A human hand suddenly grasped An Zhe’s mycelium. The human had used a lot of strength and his gasping became more rapid.

“Listen.” After a violent tremor and gasp, An Ze slowly closed his eyes and spoke in a low voice. “You have no attack or defense. You are just… a little mushroom.”

Sometimes, An Zhe regretted telling An Ze that he was going to a human base. If he hadn’t told An Ze, An Ze wouldn’t have spent his last moments stopping An Zhe. He might’ve been able to listen to An Ze tell a story. Maybe An Zhe could’ve taken him from the dark cave to look at the changing aurora in the sky for the last time. However, An Ze’s eyes didn’t open again.

The short memory dissipated in the air, just as An Ze’s life suddenly dissipated in this world. An Ze was only a snow-white skeleton.

However, he still wanted to go against An Ze’s wishes.

He slowly opened his five fingers. On the delicate skin and lines of the palm, there was a brass-coloured, metal bullet case that was very heavy. There were some incomprehensible and unusual lines on it. This was what he had found in the place where he lost his spore. He hadn’t let go of it once he found it.

If there was a one-in-a-million chance that he could retrieve his spore then the possibility lay on this shell, which was a human creation.

He sighed and placed the bullet shell into the animal skin backpack left by An Ze. He leaned down and picked up the clothes An Ze had worn. It was a blood-stained grey long-sleeved shirt, black pants and black leather boots.

Having done all this, he walked outside the cave. The slightly loose clothes rubbed against his skin and small electric currents were transmitted from his fine nerve endings in the skin of the centre. It was the first time he was in a human body and he hadn’t adapted. He frowned and pulled up the sleeves of his loose shirt.

The cave was long and winding. The vines were piled up on the cave walls and pushed each other. As An Zhe passed through the cave, they receded and occupied the top of the cave.

After three turns, the wind entered. It was very humid. The mushroom opened the dead vines that fell from the mouth of the hole. Mushrooms, his kind, stretched out endlessly in his vision. They seemed to rise to the sky, everything calm and silent. Through the canopy, the dim light of the sky entered. The sky was grey with some green luster. An Zhe could smell the rain, fog, snakes and rotten plants.