After dealing with the venomous spider guarding the dormitory lobby, Tang Xiao and the others immediately used the fire suppression equipment in the building to put out the flames. They worked tirelessly for a long time, finally clearing all the spiderwebs. Just then, An Xiang’s voice rang out from a short distance away.
“Come quick! Oh my god, so many cocoons!”
Tang Xiao exchanged a glance with Lodge, immediately dropping the fire extinguisher and rushing toward An Xiang with their weapons in hand.
In the stairwell behind the lobby, dozens of human-shaped cocoons lined the walls. Judging by their shapes, Tang Xiao and Lodge already had a bad feeling. They quickly called for others to help cut them open.
Tang Xiao used a sharp object to slice one open. As expected, a student was inside. Most were still alive, though unconscious. As they continued cutting, An Xiang suddenly let out a choked sob. “Yuze…”
The cocoon she had opened revealed the face of her roommate—pale, lifeless, no longer breathing.
Tang Xiao stepped forward to examine the situation and discovered that the inside of the cocoons secreted a special acidic substance that slowly dissolved human bodies. He wasn’t sure if it was a way for the spider to store food. “Hurry up! See how many are still alive!”
Lodge and the others sped up their efforts.
By the end, only about twenty people were still breathing out of the thirty or so cocoons. However, they were all in comas. Five of them were already on the brink of death—their limbs partially dissolved by the acid, hanging by a thread.
Among the survivors, there was a medical student who immediately began administering first aid to the best of their ability under the current conditions. He looked at Tang Xiao and said urgently, “They need to get to a hospital as soon as possible.”
At that moment, the team members who had been searching the dormitory returned, shaking their heads at Tang Xiao. “This should be everyone. There’s no one else in the building.”
Tang Xiao took a deep breath and looked toward the outside of the dormitory.
This was the closest building to the school’s main entrance—less than ten meters away.
Yet, for some reason, the fog here was unnaturally thick. The visibility near the academic buildings was already bad, only allowing sight up to two or three meters. But here, the fog had become so dense it was like a pitch-black void.
“There are too many people here; moving everyone would be difficult. I’ll go ahead alone to check if we can exit through the main gate.” Tang Xiao stated.
Lodge, noticing how pale Tang Xiao’s face was, was the first to object. “No way. It’s too dangerous. You’ve been protecting us all this time—you’re exhausted. I’ll go with you.”
“It’s just a quick check. If there’s any danger, I’ll come right back. Bringing too many people might attract the mutant beasts’ attention. You all need to stay here.” Tang Xiao refused. “I can still hold on. There are too many injured people here—if something attacks now, it’ll be a disaster. You need to stay and guard them.”
Besides, he would be more efficient alone.
“If I’m not back in an hour, wait here for rescue. Understood?”
Lodge and the others couldn’t argue with him and could only watch as he disappeared into the fog.
Half an hour after Tang Xiao left, Tang Chen’s team finally arrived at the dormitory.
They had expanded their search radius after failing to find any survivors initially. Along the way, they fought off mutant beasts and rescued three university students, but there was still no sign of Tang Xiao. Tang Chen maintained a calm exterior, but his heart was growing heavier by the minute.
When Lodge and the others saw figures approaching, they immediately raised their weapons. But upon recognizing Tang Chen’s group, their expressions brightened. “Are you the rescue team?”
“Yes.” Tang Chen and his team were surprised to see so many unconscious people.
With the tension easing, the university students who had been on edge finally relaxed, speaking over each other as they reported the situation. Tang Chen stepped into the lobby, noticing the battle scars around them. He couldn’t help but ask, “Was it you all who saved these people?”
“Yes.” Loki quickly replied. “But it wasn’t just us. The one who did the most was Tang Xiao. He’s gone to check the main gate!”
“What?!” Tang Chen’s expression changed instantly. “When did he leave?”
“About half an hour ago.”
Tang Chen turned to his vice-captain, his face serious. “Take care of things here. Qiu Yifan, Ji Changfeng, you’re with me!”
“Yes, sir!”
Lodge sensed something was wrong and hurriedly asked, “Is it really that dangerous over there?”
Tang Chen didn’t have time to explain and rushed off with his team. The vice-captain held Lodge back and reassured him, “It’ll be fine. Our captain is strong—he’ll bring Tang Xiao back safely.”
But even he couldn’t shake his own worry. The reason Tang Chen’s team had taken a detour was that the area near the dormitory’s main gate had shown signs of abnormality. The scouting drones they had sent in had all failed to return, and they had no idea what was lurking there. That was why they had chosen a different path.
He could only hope that Tang Chen would make it in time…
Meanwhile, half an hour earlier, Tang Xiao had left the dormitory.
He wasn’t sure if it was the aftereffect of dying too many times, but his head throbbed with a dull ache. Now wasn’t the time to rest, though. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay alert, and carefully hugged the edges of the buildings as he made his way toward the main gate.
The fog here was overwhelming. Visibility barely extended a meter ahead—if a mutant beast was hiding in the mist, it would be over.
… But come to think of it—
It’s too quiet.
Tang Xiao had walked a considerable distance, and though he had made an effort to minimize noise, the only sound he heard was his own footsteps. It was as if an invisible force had isolated all noise from the dormitory. The fog had become a suffocating barrier of silence.
A sense of unease crept up his spine. He wanted to turn back. But then he thought of the people waiting for him in the dormitory. Gritting his teeth, he pressed on.
This road should have been the main path students used to enter and exit the university. Now, it was like the gaping maw of a silent beast, swallowing both life and sound whole. Following his memory, Tang Xiao finally reached what should be the main entrance.
What met his eyes was a whiteness that almost blended seamlessly with the mist…
What was that? Cocoon silk? Or mycelium?
Tang Xiao was momentarily dazed, thinking he had seen Jun Tesi’s mycelium—but the color was off. Jun Tesi’s mycelium were supposed to be blood-red, not white.
Those white mycelium had almost completely covered the school gate like a spider’s web silently waiting for its prey to arrive.
Tang Xiao saw no beasts or parasitic plants in the area, yet the moment he laid eyes on that mycelium net, the oppressive feeling it gave off was no less than that of any monstrous creature or parasitic plant he had encountered so far.
Sigh… How many more times would he have to die this time just to test its "mechanism"?
“...Xiaoxiao…”
A faint voice emerged from within the mycelium. The instant he heard that voice, Tang Xiao’s expression changed. He looked at the white mycelium in disbelief.
A blurry figure slowly surfaced within the mycelium web, and the voice came from that figure.
Tang Xiao immediately stepped out from his cover. “Jun Tesi? Is that you, Jun Tesi!?”
The humanoid shape within the mycelium net struggled to form, but it was painfully slow in shaping its limbs, torso, and head—like a terrifying eldritch god slowly manifesting in the human world, its silhouette gradually taking on a form that was all too familiar to Tang Xiao.
The axe slipped from his grip. Without hesitation, Tang Xiao stepped forward—one step at a time—entering the enclosure of the mycelium web.
“Jun Tesi.”
“Xiaoxiao,” the hazy humanoid figure raised a hand, slowly reaching out to touch Tang Xiao’s face, as if confirming his existence. “It’s you.”
“It’s me.” Tang Xiao’s lips trembled, unable to speak for a moment. “...Are you okay? What’s going on over there? What’s your situation now?”
The mycelium humanoid did not answer. Its face had yet to form any discernible features, and the vast divide between two worlds made it difficult for it to properly control this body—like an old television struggling to receive a signal.
“I hurt so much…”
Tang Xiao stiffened.
“I hurt so much, Xiaoxiao.” The fungal humanoid murmured.
Pain? Why would he feel pain?
Tang Xiao’s mind was in turmoil. That shouldn’t be possible. Jun Tesi had almost no pain receptors before, and according to their plan, its evolution should have made it even stronger. Why was he in pain? Did something go wrong with its evolution? Or had the King of Mushroom done something to him? What exactly was happening on that side?
A flood of questions surged through his mind. He pressed his lips together, suppressing his unease, and was just about to ask more when Jun Tesi spoke again.
“Stay here, Xiaoxiao.”
Ever since Tang Xiao had begun his cycle of death and time reversal, Jun Tesi had been tirelessly working to break through the barrier between their worlds. But it still needed more time—just a little more time—to bring Tang Xiao back.
Suppressing the emotions that were about to overflow, Tang Xiao took a deep breath and said, “Listen to me, Jun Tesi. Let me leave for now. I promise I’ll come back!”
The mycelium humanoid gazed at Tang Xiao silently. Its face had yet to develop human features—just a vague shape, like a crudely made puppet. A long crack split across its chin, forming a black fissure that looked like both a smile and a sobbing mouth.
“I don’t believe you anymore.”
He said, “I don’t believe you anymore, Tang Xiao.”
The air suddenly froze.
It was only then that Tang Xiao realized—at some unknown point—the mycelium had silently wrapped around his body. He was completely immobilized. He tried to speak, but before he could utter a word, the mycelium slithered up, sealing his mouth, nose, and eyes.
“Tang Xiao!”
A voice rang out from the mist. Just before his vision completely faded, Tang Chen finally arrived with his team. The sight before him nearly scared his soul out of his body. A humanoid entity of unknown nature stood just a few inches away from Tang Xiao, while his younger brother was being completely enveloped by mycelium.
In an instant, blue-violet psionic energy erupted from Tang Chen, wrapping around the mycelium and violently tearing them apart to snatch Tang Xiao’s body back. The mycelium went berserk, lashing out at them in a frenzied attack.
The two teammates following behind Tang Chen immediately sprang into action—one flicked a lighter, igniting a flame that instantly flared into a fiery serpent, coiling around them and incinerating the attacking mycelium.
Tang Chen caught sight of the school gate behind the mycelium. He seized the opportunity—while his team was holding back the mushroom attacks, he tightened his grip on Tang Xiao, and with the boost of his psionic power, he tore through the mycelium net in an instant, making a desperate dash toward the school gate.
Tang Xiao, resting against Tang Chen’s shoulder, stared at the white mycelium burning in the flames.
Amid the encroaching fire, the white mycelium humanoid remained standing in place. As the orange-red flames licked its body, the white mycelium slowly turned yellow, then blackened as they burned. It turned its head, its empty eye sockets meeting Tang Xiao’s gaze across the distance.
Tang Xiao could not see Jun Tesi’s eyes. So he had no way of knowing—at this moment—what Jun Tesi was thinking.
The tension in his mind, held taut for so long, finally snapped. As exhaustion surged over him like an unstoppable tidal wave, Tang Xiao unwillingly closed his eyes and fell into unconsciousness.
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