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墨書 Inktalez
After filling our stomachs, we began to gather a large amount of sawdust. Without any containers other than our backpacks, the shredded wood could only be spread across the cabin floor. The sawdust, aged and dried by the wind, had become somewhat charred over time, and sitting on it or stepping on it felt surprisingly comfortable, almost as if it had turned into softer clumps.
Fatty rubbed against the pile of sawdust and said, "This stuff is great—no pollution, moisture-proof, and insulating. Where else can you find something like this? I'll try sleeping on it first and let you know how it feels."
Before we even reached the middle of the Underground River, I could hear Fatty's snoring. Jack glanced back at me with a look of dissatisfaction, as if I were the one making all the noise.
I shrugged. "If you're sleepy, you can take a nap. I can handle it; I'll keep watch."
Jack turned back around and lit a torch. He wasn't sleeping; it seemed he had decided to stay awake.
I glanced at Tang Yumo. She shook her head. "I'm fine."
Amidst Fatty's intermittent snores, the boat drifted downstream like an old cow, moving slowly yet steadily. Accompanying us were the sounds of rowing, snoring, and the flickering light from the torch at the bow.
On this vast river where the horizon was nowhere in sight, that torch resembled a tiny firefly's glow—so fragile and vulnerable that even a gust of wind or a larger drop of water could extinguish it.
The water and air were engulfed in darkness; even with the One-Eyed Beast Flashlight set to its brightest beam, it couldn't reach the ceiling above us. We were surrounded by endless blackness.
For the first time, I felt an inexplicable loneliness. I had friends around me, collaborators, even the trusted snores of my closest companion. Yes, I believed that Fatty only snored so freely because I was there.
Yet a sense of isolation gripped my heart. It felt as if I were drifting away from this team, their presence growing more distant from me—including Fatty's snores. There was a force pulling me away from them, even though I was still on the boat.
I could control this feeling; I could touch upon it while rowing, but I didn't like it. It made me feel detached from reality, sinking into an endless solitude. I couldn't quite understand why this was happening; of course, I didn't believe it was Tang Yumo's Awakener ability at play—if it were, that power would be rather unfortunate. It would be better to have a power like x-ray vision; that would be much more practical. Although I didn't have a voyeuristic tendency, there were indeed a few actresses who captivated me. But well, let's not go there.
More importantly, I had never believed that I was an Awakened. Even if I started to believe in the existence of awakening abilities, it seemed absurd when it came to me. I knew myself too well; I was just an ordinary person, nothing special at all. I hadn't even had any particularly wild fantasies. Back in high school, this had led Fatty to mock me quite a bit. Oh, he once fantasized about our English teacher. But that's a secret.
"I'm not feeling well."
Tang Yumo's words pulled me out of my solitude.
"What's wrong? Do you need to relieve yourself?"
"No."
In the flickering light of the torch, I couldn't see any change in her expression. All I could see was the firelight dancing across her face. However, there was something slightly off about her demeanor.
"I feel like something is grabbing at my brain."
"Your head, right? Who could possibly grab your brain?" Jack replied with a slight turn of his head.
Tang Yumo shook her head slowly. "I know the difference between those two words. But this discomfort, this feeling comes from within. It's like something moved inside my head. It makes me feel nauseous, like I want to throw up."
Although Tang Yumo's discomfort was completely different from what I felt inside, it was undeniable that we both experienced something unusual at the same time. This made me instinctively wary.
"I feel something too, but it's not discomfort—it's strange. It's as if my consciousness is drifting away from you all, away from this boat." At this point, I fell silent.
My feelings were even more bizarre than Tang Yumo's, and I worried that if I continued, she and Jack would think I was losing my mind. Yet, I had to express these sensations; this information needed to be shared, just as Tang Yumo had shared hers. How could I have realized that both of us were experiencing something at the same time?
I looked at Jack and asked, "What about you? Do you feel anything different? Even if it's slight."
Jack shrugged. "Our ship is heading straight for hell. Does that count?"
"Of course not. Your senses are off. Hell isn't this quiet."
Jack chuckled lightly. "Then no, I don't feel anything. I'm not as sensitive as you all. Ask Fatty; it's already unusual for two out of four of us to feel something odd."
I turned and patted Fatty on the back. Honestly, I had no hope of getting any different sensory information from him. If he sensed something was wrong, he would have jumped up long ago, even in his sleep. I woke him mainly due to my own sense of crisis, just like Jack's; it was already strange that two people felt something was off.
Fatty surprisingly didn’t wake up; he just shifted slightly and continued snoring. How sleepy can you be? Most of the time on this journey, I’ve been keeping watch while Jack hasn’t slept much more than you, yet he’s still full of energy while you sleep like a log.
I was facing away from Fatty; if we were face to face, I would have definitely kicked him. Instead, I swung my arm and slapped him on the back.
"Ah!"
The scream echoed loudly enough to reach the Hakka People’s dwelling, waking Fatty and startling me as well. I didn’t want him to think he woke up because of my slap; his scream was far more alarming. He was startled awake by his own cry!
However, that scream made me realize something: Fatty had injuries on his back, and his health wasn’t as fine as he pretended. His drowsiness might be a sign of his body trying to recover and adjust itself.
In the midst of his scream, Fatty suddenly sat up. His big eyes were blazing with intensity, beads of sweat forming on his shiny bald head, quickly turning into droplets the size of soybeans that streamed down without any hindrance. Sweat flowed into his eyes, yet he didn’t blink.
That scream left me stunned, making me forget to retract my hand after slapping him. At that moment, Fatty's fiery gaze was fixed on my hand.
"Don't tell me it was you." Fatty said this with great effort, each word pronounced slowly, as if he were gathering strength, waiting for a definitive answer before tearing that person apart.
"I'm sorry." I quickly withdrew my hand that had caused the trouble. "It was an emergency; I forgot about the wound on your back."
"I know. But that's not a reason for me to forgive you. You understand me."
Then, Fatty raised his right hand, and with it came a glinting Straight Blade. It was a Straight Blade of the Hakka People, exceptionally sharp after being re-forged by Fatty in the Hakka People's territory.
I was stunned. I thought Jack and Tang Yumo were also taken aback by the scene before us. No one reacted.
But then, the knife moved.
The cold light flashed before my eyes, and a crimson hue appeared in my vision—blood, hot blood enveloping my sight.
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