STB Chapter 27: Home

This is machine translated and all copyrights belong to the author. Please note that the translator might take creative liberties for better readability. Thank you for reading.

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This is his ability, who should he vent on?

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Fingers groped under the mushroom cap and with a hard pull, a piece of mushroom the size of a tablecloth was torn off.

Pinching it, no matter the touch or the color, it’s the same as the oyster mushrooms he bought in the supermarket. This is his ability——Jian Hua woodenly stood there, this big joke that the Abandoned World played on him smashed him into a daze.

The mushroom cap in his hand suddenly twisted, turning into countless filaments which emerged like a fountain, plunging into the other mushrooms in the corridor and melting, making them grow more vigorously.

Jian Hua was silent for a long time and finally said with difficulty, “I was wondering…whether they can be eaten.”

“I told you, they’re not real mushrooms.” Li Fei helplessly looked up at the magnificent scene in the corridor. The “mycelium” will extract energy and whoever picks and eats the mushrooms would be committing suicide.

“But, if the person who eats it is you——” Li Fei also wanted to know the answer.

After thinking about it, Jian Hua threw away the remaining white filaments in his hand and sighed, “I feel like it’s a hunting net. Fishermen will rely on the fishing nets to eat, but some people will eat the fishing net.”

Just blame the fishing nets for being too plump and tempting.

Jian Hua was worried. The mushrooms now only occupy this building, but judging from the mushrooms outside the building, in the corners of the walls, and in the cracks in the road, there’s no doubt that they’re expanding their territory.

If the entire residential district was turned into an exaggerated mushroom garden, it’d be strange if it didn’t attract the attention of others.

After all, here is his home. Even without the National Secret Services coming to his door after discovering his identity, any ability holder can follow the mushrooms and figure out that there’s a problem with the people living in this residential district. Would Jian Hua still have a quiet life?

“Look, at least you’re at home and don’t have to worry about being attacked by monsters.” Li Fei comforted Jian Hua. He could imagine how difficult it would be to find a safe place in the Abandoned World in the future. Other ability holders have to struggle to survive here.

Although living in the depths of a mushroom nest sounds a bit…

Jian Hua seemed to hear laughter in that voice. Li Fei seemed to be looking at something and when he noticed his gaze, the actor turned to face him. There’s a trace of a smile on his face as he calmly told Jian Hua, “Let’s go upstairs first.”

“…”

The acting is good but that doesn’t mean that others can’t see through it.

Jian Hua’s face was sullen, but this is his ability, who should he vent on?

The experience of stepping on tall and short mushroom caps that covered the building until the fifth floor was really wonderful.

Li Fei remembered a variety show that he participated in a few years ago. One of the challenges was in a big water park. In the race, there were seven semi-spherical balls built above the pool. Li Fei stepped on it only to discover that it was made of rubber and so soft that his feet sunk to his calf.

It’s worse now than it was then, at least the water park balls aren’t aggressive.

The thin white filaments stuck to Li Fei’s soles and even his trousers were affected. They were reluctant to let go of the prey in front of them and instinctively wanted to “keep” Li Fei.

On the other hand, the flame beast is also restless. If it has a real body, it’d probably rip the mushrooms with its claws.

Jian Hua climbed up to the fifth floor and found that the security door had been propped open by the growing mushrooms. Even the door lock had grown mushrooms making his face turn blue with anger.

“Click.” The little mushroom that opened the spring in the lock fell off and rolled to the ground.

The mushrooms that grew recklessly and plugged the entire door frame retracted in a minute and the security door swayed before closing again. From the sound, it sounded broken.

Li Fei was surprised, “Do these filaments have autonomous thoughts?”

“No, I can control them.” Jian Hua squeezed these words between his teeth.

“…”

Jian Hua tried his best to change these filaments, but they were very satisfied with the mushroom form. Even if Jian Hua was the master of this ability, these filaments that only show serious momentum when hunting barely changed their appearance.

The mushrooms in the corridor disappeared, revealing the mottled and painted walls and the old stair railings.

Jian Hua lowered his head. The soles of his shoes were more than 20 centimeters from the floor and at first glance, he seemed to be floating.

This ability refreshed Li Fei’s understanding again, “It can camouflage according to the background?”

The mushrooms were still there but they couldn’t be seen. The rainforest squid also used this skill when ambushing them.

“Better than nothing.” Jian Hua breathed a sigh of relief. Even if the residential district was filled with mushrooms, it wouldn’t attract the attention of other ability holders.

He lifted his foot to go home but then bumped his head into a mushroom.

The depressed Jian Hua heard light laughter coming from the side of his ear again, so light that it made people suspect that it was just an illusion.

“Sorry, I should have reminded you.” In Li Fei’s eyes, invisibility meant nothing.

With a dark face, he pushed away the mushrooms blocking the door. Jian Hua walked into the living room and was pleased to find that there weren’t mountains of mushrooms in the house. The furnishings are all good, except that there were many white thin filaments on the walls.

It’s too strange to sit in the middle of a pile of mushrooms to entertain guests.

After Li Fei came in, Jian Hua slammed the door shut.

——as for those mushrooms outside, out of sight, out of mind.

Food and drinking water in the Abandoned World are all useless so Jian Hua didn’t need to make tea or wash the cups. He wanted to find glucose and compressed biscuits in his pocket but except for the biscuits, the glucose bottle might have cracked after the rainforest squid flipped the Ferrari upside down, so almost all the liquid inside leaked out. His clothes are too wet and Jian Hua also found that his clothes were soaked with blood from his wounds.

“I still have something to eat.” Li Fei took out his stock from his ragged clothes.

Mashed potatoes, fruit puree, and a few tubes of liquid nutrients.

These toothpaste-like flexible packaging won’t be damaged even after being bent, folded, or squeezed.

“Let’s eat mine first.” Li Fei persuaded.

Jian Hua hesitated for a while. He wanted to conceal the fact that he didn’t feel hungry anymore after killing the rainforest squid but he wouldn’t deliberately cheat others for food to hide his secret.

Having experienced almost starving to death, in Jian Hua’s view, food is second only to the preciousness of life in a desperate situation.

“I’m not hungry, you can eat.” Once again, he refused the food that Li Fei brought and Jian Hua went to his bedroom on the pretext of changing clothes.

He opened the closet and picked out two t-shirts and pants. Jian Hua also deliberately pulled out new underwear from the closet drawer, took them all out, and dropped one set on the sofa.

“I have no good quality clothes, just put up with it.”

Li Fei indifferently glanced at it, opened a nutrient solution, and said, “You should take a shower first, I’ll pad my stomach first.”

Jian Hua didn’t push it, took the clothes, and went to the bathroom.

The old house has no separate shower room and was separated only by a thin wooden door. Probably because of the wound on his body, there’s only the sound of scrubbing with water from a basin. The sound of water splashing isn’t big, but the Abandoned World was too quiet so Li Fei could even hear the sound of the soap sliding on the skin, and judge the movement of twisting the towel based on the sound.

Li Fei lowered his eyes and leisurely ate.

He felt thirsty but feeling thirsty at hearing the sound of water was also a conditioned reflex.

Jian Hua washed quickly and felt relieved when he put on his clothes.

Reality is not like a movie. After a life and death car chase, the whole body is covered with dust including the hair. How can they still be handsome and charming through the screen when looking like a beggar?

After changing out of the old clothes stained with blood and throwing them away, Jian Hua walked back to the living room and casually said, “There’s no hot water. The towel on the far right of the washstand is new so you can use it.”

“How’s your wound?” Li Fei inquiringly looked at Jian Hua’s back.

Jian Hua shook his head and said, “If you don’t use the medicine you carry with you, you can only wait for it to heal on its own.”

The location of the wound wasn’t good and sitting on the sofa would touch it, so Jian Hua had to use a rigid sitting posture.

Li Fei closed the bathroom door and his always calm expression loosened with eyes full of fatigue—— yesterday, he was taken away by Red Dragon and he didn’t sleep all night. This morning, Geng Tian disappeared, and he almost fell into the stomach of a squid in the afternoon. Even an iron man couldn’t stand it.

Jian Hua’s house is not big or small.

It’s more than 70 square meters, only the bathroom area is a little narrow with the washbasin, toilet, and a washing machine inside. If there are two people, turning around would be difficult.

But this small space is neatly tidied up. The shampoo, shower gel, and toothbrush cups are all placed by the sink. There are no obvious stains on the white ceramics and it can be seen that the mirror is frequently wiped.

A person’s home can show their personality and living habits.

Jian Hua is obsessed with cleanliness, likes a quiet and comfortable environment, and is bored with complicated things. He’s very casual about the details——the toothpaste hasn’t been opened not long ago since only the middle has a dent.

The color of the hanging towels is the same style as the overall color of the bathroom. It looks very comfortable and should be considered when purchasing, but Jian Hua didn’t reach having an obsessive-compulsive disorder since the color of the shampoo bottles and combs are very casual.

The walls of the living room are covered with white filaments so he can’t see the wallpaper, but the fabric on the sofa is the kind that’s cheap and comfortable with no pattern. The advantage is that it’s dirt-resistant and easy to wash.

All the needed furniture is there with no unnecessary pieces such as vases.

In general, Jian Hua is not a very complicated person, but it’s difficult to get close to him.

Imagine a single person whom you can’t find anything in his own house that expresses his preference.

Although clean and comfortable looking, it was icy cold.

The neat furniture and nondescript decor made this house have no vitality as if no one’s living there.

——maybe it’s not difficult to make Jian Hua happy but it’s troublesome if you want him to remember you and treat you as a special “must-have” that’s allowed to appear in his private life.

Up to now, Li Fei, whose crush on Jian Hua had risen to secret love, feels uncertain about the future.

After taking a shower, Li Fei put on Jian Hua’s old clothes and found that the waist and armpits were a little tight, but everything else fits well. During the filming of “Crow”, there was a reason they chose Jian Hua among a large group of stuntmen.

They’re about the same size.

Li Fei’s conditions are very good. Finding an exclusive stuntman must meet the standard according to the template of his clothes rack, so even though the agent’s circle was very big, he still endured his dissatisfaction and called Jian Hua.

After cleaning up, the two people on the sofa in the living room were silent for a while, and then Jian Hua took the lead in finding a topic, talking about the most pressing issue at present: How long will the Abandoned World last.

“Last time when you awakened your powers in the Pearl Hotel, the Abandoned World ended. I’m sure  my powers were fully awakened when I killed the rainforest squid just now, but…”

Li Fei frowned, silently calculating if their food is enough for a few days.

“There’s no problem with basic consumption for two days. If it only needs to meet the basic needs, it can last four or five days.” Li Fei made his expression look relaxed, “I suggest saving your food for later. With your ability, there’s no need to maintain fighting power and the strength for escaping.”

Jian Hua thought for a while and asked what he had been thinking about for a long time, “Can that squid be eaten?”

“This…better not. It’s a creature from a different world, what if we get infected with a cross-species virus after eating it?”

Jian Hua was shocked and looked at the white filaments on the walls.

What exactly did he extract from the rainforest squid? Blood? Vitality? This inexplicable feeling of fullness shouldn’t be the former, right? Does the “mycelium” have the function of filtering viruses?

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The author has something to say：

The next chapter is back to the real world.

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Last Edit:     April 5, 2022, 2:17 AM

This is machine translated and all copyrights belong to the author. Please note that the translator might take creative liberties for better readability. Thank you for reading.