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墨書 Inktalez
"There's something you might have guessed right; there's something that absorbs light in that black hole, but it's not the light-absorbing coating." As I spoke, my eyes were fixed on the direction of the black hole, and the green glow on my face reflected onto Jack's face and into the air, making me feel as if we were wrapped in a layer of green light. "I hope you can outrun me, or else you're dead."
With that, I turned and ran downstream towards the Underground River. However, I noticed Jack standing there in confusion, seemingly puzzled by my actions.
I shouted urgently, "Are you just going to wait here to die? Run!"
I saw Jack not only failing to follow me but also turning around to shine his One-Eyed Beast Flashlight back the way we came, as if he needed to understand the situation before he would move. But he quickly turned back and ran towards me. I thought this wasn’t an act of compliance but rather an understanding of the danger we faced. As he ran towards me, he muttered a curse under his breath. "Damn it, you poked the hornet's nest."
Yes, my gunfire had stirred up a hornet's nest and brought us trouble.
The light from the One-Eyed Beast Flashlight was effective in illuminating the path ahead, allowing me to easily avoid obstacles. The problem was that my stamina was severely depleted; I was relying entirely on the little fat reserves in my body for energy, feeling utterly exhausted and unsure how much longer I could last.
Jack quickly caught up with me, but he didn't pull ahead; he maintained a distance just a step in front of me. It was as if he were pacing himself like a lead runner in a long-distance race, ensuring he wouldn’t go too fast or let me fall behind.
However, this wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t want him running behind me because I had an ominous feeling about what danger lay ahead. If all went as expected, one of us would have to be left behind—I meant between Jack and me. Of course, I didn’t want that person to be me, but given my current physical condition, there was no way I could outrun Jack.
I had already mentally prepared myself for not being able to escape from here. Therefore, I was more concerned about whether this information could be taken out. At least one of us—Jack or I—had to get away.
"Run! Don’t worry about me," I shouted at Jack. "You need to meet up with the Lao People; they don’t have weapons. Promise me you’ll get them out."
Jack was close enough for me to reach out and touch him. The wound on his back had formed a scab, but blood was still oozing from the cut on his shoulder, giving off a strong smell of blood.
After hearing my words, Jack slowed down even more and ran alongside me. He tilted his head with a sly grin. "You know I'm very curious. I have to see what that thing is that attacked me. You know what? You're a great meat shield. You'll attract those things while I take a look before making my escape."
I felt like I was about to lose my mind from his attitude; what kind of person thinks like this? His mindset was too dark. But then I realized this wasn’t his true intention; while he might genuinely want to see what attacked him, he wouldn’t be so reckless because if that thing really caught up with us, he wouldn’t be able to escape either.
I shot him a mischievous smile in return. "The blood smell on you is even more attractive to them; you might end up having to lure them away. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you."
Jack was no longer smiling; I could tell he couldn't manage a grin anymore. As he ran, he reached up to touch his left shoulder, and when he looked at his hand, it was covered in blood.
"Damn it."
After a few exclamations, Jack shouted at me, "Help me stop the bleeding, or I'm going to bleed out while running."
Our first aid kit contained Hemostatic Gel, which was the quickest and most effective way to treat a wound in an emergency. We couldn't afford to stop; we had to keep running, even though we didn't know if we could escape this situation. Because of that, I felt helpless watching Jack bleed.
"How do we stop the bleeding? We can't stop now. Just hang on until we reach a safe place; you won't die just yet," I yelled back at Jack.
"Who told you that you can't treat injuries while moving? Haven't you had any training for this? Damn it, I hate having teammates who are as clueless as pigs. Just squeeze the Hemostatic Gel into the wound..."
"I don't need you to tell me what to do! As long as you can endure the pain, I know how to handle it." His words infuriated me; they were usually directed at others, so why were they aimed at me now?
Of course, I knew how to use Hemostatic Gel; it was as simple as using a point-and-shoot camera from the eighties—any fool could do it without needing instruction. The real challenge was doing it while running.
This wasn't a flat track or road; there was no path here. We were navigating through rocks and stalactites, leaping over them and stone columns at times.
Even with the One-Eyed Beast providing light, when we only had glow sticks illuminating our way, running felt like a gamble with our lives. A single misstep could lead to a fatal fall onto a stalactite or stone column.
Back then, we wouldn't have jumped over stalactites or columns. Everyone should know that stalactites form because water drips from above, depositing calcium carbonate that creates these formations. There would certainly be hanging stalactites above us as well. Jumping over in poor visibility could easily result in being struck by one of those hanging formations—just like the injury on my face, which I sustained from walking into one slowly.
Given these circumstances, treating his wound would be incredibly difficult. However, since I had already foolishly agreed to help him, I couldn't back down in front of him. Besides, he was the one suffering; I was just going to have a hard time executing it.
One strap of his backpack had snapped; I assumed it had been torn off during the attack by that creature. However, I believed this backpack might have saved his life. I rummaged through the bag slung across him and pulled out the first aid kit.
The process went relatively smoothly; I even managed to put other items back into his backpack with ease. But squeezing the Hemostatic Gel into his wound proved far too difficult; it seemed impossible at that moment given how severe his injury was.
I could never admit that I couldn't do it. I knew I had to stop the bleeding. I ran closely behind him, clearly seeing the blood flowing from his wound. There was no time to waste.
I placed my hand under the light of the One-Eyed Beast Flashlight and examined it. It was dirty and still glowing green, a remnant left by the creature that attacked Jack.
Maybe he would get an infection, I thought as I squeezed some Hemostatic Gel onto my hand and then quickly applied it to the wound on Jack's shoulder. Although my application was uneven and rough, given that we were both moving, it was a struggle just to manage that.
The Hemostatic Gel worked well; the bleeding stopped almost immediately. However, I heard a muffled, deep sound escape Jack's throat, which seemed to express relief but I knew it was anything but that.
"You're the real vet," he said after a moment.
I didn't want to linger on that topic and quickly replied, "I think I might know what attacked you."
(To Be Continued...)
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