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墨書 Inktalez
A bizarre world shrouded in Red Mist, the Eye of Truth hidden deep within the thick fog.
From the depths of the dense clouds in the sky, the chant of the God of Truth surged into my mind from all directions through beams of red light.
With each step taken by the enormous tentacles descending from above, they stirred the red veins connected to the ground, splattering chunks of flesh and debris onto the fragile roof of the car, making a crackling sound.
The surrounding buildings seemed to respond to the call of the God of Truth, ripples twisting on the transparent glass windows as they slowly opened eyes glowing with red fluorescence.
In the visibility of less than 10 meters within the thick fog, Han Tianlin drove the car at breakneck speed.
"We need to speed up; there's only an hour left until the Red Mist opens."
I watched as the small house grew farther away from us, eventually becoming a speck of light in the dense Red Mist.
"Who is that long-haired handsome guy?" I asked.
Han Tianlin replied, "He is the owner of the small stick we found in the stone wall."
That day, after Hong Jingtian and I rushed into an alley, Han Tianlin's car was blocked by the Puppet Army. With no other choice, he stepped on the gas and tried to shake them off while circling through the city.
Unexpectedly, it felt as if the entire city had come alive, with many obstacles sprouting from the road blocking his way.
Han Tianlin had no choice but to abandon the car and flee.
Amidst a landscape of bizarre buildings, he suddenly spotted a normal-looking small house.
Warm light spilled out, and the door was left ajar.
In this strange world, normalcy meant abnormality.
After he ran inside, the pursuing monsters behind him seemed to lose their target and gradually dispersed.
It seemed to exist outside of this world.
The owner of the small cabin appeared to know someone would come.
He said little, only mentioning that the wooden stick in Han Tianlin's pocket was something he had given long ago.
He asked him to wait for a moment until the monster dispersed before leaving.
What a mysterious man.
"How did you find the location of the Red Mist Center?" I asked again.
"Oh dear! We were so foolish! We actually found it a long time ago! What a hassle we went through!" Hong Jingtian said with a look of regret.
Han Tianlin replied, "What was written in the diary was correct; you can see it at a glance from a high place."
"Then why didn't we see it that night on the mountain?"
I pondered for a moment and suddenly realized, "It's because we were in the mountain!"
Han Tianlin nodded.
It turned out that the mine we visited that day was the entrance to the Red Mist Center!
No wonder we saw nothing that day.
Because it was right beneath our feet!
With a loud bang, a red tentacle suddenly burst from the ground, firmly wrapping around the moving car.
My head hit the seat in front of me, and everything spun around; my mind felt dizzy.
"Qingling! Jump down!" Han Tianlin's voice came from below.
I woke up and hurriedly opened the car door, only to find that in just a few seconds, the car hanging by the tentacles had risen over ten meters off the ground.
I felt a bit scared and hesitated for a moment as the car continued to rise higher.
"Come on!!"
"Don't be afraid, we'll catch you!"
Hong Jingtian and Han Tianlin were anxiously shouting from below.
Red tentacles kept emerging from the ground as they dodged and yelled at me.
I gritted my teeth, closed my eyes, and jumped down.
"Ugh! Sister, you need to lose some weight..."
The pain I expected didn't come; I landed on the ground and slapped Hong Jingtian on the shoulder.
Having abandoned the car, we could only walk over.
A creaking sound came from behind me, and I turned to look.
In mid-air, a giant mouth filled with sharp teeth suddenly emerged from the thick red mist.
The car looked so small in front of its mouth, not even enough to get stuck between its teeth.
With a loud crunch, metal shards kept falling to the ground.
After finishing chewing on the car, the giant mouth seemed to finally notice us few stragglers.
A loud buzzing sound echoed through the sky as the giant mouth chased us through the thick fog.
Foul, sticky saliva dripped from the air like raindrops.
"Ah! It hurts!" Hong Jingtian clutched his arm.
"This saliva is corrosive; we need to speed up!" Han Tianlin threw two jackets at us.
"Hiss!" The corrosive saliva continuously dripped onto my hand holding the jacket, causing me to grimace in pain.
The already dim sky was now further obscured by the giant mouth looming above us.
A breath reeking of blood rushed toward us like a fierce wind.
We looked up and saw only a mass of sharp fangs covered in red plaque. Beyond the forest of fangs was the interior of a mouth filled with red Flesh Buds as thick as a thigh.
As we raised our heads, the previously still Flesh Buds suddenly began to writhe, slowly turning toward us to reveal a face covered in eyes.
Inside the massive mouth, billions of Flesh Buds were dotted with eyes of various sizes, all fixated on us.
My mind suddenly spun, and in a daze, I saw my mother carrying a pot of chicken soup from the kitchen, calling me to dinner.
I slowly walked toward the dining table...
"Qingling!!"
A chill rapidly swept through my body from my feet.
I snapped back to reality and saw the giant mouth looming just inches away.
"Run!!!!"
But it was already too late. I looked at the Flesh Bud wrapped tightly around my waist, long and vine-like, constricting me.
A human-sized eye slowly extended in front of me, and below it, a toothless mouth gaped wider and wider.
I struggled desperately, trying to pull my hand out to grab the weapon behind me, but the more I fought, the tighter it coiled around me.
My face turned crimson as I watched the mouth, larger than my head, getting closer and closer.
"Whoosh—" A gust of wind rushed in, and the Flesh Bud was severed cleanly by a sharp blade.
The Flesh Bud binding my waist let out a roar and suddenly swallowed my head.
"Ah!!" I pulled my hands, now raw, desperately tearing at the flesh ball covering my head.
"Close your eyes!" Han Tianlin's voice rang in my ears.
"Swish!" The flesh ball over my head was ripped open.
Han Tianlin grabbed me and ran wildly, "Don't look directly at them!"
The Red Mist in the air grew thicker...
The Inner World and Surface World were about to merge once again.
"Hurry! We have ten minutes left!" Han Tianlin shouted loudly as he glanced at the countdown on his watch.
We passed through one massive tentacle after another that descended from the sky and pierced into the ground, finally reaching the location of the mine.
But at this moment, the mine was no longer familiar to us.
Hidden beneath the thick fog was a faintly visible red Giant Eye.
The hollow, dark, and bottomless space pulsated like a mouth waiting for prey to approach.
The dark red ground in front of the cave entrance undulated faintly, as if hiding some unknown monster ready to break through at any moment.
"Don't hesitate, let's go! I'll scout the way for you," Hong Jingtian said as he stepped onto the undulating ground.
As his foot landed, the ground sank slightly; when he lifted his foot, red liquid clung to the sole of his shoe.
"See? There's nothing to worry about!" Hong Jingtian exclaimed excitedly, bouncing a couple of times on the ground.
"Be careful!" My heart raced wildly with each of his bounces.
There was no time for us to hesitate. I closely followed Han Tianlin, and the three of us formed a line, heading toward the unknown cave entrance.
The sensation underfoot was truly disgusting—soft and sticky, as if stepping on some living creature.
Occasionally, I would step on a raised mound of dirt, causing the slime to burst and splatter all over my pants.
I suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Are you really sure it's here?" I caught a glimpse of eyes hidden in the Red Mist, gleaming with malicious intent.
Han Tianlin frowned. "Not sure, but we have no other choice now."
Only one minute remained until the Red Mist opened.
We finally reached the cave entrance.
I suppressed my fear and controlled myself not to look at the eyes lurking just behind me.
Countdown:
10
9
8
7
Red Mist was thick enough to seem like it could drip blood, swirling with tiny bits of flesh.
It felt familiar, as if returning to the day everything began.
6
5
What is that sound, "puchi puchi"?
"Brother and sister, don't go! Stay and play with baby!"
Suddenly, many Puppets burst forth from the dark red ground beneath our feet.
They swarmed towards us like a horde of ants.
In the Red Mist, a giant puppet appeared before us.
A massive hand came crashing down towards us.
As it got closer, I could clearly see that the enormous hand was made up of countless tiny puppets piled together.
With our backs against the Giant Eye, we had nowhere to escape.
"Bang—" A loud noise erupted, and the mountain behind was blasted away, chunks of flesh continuously falling down.
Countless small puppets revealed their sharp little fangs, crawling all over and quickly gnawing at us like termites.
A hand reached out from the Red Mist, and with a swift motion, I was pushed forcefully away.
"Han Tianlin!!"
An uncountable number of small puppets and pieces of flesh fell from the air, blocking our view.
A familiar head emerged on the pinky of the giant hand—it was Han Tianlin!
He was only four or five meters away from us, one arm missing, blood gushing from the severed end. His body was a mess of blood and flesh, and his remaining hand clung desperately to the giant hand, barely holding on.
Suddenly, I remembered the cane that man had given me. I pulled it out from behind and extended it toward him.
With skeletal hands gripping the cane, I gritted my teeth and shouted, "Han Tianlin! Grab it! We're going home!"
He suddenly let go and quickly grasped the cane.
The sudden increase in weight almost made me lose my grip on the stick. In a critical moment, Hong Jingtian reached out, and together we pulled him back.
A blinding white light suddenly burst forth behind us.
We turned back for a glance, and that white light was actually emanating from the pupil of the Giant Eye.
We exchanged one last look:
"See you tomorrow."
Then we disappeared into the white light.
[The End]
Epilogue
"Buzzing..."
"Hey! Wake up, wake up!"
"Lingling! Wake up!"
A flash of white light passed by, and I opened my eyes.
I saw a familiar and comforting face.
"Mom?"
"What happened to me?"
I sat up and realized I was in a hospital.
"You suddenly fainted on the way home from work, you nearly scared me to death!"
I shook my head, feeling like I had forgotten something.
After the doctor finished the examination, my mom and I returned home.
Sitting on the sofa, I heard the sound of meat being chopped coming from the kitchen.
It was my mom chopping the ribs she had just bought.
A rich and thick aroma wafted from the kitchen, lingering in the air for a long time.
That was the chicken soup my mom was making.
At the dining table, I asked my mom, "Mom, today's chicken soup seems different from usual; it smells especially good. What did you put in it?"
I fished around in my bowl and found a chicken foot that was so tender it fell off the bone.
"Oh... it's nothing special. Recently, a new batch of chickens came to the market, and they are particularly fat."
As I gnawed on the chicken foot, I looked up at her and saw my mom wearing an exceptionally bright smile.
"It really is quite fatty."
For some reason, the chicken foot suddenly became hard to swallow.
"Clang—"
I spat out what was in my mouth.
"Mom, how did your ring end up in the soup?"
Epilogue
"According to our report: The Red Mist that suddenly appeared a month ago has caused 35 people to faint. Thanks to the efforts of medical staff, three people have already regained consciousness. We will continue to monitor the situation."
"Qingling! You're better now!"
"Yeah, I've been lying down for a month, my bones are all loose!"
I walked to my workstation and saw a breakfast on the table.
"Oh~ something's going on!"
"Tell me! Why did Han Tianlin from the engineering department bring you breakfast?"
I smiled, "Because we have a life-and-death friendship."
After work, I walked to the elevator and saw Han Tianlin waiting for me by the window.
He walked over and took my laptop bag from my hands.
"Let's go, Jing Tian is almost starving."
In the car, Han Tianlin was driving and turned to look at me during a red light: "How do you feel?"
I looked out at the bustling traffic and bright lights: "It feels surreal..."
"Just yesterday your whole arm was gone..." I reached out and squeezed his arm.
After coming out of Red Mist, I woke up again in the hospital.
My mom said that after the Red Mist appeared that day, many people inexplicably fainted.
Within a few days, most of them had brain death while in their sleep.
The three of us were among the first to wake up among those who survived.
In the warm, dim light, the restaurant was filled with laughter and joy, reflecting the happiness of getting off work.
"Come on! Cheers! Let's celebrate our new lease on life!"
"Ding—" In the crystal-clear liquid, I looked at the two vibrant smiles across from me.
Once again, I felt grateful.
It's good to be alive.
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