Little Mushroom

An Zhe dreamed.

The sound of rain, the sound of rain.

Water droplets crackled on the broad leaves, flowing down the staggered veins, dripping at the edges, rustling in the bushes, flowing down the roots of the old trees, and seeping into the wet soil, it was a The wet rainy season, where his memory starts, the whole world is a rain.

He was a spore that floated down from a mushroom's canopy and was blown into the soil by the wind before it rained. He seemed to be asleep until he smelled the damp water vapor after the rain.

Everything is out of his control. In the moist soil, the mycelium sticks out, grows, splits, spreads outward, and converges. He grew from a spore that was smaller than the gravel into a clump of mycelium, and then pulled out the stalk to grow an umbrella cover.

Everything is logical. Mushrooms, unlike humans, need to be taught from generation to generation. He has no impression of the mushroom that produced him, but naturally knows what he wants to get in the soil, and also knows when he should be born. What should be done, and in what season he should die, his mission in life is to produce a spore.

The sound of rustling rain rang in his ears like that, all around him, in his body, mind, and memory, it was everywhere, as if urging something to happen. What followed was the kind of waves from the distant sky, boundless void, boundless horror-until he opened his eyes sharply.

The quartz clock hanging on the wall went to nine o'clock in the morning. No one was around him, and he was wrapped in a quilt. But the feeling of being embraced by Lu Yan's arm seemed to be still, the heat staying on the skin, burning people with a hint of light. Lu Yan was holding his upper body with his shoulders down, but when he slept in the middle of the night, his arms were uncomfortable and he pulled them out. The man's arms were lowered a little and placed on his waist. The palms of his hands just touched his belly.

When he was being held by Lu Yan, he seemed to be able to isolate the danger from the outside. He felt very peaceful, but this individual was the greatest danger. An Zhe could not remember what mood he was sleeping in again.

Ann stared at everything in front of her eyes, empty of thought. He moved his fingers, and the bones were soaked with softness, as if he had slept too long in a nap, and there was no energy on his body.

The breath around was so humid, like it had just rained.

Thinking of that weird and bizarre dream, he sat up from the bed and stretched out his hand. It was so cruel to take the spores out of the stomach, only an officer with the surname Lu would do it that way. He controlled the flow of spores in the body. Three minutes later, a white mycelium stretched out, clustering the spores and appearing in the palm of his right hand.

When put into the body, a small spore with a size of half a slap was now the same size as his fist.

He carefully looked at it by the light of the steam lamp. At the end of the spore hyphae, there appeared subtle antler-like branches, white and transparent luster, like snowflakes, and its form began to change.

He touched it with his left hand, and it stretched out the hypha to wrap his fingers affectionately. He could feel its lively life, it was about to mature.

He didn't know the exact time when the spores matured, but it must be soon.

Their mycelium will no longer be entangled, it will become a mushroom that can survive on its own. When he matured, it would leave him automatically, just like he was blown off by the wind.

This is the instinct of mushrooms. Where will he plant it? Will it remember him in the distant future? An Zhe didn't know, but just felt the faintness before leaving, all the things in the world seemed to be separated.

There was a noise in the corridor. His spores first erected hyphae, and seemed to be listening to the sound. Then he moved with a trembling spirit, rolled towards the source of the sound, and folded his hands together to hold it dead. I took this little thing from the inside out to my own body.

Lu Yan stood at the door and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Get up," he said.

An Zhe obediently got up to eat, and they spent the next few days. An Zhe would help Xibe to cook and clean up the mine. Lu Yan often went outside, An Zhe was afraid he would not come back every time, but the colonel was safe every time, and sometimes he could get back a small flying bird.

More often, they stayed in the cave and had nothing to do. After reading all the books here, An Zhe read him a love novel and a whole weapon illustrated book at the request of the colonel. .

In the end, they started playing chess with small stones. They were all very simple games. Gomoku, flying chess, Lu Yan taught him first, and then they played together. Water.

During the meal, Sibe said, "You have a great relationship."

"There were people in the cave who were in love before, and Grandpa gave them a marriage certificate." He sighed slightly and set aside chopsticks. He also said, "I want to fall in love, but there is no one here."

Lu Yan didn't speak. An Zhe comforted Sibei: "Someone in the base."

-Although there are only eight thousand.

Seebe was relieved, and began to pick up chopsticks in a spirited spirit.

Seven days later, the communication was still not restored. Sibei told them the unfortunate news that it was not enough for two days to store the grain. They had to go to the city ruins several kilometers away to search for supplies.

So they left some dry food for grandpa, took the remaining mushrooms and jerky in their backpacks, and brought several bottles of water. Sibei took a small alcohol stove from the kitchen, and the people in the mine were not dead. I used to go to the city to find supplies, so it was well equipped.

"In the past we drove a dirt road and could ride a bicycle." Sibei's tone was slightly mournful. "It's sandy now and I can't ride."

So An Zhe reluctantly looked at the bicycles stacked in the corner before leaving, he had never seen it before.

Lu Yan put his elbows on his shoulders and lazily said, "Come back and take you to ride."

As they prepared everything and opened the lid at the top of the cave, heavy, slow footsteps came from deep inside the cave.

An turned his head back. Under the dim light, a skinny old man leaned on the wall and moved from the corner. His hair was gray and scattered, and the corners of his mouth trembled, like the flame of a pale candle shaking in the wind.

Sibei stepped forward: "... Grandpa?"

The old man's cloudy eyes stared at him without any glory, nor did he seem to recognize him. He opened his mouth and said, "I will go too."

Sibe hugs his shoulders: "Just stay here, we'll be back in a day or two, we'll bring back the food."

The old man still said in a hoarse voice, "I will go too."

No matter how Sibe stops, he only has this sentence. His chaotic and stagnant face showed an unusual soberness because of this persistence.

Sibei had no choice but to look at Lu Yan for help.

Lu Yan looked at the old man for a long time and said, "Take it."

Sibei responded and helped the old man out—hidden steps were shaky, and anyone who saw it knew that the twilight life was about to come to an end.

At the entrance of the cave, Lu Yan said, "Let me take him."

Sibe shook his head. He carried his grandfather back and said, "Grandpa is very light."

An Zhe looked at the old man's thin body. The disease had consumed his body to a loose skeleton.

They came to the ground, and the sky poured down. An Zhe narrowed his eyes and it took a while to get used to it.

He saw Grandpa lying on Sibe's back and closed his eyes. His face was covered with the brown spots that humans would float up in the twilight years, but he looked calm in the sun.

He moved his mouth and said a word.

"People grow on the ground."

This is the only word An An heard in his grandfather's mouth these days that didn't sound like slang.

He looked up at the gray sky, at this time, the sky was faintly green, and he could see the aurora even if it was not at night, which was different from before.

Lu Yandao: "The magnetic field is FM."

An Zhe nodded. He didn't know the meaning of this sentence, but as long as the magnetic poles were fine, everything was fine.

On the sand, they walked deep and shallow, on an open wasteland, as if they were the only life. The wind blows from an unknown distance. For 10,000 years, 100 million years, it blows like this. The living creatures on the ground are renewed, some die, some are new, but the wind will not change. When it blew into the crevice of the stone, a strange long whining sound was heard in the wasteland.

In this vast cry, An Zhe spontaneously grabbed the corner of Lu's sleeve and followed him.

Lu Yan glanced at him lightly: "I carry you?"

Ann shook his head, he could go by himself.

Lu Yan didn't speak, and looked back ahead.

After another walk, An Zhe was tired, her arms were a little sour. Over the past few days, as the spores mature gradually, his physical strength seems to be getting worse and worse. He wants to let go, but he doesn't want to let go.

Lu Yan's wrists moved, and Anzh understood what he meant. He annoyed the colonel, so he obediently let go of his hand.

Then, his hand was caught by the colonel.