Chapter 80: Chaos
*Splash*
He opened his eyes but all he could see was black water surrounding him from every side. A feeling of pure dread hit him as he tried to swim his way out but there was no way to tell which way was up. There was only darkness.
After a few minutes of struggling, he was at his limits and couldn't move anymore. So he finally gave up and closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable end.
To shorten his suffering, he opened his mouth and took a deep breath to get it over with quick, only to once again open his eyes in complete shock. The black water didn't hinder his breathing and he could actually feel his lungs getting filled with fresh air with every breath.
"What is this...? Where am I?" he tried to speak but no voice ca out. After waking up from his stupor he once again tried to swim and with just a couple of strokes he reached the surface and poked his head out.
He looked around but there was nothing. No star to guide him, no light to show him the way. For a full day he floated in the neverending black water, allowing his body to go with the current.
*Splash*
As he was staring at the void above in a daze, the water not far from him moved.
"Huh?" He turned around but could see nothing in the darkness.
*Splash*
Once again the water splashed but this ti from behind him and he turned around just in ti to see sothing dive back down into the water. Sothing.....big.
His heart starting beating faster and faster. He held his breath because it was too loud and he couldn't hear other noises clearly.
*Splash*
Once again the water splashed, this tiless than two ters behind him. He quickly turned around and saw a massive scaly tail disappear in the dark water. His heart almost stopped beating altogether.
"Is this hell?" was the first thought that ca to his mind. This was his absolute worst nightmare. Being adrift in a large body of water with creatures of the unknown.
"Please, soone, save ," he tried to shout but no voice ca out.
*Splash*
A few hundred ters the water splashed and sothing started moving towards him, getting faster and faster. A feeling of unadulterated horror hit him as he tried to swim away but whatever was in the water was coming straight for him, now just a dozen or so ters away.
Two huge white eyes could be seen right under the surface of the water, staring at him dead in the eyes.
"NOOO-" he finally mustered all his strength and shouted but before he could even let out the full word, a hand grabbed him from behind and pulled him up, throwing him on a small wooden boat.
"You poor soul, how did you lose your way?" asked a raspy voice. But Hao Xuan was focused on the creature in the water that was coming for him, he turned around to check but there was nothing in there anymore.
Not a single ripple in sight. Just the dark water that seed to flow directly from the deepest parts of hell itself.
With weak knees, he finally fell back on his bum as a feeling of relief finally hit him. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. Finally rembering the hand that pulled him out, he turned around to see a middle-aged man sitting at the bow. He looked like a beggar and had untrimd facial hair, not even enough to be called a beard.
"T-Thank you for saving ," Hao Xuan said with utmost gratitude.
"Worry not. We are both in the sa boat, hahaha," the man laughed. He was not sure if that was ant to be a pun or not.
"You can call brother ng," the man said with a kind smile as if eting a long-lost brother.
"Hao Xuan," he introduced himself with a forced smile.
"So, how did you end up here?" ng asked once again.
"Here? Where is here?" Hao Xuan asked confusingly. The last thing he rembered was running towards Jiang Ling, and then he woke up here.
"You don't know? How long have you been here?" ng asked, slightly surprised.
"I'm not sure, but around a day I think?" Hao Xuan tried to rember but in this place where there were no heavenly bodies, ti might as well not exist.
"Ohh, so you still have so hope then," ng replied with a resplendent smile.
"Hope? Hope for what? Where exactly is this?" he asked once again.
"Where? Where do you think? At the edge of creation itself of course, hahaha," with a loud laugh ng moved away from the bow of the boat and from behind him suddenly ca out a starry sky that instantly covered everything in sight. Even the dark water itself perfectly reflected the stars, like a mirror.
Hao Xuan's mouth fell open. A second ago there was nothing but darkness around them, but now he could see boundless heavens all around.
"Woah....." was the only reaction Hao Xuan could muster after more than 5 minutes of staring at the sky.
"Haha, I know. I was the sa the first ti as well," ng took out an old gourd from sowhere and sat on one side of the boat and starting drinking.
"Where are we?" Hao Xuan mumbled looking around. He could see planets being torn apart, suns being born and destroyed, entire galaxies collapsing in an instant and others being born.
"Hmm, what's that?" he squinted his eyes upon seeing sothing moving in the darkness.
"Chaos. That is antediluvian chaos. It was there since before the creation of the universe and will be here after its demise, it is everywhere," ng replied with a mouthful of what slled like cheap liquor.
"I don't know what that ans..." Hao Xuan knew the aning of the words that ca out of ng's mouth but they made absolutely no sense to him.
"Haha, don't worry about it. You're not dead yet so it's normal that you cannot comprehend these things. These are universal truths. Without reaching a high enough realm, the heavens themselves won't allow you to know of them."
"Death? Am I dying?"
"Mhm."
"Hmm," Hao Xuan did not really have the reaction he was expecting. "I guess my attachnt to that life was not much huh," he calmly mumbled to himself, as if talking about soone else.
"Don't get all serious on now, here, have a drink and let's chat. Its been so long since I last talked to soone," he threw his gourd over to Hao Xuan.
Hao Xuan caught it and took a closer look. It looked like a normal gourd you would see in old martial arts films on earth, nothing special about it. He opened and drank a mouthful and instantly threw up.
ng laughed looking at him and took the gourd back and drank once again.
*Cough*Cough*
Hao Xuan coughed until he felt like a piece of his lung ca out and finally cald down.
"Is this an illusion? Am I dreaming all this?" he asked after calming down.
But after another negligible mont of contemplation, he doubted his own words. Everything he was feeling was all too real.
Or perhaps it could be possible because he was on the verge of death. At least that way it would make more sense.
"Who says illusions can't be real?" ng asked with a big grin.
"Then what is this place?"
"It is whatever you want it to be. It is your life and death. It is the beginning of the universe and the end. It is the absolute truth and a complete lie."
"That makes no sense..."
"...It's not supposed to," ng mumbled under his breath and drank once again.
But then he looked up at the starry sky and murmured, "Nine worlds, Ten heavens. Eight desolaces, Nine Hells. Just the beginning of the journey."
"....."
"Do you want to listen to a story?" he turned towards Hao Xuan with a mischievous smile.
Hao Xuan looked at his face and for so reason felt like this unkempt middle-aged man looked like the loneliest being he had ever seen.
Reviews
All reviews (0)