Chapter 317: Ambush and Secret Door

The group arrived at the location provided by the bioluminescent fungal colony.

A hidden cave fifty li north of Esmer Lake in the Koshi Plains.

Looking at the cave that had collapsed halfway before them.

Everyone felt a faint sense of foreboding in their hearts.

"There are traces of battle."

Rod crouched down and found some claw marks and impact craters on the rammed earth wall at the cave entrance.

This squad's strength was high, so naturally they were not afraid.

The lowest spiritual accumulation was the mushroom man Noah, appearing to be at the high end of the fifth tier.

But he showed no fear at all, with a simple expression, and without a word of hesitation, he moved forward.

The rabbit-folk Ona and the star-folk Haley called out to stop him together.

After all, they were mages, and they preferred to prepare thoroughly beforehand.

Ona first cast 【Mass Invisibility】.

Then, using a few strands of Rod's hair as a spell component, she cast 【Simulacrum】.

Both were seventh-tier spells.

Mass Invisibility went without saying.

【Simulacrum】 was an illusion spell whose function was to create a copy of a creature, possessing half the strength of the original.

Rod was, after all, the spiritual warrior with the highest spiritual accumulation present.

The star-folk Haley was indeed a mage type skilled at using front-line fighters.

【Bull's Might】, 【Bear's Endurance】, 【Cat's Grace】, 【Owl's Insight】, 【Fox's Cunning】—a round of spells was cast rapidly.

Moreover, they were all area-of-effect, so Rod, Noah, and Rod's simulacrum were all within the range of influence.

Rod's base attributes were too high, so this buff had little impact on him.

The mushroom man Noah felt quite good about it.

"Oh—"

He raised his Bai Huahua arms and flexed his muscles like a human.

Although his arms had almost no definition, looking no different from a large lotus root.

Preparations complete.

With the spell simulacrum scouting ahead, the group formally entered the cave.

As soon as they walked in, Rod immediately noticed the difference in the mushroom cave.

To be honest.

He had broken through quite a few underground tunnels: the abandoned maze tunnels of Twin Finger Mountain, abandoned mine shafts, and the rat-folk's underground city.

None were not dim and dark, damp, and carrying a stench of rot.

But the mushroom people's cave was different.

Upon entering, one could see vines and moss glowing with a dim blue light.

Immediately after, a wave of moist air rushed to meet them; though slightly musty, it was also mixed with the fresh scent of soil and unknown plants.

The tunnel passage was uneven but wide enough for two adults to walk side by side.

As they went deeper, the traces of battle became more numerous and more intense.

Along the way, stalagmites were broken and clusters of colorful mushrooms were smashed into a mess.

"It's the Lycanthropy."

Haley saw a corpse smashed into the cave wall ahead; the corpse's head had been crushed into mush by tremendous force.

She cast an Identification spell on the blood on the ground and drew her conclusion.

"Lycanthropy patients attacking the mushroom people?"

Rod was puzzled.

He knew that people infected with Lycanthropy instinctively spread their own blood, but mushroom people had no blood circulation within their bodies, so they could not be infected; why would they attack them?

Haley couldn't figure it out either and looked at the mushroom man Noah.

Noah scratched his head and looked at Ona.

The rabbit woman Ona was worried about the safety of her old friend's child and had no time to attend to him.

"Perhaps it's revenge?"

The large mushroom man guessed with a stiff face, "We dislike them for messing up the plains and wanted to drive them away, so they therefore dislike us."

Haley shook her head.

"Normally, they wouldn't; they would regard spreading Lycanthropy as their primary mission. Taking revenge on a race that cannot be infected does not fit their habits. Moreover, the Mycelium Clan just moved here, so the number of times they attacked Lycanthropy patients is definitely less than the other four local colonies; revenge would not fall on them."

While speaking, she walked downward.

Perhaps due to the slippery moist moss, she stumbled and was about to fall.

Rod, with quick eyes and fast hands, grabbed her, but unexpectedly she exerted not a bit of force, instead falling directly into his arms along with the momentum.

Hmm?

Is it my imagination?

Why is the star-folk's collar so wide, even revealing a small patch of pale blue, translucent skin on her chest and a small white undershirt?

"Ugh!"

Haley pushed him away.

She hurriedly tightened her collar.

She didn't even look at Rod, as if nothing had just happened.

And when she turned her back, a smile unconsciously appeared on her face.

The tactic was correct!

Look at that man, his eyeballs almost popping out!

Rod did not know her thoughts.

Seeing her reaction, he felt somewhat embarrassed.

They continued deeper into the cave.

They had walked for about ten minutes.

Exiting the tunnel, the space suddenly opened up.

They saw a clear underground river running through this subterranean space; on both banks stood several crude yet cute huts woven from vines and branches, with giant mushroom caps serving as roofs. It was evident that some huts were still under construction.

But the aftermath of the battle had utterly destroyed all of these.

Burnt wreckage, broken walls, and mushroom-cap roofs that had turned moldy due to a lack of nutrients.

The battle here had been even more fierce.

Corpses of mushroom people and beast-men were scattered everywhere.

To prevent contaminating the underground river, everyone cleared the corpses while simultaneously checking the surroundings and searching for possible survivors.

Seeing no immediate danger, Ouna commanded her 【Illusion】 to guard the outer cave entrance in case of special circumstances.

Rod walked along the underground river inward.

There were few fluorescent plants here, and the stalactites and stalagmites remained untouched.

Clearly, the mushroom people of the Fungal Tribe had not yet had time to develop the interior.

Thus, this area appeared to contain nothing of note.

Tally suddenly jumped out from the shadows.

"Master, there is another space here."

"Hmm."

Rod nodded; his 【Spider Sense】 also detected a very faint, peculiar breeze.

Unlike the air in the outer hall, indicating another space existed here.

He gripped the hilt of the 【Soul-Trembling Blade】 and activated the 【Secret Door Detection】 on the sword.

Immediately, a spiritual thread of light appeared, flowing toward a depression in the wall not far away.

As the spell took effect, an unnatural stone door manifested within the depression.

It was densely covered with green hallucinogenic spores.

Rod cast a 【Repulsion Spell】 to blow the spores away, then activated the 【Instant Unlock】 on the sword.

Crack—

The stone door opened automatically.

A cramped space, completely different from the cool environment of the cave, was revealed.

The ceiling of the small room was a circular skylight; sunlight streamed straight down, warming the place.

Lush green moss wrapped around the entire space. In the very center stood an aged, rotting tree stump, upon which rested a golden crown that shimmered with a soft glow.

Flesh-colored living mycelium coiled around the crown, pulsing as if it possessed life.

It looked somewhat eerie.

"Hmm?"

What is this?

As he pondered in confusion,

Tally, standing nearby, stepped forward and actually reached out to grab the golden crown.

Rod's brows furrowed.

A succubus is by nature shrewd and clever; she would never casually touch something unfamiliar.

He pulled her back immediately.

Indeed, Tally's eyes were hollow; she had unknowingly fallen under the spell.

Rod cupped her face and cast 【Green Vine Mutual Healing】, which even dispels negative status effects.

Soon, she came to her senses.

(End of Chapter)