Chapter 66: The Ceremony of Thoughts
In the cave filled with mud and mushrooms, a large clean pool of water flows in the center of the fungus forest.
Gleaming phosphorescent fungi cover the ceiling and stone walls of the cave, forming strange constellations that contrast with a dark rift ahead and a small cave shrouded in mist.
The old and skinny Myconid King Bastiffe stood in the only dry place: the central mound.
In its deep eyes, it looked sadly at the small cracks rising from the cave floor far away from the forest glade, and at the many giant mushrooms.
"My king."
The message from Luobam, the leader of the Hunter Association, sounded in the heart of the Myconid King: "All the tribesmen in the entire forest have been gathered here, but"
Association The leader's tone paused slightly, and then said in a sad tone, "In addition to the members of the Master Association, there are also a small number of tribesmen who have been affected by the demon pollution spores and have been completely corrupted. We cannot stop them and have to take tough measures. "
"That's all we can do," the Myconid King sighed softly in his heart.
The Myconid clan advocates simplicity, sharing joy, and relies on the perception and insight generated by their own thoughts to live in the fungus forest in the dark area.
Due to their innocent character and unique way of empathy, as well as their fungal biological nature, many tribesmen are extremely vulnerable when faced with the corrupted infection of the fungus queen Zugmoi.
Standing on the high platform, the Myconid King couldn’t help but feel sad as he looked at the tribesmen below who were becoming more and more uncontrolled, indulging in the fungal queen’s recurring saprophytic and crazy transcendental dreams. .
They are promoting all this with childlike ignorance, seeing the corruption of all life as a carnival of wonder and pleasure, and simply cannot understand the fact that they are immersed in evil.
"We must not let our allies fall into crisis." The Myconid King ordered the leader of the association beside him.
The golden elf Severil confidently assured it that he would definitely be able to deal with the lich hiding deep in the woodland.
And the half-elf Brian, who knew their myconid clan thoroughly, was willing to take on the most dangerous task and chose to face the fungus queen living in Yogmoogu Palace.
These kind-hearted adventurers from the surface have fought against the deadliest enemies for their myconids, and they must not let this hold them back.
“Remember, you must try your best to stop those less corrupted myconids from going to the Master Society and Yogmoog Palace to attend the wedding, because this is the only way to save them! It is also the fungus queen. The only way to drive back to the bottomless abyss!”
Myconid King Bastiff recalled the warning Brian gave it in an extremely solemn tone before leaving.
At this time, it had no time to consider why the other party knew so much about the Fungus Queen and their myconid clan.
All it knew was that the mysterious half-elf adventurer's warning made sense.
Because if these tribesmen cannot be stopped from going to the wedding venue, they will be completely corrupted by the Fungus Queen and turn their backs on the battlefield, hindering Brian's plan to expel Zugmoy.
After all, the characteristics of their myconid family make it impossible for them to let anyone approach the Fungus Queen's range at will to support Brian.
This also means that if they fail in this link, Brian and his companions will face enemies in addition to the twelve bridesmaids and six housekeepers of the Fungus Queen. Welcome all the completely corrupted myconids throughout the Sunless Glade.
This is definitely not what it wants to see.
Feeling the evil sound and light effects spread by the fungus queen in the lightless forest, the myconid king Bastif looked down at the tribesmen who were indulged, drunken and carousing more and more uncontrollably.
It stared into the void devoutly, and deep in its heart shouted the name of the great fungus lord Boslophel:
"My lord Boslophel!"
< br>“You are the benevolent god of the myconids, the protector of the myconids!”
“Your humble disciple Bastif prays for your answer!
I pray that you will give us the power of purification to help our people! .The fungus queen Zugmoy is wreaking havoc in our homeland!
The dream shared by the Queen through spiritual communication! ...implanting corruption deep into the entire colony! .Making the calm and peaceful nature of the mushroom man become anxious and fanatical!
Our people suffered heavy losses! Many people who are simple and naive by nature have completely become slaves of the Fungus Queen.
If even you can't help us! All myconids throughout the Underdark will be in danger of corruption! ”
Boslophir is the benevolent god of myconids.
Is a meditative deity who resides in a mechanical mirror.
He is also the god of teaching for their myconid clan.
His only concern is the protection of the myconoid race and the pursuit of perfection through meditation.
At this moment, the fungus queen Zugmoi is planning a wedding in Yogmoogu to marry the consciousness of the Sunless Woodland.
When she had no time to be distracted, Basti must take this opportunity to free the less corrupt tribesmen from the control of the Queen, and win the favor for Brian to expel her back to the bottomless abyss. More time.
As the priest of Boslophel, Bastifi naturally knew how to pray to the gods he believed in to obtain help from the great Lord of Fungi.
In the cave filled with mud and mushrooms, the Myconid King is still praying to the great Lord of Fungi with pious spiritual words.
The fungus people gathered together, but under the influence of the evil sound and light effects of the fungus queen deep in the forest, they gradually became restless and uncontrollably walked towards the wedding venue.
Obviously, the wedding in Yogmoogu Palace is about to begin.
If Basti cannot appease the myconids gathered here before the wedding reaches its climax, they will be met with disaster.
"The greatest and most majestic moment of the Sunless Woods has arrived!"
The leader of the Builders' Guild gathered in the crowd stood out like a tall tower in the building complex, spewing telepathic spores. , raised his hands, shook the broad umbrella-shaped caps, and shouted enthusiastically:
"Rejoice, the day of joy has arrived! Let us build something even grander than the ancient palace of Yogmo Mushroom Tower, go and welcome the arrival of the great sower!"
"The most wonderful surprise is coming!"
"The generous and great lady of decay will give us fertile soil and moisture!"
"The Sunless Glade is with the Lady of Fungi!"
"No one can stop us from meeting the great Sower!"
…………
The Builders' Guild The leader's shout was like a sign, and various carnivals echoed in all directions at the same time.
The mushrooms sprayed out dense clouds of spores, sharing their crazy joy in the sparkling cave while rushing towards the wedding venue with cheers.
The leader of the hunter association suddenly felt the pressure doubled.
It mobilized the mushroom guards, spore slaves and myconid warriors in its hands as much as possible to form a fungal forest wall on the only way to the wedding venue to block the fungus affected by the corrupted spores. People are moving forward.
Looking around, the mushroom people gathered here looked like a forest being ravaged by strong winds, swaying wildly and dancing wildly.
Just when this chaos was about to turn into a large-scale riot, Bastiff finally got a response from the Lord of Fungi.
In a trance, it was pleasantly surprised to see a magnificent fungus tree, growing blue-gray mycelium at an extremely fast speed.
These mycelium traveled through distant time and space, distant planes, came to their distant world, and took root in the land of the lightless woodland.
Little by little divine radiance emerges in the darkness.
"Welcome my lord! The great lord of fungi."
The Myconid King knelt devoutly on the ground, with mist-like clouds filling the shimmering umbrella-shaped caps above his head. Blue-gray spore cloud.
Fluorescent spore clouds, carried by the silent breeze, float in the mud and mushroom-filled caves.
at the same time.
The moment the rioting mushrooms came into contact with the blue-gray spores, the frenzy in their eyes immediately returned to clarity, and they stood there motionless like a mushroom tree rooted in the ground.
This is a mindfulness ceremony!
Myconids share everything through mindfulness.
The telepathic spores transformed by the divine power of the Lord of Fungi can telepathically connect all the Myconids here to share the views, fears, hopes and dreams of the Myconid King. Only through the unique method of mind union, these mushroom people who have been corrupted by the fungus queen can jointly build the hearts and souls of their own colonies to save their corrupted souls from the abyss.
As a result, the lightless forest in front of the Myconid King Bastiffe disappeared.
In its place was a field covered with spongy moss and covered with puddles of soft mud.
In the distance stands a magnificent palace composed of huge mushrooms and interconnected bridges.
A cloud of spores fell from the sky, covering all matter.
A tall creature smiled and waved to it.
Her upper body is vaguely humanoid, with four slimy, fibrous tentacles sprouting from her forehead, making her look even more disgusting yet beautiful.
Her lower body is a writhing, throbbing mass of tentacles covered in fungus, like a hideous robe.
This is the fungus queen Zugmoy, and her fungus palace located on the 222nd floor of the Abyss.
Any myconid who sees this vision will fall into Zurgmoi's madness.
With the blessing of divine power, the Myconid King Bastif successfully resisted the fate of being corrupted.
It finally saw the images that were rooted deep in the minds of the tribesmen, and also understood the cause of their descent into madness.
To purify their people, it must completely get rid of this illusion rooted deep in its mind.
Under the permeation of blue-gray purifying spores, the myconid king Bastiffe immediately connected with the people's telepathy, showing his spiritual space to everyone.
It began to think about the good things, the quiet and peaceful days of the myconids.
As it continues to fantasize, the illusion of the Fungus Queen and the Fungus Palace that is rooted deep in the myconid's mind begins to disappear.
In its place is a beautiful and rich fungal woodland.
The breeze blows, and all the colors - lavender and pale blue, brown red, rust color and dark green are constantly alternating in the mushroom forests.
The thick and wrinkled stems of fungus mushrooms are moss-green in the flowing water of underground rivers.
The water flow is slowly blown into gentle eddies by the wind, and then seems to be hindered and stagnated by rocks, mushroom rhizomes, and hanging and falling luminous moss.
In the mind space of Nianhe, there is no clear path and no direct fluorescence. Only plants such as luminous fungi, toadstools, mushrooms and lichens are mixed into the bottom of the water, mixed with the fluorescence of tall fungi, and mixed together. A hazy mass like a shadow.
Immediately afterwards, all the myconids simultaneously saw a giant-like myconid in Bastifer's mental space.
He is floating in the air, with a huge mycelial complex floating behind him.
His umbrella-shaped cap is covered with a star-shaped blue-gray mushroom, and is also decorated with other distinctive fungi.
The mushroom people threw themselves down among the fragrant fungi, intoxicated by this wonderful scene.
I don’t know how long it took
Myconid King Bastiffe was surprised to find that the illusions from the Fungus Queen in the minds of his people had been eliminated by the purifying spores given by the Lord of Fungi.
So, the picture in front of it disappeared again.
In its place lies the familiar lightless woodland.
It saw many tribesmen returning to silence and monotony, looking around blankly, as if wondering what had happened.
This made him smile happily in his heart.
Now, the corrupted myconids have been purified under the guidance of the Lord of Fungi. As long as Severil and Brian succeed, the entire Sunless Wood will be rejuvenated with new vitality.
“My king.”
At this moment, the leader of the Explorers Association hurried over and reported to him through teleportation spores, “Teemo is missing again.”< br>
“What?”
When the Myconid King Bastifei heard this, he was shocked and said in disbelief, "You have been taking care of it, why has it disappeared again? What is going on, Rashalu?"
It knows that Rashalu, the leader of the Explorers Association, has always been loyal to him.
Raxialu, who frequently left the forest for long distances, was able to more clearly compare the changes that had occurred in Philo and the entire colony, so it did not dare to believe anyone but itself.
Because of this, when the people of the tribe were corrupted by the Fungus Queen, it gave Rashalu the most important task.
That is to make him prepare to escape in advance, prepare and store supplies in the tunnel he leaves, and be ready to abandon the lightless woodland together at any time.
Although they have now decided to coexist and die with the Lightless Woodland, this does not mean that the Myconids will all be destroyed here.
Take advantage of the opportunity for adventurers on the surface to fight the Fungus Queen and the Lich.
It has already secretly sent the leader of the Explorer Association to take Teemo to escape from the Sunless Woodland and head to the remote Fungus Forest.
Who would have thought that an accident would happen again and Teemo would disappear again.
In the heart of the Myconid King Bastiffe, he would rather the entire Lightless Forest be destroyed than let Teemo be harmed in any way.
Because Teemo is the myconid larva chosen by the Lord of Fungi and the hope of the future Fungus Forest.
“This time is different from the last time we encountered a drow patrol.” The leader of the explorer association said, “It left on its own initiative, and we couldn’t stop it at all.”
"Do we need to send someone to look for it?" the leader of the hunter association suggested.
The Myconid King Bastiffi stared at the people who had recovered as before. He was silent for a long time and said in a rather difficult tone:
"If you are distracted at this time to find Teemo, , these purified tribesmen are likely to be contaminated again. In this case, the plan of the surface adventurers to deal with the fungus queen will be ruined."
"Nate Mota."
"The great Lord of Fungi will bless it." The Myconid King raised his umbrella-shaped mushroom head and faced the void, murmuring.
It knows that the wedding of the Fungus Queen Zugmoy is about to reach its climax, and it must use the purification spores given to it by the Lord of Fungi to perform a second mindfulness ceremony on the tribesmen.
Otherwise, they will face the risk of being corrupted for a second time under the influence of the Queen's evil sonic effect.
As for Teemo, his subconscious told him that his departure was an instruction from the Lord of Fungi.
Just like the first time it disappeared, it unexpectedly brought back a group of adventurers who saved the Sunless Woodland.
At the same time, ravings filled with madness and joy penetrated the consciousness of Myconid King Bastiffe and echoed in the depths of his mind.
It was slightly startled, and realized deeply that this was a harbinger of a wedding in Yogmoo Ancient Palace.
In other words, the fungus queen Zugmoy’s ‘putrid wedding’ is about to begin!
…………
(End of this chapter)