When the liquid poured into the throat, the dry feeling was quickly dispelled. Chu Tianyan couldn't detect any fishy smell in his mouth, and could only taste a trace of weird "sweet" taste that did not belong to the sense of taste. Even so, he spat on it, which he guessed must actually be unpalatable.

At least it's back to life. Anyway, let's think about what to do next. One less burden is a good thing, if you knew that you could unload such a heavy burden in your heart, you would have done it a long time ago. Over the years, in addition to losing the perception of taste, the judgment of many things has also disappeared. I don't know if it's really since that day, or if it has been slowly smoothed out by the years, it doesn't matter.

His face was covered in blood, as were his hands, perhaps because he didn't pay attention to it when he wiped his mouth. It looked like a madman who had just bitten someone, in stark contrast to the indifferent expression. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he can't smell his breath, otherwise everyone will wipe it clean. Only the beasts, predators who did not feel disgusting with flesh and blood, but regarded as a delicacy, would be like him.

He sat there for a moment. It's still a while before dawn, and sleeping next to a corpse, even a few hundred years old, feels a little inappropriate. Dispose of it first, he thought. Before that, Chu Tianyan first groped around its body and package, and found a few hometown bills, broken silver, and a woman's jewelry, I don't know who it was for or who gave it, and I couldn't tell which country it came from depending on the workmanship. He wasn't interested, and even the half of the cake stained red with blood was tasteless at this time.

There was nothing to be left behind, and the youth didn't really have much food left. After looting everything he could eat, Chu Tianyan thought about it and decided to throw it into the swamp, along with all the money - greed would cause trouble, he understood this truth. Although this is a nameless and nameless character in the Nine Heavens, the messenger of the gods kills people...... I'm afraid that he will be punished, and he doesn't want to cause more trouble.

After dragging the body for a while, he came to the open area. They have also passed by the swamp here many times, but they dare not act rashly. If you don't know which wrong step you take, you'll get stuck in the mud under the meadow, and you won't have a chance of surviving.

The darkness of the night increases the difficulty of the action. After the corpse was dragged here, Chu Tianyan felt a little tired, as if he had consumed the water he had just replenished, and he secretly shook his head in his heart, feeling that the gains outweighed the losses. The flies were circling around him, and he didn't feel noisy, perhaps they were staring at the dried blood on his mouth. There were one or two dragonflies skimming over the swamp and flying very low.

He saw a mud puddle without turf, picked up a wooden stick, and poked it into it to test its hardness and depth. After feeling that it was almost there, he pushed the young man in. You must press your head down first, if you spread it on the surface of the mud, the sinking speed will be much slower; It is not possible to put the legs first, and the resistance will be great.

After that, Chu Tianyan sat aside, watching the corpse slowly sink with an expressionless face.

Suddenly it began to rain in the sky.

He held his head high and looked through the sparse canopy of trees at the starless night sky. It's funny to say, if they had waited patiently a little longer, maybe it wouldn't have happened. He stretched out his hand, picked up a small handful of the drizzle in his hand, pasted it on his face, and rubbed it clean. He was no longer thirsty, he just wanted to rest for a while and then get out of the woods. When he had wiped his face clean, he took out his and the young man's bamboo kettle and placed it under the two rain-washed fern leaves, and then accumulated water.

After all this, Chu Tianyan sat casually under a tree. Behind him was a dense forest, in front of him was a sparse swamp, and the corpse had only two lower legs exposed, and the bags were gone. He thought to himself, when the corpse was completely sunk and there was no trace of it, he would leave with the full kettle.

"You're so calm."

Chu Tianyan was startled and bounced up from under the tree. He was indeed frightened, because for so many days, there shouldn't have been a third person except them at all. At this time, there will never be a second living person. What the hell? But the voice was not like the young man's, but more like the sound of the words being read silently in the human head. In addition to the panic, there is more surprise.

He stared at the sinking corpse. After a while, the voice sounded again.

"I'm not there."

Indeed, now it has changed its bearings, and it is closer—like behind you. He looked out into the forest, it was pitch black, and the shadow of each tree seemed to be standing there.

"I'm in your ...... in the head. ”

The sound is close at hand.

"What are you?" Chu Tianyan asked, "You are not a human being. ”

"I'm not a lonely ghost." The voice seemed to hear what was going on in his head, chuckling as it continued, "Still, you've done me a great favor. ”

“…… What helped you? As he spoke, Chu Tianyan unconsciously glanced at the corpse.

"Provided with a delicious soul!"

Although he couldn't hear his voice and intonation, Chu Tianyan could still feel a sense of joy from such words. It's as if this passage really came to his mind when he was happy.

"You—trapped us here?"

"You're so smart. But you're not the only one trapped. I'm stuck too...... Buried deep underground, the weight of the earth weighed on me, leaving me breathless. And I'm not willing to sleep forever......"

The voice was talking to itself.

"You ......"

"Ah, forgot to say...... I'm always, hungry. You know, if you are locked in a dungeon and left without food, you will starve to death sooner or later. I occasionally trap some people here, some people who look more - fragile. You know, I don't always pinch soft persimmons like this, but when you have a lamb that you can slaughter with your bare hands, you don't choose your own kind, do you......"

“…… What do you want to say? ”

"Sorry, I haven't spoken to food in a long time, it's a little ...... Bored. You have to understand my long-winded ...... right now."

"So I'm one of your trapped targets too?" Chu Tianyan raised his eyebrows, "Because I look more ...... Frail? So where do you get the mood to talk to the Lamb? What are you? ”

"No, no, no, I changed my mind. I only have a small area of the forest under my control, and not everyone can fall into the trap, which has already sparked some rumors. Right now...... It's not the time to pick and choose, just like you. Believe me, though, I've removed you from hunting. Because...... You gave me the better one, which is sweeter than two servings. ”

Unintelligible.

"You've got to help me."

Before Chu Tianyan could respond, the voice said again.

“…… How can it help? And why? He was confused.

"You've lived a long life – life must be boring for you right now. Running errands for the gods may not be something you like either...... Even you don't know what you like to do. You can see that you are bored, and no work in the world can interest you, and everything now is only because you don't have a choice, so you don't like it so much. And human nature itself disappoints you. But I'm going to tell you, no, it's not. There's still a lot to be tapped into in human nature – talent, and you're going to have to work hard to get what you want from it. It's like I'm trapped here, and my mana is limited, so I have to watch yourselves and burn your life little by little to the end...... Only then can the soul be separated from the shell and belong to me. A single act of despair and remorse can only give a limited light to the soul, but I need more...... Just like you just did. You gave me a little bit – inspiration. ”

Such a headless and endless thought made Chu Tianyan's mind chaotic. He was about to give up thinking because he couldn't understand what the unknown ghost was saying. He thought about it again and again, but couldn't think of a reason. The voice went on to say:

"I can give you everything you want, I know, it's not food, it's wealth, it's love, it's not going to be those boring things, because I understand you – I know what you want, and only I can give it to you. And only I can understand you—your loneliness. ”

It laughed and said serious words.

Chu Tianyan felt that a string in his brain had finally broken, something that would not have been crushed by hunger and hopelessness.

He wanted to understand himself.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want one...... Permission. Permission to reside in your mind for a long time. Now my mana is too weak to even twist your will and force it into your spirit—but it doesn't matter, it shows that I'm sincere. ”

"Sincerely?" Chu Tianyan was a little inexplicably unwilling, "You didn't even tell me what you look like and what you are." ”

"Well, if you want to see it. My true body rests in the ground...... When you leave here and come back energetic, I will show you the way and how to visit me. Until then, I can only give you a projection. But you see, this is not who I am, but what you think you see me as I am—the way you look in your heart. ”

After saying that, Chu Tianyan felt that his vision had become a little blurred. A hazy white mist poured from the outline of his eyes to the middle, it wasn't dawn itself, he knew, something was reflected in his eyes. The surrounding scenery is chaotic and distorted, with only red threads in the dark night, like bloodshot eyeballs. The shadow in the middle slowly took shape, turning into a form he could recognize.

The long gray and withered hair seemed to be exposed to the sun on the sand and gravel for a long time, soft but fragile, and completely spread out in sight. The skin was also like that of a dead man, like the peeling shell of a merman he had seen after being dehydrated. It- his eyes were red like blood, and his face was festering like a cut red tail scale.

Red as a flower.

Red as fire.

Red as blood.

Like an irreplaceable, unique and true old friend who has been reunited for a long time.

"I'm a nameless python...... Your God, whom you call 'Maharaja'. ”

Chu Tianyan nodded in a trance.

The bitterness of digging into the depths of his memory made his mind ache sharply. Under the shock of vision, I couldn't keep my mind clearly, I only felt groggy, and I wanted to fall down and not wake up.

When I opened my eyes again, I was greeted by the appearance of the town. It's dawn. Chu Tianyan got up, and he didn't feel pain in his body. When he turned around, he had escaped from the endless jungle.

Everything was like a dream—if it weren't for a bleeding tooth in his hand......

"Find someone." He heard a dry whisper that pulled him back to reality in an instant, "Write letters with fangs, invite them." It takes a lot of ......."

"It's ...... What to do? ”

"I invite you to taste the most real despair in the world."