Grasshopper
Accompanied by Zhang Tianyi's low roar, we ran wildly in the grass. The grass and trees in front of us became denser and denser. In just a distance of a few dozen meters, the tightly pressed grass and trees were entangled with each other like a cage, forming a knot.
The grasshopper behind me was still greeting me happily. When it saw us running out, it seemed to be completely unaware that it was the source of fear. It was also startled and ran after us, asking:
"Counselor, what's wrong?"
Just listening to the voice behind me, the panic and nervousness were definitely not fake, and I almost wanted to turn around to take another look.
But then, one of its heads said, "It would be nice to have a consultant here. The consultant can help us solve the problem."
Another head said, "Yes... Consultant, come on."
A burst of snickering spread like a relay from one person to another in the back.
My whole body went numb, and all my unnecessary indecision disappeared immediately. Sparks were practically coming out of the soles of my feet.
The snickers in the back were getting louder and louder, but there seemed to be some kind of distinction, as if they were a group of people talking and communicating, and each laugh was waiting for the previous head to finish laughing before following.
But is it possible for a group of people to talk without interrupting each other?
What the hell is this thing? Does it still think of itself as a “group of people”?
I can guarantee that in the process of catching up with us, some heads were even complaining and questioning, while there were also mature and steady voices that comforted me and asked me to stop and talk about what was going on.
If we only listened to the sounds, it seemed like Zhang Tianyi and I, who were running wildly during the whole process, had something wrong with our brains, and behind us were a group of frightened doctors, nurses, and patients in the same room.
But that kind of sinister snickering sound appeared intermittently and inadvertently at the end of every sentence, without even the heads themselves noticing.
Moreover, it bounced faster and faster.
At first, there were some stumbling blocks, but those outstretched hands soon began to divide the work under the command of one of the heads, supporting the ground to push away the grass and stabilize the chaotic center of gravity. In the conversations of those with normal heads, one could even hear the previous closeness and distance between different people and the relationship between superiors and subordinates.
It truly demonstrates the order and rationality that belongs to “human beings”.
But this kind of orderly and clear division of labor makes me feel colder than all the completely inhuman things I have ever seen.
Once I thought that if I was completely infected, I might become one of the heads, thinking that I was wise and clear-headed, but actually drooling inside a deformed mass of flesh, the thought of something that could be touched shattered all my composure.
It would be fine if I turned into a monster, but if I still retained my consciousness but my cognition in certain aspects was obscured, and I did things that I didn't know were against common sense, then I might as well just die.
I was almost rolling and crawling, cursing in my heart.
At this moment, something moved past at the edge of my vision.
I took a wary look and a cold sweat broke out.
It was a human face.
A lone face suddenly appeared between Zhang Tianyi and me, and jumped up and pounced on Zhang Tianyi's back.
"behind!"
I yelled, Zhang Tianyi ducked down, and the face jumped straight over his shoulder. But the gray-green saliva dripped directly onto his shoulder and stuck to his clothes.
The stickiness was so strong that it was like an elastic thread. The face moved in midair and turned over, jumping onto Zhang Tianyi's face. He turned out quickly, and the face folded again in the mist and suddenly jumped onto my face.
Through the high-raised mask collar, the face that was so close to me opened its mouth and was actually calling my name, and its gray-green tongue popped out straight in my face.
My scalp exploded as Zhang Tianyi grabbed the back of my collar and flipped me up, then kicked the man in the face. The sticky feeling made my entire face numb and tight.
He took off his saliva-stained coat and put it outside, hitting the face of the man who was about to jump up again, and stomped hard to the ground.
The piercing scream suddenly made my ears buzz. The face was still pushing out from the coat, with great force, and soon a gray-green color seeped out. I didn't care about the huge figure approaching from behind, and stepped on it. After stomping on it several times, I felt a lightness on my waist. Zhang Tian took the dagger I used to cut the wound and stabbed it.
The man's face screamed again, trembled, and finally stopped moving.
I breathed a sigh of relief and raised my sleeve to quickly wipe the sticky liquid off my collar, fearing that it would stick to my face. I shouted and ran, but Zhang Tianyi suddenly held me down, stopped, and looked around vigilantly.
The giant grasshopper man that was chasing us disappeared silently during this brief fight.
A creepy feeling suddenly crawled up my back. The ominous premonition made me shiver twice in succession, and I immediately understood what would happen next.
"……consultant."
A voice came from somewhere.
Then, there were countless rustling sounds, near and far, like a nest of grasshoppers being startled. I saw one broken or complete human face after another poking out from the depths of the grass, all staring at us.
"consultant."
They said that the mist connected between them like a shadow, and those limbs, as Lei Zige half-jokingly said, were suspended in the air as if they were flying.
“…”
A feeling close to despair made me silent for a moment.
Damn it, there are so many faces, more than what I originally saw on the grasshopper man. Is this some kind of wholesale market for human faces? Even according to the rules of moving rats, a face should be accompanied by two legs and two arms. These "people" are completely shameless and unreasonable.
I stepped back a little, retreating behind Zhang Tianyi, and smiled bitterly in my heart. Now we are really stuck together and connected by blood. I hope that we won’t spit at each other because of disagreements in the future.
"Ranzi, don't move." Zhang Tianyi said almost silently, putting his hand on my back.
I had a thought, somewhat puzzled, when suddenly a huge force from behind pushed me to the ground.
Damn, what are you doing at this time!
I tried hard to struggle despite my involuntary reflex. The smell of soil and grass surrounded me all of a sudden. Then Zhang Tianyi fell down, shrank into the grass, and started crawling forward quickly with me.
There is no time to run, why?
Ten thousand questions exploded in my mind. My mind was telling me that this was courting death. Those were “people” who watched us hide in the grass and try to cover up our crimes. They were not blind or stupid. Wasn’t this giving those things the opportunity to create an encirclement?
But all the countless doubts turned into self-forced persuasion at this moment. I continued to crawl forward, gritting my teeth, clearing my mind and thinking about nothing.
Just at this moment, a loud and urgent sound of music rang out in the distance.
It was my new phone, which I had had for less than a day. The ringtone was very easy to recognize because it was newly selected.
Damn, when did my new phone get stolen?
Along with this somewhat out-of-line surprised murmur, the rustling sound in the bushes suddenly stopped, and then everyone shouted excitedly.
It should be coming from the broken tricycle outside the platform where we were parked. A voice that was amplified countless times seemed to be chatting with someone as if nothing was happening.
That was the voice of the broker, the subtle sound of a wheelchair rubbing against the ground, the sound of something violently hitting the door, and the high and low voices calling her in question. All the sounds mixed together, and were very clear in the phone's full-power speaker.
Those faces seemed to have found a more familiar target for "help" in the midst of crisis and confusion, and all turned towards him.
From my low perspective, countless faces popped up from between the grass and trees, so dense that I almost had the illusion that the sky was dark. Not only the faces of those who looked like Zhang's men, but also many more who looked very bad and old, all arched up, gathered together, and looked towards the bar.
But for some reason, the human-shaped pieces of flesh they formed seemed unwilling to approach the bar, and just kept stamping their feet anxiously in the grass on the platform.
It was from this perspective that I was able to see that when the fog gathered and became thick, a transparent object was faintly visible in the air.
The human figures composed of floating broken limbs and faces seemed to be gradually melting, right in the center of the transparent object.
"Is this big one the one defined by the mouse?"
Over there, the broker had obviously seen the almost magical scene through the high ventilation window. Her voice was broadcast publicly, and she said calmly with white noise:
"I dragged your master in, and now I'm using him and the wheelchair to hold the door open. Don't worry, he's got a lot of muscle, so he's very useful."
I was stunned and lowered my head to continue crawling under the cover of the grass. I couldn't help but give Zhang Tianyi a silent look of disbelief.
Zhang Tianyi smiled and shook his head, motioning me to hurry up, they would be there soon.
Over there, probably in the broken tricycle, my phone was actually still connected to the broker (I guess that’s how she notified Zhang Tianyi to pick me up and take me away, and her signal was not cut off by Zhang Tianyi). This elder, who always had a steady and stern temperament, was still talking to me in a very serious and almost honest tone:
"Although I have never been on the ground according to the rules, these kids have called me instructor since they were young, so they probably can't beat me."
"Let's talk first and then meet up later."
In the background, Xu You, who was forgotten by all of us, seemed extremely helpless and speechless. He just let out a long sigh, angry but not able to speak out.
This time, in an atmosphere that was extremely terrifying and bizarre with a hint of black humor, Zhang Tianyi and I hid in the bushes without anyone paying attention to us. We smoothly arrived at the bottom of the platform, listening to the sinister shouts of the "leader" and "instructor" from high above.
The process of opening the iron door of the small building was so dull and boring. We sneaked in, closed the door and locked it.
Only one face who was still slacking off outside the main group bumped into us unexpectedly, showing an extremely surprised look. I picked up the door bolt and smashed it on the head, and then the two of us rushed over. That face literally fell into the ground on the spot.
My first reaction was to really want to know who this guy was. How could he become such a bad person, not forgetting to take a break and come out to play, completely ignoring the collective call. Is this the highest state of human nature?
Then, there was a loud bang from the cell phone speaker, as if something heavy was being lifted up, and the communication was cut off.
I was startled: "What happened?"
"There is a tunnel under the bar that leads to other buildings. Your wife should be ready to push her wheelchair in and race her car."
Zhang Tianyi said, I collapsed on the ground gasping for breath after entering the room. After hearing what he said, I thought about that scene and finally relaxed.
Then, I vaguely remembered that Xu You's fall from an old fox to being confined to a wheelchair was summarized in two words, and I couldn't help laughing.
However, in this case, I am not too worried about the temporary safety of the two elders. Just like Zhang Tianyi said, those "people" are too big to get in. If it is just a few faces, I believe they can deal with it.
I have to thank the damn fog, otherwise I should have died of bleeding after the intense exercise. But now it seems that I am fine, just like losing blood in online games, no matter how low the blood bar is, I am still alive and kicking.
However, when I pressed hard on the wound, very little blood seeped out, and there was also a faint hint of gray.
On the cold floor, Zhang Tianyi and I stopped talking and lay there for about five or six minutes to recover our strength and our blurred cognition.
During this process, I lay on my back and observed the small building, feeling a pleasing cleanliness after cleaning.
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