Our Family Has Fallen

They let the mushroom creature, now only a torso, be and shifted their focus to the monster being chased by Wang Cai and Fergus.

It must be said that a strange scene unfolded: the red fungus seemed to breathe as holes all over its body sprayed out a pale-yellow smoke, enveloping it. This development left Wang Cai at a loss. Instinct told it not to touch the smoke, so the wolf and the dog could only circle at the perimeter.

"Come back, those spore clouds are poisonous."

Lance called Wang Cai back, which, in turn, triggered the monster's flight response, causing it to flee with a bizarre, twisted crawl.

Lance had anticipated this. The crossbow in his hand had already been fired, sending a bolt flying straight into the red fungus.

But to his surprise, the creature didn't lose its ability to move. Could it be that it wasn't a vital spot?

But at this moment, Lance had no time to dwell on it. He absolutely could not let this thing escape and quickly cocked his crossbow.

"Shoot this!" Just then, Paracelsus finally found his chance and hurled something from his hand.

Lance noticed something and, without any hesitation, took aim and fired. He chose to trust his teammate.

The crossbow arrow pierced through the thrown object, and in the next second, the sticky white substance that splashed out adhered to the monster.

Indeed, what Paracelsus had thrown was a Webbing Spider gland.

The monster's already uncoordinated, twisted limbs were now thoroughly entangled. It struggled frantically but could not move, as the poisonous mist it used for protection had no effect on the webbing.

Lance, however, didn't stop there. He took out a torch, lit it, and then walked forward alone towards the red parasitic creature.

After being ensnared by the spider web, the creature pumped out a large amount of spore smoke to protect itself.

Lance waved the torch towards it, initially just trying to stir the air to disperse the clumps of spores, but to his surprise, he ended up burning away the flammable spores.

This discovery was unexpected for Lance, but he couldn't deny it—fire purifies all.

If it can't purify, then the temperature isn't high enough.

The torch's proximity also caused the fungus to contort as if it too felt the threat of the flames. Its struggles became fiercer, while the spores it sprayed out were incinerated on contact.

"Turns out it's weak to fire~" Lance seemed to realize something, yet felt it was quite reasonable.

In some cases, mushrooms are considered to have grass attributes, so taking quadruple damage from fire attacks is normal.

Pluck! What kind of game logic...

Lance couldn't help but ridicule internally, pulling his wandering thoughts back.

Spores, after all, are stored within the organism. After Lance tested it a few times with the torch, it could no longer spray anything.

Seeing that it couldn't escape, Lance didn't immediately kill it but instead turned to look at the other side where Boudica had chopped off the mushroom person's head—or rather, the large mushroom—and its body had also stopped moving.

The combat had come to a brief pause, and the wilderness was once again shrouded in silence.

The others, after disengaging from the battle, all showed a moment of relief. It must be said that when those monsters first appeared, it was an assault on their sanity, with fear and pressure accumulating in their hearts.

But after the fight, they realized that the so-called monsters were not that terrible after all.

Of course, this was under the premise of having enough understanding and having a powerhouse like the Lord at the core.

However, Lance's attention was not on this. Instead, it was fixed on the mushrooms growing on the ground. He then slowly raised his head, gazing into the deep darkness.

These corrupted parasites didn't just appear here without reason, and this particular parasite's attempt to escape was not random but had a clear direction towards the area they had come from.

They were protecting something, or perhaps they were part of some ritual.

Lance raised his torch towards that area, and soon, under the illumination of the firelight, everyone finally saw the eerie scene not far ahead.

All around, both on the ground and in the trees, mushrooms of various sizes had sprouted—some just poking out while others formed large clumps, with the mushrooms growing larger the deeper they went.

At the same time, a strange mycelial mat appeared on the ground, looking as if it were congealed from flesh and blood, giving an inexplicable sense of pressure to those who looked at it.

On it were skeletal remains, stripped of flesh, from both beasts and humans, further hinting at the origin of the mycelial mat's material.

At the center of this circular fungal mat stood a solitary wooden cross rising from the ground, where a twisted, mushroom-covered mummy was bound. It seemed the spread of the corruption radiated outward from it.

It was unclear what had happened here before.

But one thing was certain—the corruption was eroding nature…

"So someone is deliberately spreading pathogens." Lance's gaze locked onto the desiccated corpse on the wooden cross.

As the corruption spread through the wilderness, a conspiracy loomed closer to Hamlet. As the Lord, he had to find a way to identify and solve the problem.

The others also noticed this and hurried after Lance without rest.

However, before they could step onto the mycelial mat, Lance ordered the team to halt. He raised his torch to probe ahead, and sure enough, a cluster of mushrooms on the ground swelled without warning and spurted out a dense cloud of spores.

Yet upon contacting the torch, the spores burst into a fireball, which instantly vanished, leaving behind wisps of white smoke.

"Traps!" William pulled on the dog's leash, making Fergus back away. If they had stepped on it just now, an accident would certainly have ensued.

"Sly mushroom witchcraft!"

"If you think it's safe just because the battle is over, the enemy will give you a surprise," Lance said, looking at the mushrooms spread before him. He knew this was a ritual because he could see the fluorescence of Spiritual Essence in his eyes; it was precisely because of this that he had detected these traps.

He reached out and pressed down on the thick mat of fungi, activating Sacrifice. An eerie power came from the Void, erasing the large swath of mycelium as if performing scar removal surgery on the earth, eradicating the stubborn corruption.

This action also broke the ritual in place. In Lance's eyes, the mushrooms lost their fluorescence of Spiritual Essence.

"You all stay here and be careful. The doctor and I will go in," Lance said after sweeping the area to ensure there were no enemies. He then entered the Land of Corruption.

After the mycelial mat, approximately four to five meters in radius, was eliminated, what remained at the core was naturally the central desiccated corpse.

Paracelsus stepped forward and began an autopsy…

「...」

"Who is it? Who disrupted the ritual?"

In a dark stone hut, a diminutive old crone was startled awake by an unexpected disturbance. She sensed that the ritual she had laid out was broken and voiced her anger, mixed with a hint of panic.

This event was linked to the plans of the "Mother." Even though the first step had been completed and the importance of the ritual nodes had diminished, any lapse would provoke the Mother's punishment, and I certainly do not desire to be thrown into the Mother's pot…

No matter who was responsible, they would pay the price!

Only by exacting retribution can I appease the Mother's wrath and avoid my own punishment.

The old crone stepped out of the stone hut and produced a spherical Incense Burner. She muttered at the doorway, as an indescribable stench of decay wafted from the burner.

Whatever Secret Technique she was employing, even the surrounding darkness seemed warped.

No, that wasn't right! It was a gigantic shadow moving, completely enveloping the old woman. What colossal creature could that be?

"My good child~" The crone looked at the towering shadow with great joy, uttering a term of endearment.

But it was as if she had damaged her mind with drugs; her mood switched to irritability in an instant, spewing angry words in rapid succession.

"Those damn pests dare to disrupt my ritual! I'll seize their souls and toss them into the Mother's cauldron. I'll make them regret coming into this world!"

A low hum, one no human could produce, was the reply. Yet, an extremely bizarre smile climbed onto the old witch's face.

"Of course~ my good child, you will have even more nourishment and become stronger. Now come with me quickly~ come…"

At the old crone's urging, heavy thuds echoed from the ground, as if something massive had landed. Alas, nothing could be seen beneath the enveloping darkness.

Until both disappeared into the wilderness.