Chapter 591
Clang!
Clang!
The sound of mud squishing and splattering, breaking apart and coming together again is heard. And that sound naturally conjures an image in my mind—a scene that might just be a fantasy, or perhaps something that’s actually happening right now.
The crumpled mud spreads in all directions with a slapping sound. Countless pieces, from small to large, scatter everywhere, floating in the air before plummeting to the ground, getting smeared against the walls, then trickling down, as if something that had been moving around as if flowing from the ground is drawing its unique shape.
And the shards that have spread out begin to twist and move.
Slowly, as if they were brown, slimy snails covered in mud, they would creep along. Unlike snails, they leave no slime or bodily fluids in their wake as they quickly gather together with their grotesque wriggling.
The gathered fragments become larger, merging like raindrops piling up, and those that have transformed slowly begin to grow again, as if they are plants that have received plenty of water, having a quaintly refreshing feel when you momentarily look away and then see that they have grown.
The mud doll that has grown this way is taking on a human form.
But that human-like shape is so unstable.
As if daring not to challenge the divine, it briefly mimics a person, only to collapse again, splattering down. Some parts will crumble like chocolate melting on a hot summer’s day, and others may tip and crash to the ground with a plopping sound due to pillars turned too thin to support the mass. Thus, the mud that had once imitated a person will slump, pour out, and scatter its fragments everywhere.
Nevertheless, even as it scatters, that yearning does not change.
And so, the mud strives to become one again.
Dreaming of humanity, to be shaped into a person….
It is pain, it is training, it is refinement.
If a god were to see this, it would be akin to a magnificent feat they would wish to accomplish to create a human.
Such dedication is truly admirable; how could one not call it human?
However, from different perspectives, everything changes.
“How can mud become a person? Such claims fall outside of civilization; it must bask in the light of civilization to articulate the right answers.”
Jinseong has finally arrived.
Having passed through the pitch-black darkness where one can see not an inch ahead, past the sharp and pointed things that seem ready to pierce or slice your throat at any moment, he has finally arrived.
There, a doll (人形) stands tall, repeatedly collapsing; its shape is grotesque beyond compare.
Its skin is brown, and its eyes repeatedly shatter and reassemble yet remain large. The wrinkles etched on its face are as if smeared with malice, and its body is excessively plump as if it has devoured every last morsel of its neighbor’s food, clearly far from any virtue.
Allah has said there exists a filthy, vile beast known as a pig; ah! If one were to gorge oneself on such a filthy beast, would one not take on such a form?
The repulsive, ugly body visible from its shape seems to be a dirty beast masquerading as a human; it must undoubtedly be an evil being and a servant of Iblis.
Surely, it has risen from a place overflowing with tainted things like grains of sand.
This is, after all, an evil being harboring curses and toxins, a blasphemer that should not exist in this world.
May that blasphemous blood not be spilled here.
“Behold, there is a place imbued with brilliant wisdom where a sage named Aristotle once spoke, saying life’s seed exists in the world, growing according to its environment as we see around us. Then, I ask, are plants, animals, and humans equal? Have they all sprouted from life’s seed, flourishing and thriving?”
May that blasphemous blood not be spilled here.
“Ah, the seed of life exists in a man’s essence and is similar to the seed that a farmer sows. A woman’s womb is where that seed can take human form, akin to a field. To you, seekers of truth, I ask: if it were possible to draw forth a human form from that seed and create it naturally, would that truly be the way to reach truth?”
May that blasphemous blood not be spilled here.
“Create a flask, fill it with essence, and it must be processed through scientific means. In doing so, the seed of life will finally sprout limbs and a head in an environment akin to a womb, thus creating a human form; this is our method of birthing life and peeking into the divine truth. Thus, we call this a little human; they can only survive within the flask, so we shall ensure they can thrive and multiply outside the flask.”
How could something that dares to imitate a human claim that mud can become a person?
The seed of life births all life, but to grow into a person, it can only happen within a woman’s body or a mimic of that body, making it a truth that one cannot mold a person from mud—it is a recognized fact.
Therefore, as a civilized individual, I can assert without a doubt that it is not a person but merely a mimic of one!
“A student asked the teacher, ‘Master, where do insignificant creatures arise from?’ The teacher replied, ‘Have you ever seen a flea among the dust?’ The student responded, ‘I have indeed seen a flea bouncing within the dust.’ Then the teacher instructed the young student, ‘Fleas are born from the dust; the seed of life transforms into a flea in that environment. It is a natural occurrence.'”
What imitates?
If that thing facilitates movement, if it holds the seed of life, what could it be?
The answer is clear: if there is dust on something shaped like a human, it is not human but merely a part of the environment; if the seed of life reaches it, it must appropriately belong there, being born from it.
Thus, dust and the seed of life collide; you are a flea!
Plop.
Plop, plop.
It starts to pour out.
A part of the mud doll begins to fall apart.
Though it is like small dust, with tiny sounds of plopping, it leaps off the ground as soon as it hits, repeating the cycle, making the mud doll believe it is alive, only to foolishly lose its life in the dirt instead of blood.
“Have you seen a shrimp? Have you seen a writhing eel? They can often be seen in clear water but frequently appear in murky, impossible-to-read waters. Observe carefully. Scoop up the muddy pit and pour it into a container; pay close attention. One day, the sediment that had settled will begin floating again, creating murky water, and when you check, there will undoubtedly be shrimp and eels; this is a natural phenomenon.”
Plop, plop.
The damp soil is like that scooped from a muddy pit.
And so, something begins to emerge from within the mud doll.
As soon as it hits the floor, it starts to flap around, creating gaping holes throughout its body, crawling out as if resembling a snake. And it begins to spray white slime, expressing agony while smearing the ground, starting to taint the mud doll with its fishy smell and slippery sensation.
“Have you seen rotten meat? Have you seen dirt? Have you seen the wriggling of white maggots? Have you seen fat yellow maggots bloated from feeding on the fluids and pieces of corpses? They consume flesh while cleaning, but they arise from there. Maggots are born where the seed of life has settled in rotten meat and soil.”
Corrupted, the mud doll begins to crumble.
As if it were rotting alive, maggots begin to emerge from its broken body, feeding on it as if the mud doll was a delectable feast. They begin moving incessantly, intent on consuming, unaware they were merely eating dirt until their bellies burst, and the writhing white and yellow bodies made it look as if the mud doll was gussied up.
From afar, it might indeed look that way.
However, even with such embellishments, it could never become a person.
For a civilized person’s common sense, that is absolutely the case.
Plop, plop, plop.
Finally, it could do nothing but cease its imitation and fall apart.
And thus, the mud doll became only a cluster of maggots, fleas, shrimp, and eels, leaving nothing but traces behind.
The nature of the blasphemer that was once here has completely dissolved, decomposing into insignificance….
Indeed, a most natural occurrence.
But how could it possibly vanish completely?
For there are maggots that have devoured it, and its flesh and blood are within their bellies, are they not?
If it harbored poison, the maggots would bear poison too, and if it was a medicine, then the maggots would contain medicine as well.
Ah!
The maggots bore curses and toxins.
“Insignificant creatures carry malice; this cannot be an evil deed! For the soul is held only by humans, thus insects are mere objects. Therefore, they are not much different from a divine object.”
And so, the maggots moved under Jinseong’s gesture.
Who commands those little flies?
Who governs those filthy, ominous critters?
* * *
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
From above to below.
The sound of lights bursting echoes in rapid succession.
It is coming from the top floor of the hotel, quickly descending down, down.
“…Something is.”
Something is.
It comes.
“It is coming down.”
From above to below.
It is coming down….
