Little Mushroom

Lunch at noon turned out to be mushroom soup. Xi Bei said it was planted in the mine by himself and was clean. Mushrooms grew quickly and the amount left over was enough to eat for several days.

An Zhe heard this and silently shrank back into the corner. Xi Bei looked so kind and friendly but unexpectely, he was a mushroom killer. Still, he had become an accomplice to eating mushrooms.

Before starting to eat, he noticed Lu Feng looking at him. An Zhe thought that the colonel must be remembering the bowl of mushroom soup he wasn't able to eat before leaving the base. It seemed to be a regret and humans didn't like this, so it seemed today's meal made up for it.

After the meal, Xi Bei took them to see the grain reserves. There wasn't much, only some mushrooms, dried meat strips and a packet of salt.

"The meat was stored from before," Xi Bei explained. "Traps can catch small monsters. They say that eating the monsters who are too strange can cause an infection. So we eat those that aren't too strange and look like animals."

"Low variation monsters can be eaten 24 hours after death."

"My uncles were right."

Lu Feng asked him, "What monsters are there here?"

"There are birds, many lizards and big mice," Xi Bei replied.

"However, after the sandstorm, I saw two particularly ugly things." Xi Bei spoke with a slightly pale face. "They were extraordinarily large and I was afraid they found me. I only watched them through a telescope and have never seen such things before. Do you know what they are?"

"This should be the Eastern Hills and originally, the pollution level wasn't high." Lu Feng stated. "However, in the past five days, there was a magnetic accident resulting in a secondary mutation and mixed-type monsters appeared."

"…Yes?"

Lu Feng's voice was slightly dull. "Small monsters will converge through the food chain into large mixed monsters."

Xi Bei's face turned a bit white.

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An Zhe listened to Lu Feng's words. It could be imagined that the monsters killed and devoured each other, decreasing the number of monsters but greatly increasing the mutation level. Perhaps even more terrible was that the same thing was happening all over the planet. Every day was becoming more chaotic than yesterday.

Lu Feng looked at Xi Bei. The shape and colour of his eyes combined with his cold and sharp outline. Xi Bei obviously wasn't used to looking at the colonel and pulled off the piece of paint from the table.

Lu Feng asked, "Has anyone ever mutated in the cave?"

"Yes, some uncles were bitten by monsters and then they bit others."

"What did you do?"

"Let them go."

The communicator still wasn't working but the colonel fulfilled his duties. In the afternoon, Lu Feng borrowed a pen and paper from Xi Bei and briefly documented the situation here.

Evening was rest time. There was only one generator in the entire mine that could be used and the line was also wet and aging. Only one empty room in the entire mine had electricity and they lived here.

An Zhe took a shower, dried his head and leaned on the bed to play with magnets. In the mine, magnets were everywhere.

He held one piece in each hand and put the two poles of the magnet together, trying to touch them to each other. There were clearly only air between the two black magnets but no matter how much strength he used, he couldn't let them near each other. It was like there was an invisible force pushing them out.

He frowned, not knowing why this was happening. He didn't understand a lot of human knowledge, just like a lot of the world's knowledge couldn't be understood by humans. Still, he stubbornly wanted to put them together. He felt that as long as he used enough strength, nothing couldn't be pressed together.

Footsteps were heard and Lu Feng entered the room. His coat had been washed by An Zhe and now it was air drying. An Zhe looked up and saw that the colonel was only wearing a military-style black vest at this time. The smooth and graceful lines of arm and shoulder muscles were exposed. The trouser legs of his combat suit were tucked into black boots, making him look more upright and beautiful. His hair was simply brushed and a bit messy, his forehead covered with glistening drops of water.

An Zhe watched him. After leaving behind the judge's uniform and the badge, Lu Feng seemed to just be a promising young officer with authority. Even though his eyebrows was still as cold as the past and the temperature of the green eyes hadn't risen, An Zhe felt that this person was much more relaxed. An Zhe suddenly remembered that according to the method of human age, the 20s was clearly an age where everything was just beginning.

The person in his 20s was looking down at the communicator but the communicator just replayed the same message. Lu Feng turned off the communicator, placed it on the table and sat down next to An Zhe.

In any case, there was no way to put the two magnets together so An Zhe glanced at Lu Feng. Lu Feng spoke lightly, "They reject each other."

An Zhe frowned.

Lu Feng took the two magnets and placed them in opposite directions. The two magnets quickly joined together before they were thrown aside by Lu Feng.

An Zhe took them back and played with there again. No matter how many times he tried, the result was the same. There was insurmountable resistance between the same two poles and they could never be put together. Meanwhile, the opposite poles had an unimaginable attraction and only needed to be placed a bit closer to each other to automatically join together.

An Zhe inquired, "What's between them?"

He was a mushroom and An Ze hadn't taken physics classes. The knowledge of the two people couldn't explain this phenomenon.

Lu Feng answered, "The magnetic field."

"Is it the same as the artificial magnetic field?"

"Yes."

"Can't I see it?"

"You can't see it."

"Why can't we see it?"

Lu Feng stuffed him into the quilt. "Many things are invisible."

An Zhe hummed. The quilt was a bit hot so he put his arms and shoulders out. Lu Feng saw a blue bruise appear at the neckline of An Zhe's soft white t-shirt and he reached out to pull it down. The originally smooth and flawless milky while skin was now full of blue-purple traces that were very uniform, to the point where the source couldn't be found.

An Zhe didn't speak. He just removed Lu Feng's hand and restored his collar.

Lu Feng's eyes were still focused there. He naturally recognized these marks. If the base needed to torture repeat offenders to extract confessions, they would use high-intensity electricity torture. No one could stand it and confessed. The aftermath of the electrocution was diverse, from physical to psychological problems. The marks on the skin were just one of them. Many people would never be able to get rid of this painful nightmare for the rest of their lives.

Nevertheless, An Zhe just wrapped the quilt tightly around himself and slightly lowered his eyes while saying calmly, "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Lu Feng saw this quiet expression. He sometimes wanted to bully this person and sometimes wanted to treat him well.

Lu Feng saw An Zhe wriggling on the bed to make room for him to lie down. The bed wasn't very big so they were very close once Lu Feng lay down. An Zhe saw a new scar on Lu Feng's arm that seemed to be caused by a blunt object. This wasn't all. There were also faint bruises and scratches on his shoulders.

An Zhe reached out to touch the longest one but halfway there, he was afraid of hurting the colonel and retracted his hand, curling up in the quilt.

The colonel's eyes seemed mild. "Sleep."

An Zhe hummed and closed his eyes. His lashes cast a faint shadow in the light, making him look softer and quieter. He was relaxed all over and Lu Feng could easily recognize it. This little heterogeneous seemed so sure that Lu Feng wouldn't hurt him despite his body being covered with marks from the electrocution.

It wasn't the first time that he had been puzzled by the other's actions. For example, the night he left the city gates and had nowhere to go, An Zhe had told him so unguardedly that he could stay there. At that time, Lu Feng thought the boy had other intentions or was as simple as his appearance, as if he didn't know that people shouldn't invite strangers to stay overnight.

Lu Feng thought this and had to ask, "…Aren't you afraid of me?"

An Zhe was questioned and slowly opened his eyes. In the dim light, his eyes seemed to be covered with a soft and beautiful mist. It had only been a short time since he seemed to have fallen asleep and his voice was sullen. "What should I be afraid of?"

Lu Feng didn't speak. He just propped up his upper body and looked down at An Zhe, eyes heavy. His other hand picked up the gun next to the pillow and the cold barrel touched An Zhe's cheeks. An Zhe saw this and frowned slightly. He seemed angry again as he pushed the gun away and turned around—also pulling away the quilt with this action.

Lu Feng looked at the slender neck and thin shoulders that slightly undulating with his breathing. Such a person seemed easily injured but also easily protected. After a long time, Lu Feng turned off the lamp and lay down again.

Lu Feng's body caused the bed to slightly sink and the part of the quilt that was pulled away by An Zhe was brought back to him. It was like on a summer night, the tail of a dragonfly flicking lightly on the calm surface of the lake. The ripples touched more than just the placid water.

In the silence, he couldn't tell if it was emotions driving him or a subconscious action but Lu Feng embraced An Zhe from behind. His arm pressed on An Zhe's arm and An Zhe moved slightly. At first, An Zhe planned to put it down but he had nowhere to place it. Therefore, he moved up a bit and placed his fingers on Lu Feng's forearm just like how he used to roll the mycelium on the stone or tree trunk beside him.

Lu Feng felt his movements.

An Zhe's voice was very light. "Aren't you afraid that I will infect you?"

Lu Feng didn't answer, just as An Zhe hadn't answered his question just now.

The Judge believing in a heterogeneous species or a heterogeneous species believing in the Judge, it was unknown which one was more absurd—for whatever reason. Perhaps the day they met was the beginning of the most ridiculous story in the world.

However, in the darkness where no one's face could be seen, it didn't seem to matter what they did in this isolated place at this unknown time. Everything was forgotten, everything was acquiesced.

Listening to this gentle breathing sound, Lu Feng closed his eyes.