STB Chapter 27: Returning 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 be angry at?

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Jian Hua’s fingers found the underside of a mushroom cap, and with a forceful tug, a piece as large as a tablecloth was ripped off.

The texture and color were just like oyster mushrooms bought from a supermarket. This was his special ability—-Jian Hua stood there, stunned, as the abandoned world played this grand joke on him, leaving him dazed.

The mushroom cap in his hand suddenly twisted, turning into countless fine threads, shooting out like a fountain, and merging into other mushrooms in the hallway, growing even more vigorously.

Jian Hua was silent for a long time before finally saying with difficulty, “I was wondering… if they were edible.”

“They’re not real mushrooms,” Li Fei replied helplessly, looking up at the spectacular scene in the hallway. The “mycelium” could drain power; eating these mushrooms would be akin to suicide.

“But if the person eating is you—-” Li Fei also wanted to know the answer.

After close examination, Jian Hua let go of the remaining white threads in his hand and sighed, “I feel it’s like a hunting net. Fishermen rely on nets to catch fish, but no one eats their nets.”

It was unfortunate that the net looked so invitingly plump.

Jian Hua was worried. The mushrooms were now occupying this building, and considering the mushrooms appearing in the grass, corners, and cracks of the pavement outside, there was no doubt they were expanding their territory.

If the entire complex turned into an exaggerated mushroom garden, it would surely draw attention.

This was, after all, his home. Being discovered by a secret government agency was one thing, but any special ability user could follow the mushrooms to find him. Would Jian Hua have any peace then?

“At least you’re safe from monsters in your home,” Li Fei consoled Jian Hua, imagining how difficult it would be to find a safe place in the abandoned world.

Although living in the depths of a mushroom nest sounded… peculiar.

Jian Hua heard a sound like a suppressed laugh. Li Fei seemed to be looking around for something. When he noticed Jian Hua’s gaze, the actor turned his face, showing no sign of laughter, and calmly said, “Let’s go upstairs.”

“…”

Good acting didn’t mean others couldn’t notice.

Jian Hua, with a grim face, wondered who to blame for this absurdity—-it was his own ability, after all.

The experience of stepping on the uneven mushroom caps to reach the fifth floor was truly bizarre.

Li Fei recalled a variety show he had participated in years ago, which included a water park obstacle course with seven rubber half-spheres above a pool. Li Fei realized they were incredibly soft, sinking deeply underfoot.

This situation was even worse; at least the water park’s spheres weren’t aggressive.

Fine white threads stuck to Li Fei’s shoes and pants, reluctant to let their prey escape, instinctively trying to “keep” him.

Meanwhile, the fiery beast within him grew restless, likely wanting to tear through the mushrooms if it had a physical form.

Jian Hua reached the fifth floor, only to find his security door pried open by growing mushrooms, even inside the lock, turning his face ashen with anger.

A small mushroom popped out of the lock’s spring, falling to the floor.

The overgrown mushrooms blocking the doorframe receded slightly, and the security door swung shut again, surprisingly still functional.

Li Fei was amazed, “Do these threads have their own consciousness?”

“No, I’m controlling them,” Jian Hua squeezed out the words through clenched teeth.

“…”

Jian Hua tried to change the form of the threads, but they seemed quite content with their mushroom shape. Even as the controller of this ability, these lazy threads, which only showed vigor in the presence of prey, barely altered their appearance.

The mushrooms in the hallway disappeared, revealing the spotty-painted walls and the old stair railing.

Jian Hua looked down to find his shoes hovering about twenty centimeters above the ground, giving the illusion he was floating.

This new manifestation of his ability again broadened Li Fei’s understanding. “Camouflage?”

The mushrooms were still there, just invisible, similar to how the rainforest squid ambushed them.

“Better than nothing,” Jian Hua sighed in relief. Now, even if mushrooms filled the entire complex, they wouldn’t attract the attention of other ability users.

He moved to go inside his house but bumped his head into an invisible mushroom.

Suppressing his frustration, Jian Hua heard a faint chuckle, so light he almost doubted its existence.

“Sorry, I should’ve warned you,” Li Fei said, knowing invisibility meant little to him.

Jian Hua, scowling, moved the mushrooms blocking the door and entered the living room. To his relief, there were no mountains of mushrooms inside. The furniture was intact, but the walls were covered in thin, long white threads.

The thought of entertaining guests amidst a pile of mushrooms was unimaginable.

Jian Hua closed the door forcefully after Li Fei entered.

–as for those mushrooms outside: out of sight, out of mind.

Jian Hua wanted to offer some glucose and compressed biscuits, only to realize the glucose bottle might have shattered when the Ferrari was flipped by the rainforest squid. The liquid had leaked out, soaking into his clothes, unnoticed because of the blood from his wound.

“I have some food,” Li Fei said, pulling out his own supplies from his damaged clothes.

Mashed potatoes, fruit puree, and several tubes of liquid nutrition.

These toothpaste-like soft packets were undamaged despite being bent and squeezed.

“Have some,” Li Fei urged.

Jian Hua hesitated. He wanted to hide the fact that he hadn’t felt hungry since killing the rainforest squid, but he wouldn’t deceive for food.

Having nearly starved before, Jian Hua knew that in dire situations, food was as precious as life itself.

“I’m not hungry, you eat,” Jian Hua declined the food again and excused himself to change his clothes in the bedroom.

He picked out a couple of T-shirts and trousers, and deliberately found a new pair of underwear, tossing one set on the sofa for Li Fei.

“It’s nothing fancy, but it’ll do.”

Li Fei casually glanced at the clothes, opened a nutrition tube, and said, “You go shower, I’ll eat something to fill up.”

Jian Hua didn’t argue and went to the bathroom with the clothes.

In the old house, the shower area was separated by a thin wooden door. Sounds of water being scooped and gentle washing came through, probably due to Jian Hua’s wounds. The sounds were soft and subdued, but in the quietness of the abandoned world, Li Fei could even hear the soap dish sliding and the wringing of a towel.

Li Fei ate his food slowly, feeling a bit thirsty.

The sound of running water triggered a reflexive thirst.

Jian Hua quickly finished his shower and felt much more relaxed after changing into clean clothes.

Reality was far from a movie set; after a life-threatening car chase, he was covered in dust, even in his hair. There was no charm or glamour, only a look that was too shabby even for a beggar.

He discarded his blood-stained clothes and returned to the living room, saying casually, “There’s no hot water. The new towel on the right side of the washstand is for you.”

“How’s your wound?” Li Fei inquired, glancing at Jian Hua’s back.

Jian Hua shook his head, “The medicine that wasn’t personally carried doesn’t work much. I can only wait for natural healing.”

Sitting was uncomfortable due to the wound’s location, so Jian Hua adopted a rigid posture on the sofa.

Li Fei closed the bathroom door, his usually composed face showing signs of fatigue. He had been through a lot recently: taken away by the Red Dragon, almost no sleep, Geng Tian’s disappearance in the morning, and a near-death experience with a squid. Even the strongest person would be worn out by now.

Jian Hua’s apartment was neither large nor small.

At about seventy square meters, the only cramped space was the bathroom, fitted with a sink, toilet, and washing machine, making it tight for two people.

The place was tidy, with toiletries arranged by the sink and no obvious stains on the white ceramic. The mirrors were also regularly cleaned.

One could tell a lot about a person from their home.

Jian Hua didn’t have OCD but preferred a quiet and comfortable environment, disliking complexity. The details were casual – the toothpaste was newly opened with only the middle indented.

The towels matched the bathroom’s color scheme, indicating thoughtful purchase, but the colors of items like shampoo bottles and combs were random.

The living room walls were covered in white threads, obscuring the wallpaper. The fabric sofa was comfortable and cheap, without patterns, its main advantage being dirt-resistant and easy to clean.

The necessary furniture was there, but nothing unnecessary like vases.

Overall, Jian Hua was a simple person, but getting close to him was difficult.

In his single-occupancy home, there was nothing that reflected his personal preferences.

Though clean and comfortable, the place felt cold.

Orderly furniture and nondescript decor made the house lifeless without a person.

Maybe pleasing Jian Hua wasn’t hard, but making him remember you and becoming a “necessity” in his private life was challenging.

Li Fei, whose fondness for Jian Hua was turning into a crush, felt uncertain about the future.

After his shower, Li Fei found Jian Hua’s old clothes, except for the waist and armpits, fit well. Choosing Jian Hua as a stunt double for “The Crow” wasn’t without reason.

Their physique was similar.

Li Fei was well-built, and finding a stunt double with a similar build wasn’t easy, which is why the agent reluctantly called Jian Hua.

After settling himself, the two in the living room were silent for a while before Jian Hua initiated a conversation about the pressing issue: the duration of this abandoned world event.

“When your ability awakened at the Pearl Hotel, the abandoned world ended. I’m sure my ability fully awakened when I killed the rainforest squid, but…”

Li Fei frowned, silently calculating how long the food would last.

“We have enough for basic needs for two days. If we just meet basic life requirements, we can last four or five days.” He tried to appear relaxed, “I suggest conserving food. With your ability, we don’t need to maintain combat strength or energy to escape.”

Jian Hua thought for a moment and asked a long-held question, “Can that squid be eaten?”

“That’s… best not to. If there’s a cross-species virus infection from eating a creature from another world, what then?”

Jian Hua shivered, looking at the white threads on the wall.

What exactly did he extract from the rainforest squid? Its blood? Life force? The unexplained feeling of fullness, could it be from the former? Does the “mycelium” have virus-filtering capabilities?

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The author has something to say：

Next chapter, back to the real world.

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Last Edit:  December 20,2023 at 4:23 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.