will completely disappear from the world." The corners of her mouth curled up slightly, revealing a meaningful smile.
Ji Tian followed her gaze and looked out of the window. In the reflection of the glass, he saw that the yin - yang mushrooms on his head were splitting, and black mycelium was quietly winding around the veins on his wrist, as if invading his body. The alley outside the window had been completely wrapped by the mycelial membrane, wriggling like a huge stomach sac. Under the number 13 house number, a pitch - like substance seeped out, gradually condensing into a familiar pattern - the mandala tattoo on the wrist of the floating corpse in the moat three years ago. At that moment, a vague picture flashed through Ji Tian's mind, but he couldn't quite grasp it.
"Special reminder," the girl in the peaked cap suddenly leaned close to his ear and whispered. Her exhaled breath carried the sweet fragrance of truffle chocolate, faintly tinged with a hallucinogenic smell. "Remember to leave your last words before getting off the bus." She pushed aside the bangs on her forehead, revealing a wriggling patch of skin. The mycelium under the skin spelled out the words "Zhang Degui," which was shocking.
Before Ji Tian could react, the bus suddenly rushed into the number 13 house number. All the passengers suddenly started humming a Yunnan folk song in unison. The tune was melodious but full of strangeness. The mycelium drilled into his ear canal, bringing a sharp pain. At that moment, he seemed to hear the crisp sound of the mycelium tearing through the skull and his father's dying whimper overlapping into a roar in that rainy night twenty - three years ago, making him dizzy.
The carriage began to shake violently. The mycelium galaxy outside the window distorted into a huge face, blurred yet familiar. Ji Tian tightly grasped the armrest of the seat, his fingernails digging into the mycelium - transformed leather. He didn't know where this bus No. 404 was going, nor how long he could hold on. The only thing clear was the pain from the plum - blossom - shaped burn mark on the back of his neck, as if reminding him that this was just the beginning.
