Baуunуе sаnk intо darkness, as if fаlling intо a deеp pооl, sinking dеереr and deеper. In the depths, it seеmеd therе werе а раir of withеrеd hаnds рulling hеr down. Аs she descеndеd, she sаw many things—all thаt she leаst wanted tо rесаll оr fасe.
In her сhildhоod, hеr сlаssmatеs’ familiеs оf three wеrе haрpy and hаrmonious, but she соuld nеver wаit for her pаrеnts tо piсk hеr uр аftеr sсhoоl. Тhough Grаndma Вa cаred fоr hеr, hеr childhооd wаs аlways markеd by a sense of lоss.
In her youth, hеr elder sistеr Bа Хiyе, whom she relied on and trusted, suddenly died in a car accident. Grandma Ba hid away and cried in secret. Was studying even useful? Her already mediocre grades plummeted, making her the class’s weakest link. Her homeroom teacher never said it out loud, but her face showed disdain, and behind her back, she called her “that bastard child.” Bayunye knew.
Grandma Ba grew old, and one day, she finally left her. All that remained in Bayunye’s mind was the image of Grandma Ba walking toward her with a kind, smiling face… But whenever she recalled this scene, she would burst into tears.
All the scenes that made her unhappy surged into her heart, one after another, like an old movie. Every shot was in black and white, every line pierced her heart.
There was nothing left.
Ba Xiye, Grandma Ba, Brother Long, Diao Zhuo… all gone.
She was alone again, with nothing, as nothing. What was the point of living? Better to die. She had never felt so despondent! Yes, die, just like Ba Xiye and Grandma Ba, and go to another world, no longer troubled by the helplessness of this one.
Fine, she decided to sink forever into this suffocating abyss.
So this was what it felt like to die.
She could barely feel her own breath.
So be it.
Suddenly, all the chaos was violently disrupted, as if a glimmer of light had appeared. Her nose itched, and she wanted to reach out to scratch it, but she had no strength. Something moved on her nostrils, still itching, but a cool sensation rushed from the tip of her nose, carrying a faint smell of plastic tubing.
Gradually, her muddled mind seemed to clear a little. She could feel the position she was lying in and the placement of her limbs. Then, the pressure on her chest disappeared, as if the monsters that had been pressing down on her and sucking her into a desiccated corpse were leaving, one by one.
What was happening?
After an unknown amount of time, she managed to open her eyes. What she saw were the pale green tree canopies and the gloomy sky, along with the small raindrops continuously falling on her face. She struggled to lift her hand and wipe her face, only to find something covering her mouth and nose—it seemed to be… a mask.
She struggled to sit up. The muscles in her limbs felt atrophied, weak and useless. Her mind was still somewhat dazed. In the distance, she saw a familiar figure moving about. Was that… Diao Zhuo?
How was this possible? She looked around and saw everyone lying haphazardly, just like her, all wearing masks on their faces. Those without masks were carrying portable oxygen tanks. Where were the monsters? The criminals? The Grave Mound Mushrooms covering the mountains and fields? And hadn’t her companions turned into desiccated corpses one by one? Now, they all looked fresh and… alive.
Where was this? Heaven or hell, or perhaps a dream as she was dying.
She tried to stand up and then saw Hippo lying not far away, startling her again. “Am I dreaming?” Seeing Hippo with oxygen covering his mouth and nose, she instinctively tore it off and even stomped on his face. Hmph! Traitor! Even in a dream, I won’t let you off!She scratched the back of her head and, to prove it wasn’t all a dream, shouted, "Diao Zhuo—"
Diao Zhuo turned around. With a mask covering his face, his expression was unclear, but he raised a hand and waved in response before quickly walking toward her.
Bayunye remembered hearing long ago that in dreams, one couldn’t make a sound. When Diao Zhuo reached her, she pinched his sturdy arm hard. Hmm, the sensation felt real—it was indeed the same arm that had once tightly wrapped around her waist. She wanted to remove her mask to speak more easily, but he stopped her.
"Don’t move, unless you want to be led by illusions again." Diao Zhuo adjusted her mask. "Now that you’re awake, take a good look around."
She glanced around. The terrifying ancient skeletons were still there, their postures hinting at the immense fright they had suffered before death. The dense, grayish-white Grave Mound Mushrooms also remained, lush and vivid, still looking disgusting. The criminals were all unconscious. Diao Zhuo hadn’t given them oxygen or masks, yet their bodies remained fresh, not shriveled like the mummies they had seen earlier. Except for the man with the snake tattoo—he was still howling.
"What’s going on?" Bayunye frowned.
"We’ve been poisoned," Diao Zhuo said succinctly. "Though I’m not sure what kind of toxin causes these hallucinations, it’s clear we’ve been deceived by illusions all along."
"Poisoned? Poison gas?" Bayunye touched her mask. "Is it through breathing…? But can oxygen and masks really neutralize it?"
Diao Zhuo thought for a moment, as if organizing his words. "Here’s what I think—after entering this area, what we saw and felt was a mix of reality and illusion. First, the magnetic field. It’s genuinely abnormal here, which caused our electronic devices to malfunction and disrupted signals, leading to fighter jet crashes. These are real phenomena. It disoriented us and created psychological pressure and panic. Second, the forest mirages. Actually, from that point on, we were already experiencing mild hallucinations. But because the poisoning was slight, and the mirages could be explained by the magnetic field and moisture, we collectively ignored them. After the forest mirages appeared, things grew increasingly bizarre."
Bayunye nodded. "Then we encountered the Carnivorous Rabbits… Were they real?"
"The rabbits were real, but the carnivorous part was our hallucination—and theirs too." Diao Zhuo spread his hands. His previously wounded hands and wrists now only showed minor scrapes and bruises. Bayunye checked her own limbs as well—despite being bitten multiple times by rabbits, only a few scratches remained.
"How could this be…" Though she was relieved not to have scars, she was still puzzled. "How did you figure this out?""When the carnivorous rabbits appeared, I had some doubts. On one hand, it defied science; on the other, if such a large number of rabbits truly ate meat, how much would they consume in a day? In a month? Could the reproduction rate of other animals here keep up with the rabbits' breeding and feeding speed? If food was scarce, the population would decline, stabilizing at a more sustainable level. But that day, the rabbits that attacked us were so numerous and ate so quickly that even all the animals on the entire mountain might not satisfy their needs for a month. Those rabbits appeared too suddenly, yet their individual aggressiveness wasn’t high, and they showed no new skills evolved for meat-eating. So I’ve been wondering whether the carnivorous rabbits were real or not. Do you remember Kong Gan’s warnings and what he said about the ‘madman’ in the village? A group of people went into the mountains, and only one returned, insane and babbling about pain, yet without any serious injuries." Diao Zhuo’s thoughts swirled, needing to be sorted out one by one.
At that moment, Ge Mingliang, Fat Monkey, Tan Lin, and the others gradually woke up, all in a state of confusion.
Diao Zhuo continued, "If the rabbits, like us, were hallucinating due to poisoning and thus attacked humans, it would make more sense. So the real situation is likely—only a few rabbits attacked us, while our hallucination was that we encountered a large group of man-eating rabbits and were bitten all over. At this point, our poisoning symptoms deepened, and the hallucinations escalated from visual to tactile. The fact that we don’t have so many wounds now is the best evidence."
The newly awakened individuals listened to Diao Zhuo’s words, looking at their hands with some bewilderment. When they looked up again, their eyes held clarity and relief.
"So, those people eaten by the rabbits..." Bayunye tentatively asked, "didn’t actually die?"
"Exactly, they might have just fainted. Everyone was poisoned, and after encountering the rabbits, we all had the same hallucination. Fueled by the panic around us, we scared ourselves unconscious."
She pursed her lips. "They got off easy."
"Next, Brother Long appearing and disappearing intermittently is a manifestation of our deepening poisoning symptoms. Because the rabbits did appear, our hallucinations were just embellishments of reality. But Brother Long hasn’t shown up yet, and we imagined a Brother Long who comes and goes without a trace. By then, our hallucinations no longer needed real objects; they could directly turn our thoughts into ‘images.’" As Diao Zhuo spoke, he helped the newly awakened Da Qin sit up against a tree, handed him some anti-inflammatory pills, and reminded him not to breathe while taking them.
Bayunye helped pass water. "According to what you’re saying, those smelly monsters that crawled out from underground were all our own imaginations. But... why did they feel so real? I really thought I was going to die.""Death..." Diao Zhuo repeated her words. "What is the endpoint of hallucinations? Later, I boldly hypothesized that the final stage of poisoning is to hallucinate one's own death. The toxicity of this poison isn't as violent as other poisonous mushrooms—it isn't potent enough to kill a person outright. But it induces terrifying hallucinations, causing people to develop a longing for death under the influence of negative emotions and fear, and to accept their own demise as a default."
"This poison... is so bizarre?" Da Qin asked weakly.
"What do you mean by 'longing for death'?" Bayunye inquired.
"Humans possess instincts, and one of them is survival. So sometimes, when life is threatened, humans can unleash tremendous power—running several times faster than usual, exerting strength several times greater than normal, and so on. If this instinct is 'blocked,' it might produce the opposite effect: a desire for death, and a quick one at that. The loss of this survival instinct is what I call a longing for death. Since the poison we've been exposed to causes hallucinations, it clearly affects the brain. The brain is the most mysterious organ in the human body. Currently, human understanding and research of the brain may only account for 30% of its functions. The remaining 70%—no one can say for sure. I believe the will to survive is a stress response of the brain. Could it be that this toxin directly blocks the initiation and transmission of survival signals in the brain, triggering some adverse reactions?" Diao Zhuo's expression turned solemn. "To be honest, such a longing for death also manifested in me. Due to physical and psychological suffering, I developed thoughts of seeking a quick death. Ordinary people might experience such fleeting thoughts when facing immense setbacks or physical pain. This poison undoubtedly amplifies those thoughts, using terrifying hallucinations to make people crave death, ultimately accepting their own demise—unable to move or call for help."
Da Qin took his medicine and gasped heavily. "I felt like I was experiencing sleep paralysis—wanting to move but unable to. At the time, I thought, since I was injured, not only could I not protect myself, but I'd also burden all of you. So when the 'monster' pounced on me, I didn't struggle."
Bayunye recalled the unpleasant memories before she fell unconscious—each one radiating negativity, weighing down her mood and extinguishing any desire to resist. She simply wanted to give up on herself. This must be what Diao Zhuo meant by a longing for death.
Xiang An, who had regained consciousness, glanced at Bayunye. "I saw Master Ba die, and I... I felt there was no point in living anymore."
"Thank you," Bayunye said, clasping her hands in a gesture of acknowledgment.
Tan Lin looked at Diao Zhuo, then patted Xiang An's shoulder helplessly. "Are you still delirious from the lingering effects of the poison?"
Xiang An chuckled. "As long as Master Ba is healthy and happy, I can be her eternal backup!"
Diao Zhuo shot a sidelong glance at Bayunye, exasperated by her trail of romantic entanglements.
She deliberately ignored his gaze. "The 'madman' Kong Gan mentioned went insane after his companions 'died' one after another. Perhaps his companions didn't actually die but were poisoned just like us, entering a Near-Death State. Only the 'madman' managed to escape by chance. It turns out everything we've experienced has happened to others before!"Diao Zhuo nodded. "I believe everyone who enters these woods inevitably experiences hallucinations. Some die, others go insane, which is why the elders here call it a 'forbidden land.'"
Ge Mingliang had recovered somewhat, continuously rubbing his chest as if trying to calm his breathing. He couldn't help but ask, "This is unbelievable. You were also hallucinating, so how could you be sure everything you saw was an illusion?"
"Because he behaved differently from us." Diao Zhuo gestured with his chin toward the tattooed man, who was barely clinging to life. "He was poisoned by toxic mushrooms but wasn't attacked by the 'monsters.' Moreover, I realized he couldn't even see those 'monsters.' I suspect the poison he ingested somehow neutralized the other toxins, or perhaps his poison was more potent, overpowering the rest. As for why he wasn't attacked—that was a 'blind spot' in our hallucinations. Subconsciously, we all assumed he was already doomed, so in our illusions, the monsters never went near him."
Hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.
"I only saw all of you being pounced on and dying. I was heartbroken and didn't pay attention to him."
"What? He's still alive? I thought he was long gone after all that vomiting and diarrhea."
"Lucky for him he was poisoned—serves him right!"
Bayunye rubbed her eyes. "But why were all our hallucinations exactly the same?"
"People influence each other. Combined with the environmental stimuli and the legend of tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers buried here, I think our hallucinations were largely similar."
Xiang An said, "I saw a horde of Japanese soldiers crawling out of the ground, all bloody and stinking!"
Tan Lin added, "I saw mud figures, like the ones Nüwa used to create humans—soft and squishy, turning to mud when hit."
Ge Mingliang chimed in, "I saw Japanese soldiers too!"
Fat Monkey shuddered. "What chased me were zombies, all transformed from my colleagues, carrying machine guns and wearing police uniforms..."
Bayunye said with lingering fear, "I saw a group of faceless monsters—rotting corpses without bones... What about you, Diao Zhuo?"
"Same as you. It might be related to us handling Zou Kaigui's remains." Diao Zhuo explained, "In reality, our hallucinations were shaped by the environment here and our past experiences, reflecting our deepest subconscious fears to some extent."
"You're actually afraid of Japanese soldiers..." Bayunye teased.
Feeling embarrassed, Ge Mingliang quickly changed the subject. "Where did this poisonous gas come from? If it was man-made, it's absolutely criminal!"
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