Heroes' Prison

Chapter 194 - 192: Mushrooms Along the Way

A puff of green poison fog rose from beneath Huang Yi’s feet, and he was poisoned instantly.

The small explosion sent Huang Yi staggering back a few steps, his health points dropping by a small half, and he gained a poisoned status effect. However, he had evolved into a Half-Beastman form and possessed extremely high poison resistance, so the toxin did virtually no harm to him and posed no lethal threat.

Huang Yi crouched down and examined the site of the explosion, only to find a small pit, unsure of what had detonated. But he was certain that when he had passed by this spot earlier, there definitely hadn’t been anything out of the ordinary.

Looking around, Huang Yi saw nothing but the endless forest. Warm sunlight filtered through, a breeze wafted by, and the green leaves rustled, everything seemed normal. Yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a sinister atmosphere lurking within this serene forest.

After regaining full health, Huang Yi continued forward, now even more vigilant about his surroundings.

"Boom!" A few minutes later, another explosion occurred near Huang Yi’s feet, followed by another puff of green poison fog that inflicted damage on him once more.

This time, Huang Yi was certain that someone had orchestrated this, as two similar explosions occurring in succession seemed highly unlikely to be natural and more like the work of a hunter’s trap.

Just like warriors, mages, and priests, hunters were one of the large professional classes, typically employing bows and arrows, crossbow bolts, daggers, and hidden weapons as their arsenal. Some hunters possessed formidable long-range attacking abilities; some could communicate with wild beasts, making contracts with many of them; while others excelled in scouting, undertaking detective and reconnaissance work. Regardless of the type, all hunters were adept at setting traps.

The traps set by skilled hunters could even escape detection, being entirely invisible, activating as soon as they were stepped on. Huang Yi was clearly dealing with a trap laid by a skilled hunter.

If this was an invisible player, then Huang Yi could transform into a Half-Beastman and use the Racial Skill "Tracking Scent" to see through the enemy’s location. However, with only the invisible traps to contend with, he wouldn’t be able to see through them.

But he wasn’t in a rush, as he immediately took out an item from his storage ring.

The item was a palm-sized compass, delicate and exquisite, made entirely of brass-colored metal, with several intricate circles etched onto it. This compass, named the Item Seeking Compass, could find all items within a kilometer radius that shared the same scent as a given object.

Huang Yi had purchased the compass from a traveling merchant named Kula Mingyue during his first visit to the Desolate Sands. He had bought a total of four items at that time, which included a Projection Mirror, a Water Seeking Mirror, a Medicine Bottle, and this compass. He had used the first three items, especially the medicine bottle, which he checked almost daily to see what potions had been bred. The compass, though, hadn’t been used until now, as he had not yet found an appropriate opportunity.

In the current situation, this compass could play a significant role. Huang Yi could use it to detect traps with the same scent within a kilometer, ensuring he wouldn’t step on them again.

Huang Yi immediately placed the compass in the midst of the poison fog, letting it memorize the scent, then picked up the compass and continued forward.

After a while, a small light appeared on the compass, like a radar, pointing out the direction of the object—it was one kilometer straight ahead.

Eager to solve this mystery, Huang Yi moved closer to the light on the compass.

The compass was incredibly accurate, pin-pointing down to a meter. When Huang Yi arrived at the trap’s location, the white light on the compass turned red, indicating he was less than a meter away from it.

Huang Yi squatted down immediately, examining his surroundings carefully, not overlooking any detail.

Grass grew around his feet, with a few ants crawling on the tips. As a breeze blew, the grass swayed gently—everything appeared so ordinary, without anything unusual.

The trap truly was invisible, showing no trace to the naked eye.

Huang Yi quickly retrieved a small paper packet from his storage ring, opening it carefully to reveal a small pile of gray powder. This powder was a magic item called Revealing Dust, and when sprinkled, it could temporarily reveal all invisible things within its range.

The next moment, Huang Yi gently scattered the Revealing Dust around him, and the gray powder blanketed a few meters in his vicinity.

Soon, Huang Yi spotted something emerging half a meter in front of him from the ground—it was a mushroom. The cap was green with some purple-red spots, and it looked so toxic that just seeing it was enough to know it was dangerous. Huang Yi suspected that if he were not a Half-Beastman with high poison resistance, just one of these mushrooms could cost him half his life; and if he stepped on a few at once, it would likely spell instant death.

Huang Yi furrowed his brows. In the depths of the remote forest where humans rarely tread, it was unlikely that a hunter player had planted these mushrooms. Moreover, he had never heard of a hunter class possessing such mushroom traps.

Huang Yi decided to continue forward as the mushrooms happened to be in the same direction as his path.

With the aid of the Item Seeking Compass, he avoided all the invisible mushrooms along the way. These mushrooms were placed almost every kilometer with great regularity, and it was unclear what purpose the other party had in planting these mushrooms. If the intention was to kill enemies, one could simply place several mushrooms at the same spot to increase the chance of killing an enemy. The sparsely placed mushrooms now seemed more like markers.

Huang Yi walked until evening arrived. The sun was slowly setting, casting golden rays slantwise into the forest, forming beams of light. In the dusk of the forest, birds flitted their wings as they headed back to their nests, while from a distance, the growls of wild beasts began to rise—a dangerous night in the forest was coming.

Just then, Huang Yi’s Item Seeking Compass suddenly showed a dense cluster of tiny lights a kilometer ahead, indicating the presence of countless poisonous mushrooms.

It seemed that was the source of the poison mushrooms! Huang Yi immediately quickened his pace and headed in that direction.

He soon arrived a kilometer away. For safety, he used Shadow Dance and burst through a clump of grass ahead, catching sight of the place indicated by the compass.

There was a towering tree ahead with a tiny wooden house built on the forks, covered with leaves and thatch. The compass indicated that the mushrooms were on that tree.

"I’ll scout ahead!" At that moment, a child’s voice came from not far away. Subsequently, a small figure approached in the direction of Huang Yi.

The figure was a small boy no taller than a meter. He was incredibly cute, wearing a green mushroom hat adorned with a pair of glasses. Clipped to his waist was a small bamboo tube with remnants of green venom. In his small hands, he wore little gauntlets and was currently holding a telescope, peering towards Huang Yi.

However, Huang Yi was in stealth mode, so the little boy couldn’t see him and came charging straight ahead, about to crash into Huang Yi’s arms.

Right at that moment, Huang Yi’s invisibility expired, and he abruptly appeared in front of the little boy.

"Ah! We’ve got a situation!" Startled, the boy immediately let out a shout, quickly brandishing the small bamboo tube at his waist and looking at Huang Yi with a face full of alertness.

"Never underestimate the power of a Swift Scout!" The little boy looked up at Huang Yi and threatened with a bravado tinged with fear betrayed by his trembling hands.

"If I had wanted to attack you, I would have done it while I was invisible just now," said Huang Yi, staring at the little boy without any intent to make a move.

"Teemo, what’s wrong?" At that moment, a little girl’s voice sounded from behind.

Then, a similarly cute little girl who was less than a meter tall walked over. Her attire resembled the boy’s, also sporting a pair of glasses on her head. However, her weapon was much more menacing—a cannon barrel as large as her body that gave off a chilling vibe. At the moment, her other hand was holding a red apple, which she nibbled on contentedly.

"There’s a bad guy here," said the boy named Teemo, glancing back at the little girl.

"Hm?" The little girl’s face turned serious as she glared at Huang Yi and hefted the large cannon in her hand, "Wanna see some fireworks?"

"No thanks," Huang Yi shook his head and smiled, "I’m just passing through. I don’t mean any harm. On the contrary, your mushrooms have blown me up quite a few times."

"Oh! Sorry!" Teemo seemed to remember something and scratched his head, saying apologetically, "I planted those mushrooms just to help the spotted deer find their way home. The mushrooms are harmless to animals; they only explode when stepped on by humans. I thought no one would come here."

"If you’re not a bad guy, then we can be friends!" The little girl’s expression immediately softened, and she put away her cannon, "My name’s Tristana, nice to meet you. Since it’s getting dark and the forest is dangerous, why don’t you come and sit inside our temporary little house?" With that, she blinked her large eyes at Huang Yi.

"Sure!" Huang Yi smiled slightly. These two children were clearly devoid of any cunning; they radiated innocence in every gesture, trusting him after just a few words.

Next, Huang Yi followed the two children up the tree to enter the little wooden house above.

The wooden house was exquisitely compact, furnished with two small beds, a table, and two chairs. On the table were two strings of roasted mushrooms, likely their dinner, but they had to leave hurriedly upon discovering Huang Yi’s arrival to check out what was happening. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote with Recommendation Tickets and Monthly Tickets on Starting Point (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)