Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Without a doubt, if I leave now, Jack will become food or nourishment for these green vine-like things.
I can preliminarily conclude that these things are remnants of the vine-like entities I cut through at the Green Light Wall. At that time, I was eager to save Jack and had no time to observe; I didn't think these things would take root on him. I only believed they served a binding purpose.
Later, I was overwhelmed by the black liquid surging from the Green Light Wall, my head spinning, and terrified by the decaying corpse of the Blood-Eyed Monster. I didn’t have time to think about these matters; I was solely focused on carrying Jack away.
Now, upon closer inspection of these things, aside from the fine tendrils at the top, they are identical to the vine-like entities I had severed before, even down to the color—though they are not as long.
Recognizing what they are eased much of my fear. I had cut through many of these at the Green Light Wall and felt psychologically advantaged against them. Just moments ago, I had sliced through them with ease; now it would be even simpler.
In truth, I had no choice but to stay. The Lao People and Vietnamese across the Underground River were uncertain in their fate; however, both Jack and I knew those three were almost certainly dead. They simply couldn’t bear to come out, leaving us with a reason to cross the river to find them and keep a glimmer of hope alive. Abandoning Jack would mean giving up the last of my kind in the Underground Cavern—I couldn’t do that.
I shone my flashlight on these things, but they showed no reaction to the light, which surprised me a bit. Silently, I crouched down and turned Jack’s body onto its side. I needed to remove his jacket to see what was going on underneath. I worried that if I cut them off now, they might grow back later. Yes, I believed Jack had already become their parasite or host; I needed to find their roots and eradicate them completely.
Using one hand to shift Jack's shoulder, I positioned his body sideways while my other hand reached for the zipper on his jacket. A thick layer of greasy, sticky substance covered his clothes, emitting an exceptionally foul stench that made my stomach churn as my hands touched it. I hadn’t realized how much worse the smell was than before; it hadn’t seemed so overwhelming when I was carrying him.
The odor nearly made me gag. Reluctantly, I turned my head away and fumbled with one hand to unzip his jacket.
Just as I relaxed for a moment, something tightened around my left wrist where it rested on Jack’s shoulder, followed by a sharp pain.
I turned my head to look. The nearest vine-like entity had already wrapped around my wrist. It was still small enough to only circle once around my arm, but after doing so, its tip—like that of an anemone—pierced into my skin like plant roots. Blood surged forth instantly.
When I turned my head, those fine, piercing tendrils suddenly withdrew from my skin, as if their purpose was to draw a little blood and make me retreat. As the delicate tendrils left my skin, the vine-like thing slithered back along the path it had taken to wrap around my wrist.
I am not a particularly bold person, but it depends on who I am compared to. Compared to Fatty, I am a good little boy, but in the eyes of most people, I am a clumsy oaf.
Could it be possible to draw blood and still escape unscathed?
At the moment when this vine-like thing slipped away from my wrist like a water snake, I twisted my wrist and grabbed it with my other hand. At the same time, I snatched up a dagger and struck downwards. With a swift motion, I severed a thick piece nearly a foot long and six or seven centimeters in diameter. The section that had detached from Jack's body twisted in my hand for a moment before going limp.
However, as I looked at this thing, my expression darkened. At the fresh cut, I saw not only green but also faint red. It wasn't my blood; it was Jack's. This thing was drawing nutrients from him to grow.
There was no time to waste; delaying any longer could cost Jack his life. I flung the limp thing away and, enduring the unbearable stench, removed Jack's jacket. Underneath, he wore only a tight short-sleeved shirt. He lay on the ground with seven large bulges on his back, six of which were swaying like flags with green vine-like tendrils.
These seven bulges were evenly distributed across his back, nearly filling it out and stretching his tight shirt to its limits. There was no way to take it off now.
Using the dagger, I sliced upward from the hem of his shirt. The spandex material was already highly elastic, and now with Jack's back seemingly stuffed with several balls, as I cut through the shirt, it vanished in an instant, collapsing into a piece of fabric on the ground while Jack's back suddenly came into view.
In the next moment, I involuntarily jumped back. Looking at Jack's back sent chills down my spine.
Yes, these vine-like things had already rooted themselves in Jack's back. Their bases—if they could be called that—were fist-sized protrusions. These protrusions were no longer green but had taken on a bloody brown hue; they were tightly fused with Jack's skin, making it hard to distinguish between the protrusions and his flesh.
What made me jump and feel horrified was the edge where the protrusions met his skin. There, skin and protrusions interlocked like teeth; you were in me and I was in you, forming a ring of white and brown that resembled a weld seam. The weld pattern was clear and dense, as if binding the two into one entity.
I was determined to sever them and save Jack, but the scene before me left me feeling at a loss for how to proceed. It seemed that to eradicate these vine-like things completely, I would need to dig seven holes in Jack's back and carve out seven pieces of flesh.
Jack's face was turned away, and I could only see the upper half of it. His swollen face bore no expression, yet I felt it necessary to seek his opinion; in truth, I just wanted to say a few words to him, regardless of whether he could hear me. Because this time, as I prepared to sever these vine-like things, the most likely outcome was that these parasites would be eliminated, and at the same time, Jack would die by my hand.
"Jack, you've got some grass growing on your back. Let me clear it for you. If you don't object, I'll take that as your agreement." At this point, I found it hard to continue. Throughout our journey, I had come to know him as someone who could appreciate a joke, and if he could hear me, I hoped he would find this amusing.
"If possible, pray that your god looks after you. If your god has abandoned you, go over there and reserve a good spot for me; I think... I'll be joining you soon."
With that, I drew my dagger and approached Jack.
Comment 0 Comment Count