When he was held by Lu Feng, he seemed to be able to isolate the danger outside. He felt very peaceful but this person was the greatest danger. An Zhe couldn’t remember what type of mood he was in when he fell asleep.

An Zhe stared at everything in front of him, empty of thought. He moved his fingers, his bones soaked in softness. It was like he had napped for too long and he had no energy in his body.

The atmosphere around him was humid like it had just rained.

He recalled the weird and bizarre dream as he sat up on the bed, stretching his arms. It was so cruel to take the spore from his stomach. Only an officer with the surname of Lu would do it this way. He controlled the flow of the spore in his body. Three minutes later, white mycelium stretched out and the spore appeared in the palm of his right hand.

A small spore had been only half the size of a fist when placed in his body. Now it was the same size as his fist.

He carefully examined it with the light of the steam light. There were subtle antler-like branches at the end of the spore’s mycelium, bright white and transparent like snowflakes that had started to change shape.

He touched it with his left hand and it stretched out mycelium to wrap around him affectionately. He could feel its lively energy. It was about to mature. He didn’t know exactly when the spore would mature but it must be soon.

Their mycelium would no longer tangle together and it would become a mushroom that could survive independently. Once it matured, it would automatically leave him like it was being blown by the wind.

Planting a spore was the instinct of a mushroom. Where would he plant it? Would it grow up in the distant future? An Zhe didn’t know. He just felt the faintness before leaving, as if all things in the world seemed to be separated.

At this moment, there was a noise from the corridor. His spore raised its mycelium and seemed to be listening to the sound. Then it moved it a trembling manner, rolling toward the source of the sound like one pole of a magnet to the opposite pole. An Zhe reached out and clasped it tightly. Fortunately, before Lu Feng came in, he put this little thing back in his body.

Lu Feng stood at the door and watched him with raised eyebrows. “Get up,” he said.

An Zhe obediently got up to eat and they spent the next few days like this. An Zhe would help Xi Bei cook and clean the mine while Lu Feng often went outside. An Zhe was afraid he wouldn’t come back but the colonel was safe every time. Sometimes, he caught a small flying bird and handed it over for cooking.