"Who... who are you?" Perry asked again, trying to suppress his inner uneasiness. His voice sounded particularly abrupt in the cave, and he could vaguely hear his own echo. He stared at the figure bound by chains in front of him, his heart full of vigilance and the desire to uncover the other's secret.
The man slowly raised his head, his movements seemed slow and mechanical, like a puppet being manipulated. A strange light shone through his deep eye sockets, his cracked lips slightly opened, and he still mechanically repeated: "I'm so hungry... so hungry..." His voice was hoarse like sandpaper scraping across the eardrum, with an unspeakable pain and despair.
Perry couldn't help but shudder. He tried to suppress the fear in his heart with reason, but the lifeless scene made him feel suffocated. He took a deep breath and forced himself to continue: "Even if you are hungry... I don't have any food." His voice trembled slightly, but he tried to stay calm.
As soon as the voice fell, the figure in front of him seemed to have some reaction. His body trembled slightly, as if he was angry, and as if he heard some hope. He lowered his head, a low gasp came out of his throat, and he uttered a few words intermittently: "Help... me... wa..." His tone was filled with a creepy begging, as if every word was squeezed out from the depths of his throat.
"wa?" Perry repeated his words, trying to understand the meaning. He turned his head to look at the water not far away and frowned. The clear water surface was glowing with a faint blue luster under the dim light of the cave, and it was so calm that it made people feel uneasy. However, the fish swimming in the water seemed particularly active.
In order to figure out the situation, Perry took a tentative step forward, but did not pay attention to the slippery stones under his feet. "Oh no!" He exclaimed, lost his balance, and fell into the cold water.
The biting cold instantly enveloped his whole body, as if countless ice needles pierced his skin. Perry subconsciously struggled to stand up, and his wet clothes stuck to his body, making him shiver. He shook his hair covered with water droplets and cursed in a low voice: "What the hell is going on! I'm clearly in a dream, how can I still drown?"
He raised his head and looked around. The scene in the cave was disturbingly clear. The walls were rough and cold. There was no exit around. There was only the sound of water flowing and the figure bound by chains in the distance. His hand subconsciously touched his waist, trying to find the magic book he carried with him, but found that all his items were missing.
"Oh no... How can I leave here?" Perry gritted his teeth and tried to calm down, but the silence and oppression around him made his heart beat. His eyes fell on the man bound by chains again, realizing that he might be the only breakthrough.
"He didn't mean in the water?" Perry murmured, his eyes swept across the water again. Now he had no choice, gritted his teeth, and decided to get closer and try to figure out the other party's intentions.
In order to avoid falling into the water again, Perry stepped carefully on the stones in the water and approached the man step by step. Every step he took seemed cautious, with only the sound of the water and his own heartbeat in his ears. He walked to a place less than five meters away from the figure and stopped, keeping a safe distance.
"How... do you want me to help you?" Perry took a deep breath and tried to keep his tone calm. His eyes swept over the other person's thin and tattered figure, trying to find more clues.
The man looked up again, staring straight at Perry. His cracked lips moved slightly, and his voice was so low that it was almost inaudible: "Water... fish in the water..." His tone was full of a certain desire and madness, like a soul on the verge of collapse making its last cry.
"Fish? You want to eat fish?" Perry asked tentatively, his voice full of uneasiness and doubt, and he couldn't help but take a step back. His eyes were fixed on the figure bound by the iron chain, but the other party's stiff movements and empty eyes made him feel even more creepy.
The man slowly raised his head, as slow as a mechanical device, with a strange rhythm. His eyes were still scattered, but the emptiness revealed a kind of desire that was hard to ignore. His lips trembled slightly, and a low and hoarse voice came again: "In the water...fish...food..." The words were intermittent, as if he had exhausted all his strength. Perry held his breath, trying to distinguish the other party's meaning, and finally heard clearly what he said.
"Fish? It's indeed the only thing here that can be eaten." Perry repeated in a low voice, and his eyes fell on the stream at his feet involuntarily. It was a quiet and clear stream, and the surface of the water was sparkling, as if it was coated with a layer of dreamy blue light. The gravel at the bottom of the water was obvious, and several slender fish shadows sometimes shuttled through it, and their light movements left almost no trace. Although the scene was so beautiful that it was almost unreal, the cold atmosphere and dark environment around the cave made Perry wary.
The man's body trembled slightly, and he kept repeating those few low and hoarse words: "In the water...fish...food..." There was a faint urging in his tone, as if he was desperately suppressing some instinctive desire.
Perry took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. The strange scene in front of him almost drove him crazy, but he knew in his heart that if he didn't do what the other party asked, he might never solve this mystery or leave this place. His eyes fell on the fish swimming in the stream again. Although these fish didn't look any different, they looked particularly strange in this environment.
"Okay," Perry whispered, with a bit of reluctant determination in his voice, "I'll try." He quickly took off his wet clothes and threw them aside. The cold air made his body tremble slightly, but he had no time to hesitate.
Perry stood by the water, took a deep breath, and then jumped into the cold water. The biting cold instantly enveloped his whole body, almost suffocating him. He tried to steady his breathing and forced himself to adapt to the water temperature that was as cold as a knife.
He opened his eyes, and the underwater world was clear and quiet, with fish darting around in it. However, when he reached out to try to catch a fish, the fish quickly swam away, their movements were so agile that it was annoying.
"What's wrong with these fish? They are as slippery as loaches..." Perry cursed in his heart, waving his hands in the water in vain. He could feel that the oxygen was running out quickly, and the heavy pressure on his chest forced him to surface for air.
"Damn it!" Perry spit out a mouthful of water and slapped the water surface with a breathless breath. He wiped the water drops on his face, feeling anxious and angry, "It's just a fish, why is it so difficult?"
He dived into the water again and adjusted his strategy. This time, he no longer acted rashly, but patiently observed the movement of the fish and tried to find their weaknesses. He fixed his eyes on a target fish, slowly approached, and then suddenly attacked.
The cold touch came from his fingertips, and the fish struggled wildly in his hand. The slippery scales almost made it slip out of his hand. Perry gritted his teeth, clenched his fist, and held the fish firmly. He quickly surfaced, raised the trophy in his hand, and shouted excitedly: "I caught it!"
However, when his eyes fell on the man, his joy was instantly replaced by an unspeakable fear. The man's eyes suddenly became sharp and crazy, and an uncontrollable hunger seemed to be burning in his deep eye sockets. His body trembled violently, and a low and suppressed roar came out of his mouth: "Quick... give it to me..."
Perry was stunned. He held the fish tightly in his hand and couldn't help but take a step back. His fingers trembled slightly, and he couldn't help thinking in his heart: "What will happen if I give the fish to him?"
Perry's heartbeat was so fast that it seemed to jump out of his chest. The fish in his hand struggled wildly, and the cold scales slid in his palm, almost trying to break free. He could feel the fish's tail whipping his wrist, and each time it whipped his fingers more sore. The bound figure opposite him became more and more agitated, and the sound of the chain pulling echoed in the cave, like nails scratching metal plates, so harsh that it made people's scalps numb.
"Hurry... give it to me..." The low and hoarse voice sounded again, revealing an extreme desire, but also mixed with a faint threat. His eyes were more blazing than before, like a burning flame, staring at the fish in Perry's hand. Perry couldn't help but take a breath of cold air, and the cold sweat on his back had soaked his clothes.
He tried to calm himself down, took a deep breath, and lowered his trembling voice: "Who are you? Why are you locked here? If you don't tell me, I won't give you the fish to eat!" His tone was as firm as possible, but the tail tone couldn't help but tremble slightly, revealing his inner anxiety.
The man didn't answer, as if he didn't hear it at all. His body leaned forward a little, his movements were stiff and slow, but full of a sense of oppression. He looked like a trapped beast, testing the limits of the chain every minute and every second, ready to break through the restraints and pounce at any time. As he moved, the chain made a harsh friction sound, and the sound made Perry almost cover his ears. His throat seemed to be blocked by something, and breathing became extremely difficult.
"Calm down!" Perry tentatively raised the fish a little higher, trying to use this action to calm the other party down, "I can give it to you, but you must answer my questions first! Otherwise——"
"Give it to me!" Suddenly, the man roared violently, his voice was low and hoarse, but with a force that could not be ignored. The roar echoed in the cave, like a low-frequency vibration, pressing Perry's eardrums. His pupils suddenly contracted, realizing that things were more dangerous than he thought.
"Damn it!" Perry's footsteps subconsciously retreated, but because of the slippery ground of the cave, he stepped on the air. He staggered, his body fell backwards uncontrollably, and fell heavily to the ground. The fish in his hand almost slipped out because of the violent struggle, and its tail slapped his palm, almost falling back into the water. Fortunately, he reacted quickly enough, and his other hand grabbed the fish's body, so that the hard-won fish did not escape again.
"OK! OK! I'll give it to you, stop yelling!" Perry said loudly, with a hint of panic and helplessness in his voice. He quickly stood up and covered his ears with his other hand, trying to relieve the discomfort of the eardrum being shaken.
Hearing Perry's compromise, the bound figure finally stopped roaring, but his eyes were still fixed on the fish in Perry's hand, revealing an almost morbid obsession. That kind of sight made Perry feel as if he was not talking to a person, but facing some extremely hungry predator.
Perry gritted his teeth and slowly approached the other party, moving cautiously, as if the slightest mistake would anger the "beast" in front of him. He stepped very lightly with every step, for fear of making any sound. The man's eyes, fixed on the fish, followed Perry's movements, and a hoarse growl came out of his throat, as if urging him to hurry up.
"Don't move, I... I'm coming!" Perry said nervously, trying to comfort the other person with words. He stood one meter away from the man, hesitated for a moment, and finally reached out his hand and slowly handed the fish over. The other person's eyes became more fiery at that moment, as if he wanted to stare through the fish.
When the fish was only a few centimeters away from the man's mouth, the other person suddenly lowered his head and bit the fish directly with his mouth. The action was rough and urgent, and even caught Perry off guard and let go. The fish struggled wildly in the man's mouth, its tail slapping the air, but it was soon bitten by sharp teeth and stopped moving.
Perry stared at the other person in a daze. The man seemed to have completely lost his mind, tearing the scales and meat of the fish with force, swallowing pieces of raw fish meat, and blood dripped from the corners of his mouth, dripping on the ground of the cave, staining a dark red mark.
This scene made Perry feel his stomach churn. He wanted to say something, but found himself completely speechless. He could only stand there, stunned as he watched the other person chew the fish, as if the fish was the most precious thing in the world.
When the fish was completely eaten, the man finally stopped. He raised his head, with blood on his face. His eyes were clearer than before, but still showed an unsettling coldness.
"More..." His voice was clearer than before, but still hoarse: "More... fish... need more..."