Chapter 54: Webs and Worm
A web of luminous fungi draped the opposite wall, their pale light flickering like a slow, steady heartbeat. With each pulse, it illuminated the shocked faces of his companions.
The web of fungi had hundreds of fist-sized fruiting bodies. They looked like upside-down puffball mushrooms. The outer skin was transparent like a jellyfish, and inside was a flame-like luminescence.
That wasn’t what shocked them.
The fungi extended from the cesspool, and around the pit were tens of Filth Eating Ghoul corpses. Some were broken, others with large chunks taken out. The culprit of the massacre lay within the cesspool.
A huge earthworm.
Just the part of its body that was visible was over two metres long. It was about as wide as Yu Han’s thigh. Its muted green, mucus-covered segments glowed faintly. On its head were two earthy brown spots, like eyes.
It was injured, chunks of its flesh taken out here and there. Worse, the fungi actually grew out of the earthworm’s body. The web spread from it across the cesspool and climbed up the opposite wall. Those strange fruits were on the cesspool’s surface too. The fungi pulsed in sync with the worm’s muted glow.
“Is that a monster?” Li Yao unsheathed his swords.
As if responding to the sound, the creature lifted its front end, and a low hiss echoed. The seams at its tapered front segment split open, revealing a small, circular maw lined with ridges rather than teeth.