The crowds around Yafeng(Silentwind) Town grew even larger.
Ever since an adventurer tested the red mushrooms with poison detectors, proved them harmless, and ate one himself, the cooling “mushroom craze” had flared back to life!
Only this time, the frenzy shifted away from ordinary mushrooms and locked onto the red mushrooms imbued with [Delicious]!
【Delicious】
Plants with this property were notoriously difficult to cultivate.
To nurture flavor required more mana, meaning not only did the environment have to meet certain magical thresholds, but large-scale cultivation would dilute the mana and kill the effect.
Even if a suitable site was found, it would quickly attract covetous eyes.
And to fend off both monsters and thieves, guards had to be stationed day and night.
Thus, stable [Delicious] production was only found in one of three places: a lord’s private manor protected by soldiers, a remote wilderness, or the perilous depths of dungeons.
Of these, the most famous was the Esogar Dungeon of the elves, where a magical plant lured greedy adventurers and beasts with irresistibly [Delicious] fruit—before devouring them.As for the Amethyst Dungeon, there had never been such a thing.
Yet now, simply roaming its outer edge, one might stumble upon a red mushroom blessed with [Delicious]?!
Though rare and small compared to other delicacies, the fact that such a prize could be gathered at little time cost was like a pie falling from the sky!
The only danger was the so-called “dungeon collapse.” But after so many days without incident, people began to wonder if perhaps it would never collapse at all.
By now, commoners scavenged through the trampled fungal carpets around Yafeng(Silentwind) Town. Adventurers with some caution followed the spread of mycelium into monster-haunted woods to gather mushrooms. And the boldest had begun probing into the dungeon’s first floor, seeking only one prize: the red [Delicious] mushrooms!
It was worth noting—this situation was not something Lin Jun deliberately orchestrated.
Just like the hallucinogenic blue mushrooms, Delicious Mushrooms spawned randomly within the mushroom clusters. But because of their high mana cost, their natural output was rare.
If Lin Jun had truly wanted deliberate production, it would look like what was happening in Mushroom Garden No. 3 right now—
Qiong was back again to exchange for Delicious Mushrooms. After trying a small bowl last time, the unforgettable taste haunted him. He couldn’t wait to share it with Shou, even though each Delicious Mushroom cost twenty times more contribution points than a normal one!
Once he confirmed the exchange, mushrooms unseen by adventurers outside began sprouting one after another from the carpet at his feet.
Qiong waited patiently for several minutes, letting the little caps soak in mana until they plumped and spread wide. Then he pinched them off one by one, soon filling half a sack.
Weighing it in his hands, he was already anticipating Shou’s expression tonight when he tasted them!
……
Not far from the dungeon gate, a crimson Delicious Mushroom had grown out of the fungal carpet. Though still small, it clearly had room to grow.
A young adventurer, bag in hand, spotted it from afar. His face burst with joy. “Ha! Lucky day!”
He rushed over in a few strides, crouching to pick it.
Swish—!
A cold glint sliced past his fingers and buried itself in the ground, the dagger handle quivering!
“Kid, don’t you know the rules?” A gruff voice rang out. From the shadows emerged two adventurers, eyes hostile.
One crossed his arms and jerked his chin toward the mushroom. “That prize? We’ve been watching it half the day, waiting for it to ripen. And you think you can just swoop in and snatch it?”
The young adventurer reeled from the thrown knife, then flared in anger. “Bullshit! You weren’t even guarding it! Who’s to say you were here first? Did your name get carved into it? Whoever picks it, owns it!”
Having nearly been skewered, he couldn’t stomach it. He yanked out his short sword, pointing the tip at them.
The other two bared weapons in turn. The air bristled, greed and killing intent clashing, bloodshed moments away.
“Stand down!”
A booming shout cut through, accompanied by the clang of armored footsteps. Five soldiers in gleaming armor marched between them.
Their movements were swift, disciplined. The icy points of their spears glinted dangerously.
The captain, before their eyes, plucked the red mushroom.
“Save your energy. No point fighting. This mushroom belongs to neither you nor them.” He swept a cold gaze across them. “It belongs to Saint Clair.”
“You—!”
The three adventurers, once at each other’s throats, now exploded in fury together. All their anger focused on the soldiers, their eyes blazing.
The standoff tightened. The captain was only silver-ranked, his four men mere bronze soldiers. Opposite them were three silver adventurers. A fight could go either way.
Yet the captain’s face showed not a shred of fear, only lofty indifference.
His confidence came not from power, but from the crest of the Saint Clair family on his chest.
“What’s that supposed to mean?!” one adventurer rasped, barely holding back. “Now the duke’s men even claim the wild mushrooms we pick?! That’s going too far!”
The captain glanced at him, voice flat as steel. “If it were deep forest or inside the dungeon, no one would care if you lived or died. But this land still lies within Yafeng(Silentwind) Town’s domain. Lady Inanna has formally enacted territorial regulations. If you have complaints, go read the notice at the camp.”
The three adventurers trembled with rage, their eyes glued to the mushroom in his hand as if willing it back. But none dared raise a weapon against the soldiers.
At last, they spat curses with their eyes, turned sharply, and strode toward the camp.
They wanted to see for themselves what this suddenly appearing duke’s daughter planned to do!
And when they reached the Adventurers’ Guild camp, they found it packed with people, most having suffered the same treatment.
As they squeezed into the edge of the crowd, a booming voice rose from within, protesting:
“With just one decree, the Saint Clair family claims all fungal carpet harvests around Yafeng(Silentwind) Town for the Guild? By what right?! This was never the rule before! Even a duke’s house can’t just change the law at whim!”
“Yeah, that’s too much!”
“Totally unreasonable!”
These raw complaints poured like oil onto fire. The crowd roared, voices of protest surging louder and louder.
The soldiers stationed by the notice struggled to contain the unrest.
Outside the tent, chaos thundered. Inside the great pavilion, the air was utterly different.
Fahl stood silently, eyes on the duke’s daughter surrounded by affectionate Pujis. His voice was calm and firm:
“Lady Inanna, it is about time.”