Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 746 - 11 Eating Human Mushrooms_1

Chapter 746: Chapter 11 Eating Human Mushrooms_1

Despite being perpetually shrouded in darkness, even during the daytime, the swampland was a beautiful sight. The faint mist carried a floral color, draping a hazy, colorful veil over the forest. Diverse mushrooms grew from the ground and suguwood trunks, some large enough to bear a person’s weight without collapsing. Spores, the color of the mushrooms, occasionally burst in large groups from the cap of the mushrooms, carried in all directions by the buoyancy of the air, spreading the will of life and the seeds of species. The shrubs adorned with vibrant flowers added a sense of liveliness to the swamp as bees and butterflies danced amongst them. Antelope-like creatures tentatively peeped out from the bushes, their curious eyes scanning the unusual visitors. Birds perched on the suguwood’s canopy whose dense foliage concealed them but not their melodious chirpings or the rustle of leaves when they took flight. This mysterious Whispering Swamp only seemed more beautiful to all due to these unseen but heard presences.

"You’re missing one point, Catherine," Pannis said as he leisurely sat on a large mushroom. Even with his over 200-kilogram backpack, the mushroom’s cap maintained its original form, only slightly dipping in under the weight. Pannis seemed to be quite familiar with these mushrooms’ properties; he looked very comfortable and spoke nonchalantly, "The real danger often cloaks itself in beauty. An ugly environment might scare people off, but it doesn’t typically bring great harm, as most people would steer clear. Those few who dare approach would stay highly alert, thereby reducing casualties in such places. But beautiful environments, like this one that looks like the setting of a children’s story, even the air smells of flowers. It might be dim but is full of charm. A beautiful place indeed."

"Indeed." They had walked quite a distance to get into the swamp, so Galantis decided to have everyone rest for a bit at the swamp’s edge. Learning from Pannis, Catherine found an identical mushroom and sat on it. All her equipment and supplies in her backpack were even heavier than Pannis’, and yet, the mushroom still held. Tentatively sitting on it, she found the mushroom had a certain elasticity, very similar to a chair made from the resin of a lizardtail tree. Relaxing, she placed her whole weight on the mushroom and nodded, "Wait, so is there danger hidden here? I observed carefully and saw no sign of anything strange, and we have you guys who’ve been here before guiding us. As long as we don’t do anything unnecessary, we should avoid any serious danger, right? For instance, right now, sticking to the path you guys took, only touching what you’ve touched, could there really be an accident?"

"Look to your right about twenty meters away," Pannis pointed to a distant place on Catherine’s right, "See the piece of mushroom forest? Very beautiful, what do you think?"

"Those mushrooms...are they not the same as the ones we’re sitting on?" The light was dim, but she could still see clearly something twenty meters away. Catherine looked in the direction Pannis was pointing and scrutinized the mushroom forest he was referring to. The identical orange-yellow with white spots mushrooms stood tall and sturdy, and the area even had a layer of fine yellow spores around the edges, no different from the one she was sitting on. Understanding that Pannis would not be speaking without reason, yet not finding anything odd, she asked doubtfully, "I really can’t see anything peculiar there; can you guys spot anything? Vivian, you’re the most knowledgeable, Ava, you have all the information on most creatures, Lina, you read those quirky novels, maybe you know something?"

Vivian shook her head in disappointment, Lina, on the other hand, openly expressed her dissatisfaction at Catherine’s remark about the novels she read. Aside from that, there were no constructive answers, only Ava with her eyes half-closed, thoughtfully nodding, "Ah, I see, indeed a peculiar biology system; I think I understand the goblin’s records now, interesting."

"There actually is a difference?" The girls exclaimed in surprise, and focused again, observing from a distance but couldn’t see anything abnormal, needing to ask for help again, "We really can’t see it, is there something wrong with our observational skills? Why do those mushrooms over there look identical to ours apart from the shape?"

"Well, they are entirely the same because I pointed to the wrong ones," Pannis said solemnly with a straight face, "Hey, hey, don’t hit me. You guys are getting more violent. It was just a joke, all right, I get it, put down your weapons, and Freya, didn’t you say I’m your favorite? So why did you assemble the base for the crystal energy cannon?"

"Because my love for you is so deep, dear Mr. Pannis," Freya seemed deeply affectionate, yet she forcefully threw the assembled cannon base on the ground, she gently said, "Since my emotions can’t get your love in return, might as well let us turn into ashes in the flame of love, then we can be together forever."

"Hey, please calm down." Pannis began to sweat, quickly saying, "There actually is a difference, I was just joking to ease up the atmosphere, put your weapons away, it’s really dangerous. Phew, you guys are quite scary."

"Speak up." Catherine’s eyes were curved in amusement, her clear voice thick with laughter: "If you don’t, you know what will happen. You surely don’t want a tragedy to happen as soon as we enter the swamp, do you?"

"You’re getting scarier. Galantis, don’t you learn from them. If Alcmene finds out you’ve been corrupted by my side, she’ll be angry." Pannis wiped the sweat off his forehead, took a habitual pat at the triangular beak of the Lizard Lady admiring him and interacting joyously with the girls, and swatted away her tongue constantly hitting his face. He then began to explain seriously, "Those mushrooms and the ones we’re sitting on should be of the same kind. I haven’t researched whether this is true or not, but from their appearance, it should be correct. However, they may belong to the same species, but their roles differ. Those mushrooms probably play the role of hunters in their group."

"Hunters?" The girls blinked in puzzlement. Vivian asked, "Like those man-eating flowers and man-eating trees?"

"More or less." Pannis nodded: "Though their methods and forms differ, the general idea is similar."

"Found it." Lena, who had just taken out the solid Magical Beast Handbook as a weapon, let out a cheer, "Hmm, it says that these mushrooms are mostly safe, but some weird variations can be aggressive. They have a danger level of 4.2, oh gosh, even many dangerous, legendary-rank beasts only have a danger level of 4. It’s outrageous! Such crucial information is only annotated in a tiny font. This is too careless."

"That’s because the hunter-type mushrooms aren’t common, the clerks at the Guild haven’t seen them before, so they only copied the data and wouldn’t take it too seriously," Pannis explained. "Although these mushrooms are dangerous but as long as you don’t get within a meter of them, you should be fine. Even if you get close, as long as you keep your shields up, it should be safe."

"Let me see their hunting method... Damn! Oh, I beg for Lady Denia’s forgiveness for my coarse language." After glancing at the details in the guidebook, Lena couldn’t help but swear under her breath before saying, "These mushrooms are so sneaky. When touched, they will release all their stored spores. These spores have strong paralyzing effects within a one-meter radius. If one inhales too many spores, they will be paralyzed. Moreover, these spores are extremely corrosive to the respiratory system. After being paralyzed, if the victim doesn’t get an antidote in time, their respiratory system will be corroded and the speed of decay will accelerate, leading to suffocation and death. The corpse, including the skeleton, will rapidly decay under the mushrooms, replenishing nutrients to the ground. The nearby mushrooms will benefit from this, growing even more robustly. In short, these mushrooms basically grow from eating flesh, including humans."

"There’s more." As Lena continued reading, the girls shivered as they imagined themselves collapsing under the mushrooms and decaying into goop in mere days. Still, Catherine pointed out: "At the back here, it discusses countermeasures. Quite simple. As long as you deploy your shield in time after inhaling the spores, but before paralysis sets in, the shield will automatically expel foreign bodies. This way, you won’t be corroded or paralyzed by these spores. Thankfully, when covered by foreign objects, the first instinct should be to deploy shields and retreat, which can precisely avoid corrosion."

"I’m sorry, but those spores are colorless," Pannis shook his head. "That’s why the danger level is so high. If you don’t know their danger in advance, it would be difficult to react even if the spores do hit you. Vivian, prepare an antidote potion for everyone, just in case. Many dangers in the swamp are related to toxins, and the antidote potion can work wonders."

For a moment, the image of the swamp fundamentally changed in the girls’ eyes. The once beautiful swamp now had an eerie hue. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for recommendations and monthly tickets at qidian.com, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)