On his left hand side was a 10-meter-high dark red mushroom, coiled between several huge rocks, with bloody mucus constantly dripping from its umbrella. Its huge body seemed to be breathing, rising and falling in the air.
An Zhe put his fingers on the stem, feeling the pattern wrapped in mucus.
He had never seen such a mushroom before.
His eyes were suddenly filled with fear, and he looked at the place where it was.
——He didn't recognize it.
His breathing rose and fell violently, and he stumbled and ran in the dense forest. After a day, it was night, and after a night, it was morning again. Every plain seemed familiar, and every cave was empty. After an unknown amount of time, he could no longer walk. His mycelium was no longer as soft and flexible as it was before. It was melting and breaking. His human body became extremely weak as his life was consumed.
On the shore of a quiet lake, a dead vine tripped him.
The sharp rocks scratched his knees. He knelt on the ground, buried his face in his palms, and trembled all over.
He couldn't find it, that cave, he couldn't find it.
The life of a mushroom is only one season. The old ones die and the new ones grow again. The face of the abyss changes moment by moment with the generational changes of mushrooms. That road, the road he remembered so well—there was no trace of it anymore.
Surrounded by mushrooms and dead trees, he looked up at the sky in despair. He didn't know, he didn't know that things would be so—so cruel.
Lu Xun was right, he had no idea how big this world was.
Unless he had a long life ahead of him, he would not be able to find it.
He was destined to die on the way to find that cave.
Nothing in the world is eternal.
Not even the original oath.
He took a breath and stared at the silent pool beside him.
He was in a trance.
There seemed to be a sound in the water, an indescribable frequency calling him to leave, and the whole world was hazy and illusory.
Jump down, jump down, everything is over.
Happiness, pain, neither. He didn't want it.
Under the call and temptation of the voice, he walked towards the lake step by step. The water was so clear that it reflected his reflection. He and An Ze looked so much alike. When the water waves blurred their outlines, it seemed that An Ze was calling him.
How he came out without knowing anything, he would die without knowing anything.
But a voice suddenly rang in his ears again. It was his own voice.
"Upon this sad mountaintop," the voice whispered, "Curse me, bless me with your tears."
"... do not go gentle to that good night."
"Do not go gentle to that good night," he asked, "what does it mean?"
Linzo, the teacher in Eden, had answered, "Do not go gentle to death."
After a brief pause, he changed again.
"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me." He whispered a poem to a woman. They walked a long way together, not knowing what they would encounter ahead. What was the woman thinking at that time, leading him in the dark and the sound of ancient winds?
Facing the mysterious fate of extinction, did the woman have the same despair in her heart as him? How did he go on?
He lowered his head and found that he had taken the judge's badge in his hand again without knowing when. The edges of the badge stung his already bloody hand.
The illusory trance receded in an instant, and he took a few steps back.
He thought, what was I doing just now?
There was a sharp pain in his ankle, and the stone that had just cut his palm hit his wrist again.
He bent down and wanted to move the sharp gray stone that stood out on the flat ground to prevent it from tripping over other things, but suddenly he discovered something.
There was a dark charcoal mark on the stone, as if it was written with a burnt branch - a crooked and ugly arrow pointing to the southeast.
He fell into thinking. With his limited knowledge, there was no creature in the abyss that could draw an arrow.
He seemed to have seen this strange gray stone once or twice in other places in the abyss, but he was so focused on finding the cave that he didn't pay attention to it.
He looked around and finally chose to go in the direction indicated by the arrow. After walking for a long time, another gray stone suddenly appeared on the flat ground, half buried in the soil and half exposed. There was an arrow on the exposed part.
Anzhe continued to walk. Not only gray stones would have marks, but sometimes there would be marks on tree branches or bones. After a few days, he found that he had been walking to the south of the abyss - close to the highlands. The environment on the highlands was dry and harsh, and few monsters would pass by.
But on the same day, he couldn't find any other stones.
He stood blankly under a tree, trying to look around - wondering if he had taken the wrong road.
Suddenly,
a small stone hit his shoulder.
"Lost?" A male voice with a smile sounded behind him.
An Zhe turned around, and he heard similar voices again.
A tall, slender, handsome black-haired man stood beside the tree, holding a gray stone in his right hand. He blinked at him and said, "The road sign is here, I haven't put it down yet."
Looking at him, An Zhe slowly frowned.
"Tang Lan?" He called out a name.
"Do you know me?" The man smiled casually and looked at him: "I haven't seen you at the base."
"I haven't seen you either." After confirming his appearance again, An Zhe said: "I know Hubbard."
The moment the three words "Hubbard" fell, the careless smile suddenly disappeared from his face.
The author has something to say:
Hubbard is related to "Guiding the Way for My Little Goldfishes" Chapter 9 and Chapter 10.