Restart 03
The taste of the mushroom soup in his mouth was somewhat indescribable.
Too much salt had been added.
It was unbearably salty.
Tian Xiao, holding the bowl, squatted in the yard, his face scrunching up into a tight knot as he drank the soup.
A brand-new world, a shrunken body.
His taste buds, which had been dulled by all sorts of bizarre ingredients during the Apocalypse, had recovered quite a bit. Just a little extra salt had made him end up like this.
Tian Xiao spent a moment reflecting on himself—where exactly had he gotten the courage to say he’d show off his cooking skills for Mom?
He clearly knew just how terrible his culinary skills were.
But Mom, on the other hand…
Tian Xiao turned his head and saw Mom straightforwardly gulping down a whole bowl of mushroom soup.
Tian Xiao: “…Mom, how does it taste?”
Hearing this, Mom gave Tian Xiao a smile with a familiar curve, then turned around to refill her bowl with more mushroom soup, using her actions to show Tian Xiao just how satisfied she was with this mushroom soup.
Tian Xiao: “…”
So his taste buds had recovered along with his shrunken body, but Mom’s sense of taste was off?
No wonder Mom had persisted in cooking for him every day—the flavors always tasted normal, even if the appearance was terrifying and the dishes were bland and under-seasoned.
For a moment, Tian Xiao, holding his bowl and unable to finish it quickly yet unwilling to waste food, felt a surge of emotions. His attention was soon drawn to the rumbling sounds in the distance.
Some time had already passed since the white light landed and exploded.
The range of mushroom growth had expanded further.
It was still the same situation as before—pedestrians on the streets simply didn’t notice anything related to the white light.
Only when the mushrooms in a certain area grew to a certain density would they catch the attention of those nearby.
And once people noticed these mushrooms, they would fall into a strange frenzy, fighting over them.
This struggle expanded along with the growing range of the mushrooms.
By now, the scope of the fighting Tian Xiao could see had already spread to the streets near his home.
Throughout this process, Tian Xiao heard the sounds of numerous traffic accidents.
It was truly strange. Even though the situation had developed to this point, and the number of people fighting each other on the streets was constantly rising, those who hadn’t “seen” the mushrooms still instinctively ignored everything related to the white light.
But thinking about it, Tian Xiao found it somewhat reasonable.
His experiences from life after the Apocalypse allowed Tian Xiao to accept many “unreasonable” events with ease.
However…
“I wished to live an ordinary, happy life as a common person, right? Why does this world seem a bit off?”
Could it be that this world was also heading toward an Apocalypse?
Shaking his head, Tian Xiao took another sip of the unbearably salty mushroom soup and saw three or five people with abnormal expressions, carrying large and small bags, hurriedly passing by his home.
As they passed, they turned to look at Tian Xiao in the yard, their eyes scanning the yard as if trying to confirm something.
Confirm what?
Confirm whether there were any mushrooms in Tian Xiao’s yard.
“At this rate…” It probably wouldn’t be long before those mushrooms grew over here.
Once the mushrooms reached a certain density nearby, those affected by them…
Tian Xiao downed the mushroom soup in his bowl in one gulp, ran back inside to gulp down some water, and noticed that the mushroom soup in the pot had already been finished by Mom.
Tian Xiao cast an admiring glance at Mom, obediently handed her the bowl in his hands, and turned to go out.
Going out wasn't for anything else—just to pick all the small mushrooms that had already grown over.
These scattered mushrooms weren't many in number yet, and passersby couldn't see them, so Tian Xiao decided to pick them first.
By the time he finished, dusk was approaching, yet the mushrooms growing nearby were increasing.
This couldn't go on.
Tian Xiao glanced at the scattered groups of mushroom pickers appearing in the distance.
All these people were drawn by the mushrooms on the ground.
Given the current rate of mushroom growth, it seemed that by morning, the entire area would be covered in mushrooms, and he’d wake up to see crowds of people picking or fighting over them nearby.
After some thought, Tian Xiao ran home to fetch quicklime and scattered it all around the house.
Quicklime, before reacting with water, absorbs moisture, thereby inhibiting mushroom growth.
The quicklime proved effective. Through observation, Tian Xiao found that areas sprinkled with it showed no signs of new mushrooms sprouting.
That night, Tian Xiao, with his keen hearing, kept hearing rustling sounds. Opening the window to look outside, he saw, under the glow of the streetlights, a large group of silent people carrying sacks and the like, wandering nearby, heads bowed as they searched for mushrooms.
Some had filled their sacks, while others, upon finding mushrooms, stuffed them directly into their mouths.
As if savoring some indescribable delicacy, all who ate the mushrooms wore expressions of vague, rapturous delight.
The area outside Tian Xiao’s yard was inspected repeatedly by the mushroom seekers.
Thanks to the quicklime, not a single mushroom Shadow was in sight, and the seekers finally stopped approaching.
With mushrooms growing everywhere, everyone was busy picking them, reducing the instances of conflict.
Assured that no one was running into his yard, Tian Xiao, free of worries, returned to bed and went back to sleep.
Before closing the window, Tian Xiao glanced toward the park.
Of course, he couldn’t see the park clearly from home, but in the deep night, he could make out an unusual radiance emanating from its direction.
Despite the radiance being so conspicuous, people remained oblivious, merely bending down to search for mushrooms everywhere.
The next day, Tian Xiao enjoyed mushroom soup noodles personally prepared by Mom.
Still terrifying in appearance and bland in taste.
Tian Xiao ate with a moved expression.
It had to be said that the flavor of these mushrooms was quite good, though Tian Xiao couldn’t taste the same rapture others seemed to experience when eating them.
Thanks to the people who had been picking mushrooms all night, Tian Xiao’s fear of the area around his home being overrun with mushrooms didn’t materialize. Even the weeds on the ground had been pulled up in many places, leaving behind numerous footprints and signs of scuffles.
Turning on the television, Tian Xiao was quite surprised to find the local town news channel still broadcasting normally.
Even more bizarre than this was the fact that the content remained as "normal" as ever.
It was all about neighborhood disputes and trivial household matters, with no news related to the white light, Corpses, or mushrooms. The only mention was something like, "Some roads are inexplicably congested and impassable. Residents are advised to pay attention to travel safety."
With the TV on, Tian Xiao dragged out the quicklime and replenished it around the area.
He certainly didn’t want to see mushrooms growing inside his home or crowds of mushroom pickers following them into his house.
While he was busy with his tasks, Tian Xiao heard a faint knocking sound.
"Knock, knock, knock… knock, knock, knock…"
Holding quicklime in his hand, Tian Xiao straightened up and looked toward the direction of the courtyard gate, his mind filled with question marks: "…??"
Someone was knocking on his courtyard gate??
Someone had come to his house??
Who would come to his house??
Tian Xiao thought that, given his family's situation, it should be completely devoid of social interactions, right?
He had never seen Mom communicate with anyone either.
Even if Mom wanted to talk to someone, there would need to be people living in the nearby empty houses, and they would have to be able to see Mom, right?
Countless doubts filled Tian Xiao's heart. Before he could react, Mom had already been drawn by the knocking sound and walked out.
Tian Xiao followed closely behind and saw a thin, gaunt man peering nervously through the courtyard gate, looking inside.
The man's skin was pale, as if he hadn't seen sunlight for years. His eyes were shadowed by large dark circles, and his overly long bangs and unkempt, messy hair gave him a gloomy appearance. He looked as if a gust of wind could blow him away.
As soon as Tian Xiao saw him, he recognized him.
This was a shut-in who lived nearby.
There were many empty houses in the area, with few people living in them. This man was one of the residents in a nearby empty house.
He was rarely seen going out, and his activity schedule almost never overlapped with Tian Xiao's.
Tian Xiao had only occasionally seen him go out to buy daily necessities, always walking with his head down, unwilling to talk to anyone.
To be honest, when Tian Xiao first saw him, he felt that this man was even more "abnormal" than Mom.
But unlike Mom, he was a real human—just extremely introverted.
Tian Xiao wasn't familiar with him and didn't even know his name. Why had he come over today, and at this time?
Filled with confusion, Tian Xiao watched as Mom walked up to the gate and opened the courtyard door.
Tian Xiao knew that ordinary people couldn't see Mom, so this scene would appear somewhat strange to an outsider.
But the visitor's expression seemed even more peculiar.
It was as if he could sense something, taking a few steps back even before Mom approached the gate to open it.
Once the door was open, his eyes kept scanning the area around the gate, as if he were searching for something but couldn't quite be sure.
His behavior seemed as though… he could sense Mom's presence?
Tian Xiao put on a harmless smile and asked, "Are you looking for something?"
The man didn't respond to Tian Xiao immediately. Instead, he continued searching with his eyes for a few moments before shaking his head. "Looking for something? I'm not looking for anything… No, I came here to look for something."
The man's speech was somewhat odd, repeating himself back and forth. Tian Xiao, looking up at him, showed no impatience and instead listened carefully, gently guiding the conversation.
"So, what are you looking for?"
The moment the man opened his mouth, Tian Xiao caught a whiff of a unique fragrance.
It was a scent Tian Xiao had smelled before—the fragrance of flowers and plants that grew near corpses, or the smell of someone who had eaten too many mushrooms.
Tian Xiao and Mom had also eaten mushrooms, but they didn't carry this scent.
Tian Xiao's question seemed to stump the man for a moment. After struggling to think, the man finally remembered why he had come.
He widened his eyes and stared at Tian Xiao, as if trying to see something extraordinary in his face.
He lowered his voice, asking in a furtive whisper, "Are you the extra person?"
A completely baffling question.
To anyone else, it would sound like the ramblings of a madman, yet it struck a chord in Tian Xiao's heart.
Was he the extra person?
Tian Xiao didn't understand what the man meant, but in a way, he truly was an extra person in this world.
However, after the "Black Mist incident," Tian Xiao wasn't sure how many extra people existed in this world.
If he had to guess, Tian Xiao figured the corpse lying in the park could also be considered an "extra person."
Even without a head and half a shoulder, it was still sizable and retained a vaguely human shape—barely enough to qualify as a "person."
In an instant, countless thoughts raced through Tian Xiao's mind, but he took advantage of his young age, putting on a sweet, innocent smile as he replied, "Big brother, I don't understand what you're asking."
When Tian Xiao wanted to, he could certainly play the part of a "good little boy" in others' eyes.
The man frowned slightly, his gaze sweeping around Tian Xiao's home once more.
When his eyes passed over where Mom was standing, the man still couldn't see her, yet he instinctively took a step back, muttering to himself, "Can you hear it? There's a voice constantly echoing in my ears, telling me to find the extra person. But what is an extra person? And where are they?"
"It's so noisy… I'm already looking… Why won't it stop talking?"