Chapter 129 – Mushroom Valley
Shi Yuan watched a food movie and his interest in cooking was reignited.
He volunteered to prepare breakfast for Lu Tinghan and occasionally made dinner as well. He was enthusiastic about innovation and challenges.
Throughout the week, Lu Tinghan had dishes such as undercooked scallion and steamed eggs, burnt toast, and some indescribable contents in sandwiches.
Some of the flavors were acceptable, while others were difficult to describe.
Lu Tinghan didn’t pay much attention at first. After all, he was a soldier in the Alliance and had experienced difficult conditions during marches and battles. What couldn’t he eat?
Until one day, he overheard the adjutant talking to someone.
“Hey, do you know Xiao Liu? The one next door who keeps coming over here,” the adjutant said mysteriously.
“Yeah, I’ve seen him a few times. Haven’t seen him recently,” the friend replied.
“He took sick leave. At first, I thought it was a cold or cough, but guess what? There’s a girl chasing after him,” the adjutant explained.
“Oh! Xiao Liu must be quite charming! What does that have to do with him being sick?”
“Well, that girl has been bringing him meals every day. Xiao Liu also likes her, and it’s been ambiguous between them. It seemed like they were about to become a couple, but then that girl messed up. She cooked a pot of soybean stew and both of them ended up with food poisoning!” The adjutant sighed, “The girl doesn’t know how to cook. She learned on the spot and made some strange things. In the end, it backfired. Some people are just naturally bad at cooking, nothing can be done, right?”
Lu Tinghan: “…”
He instantly remembered the “Shi Yuan’s strangely flavored peanuts” he had eaten and all the weird dishes.
It wouldn’t have crossed his mind if it hadn’t been mentioned. He hadn’t experienced any illness from the food he ate, which was quite a miracle.
That evening, as soon as Lu Tinghan returned home, he smelled a fragrance.
There was a bubbling pot on the stove in the kitchen, and Shi Yuan stood on a chair, searching through the top cabinet.
Lu Tinghan approached and supported the chair, asking, “What are you looking for?”
“The seasoning packet, I remember it was placed on the top shelf,” Shi Yuan stretched as much as he could, and finally, with a small jump, he got hold of it.
He opened the pot, and steam rose to the ceiling as he added the seasoning packet.
Lu Tinghan glanced into the pot and suddenly felt something was off. “What dish are you cooking?”
“Soybean stew,” Shi Yuan said, “I just learned a recipe today. Soybean stew must be delicious!”
As soon as he finished speaking, a strange smell emerged from the pot.
Lu Tinghan: “…”
In that instant, he seemed to see Xiao Liu’s pale face and weakly waving hand, saying, “Can’t eat… this… can’t eat… sob sob sob…”
Lu Tinghan was never a superstitious person, but everything was so coincidental: he happened to overhear the adjutant’s conversation today, Xiao Liu happened to get food poisoning, and it happened to be soybean stew. It felt like there was a premonition lurking in the dark, making his heart thump.
After a long silence, Lu Tinghan asked, “Shi Yuan, you still love me, right?”
Shi Yuan: ?
Shi Yuan said, “Of course, why wouldn’t I?”
Lu Tinghan began to think about how to make Shi Yuan understand that the love of his life, his watcher, and his only human being might end up in the hospital because of this pot of soybean stew without making Shi Yuan sad.
When the dishes were served, Lu Tinghan asked again, “Shi Yuan, you still love me, right?”
Shi Yuan: ??
He scrutinized Lu Tinghan repeatedly, trying to find clues from his face. Finally, he cautiously asked, “Lu Tinghan, did you lose your job?”
Lu Tinghan replied, “…that’s highly unlikely.”
“Did you kill my plants?”
“No.”
“Did you litter again?”
“No.” Lu Tinghan paused for a moment. “Shi Yuan, please stop using the word ‘again.'”
Shi Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. “I thought it was something serious. Isn’t everything fine?” He leaned in and gave Lu Tinghan a big kiss, his eyes shining. “But no matter what happens, I’ll always love you!”
Lu Tinghan wanted to say something but got stuck midway.
…looking at such a little monster, who could say it?!
Shi Yuan served two bowls of stew, one for each of them.
“Try it!” he eagerly said, watching Lu Tinghan. It may have been his imagination, but Lu Tinghan seemed to have a sense of ‘courage in the face of death’ as he picked up his chopsticks.
The taste of the stew was indeed strange, indescribable.
Fortunately, it wasn’t to the point of being difficult to swallow. Shi Yuan had a peculiar talent for turning ordinary ingredients into extraordinary dishes.
That night, they lay together, and Shi Yuan asked, “So, why did you ask me that today?”
“It’s nothing,” Lu Tinghan said.
“Really?”
“Really.” Lu Tinghan reached out and rubbed Shi Yuan’s head.
Shi Yuan: “Purr purr purr…”
He had no idea throughout the entire process that Lu Tinghan had eaten his secret recipe stew with so much love and courage.
Fortunately, although the taste was strange, it was the same as usual and did not make Lu Tinghan sick.
The next day, Lu Tinghan went out to the command post in good health.
As for Shi Yuan, his enthusiasm subsided once again and didn’t take long for him to move on to a new love, focusing on the study of fish. He also went to the flea market and bought a lot of artificial mountains and grass to decorate his unsightly fish tank.
Lu Tinghan, in the end, didn’t need to go to the hospital because of Shi Yuan’s food. He was quite relieved to think that Shi Yuan really liked him and was not willing to let him be poisoned.
Half a month after the soybean stew incident, Xiao Liu returned to his position and was teased by others for a long time.
On this day, Lu Tinghan went to meet General Li Cheng.
As fellow Alliance commanders, they often discussed military affairs and were somewhat familiar with each other, although they didn’t have much personal relationship.
But today, they were going to discuss something other than military matters.
Li Cheng brewed two cups of tea, and they sat facing each other.
Including Li Cheng, the high-ranking members of the Alliance were aware of Lu Tinghan’s identity—they knew it from the first time they saw the black crystal in his hand, which represented the connection between life and death.
They tried their best to block all information, all stories about “General Lu,” which was why, when Lu Tinghan was reading military history, he found that the existence of a general was almost deliberately erased.
Their idea was clear: Lu Tinghan should not be “forced” to be anyone.
Suppose someone is told from birth that they are a past hero, a great general, and they are repeatedly entangled in the past, becoming “forced” to become Lu Tinghan, forced to inherit the name and honor, which is likely not what he wants and may become a burden for him.
The Alliance did not want to see this consequence.
They wanted this Alliance hero to choose his own path.
So, everyone silently kept the secret, not discussing it.
Before Lu Tinghan remembered the past, he asked Li Cheng why he couldn’t tell him the truth.
Li Cheng told him that he had to think deeply about it for it to have meaning. If he didn’t want to remember the past, he could forget about it and live a peaceful life.
What does it mean to live peacefully?
No black crystal, no ups and downs of the past, becoming a pillar of the Alliance, guarding cities, receiving the rightful honor and praise—it would be a great life.
Except for the missing long-tailed purring monster by his side.
Lu Tinghan obviously couldn’t accept that.
He finally found Shi Yuan and kept his promise, returning to his side.
Lu Tinghan knew that to conceal the past, the Alliance must have put in unimaginable efforts. He had privately thanked several people, but they all waved their hands, saying that it was the least they could do for him.
At this moment, Lu Tinghan sat face-to-face with Li Cheng.
Lu Tinghan took a sip of tea and said, “I want to talk about what I saw and heard at the bottom of Abyss No.1.”
Li Cheng instinctively sat up straight.
After many years, Lu Tinghan finally mentioned that past event again.
…
“Shi Yuan!” Lu Tinghan called out.
The flashlight illuminated the surroundings, the bottom of the abyss was filled with lush trees.
“I’m here!” Shi Yuan’s voice came from not far away.
Accompanied by rustling sounds, Shi Yuan emerged from behind the bushes, holding two flowers and said, “Look, they’re so beautiful.”
The two flowers were fluorescent green with tumor-like growths on their petals, clearly poisonous. Only Shi Yuan, with his boldness, dared to play with them barehanded. The two flowers swayed weakly in his hands, unable to resist.
Shi Yuan asked Lu Tinghan, “Don’t you think they’re beautiful?”
Lu Tinghan remained silent for a few seconds, looking at the tumor-like growths on the petals, and reluctantly replied, “…They’re okay.”
“Shiyuan!” Lu Tinghan shouted.
The flashlight illuminated the surroundings, and at the bottom of the abyss, trees thrived.
“They’re here!” Shiyuan’s voice came from not far away.
Accompanied by rustling sounds, Shiyuan emerged from the bushes, holding two flowers. He said, “Look, they’re so beautiful.”
The two flowers were a vibrant green, with tumor-like growths on the petals, clearly poisonous. Only Shiyuan, with his boldness, dared to play with them barehanded. The two flowers swayed weakly in his hands, unable to compare to the strength of an elephant.
Shiyuan asked Lu Tinghan, “Don’t you think they’re beautiful?”
Lu Tinghan remained silent for a few seconds, gazing at the tumors on the flower petals, and reluctantly replied, “…They’re okay.”
Shi Yuan was ecstatic and happily carried the flowers as he followed Lu Tinghan over mountains and across hills. Behind them, the bright beam of light still shone like a lighthouse, piercing through the sky and guiding the way home.
The beam of light revealed the path they had traveled in the past. Every day, there were monsters on the way back home, but there were still too many remaining, and data surveys couldn’t stop. The Alliance still needed to simulate the signals of the abyss to safely guard Elton. Every three days, Lu Tinghan had to go to different survey points to collect data and maintain the instruments, and today was no exception.
Today, they had to go to a new and distant place. Shi Yuan collected many peculiar plants along the way. As soon as Lu Tinghan turned around, he saw the plants spewing bursts of green toxic mist and Shi Yuan’s tail wagging happily, creating quite a stunning scene.
As they walked, they suddenly heard… music in the distance?
Shi Yuan’s tail immediately bent into a question mark.
He tilted his head and listened carefully. The sound was far away but ethereal and grand, as if an entire orchestra was playing throughout the mountains. Shi Yuan had attended a concert at the Garcia Grand Theater, and this sound resembled the instruments being played.
“What is this?” he asked Lu Tinghan.
Lu Tinghan shrugged and said, “We’ll find out if we keep going forward.”
The two quickened their pace and followed the sound of the music.
The steep slopes along the way were covered with thorny vines that unabashedly clung to sharp stones. Lu Tinghan cleared the path ahead, while Shi Yuan followed behind, occasionally being lifted up by Lu Tinghan and gently placed on the ground.
They walked into a cluster of mist.
The pale gray mist surged, obscuring the sky and sun. However, the music grew louder and louder, sometimes soothing and prolonged, and other times sharp and radical.
As they continued forward, the mist suddenly dissipated.
Before them lay a vast valley, filled with bizarre mushrooms that were uncountable in number. Some were even taller than mountains, with an intense crimson color and phosphorescent glow, resembling flowing blood. Others were dim like rocks, with vines hanging down from their umbrella-like caps for over a hundred meters. Some mushroom stems were exceptionally thick, with diameters exceeding a hundred meters, and various shapes of small trees grew on them, their triangular crowns pointing towards the sky, providing shelter for birds.
All the mushrooms had porous surfaces, and their caps, rings, and stems were eroded by the toxic mist, forming countless pores.
A strong wind blew, passing through the mushroom forest, and emitted that peculiar musical sound as it passed through the pores. It resembled the fluttering of fireflies, with flickering green lights.
It was as if a strange kingdom was hidden in the depths of the abyss, right in the center of the mountains, stretching for hundreds of kilometers, thriving in its unique way, presenting itself before the two companions. The music surged from all directions, and the mushrooms sang, as if they had been doing so for thousands of years.
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