Hallucinogenic Mushrooms
My high school mentor once told me something with a thoroughly gloomy look on his face.
At the time, he was a fresh-faced newlywed, barely married. For some reason, though, he was growing thinner by the day. When our curiosity finally got the better of us, he shared the story.
"When you boys get married, if the food tastes bad, just say so."
We wondered if that would mean never getting fed at all. As if answering that unspoken doubt, he continued.
"Honestly, after you get married, you're supposed to say your wife's cooking is delicious, right? I did the same. So I told her everything was good, no matter what. And then the problem dish showed up — eel soup."
Eel? Sure, I wouldn't touch it as a kid, but if someone made it for me now I'd polish off a whole pot without blinking.
"So I said it was delicious. The problem was, that delicious eel soup had been store-bought. She figured she wanted to make it herself from scratch…"
He let out a long, heavy sigh.
"…Have you ever seen eel soup where the eel is chopped into chunks that float around like snakes? I've been eating nothing but that for breakfast and dinner for a week straight. I'm dying here."
He couldn't bring himself to say it was too disgusting to eat, so he forced down that nightmarish eel soup every single day and went to work. The aftereffects left him barely able to manage lunch either.
Why am I bringing this up?
Because of dumplings. And Japanese-style ramen.
Don't get me wrong — they're delicious, and I like them. But eating them every single day for months on end?
No matter how well Mao Mei cooked, it was bound to get old. And yet every time she brought food over, those catlike eyes of hers lit up with expectation. How was I supposed to refuse?
At least, unlike my mentor's situation, this kid actually knew how to cook. That was something.
Today I'd planned to gently suggest we try some other dishes so she wouldn't get her feelings hurt. But apparently she'd already gone off to prepare more ramen and dumplings.
Hmm? She should have been back by now.
For some reason, neither the food nor the girl herself had shown up.
"Where's the kitchen? She's running strangely late."
"Ah? You're right. That's odd. She must have botched the cooking. I'll go check right away."
"No — let's go together."
In the kitchen, a scene that didn't quite make sense was waiting for us.
Mao Mei was rummaging through something, while the person who'd been preparing the food was swaying on his feet, completely out of it.
"…Xiao Mao? What the hell is going on here?"
"Ah? Dad?"
She was getting pretty comfortable calling me Dad now. Not that that was the important part.
"Ah — no? Young lady, what is the meaning of this?"
Park Ji-man, the vice-leader of the shelter, was breaking out in a cold sweat. He looked like a man with something to hide.
"…You've prepared something rather interesting, haven't you? Mister, is this mushroom a hallucinogenic variety? Hmm."
What Mao Mei held in her hand was a mushroom.
And its name was hallucinogenic? That was some over-the-top hospitality for guests.
"…Ahahaha, th-that, it relieves fatigue… and if you take just the right amount, it's actually very good for you. S-so…"
"Is that so?"
With a light hop, she dropped down from the table where she'd been sitting. Then, with a cheerful little skip of her feet, she was suddenly right behind the vice-leader.
Looking at her, this kid's martial talent was clearly better than mine. Whether it was forming a dantian or everything else — hidden weapons, lightness skill, dagger techniques — she took everything I taught her and made it her own in no time.
And she didn't stop there. She was developing it into her own martial arts. When it came to hidden weapons, she was already better than me.
Like something out of a movie, she could thread inner energy into a needle and fling it. She was skilled enough to hit a target thirty meters away. At that level, she was basically the Invincible Asia. Who knows — maybe she was the reincarnation of some needle-throwing big sister from the old stories.
"Shh. Stay still. Move, and I'll cut you."
A dagger was in her hand, the blade resting against the vice-leader's throat.
"…P-please. Th-that, your daughter, if you could…"
He looked at me with every pitiful expression in the book. He'd picked the wrong people to mess with. He'd probably planned to poison us with these mushrooms and turn us into his puppets.
But mushrooms of this caliber, I could burn out of my system with inner energy. And Mao Mei, being so thoroughly versed in medicinal and poisonous herbs, had spotted them immediately.
"Don't kill him. Just give him a light cut."
At my words, Park Ji-man, vice-leader of the shelter, tried to cry out in shock.
But then —
Shhhk.
Blood sprayed.
That seemed a little too deep…
"Oh my? I misjudged the force. Heheh."
With a strangled gurgle, he crumpled to the floor, desperately clamping his hands over the gushing wound.
"…Your idea of a joke is excessive."
Tap-tap-tap.
I pressed the pressure points to stop the bleeding. The blood soon ceased, but his entire body was paralyzed — he couldn't so much as twitch. Apparently the dagger had been coated with poison.
"…They're called magic mushrooms. Hallucinogenic mushrooms. They produce powerful hallucinations and addiction symptoms."
Having said that, she casually popped one of the mushrooms into her mouth.
A moment later, she was looking at me with glazed, dreamy eyes.
This was starting to feel a little dangerous.
"…Heheheh, the dosage… ihihihihi, M-Master? Why are you riding a frog? A r-rift frog! I want that one."
"……"
What was she thinking, poisoning herself?
I had no choice. I pushed inner energy into her body and flushed out the residual effects of the hallucinogenic mushroom. She snapped back to her usual self almost immediately.
"…I'm sorry. But thanks to that, I think I've figured out the proper dosage."
"Uh-huh? I'd rather not do this kind of thing if I can help it."
"No. I'm not planning to use them as hallucinogens. These mushrooms were brought in from a rift zone. They're concentrated with rift energy. If I can get just a few more ingredients like this… I think it might be possible."
What might be possible?
"…Master?"
"Hmm?"
"As you know, Master, qi grows denser the closer you get to a rift zone, doesn't it? That means I can use these mushrooms to make a spiritual elixir. Like the Shaolin Temple's Great Return Pill!"
Wait — for real?
I was a little skeptical, but there was no need to show it. When it came to herbs and medicine, I was a complete amateur, while she possessed a fairly vast body of knowledge. On top of that, she could now circulate inner energy — so maybe, just maybe, she really could produce an elixir that enhanced one's internal power.
"A-alright, give it a try. I'll track down the rest of the ingredients for you."
"Yes, sir. And what should we do with this one?"
Park Ji-man could only stare with his eyes open, still locked down by the paralytic poison. I hadn't planned to kill him in the first place, but the situation had gotten thoroughly tangled. What now?
"Listen carefully. We're going to meet the shelter leader here, so all you need to do is quietly show us the way. Do that, and I won't make an issue of anything that's happened so far. If you don't cooperate… well, I can make this easy on myself too."
The man blinked his eyes furiously in agreement.
Still — thanks to this guy, we might actually be able to make a spiritual elixir? But could she really pull it off? I was a little worried…
"Eheheheheh~ Daaad~~ Kyaahahaha."
"Uh, y-yeah, it's Dad."
Should I put a stop to this?
I understood she was trying to be helpful in her own way, but now I was starting to get genuinely concerned. She wanted to test the exact dosage — whether she kept missing the mark or just enjoyed the ride, she was floating around in a daze again.
"…Hoo. Alright, come on — snap out of it."
In the end, I flushed the energy out of her with my inner power once more.
"…I-I've definitely figured out the dosage this time, Master."
"How many times have you said that today?"
"…Th-three times?"
"Enough! One mushroom alone isn't going to make a spiritual elixir anyway. And you don't even need to raise your inner power that badly. Martial arts aren't decided by internal energy alone."
"B-but…"
Pat.
I gently rested my hand on her drooping head.
Spiritual elixirs, immortal pills — sure, they had their effects. I wouldn't claim otherwise. But those were things you took before the age of twenty, with multiple masters guiding the process through pressure-point techniques and bone-washing refinement. For someone like me, the benefits would be negligible.
The same went for Mao Mei.
What mattered far more was how purely and carefully you refined the inner power you already possessed. That wasn't mere energy circulation — it was progress through enlightenment. That was the essence of the martial path I'd walked for ten years in the Central Plains.
"…Let's take it slow. There's no rush right now. Still, I'm impressed. You've got real talent for hidden weapons, medicine, and poisons."
At my words, her eyes went wide. A faint flush colored her cheeks, followed by a smile that looked thoroughly pleased.
"…Th-thank you."
Come to think of it, Park Ji-man, the vice-leader, hadn't shown so much as a whisker these past few days. Well, I had threatened to kill him on the spot if he ever appeared in front of me again.
"Wasn't the leader supposed to arrive today?"
"Yes, that's right, Master."
Speak of the tiger and he appears — mention the shelter leader, and there he was.
"…The shelter leader has returned."
A resident I'd never seen before came to guide us. Whatever she'd been told about us, her face was full of fear. Fair enough — we'd sliced out the eyes of three local thugs and half-killed the vice-leader. No wonder. So much for a quiet infiltration.
The shelter leader's quarters turned out to be a small office. The position of shelter leader was, if you had to draw a comparison, something like a medieval feudal lord. A truly tiny fiefdom, with maybe a hundred residents. You might expect a certain amount of luxury, but this particular shelter leader didn't seem the type.
"Oh? He's not here. Would you mind waiting a bit? He's probably out in the fields."
"The fields?"
"Yes. He tends a vegetable garden inside the shelter. Grain is still difficult, but at least vegetables are being grown."
"Is that so? Let's go together, then."
Even at Eclipse Shelter, nobody farmed a personal garden like this. People either worked the farms run by the Hounds or got drafted for rift operations.
After a short walk, a vegetable plot of surprising size came into view. A man who looked to be in his mid-fifties was pulling weeds. He had a gentle face and a quiet, dignified air about him — more agreeable and refined than I'd expected.
He saw me and brushed the dirt from his hands.
"Hahaha, a pleasure to meet you. I'm Mun I-san — I manage this place."
"Nice to meet you."
He couldn't quite bring himself to take my hand right away. The dirt on his fingers seemed to bother him. He brushed them off once more, then clasped my hand.
Soft hands that had never done hard labor — yet I could feel the calluses of long years spent holding a pen. A classic scholar type.
"…You went a bit far. But the fault is mine for failing to manage my people. Allow me to apologize once more."
"Is that so?"
"Well, even so — I've wanted to land a punch on those bastards myself at least once."
He finished speaking and laughed heartily.
"Oh? And this must be your daughter. My word. To have such a beautiful daughter — you must have your hands full with worry."
"Yes. Thanks to someone."
My barb left him with nothing but an awkward smile.
"Shall we walk for a bit?"
When I agreed, he started ahead at an easy pace.
A surprisingly plain man. No hunger for power, no lust, no greed — that was what his bearing and his eyes suggested. Especially the eyes. Clear ones.
In an age racing toward ruin, a man like this still existed?
But —
He was too clear. Anything with the word "too" attached to it was bound to have a problem. The man I'd assessed was too clean, too upright.
"…How is Eclipse?"
Huh? He already knew who I was? I'd put some effort into the disguise, but apparently it still showed.
"You knew? I went to some trouble dressing the part."
"Hahaha. Around these parts, a man who isn't even an Awakener, yet can cut bullets with a sword and slice nothing but the eyelids off a man's face — and who walks around with a girl who doesn't seem quite human. There aren't many people who fit all of that at once."
The rest of that checked out, but what was this about a girl who didn't seem human?
"Setting the rest aside — what do you mean, a girl who doesn't seem human?"
He answered with a smile still on his face.
"Ah, ah, ah — don't misunderstand. I only meant she's a truly lovely child. The rumors said she didn't seem human, and now I see why that stuck. Doesn't she look like someone out of a legend?"
Was she really that pretty? Honestly, she had a pretty face, but this level of praise? Purely in terms of looks, wasn't Lee Hee-su — Red Fox — a step above?
No matter how I looked at it, Mao Mei was just a kid whose thoughts I could never quite read.
"Anyway — why have you come? Did the Hounds send you to kill me?"
He lobbed a straight pitch right at my head.
How should I answer that?
"That'll be for you to decide."
"Is that so? For me to decide…"
His face was still full of confidence.
"Very well. If I look like someone who needs killing, then kill me. And Raven — you can take over this place yourself afterward. Now then — allow me to introduce you to our 3rd Shelter."
Apparently he hadn't even bothered to give the shelter a proper name.
I followed him as we slowly toured the grounds. And I noticed one strange thing.
Strangely enough, the shelter was filled only with women, the elderly, and middle-aged people.
In other words — there were no young men in their twenties or thirties.
Those were the most essential human resources of all. So why weren't they here?
And then I found out why.