A cute, timid mushroom mistakenly takes the zombie king for her boyfriend and sticks close to him.

With the zombies splitting up and taking action, things went much more smoothly. They all returned to report, and there were those mutated plants in almost every passage.

What puzzled Meng Xiaoyou was that they all said they had it, but every time she and Pei Sinian went there, they could only touch the tail of the mutated plant and there was a zombie in a tunnel that had been half-corroded by something.

It's likely that the "monster" had just eaten half of their food when it realized they were coming and made a hasty retreat.

Some humans who had just been poisoned died before they could even speak. Seeing their condition, Mushroom was terrified, fearing that he would be next. Pei Sinian's face grew increasingly grim. He released his spiritual power and discovered that there were more of those things underground.

"There's more underground?" Meng Xiaoyou was startled. "Is there another cave below us?"

Pei Sinian shook his head. "No, it's the root system of a mutated plant."

"Oh! If it doesn't appear, we'll dig it up."

Meng Xiaoyou took out a shovel, and Pei Sinian immediately noticed the teeth marks on it. He asked calmly, "How did you do that?"

This shovel is quite old; she's carried it with her from the beginning until now. It's practically Meng Xiaoyou's old-timer. It was this shovel that saved Mr. Zombie from being buried in the ground.

Upon hearing this, Mushroom instinctively glanced at the little zombie.

Little Zombie: "..."

It pursed its lips, trying to cover up the truth.

She didn't make things difficult for the child, but said, "When we get out, besides the new clothes, we'll find a new shovel."

“Alright!” Pei Sinian didn’t say anything more. He expanded his mental energy and walked in one direction. After walking for a while, he confirmed a fact.

"It's hiding from us."

With each step they took, the strange vine would move a distance away, encountering other zombies and humans, but he and Meng Xiaoyou would coincidentally avoid the mutated plant.

Meng Xiaoyou asked in surprise, "Why? You're not afraid of us, are you?"

Pei Sinian wasn't quite sure either. He hesitated for a few seconds, then suddenly found a place to put her down. Mushroom immediately protested, nervously clinging to his neck and not letting him leave.

"What are you going to do?"

It's really sticky with zombies.

Mr. Zombie touched the top of her head. "I need to confirm who it's hiding from."

"With the little zombies around, we can hold them off for a while. I won't go too far."

Meng Xiaoyou wondered if it was just her imagination, but her hands seemed less cold than before. She didn't want Pei Sinian to leave, but would that make her seem too clingy?

"Fine then," Mushroom said awkwardly, letting go of his hand.

She's not clingy at all.

Pei Sinian had her take out a blanket from her spatial storage, lay it on the ground, and then put her on it. He secretly controlled the zombies to surround her completely before turning and leaving.

As he walked further and further away, Meng Xiaoyou hugged her knees, rolled up her trouser leg, and stared at the wound on it.

It's spreading; half of my leg is already numb.

She sighed, opened the space bubble again, and saw the purple mushroom sleeping soundly inside. It was the first time she had seen herself from this perspective, and it felt a little strange. And that door next to her... Meng Xiaoyou's gaze fell on the door.

Dave has ten lights on his head; four are green, and the others are red. What do those four lights mean...?

--

The tunnel was pitch black, with only the sound of his own footsteps. The surroundings were eerily quiet. Pei Sinian put on white plastic gloves and slowly and methodically ran his hands along the uneven inner wall. Each passage was a different size. He walked forward along this narrow passage without changing his expression.

The air was thin, carrying a faint dampness and musty smell, and there were traces of something passing by.

He left the flashlight with Meng Xiaoyou, then seemed to kick something. He stepped on it and, by feel, knew it was another zombie.

Zombie bones aren't very strong; they feel loose when you step on them. Human bones are more fragile, and they don't have the rotten smell of zombies...

Since Pei Sinian became conscious, he had never been able to see. He quickly adapted to this environment. Most of the time, he looked at Meng Xiaoyou. Otherwise, relying on his hearing and smell would only make him more sensitive.

A barely perceptible rustling sound came from underground, which was picked up by his mental network. He lowered his eyes and confirmed that the thing was not hiding from him.

It's hiding from the little fool.

The sound grew louder and louder underground. The moment it burst out of the soil, he forcefully stomped it under his foot.

It felt like a snake was writhing desperately under his feet, even trying to shrink back. Pei Sinian firmly controlled it, smoothing it out with the sole of his shoe, then bent down, grabbed it tightly, and launched a mental attack. This thing didn't have a crystal core.

The mental energy followed it downwards and finally found the body.

Just then, the main body seemed to sense the danger. The thing that had been struggling in Pei Sinian's hand stopped moving. Pei Sinian quickly pulled off a piece without much effort.

They cut off their "tail" to survive.

A sarcastic laugh escaped his chest. Pei Sinian took the piece of the object back and immediately saw a human holding a flashlight, sitting obediently in the spot among the zombie horde.

Her head bobbed up and down, her eyelashes drooping, her nostrils flaring, and she looked incredibly sleepy, yet she was still chatting idly with the little zombie.

The dim lighting could easily induce drowsiness, so Pei Sinian tiptoed his footsteps. But to his surprise, she suddenly sat up and opened her eyes wide. "You're back!"

Her voice was soft and slightly hoarse, like a feather brushing against the heart, causing a ticklish sensation.

Pei Sinian walked over, and the zombies made way for him.

Meng Xiaoyou glanced at the zombies strangely, finding them surprisingly obedient.

Before she could think further, she saw that Pei Sinian was holding something in his hand. She shone her flashlight over it, and Pei Sinian finally saw what it was.

It was a section of vine, like the thorns on a rose that had been crushed, leaving only a bare, green stem with scarlet liquid seeping from the broken part.

"Yes, that's it, it bit me!"

They filed another complaint.

Pei Sinian's heart melted completely, and he deliberately lowered his cool voice, "This isn't your true form. Once I find it, I'll help you get revenge, okay?"

"Okay!" Meng Xiaoyou's eyebrows curved, and her beautiful black eyes were still bright and spirited in the light of the flashlight, but the fatigue in her eyes was still hard to hide.

Pei Sinian's eyes darkened, and he moved closer to her, then raised his hand to press her other shoulder against his, making her rest her head on his shoulder.

"How about you take a nap first?"

Mushroom yawned, and before closing its eyes, it muttered under its breath, "Be serious, we're breaking up."

Pei Sinian covered her eyes with his large hand and manually closed them, saying, "We'll break up after you wake up."

"Aww!" A moment later, he heard her soft breathing beside his ear. He moved his hand away and saw her head resting obediently on his shoulder, her hands still holding the flashlight.

He calmly took the flashlight and handed it over...

Meng Xiaoyou hugged him.

“zZZ~”