An Zhe dreamed.

Rain, the sound of rain.

Water droplets. .h.i.t the broad leaves, flowing down the staggered veins and dripped at the edges, falling into bushes or down the roots of old trees, seeping into the wet soil. In the wet rain season, he seemed to have experienced many such scenes. His memory started from there, when the whole world was raining.

He floated down from a mushroom umbrella cover and was blown into the soil by the wind before it rained. He seemed to be asleep until he smelled the damp water vapour after the rain.

Everything was out of his control. In the moist soil, the mycelium stretched out, grew, split, spread outward and converged. He grew from a spore smaller than gravel into a ma.s.s of mycelium and then pulled out the stalk to grow an umbrella cover.

Everything was logical. Mushrooms, unlike humans, didn"t need to be taught generation from generation. He had no impression of the mushroom who produced him. He just clearly knew what he wanted to obtain in the soil, as if this was his own experience. He also knew when he should be born, what he should do and when he should die. His mission in life was to produce a spore.

Then it would grow, he would die and the spore would continue to grow. In the rain, since ancient times, countless spores had fallen in turn.

The sound of rain rang in his ears and all around him. It was in his body, his mind and his memories. It was everywhere, as if urging something to happen. What followed was a type of fluctuation from the distant sky, a boundless void, a boundless horror—until he opened his eyes.

The quartz clock hanging on the wall showed it was nine in the morning. No one was around him and he was wrapped in the quilt. However, the feeling of being embraced by Lu Feng seemed to still linger, the heat staying on his skin and burning him. Lu Feng had originally held An Zhe"s upper body and shoulders down but in the middle of the night, An Zhe was uncomfortable at being pressed and pulled out. The man"s arms lowered a bit and were placed on his waist, the palm of his hands close to An Zhe"s belly.

When he was held by Lu Feng, he seemed to be able to isolate the danger outside. He felt very peaceful but this person was the greatest danger. An Zhe couldn"t remember what type of mood he was in when he fell asleep.

An Zhe stared at everything in front of him, empty of thought. He moved his fingers, his bones soaked in softness. It was like he had napped for too long and he had no energy in his body.

The atmosphere around him was humid like it had just rained.

He recalled the weird and bizarre dream as he sat up on the bed, stretching his arms. It was so cruel to take the spore from his stomach. Only an officer with the surname of Lu would do it this way. He controlled the flow of the spore in his body. Three minutes later, white mycelium stretched out and the spore appeared in the palm of his right hand.

A small spore had been only half the size of a fist when placed in his body. Now it was the same size as his fist.

He carefully examined it with the light of the steam light. There were subtle antler-like branches at the end of the spore"s mycelium, bright white and transparent like snowflakes that had started to change shape.

He touched it with his left hand and it stretched out mycelium to wrap around him affectionately. He could feel its lively energy. It was about to mature. He didn"t know exactly when the spore would mature but it must be soon.

Their mycelium would no longer tangle together and it would become a mushroom that could survive independently. Once it matured, it would automatically leave him like it was being blown by the wind.

Planting a spore was the instinct of a mushroom. Where would he plant it? Would it grow up in the distant future? An Zhe didn"t know. He just felt the faintness before leaving, as if all things in the world seemed to be separated.

At this moment, there was a noise from the corridor. His spore raised its mycelium and seemed to be listening to the sound. Then it moved it a trembling manner, rolling toward the source of the sound like one pole of a magnet to the opposite pole. An Zhe reached out and clasped it tightly. Fortunately, before Lu Feng came in, he put this little thing back in his body.

Lu Feng stood at the door and watched him with raised eyebrows. "Get up," he said.

An Zhe obediently got up to eat and they spent the next few days like this. An Zhe would help Xi Bei cook and clean the mine while Lu Feng often went outside. An Zhe was afraid he wouldn"t come back but the colonel was safe every time. Sometimes, he caught a small flying bird and handed it over for cooking.

More often, they stayed in the cave with nothing to do. After reading all the books here, An Zhe read him a love story and an entire weapons ill.u.s.tration book at the colonel"s request, who was too lazy to ready it himself.

Finally, they started playing chess with small stones. They were very simple games such as five-in-row, flying chess, etc. Lu Feng taught him first and then they played together. An Zhe lost more and won less. He secretly suspected that the colonel had thrown the game the few times he won because every time he won, the colonel would smile slightly.

At dinner, Xi Bei told them, "You have a great relations.h.i.+p."

"There were some people in the cave who had been in love and Grandpa gave them a marriage certificate." Xi Bei sighed softly and set aside his chopsticks. He said, "I want to fall in love but there are no other people here.

Lu Feng was silent while An Zhe comforted Xi Bei, "There are people at the base."

—Even though there were only 8,000.

Xi Bei seemed to be comforted and picked up his chopsticks in an energetic manner.

After seven days, communication still wasn"t restored. Xi Bei told them the unfortunate news that there wasn"t enough food for two days. They had to go to the city ruins several kilometres away to search for supplies.

Thus, they left some dry food for the grandfather and placed the remaining mushrooms and jerky in their backpacks as well as several bottles of water. Xi Bei took a small alcohol stove from the kitchen. Before all the people in the mine died, they used to go to the city to find supplies so they were well-equipped.

"In the past, this used to be a dirt road that we could travel by bike." Xi Bei"s tone was slightly chagrined as he spoke. "Now it is so sandy that it is impossible to ride."

An Zhe reluctantly looked at the bicycles stacked in the corner before leaving. He had never seen such a thing before. Lu Feng placed his elbows on An Zhe"s shoulders and spoke lazily, "Once we come back, I"ll take you for a ride."

As they prepared everything and were ready to open the lid at the top of the cave, there was the sound of heavy, slow footsteps from the depths of the cave.

An Zhe turned back. Under the dim light, a skinny old man held the wall and moved around the corner. His hair was grey and scattered while the corners of his mouth trembled like a candle shaking in the wind.

Xi Bei stepped forward. "…Grandpa?"

The old man"s blurry eyes stared at him with no expression or recognition. The old man just opened his mouth and declared, "I"ll go too."

Xi Bei held his shoulder. "You stay here. We"ll be back in a day or two and we"ll bring food."

The old man spoke in his still hoa.r.s.e voice. "I"ll go too."

No matter how Xi Bei tried to persuade him, the old man only said this sentence. His stagnant face showed an unusual soberness because of this persistence. Xi Bei was forced to glance at Lu Feng.

Lu Feng stared at the old man for a long time before finally saying, "Take him with us."

Xi Bei responded by helping the old man go out. This person"s steps were faltering and anyone who saw it would know that his twilight life was coming to an end.

At the mouth of the cave, Lu Feng said, "I"ll take him."

Xi Bei shook his head and placed his grandfather on his back. "Grandpa is very light."

An Zhe looked at the old man"s skinny body. His illness had consumed him until there was only a skeleton left. They came to the ground and the sunlight poured down. An Zhe squinted. it would take a while to get used to it again.

He saw the old man close his eyes on Xi Bei"s back. His face was covered with brown spots that would appear in a human"s twilight years but his face looked peaceful in the sun. His mouth moved as he spoke. "People grow on the ground."

These were the only words from the old man"s mouth these days that didn"t sound like nonsense. He looked up at the grey sky. At this time, the sky was faintly green and he could see the aurora despite it not being night. This was different from before.

Lu Feng told him, "The magnetic field is being tuned."

An Zhe nodded. He didn"t know the meaning of this sentence but as long as the magnetic poles were fine, everything was fine.

They walked in the deep and shallow sand. On the open wasteland, it was like they were the only life. Wind blew from an unknown distance. For 10,000 years, 100 million years, it blew like this. The living creatures on the ground were renewed. Some died and some were new, but the wind wouldn"t change. When it blew into the crevice of stones, a strange whining sound was heard in the wasteland.

At this vast cry, An Zhe spontaneously grabbed the corner of Lu Feng"s sleeve and walked with him.

Lu Feng lightly glanced back at him. "Shall I carry you?"

An Zhe shook his head. He could walk on his own. Lu Feng didn"t say anything and looked back ahead.

A long time pa.s.sed and An Zhe was tired, his arms a bit sore. Over the past few days, as the spore gradually matured, his physical strength seemed to be getting worse. He wanted to let go of Lu Feng"s sleeve but he didn"t want to let go.

Lu Feng"s wrist moved and An Zhe understood what this meant. He had annoyed the colonel so he obediently let go. Then his hand was held by the colonel.