Chapter 53 Feast
In a way of "perception" that he could not fully understand, Yu Sheng felt that he had established a connection with the valley. His consciousness flowed among the rocks and soil, passed through the depths of the creeping and undulating woods, immersed in the water and wind here, and then, through countless pairs of deformed and distorted eyes, observed the sky above the valley.
The huge eye that was big enough to cover the entire sky gazed at the earth calmly and indifferently, without any change from beginning to end, just like an observer who was transcendent from ordinary people, observing the things in the petri dish.
But Yu Sheng could feel that the eye had noticed him - the moment he established a connection with the valley, the eye's gaze fell accurately on "him".
The eye was confused and curious, and although it did not show any emotion or "eye changes", Yu Sheng almost directly "read" these thoughts - some kind of huge "thought" was trembling in this space, and every thought of it caused huge waves here. However, ordinary people could not perceive these roars echoing in the foreign land. Even Yu Sheng, with the help of the perception of the entire foreign land, could only vaguely feel that there was thinking activity behind the eyeball.
But strangely, Yu Sheng did not sense any hostility from that eye - nor any kindness.
Then after a while, he found that the focus of the eyeball had shifted away from himself, or in other words, it was no longer looking at the entire valley, but was focused on a certain place in the valley.
His eyes slowly scanned the earth, as if tracking and searching for something.
Yu Sheng's consciousness gradually spread, and in the next few minutes, he gradually understood something...
The entire valley was filled with activity. Some strange and terrifying "life force" turned this entire foreign land into a hungry living thing.
Li Lin watched as rows of sharp teeth grew on the distant ridges, with horrific tearing trenches between them. Those rows of fangs rolled and undulated like waves, with thunderous roars emanating from their depths.
He also saw that an entire forest on the other side of the valley had come alive, with black tentacles replacing the original trees there. They spread along the rocky beach at the bottom of the valley, overwhelming everything in their path like a swarm of predatory insects.
And all this, under the cold gaze of the huge eye in the sky, was eerie and terrifying, like a nightmare.
Little Red Riding Hood's wolf pack howled around, constantly biting off and forcing back the tentacles, eyestalks, and tongues that grew out of the soil. However, no matter how hard the wolves tried, the team's foothold was constantly shrinking.
The young Secret Service agent couldn't help but feel a little desperate. He turned his head and looked forward, and saw the girl with a lot of tails running in the front with the doll in her arms. She was hunched over, and even though she was holding something in her arms, her movements when she ran were extremely agile and swift, like a nimble wild beast in the mountains - and he, as a human being, was almost unable to catch up with that "beast".
But at this moment, Hu Li finally slowed down.
She carried Irene (and Irene's kitchen knife) to a depression at the foot of the mountain, then stood on a large rock, stretched her neck and looked around. The pair of big furry ears on the fox girl's head trembled slightly in the wind, as if catching the slightest movement around her. Then she shrugged her nose hard and finally set her eyes in a certain direction.
"This way! The entrance is here!"
Before she finished speaking, she had already jumped to the ground holding Irene. Seeing this, the others hurriedly followed her and ran towards the mountain wall with her, and saw the cave entrance that could only accommodate two people.
“It’s very spacious inside!”
Hu Li turned around and shouted to the others, then took the lead and went into the cave.
A dark blue fox spirit fire ignited out of nowhere, floating up from the tip of the fox's tail into the air, illuminating the scene in the cave.
This looks like an ordinary primitive cave, as if it was originally part of the mountain. Some of the walls have traces of artificial excavation and widening. In the corners of the cave, you can also see some rough and simple tools, which obviously shows that someone has lived in it for a period of time.
Xu Jiali took out a palm-sized black device from her waist, carefully scanned the cave, and whispered: "There is no poison, the material structure is stable, and there is no sign of erosion."
Little Red Riding Hood waved her hand and placed several wolves near the cave entrance. The other wolf shadows returned to her side and gradually merged into the shadows under her feet.
Hu Li carefully carried Irene to a stone platform near the cave entrance, put the little doll down, and a worried look appeared on his face.
"Are you... okay?"
She raised her hand and pointed at Irene's broken arm and her right leg, which was in not very good condition.
Judging from her appearance, Irene's current condition is extremely tragic - second only to the benefactor who just died with his eyes open.
The fox girl obviously didn't know much about the "living doll".
"It's okay. This body is only temporary, and some parts are not strong enough," Irene was very relieved. She even comforted Hu Li at this time. "Don't worry, Yu Sheng will fix it for me when we get back. This body of mine was built by him. Although his craftsmanship is... just so-so."
The fox girl widened her eyes slightly: "It sounds like the benefactor is very powerful?"
"... Maybe?" Irene said this with some hesitation, "Sometimes I feel like he's not really a human being. He has a bunch of weird abilities and ideas..."
Just when she was halfway through her words, the doll girl seemed to sense something and suddenly raised her head and looked towards the cave entrance.
Looking out from this position, you can hardly see the scene outside the cave.
"What's wrong?" Hu Li asked curiously.
"You... carry me and go take a look outside? Just at the entrance of the cave," Irene said hesitantly, "I can't see what's happening outside from here, and I don't feel at ease."
Hu Li was a little confused, but didn't think much about it. He reached out and picked up Irene, and carefully walked to the entrance of the cave.
Irene stretched her neck from Hu Li's arms and looked up at the sky bravely.
The huge eye still floated above the valley, and the magnificent eyeball seemed like a pupil structure emerging from the sky itself, which was breathtaking.
"I feel like... this eye has been looking at me since a while ago," Irene quickly retracted her neck and muttered nervously, "Why hasn't Yu Sheng come back yet..."
Hu Li was stunned for a moment, then looked down at the little doll in his arms: "My benefactor, everything will be fine, right?"
"He must be fine," Irene lowered her voice, looked back at the three "temporary comrades" in the cave, and whispered to Hu Li, "Don't mention Yu Sheng's 'death' to them later. They should have forgotten about the relevant events by now."
Hu Li tilted his head and his big furry ears twitched twice, and it was unclear whether he understood or not.
Li Lin looked up curiously at the fox and the puppet hiding near the cave entrance. He frowned slightly, not knowing if it was an illusion. He always felt that he seemed to have overlooked something while following the two people all the way here. A very important thing disappeared from his mind unconsciously.
He looked at Xu Jiali and Little Red Riding Hood nearby, but did not see any strange expression on their faces.
At this time, Xu Jiali was carefully searching and investigating the situation deep in the cave, while Little Red Riding Hood was sitting on a stone bench with her arms folded, staring at the shadow wolves standing guard near the entrance of the cave.
Her red coat was damaged in the previous battle in the woods, and one sleeve was torn to shreds, exposing her entire right arm. That arm was now covered with fine blood-red lines, as if the flesh and blood had been torn into pieces and was now only barely reunited and stuck together to its original appearance.
The faint blue fox fire burned quietly in the upper part of the cave, casting Little Red Riding Hood's shadow on the ground. The shadow swayed, and occasionally it would suddenly twist and deform for a moment, becoming like the wolves that emerged from the shadows.
The strange whistling sounds in the valley kept coming from outside, making the silence in the cave seem even more depressing and heavy.
Li Lin stood up and walked towards Hu Li and Irene who were guarding the cave entrance - he felt that he should at least introduce himself at this time.
But just when he was halfway there, a strange sound made him stop suddenly.
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It was an irregular friction sound, like the noise produced by sharp teeth colliding and rubbing against each other.
And then, his spiritual intuition suddenly jumped.
Xu Jiali, who was inspecting deep in the cave, and Little Red Riding Hood, who was sitting on a stone bench and trying to calm down, also subconsciously raised their heads.
The "atmosphere" of the valley changed.
After another two or three seconds, the outside of the cave suddenly became quiet, so quiet that it seemed as if the whole world was plunged into deathly silence.
But the silence only lasted for a moment, and outside there came strange friction sounds and whimpering sounds that were different from the previous chaotic roars. These sounds reached everyone's ears and became clearer and clearer, and louder and louder.
The fox sitting on the ground near the cave entrance stood up instantly and looked outside nervously. Irene also used her broken arm to support the fox's arm, trying to confirm the situation outside the cave. At this moment, the puppet girl heard Yu Sheng's voice, "Irene."
"Yu Sheng?!" Irene was shocked and responded quickly, "You are alive? Where are you now? Can you sense my location? Open the door and come over! We have found a safe hiding place. It is not safe outside now. There is a big problem in the valley..."
However, before she could finish, the voice in her mind interrupted her next words: "Erin, don't panic - it will be over soon."
Irene was stunned for a moment: "...Ah?"
The strange friction sounds coming from the valley were more frequent than before.
Yu Sheng's voice continued to echo in Irene's heart: "Irene, do you remember what happened when we contacted Hu Li through dreams and tried to use her perception to find the 'frequency' of this valley?"
Of course Erin remembered.
"You came into direct contact with the true form of 'Hunger', and it has taken root in your mind!" the puppet girl said quickly, "What, what happened?! Is there something wrong now?! You can't survive?"
The strange friction sound in the valley became more and more frequent, and even seemed to have filled the entire foreign land. The disturbing sound echoed in the cave, making everyone's nerves gradually tense.
However, in Irene's heart, Yu Sheng's voice was calmer than ever.
"Don't worry, Irene, I'm fine, I just discovered something--"
Irene slowly opened her eyes, and she seemed to gradually figure out what the friction sound echoing in the valley was.
“Hunger has no roots in my mind.”
She heard Yu Sheng's voice coming from her heart.
She heard Yu Sheng's voice coming from the entire valley.
“It’s that I’m rooted deep in it.”
She finally heard it clearly - it was the sound of chewing, echoing throughout the valley.
The sublime feast has begun.
The entity that lurks in this alien land - hunger - begins to devour itself.
I recommend a book, "Anomaly Containment: I'm the Lucky One in the Cage", written by Yigenchu (just listen to the name). It's about SCP, and it's still in its infancy. If you like this type of book, you can go and have a look.
(End of this chapter)
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