This Dungeon Grew Mushrooms

Tri-Mountain City.

On the second ring wall, a patrolling soldier leaned against the weathered battlements and looked down at the battlefield strewn with corpses.

Most of the piled bodies belonged to the demon army, but here and there he could see shattered pieces of human armor mixed among them.

They had just repelled another wave of the demon assault—but the price was the complete destruction of the defensive ward on the outermost wall, with no chance to repair it.

Though two stronger walls still stood above, everyone knew the truth: with the demons advancing inch by inch like this, Tri-Mountain City would fall in less than a month.

During this brief lull, most soldiers slumped against the wall to seize what little rest they could.

But elite troops like him continued patrolling between encampments, eyes sweeping across every figure, searching for anything out of place.

At the beginning of the war, they exposed demon infiltrators almost every day.

But with the patrols tightening their checks, most spies were discovered and executed on the spot.

Recently the number of infiltrators had dropped sharply—either the demons had been thoroughly purged, or they’d finally realized sneaking in was pointless.

But when he turned around, he suddenly called out to a soldier walking past: “Hey, you. Stop.”

He didn’t know every face in the sector, but months of patrolling made him familiar with most regulars. This one looked unfamiliar.

Suspicion at this level was nothing strange—being too jumpy would only disturb resting comrades and benefit the demons instead.

So he didn’t raise an alarm, but he remained extremely alert.

His right hand stayed on his sword hilt, and he maintained a distance of seven or eight meters. That was far enough to prevent a sudden strike, but close enough to avoid being bewitched by a succubus.

The disposable mental-ward amulet pinned to his chest might be cheap, but it would buy him a few seconds to sound the alarm if he were attacked mentally.

“You—”

The question barely left his lips before he met the soldier’s suddenly glowing violet pupils.

Succubus!

He opened his mouth to shout, but a crisp crack sounded in his mind—his mental ward shattered instantly!

How?!

He’d barely made eye contact for a single breath!

His lips trembled soundlessly. No warning came out. His consciousness sank helplessly into the swirl of bewitchment behind those unnatural purple eyes.

Disguised as a soldier, Faya stepped forward, casually placed a hand on his shoulder, and pretended they were chatting like old acquaintances.

Her mental strength was unusual even among demons. While she wasn’t a top-tier fighter, her talent for charm magic far surpassed others of her kind—more than enough to punch straight through the soldier’s defenses.

After confirming the patrol routes from his mouth, Faya still didn’t kill him.

Leaning close to his ear, she whispered gently, “Good child. Forget everything that just happened. Continue your patrol.”

“Yes.” The soldier replied normally, then walked off as if nothing had occurred.

Faya watched him leave, lips curling slightly.

With her precise control over mental influence, all traces of charm would fade within two hours so long as he wasn’t dragged for specialized inspection. As though nothing had happened at all.

The encounter, however, gave her a better understanding of the current alert level in Tri-Mountain City. No wonder so many of her kin had died here—this infiltration really was hell difficulty.

But Faya had confidence in herself.

As long as she didn’t provoke that sword saint with Swordheart, she was sure she could come and go safely.

Thinking of those sisters who once tried to charm the sword saint—and the screams that echoed across the entire city when their minds shattered—Faya almost laughed aloud.

Even a demon prince had to rely on ambush to wound that man. How could small fry possibly touch him?

Faya was far more self-aware. And far more cautious.

Bewitching a few soldiers to create chaos would be easy, but that left too many traces and made escape difficult.

Just as she was deciding her next move, a wandering walking-shroom-pet caught her attention.

A glint flashed through her eyes. She reached out, grabbed one of the creature’s drifting mycelial tendrils—

And unleashed her charm!

Lacking eye contact would slightly weaken the effect, but charming a simple-minded magic pet should’ve been trivial.

Instead—

A heartbeat later, Faya found herself standing on a boundless mirrorlike sea.

She froze.

She examined her own state—and whispered in disbelief:

“A… manifested mental domain?”

What happened?

Whose spiritual world had she stepped into?

Surely not that walking puji?

Only individuals with overwhelmingly powerful mental strength possessed spiritual domains—and even then, most were tiny: a single room, a trench, a childhood memory.

But this…

Beneath her feet shimmered a shallow layer of water, barely reaching her ankles—yet no matter where she looked, there was no horizon.

Impossible.

She took a cautious step forward—

and her foot plunged straight through.

She almost fell headfirst into the sea, barely catching herself on the pillar of stone beneath her.

And at that moment she realized:

This wasn’t a puddle at all—

It was a god-forsaken ocean.

And she was standing on a solitary column rising from the depths.

Panic surged through her.

“Where is this? How do I get out?”

She tried again and again to push her consciousness outward, attempting to break free.

Nothing.

Her mental force vanished into the void without causing even a ripple.

And as her pride crumbled, true fear finally took root.

“Who are you? Please—please let me out!”

A breeze brushed her cheek.

She turned toward it, full of desperate hope—

and saw a wall of water dozens of meters high crashing toward her.

Hope shattered instantly.

Confronted with that overwhelming force, she couldn’t muster even the slightest will to resist.

“He… hehe…”

Tears streamed down her face.

“This is just an illusion! A rebound shock from my failed charm! Don’t panic… don’t panic… just control your emotions and—”

The wave crushed her.

Silence returned to the infinite sea.

…

Lin Jun was in the middle of preparing various emergency options for Pink Puji when he suddenly froze.

He instinctively inspected his soul—nothing unusual.

Just now, for a split second, he had felt something… like “someone brushing a feather across his foot through a sock.”

The sensation vanished before he could even focus on it.

Was someone trying some strange soul-attack on him?

A chill ran up Lin Jun’s spine.

Terrifying.

Once matters settled down, he absolutely needed to study soul-defense techniques.

This world was far too dangerous.

Even with a special soul, walking around spiritually naked every day was asking to get killed.

He had to protect his fragile self more carefully!