San Tian Liang Jiao

Chapter 575 Jumo Island (41)

“Yeah, super powerful… I remember Kuang He Bing Lie (a character from Pili Puppet Show) used this move and then got his lunchbox…” Feng Bujue replied, squinting.

“Stop the nonsense!” Atobe said unhappily, “This is a one-time consumable skill that requires B-level combat and C-level spiritualism. Normally, it should be at least an A-level skill.”

“Alright, alright… after we encounter the Silkworm Mother, we'll make your move the core of our attack,” Feng Bujue said.

“Yeah, leave the crowd control to us,” Honghu nodded in agreement. “We'll try our best to create opportunities and space for you to attack.”

“Actually, you don't need to do anything special. The Silkworm Mother's size is what it is, so hitting her shouldn't be a problem. And consumable skills can't fail…” Atobe continued, “As long as I confirm that there are no silk webs between me and her, I can…”

As he spoke, he happened to sweep away a silk web in front of him. Unexpectedly, a swift shadow suddenly darted out from behind that web.

“Careful!” Tianma Xingkong shouted a warning as he raised his hand and threw a punch. This wasn't Meteor Fist, but a normal punch. Still, Little Ma used his domineering power to unleash an invisible burst of energy.

The suddenly pouncing shadow was blocked by the fist wind, and its movements faltered slightly. Taking advantage of this gap, Atobe also took a half step back and flicked his fan, successfully forcing the opponent back.

At this moment, everyone could see what had attacked them.

It was a mushroom…

More precisely, a "Mushroom Person."

If you're picturing the Mushroom Minion from the Mario games, you're completely wrong… the guy in front of the players looked more like the Haiku God (a mysterious creature that Matsuo Basho saw after eating poisonous mushrooms in *Naughty Japanese Manners*).

It was about one meter sixty tall, basically humanoid. It had a huge, dull yellow mushroom cap on its head, and its body was pale yellow with four limbs. But it had no details at all, like muscle contours, fingers, toes, skin, hair, etc… nothing. In fact, it didn't even have a neck. Its head, torso, and hips were all connected as one.

In short… this "phantasmal beast's" appearance felt like a simple doodle character, and the lines on its face were also very casual… just a few strokes formed a lewd, dull face.

“Hai… Haiku God!” Feng Bujue exclaimed, staring at the Mushroom Person.

“Tch!” the Mushroom Person opened its mouth and… made this sound. At the same time, it made a fighting stance with its bucket-like body, constantly shouting, "Tch—tch—"

“Compared to this guy… that howling goat from before seems pretty normal…” Honghu said as he held up the infrared lamp and retreated behind his teammates. Clearly, he wasn't planning on participating in the battle.

Any one of them could solo this kind of small monster. Honghu's priority was to maintain the infrared light, so no one would accidentally run into a silk web.

“Hahaha…” Feng Bujue quickly and uninvitedly moved to the front of the group, laughing, “Good! I was just looking for something vegetarian!”

“Hey, hey… you want to eat anything you see?” Atobe looked at the lewd Mushroom Brute and felt disgusted, so he dissuaded him, “We already have rations. Why are we even bothering with a balanced diet?” As he said this, he seemed to think of something, his expression instantly changed, and he turned to look at Jue-Ge, “Hmm… the reason why you eat things seems to be a problem… you just want to eat because you want to, right? It has nothing to do with survival or clearing the level!”

“Tch—tch—" The Mushroom Person didn't care what they were saying. It shouted twice more, then lunged forward, aiming a side kick at Jue-Ge's face.

“Hmph… that kind of move won't work on me!” Feng Bujue crossed his arms in front of him, facing the attack head-on.

There was a "puff" sound as their arms and feet collided, and both sides retreated about ten feet.

“Tch!” This time, Feng Bujue shouted.

He wasn't surprised by how strong the attack was, but by the fact that… he had been poisoned.

*What the… I got poisoned just by getting kicked through my sleeves?* Feng Bujue thought.

Jue-Ge had originally wanted to let the opponent hit him a few times on purpose, using the effect of the [Hate Furnace] to trick them out of some stamina. But… it backfired.

“Can’t be careless at all.” Feng Bujue spat and prepared to use Ran Jiao (Storm Leg), to finish off this bizarre fellow.

But just as he was about to kick, he suddenly had an idea and changed his mind…

The next second, he made a feint, using his speed advantage to flash to the side and rear of the monster. Then, he took something out of his pocket and threw it.

You've probably guessed it… yes, what he threw was the [Never-Used Old Poké Ball].

The Mushroom Person was caught off guard by Jue-Ge's actions, and the space was narrow, so it couldn't get out of the Poké Ball's range. So… it was hit.

As the Poké Ball approached the target, it opened automatically and suddenly sprayed out a beam of white light. After being hit, the Mushroom Person's entire body was first turned into light, then rapidly shrunk, and finally poured into the ball.

*Clatter—*

Two seconds later, the Poké Ball fell onto the crystal crust and… began to sway left and right.

For some reason… during these few seconds, all four people present looked tense and stood motionless…

Once, twice… three times…

Driven by a strange instinct, they stared intently at the Poké Ball, holding their breath. Only after it swayed three times and stopped did they all breathe a sigh of relief.

[Ding-ding-ding-dong-dong-dong~] At this moment, the system gave out a somewhat nonsensical sound effect that made people feel like they had heard it somewhere before.

Feng Bujue stepped forward, picked up the Poké Ball, and grinned, “Ha! I've captured the Haiku God!”

“What's with this inexplicable sense of disharmony…” Tianma Xingkong muttered.

“It feels like we suddenly traveled to some other game…” Honghu said.

Atobe's criticism was also quite sharp, “Is there going to be a mission where you have to go to the gyms all over Jumo Island to collect badges or something…”

“Stop bullshitting. Does anyone have an antidote? Give me a bottle, quick.” Feng Bujue quickly brought up the main topic. Although the poison he was afflicted with had a relatively weak effect, it wouldn't do to just ignore it. In just those few dozen seconds, the stamina value converted from the damage was already considerable.



Five minutes later, on the Terror Leaf.

“Hmm? They actually came?” The Silkworm Mother, who was dozing on the leaf vein, suddenly arched her body and said, “Heh… it seems they found a way to detect the silk webs…”

The Silkworm Mother didn't have "sight" in the true sense of the word. Her senses were a different ability from the five senses of humans. So, she didn't know about infrared lamps or anything like that, but she could sense the players approaching through the subtle vibrations on the silk webs nearby.

“Interesting… It wasn't in vain that I set this up for so long.” The Silkworm Mother laughed.

Just as she was talking to herself, a circle of red light slowly came from the crystal path in the distance, already at the edge of the Terror Leaf.

Suddenly, there were two whooshing sounds, and blade winds rose abruptly.

A large fan split open a silk web spread out in mid-air, and four figures leaped up from the opening one after another.

In the blink of an eye, the four players had stepped onto the Terror Leaf and spread out, ready for battle.

“You came to rescue your companions?” the cute voice in the Silkworm Mother's belly said in a playful tone, “I’m so touched.”

Feng Bujue ignored her words and observed the environment on the Terror Leaf. After confirming the terrain and the Boss's location, he exchanged glances with his teammates and then said, “Alright… let’s move according to plan.”

Honghu, Atobe, and Tianma Xingkong responded in unison, and scattered out in all directions with Jue-Ge.

“Ha… what are you doing? Do you want to fight me?” The Silkworm Mother's disdain was obvious. “I thought you would be a little smarter…”

Before she finished speaking, both sides of the Silkworm Mother's body were repeatedly attacked by light arrows and fist beams, and Atobe's giant fan continuously danced out strong winds, attacking her tail.

But the Silkworm Mother still said nonchalantly, "For example… you could split into two groups, one group responsible for holding me back, and the other going up to rescue their companions, and then running away in separate directions…"

“How do you know… that's not what we’re planning?” At this moment, Feng Bujue's voice suddenly came from the air.

In just a few short seconds, Jue-Ge had already stepped on Moon Steps and approached the top of those giant crystal pillars.

“Hmph… not bad.” The Silkworm Mother coldly snorted, and then the Silkworm's body shook.

In an instant, all the silk threads reappeared, and the lush green Terror Leaf became a sea of ​​pinkish-white.

At the same time, those large cocoons hanging high in the air all moved violently… except for the humanoid cocoon that imprisoned Wasted Uncle, the remaining six strangely shaped cocoons all burst open from the inside at this moment.

Six huge, bizarre-looking creatures pounced down from the sky, blocking Feng Bujue's path.

“It seems you were prepared…” Jue-Ge muttered as he looked at the huge monsters closing in. “But… so am I…”

A calm look, flashed with a hint of fanatical killing intent.

A burst of intense light brought out a purple-golden battle shadow.

Feng Bujue looked up and activated [Summoning Skill—Ma Sun], and a tall martial general's battle spirit bloomed behind him.

“Ma Sun!” Jue-Ge shouted.

“Yes!” Ma Sun responded.

Feng Bujue took out a military shovel from his knapsack and held it horizontally in front of his chest like a broadsword, performing a move in the air, “Chinese Slicing Dance!”

Ma Sun understood and concentrated his spiritual energy in his hand, and a real guandao (guan blade) was formed.

For a time, golden light shone and blade shadows multiplied.

The six monstrous shadows falling from the sky were caught off guard and were all hacked into crooked, and even shattered…

“Oh? You actually have such combat power…” The Silkworm Mother pondered, but the second half of her sentence turned into a mad roar, “Very good… you can’t wait to taste the ‘horror of your mental breakdown’!”

Before the roar ended, the Silkworm Mother let out a sharp screech.

“Cha—”

This was the first time she unleashed a direct, real attack on the players. The "calls" from the last time they met were just a greeting, but this one was the real deal.

“Crap!” Atobe was shocked when he was hit, and couldn't help but curse in a low voice. He was relatively far away from the Silkworm Mother's body, but he still staggered and almost fell.

The situation was worse for Tianma Xingkong on the other side… Little Ma was standing closest to the Boss, and suffered a strong impact. As soon as the roaring sound started, he instinctively took a few steps back and sat down on the ground. A cold feeling quickly covered his nose and lips. He reached out and touched them, and his nose was bleeding like a dam had burst.

“Tch… it affected my brain…” Honghu, not far away, also squatted down quickly. Although he could still stand up with difficulty, he still squatted down for safety's sake. His main concern was… in case he staggered and moved, and then fell off the Terror Leaf and into the silk web, it would be even more troublesome.

“Plan B!” Suddenly, Jue-Ge shouted from mid-air and flipped over, falling downwards.

“Oh? You have two plans?” The Silkworm Mother sneered. “Let me guess… Plan B is to give up splitting up to rescue people and instead focus on attacking me with all your strength?”

“Annoying high-intelligence bug…” Feng Bujue took out two grenades from his arms and threw them down after biting open the safety pins, “Tch… when I take care of you… stir-fried, deep-fried, stir-fried with fermented soybean sauce… you decide yourself!”

A second later, with two loud bangs, the two grenades quickly exploded on the Silkworm Mother’s back, while Jue-Ge used [Ephemeral Steps] to stop in mid-air, without entering the blast range.

“What are those? Toys made of gunpowder and metal?” In the gradually dispersing smoke, the Silkworm Mother's intact giant body was revealed. “Heh… speaking of toys… have you forgotten something?”

In an instant, Feng Bujue's pupils shrank sharply, and he realized a very serious problem.

*Chi chi chi—*

A fierce light flashed continuously, and blood mist splashed.

Jue-Ge was hit repeatedly in the back, and even Ma Sun, who was composed of spiritons, was dispersed by the attack.

He turned his head and saw… those monsters that had been cut into beast-like shapes by the Chinese Slicing Dance were all still moving. Although their bodies were torn apart, they were attacking with mechanical movements.

“Unexpected, right? As long as a part of their nerves isn't completely dead, I can make them move even if they only have one arm or one finger.” The Silkworm Mother said triumphantly to Feng Bujue. “Heh… I can also see that you are the strongest of the four of you, right? Their attacks are like tickling, but yours… seems like it can be expected.” As she said this, she controlled those semi-aerial corpse fragments to surround Jue-Ge. “Come on, use a special move or something and make me happy, otherwise…”

“You stinking bug, don’t look down on people!” Atobe shouted angrily from a distance, interrupting the Silkworm Mother's words and successfully attracting her attention.

“What did you call me?” The Silkworm Mother seemed to be very dissatisfied with the word "stinking bug". She actually gave up on finishing off Jue-Ge and turned her body with unbelievable speed to face Atobe. “You dare say that again… human.”

“I can say it as many times as you want…” Atobe panted violently. In the face of tremendous pressure and fear… he struggled to stand firm, staring at the Boss in front of him. “You stinking bug is so disgusting… I feel like throwing up just looking at you!”

The more he spoke, the louder his voice became. The last few words were almost shouted out with all his might.

Atobe wasn't a top player, at least not yet. He wasn't Feng Bujue; he wasn't a drug user like Corpse Blade. Atobe was just an ordinary person… and he would often feel afraid when facing a Boss.

This was also human nature… When seeing those terrifying and bizarre monsters, demons, ghosts, and freaks, anyone would feel nervous. This was the case even in front of a computer screen, let alone in virtual reality.

At this moment, facing a man-eating giant silkworm that was fatter than a train, it was already good that Atobe wasn't shaking, because his brain was constantly reminding him—this was just a game.

However, after shouting those two sentences, he suddenly felt better…

The fear, the sense of oppression, the pressure of worrying that his companions would be killed, all seemed to be blown away by this shout.

Perhaps… after he faced the things he feared, he realized that they were nothing more than this…

“Despicable scum…” The Silkworm Mother was now enraged and raised her giant head, slamming down to crush Atobe into mincemeat.

“Tch… you're not that fast.” Atobe stepped back, barely dodging the attack, and even mocked the Boss in front of him.

“Ah—” The Silkworm Mother was completely enraged. She squirmed her body and surged forward violently. Her circular mouth opened, revealing circles of sharp teeth, as if she was about to swallow Atobe directly.

*Whoosh whoosh whoosh—*

Three powerful light blade strikes suddenly came from the rear and slammed into the Silkworm Mother's back.

“Did you think I was dead?” Jue-Ge's voice rang out again. He was naturally not dead, but he was quite seriously injured. However, after breaking free from the encirclement with Moon Steps, he still launched an attack on the Boss as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, the Silkworm Mother completely ignored these three Storm Kicks, and her speed didn't decrease at all.

Fortunately…

“Sigh… it's because all of you guys do whatever you want that plans can't keep up with changes…” Honghu held a silver cross accessory in his hand, and suddenly made a move, “【Spirit Binding Array】!”

[Name: Spirit Binding Array]

[Skill Card Attributes: Active Skill, Permanently Mastered]

[Skill Category: Spiritualism]

[Effect: Powerfully suppresses all living beings within a certain range with spiritual energy]

[Consumption: 50% of the Spirit Energy Limit]

[Learning Conditions: Spiritualism Specialization C, Level 35 or higher]

[Remarks: Cooldown time is twenty minutes, duration is twenty seconds; ineffective against mechanical or soulless creatures, the effect on Boss-level monsters will be reduced accordingly (depending on the Boss’s strength); cannot be canceled midway; spiritual objects (spiritual objects can be non-physical objects of the same nature) must be placed at each array eye in the following diagram in advance]