Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

Chapter 599 - 589: Half a Month

Ding... Dong... Clang...

Underneath the snow-covered tundra, a dull thudding sound emerged from below the snow. A section of snow suddenly collapsed, revealing a dark hole.

Soon after, a Puki poked through the fragmented snow, ice shards clinging to its mushroom cap.

The Puki shook its body, then extended its mycelium tentacles to pull the two dwarves below out.

"How long... have we been crawling down there?" Pollock wiped his face, somewhat dazedly staring at the snow-falling Northern Territory, "Two days? Or three days?"

Gading lifted the forging hammer that was slightly deformed at the edges and complained, "If I’d known we’d have to chisel our way through, I would have brought a pickaxe no matter what!"

This underground tunnel crossing the Empire border wasn’t a recent construction; Puki had initially dug it out with plenty of space.

But after being left idle for a long time, the rain and snow that seeped in had frozen into ice, squeezing the passage space, making it difficult even for Puki to pass, let alone two dwarves twice as big.

They had no choice but to walk and chisel all the way, taking an extra long time to get out.

Fortunately, Puki not only gave each of them a Temperature Pendant but also stored a good amount of juicy, delicious mushrooms in its body.

The crawling underground for those two days was indeed tough, leaving them with injuries, but the food was something they had never experienced before in their lives.

Though the price of delicious mushrooms continued to fall on the human side, the Mountains were not yet covered by the Fungal Mat.

Merchants who brought delicious mushrooms into the Mountains saw their prices multiply many times over.

Although still much cheaper than the delectable fruits of the past, they were still beyond the reach of two apprentice craftsmen.

It somewhat fulfilled their fantasy of a "paradise."

The two dwarves did not forget their current situation after coming out. Catching their breath, they looked around anxiously, fearing they might still be within the Empire’s territory and running into the Demon Race patrols would spell disaster.

Everything around was a vast expanse of white, seemingly devoid of anything, but sharp-eyed Gading noticed something unusual.

"Who’s there?" he shouted with full vigor, "The person behind the tree, come out! I’ve seen you!"

The figure behind the dead tree hesitated for a moment but eventually stepped out slowly.

It was a human male, without shackles, but his patched, poor-quality coat and the faintly visible branded scar on his neck marked him as a slave.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" Gading asked in a deep voice, still gripping the hammer tight.

The man flinched, his voice trembling with fear, "I... I escaped from the Stone Valley Mine, was starving... was beaten, stole a piece of heating stone, and just ran desperately north."

He instinctively touched the area around his chest, where he had hidden the small heat source he mentioned.

He looked terribly haggard, his lips turned purple from the cold, cheeks sunken, and his bare feet wrapped in rags, standing in the snow shivering slightly.

His eyes, besides showing fear, also displayed a kind of bewilderment after a desperate gamble.

Gading and Pollock exchanged glances, a hint of sympathy appearing in their eyes.

The dwarves caught by the Empire were probably in the same situation as this human.

"Are you alone? No weapons?" Pollock pressed for more information.

The man shook his head in panic, even actively opening up his tattered coat to show: "No, nothing at all..."

Seeing he posed no threat, the two dwarves finally relaxed, slinging the hammer back over their shoulders.

They wanted to help, but having just arrived in this foreign land, their future was uncertain as well.

They simultaneously looked at the quiet Puki beside them.

This little fellow was their guide.

Puki extended its tentacles into its body, pulling out several juicy, delicious mushrooms and also rolled out another Temperature Pendant.

A heating stone is a natural heat-storing rock, able to maintain warmth for a long time once fully charged with heat, but compared to a magic item like a Temperature Pendant, it was far inferior.

Given the current state of the Northern Territory, an ordinary heating stone might not even last through a single night.

The man trembled as he reached out, accepting the mushrooms and pendant, a wave of warmth immediately enveloping his almost frozen body.

He devoured the delicious mushrooms ravenously, even hastily scraping the sweet juices from the corners of his mouth with his fingers to savor back, a behavior only exhibited by those long tormented by hunger.

After consuming a few mushrooms, he finally caught his breath, repeatedly thanking Puki and the dwarves, his voice thick with emotion.

Puki gently hooked the mycelium tendrils, pointing in a direction, signaling everyone to follow.

The journey lasted a whole half month.

The mushrooms stored inside Puki were soon eaten up, but luckily, on the third day after leaving the cave, they stepped onto a fungal mat.

Since then, the guiding Puki always managed to lead them to find clusters of fresh, delicious mushrooms growing from the fungal mat amidst the pale snow.

The initial worries about the Demon Race patrols gradually dissipated as the journey delved deeper.

Such extreme cold and desolation was virtually a death zone for life; who else besides them would dare to venture into this icy wilderness?

However, the endless cold and monotony, with almost no signs of life besides the fungal mat, also unsettled the two Dwarves who harbored dreams of a "Blacksmith’s Paradise."

Hope was worn away day by day by the bleak whiteness, yet doubts quietly germinated.

The journey was long and dull, but fortunately, the human slave named Joel was a talkative companion.

Captured in a border conflict, he often spoke during rest about his experiences as a slave in the Empire—the depths of the mines, the shadows of the supervisor’s whip, the silent disappearances of companions.

In amidst of such casual chats and shared hardships, they gradually formed a bond.

On the seventeenth day, just as they were expecting another repetitive and arduous trek, footprints appeared on the snow ahead!

This discovery instantly ignited their near-numb nerves, suggesting that their destination might be near!

But amid the excitement, upon carefully distinguishing those footprints, doubts arose.

The small, round depressions, or those dragging furrows through the snow, should be Puki’s footprints. They had seen these for half a month and wouldn’t mistake them.

But mixed among them were larger prints—some like heavy bootprints, deeply embedded in the snow, and others with sharp edges showing clear claw marks, definitely not those of humans or Dwarves.

This uncertainty made them all vigilant.

They followed the mixed trail, trekking through increasingly fierce storms for about half an hour.

Suddenly, the guiding Puki stopped, tendrils pointing in a direction. The three looked ahead and, instantly, it seemed even the howling winds paused.

Beyond the swirling snow curtain, unexpectedly... a fortress rose on the horizon.

It was no illusion.

Towering walls cut solid and strange silhouettes amidst the pure white expanse.

Above the walls, several magic towers soared, and the most noticeable among them had tops not with ordinary peaks, but large, slowly rotating Demon Crystals, radiating magical brilliance.

"There really is a gigantic city built in such a place..." Gading could hardly believe his eyes.

Pollock was so excited that tears rolled down, muttering "infinite ores."

Joel’s mouth was agape in shock, unable to close, as the city in front of them, even in terms of scale, would rank among the top in the Empire, not to mention the brilliance from the towers and city walls—this was clearly not a mere facade.

In the distance, Xing Huo, having waited a while, led his team and Puki to meet them.

"Demons!" Seeing Xing Huo, Gading felt his heart drop like a rollercoaster.

"Don’t worry, this isn’t the Empire, and I’m not your enemy." Xing Huo spoke with a bit of accent in Human Universal Language, smiling as he approached the three.

However, compared to Xing Huo’s reassurance, the appearance of his human subordinates was more convincing.

The humans in the group were dressed properly, with calm expressions, clearly not slaves, which slightly eased the three’s tension.

"You’ve had a tough journey, we’ve arranged hot springs and a feast for you, but before that..." Xing Huo said, his slitted eyes glancing at the last human.

"Watch out!"

Gading reacted the fastest, pushing Joel away beside him.

Several barbed tendrils inserted into the snow beside their bodies.

Getting up from the snow, the three were already surrounded by Puki.

"Gading... Joel..." Pollock’s voice quivered with tears.

Gading swung his hammer fiercely, "Damn Demon Race! I won’t be taken as a slave even if I die!"

Then, he unhesitatingly leapt forward, crashing into the Puki group...