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墨書 Inktalez
After thinking about it for a while, I realized that the eyes and skin color were different. Wu Bo has a dark complexion and his eyes are small but shining. As for the old man in front of him, in addition to his abnormal skin color, his eyes were even duller and looked lifeless. "Is it fun down there?" Lao spoke very slowly, with a hollow feeling, as if the voice was not separated from me by a pot of fire, but by a larger space. Are you kidding me? ! Knowing that we almost died inside, you still made such sarcastic remarks. Although I feel unhappy, since the old guy caused 4≡, I am still happy to continue on this topic. "It's not fun. It's also very cold and dangerous. We went in by accident. We were chased by bugs and snakes and got sucked in by the flood. It seems that Lao knows what's going on down there. Have you been in there before?" "It's been a long time. It happened in the past." Lao seemed to recall something, his head slowly raised, and his cloudy eyes seemed to glow. But I was soon relieved. It was the dark red light of the charcoal fire that reflected in his eyes, making his eyes flicker. I saw that he was immersed in the past and couldn't help himself, so I quickly guided him down. I don't want to accompany the old man to silently reminisce about the past. He is not afraid of the charcoal fire. I can't stand it. I guess I will be mature by the time he gets over this memory. "It must be very impressive. When did it happen? Lao must have been very young at that time, right." "I was fifteen years old when I first went in. I stayed down there for three months, and I was with the people in Village Child is like going through a fire and coming out as an adult, respected and recognized by the tribe."
“Lao means that every young person in your Village goes into the Underground Cavern? And they go in single, similar to a coming-of-age ceremony?”
I was utterly taken aback by Lao's words. What kind of custom is this?
Not even a fifteen-year-old boy, but someone like me, an adult, going down alone for three months and having a slim chance of coming back alive. No wonder the population in this Village is sparse; out of ten households, only five remain. With such practices, it would be a miracle if they didn’t face extinction.
Lao chuckled lightly.
“It seems the Wu Family's Third Son hasn’t told you about this. It’s not something to hide; you all know about the Underground Cavern. Other details aren’t very important. This Child is too naive, just like his father.”
I had no idea who Lao's Wu Family's Third Son was. Although I had only interacted with Wu Bo from the Hakka People, it seemed that their ages wouldn’t differ much, and Lao clearly appeared to be a junior. So who is this Wu Family's Third Son? From what Lao said, this person must have had contact with us, and it could only be him.
I couldn’t help but feel puzzled. If the Wu Family's Third Son mentioned by Lao is indeed Wu Bo, then how old should Lao be? If I used Wu Bo as a reference point, Lao’s age should...
At this point, I became confused again. I was merely speculating based on assumptions without any evidence; I didn’t even know or ask about Wu Bo’s age. Thus, using Wu Bo as a reference lacked foundation. Adding one guess on top of another yields nothing credible.
“Yes. Every young person in our Village enters the Underground Cavern before reaching adulthood for a period of time. Of course, it’s dangerous; you already know that. However, every person who manages to come out becomes a qualified hunter and warrior. This is crucial for our people to cope with harsh environments and the constant threat of war over the centuries. While this practice may lead to a dwindling population, it has allowed us to survive until now; can you say that’s a bad thing?”
I nodded silently, feeling quite uncomfortable as if my thoughts were being read. Indeed, Lao’s words seemed to answer my unspoken doubts.
At that moment, sweat began pouring down like rain, stinging my eyes and blurring my vision. I wiped my forehead, feeling as if the room was a steamer or an oven. I knew I couldn’t stay in this environment for long; I needed to speed up the conversation before I fainted or cooked myself.
My eyes had been fixed on the elder across from me; even though sweat stung my eyes painfully, I didn’t look away for even a second. Through the rising heat from the charcoal fire, I noticed that Lao’s face seemed to be contorting. Since I entered the room, there hadn’t been any expression on his gray-white face—it was as still as a rock.
Perhaps it was just my imagination or an effect of the heat distortion; when I looked closely again, his face still bore no expression. However, I did notice something interesting: he wasn’t sweating at all. He was closer to the fire pit and wearing more clothes than I was, yet there wasn’t a single drop of sweat on his face.
“You’ve gone down to the Underground Cavern since then, right? For what purpose? Hunting?” I began to seize the moment to ask my questions.
“Yes. Whenever times are tough, our Village organizes people to go down and fish. You might have seen it; the fish in the water are quite plump and large. If all goes well, just a few fish would be enough for our Village to survive through a famine.”
"I caught a fish down there, and it was indeed quite large, big enough to swallow me whole." I tried to lighten the mood and see if Lao had any facial expressions by mimicking a big fish swallowing me. It was a failure; as I leaned forward, the charcoal fire almost singed my hair, and Lao's murky gaze seemed to look right through me, his face devoid of any expression.
"There are other prey down below, like the Giant Bat and a type of Long-Tailed Monster. You should hunt them too. I've eaten Giant Bat before; it's very fatty when roasted and quite delicious."
My words plunged Lao into silence, his thoughts seemingly drifting into memories. I knew that as people aged, they often preferred reminiscing about the past, recalling their passionate days. However, this moment of reflection didn't last long; he emerged from his reverie without me having to prompt him.
"We do not hunt things on the Ground; it's too dangerous and far less efficient than fishing. You should understand this."
Of course, I understood. Fishing is much easier with the right tools. Whether it’s the Giant Bat or the Blood-Eyed Monster, hunting is a two-way street; if your weapons aren't effective, the hunter becomes the hunted. Moreover, in terms of efficiency, the meat and fat from a single fish could provide sustenance for many mouths in this Village; their choices made sense.
Yet I couldn't help but ask, "The taste of Roasted Bat meat is still quite tempting. Haven't you ever tried hunting them? At least your ancestors must have encountered Giant Bats and Long-Tailed Monsters when they had to venture upstream in the Underground River to fish in the depths of the Underground Cavern. They must have hunted these creatures."
"We never kill them. They are the guardians of the Hakka People."
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