Chapter 12 ：Blue Mushroom

The four of them cautiously moved along the riverbank. The soil beneath their feet was soft and loose due to the moisture, and the only sounds around them were the gentle flow of water and the small fish swimming in the river. Occasionally, some small animals would appear at the water's edge to drink, only to scurry away in fright when they noticed the group. Compared to the terrifying Shadow Crocodile they had encountered earlier, they all hoped no other beasts would show up.

Toto and Larkin walked while studying the map and notes they had. They had a rough idea that Mushcat, preferred to live in damp environments, so they decided to follow the river for their search.

"We need to search these damp corners carefully, Mushcat might be hiding in some dark spot around here." Larkin whispered.

Toto nodded, flipping through the notes. "Yes, according to previous records, Mushcat usually appears in caves or grassy areas near water, favoring shadowy places."

After walking for a while, Toto suddenly pointed at a clump of grass ahead, excitedly saying, "Look over there, something good!"

The group moved in the direction Toto indicated, finding a cluster of purple "bananas" growing amidst the grass. These bananas looked very similar to the ones on Earth, but their color was completely different, standing out vividly in the undergrowth.

"What is this? Bananas?" Perry asked in surprise as he gazed at the unusual plants; he had never seen purple bananas before.

Toto chuckled, stepped forward, and picked a few, handing them to Perry and the others. As he picked each one, he put them in his basket, needing considerable effort to pull them off. "Don't scare by their appearance, they really are a type of banana. We just call them Purple Bananas, simple to remember. Want to try? They're incredibly rare. If we don't pick them soon, they'll rot quickly. We're lucky—few people get to see the fruit in its perfect state. Usually, it's already spoiled."

"Wow, these are really hard to come by," Larkin said, recognizing them. She joined Toto in picking the Purple Bananas, while Rufus stood to the side, silently munching on one with a curious expression.

Perry took the Purple Banana and examined it curiously. The system scanned the fruit, and information suddenly appeared before his eyes:

[Item: Purple Banana

Grade: A

Attribute: None

A rare plant, non-toxic. If not picked within 15 minutes of ripening, the fruit will immediately rot.]

"It's even A-grade?" Perry muttered softly as he peeled the purple banana. To his surprise, the peel twisted off easily in a spiral, releasing a rich and fresh fragrance—a blend of ripe banana and sweet mango. The flesh inside was a pale purple, with tiny golden jelly-like granules glistening faintly.

When he bit into it, Perry first felt the sweet, soft texture of a ripe banana, followed by a burst of tangy mango from the hidden jelly-like granules. The sweetness and tartness blended perfectly, retaining the rich aroma of bananas while allowing the refreshing taste of mango to shine through. The two flavors intertwined on his tongue, neither overpowering nor masking the other.

[Precise Taste Lv2]

Hearing the system's prompt, Perry paused for a moment and communicated with it silently in his mind: "What's going on? How did I level up?"

[In fact, completing hidden tasks or encountering special ingredients can also boost your skill level. It seems like you're having a lucky day.]

Perry was stunned. He hadn't expected that just eating a Purple Banana would lead to a skill upgrade.

　　"How's it taste, Henry?" Toto asked curiously, a hint of anticipation in his eyes. It looked like he had picked most of the purple bananas.

"Really good," Perry replied, taking another bite of the purple banana. "I feel refreshed and lighter after eating it."

At that moment, a new interface about the purple banana popped up, with updated details:

**[Item: Purple Banana]** 

- **Grade**: A 

- **Attribute**: None 

- **Description**: A rare plant. The fruit will rot within 15 minutes if not picked after it appears. 

- **Function**: Restores mental energy (effect lasts 1 hour). Can be consumed when feeling mentally fatigued. 

- **Caution**: Overconsumption can lead to sleep disturbances and, in severe cases, damage brain cells. Stop eating if you feel a fever coming on.

"New data?" Perry asked the system in his mind.

[Yes, since I can't eat things myself, I can only provide basic information. Your precise taste skill allows you to detect how a food impacts your body, so I can update the data accordingly.]

"These bananas have a mental energy-boosting effect, but don't eat too many—too much could be lethal," Toto said, taking a big bite of the purple banana in his hand. He then pointed to the remaining bananas in the bushes. They were rapidly turning from purple to black, their skins peeling back as the flesh melted away, forming a foul puddle on the ground.

Perry instinctively took a few steps back, watching in astonishment as the once-perfect bananas spoiled in under a minute. The bananas in Toto's basket and his half-eaten one, however, remained intact.

Seeing the rotting fruit and the terrible smell it emitted, Perry felt a little queasy about the half-eaten banana in his hand. He found it hard to continue eating.

Rufus, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind and continued to eat his banana with big bites. "Alright, let's get back to finding the Mushcat."

"Fine, let's go." Toto and Larkin didn't pay much attention to the rotting fruit and pressed on, with Larkin sneakily putting the remaining purple bananas from her hand into Toto's basket.

Perry, taking advantage of the others' distraction, wrapped up the half-eaten banana and shoved it into his pocket.

They continued moving along the riverbank, with Rufus keeping a vigilant eye on their surroundings. Larkin soon spotted a cave in the distance.

"No signs of animals around," Rufus noted, standing beside a tree and surveying the cave from a height.

"This time, I'll go check it out." Larkin volunteered. She tossed her banana peel aside and quickly ran to the cave entrance.

"Toto, I'm putting the rest of these purple bananas with you," Larkin said casually, stuffing the remaining bananas into Toto's basket until it was overflowing.

"No wonder my basket's getting heavier. Have you been sneaking them in all this time?" Toto asked with an exasperated look.

"Thanks for the help, Toto," Larkin replied playfully before approaching the cave. 

Larkin is also a girl with rich hunting experience. She has been traveling between jungles and mountains since she was a child and is used to hunting and survival skills. At this moment, she was half squatting on the ground, holding a sharp dagger in her hand, her eyes focused and cautious. She knew that the slight movement of the prey, even the trembling of a fallen leaf would attract her attention. Facing this unknown cave, Larkin was more careful than usual. She took a deep breath and slowly approached the cave entrance, holding her breath and feeling every change in the air. In order to ensure that there was no hidden danger in the cave, she bent down to pick up a few pieces of gravel, shook her wrist lightly, and threw the stones accurately into the cave. The sound of the stone hitting the cave wall echoed in the dim cave, and she listened carefully, as if to catch any subtle abnormalities.

A few minutes passed, and no suspicious sound came from the cave. Larkin remained highly vigilant and walked into the cave entrance carefully, with the dagger trembling slightly in her hand. After confirming safety, she stuck her head out and waved to her companions outside, indicating that everyone could approach. Perry and the others followed Larkin's steps carefully and entered the cave step by step. As soon as he stepped in, Perry felt a gust of moist and cold air coming towards him, as if it was a cold wind blowing from the abyss, which made him shiver involuntarily.

The cave was not as bright as outside, but they were not completely in darkness. There was a kind of naturally grown luminous crystal on the cave wall, which emitted a faint glow and slightly illuminated the surroundings. Larkin took the opportunity to pick up a few crystals from the ground and handed them to others, "Take this, we can use them for lighting." Her voice seemed particularly calm in the cave.

"This cave doesn't seem to have any large dangerous creatures," Larkin whispered as he walked, his eyes always vigilantly scanning every corner around him, "but the red bats and dark demon rats living here usually flee in all directions when we make a noise." She paused, frowning slightly, "But today I didn't see any, this is a bit strange."

"Maybe someone got here before us." Rufus said in a deep voice, a trace of doubt flashed in his sharp eyes, and he lowered his head to check the cave floor, trying to find possible traces. Their footsteps and whispers echoed in the cave, and the light and shadows swayed with the shaking of the crystal.

Perry, however, wasn't listening to their conversation; he was focused on finding the Mushcat mentioned in the notes. After setting down his basket, Toto joined Perry, both of them searching the damp corners of the cave. In the corner of the cave, the dim light made it difficult to distinguish details. 

The humid air condensed into mist, making the already blurred vision even more hazy. Perry and Toto moved forward closely along the cave wall, carefully avoiding the indistinguishable shadows in the light. In the corner, a few clusters of blue mushrooms grew quietly in the moist soil. They glowed faintly, but the light seemed vague in the darkness, as if tempting the unsuspecting hunters to approach.

"There are blue mushrooms over there!" Toto whispered, his voice mixed with unconcealable excitement. He pointed his finger at the shadows in front of him. Perry followed closely behind, his eyes flashing with hope in the darkness, and he was determined to find the Mushcat mentioned in the notes.

The two approached the clusters of blue mushrooms. Their color was unusually rich in the dimly lit corner. The surface of the mushrooms was covered with a layer of dark blue leather, with rough and irregular patterns, as if it was a work of nature carved at random. The pale blue carvings seemed to have life, and they glowed slightly as they approached. Perry was disappointed to find that this was not what he was looking for. This mushroom was so beautiful that if he had a camera, Perry would want to take a picture to record it. Toto couldn't help but reach out and wanted to pick one to observe carefully, but just when his fingertips were about to touch the mushroom, things suddenly changed.

Those seemingly quiet blue mushrooms suddenly swelled up, as if some mechanism was triggered, and they grew rapidly in an instant. Before the two could react, the mushrooms seemed to come alive and suddenly spurted out a thick blue smoke. The smoke surged out like a tide, spreading rapidly, completely covering Perry and Toto.

"Cough cough!" The thick smoke had a pungent smell, like rotten metal mixed with bitter herbs. The smell directly stimulated their throats and nasal cavities, making people cough violently involuntarily. Perry and Toto inhaled the smoke almost at the same time, and the coughing sounded unusually clear in the silent cave. However, the blue smoke seemed to not only irritate their respiratory tract, but also spread rapidly in their bodies like an invisible poison. The world in front of Perry began to distort, his vision gradually blurred, and the rocks and light around him became shaky, as if the whole world was spinning. He wanted to shout, but found that he could not make a sound, and his body gradually lost control.

Toto's situation was not much better. He stood shakily, his hands weakly scratching in the air, trying to grab something to keep his balance. But the dizziness brought by the blue smoke quickly overwhelmed his consciousness. He and Perry fell down almost at the same time, their knees softened, and they fell heavily to the ground. At the moment they fell to the ground, the exclamations of Larkin and Rufus echoed in the cave.

"Perry! Toto!" Larkin shouted anxiously, her voice full of anxiety and fear. Rufus rushed over quickly, his steps heavy but without hesitation. Perry tried to respond, but his lips seemed to be sealed and he could not make any sound. Everything in front of him was gradually swallowed up by darkness. The last scene was Rufus' anxious figure rushing towards him. Then, he completely lost consciousness and fell into endless darkness.