Chapter 564: Where

The black leather sofa that I'd only seen at Bai Mu Yun's place now occupies most of this already cramped carriage space.

And the most crucial point is that Fang Zhiyan isn't even in the carriage.

Ying Duo stepped into the small carriage, and as he entered, the carriage door slowly closed, with faint rune light flowing over the door handle.

Fang Zhiyan's chapter?

Ying Duo sat directly on the comfortable leather sofa, and indeed it felt familiar and cozy; he even began to suspect that Fang Zhiyan had simply looted Bai Mu Yun's inheritance.

After all, only Bai Mu Yun would actively seek such a luxury.

He rubbed his way over every corner of the carriage from the sofa, yet found not even a trace of an octopus tentacle.

It's as if Fang Zhiyan had never been here at any time.

However, Yang Yixie recalled that Fang Zhiyan possesses high‑speed movement and also a knack for mimicry; it can't be that he's hidden by mimicry while being toyed with here.

Next to the sofa is a small coffee table, with a steaming cup of coffee on it.

【Ying Duo: Fang Zhiyan isn't in the carriage.】

He posted a note in the Team Channel, asking others to keep an eye on the situation.

Yang Yixie was already pondering whether firing a shot toward several corners of the carriage might cause the bullet to ricochet back and hit himself.

The floor suddenly trembled, a vibration that Ying Duo felt more distinctly inside the carriage, causing the person sitting on the sofa to sway.

That initial jolt was only the beginning; the floor's shaking intensified, even splashing a bit of coffee from the table onto its surface.

What's happening outside?

Yang Yixie instantly sensed something wrong, tried to brace himself on the sofa and walk toward the carriage door, but the carriage suddenly tilted violently and began to descend.

His body instantly entered a weightless state; Ying Duo attempted to manipulate energy to stabilize himself, or briefly convert his own energy, to avoid physical harm.

Energy surged from his palm, climbing up his fingers, pausing at his chest before spreading throughout his body.

Ying Duo's body was engulfed by a greenish glow, and the next second, the ever‑advantageous Ying Guang Lu was punished for the first time.

The light suddenly went out.

Fragments of the green glow curled out from the brim of his hat, still emitting faint specks of light, but Ying Duo's energy could no longer be used, as if cut off; the flow of energy inside his body noticeably slowed.

The carriage kept descending; Ying Duo's feet left the floor, his body floated in the air, and he slammed his head into the carriage's ceiling.

The back of his head struck the metal ceiling, producing a muffled thud, like someone hitting sheet metal with a stone.

But the descent was brief; with a huge crash, Ying Duo's body bounced off the ceiling and landed back on the sofa, effectively avoiding fall damage.

Ying Duo struggled to stand, immediately opened the Team Channel, asked others about the outside situation, and called for someone to rescue him.

Outside, about a minute earlier, countless fine cracks had appeared beneath their feet without warning; not only where the convoy had temporarily stopped, but everywhere within sight, almost nothing was spared.

Silver‑gray mushrooms sprouted from the fissures, like bamboo shoots in a spring morning forest, all bursting from the soil overnight, and what's more, in the blink of an eye they grew into towering trees.

The mushroom caps bore a silver‑gray sheen, their surfaces covered with fine Ying Guang Lu patterns, with greenish liquid continuously flowing down the cap's veins.

The stalks were thick, also silver‑gray, and riddled with Ying Guang Lu markings.

Spores erupted from the edge of the caps, their bizarre color instantly indicating they weren't anything respectable.

Qi Junyi shouted, urging everyone to cover their mouths and noses and activate energy shields; before anyone could react, the ground began to collapse.

It was as if the land beneath them had long been hollowed out; the violent tremor from the mushrooms breaking through the soil dragged their entire convoy down.

They fell roughly four or five stories; though sudden, the height was still manageable with a bit of effort.

Luo Jinyou, after crashing heavily onto the ground, relied on his thick, tough skin as an Aberrant Species to blunt the impact, sustaining little injury.

Xie Jingyan stared at the strange Ying Guang Lu spores around her; while they reminded her of someone, given that Ying Duo was asking in the Team Channel what was happening and requesting rescue, these spores were clearly hostile.

She drew the two long swords from the space, their rune‑etched blades lighting up, shifting from dark violet to bright violet.

She felt the overwhelming malice.

Each spore before her contained potent life energy, but it was impure and nauseating, brimming with malice, as if compressed hatred made manifest.

What are these things?

Xie Jingyan gritted her teeth; no matter how she looked, those mushrooms taller than trees could not have sprouted suddenly in such a wasteland.

Their worst speculation seemed to be coming true; in this mutation's source ground, something troublesome—an aberrant flora—appeared to be gestating.

She casually tossed a mutation‑value‑reducing pill into her own mouth, intending to hand one out to others, but suddenly recalled that Luo Jinyou didn't need it.

No wonder Fang Zhiyan said they'd be the best candidates for this operation.

The high concentration of mutation in the air here can't be endured long‑term; they must constantly use energy to shield themselves and regularly ingest suppressants according to their mutation values.

But for Luo Jinyou, already a non‑human Aberrant Species, the pervasive mutation becomes a supply; the air drifts with usable energy, as if the environment itself were created for him.

While the others were still bruised and struggling to rise, Luo Jinyou had already followed Ying Duo's instructions, located the vehicle Fang Zhiyan originally rode in, and rescued Ying Duo.

"Pat—"

Xie Jingyan felt something clutch her ankle; she forced herself to suppress the urge to bolt and slowly lowered her head.

She saw the performer seize one of her legs, covering its mouth and nose, and lifted its head like a death‑seeking specter.

"He won't take the medicine, I'll take it!"

"Ghost!"

Without hesitation, Xie Jingyan immediately retrieved the long‑practiced peach‑wood sword from the spatial storage device and, as if rehearsed countless times, drove it hard into the performer's rear!

"Aaa!"

A scream.