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墨書 Inktalez
When I woke up, my face was still turned towards the campfire, which was still burning. It seemed I hadn't been asleep for long.
Everyone except Fatty was asleep around the fire. Fatty lay on his side, facing the darkness, holding a One-Eyed Beast Flashlight in his hand, seemingly focused on something.
I shifted my body and sat up. Although I hadn’t slept long, I had slept deeply, and my position hadn’t changed, leaving one side of my body somewhat numb. As I moved, a tingling sensation surged through me, making it hard to bear.
"Awake?" Fatty asked without turning around.
"Yeah." I glanced at the other two who were still sound asleep. "You should rest a bit too; I'll keep watch."
"I can hold on. I don't want to close my eyes here, not even for a moment," Fatty replied as he turned to look at me. "If you're feeling okay, we should leave immediately. We've been here too long; it's against survival principles."
"What survival principles? I've never heard of them."
Fatty pointed to his nose. "Mine. One basic principle is to keep moving and not let the enemy pinpoint your exact location."
Hearing this reminded me of guerrilla warfare. Was Fatty part of a guerrilla unit in Africa?
"With our injuries and conditions, how can we move? You and Tang Yumo are fine, but Jack and I can't take a single step. Why don't you two go ahead and scout the way?"
As I spoke, I massaged the numb side of my body with my hands. The tingling sensation felt like electricity coursing through that half of me, causing involuntary shivers.
The left side of my body was numb, and the tingling originated from there; I could hardly bear to touch it against the ground. The unbearable tingling made me lean involuntarily to the right, shifting my weight onto my right leg while my right hand pressed against the stone wall behind me. Before I knew it, I was standing on my right leg alone.
A sound similar to a soothing sigh escaped my lips, waking Jack and Tang Yumo from their slumber. As they both opened their eyes and looked at my strange posture, they wore puzzled expressions. It was only then that I suddenly realized—I was standing up!
After falling from above, I had briefly assessed my injuries and concluded that I must have some fractures—likely in my legs and arms, as well as my sternum. Tang Yumo's weight had crushed my sternum.
Initially, I felt as if my lungs had been punctured; breathing felt like fire, a definite sensation of being stabbed in the lung by my sternum or a rib.
But now, aside from a tingling sensation, all other discomforts and pains had vanished. Although I wasn't in peak condition, it didn't feel like I was severely injured.
Could it be that the fracture was in my left leg? Enduring the absurd tingling sensation, I placed my left foot on the ground. A wave of intense tingling and joy surged through me. Although the tingling made me grimace in pain, the overwhelming joy inside me caused me to laugh despite the discomfort.
"Hahahahahahaha." I felt tears streaming down my face, but they were tears of joy. "What a miracle! You know, at first I thought I had broken something."
I noticed Jack and Fatty exchanging glances, both wearing expressions of delight.
"Then it means you didn't break anything; you're quite resilient," Fatty remarked with a hint of sarcasm.
I lifted my still-tingling left arm and pointed with a finger that couldn't fully straighten at Fatty. "I accept that statement. There's nothing stronger than me—except for Heimanluo."
Perhaps Heimanluo had left such a psychological impact on everyone that my words caused Fatty and Jack to change their expressions, while Tang Yumo shivered in response.
"Yeah, who are you? Strong, invincible strong. Mighty strong." Fatty ’s timely teasing eased everyone's mental pressure.
I slowly moved my feet, circling around the campfire a few times. Once the tingling sensation faded, I took a moment to assess myself. Indeed, aside from needing to relieve myself, I felt no discomfort whatsoever.
"Relieve myself, then get out of here," I decided immediately.
Having Tang Yumo carry Jack was clearly unrealistic. As for Fatty? That was even less feasible; he could barely manage with one leg. Given their tense standoff, even if Jack wasn't worried, I was concerned that Fatty might accidentally drop Jack into a deep pit.
But Jack adamantly refused to let me carry him. For that, he quoted something I remembered: we needed a healthy person.
Thus, the one who ended up taking care of Jack was Tang Yumo. She couldn’t carry Jack, who towered over her, but she could at least serve as a crutch. Jack's right arm was draped over Tang Yumo's shoulder. The two of them, three legs in total, followed behind me and Fatty.
The three passageways were equally deep and unfamiliar; none led back to where we came from above. I couldn't help but mock myself—we were the ones sent from above.
However, this meant that all three passageways were unknowns, each leading potentially to either an exit or a dead end—or perhaps something even more terrifying.
And the four of us couldn't split up to scout ahead; currently, I was the only one capable of doing so. Fatty was uneasy about me going alone, while Jack insisted on staying by my side. I understood his intention perfectly; he had already recognized me as the Awakened One. Following me meant at least he wouldn't die.
Since we had decided to act together, we needed to choose a passage for our adventure. I didn't want to leave it up to chance.
"Alright, follow me. Let's pick the right passage. We should at least leave some markers; maybe we can come back."
"Genius will come back," Jack clearly misunderstood my intention.
However, Fatty's expression darkened. Holding the torch, the flickering flames made his gloomy face appear particularly sinister. If we ended up turning back, I wasn't sure if Fatty could hold on, mainly because he had been pushing himself for too long.
The Fork in the Road did not change the cross-sectional area of the passage; here, the passage was roughly the same diameter as Lop Nur and Underground Passage. I stood at the entrance of one passage, listening and feeling carefully. Unfortunately, there was no wind, no sounds or scents coming through.
Of course, I couldn't sense what lay beyond the passage. Glancing at Jack and Tang Yumo, who were connected like a single entity, I turned and walked toward the next passage. At that moment, I felt a deep disdain for Tang Yumo, who had given me the title of Awakener, and for Jack, who accepted it. How could they be Awakeners and not feel anything from the other end of the passage?
Was being an Awakener just about opposing the Hakka People?
"Is it necessary?" Jack asked with a frown as I was about to leave the second passage and head toward the last one. "They're all identical passages; it doesn't matter which one we take."
I shook my head. "I hope there's something different. If they're completely identical, it could spell disaster."
I finished speaking, not caring whether Jack understood or not, and turned to walk toward the next opening.
After taking just a few steps, I suddenly stopped, and Fatty almost bumped into me from behind.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I think I found it."
"Found what?"
"A different place." (To Be Continued.)
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