Chapter 208: Chapter 207: Bone-Eating Fungus

The entire online audience felt a pang of sympathy when they saw Xu Ying’s injury caused by the tightened rope.

[Despite being injured like this, Little Xu Station Chief didn’t even flinch. He must get hurt often; he’s so resilient. Truly a role model for us all.]

[Among the six guests, Little Xu Station Chief, as the only amateur guest, must have the lowest appearance fee. I strongly demand a raise for Little Xu Station Chief!]

More and more comments were pouring in, asking for a pay raise for Xu Ying, making it hard for Director Shao not to notice.

The Przewalski’s Wild Horse that Xu Ying had saved let out a neigh.

[Little Xu Station Chief, we’re hanging around this patch of dry reeds. If you need any help, just have the other little animals come find us.]

Xu Ying made an “ok” gesture, “Alright, I won’t be shy about it!”

“If you encounter other difficulties, you can come find me at Rescue Station 032.”

Xu Ying pointed the wild horses in the direction of the rescue station.

The midday heat was searing, so after saying goodbye to Xu Ying, the herd of wild horses went off to find a shady place to rest.

The blazing sun cast a rare patch of shade on the Gobi Desert from the program’s white tent.

Five woven baskets lined up neatly, filled with the mushrooms everyone had worked hard to collect.

Xu Ying stood in front of a long table, which was set with a weighing scale.

The mushroom-picking segment was over, and it was time to reveal the results.

“For this mushroom-picking segment, points are awarded based on the weight of the mushrooms you collected.” She tapped the scale pan, “0.1 points per gram.”

Jiang Mo’s basket was the first to go on the scale.

The mushrooms were piled up high, with moist sand still clinging to the bottom of their stems.

The scale let out a slight creak — “327 grams.”

Jiang Mo remained calm, only nodding slightly, his gaze exploring Xu Ying’s expression to gauge her mood.

Xu Ying couldn’t stand Jiang Mo’s unsettling gaze any longer and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, “If you really have something to discuss with me, just say it outright instead of staring without speaking.”

Jiang Mo was slightly taken aback, then nodded: “Alright.”

Xu Ying grew even more suspicious. What on earth was this guy hiding?

Ye Jie’s haul was next.

She came bouncing over with her woven basket, the mushrooms inside gently swaying with her steps.

“Xu Station Chief, look! Not only did I pick the tasty Chinese mushrooms, but I also found some others. Do I get extra points for that?”

Before she could finish her sentence, Xu Ying suddenly lunged forward and placed a hand on her basket.

“Wait! Don’t move.”

Xu Ying’s fingertips hovered above a seemingly ordinary cluster of gray-brown mushrooms, her eyes sharp. She put on rubber gloves and gently brushed aside the top layer of mushrooms, revealing a few meat-brown scaly ring-stalk mushrooms hidden beneath.

These mushrooms, with their unassuming caps covered in brown scales, had suspicious slime oozing between their gills.

“These are meat-brown scaly ring-stalk mushrooms. Even if treated in time after consumption, they’ll cause permanent liver damage.”

Using professional tweezers, Xu Ying lifted one and showed its slightly green gill section to the camera, “Its toxin can spread through contact.”

Saying this, Xu Ying dumped the entire basket of mushrooms into a biohazard disposal box.

She cast a sympathetic glance at Ye Jie: “Unfortunately, all contaminated, zero points.”

Ye Jie stood there, stunned, her eyes wide as she let out a wail towards the sky: “Ahh, I’ve been betrayed by mushrooms!”

The viewers commented sympathetically yet humorously:

[It’s unbelievable, half of Ye Jie’s work this afternoon was all in vain.]

[Sometimes there’s no need for embellishments, just focus on the task honestly~]

[Ye Jie truly exudes that beautiful fool vibe.]

Then it was the turn of the seasoned veteran, Yao Yingzhe. He strode forward confidently, cradling a rattan basket covered with a dark red silk scarf.

The corners of the scarf were deliberately knotted, gently swaying with his steps.

“Clear the way, let me broaden your horizons!”

Yao Yingzhe glanced around mysteriously, lowering his voice, “This is the rare treasure mushroom I unearthed!”

This high-profile and mysterious demeanor naturally drew the staff closer, even Jiang Mo, who was drinking water, looked up.

The follow-up cameraman slowly lowered the camera, focusing on the mysterious basket.

Yao Yingzhe took a deep breath and suddenly whipped the scarf away—

With a “whoosh,” a cloud of gray-white dust rose into the air, causing the nearest cameraman to cough repeatedly.

Yao Yingzhe clapped the basket, looking proud, “Come on, Little Xu Station Chief, inspect the goods!”

Xu Ying squinted and leaned in, gingerly prodding the irregular broken pieces in the basket with professional tweezers.

In natural light, they glowed with an eerie gray-white sheen, their surfaces riddled with honeycomb-like holes.

“Teacher Yao, this is…”

Xu Ying’s tweezers poked the largest piece, producing a dull “thud.”

The viewers began to sense something was off in the comment section.

[This thing doesn’t look like a mushroom; it looks a bit creepy, like dried human bones!]

[Could it be another case of being too clever for one’s own good?]

[This show is really lively, uncovering relic fragments, filming Przewalski’s Wild Horse, stepping on toxic mushrooms, now what’s this?]

“Never seen it before, right?”

Yao Yingzhe smugly stroked his beard, “When I was young, filming out in the desert, I heard locals talk about it. This is the legendary Gobi White Mushroom! Growing at…”

Just then, a desert evening breeze swept through.

The “mushrooms” suddenly began to shed gray-white specks from their surfaces, revealing the white bone texture beneath—these were clearly several severely weathered animal bones, with some dried fungal mycelium attached.

The scene fell into instant silence.

“Ahem…” Yao Yingzhe’s beard twitched awkwardly. Even he didn’t know what they actually were: “Uh… the mycelium on the bones is a fungus! It’s family to mushrooms!”

“This is bone-eating fungus,” Xu Ying added expressionlessly, “a fungus that feeds on animal remains.”

She picked up the largest piece and showed it to the camera: “Look at this hip joint structure, it should be a wild donkey’s pelvic fossil, at least a hundred years old.”

“This bone-eating fungus is also known as ’bone borers’.”

Xu Ying took out a portable microscope and focused it on the bone, “Look at these honeycomb holes—the fungus mycelia secrete bone-dissolving fluid, first tunneling through the minerals, then slowly consuming the collagen inside, just like humans devour duck necks.”

In the close-up shot, the bone’s mycelium network looked eerily like brains in a hot pot.

[The duck neck in my hand suddenly doesn’t seem appetizing.]

[This fungus really has a spirit, it knows how to eat!]

[Little Xu Station Chief knows so much, truly a desert encyclopedia!]

“A wild donkey carcass can sit in the Gobi for three years and not completely decay, but if bone-eating fungus targets it—”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep