Chapter Eighty-Four: The Mountain of Flesh (First Update – Subscription Requested)

On the ruins, the damp ground was constantly being flung with a mixture of stones and mud. Ji Yu guided the fawn to run ahead, while about fifteen kilometers behind him, a gigantic and terrifying creature gave chase.

This dreadful entity resembled a moving mountain of flesh. It had emerged from beneath the earth and had been pursuing Ji Yu for well over an hour. Nearly five hundred meters tall, it looked somewhat like a shifting mass of slime. Yet unlike slime, its surface was neither translucent nor moist; instead, it displayed a bloody crimson and greasy flesh tone.

Black mist entwined its body, appearing and vanishing, while countless fleshy tendrils rose from its form. Each of these tendrils ended in a face, or rather, a head. Without exception, all of these heads were the lion-faced, humanoid lifeforms Ji Yu had previously seen on the colored coins.

Their faces were covered with bulging, tumor-like bloody scars, and they constantly bit and screamed at one another. One head would devour another, only for a new one to sprout in its place. It was endless, repetitive, utterly mad.

The cacophony of voices, so loud they hurt the eardrums, made Ji Yu feel as if his brow might split. Whether it was an illusion or not, as the mountain of flesh drew closer to the fawn, Ji Yu—viewing the world through the fawn’s eyes—felt reality itself becoming less tangible.

The myriad sounds from the mountain’s tendrils seemed to be a form of psychic assault. Its mental radiation began to warp Ji Yu’s perception. The mountain of flesh transformed into a resplendent palace, filled with countless handsome men and beautiful women beckoning to him. The magnificent palace towered above, holy and grand, while he himself seemed to be in a filthy, black abyss.

“Temptation? Is that all?” he scoffed.

Energy shielded the fawn’s head, and the illusion swiftly receded like the tide. Just by observing its size and the leakage of purple moon energy, Ji Yu could roughly gauge the mountain’s strength—it was stronger than the fawn, by a considerable margin. Moreover, its psychic attacks far surpassed the fawn’s abilities. After all, even from fifteen kilometers away, it could affect the minds of both the fawn and Ji Yu—a remarkable feat.

Yet, for all its bulk, catching up to the swift fawn was but a futile dream.

The reason it had nearly caught up moments ago was entirely due to Ji Yu’s curiosity; he’d wanted to see what kind of lifeform was chasing him. Now that he’d seen it, he had no intention of letting it get closer.

He urged the fawn to run faster, even employing a kite-flying strategy. With nearly half an hour left before returning to Blue Star, Ji Yu, having nothing else to do, didn’t mind playing with the slow giant.

During this time, though there were thrills, there was no real danger. Finally, accompanied by a tremor in space, the fawn under Ji Yu’s control blinked and returned to the familiar forest.

Gazing at the still-bright purple moon overhead, Ji Yu felt as though he’d just completed a dungeon run in a video game. But such thoughts only briefly crossed his mind.

He stepped down the cliff, arriving at the wide riverbank beneath the waterfall. Ji Yu had the fawn open its mouth and spit out a heap of mushroom-heads and dozens of sheets of paper.

“They really came out with me?” Ji Yu was taken aback.

By rights, the mushroom-head lifeforms shouldn’t have been able to leave. After all, the beings that appeared in the Gourmet Street vanished along with the purple moon.

He’d already learned about these strange realms last week. When Vanikampbell explained the current state of the world to Simon, Ji Yu—disguised as an oak—had listened quietly at their side.

Creatures from the realm could not appear elsewhere on Blue Star, yet the mushroom-heads had managed it. More astonishing, they had come directly from the purple moon world to Blue Star.

Naturally, this sparked Ji Yu’s curiosity.

“Could these little guys be rejected and sent back, just like the fawn and the oak tree were in the purple moon world?” he wondered. “It’s possible, but it needs observation.”

Ji Yu was clearly intrigued. However, the mushroom-heads he’d brought to Blue Star had no interest in his curiosity. After landing on the grass, they immediately sprang to life, each excitedly hugging nearby grass roots or saplings, their two small nostrils flaring as they inhaled deeply.

The mushroom-heads were utterly enraptured, gradually settling down in their excitement.

Watching as all thirty-seven mushroom-heads reverted to their normal mushroom forms and rooted themselves in the soil, Ji Yu finally smiled.

“Interesting. They show no signs of chaos or predatory behavior—almost like ordinary mushrooms,” he mused. “Apart from their ability to move and run, of course.”

Observing them, Ji Yu, controlling the fawn, decided not to move but crouched down to examine the unfamiliar coins of various unknown civilizations.

He had brought these coins out with the intention of having the herd deliver them to Lane.

Ji Yu had made a conspicuous exit before the cliff, and for the Lane authorities who monitored the forest in real time, the fawn’s disappearance would certainly have caused great concern. Now, with its sudden reappearance and the transfer of the coins, Ji Yu thought that as long as Lane’s officials weren’t fools, they should be able to deduce something. They would also realize the fawn’s intelligence was far more sophisticated and mature than they’d assumed.

Using this as an opportunity, Ji Yu planned to foster a closer relationship between the fawn and Lane. In short, he had done all he could; what happened next depended on Lane’s response.

Recalling the mountain of flesh and the countless lion heads on its tendrils, Ji Yu even thought of the day when the purple moon truly descends upon Blue Star—when countless humans would melt and merge, ultimately becoming such bizarre forms.

When it came to the purple moon, whether human or any other Blue Star lifeform, the right thing now was not to scheme and suspect one another, but to face its crisis together.

That was the wisest choice.

Can there be whole eggs beneath a toppled nest?

If attitudes didn’t change now, would they remain adversaries and simply await death?

Rather than saying Ji Yu’s incarnations needed humanity, it was truer to say humanity needed the help of Ji Yu’s incarnations.

Humans possessed powerful weapons, but did those unknown civilizations not have their own?

Individuals weren’t strong enough; when the purple moon descends and countless strange lifeforms appear on Blue Star, humanity would face a catastrophic disaster.

Before that disaster, Ji Yu simply wanted to do what he wished, and was willing to make personal efforts.

Even the fawn, a lifeform with resistance to the purple moon, was the first to make concessions and express a desire for closeness. Ji Yu believed Lane was unlikely to refuse.

At the very least, in matters concerning the fawn, they ought to abandon their previous attitude of merely seeking advantage.

After all, equality is the foundation of true cooperation.