Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

Chapter 528 - 518: Soul and Faith

"How on earth do you useless bunch get things done?" The guard captain’s low roar echoed in the narrow alleyway, as he pointed at the limp male corpse on the ground, anger making his hands tremble, "How many times did I stress before setting off? Capture only, no harming anyone! Have you all turned my words into background noise? What is this now? Speak up!"

"Captain, this...this really isn’t entirely our fault." A young guard shrank his neck, his voice carrying a hint of grievance, "They themselves extinguished all the candles in the house, pitch black so we couldn’t see anything. When we charged in, the people inside panicked, knocking over that pot, this guy slipped and fell on the mushroom soup himself, and had the misfortune to hit the back of his head on the corner of the table... we didn’t even touch his coat hem."

"Couldn’t you use your brains?" The captain jabbed his finger at the forehead of his subordinate, "There are more than twenty of you, once you block the doors and windows, how could they grow wings and fly away? Did you have to charge in like wild boars and scare them?"

He found it difficult to calm his rage.

The Lord of Fa’er had personally instructed him before, "Don’t cause any trouble"!

He thought this was a chance to prove himself, but now a death had occurred, he had no idea how to go back and report.

"How about...we quietly bury him?" A shrewd-looking guard stepped closer, lowered his voice in suggestion.

"Fool!" The captain turned and glared at him, "If he still has family, or friends in the army, won’t it all be exposed once they ask at the City Lord’s Mansion? Are you planning to capture his entire family to silence them?"

"Captain, I checked." The guard was not flustered, instead, he moved closer, his voice even lower, "This man is a new member they recently inducted into the ’Mushroom Worship Sect’, a refugee from the western fallen area, completely alone in Mushroom City, not a single acquaintance."

Upon hearing this, the captain’s rapid breathing slightly calmed.

He didn’t speak immediately, his fingers rubbed the stubble on his chin, his gaze shifting between the corpse and his men.

Seeing the captain tempted, the guard continued persuasively: "Captain, we can toss him onto the Fungal Mat outside the city, cover him with some grass and soil, and in less than three days he’ll be consumed by the mycelium until only unrecognizable bones remain. Separate the other cult members and lock them up, over time, who will remember such a person?"

"Hmm..." The captain squeezed out a vague syllable from his throat.

Three days later, Lin Jun received a sticky soul.

...

For Lin Jun, it was the second time encountering such a uniquely characteristic soul, and this time it stuck even more tightly than the last one.

Though it was still attempting to escape, it could maintain its presence for over a minute.

Lin Jun reacted swiftly, directly placing it into a spare Puki body among the numbered backup cannon fodder Pukis.

It actually worked!

Yet the newly transformed Puki appeared extremely agitated when emerging from the chrysalis.

He seemed to want to scream, but Puki didn’t have vocal organs.

Unconsciously he ’ah ah ah’-ed within the Fungal Network while frantically running on short legs.

Lin Jun tried to soothe him, only for him to run even faster.

Just as Lin Jun was about to lose patience and reclaim control over the body, he stumbled first.

With a slip of his short legs, the round mushroom body rolled down a slope, ending with a dull thud, cracking the mushroom cap into halves against a rock, dying.

As the body decomposed, his soul emerged once more.

This time its stickiness was far inferior to initially, and soon it slipped from Lin Jun’s grasp, disappearing into the void.

Lin Jun was exasperated, wondering how there could be someone with such poor mental resilience?

Look at the Sword Saint, he was merely surprised for a moment upon transforming into Puki but quickly calmed down.

This guy, from chrysalis to death, did nothing but "ah ah ah" and run around, leaving no useful information behind.

Though no information was extracted, his mere existence proved that people can indeed turn into Pukis.

The key lies in the source of the soul’s stickiness!

Lin Jun located his body, in a mound outside the city.

Despite not being able to rewind scenes like surveillance footage, relying on the Fungal Mat’s sensory network and information eavesdropping capabilities, tracing back wasn’t hard.

Mushroom Worship Sect?

In the depths of the dungeon, a woman named Julia, even imprisoned, repeatedly prayed to a cluster of mushrooms in the corner: "May Puki Deity bless... may Your mycelium guide me..."

Excuse me, who are you?

Who authorized you to establish a faith-based religious organization centered around Puki without permission?

This felt like a student attending regular classes suddenly hearing someone in school started a fan club for themselves.

Hmm...on second thought, maybe that’s not so bad?

So, it’s faith?

Faith creates connections between souls?

Since acquiring the [Inspiration], Lin Jun’s understanding of souls deepened considerably.

Souls, though seemingly present right in front of us, inside every individual’s body, are indeed independent entities difficult to interfere with once separated from the body.

Lin Jun can capture souls through [Greed], but this only allows capturing the mixtures representing skill proficiency on the soul’s surface.

Once the skills are consumed, Lin Jun can’t interfere with the pure soul left behind.

The soul has always been a mysterious entity, fixed in place when contained in a body.

But once they depart the body, spatial positioning becomes meaningless.

Take the Frost Elemental Lord who’s currently searching for Pink Puki in the ruins.

Lin Jun had summoned using Puki near Red Stone City, yet when Puki’s body was destroyed, it promptly crossed the continent and appeared in the Far North following the momentary soul connection at summon.

This was because the coordinates of Lin Jun’s soul part changed the instant Puki died.

Evidently, souls operate under a different logic.

Now it seems faith holds special significance for souls!

No wonder gods dabble in religion.

Lin Jun recalled disassembling those church warriors in the past, acquiring a skill called [Divine Barrier].

Church warriors used it to form sacred light shields that could meld with each other to block attacks, yet when Lin Jun tried using it, the light curtain shattered upon touch. Was faith the reason?

Does the skill’s power come from the God of Light?

For deities, the connections established through faith hold additional purposes.

Lin Jun isn’t arrogant enough to think he can rival gods, nor is he interested in turning everyone into Puki, except for the Sword Saint as an exception.

But these don’t hinder his interest in faith.

In fact, anything related to souls piques his curiosity.

Increasingly, it seems the most crucial element in this world is the soul!

And conveniently, he had readily available material.

The rustling sound interrupted Julia’s prayers, as she opened her eyes to see the fungal mat in the corner spreading at visible speeds.

Then, a chrysalis slowly emerged from it.

"Puki...Deity?"