Chapter 010: Boundless Darkness

The long aquatic plants swayed like floating water snakes at the bottom of the water, stretching endlessly into the distance

A faint ray of light filtered in, and I realized that I was lying face to face with the woman in red who was a corpse.

Before me lies a large pile of black and white speckled vomit

There is no vegetation above the mound, only greenish soil, layers of sedimentary river mud, and in the very center, there is a black hole the width of a water bucket

A sharp pain surged through me, and I desperately wanted to close my eyes, but my willpower told me that I absolutely must not close my eyes, for otherwise, I would never wake up again

I looked up at him in astonishment and asked, "Grandfather, how long have I been asleep?"

Darkness, boundless darkness, permeates the surroundings, akin to deep water stained with ink, encircling me, chilling to the bone, dark and void.

The entire underwater realm is a void, devoid of swimming fish and any aquatic creatures, with only the gently flowing water.

Then the egg slowly cracked open, and countless maggots, reeking of foul odor, crawled out of the egg, densely packed like a swarm of ants, writhing their sharp, white, rice grain-like bodies, arching their backs, and began to crawl along the long tongues of the female ghost and me towards my face, wriggling on my skin, causing a tingling sensation that made goosebumps rise layer upon layer.

However, the terrifying and intense pain continues to erode every inch of my skin as if it were endless

When you can feel, you are not dead

The desolate tomb, the water weeds, the black hole, the female corpse, the repulsive, writhing tongue—these are all illusions, all the damned female ghost eroding my soul

All of this is an illusion

It is this faint sound that suddenly makes me realize that every inch of my muscles still exists.

Yet around me, a circle of seven oil lamps flickered and danced incessantly in the night.

The more critical this moment is, the less I can go with the flow, and the less I can allow her to manipulate me

Then, being pulled by the water algae, the entire person flipped over face down, with the head positioned directly above that black hole

The underwater area is a place abundant with aquatic plants

In front of me, I finally saw the only spot at the riverbed that was free of aquatic plants

Immediately afterwards, I heard a thunderous shout: "Datong, Datong, Datong!"

I am not dead yet

Soon, my face was covered with maggots from www.hetushu.com, and the maggots began to attack my eyes, burrowing in from my eyelids into my eyes

I clearly saw that there were indeed several maggots crawling in that vomit

Once I give up, I will truly fall into this endless terror and darkness, becoming a puppet of the female ghost like the second duck!

Cough, cough! With the last remnants of my will, I strive to control my mind, to avoid losing myself, to prevent my downfall, to keep my eyes open, and to retain my consciousness

That is a grave submerged at the bottom of the river

Those slender water plants immediately wrapped around my entire body, resembling water snakes

I am unable to move, still completely stiff and unresponsive.

Ah! Just when the continuous pain was spreading endlessly, I finally realized that I could actually feel a slight sense of my physical existence

All I can do is to open my eyes wide and gaze blankly at the world beneath the water

As if being swallowed by the belly of a snake, I was gradually, piece by piece, enveloped entirely.

I can feel them crawling on my body, burrowing into my sleeves, slipping beneath my clothes, extending and writhing along my skin, cold, slippery, and coated in slime

And the maggots in my eye sockets have nearly severed the muscles connecting my eyeball to my brain, almost managing to displace my eyeball.

The faint light penetrating the water surface allows me to see the condition at the bottom of the water.

All of this is an illusion

The black hole resembles a gigantic mouth, hollow and facing upwards

Thus, the female corpse did not move, and I could not move either

I want to vomit, but I cannot move

***

Although my mouth and intestines are filled with long tongues and maggots, I can still exhale a faint sound from my nose

I can clearly feel that the flesh on my face has been completely eaten away by maggots

What I first felt was a mass of fleshy substance suddenly enveloping my head, and then gradually wrapping around my entire body.

I could only endure the feeling of being completely entwined by water snakes in a daze

Once again, it is pitch black, and my mind first enters the black hole

In the end, I realized that I had actually fallen down.

The algae that entangle me are pulling me little by little towards that black hole

In this darkness, the two of us, one living and one dead, gazed at each other as if we were lovers who had not seen each other for many years, our bodies pressed against one another. Finally, our mouths met, and our tongues extended into each other's mouths, growing longer and intertwining, stirring each other's insides.

"Just spit it out, just spit it out!" At this moment, my grandfather was speaking while wiping my face with a towel.

My eyes were not obstructed; I could only gaze blankly ahead.

Her lips were as red as blood

I do not know where I am, nor do I know whether I am alive or dead

I want to stay awake, I want to resist

I struggled, enduring the pain, as every nerve in my body was tormented, twitching and trembling from this agony

Just as the endless nightmare continued to torment my nerves, bringing me to the brink of collapse, I recalled a saying my grandfather once told me

I can distinctly perceive the bitter taste of bile when my tongue touches it

I only feel as if I am in water

However, at this critical moment, I suddenly saw the white eyeballs of the female ghost expand dramatically, making her eyeballs fully visible, rolling in their sockets like a peeled egg.

Those maggots are writhing beneath my skin, burrowing all around, reproducing, and continuously spreading

There are several that not only burrow into my body, but also into my ears and the mouths of the * pictures * and books, causing my five viscera to churn.

At that moment, a hand resembling a withered branch reached out from the black hole, grabbing my head and pulling me desperately into the depths of the black hole

No, no! I was shouting in my heart, but it was of no use; I was gradually moved above that black hole.

Even if it is terrifying, even if it is dark, one must seek the light with one's own eyes in the darkness

Before my eyes lies the female corpse with its pale, bluish skin and rolling white eyes

I drift like a corpse, slowly sinking with the flow of the water

Finally, I found myself stuck to the ground, my feet ensnared in the dense aquatic vegetation

Beneath me lies a soft yet cold body

I suddenly thought of these things, and the first point that came to mind is that I am still alive, and I cannot give up yet

Oh! I suddenly spat out a long, disgusting substance from my mouth, opened my eyes, and woke up to see my grandfather looking at me with a worried expression, shaking me and calling my name

I suddenly opened my eyes and realized that I was standing upright in the deep water, like a floating corpse, no, more like a sunken corpse.

The grave mound quietly sits among the water plants, resembling a large steamed bun