Then, I started pushing the body of Number 2 into the hole.

But just as I exerted myself, Number 12 suddenly woke up and asked from behind me, "What are you doing? Why are you burying Number 2?"

Startled, I quickly replied, "Oh, I forgot to tell you, Number 2 is dead. I saw you sleeping just now, so I didn't wake you. Come quickly and help me bury him."

Number 12 clearly couldn't accept my explanation, frowning as he said, "Impossible. How could Number 2 be dead? He’s an XX-level ability user!"

I rubbed my eyes and said, "To be honest, I can't believe it either, but the fact is right in front of us. I’ve already checked his vital signs; there’s absolutely no sign of life. If you don't believe me, come and see for yourself."

Number 2's face went instantly pale, as if his spiritual pillar had suddenly collapsed. Perhaps it was guilt for thinking he had caused Number 1's death.

In any case, his complexion wasn't much better than a corpse's, and he walked over unsteadily.

After touching Number 2’s breath and pulse, he completely crumpled, sinking onto the ground with a sigh, unable to utter a word.

Seeing him like this, I knew he couldn't be of any help.

My own mood was terrible, and I didn't know how to comfort him, so I continued pushing Number 2 into the pit by myself and started covering it with soil.

I labored alone for about half an hour until I finally managed to pile up a small mound of earth.

At this point, Number 12 was still frozen there, completely unresponsive.

I had no choice but to take three cigarettes from my backpack, stick them into the grave mound for Number 2, and respectfully kowtow several times.

Having done that, I was about to go help Number 12 up and leave this cursed place.

It was then I noticed the sun had fully risen, casting a ray of sunlight between the two earthen pillars in front of us, shining directly onto Number 2's grave.

Seeing such a strange sight, I paused, sensing vaguely that something might happen.

And precisely at that moment, the expressionless Number 12 suddenly parted his lips and said, "That mound of dirt... it moved!"

I turned back toward the grave in surprise and saw that beneath the top layer of soil on the mound, something was indeed wriggling.

But judging by the location, I realized that it absolutely couldn't be Number 2’s corpse moving. Based on the disturbance, it must be something relatively small!

Just as we both stood there bewildered, suddenly, a green sprout erupted from the top of the grave mound.

The seedling grew at an unnatural speed, resembling the time-lapse footage of vines growing shown in nature documentaries.

But I knew this wasn't a time-lapse, so this rate of growth was utterly abnormal.

"Did something grow out of Number 2’s body?" Number 12 asked doubtfully.

I shook my head and replied, "I can't be sure, but the possibility is too slim. Maybe this thing was already in the soil, and we just happened to encounter it."

Truthfully, in this extremely arid climate, just seeing some drought-resistant wild grass or trees would have been a small miracle. Yet, this thing, growing like a bean sprout, lush and vibrant green, looked like a plant that should thrive in a tropical, humid climate.

Number 12 was intensely curious and wanted to get closer for a better look, but I stopped him.

I told him, "I know of something that grows at this speed. It's not found in the south, but I once heard a friend from the Northeast talking about it in the old northern forests."

My friend, of course, was Da Xiong, whose hometown was in the Northeast; he’d told me some peculiar stories from the Khingan Mountains.

Things like Ginseng Babies, Black Bears, or Yellow Weasels were nothing special compared to what he described.

I remembered he told me about something called the Overlord Mushroom, a truly marvelous organism.

The main characteristic of this fungus was that it grew incredibly tall and thick, and it emitted a foul odor similar to animal excrement.

Da Xiong claimed he once saw an Overlord Mushroom that was about ten meters high, and at first glance, it genuinely startled him.

But according to Da Xiong, when he intended to approach it for a closer look, his father stopped him.

His father told him that encountering such a thing in the forest was extremely unlucky, so veteran hunters would pretend they hadn't seen it.

Touching the Overlord Mushroom or eating its flesh, his father warned, would invite terrible misfortune.

I privately suspected this thing might be like the Ginseng Baby—a plant that had achieved sentience and could harm humans.

Da Xiong was filial; since his father forbade touching it, despite his own itchy curiosity, he forced himself to look away.

But after walking some distance along the mountain path, his curiosity finally got the better of him, and he started pestering his father with questions about the Overlord Mushroom.

His father, worn down by his persistence, finally revealed that although the mushroom was huge, it usually took only a day or two to grow, meaning its growth rate was extremely fast.

Naturally, its decay time was equally swift: growing in two days, it would rot away in one, turning into a pile of sludge.

However, while it existed, the rapid decay caused a stench that attracted certain uninvited guests from the forest, such as carrion-eaters and swarms of insects.

Firstly, these scavengers carried countless bacteria and viruses; merely touching an Overlord Mushroom they had crawled over could cause one's hands to rot.

Secondly, his father lowered his voice to a whisper and told him that the odor also attracted a creature called the Beak-Wolf, which resembled a wolf but was extremely lean.

Its favorite food was animal corpses, and after years of feeding, it became something else entirely. If it encountered humans, it would quietly trail them home, perch on the roof beams, and every night while the owner slept, it would spit miasma into their nostrils.

Over time, the person's body would begin to fester and ulcerate, eventually leading to death by scratching.

Only then would the Beak-Wolf emerge to devour the rotted internal organs.

People living near the Khingan Mountains frequently suffered from these Beak-Wolves, turning the creature into a byword for plague and disaster.

Because Beak-Wolves had extremely keen hearing, people were taught to speak about them in very low voices.

When Da Xiong told me about this animal, it reminded me of another: the feral dog.

In China, feral dogs are few in number and, much like foxes, are cunning and elusive, leading people to constantly speculate about them.

Any mysterious animal is bound to be accompanied by frightening stories, so I figured this was just superstition.

But the Overlord Mushroom, however, was real, and if it truly emitted such a stench, it must be poisonous; keeping a wide berth was certainly wise.

I recounted all these details to Number 12, who listened with utter astonishment, exclaiming, "You are incredibly knowledgeable... So, what exactly is this plant growing so rapidly before us?"

I told him, "Still not certain, but it's best if we observe it from a distance."

So, we stood silently by the grave mound, watching the sprout continuously shoot upward and expand.

After about ten seconds, it had grown into a strange plant several centimeters tall, resembling a bean sprout but thicker, and colored a vivid green.

I noticed tiny, sharp spines growing alongside its two fused leaf-like structures, and suddenly, I was reminded of another plant... the pitcher plant.

This tropical grass also attracts and slowly devours insect scavengers using a scent.

As I thought this, sure enough, a foul stench drifted over from the direction of the plant.

However, unlike a typical pitcher plant, this thing kept growing larger, and the two leaf structures slowly separated, revealing a small, red fruit in the center.

The fruit was shaped somewhat like a hydrangea ball, covered in numerous tiny, fleshy bumps, looking a bit like a lychee.

As the fruit slowly enlarged, the surrounding stench intensified.

Number 12 and I covered our noses and backed away, completely unable to identify what this thing was.

Then, a rustling sound suddenly arose from the sand between the surrounding earthen pillars; something was closing in from all directions.

Number 12 and I exchanged a look, clearly both noticing the disturbance.

"Guk... guk..."

Accompanying the dry rustling, a low, throaty croaking sound echoed.

As soon as I heard it, I roughly guessed what it was, and cold sweat immediately broke out on my forehead.

Number 12 turned to look at me, his face even more aghast than mine.

But before he could voice whatever he intended to say, a toad, about the size of a fist, hopped from somewhere and landed at our feet.

I saw that the toad indeed had dark, black hair growing on its head—it was disgusting—so I took a step back.

However, the toad's target didn't seem to be us; it just croaked beside our feet and hopped straight toward Number 2's grave mound.

I thought to myself, so it was this fruit that attracted them, but why?

As I pondered, Number 12 suddenly tapped my shoulder and pointed toward the direction the toad had hopped from.

I looked, and that direction was a tangled mess of earthen pillars, through which a winding channel extended. But within those channels, it was pitch black—a solid mass of toads, surging toward us like a tide.

I suddenly recalled the scene in the Black Bamboo Gully when we were surrounded by the Bitter Leeches; thinking back now, the scale of that situation wasn't as massive as this.

Toads are truly bizarre creatures; they have so many strange variations, and I seem to run into all of them.

Seeing this wave of toads, I pointed toward a nearby earthen pillar and said, "Climb up there, or you’ll be disgusted to death even if you aren’t crushed. These toads seem to have a different target than us!"