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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 214: Near-Death Experience
The moment I woke up again, everything around me was shrouded in darkness, and my body felt as if it had been numbed by anesthesia, leaving me unable to move.
I closed my eyes in exhaustion and gradually felt my body becoming lighter, as if I were in a state of soaring through the clouds. For a brief moment, I suddenly saw the desolate desert beneath the dark night, completely devoid of life. The white snow was mixed with the sand, and all I felt was coldness—pure coldness. Everything seemed perfectly normal, but the key point was that I had not opened my eyes! How was I seeing this?
This no longer mattered; at that moment, I felt an overwhelming sense of calm, peace, and relaxation.
In that instant, I sensed that my consciousness and even my bodily image had detached from my physical form. I saw my body floating in mid-air.
Suddenly, I was pulled into a long black hole, my body uncontrollably flying forward at high speed. During this flight, it felt as if every part of my body was being compressed and stretched.
I had no idea how long I flew, but in the next moment, a strong and intensely bright beam of light suddenly appeared at the end of the black hole. This intensity did not cause me pain; instead, it filled me with a pure love that felt warm.
I quietly enjoyed this moment. As I reached the mouth of the tunnel, I merged with this beam of light. In an instant, I even felt as if I had become one with the universe.
Time stopped at that moment; the beauty of that instant shattered and fell into despair.
I had thought that at the end of the black hole, after passing through that comforting white light, I would see paradise. To my surprise... it was hell?
The cracked earth was covered with thorns, upon which rotting corpses were impaled, stained with still fresh blood. The stench of decay permeated the entire space, and within my line of sight bloomed blood-red Other Shore Flowers in all their dazzling glory.
The corpses were trapped among the thorns, pierced through, their souls imprisoned! The sounds of painful and desperate screams echoed out. The dim sky was stained red by the setting sun, accompanied by cries and howls from deep within the souls. I felt utterly unwell.
Standing quietly to the side, my legs felt as heavy as lead, rendering me immobile.
When I lifted my gaze again, I felt even worse—not for any other reason than because they had noticed me!
Whether they crawled on the ground or were pricked by Thorns, all of them were glaring at me like beasts, growling low in their throats, using all four limbs to rush towards me.
Thousands of them, and it seemed I would be gnawed to the bone without a trace left. My legs felt as if they were fixed in place by molten iron, my heart racing with panic while my body remained unresponsive and numb.
In an instant, emaciated, muscle-wasting, even rotting and stinking human-like monsters leaped into the air, blocking out the light. I raised my gaze and widened my eyes; before I could think of a countermeasure, the monsters in mid-air pounced on me one after another.
The first feeling was weight! Very heavy! Extremely heavy! My body was completely surrounded by these "monsters."
The second feeling was pain! Very painful! Extremely painful! My limbs and bones felt as if they were being gnawed at. I could feel the intense resonance when teeth sank into my flesh and tore away a large chunk; this pain made me feel an overwhelming sense of fear and anger!
Damn it, what is all this!
Everything that was happening was too bizarre, too abnormal. Deep down in my Consciousness, I couldn't believe these events were real, yet I couldn't end this suffering. Because everything happening now was completely beyond my control. I felt as if all my strength had been sealed away, unable to exert any effort, feeling not a glimmer of hope.
Is this really it...?
I could no longer feel my body; I didn't even know if it still existed. All I could see were black heads and bodies pushing against each other below me, along with the sounds of biting and chewing...
I wondered how the others were doing...
Xianxian, Pei Zi, Yu Yu—we four had been sucked down by Quicksand, but here I was alone. While I was relieved they weren't here, I knew they might not be faring any better than I was.
That Green Fluorescent Band guiding us was not a beacon of hope but a place of despair! Yet even if given another chance, I would still choose to seek the route downward. Although it was dangerous and strange, at the moment before being sucked in, I thought I saw something—a glimpse of an Ancient Architecture amidst the mist!
I didn't know if it was an illusion, but if given another opportunity, I would definitely take a good look; perhaps that was the place we were searching for.
But it's really so frustrating!!
Life was fading bit by bit, and my Consciousness gradually blurred, becoming unable to think. Before me was replaced by a hazy red; it was a false color...
Just as I felt death was approaching, suddenly, a gray arm, unlike the decayed and wilted ones, reached down from above. This hand groped in the air a couple of times before accurately grabbing my collar.
My eyelids were heavy and dry, and I wanted nothing more than to fall asleep. Yet, a voice inside me screamed that I couldn't sleep! If I fell asleep, I would be completely liberated; if I fell asleep, I would have lost entirely; if I fell asleep, I would be completely dead...
So, I couldn't sleep because I couldn't lose! And I couldn't die!
I forced myself to focus on the arm in front of me. It was very slender, resembling a woman's arm, but somewhat rough. The skin wasn't the normal yellow or white; it was gray?
A gray arm? That was indeed a bit strange.
My head was spinning, and it was extremely difficult to concentrate. When I saw this arm, I felt like I was overlooking something important that I should remember, but my mind couldn't think; it seemed like my entire neural system had gone into paralysis.
Just when I felt like I was about to go insane, suddenly, a cool breeze hit me, and there was an icy sensation seeping beneath my skin. There seemed to be some water on my cracked lips that had lost all feeling. Instinctively, I stuck out my tongue to lick it; the cool water increased, and I greedily swallowed a few mouthfuls. My vision gradually became clearer.
"How do you feel?" A gentle and pleasant voice reached my ears. Squinting my eyes, I blinked hard a few times before the blurry face above began to take shape.
First of all, it was a beautiful face. However, at first glance, one would find this face quite strange—not because the features were distorted or anything like that—but because... it had no color! The entire face, whether the eyes or lips, was all grayish-white!
I struggled to blink my eyes and suddenly realized something. Before my brain could process it, my hands grabbed the shoulders of the person in front of me. This person was clearly Luo Ruyun!
"Don't rush to speak; you need to rest," she gently patted my shoulder. Her voice was very soothing and even carried a hint of indulgence, as if she were a parent looking at their most beloved child.
I suddenly felt a strange sensation, but now wasn't the time to think about that. My throat was dry and painful; the words that came out sounded terrible. "I... my friends..."
Luo Ruyun sighed and comforted me, "Don't worry; I'll go look for them."
I nodded. That one sentence had almost exhausted all my strength. Now hearing her response made me feel like a balloon that had been punctured—my tension and worry deflated all at once.
Luo Ruyun's figure disappeared, and I lay helplessly on the ground, trying to recover my strength as quickly as possible.
First, I was saved, saved by Luo Ruyun. This was something I never expected; I thought I would be eaten by those monsters, but it turns out I really experienced a dream? However, could this dream be a little less realistic? It's so real that I can't distinguish the difference from reality at all.
Wait, I suddenly had a very bad suspicion. Could it be that what I am seeing now is the real dream? A dream conjured up just before death?
The more I thought about it, the more uneasy and restless I felt. Like a corpse, I lay on the ground for several minutes, and gradually my body began to regain sensation. I moved my fingers and toes. Well, even though I don't know which one is the real dream, it doesn't matter anymore. What I need most now is to recover my strength and regain my ability to move.
The stars in the sky were still pitifully few, and the moonlight was very dim. No matter how you looked at it, it foretold the tragic fate of me, the protagonist! No way, it seems I have to take some time to learn about observing celestial phenomena at night!
My mind was filled with random thoughts until I fully regained consciousness. Reflecting on my current situation made me let out a bitter laugh.
The sensations I experienced earlier—consciousness and out-of-body experiences—seeing black holes and white lights should be explained in modern terms as "near-death experiences," right?
Near-Death Experience (NDE) refers to the subjective experiences reported by individuals who have suffered severe trauma or illness but unexpectedly recovered, as well as those who sensed impending death while in potentially fatal situations yet managed to escape. It is similar to the psychological processes people undergo at the end of life; it represents the mental activities of humans approaching death.
Everything that happened before was merely an illusion seen when my soul left my body… right?
A person without a soul is like a scarecrow; of course, humans have souls.
A person's body is merely a shell; what sustains life is the soul within. Without a soul, a person is like a puppet or a carved idol—existing but lifeless, unable to speak or hear; thus, humans indeed possess souls.
The Spirit Department serves as the best proof of this. Therefore, regarding out-of-body experiences, I am not surprised at all…
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