Chapter 2: Alive

The pipink flesh ball , with newly opened eyes, curiously observed the world.

It didn’t know what the sky was, nor the earth. The forest, the abyss, it knew nothing about them. Those swirling vortexes that filled the sky and abyss, it was even more clueless about.

It only knew this was the place of its birth and survival.

Every cell of its body absorbed the crow’s residual blood. Unnoticed, the blood pool disappeared, revealing pitch-black soil.

The pipink flesh ball  tilted its head, focusing on the densely packed black vortexes in the sky. Its watery eyes were filled with curious light.

Many black vortexes floated above the abyss, spewing out bizarre creatures. Roaring water sounds came from below the abyss, followed by sharp screams, angry roars, and desperate moans.

After a while, the gurgling sounds of feasting echoed from the abyss, sending shivers down the spine.

Terrified, the pipink flesh ball  shivered and hurriedly darted towards a nearby thicket. It knew that the densely growing vegetation could conceal its tracks.

Just as it burrowed into the thicket, about to squeeze under a rock, the pipink flesh ball  suddenly remembered something. It turned around, using its large watery eyes to gaze at the crow’s heart left on the edge of the cliff.

The heart had changed from a lively crimson to a dull brown, emitting a faint foul odor.

The pipink flesh ball  didn’t know what hunger was, but it could feel an incessant itch in its body. This itch penetrated every cell, making it restless and almost driving it mad.

If it didn’t curb this itching sensation, it vaguely sensed that it would be assimilated by those black viscous fluids, lose all consciousness, and become one of the many vortices. In the vortex, there was only chaos, madness, and malevolence.

Itchy…

So itchy…

The pipink flesh ball  shook its semi-transparent body, emitting a faint low hum. It needed to devour something to alleviate this endless pain.

After hesitating for an unknown period, it wriggled its body, changed direction, and crawled back to the edge of the abyss, wrapping the heart with its soft belly.

The itching sensation subsided, and every cell emitted a comfortable moan.

Ji, ji… This time, the low hum no longer contained fear but was filled with joy.

However, joy is always short-lived. The black viscous fluid beneath the abyss seemed to hear the pipink flesh ball ‘s cry, transforming into black tendrils that swiftly climbed up the rock wall.

Ji! The pipink flesh ball  screamed in terror, immediately crawling towards the thicket. However, its body still encased an undissolved heart, bulging and heavy, severely hindering its steps.

It rolled a couple of times, feeling somewhat dizzy, its large eyes staring fixedly at the black tendrils.

The desire to feed and the fear of death intertwined in its heart. It attempted to crawl forward again, but only managed to move slightly.

In the end, just before death truly arrived, the pipink flesh ball  spat out the heart, arched its body, and quickly crawled back into the thicket.

The black tendrils wrapped around the heart, devouring it. The slick surface sprouted vortices, like dark, gaping eyes searching for the pipink flesh ball ‘s trace.

They spread towards the thicket, leaving rows of black damp marks on the ground. The marks were highly toxic, causing the foul-smelling soil to emit a blue smoke, making the grass rustle and rapidly decay.

The pipink flesh ball  hid behind a leaf, its eyes wide open in terror.

Escape! Otherwise, death awaits!

A strong sense of urgency propelled the pipink flesh ball  to quickly leave the thicket and climb towards the forest shrouded in black mist.

Sibilant rustles, gurgling sounds echoed behind, the black tendrils squirming. They were closing in relentlessly, and an indescribable stench thickened the air.

Terrified, the pipink flesh ball  shook with fear, its escape speed continually increasing. Suddenly, a tendril touched its rear—cold, damp, and poisonous.

Fortunately, being born in the abyss, the pipink flesh ball  was immune to toxins.

It screamed in terror, losing balance, and rolled forward with a gurgling sound.

More tendrils surged, black vortices on slick skin resembling hungry mouths, eagerly biting towards the pipink flesh ball . The sturdiest tendril poised above the pipink flesh ball , vortices opening and closing, emitting a foul odor.

The pipink flesh ball  tightly shut its eyes, curling into a small bundle.

Is this the end? Despair engulfed its thoughts.

Yet, death did not arrive.

The impending slaughter abruptly stopped. The black tendrils, rushing like a snake swarm, swiftly retreated like receding tides. In a mere moment, the surrounding chaos turned into eerie silence.

The pipink flesh ball , now lying in the sandy soil, still kept its eyes tightly shut, its soft body trembling, undulating.

It waited and waited, but the anticipated horror did not unfold.

After a while, it cautiously opened its eyes, casting an anxious glance around.

The black tendrils had vanished, leaving only toxic damp marks on the ground. In the last second, just about to succeed, they abandoned their prey.

The pipink flesh ball  blinked in confusion, emitting uncertain gurgling sounds. It didn’t understand why this happened.

It began to observe the surrounding environment.

At some point, it found itself in a peculiar place where dense thickets and towering trees vanished. The ground below turned bare, a dry, sandy expanse replacing the damp, putrid black soil, forming a massive circle.

In the center of the circle, a pitch-black tree stood like a sword thrust into the eerie sky.

The pipink flesh ball  didn’t recognize it as a tree but noticed the differences between this and the others.

The leaves of this tree were black, growing densely in clusters, gently rustling and making a shushing sound. It intruded into the sky with its massive canopy, even causing the swirling vortexes to avoid it.

No wild grass or trees could thrive near it. Everything around it, even the nutrients in the black soil, was plundered, gradually turning into sand incapable of nurturing vegetation.

This barren land was the domain of the black giant tree. The tendrils hastily retreated because of fear of this tree.

The pipink flesh ball  instinctively sensed danger. It froze in place, its soft body coiling into a tight little bean. Its big eyes blinked, then it slowly began to inch backward.

It moved lightly, very lightly.

It was tiny and frail, a stroke of luck.

The black giant tree remained oblivious to the small intruder in its territory. It stood silently, leaves rubbing against leaves, producing a continuous shushing sound.

After an unknown amount of time, the pipink flesh ball  still couldn’t leave the sandy area. It had depleted too much energy.

Itchy…

So itchy…

It dared not make a sound, unable to release this incessant pain. Its body slowly weakened, flattening into a thin pancake, spread across the sandy ground.

It was exhausted and fearful, the insatiable hunger leaving it in despair, even though it didn’t yet comprehend what despair meant.

Lying on the sandy ground, unable to move, the excessively dry air quickly drained the moisture from its body. It began to shrivel, its smooth skin gradually turning hard and wrinkled, the rosy color fading away bit by bit.

From a round and plump furry ball, it transformed into a lifeless husk.

The desire to survive remained strong, but consciousness grew increasingly blurred. Before long, this recently born little life would disappear forever.

“Don’t want to die… Want to see more of this world…”

The pipink flesh ball  struggled to open its eyelids, only to helplessly shut them again in the next moment.

Suddenly, raindrops fell from the sky, creating a pitter-patter sound as they hit the ground.

It was raining.

The rain soaked the lifeless husk, rejuvenating the cells that hadn’t yet perished. Its watery eyes forcefully opened, the desire to survive surging abruptly. The pipink flesh ball  moved laboriously, eagerly looking towards the nearby thicket and black soil.

It wanted to live! It refused to give up!

However, the stiffened and wrinkled dead skin tightly enveloped the pipink flesh ball , preventing it from moving. Only by shedding this layer of dead skin, crawling out of its shell, could it return to a safe place.

The rain softened the dead skin, granting the pipink flesh ball  some wriggling space. It rolled and rubbed against the sandy ground, desperately seeking a chance at life.

It vigorously rubbed, exerting all its strength to find a glimmer of vitality.

With a soft cracking sound, the layer of grayish dead skin finally cracked open, and the crystal-clear, soft flesh oozed out from the fissure, wriggling frantically.

A low hum of delight echoed within the curtain of rain.

The pipink flesh ball  swiftly freed itself from the dead skin and crawled towards the nearby black soil. Its body shrank significantly, and the energy it had absorbed not long ago was depleted in this life-or-death struggle.

Crawling into the thicket, concealing itself, the pipink flesh ball ‘s body went limp, its little belly rising and falling rapidly, breathing heavily.

Itchy…

Still itching…

Even more than before…

The uncomfortable sensation returned.

The pipink flesh ball  closed its eyes, emitting a faint whimper. It knew it was nearing death once again.

It needed to feed, but it didn’t know what was edible, let alone how to obtain food.

Despair seemed like an emotion impossible to escape.

Drip… A dark red droplet slid down the serrated leaves, falling onto the pipink flesh ball . Every cell in its body absorbed this droplet. The droplet contained unimaginable potent toxins. And toxins were one of the pipink flesh ball ‘s sources of sustenance.

Energy surged into its body, a comforting sensation spreading across every cell. The pipink flesh ball  let out a trembling moan.

The frenetic itching sensation instantly subsided.

The pipink flesh ball  quickly opened its eyes, gazing at the droplets falling onto the folded, oval-shaped leaves. The leaves were serrated along the edges, resembling traps, covered in fuzz that secreted a dark red liquid.

The sweet fragrance emitted by the liquid irresistibly attracted forest insects, drawing them into this deadly trap.

However, for the pipink flesh ball , this wasn’t a trap; it was food!

Amidst the raindrops, the pipink flesh ball  began to climb this peculiar plant. Luckily, the plant’s stems and leaves were adorned with thorns and fuzz, providing enough grip.

Huffing and puffing, the pipink flesh ball  climbed, not knowing how many times it slipped from the stems. Eventually, it reached the largest leaf, greedily consuming the dark red poison.

The rain washed away the poison, diluting its flavor, but for this fragile life, they were the hope of survival.

The furry ball ate greedily, causing the leaf to tremble. In the blink of an eye, the leaf suddenly closed, its serrated edges piercing through the furry ball’s body.

Ji! The thin, pitiful scream couldn’t penetrate the curtain of rain, sounding both pitiable and laughable. The pipink flesh ball  was impaled on the serrated edges, writhing in pain but eagerly sucking in the poison.

No amount of suffering could erase the joy of feeding; this was the meaning of staying alive.