After nightfall, the group set up a small camp where they began cooking several birds they had caught on the way. They used herbs and berries from the forest to enhance the flavor of the al. When it was ready, Lin slowly inhaled the aroma and slightly smiled.
"The only happiness in the world is enjoying delicious food after extre hunger," he slowly bit into a bird leg and popped a few red berries into his mouth.
Savoring the wonderful food in his mouth, Lin looked at Aran and asked:
"So, which direction should we go? Since we’re inside the Dead Lands, Fort Post — Death of your family should be closer. But the road leads fully through the Dead Lands, which are very dangerous. However, if we go to Fort Post — Hope, then half the way goes through the Dead Lands and the other half through regular terrain, which isn’t as dangerous."
Aran smiled and replied:
"Both options are excellent. But if I had to choose, I’d definitely pick Fort Post — Death, because it’s my family’s. But I understand that answer might not please you, so you know what I’ll choose?"
Lin looked at Aran, waiting for the answer, and Aran laughed at his gaze and said:
"I’ll choose... the path forward."
Wed, who was serving food to Lin and Aran, paused for a mont upon hearing that answer. He opened his mouth and carefully asked Aran:
"Sir Aran, what do you an by: "the path forward"? Weren’t we trying to return to Earth as soon as possible?"
Aran shook his head and shrugged.
"Both yes and no. We don’t know exactly which part of the Dead Lands we’re in, so blindly picking a direction might just make things worse. The best choice is — to go forward, and as we move, we might figure out where we are."
Wed frowned and asked:
"But won’t we end up walking even deeper into the Dead Lands that way? Isn’t blind wandering even more dangerous?"
Lin shook his head and calmly replied:
"No. It won’t be. Wandering blindly through places you don’t understand is more dangerous than you think. And besides, we’re in the Dead Lands, where all kinds of strange things happen constantly..."
Wed nodded with a confused expression, not fully understanding what Lin and Aran ant. But he had to agree with them, because without them, he wouldn’t survive. Besides, those two ignored many of his secrets.
The three of them talked actively on different topics; in this atmosphere, it seed like each of them was a kind person who wouldn’t even hurt a fly. But beneath that veil of friendliness hid real inner desires that would make any sane person uneasy.
When the three had eaten enough, they decided it was ti to sleep. Lin lay down far from the others, sowhere deep in the forest, where only a few moonbeams could reach. Wed lay near the campfire, and Aran, not to provoke Lin’s suspicions about his cannibalism, lay deep in the forest as well, far from both the fire and Lin.
The three prepared to sleep, and soon, after a while, they all fell asleep under the quiet dark forest, where it was just them and nature...
The night passed fairly peacefully; the three of them slept under the open night sky. Every rustle, though unnerving, added a powerful atmosphere that could only be felt in nature.
Under this nightti world, Lin was sleeping peacefully, until he slowly opened his eyes and looked around, realizing the night was still ongoing.
Though he didn’t know the exact ti, he guessed it was about 2–3 a.m.
"Why can’t I shake this feeling of unease?.." Lin frowned and slowly got up.
Standing in pitch darkness, Lin didn’t panic. He slowly looked around and saw that where their campfire had been, a bright orange light was shining, illuminating the nearby area.
"Why is the light so bright? When we roasted the bird legs, it was three tis dimr..." he grew cautious and slowly drew his katana from its sheath.
Quietly moving through the forest underbrush, making no sound, Lin slowly approached the bright orange light and peeked out to see what was happening.
"W-what... How is this possible..." Lin stared in disbelief at the light and saw everyone!
By everyone, he ant: Egro, Yulan, Silia, Royal, and Aran, who were calmly sitting around a fire, roasting so kind of at.
They were discussing sothing and laughing, as if the surrounding atmosphere didn’t bother them in the slightest. Lin frowned even more and decided not to co out yet, to think things through:
"What are they doing here? Where’s Wed? Why are they sitting together like the world around them doesn’t concern them? Why didn’t they wake when they arrived?" and many similar questions flooded Lin’s mind.
"Could this be a dream? But why does it feel so real? Maybe it’s another lucid dream?"
Not understanding what was happening, Lin tried to imagine his ho. But to his surprise, he didn’t transport there, which indicated he wasn’t dreaming.
"How strange..." Lin wanted to think more, when he heard Egro’s voice.
"Oh! Lin, you’re already awake? Co over here, Aran caught so amazing at!"
Lin sighed and slowly stepped out from the bushes, revealing himself to everyone. Many were surprised to see him but also grew cautious, like Silia, who frowned.
"What are you doing here? Why didn’t you wake when you arrived?" he imdiately asked.
Aran smiled at Lin and calmly replied:
"You were sleeping so soundly with your katana, I was afraid to approach you — what if you cut sothing off?"
Yulan and Egro nodded and said:
"Actually, we were just about to wake you, since the at was nearly ready. But you beat us to it..."
"You must’ve sensed the food just as it finished."
Lin nodded and forced a smile, but deep inside, he remained on edge. He slowly walked over to the fire and sat down next to Yulan and Egro. When the food was ready, Aran, acting as the cook, began serving pieces to everyone.
Lin looked around and asked:
"And where’s Wed? Wasn’t he sleeping here?"
Aran paused for a mont, then gently smiled and replied:
"I don’t know. It’s like he vanished."
Lin frowned and looked at everyone around: Silia looked normal, though she had a strange expression. Royal remained arrogant and gazed at the stars. Yulan chatted with everyone and kept the energy alive. Egro wasn’t passive either, talking with a few people. And Aran... he was still the sa strange person.
Everything seed fine.
But the feeling remained.
Aran pulled out so clay plates from sowhere and began placing large chunks of at on them, along with various herbs and berries.
He handed a plate to each person, and everyone began eating.
Lin looked at the food on his plate.
"Looks pretty natural..." Lin slowly bit into the at and didn’t notice anything odd.
Chewing...
"Tastes pretty good..."
Crunch!
After biting off another piece, Lin heard a sharp crunch and squinted one eye. He slowly pulled the piece out of his mouth and looked at what he had just eaten.
"A tooth?.. Why does it look so human?.. Don’t tell ..." Lin slowly turned his head to Aran and stared at him with wide eyes.
"I-is this... a human tooth?" he asked Aran.
Aran smiled and nodded.
"Of course it’s human. Where do you think I got such high-quality at from?"
Lin stared blankly at Aran, trying to process everything he had just done.
"I ate a human... I ate a human... This Aran..." his face suddenly changed.
Inside him, rage of unimaginable proportions began to rise. He looked at Aran and instantly lunged at him, beating him to death!
Whoosh!
Bam!
His fist smashed into Aran’s face, breaking his nose!
Whoosh!
Bam!
Another punch shattered Aran’s jaw!
Whoosh!
Bam!
A punch crushed Aran’s head completely, turning it into a bloody ss!
Lin kept pumling Aran until he ran out of strength and collapsed.
He looked at him with an empty gaze, not knowing what to think.
Suddenly, a voice was heard:
"Oh, Lin. What have you done here... Have you been hit with the hallucination problem too?"
Lin’s eyes widened instantly, as it was Aran’s voice!
He imdiately stood up and looked at Aran, who seed pretty roughed up.
"You... How did you survive... I killed you."
"Killed ? Ha-ha-ha! What a funny joke, maybe you didn’t an , but Wed?" Aran smiled and pointed at a corpse on the ground.
"What?.. Wed?" Lin looked down and saw a man’s corpse, whose head was completely missing, but by the clothing, Lin realized it really was Wed.
"So you..." Lin just sat down and clutched his head.
"Ha-ha-ha! Lin, it was all just hallucinations caused by those berries... I experienced them too... But it seems yours were much more interesting," he smiled and sat by the fire.
"So? Will you tell what you saw?"
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