Winding through the enormous Mushroom Forest, Jill Young and Max Easton were both awestruck by the unbelievable sight. Under the eerie green light filtering down from the cavern ceiling, these gigantic mushrooms growing out of the hard, brown earth were equal parts creepy and awe-inspiring.
Jill reached out and touched the mushroom's stalk—well, at this size, you might as well call it a trunk. "Yep, all fossils," she said. "No clue what made these mushrooms grow so huge, but after ages, they've all turned to stone."
"Fossils?" Max Easton, true to his geologist roots, perked up instantly. He started tapping and poking at the mushroom, muttering to himself, "That can't be right. How would rock elements seep into a plant this huge? It feels solid, sure, but I bet it's not a fossil. More like tiny grains of sand poured inside and fused with the mushroom somehow. What the heck is going on here...?"
"Quit analyzing and let's go," Jill wiped her brow, catching her breath. "It's gotta be at least thirty-five degrees in here. We need to find a way out, fast."
"Alright, alright, just one more look..." Max said, half-listening, half-ignoring her, obsessing over the mushroom fossils like a mad scientist. That's just classic scientist syndrome.
As Max fiddled with the mushroom, there was a sudden crack—a chunk of stone the size of a palm fell off the stalk, revealing a gap. Out crawled a red ant, its whole body crystal clear and blazing red like fire, and it was over a centimeter long.
Yet another bizarre creature they’d never seen before.
"Oh, look! That's the answer!" Max scooped up the ant. "Nature’s finest movers—digging tunnels in the mushrooms, hauling sand and gravel inside to fill them up. Over time, the mushrooms turn into fossils and these ants get themselves giant nests!" Max looked up at Jill, excitedly pointing at the mushrooms around them. "These massive mushrooms are all ant nests!"
"Ant nests?" Jill peered at the ant in Max’s hand. The little bug seemed lost in its new environment, waving its antennae around, trying to figure out Max’s palm. Its mandibles looked a bit oversized and menacing.
"If it were me, I’d toss that ant ASAP."
"Why?" Max was still clueless, when suddenly he felt a sharp pain—the ant had bitten him, drawing blood. Reflexively, Max flung the ant away and glared at the tiny wound on his palm. "Man, I hope it doesn’t have some weird disease…"
"Enough, let's move!" Jill charged eastward, with Max scrambling to keep up. Behind them, the ant Max had tossed wasn’t dead—it was frantically waving its antennae, as if trying to communicate in its own weird language.
The Mushroom Forest wasn’t that big, and soon enough they reached its edge. After all, mushrooms are fungi—they need rotten wood to grow. Who knows what made these monsters sprout, but clearly, they couldn’t spread too far.
Just as Jill and Max were heading east, Jill’s ears twitched—she heard something. It was a strange rustling, unlike anything she’d heard before. She glanced back at the source of the sound, then grabbed Max and took off running.
"What is it? What did you see?" Max shouted, confused.
"I’m looking at the fresh disaster you just triggered, you trouble magnet!" Jill snapped. "Can’t you chill for one second? You’re always starting new drama!"
"Disaster?" Max was still puzzled, but the rustling sound was getting louder—now even he could hear it. Max turned to look and screamed. From the Mushroom Forest behind them, a tidal wave of red ants was surging out, flooding forward like a crimson sea.
On the brown earth, the ants swept in like a rolling red carpet, racing toward them. Layer upon layer, piling up into a massive, writhing wave.
"Oh no, no, no!" Max’s legs went into overdrive and he bolted. "I get it—it’s still my scent! I hate that damn Man-Eater Bloom!"
Jill dragged Max along at full speed, his six-foot frame stumbling after her. Before they knew it, they’d left the brown earth behind—the ground beneath their feet was suddenly solid. They’d reached a patch of exposed rock, slabs of all shapes and sizes laid out flat.
As they ran, Max’s foot suddenly slipped—he yelped and tumbled downward. Jill reacted instantly, grabbing him and hauling him onto a nearby boulder. Looking back, she saw that the once-solid ground now had a hole big enough for a person.
"How is that possible?" Max crawled to the edge and peeked down, then gasped, "Oh my cake!"
With a whoosh, Max stumbled back two steps, eyes wide, finger trembling as he pointed at his feet. "We’re—floating, we’re actually floating in midair!"
Jill hurried over for a look and couldn’t help but gasp. The hole wasn’t really a hole—the stone Max had stepped on had just shifted away and drifted off, like a chunk of ice sinking into a winter lake after a mischievous kid jumps on it.
And beneath the rock layer—there was nothing! That’s right, just like ice floating on water, these rocks were completely suspended in midair! Far below, hundreds of meters down, a pale green glow shone up, a grim reminder of what would happen if they fell.
"Magnetized—magnetized rocks!" Max collapsed onto a boulder, stunned. "I can’t believe it, we’re actually standing in midair because of some crazy magnetic field and magnetized stones!"
"Save the science talk for later!" Jill glanced back—the red ant wave was almost on them. With these carnivorous bugs, not even Jill could survive if they caught up. "We need to run, now!"
"I—I can’t run anymore!" Max panicked. "I’m scared of heights! I won’t even do kiddie rock climbing, how am I supposed to sprint hundreds of meters up in the air?"
"Then die here—" Jill yanked Max to his feet. "Or get over your fear of heights!"
"Alright, alright, I get it! I’m going for it!" With his life on the line, Max pushed himself to run for dear life.
Now that they knew what was underfoot, both Jill and Max had to carefully pick which stones to step on. The magnetized rocks varied in buoyancy, so they had to choose the big ones that could hold their weight.
Head down, running for their lives, Max glanced up at the path ahead and wailed, "No way!"
Up ahead—not far away—was pure emptiness.
Across the distant void, there was a cliff, and behind it, a cave glowing with the light of hope. But the path was totally cut off—no more stones to step on!
Death behind, no way forward—were they really going to die here today? (Just checked Longkong, and someone’s actually promoting this book! Huge thanks~)