Munch!
Yuan Tianzhu's eyelids felt as heavy as a bag of cement; he could barely open them properly.
Munch!
A sound reverberated in his ears, one that was disturbingly familiar — the sound of something being chewed. Chills ran down Yuan Tianzhu's spine as his scalp suddenly went cold.
He tried to open his eyes, but something held him back. His eyelids fluttered at each attempt, but thwarted by an invisible weight, like they were dragging a stone uphill.
Yuan Tianzhu's heart stopped, his scalp twitching violently like it was stimulated by an electric charge.
The chewing and tearing sounds grew louder and louder.
His ears buzzing with the sound, an eerie discomfort surging through him.
His teeth clenched as dread rose making him shiver slightly.
Yuan Tianzhu could feel beads of cold sweat forming on his body as a heavy, nauseous and pungent smell attacked his nostrils.
The scent of iron hung in the air.
After a few minutes, he finally managed to open his eyes, blue like the ocean and shining brightly like the sun.
Immediately, a somber and dim light assaulted them, forcing him to shut them again.
Gulp!
When he opened them once more, his pupils narrowed into slits.
His body involuntarily trembled at the grotesque sight, prompting his stomach to churn violently, surging like ocean waves.
Gnaw!
A group of people was gathered around a motionless 'object'.
It was as white as snow, pale like cotton, lifeless lying on the ground like a sack of potatoes as the people danced around it like a sort of ritual.
Its interiors were open wide, its vital components visible to the eye, some tossed around like puzzle pieces.
Some twisted, broken and shredded to pieces.
Rip!
…. Yet, that wasn't enough to put Yuan Tianzhu in such a state.
Tear!
The same group of people was clustered around the motionless 'object', their heads lowered, their mouths moving to the rhythm of their chewing, like a malevolent symphony.
They were devouring it without mercy, tearing it apart, piece by piece.
Blood splattering randomly as they unceremoniously feasted.
Yuan Tianzhu watched in horror as a child picked up from the motionless object's bloodied insides and ate something long, sinuous, and slippery — a pale mass ranging from grayish to pinkish, with patches of clotted blood here and there.
They were tangled together like a serpent in a grotesque knot.
The child's face beamed with a pure innocence, joy as he happily chewed the bloodied entrails like he was savouring the sweetest candy in the world, rather some gray shaded entrails.
A crimson liquid falling across his soft and delicate cheeks, dirtying it like when a toddler was told to eat by himself.
It was bone-chilling!
Yuan Tianzhu's gaze returned once more to what they were feasting, a foul and thick putrid smell hovering in the air and immediately something rose to his throat.
Gag!
Huuuuurgh!
Yuan Tianzhu immediately emptied his stomach. Saliva tickling from his dry lips. A mix of sticky liquid and various decomposed foods pooled on the ground, and a repugnant smell embedded his nostrils, causing him to grimace.
His face paler than snow. His body convulsed uncontrollably, his breathing laboured as he tried to steady himself. But he couldn't do it. It was unnerving. He had never seen something like that in his entire life.
There were times he would wake up with bloodied hands and mouth — the aftermath of Mo Xie Zhe's doing, but he had no memory of what had happened before.
He hadn't consciously experienced any of it.
But now…
Seeing this horrific scene unfold before him with full awareness was an entirely different and far more disturbing experience. He couldn't believe his eyes. Was he dreaming? Was this a nightmare? When it was going to end? Yuan Tianzhu didn't know. But deep down he hoped he was dreaming. Such horrifying scene was worthy of being a nightmare .
His actions immediately caught the attention of the group, making them turn toward him. Each one of them was holding a bloodied bag each. As they marched, blood keep dripping from them. Yuan Tianzhu instinctively took three steps back as disgust churned inside him. He almost passed away from the nauseous stench.
He didn't know who these people were, and had no intention of getting involved with them. Who knew if they wouldn't eat him too when they got hungry? Anyways, he couldn't trust them.
"Newcomer, huh?" said a middle-aged man, his eyes slicing toward Yuan Tianzhu.
Though his voice was muffled as he was still chewing on a piece of meat. Pieces of flesh flew around as he spoke, making the scene look grotesque.
"Hm, he arrived yesterday," nodded a woman who appeared to be in her twenties. She was holding a piece of bloodied arm aside her bag.
"Hey, newbie!" the middle-aged man called out sharply. Yuan Tianzhu's body trembled slightly at the call.
"Hehehe, it must be strange to you, no? But don't worry, you'll get used to it." the middle-aged man stated as he picked up another piece of meat. "Either you do or you'll starve here."
He licked his bloodied fingers affectionately, as if savoring some divine liquid.
"… Get used to it?" Yuan Tianzhu's eyelids twitched. Get used to it my ass! I don't want to get used!
Staring at the man licking his fingers, a deep sense of disgust grew within him as his stomach clenched unconsciously.
But he didn't show on his face, maintaining a frown. And why the hell are you licking it like that? How can anyone 'normal' like me grow accustomed to that?!
"Yep, bad uncle is right! If not, you're going to starve. Little Yu doesn't likes to starves. It makes Little Yu's stomach feel funny!" this time it was the child he had seen earlier who answered, still holding the bloodied entrails in his hands as he approached.
He was happily smiling as if he had the best meal in a while.
'Is there any normal person here?' Yuan Tianzhu recoiled from him.
Thought a pure looking child smiling at him could be healing, this one wasn't in that category. The stench of decay was unbearable and the scene of the child eating 'that' was traumatising.
"Hehehe, look around you. Maybe you'll understand." the young woman looked at him with smiling eyes. Her eyes appearing pure without any ulterior motive.
"?" Prompted by the young woman, Yuan Tianzhu couldn't help but look around him. "What the hell?!"
What Yuan Tianzhu saw was nothing but a dark forest, with a ghostly light faintly shining in the surrounding darkness, as deep as the bottom of a well. The ground beneath him was black as coal, cracked like the charred remains of a long dead-fire. And splashes of red that he could already imagine what they were.
Vroom! Vroom!
The wind howled sinisterly, appearing like laughters.
The trees were darker than despair, eerily shaped as they seemed like dead spirits. Like wraiths ready to devour them. The pungent and rotten smell permeated in the air, strong and nauseating.
A cold breeze hit him, chills running through his whole body.
"What the hell is this place?!" Yuan Tianzhu couldn't help but curse out loud.
The situation was far too strange, and these people were far too odd. How could they act so casually after cold-bloodedly eating a corpse? Wasn't he supposed to wake up in a hospital? And more importantly how did he even end up here?!
"Your voice. Lower it, newbie. Do you want to die?" the middle-aged man had a stern expression that wouldn't tolerate any contradiction.
He had already chewed most of the delicious meat he was eating. But he made a mess of himself as his mouth was totally bloodied.
"…."
Yuan Tianzhu immediately complied, lowering his voice—not out of fear, but because the middle-aged man had more power than he did.
Yes, power; knowledge was power.
He had information about where they were, something Yuan Tianzhu lacked, which made the middle-aged man and the other have advantage over him.
So, he had to be very careful with his words.
"Ahem!" the middle-aged man cleared his throat.
His hands poaching another piece of succulent meat, he opened his mouth and gnawed crazily. After that, he licked his fingers again, slowly, taking in the aftertaste of the meat. Only then, he continued: "Don't raise your voice, newbie. Least you attract them. Well, it doesn't matter for now. Where I was at? Ah, yes. We're in the Black Forest— the trial is meant to take place here."
"Attract them? Who? And trial?" Yuan Tianzhu furrowed his brow.
A flicker of memory surfacing — he immediately remembered before he died, he had heard a mechanical voice talking about some trial. Was that it? Was this why he was here? To pass a trial?
He swallowed hard.
"That's right, the trial," the young woman said, crossing her arms, her voice weary and exhausted.
She completely ignored his first questions, making Yuan Tianzhu's face darkening slightly. They're hiding something important.
Her eyes devoid of any emotion other than despair, when she added: "We've been bought here with no explanation. If it's been week or months or not, we don't know. Only survival is important. And for that we need to pass the trial."
"That's all it takes?" Yuan Tianzhu feigned surprise, but he was only doing so to keep them talking. He needed to know more about this trial to come up with a plan to survive. He could only hope, they were stupid enough to spit all they known.
"Kekekekeh… you should be asking that to the fifty souls who've already met their end. But alas, they aren't around to answer, now are they?" An old man in ragged clothes suddenly approached, chuckling.
There's it. Yuan Tianzhu's eyes flashed eerily. That's all he needed to know. If it was dangerous or not. He didn't care about these people, he only wanted to survive. If these people went against this little intention of his…. Then, they could only blame themselves.
The was world was dark and cruel, between strangers and himself, that was the only logical answer.
He wasn't a saint. He was not here to give salvation to the people. If they weren't dear to him, then they could go to hell like he would give a shit.
He wasn't in a fairy tail where it was all sunshine and rainbows.
"Grandpa! Did you finish eating? Was it delicious? Little Yu found it decli-delicious! I want more! I want more!" the child rushed towards the ragged old man's embrace.
The ragged old man affectionately patted his grandson's head. "Kekekekeh… it may not be as fine as the feasts before, but even a small bite still satisfies, no? Kekekekeh…"
'Crazy bastards,' Yuan Tianzhu thought to himself as he looked toward them. But that could work for him as well. Human are inherently selfish creatures. It's in face of danger, one could truly see one's veritable face.
…Vroom… Vroom…
Suddenly, strange, unsettling noises slashed through the void.
Wind gales howled around them, mourning sounds pierced the air like ghostly wails.
Vroom… Zezezezezeze…
'?!' Yuan Tianzhu's heart pounded.
His eyebrows creased, his hairs on end, as a bitting wind slashed his face. His feet beneath the hard ground suddenly felt itchy.
He glanced at the others.…
All of them, frozen in terror, hollowed and dead eyes. Their faces, once full of life, smiles, now drained — robbed of hope, filled only with despair!
Zezezezeze!!!! Zezezezeze!!!!
The sounds ripped through the air, faster and faster, like blades tearing the atmosphere.
"Hahahahaha," suddenly the middle-aged man and the others burst into wild laughter, clutching their stomach as if they'd just heard the greatest joke in the the world.
Their laughter shredded the eerie stillness that was installed in the Black Forest, sharp and unnatural, like the grinding of a broken gear in hell.
It grew louder, more twisted, as if they were enjoying themselves in a release from a grotesque torment that had devoured them.
A chill crawled up Yuan Tianzhu's spine. The laughter dragged on—too long, too forced—until it became something eerily strange.
"Hahaha! We're dead! We're all gonna die! No! Grandpa, Little Yu doesn't want to die! They're coming! They're coming Grandpa!!!" the child shrieked crazily, clinging to his grandfather's legs in a desperate search for comfort.
"Who's coming?" Yuan Tianzhu asked, but the child offered no answer.
He turned to the others, and noticed that they had long fallen in silence, their maniac faces now serious and dark.
Yuan Tianzhu frown deepened.
He fixed his gaze on the middle-aged man. "Who's coming?"
The middle-aged man slowly turned to him, a twisted smile cracking his face.
"The…"
"The what?"
"The Abyss Wraiths!!!"