Section 3 Disturbance

Tianxiang's guess was correct, it was indeed a human being, exactly the same as himself. Judging from their attire, it seems that they should be people who hunt insects for a living. Judging from the appearance, they should be two men and a woman. They were not far away from him, only less than a hundred meters apart. Although the phosphorus fire fluorescence shining in the darkness of the ruins was not bright, Tianxiang, who had grown up in darkness since he was a child, could still use his excellent visual ability to see what these weird postures of the same kind were doing.

Two men carrying a woman. From Tianxiang's perspective, the woman seemed to be thrown to the ground by the two men without any consciousness. The liquid slowly flowing from the surface of her body to the ground was most likely the blood in the woman's body. Maybe they wanted to get some light and warmth. After working around for a while, the two men built a bonfire. With the help of the blazing fire, Tianxiang finally saw the woman lying on the ground clearly. There was no trace of life in her eyes, and her pale eyes had already bulged out of their sockets. It was obvious that this was a man who had been dead for a long time.

Fire can drive away insects. Except for those extremely powerful carnivorous insects, there are almost no insects that will pounce upon the fire. Therefore, no matter how fragrant the smell of grilled food is, it will never attract a large number of insects. Although Tianxiang also carried the necessary things to ignite the fire, in order to save trouble, he still wrapped himself in his clothes and slept. After all, it is not an easy task to find enough fuel in the ruins. Even so, Tianxiang's strong body was still chilled by the bone-chilling cold air, causing his upper and lower teeth to chatter. Therefore, even though the actions of these two similar people looked quite strange, Tianxiang decided to go up and say hello, while warming up in front of the fire, so as to find out who the dead woman was.

However, just when he wanted to get up and take action, he saw a scene that shocked him extremely.

The two unkempt male hunters, after adding some fuel to the fire, turned around and squatted in front of the dead female body. I saw them all pulling out a sharp knife from their waists, tightly grabbing a group of muscles on the female corpse that had lost some elasticity with their hands, stabbing it in, and cutting hard along the ligaments that fixed the muscles themselves. . Soon, the two hunters each picked up strips of red and white fresh human flesh with some blood about to coagulate.

"They are also hunting, but the objects they are hunting are our kind." Such a terrifying thought suddenly appeared in Tianxiang's heart. A long time ago, when he and his sister met their first hunter, they had heard that some male hunters tended to target women and children when they were without food for a long time. Because when hunting a bug, you may encounter many inexplicable and unknown dangers. But hunting someone of the same kind doesn't have to be that troublesome. You just need to approach him carefully and gain his trust to successfully succeed. As for those weak ones who cannot compare with men in terms of strength, it is even easier to deal with them.

What's more, according to those hunters who have tasted human flesh, the wonderful taste is actually more delicious than any insect meat. Especially women, young women. They are born with a layer of subcutaneous fat. If eaten raw, they will also feel a unique soft and sweet taste.

The two hunters in front of Tianxiang were doing this. I saw that they had no intention of putting the meat in their hands on the fire to grill, but stuffed it directly into their wide mouths. As the masseter muscles tore hard and the bulging cheeks moved up and down, a mixture of semi-dried blood clots and white saliva slowly flowed down from both sides of his mouth like overflowing water. One of them, in particular, held the piece of greasy fat in his hand and chewed it. Judging from the remaining traces of flesh, it should be a woman's breast.

"Natural selection, the law of the jungle eats the strong." This is one of the experiences Tianxiang gained from learning the machine and years of hunting life. Although from a certain perspective, the two hunters in front of them did nothing wrong. But in Tianxiang's subconscious, he still has considerable aversion to the practice of hunting and using similar animals as food. Therefore, he decided to leave here and leave the two barbarians who were eating Heisei around the corpse.

Of course, there is another most important reason - smell! The smell of blood!

I don't know whether it was the negligence of the two hunting pigs or their lack of awareness at all. Although the woman had been dead for a long time, the blood in her body had not completely solidified. Coupled with the large amount of semi-fluidized viscous blood clots pouring out from the torn wounds, the thick bloody smell that filled the air made even Tianxiang, who was in the leeward position, so irritated that he couldn't help but sneeze. Not to mention those carnivorous insects with extremely sensitive sense of smell. It was not a sunny day, and it was impossible to stop the hungry swarms of insects that were about to arrive just by relying on a bonfire with little fuel.

"Instead of hiding here and waiting to die watching these disgusting scenes, it's better to leave immediately." Soon, Tianxiang, who was already worried, quickly packed up his things and carefully leaned on the scattered walls of the broken building. Duanyuan quietly left this temporary shelter through another exit.

Just as he slowly walked a few hundred meters away, a wailing sound of terror and fear came from the ruins like thunder that shook the heaven and earth. It is an infinite desire for survival and the most instinctive cry of human beings when faced with the threat of death.

When there is no sun, danger is always hidden in the dark. It's like an inexplicable killer who always wants to pounce on you and give you a fatal blow when you least expect it. Tianxiang is no exception. Hunters who dare to go out on non-sun days generally have only two possibilities: one is entirely due to hunger, and the other is that they are brave men with rich experience, agility and strong physiques.

Tianxiang has already tried the first reason. Of course, he also has all the capital for the second reason. Although he was quite smart and cleverly chose a leeward place on his way out, bugs with extremely developed olfactory organs always appeared in the most unexpected places. On the way out of the ruins, Tianxiang has encountered two groups of rot maggots numbering more than a hundred. Although these carnivorous insects have considerable protein, they are rich in fat and taste much more delicious than other prey, and their nutritional content ranks first among all insect meats. But no matter what, Tianxiang is only one person. Although he is very strong, much stronger than ordinary hunters, after all, there is only one person. For insects like rot maggots that live in groups, it is basically the difference between a fierce tiger and a pack of vicious wolves. Therefore, when encountering this kind of situation, the only way is to hide as far away as possible.

But when you really can't escape, of course there are ways. That is, let the bugs think you are one of them.

Rot maggots, flying insects, giant crickets... Like a gathering of insects, these carnivorous insects that usually only move in the darkest places are all moving desperately towards the ruins. Facing these terrifying opponents, Tianxiang could only crawl forward slowly among piles of rubble and debris, changing his route at any time according to the situation. When he came out, he had already smeared a layer of fishy-smelling insect excrement mucus all over his body. With this layer of smell as protection, those bugs that rely solely on their sense of smell to find prey will not even think about their own ideas. Just two minutes ago, a round rot maggot brushed past Tianxiang with its body full of fat. I don't think at all that this guy next to me who smells like a lot of the same thing is going to be a big meal. They are only interested in blood and flesh exposed in the air. Whether the cut of meat is fresh or rancid, they all taste equally delicious.

The main targets that Tianxiang wants to guard against are those insects with keen vision. Large swarms of flying insects belong to this category. With two precision compound eyes, they will never miss any slight movement. Although it was unclear why these terrifying things had such good eyesight, Tianxiang could only lie motionless among the rocks like a corpse when a large number of flying insects passed by above his head. It's not that he doesn't want to move, it's that he doesn't dare to move at all. Listening to the sound of flying insects flapping their wings, and occasionally passing by a few greasy and slimy rot grubs and giant crickets, even the most cold-blooded person would probably react to such a scene. Feeling viscerally terrified. Tianxiang is no exception. But reason told him: "Under such circumstances, there is no way to make any noise."

Tianxiang had witnessed with his own eyes that under similar circumstances, six hunters jumped up from the ground and ran wildly because they could not bear the fear in their hearts. They were stabbed to death on the spot by more than hundreds of flying insects with needle-like mouthparts. The honeycomb. In less than five minutes, six human skins were sucked by flying insects that specialized in sucking blood.

It had been more than two minutes since the swarm of insects passed by, and including the time spent breathing before, it had been more than ten minutes. Tianxiang didn't take a breath during this period, not because he didn't want to, but because he didn't dare. Sometimes, breathing through the mouth often reveals one's location, thus attracting insect attacks. Tianxiang is not willing to take such a risk, nor should he take it. Years of hunting have taught him how to reduce the oxygen supply in his body in critical situations, simply by holding his breath. However, compared to the normal breathing of ordinary people, Tianxiang can maintain a state of suffocation for nearly twenty minutes after taking a deep breath.

There was no longer any sound from the ruins. But Tianxiang, who was lying tightly on the ground, could feel from the fluctuations coming from the ground that a commotion was taking place there, a commotion among the insects fighting for food. To put it bluntly, they are actually hunters too. However, there are fundamental differences in the hunting objects and meanings between bugs and humans.

"Let's go, now!" Without any time to think, Tianxiang, who was almost submerged in the dust, suddenly jumped up from the ground like a frightened antelope in the most agile manner, and quickly headed towards the gap between the ruins of the building. Plug it in. In just a few seconds, the tall and thin figure completely disappeared into the dust brought by the insect swarm.

"Hurry up! Hurry up!" Tianxiang has no time to think about any other issues in his mind now. He just wanted to run, run as hard as he could, so that he could stay as far away from the swarm's path as possible when they returned. Insects almost have the weird habit of returning the same way they came. As long as they leave their perception range, they will naturally be protected by safety.

In this way, after Tianxiang had been running as fast as he could for nearly half an hour, he jumped in front of a relatively hidden broken house like a wild beast catching its prey.

"Rest, take the time to rest." He told himself while stroking his chest and gasping for air. The run just now had already consumed part of his physical strength. If he did not replenish it, if he encountered the same danger again, without sufficient physical strength to protect him, he would not be sure whether he could escape again. Therefore, although the vigorous running puts a great burden on the body, breathing becomes somewhat difficult. After Tianxiang adjusted slowly, he took out a piece of warm aphid meat from the leather bag in his arms, carefully tore off a piece and stuffed it into his mouth.

"You can't eat or drink water immediately after strenuous exercise." This is one of the most useful knowledge Tianxiang obtained from the learning machine. Therefore, he did not chew and swallow the piece of meat that he stuffed into his mouth immediately, but put it under his tongue, slowly soaked it with saliva, and sucked it dry bit by bit to satisfy the thirst of his dry throat.

The short rest was very effective. After only a few minutes, Tianxiang found with satisfaction that the consumed energy filled his body again. Now he can run at the same speed for a longer time. What's more important is that the fluctuations coming from the ground have no intention of coming here at all. The ears close to the ground have confirmed this.

It's still a long way from here to the library, and Tianxiang doesn't care at all. As long as you master the habits of bugs and understand their activity patterns, you can successfully avoid these terrifying traps. If there were no unexpected events like today, it would only take about ten hours at most to reach the library smoothly.

Fortunately, Tianxiang has good luck. After the hour reading on the timer jumped eleven times in a row, he was already standing in front of a rather tall but dilapidated building. Several pieces of iron nameplates tightly attached to it, covered with mold and rust, clearly told him: This is the library.

Walking into the porch, the first thing that caught Tianxiang's eyes was a row of insect nests hanging from the ceiling. This is a herbivorous insect called a saw-toothed wasp. With wings, they rely on a pair of sharp mouthparts to cut small pieces of stems and leaves from plants, bring them back to the nest and soak them in the liquid secreted by their bodies. After the leaves are completely dissolved, they then stick out a needle from their mouths. mouthparts to inhale completely liquefied food into the body.

Tianxiang didn't want to mess with Sawtooth Bee. Although they are vegetarian, the two serrated mouthparts are their best tools for attacking enemies. This is true even when facing blood-sucking flying insects. The flying insects that want to attack the larvae but are blocked in half almost always retreat before the sharp blade of the adult saw-toothed wasp. The scattered insect corpses scattered around the insect nest are the best proof. Therefore, Tianxiang could only choose a route as far away from the insect nest as possible and quietly enter the library. He knew very well that as long as he saw that he had no hostility, Sawtooth Bee would never attack first.

"Oh my God!" Tianxiang, who entered the corridor of the library, couldn't help but be stunned by the scene in front of him. If the outside world is a ruins made of reinforced concrete bricks, then everything here is basically a dead place made of books and shelves. Various yellow and black books were scattered everywhere, and the scattered pages were blown all over the floor by the airflow that got through the cracks in the house. There are also many books that have been soaked in water and then dried in the shade, and they turn into powder and paper scraps when touched, floating in the air, like a group of gray-yellow butterflies dancing around.

There are too many books, maybe 80,000 if not 100,000. But to Tianxiang's disappointment, most of these books have been damaged, and most of them can no longer be read. Hundreds of years have left traces of fragility on these pages that should have been soft. When you turn it over gently, it will turn into some scattered pieces of paper and fall down like wet plaster on the wall, making Tianxiang no longer dare to reach out and touch it.

"Look! Look hard! This place is so big, there should be many books that can be preserved." This is the only thought in Tianxiang's mind at the moment. I went through all kinds of hardships to get here from the crypt, how could I not gain anything? What's more, as the learning machine has said, the ancients had many methods for preserving books. Since this is a place dedicated to collecting books, there should be some well-preserved things.