Three hours into the quest to find the Second Temple of the Laughing Heavens, Shen Yuan was already regretting every decision that had led him here.
Not because of the danger.
Not because of the pressure from a death-threat-wielding sky sect.
No, it was because of the map.
"This isn't even a map," Shen Yuan muttered, holding up the wrinkled parchment like it had personally insulted his intelligence. "This is a riddle scrawled by a drunk goat."
The so-called "map" was a hand-drawn nightmare. It featured several doodles of birds, a questionable depiction of a naked man doing a cartwheel, and an arrow labeled "probably west-ish." The only legible instruction said, *'Where mushrooms laugh and shadows dance, the temple waits with pantsless trance.'*
Zap-Chan chirped thoughtfully from his shoulder.
"Yes, I know it rhymes," Shen Yuan snapped. "That doesn't help."
They were currently deep in Mistcloud's outer forest, a dense and gnarled stretch of wilderness known for producing rare herbs and even rarer sanity. Shen Yuan had already dodged a tree that tried to bite him, a patch of moss that whispered mean things about his posture, and something that looked like a frog with wings and a gambling addiction.
The system pinged helpfully.
System Tip: Forest terrain increases legacy resonance. Probability of divine nonsense: 42 percent.
He groaned. "Why couldn't I have been reborn as a farmer?"
The path ahead opened into a grove lit with an eerie green glow. Gigantic mushrooms sprouted in concentric circles, some of them tall as houses, others glowing with strange inner lights. The air was heavy with spores and mischief.
Shen Yuan stepped into the grove carefully. Every footfall echoed faintly, as if the very ground was listening.
He turned to Zap-Chan. "This... might be it."
The lightning bird squinted and made a cautious clicking sound. Then its feathers puffed up.
A low chuckle echoed through the clearing.
Not human. Not beast. Something in between.
"Mushrooms," Shen Yuan muttered. "Why did it have to be laughing mushrooms?"
Indeed, the largest mushroom in the center had developed a very unfortunate face. Its bulbous cap stretched into a crooked smile, and its eyes were bright pinpricks of fungal amusement.
"Greetings, mortal," the mushroom said, voice like wind in damp caves. "I am Sporus the Sporesayer."
Shen Yuan blinked. "You... talk."
"Of course I talk. Do you think legacies guard themselves? I have spent five hundred years in isolation waiting for a worthy soul to arrive. Also, I'm very lonely."
Zap-Chan let out a small, sympathetic peep.
Shen Yuan crossed his arms. "Alright, Sporesayer. Are you the guardian of the Second Temple?"
The mushroom's grin widened. "In a manner of speaking. To proceed, you must pass the Trial of Absurdity."
"Which involves?"
"Surviving my sense of humor."
A vine wrapped around Shen Yuan's ankle and flung him high into the air. He crashed down into a pile of springy mushroom caps, bounced, and landed face-first in a glowing patch of spore-filled mud.
Somewhere nearby, a bell rang.
"Point one," the mushroom announced.
Shen Yuan sat up slowly, face covered in neon green goo. "Okay. That's how it's gonna be."
He leapt to his feet and sprinted across the grove as vines lashed out at him from every direction. One smacked him in the back. Another tried to tangle Zap-Chan, who responded by electrocuting the entire vine network in a burst of blue lightning.
Mushroom spirits squealed and fled underground.
The mushroom laughed again. "You've got spark. But can you handle... the second test?"
The ground beneath them rumbled. A dozen small mushrooms sprang to life and began... dancing?
Yes.
They formed a perfect circle and started spinning like deranged ballerinas, emitting high-pitched giggles.
"Join the dance or be consumed!" Sporus cried gleefully.
Shen Yuan looked at Zap-Chan. "We're really doing this."
He sighed, cracked his knuckles, and stepped into the circle.
The moment his foot touched the pattern, the system pinged.
New Legacy Sequence: Dance of the Spirit Spores
Requirement: Imitate the mushrooms' movements precisely for one full minute.
Reward: Access to the Temple Gate.
Failure: Mild internal combustion.
"Mild what now?"
The mushrooms began spinning faster. Shen Yuan took a deep breath and began to mimic their absurd routine.
He flailed.
He twirled.
He slipped, spun, kicked Zap-Chan accidentally, and got slapped by a mushroom with a tiny hat.
It was the dumbest thing he had ever done.
And yet... the grove began to glow.
A deep humming filled the air. The spore-lights swirled like galaxies. The mushrooms stopped and bowed.
"You have succeeded," Sporus intoned. "Behold. The Gate."
A glowing portal shimmered into view between two towering fungi. Its frame was carved from root and rune, pulsing with the same laughter-tinged qi that had once awakened the scroll.
Shen Yuan stumbled forward, panting. "I... I never want to dance again."
Zap-Chan, whose feathers were singed in artistic swirls, gave him a small salute.
Before stepping through, Shen Yuan turned back to Sporus.
"Thanks, I guess. You're weird, but kind of cool."
"I accept your awkward compliment," Sporus replied solemnly.
As Shen Yuan and Zap-Chan entered the glowing portal, the forest behind them faded into silence.
Inside the gate, light swallowed them.
And the real trial began.
They stood at the edge of a strange, floating realm where the sky was upside down, gravity shifted sideways, and all the birds wore tiny robes.
A voice boomed across the clouds.
"WELCOME, LAUGHING HEIRS. TO THE TEMPLE OF COMEDY DIVINE."
Then a lightning bolt hit Zap-Chan.
Again.