Famine 93: A Passing Encounter

“…………”

Nidhogg fell into a long silence.

Flesh gradually began to regrow. After the sacrifice ended, his remaining limbs started, ever so slowly, to knit themselves back together.

Shi He knelt at his side. Nidhogg lifted his gaze; when their eyes briefly met, he looked away as quickly as lightning, only to meet Si Zhiyan’s calm, steady eyes.

Si Zhiyan looked down at Nidhogg’s uneasy posture (though he was now unable to either sit or stand), saying nothing at all.

After a while, Nidhogg let out a long sigh.

“Haven’t I mentioned? My access level was the lowest. In the whole research facility, I was barred from about sixty percent of the area. That included executive offices, the meteorite containment, experimental data storage, Bian Xu’s room—the successful subject—and all kinds of other core zones.”

“Except under the most extraordinary circumstances.”

“Like that inexplicable fire that swept through the facility.”

Nidhogg’s brow furrowed as he continued, slowly.

“That day, the flames raged, with constant explosions and dense, unknown smoke. I ran into the inferno…

“I wasn’t some damn lucky survivor—I ran in and out of the fire seven times.”

“I was trying to find that kid, Bian Xu, so I kept rushing into areas I didn’t even know. Just after I got through one door, an explosion went off right next to me. Everything went dark, my ears ringing; when the ringing stopped, my legs wouldn’t move, and I couldn’t feel any pain.”

“I forced myself on—couldn’t fall asleep, mustn’t fall asleep. His door was usually locked from the inside, impossible to open from the outside. But no matter how I thought it through, I couldn’t get up. All I could do was lie in the sea of fire, planning how to position my own corpse, using what little strength I had left to drag myself forward, inch by inch.”

“I didn’t want to close my eyes, not until my sight started blurring—I wanted to confirm just once more that he’d managed to escape.”

“Guess what I saw?”

“I crawled around a corner and, lifting my head through walls of flame, I saw a stranger, standing amid the inferno, backlit against the fire…”

Nidhogg drew a slow, deep breath.

“You.”

!

Si Zhiyan’s pupils contracted.

Nidhogg forced a ragged laugh.

“Ha… It was you, Boss. It was you!”

“The fire was so intense, but you acted like you were in some coffeehouse, as calm as if you were home. You stood there among the flames, looking down at me, half your face hidden by smoke—exactly as you look now, wearing that same expression that says you wouldn’t bat an eye if the world burned down.”

“Hands behind your back, just watching me writhing on the ground, who knows what you were thinking… cough, cough…”

A cough, blood catching in his throat—Nidhogg choked for a while before he managed to draw a labored breath.

“…Then I lost consciousness.”
Nidhogg spread his hands.
“When I came to, I was lying in a deserted, sheltered spot nearby. All my wounds had already been treated.”

“……” Si Zhiyan’s brow twitched slightly.

Was it me?

What connection do I have with the Forge Project, with the 326 Meteorite Incident?

Before, Nidhogg had never seen him inside the facility. The areas he’d never entered were the ones reserved for core materials and data, and leadership activities.

So, was I one of the top leaders of the Forge Project?

Though Si Zhiyan no longer remembered who he truly was, to have been so composed in the fire… perhaps he was, in fact, involved with the blaze.

…Was I the one who set the fire? Why?

If I was part of the leadership, why would I do that? Was there any need?

Something felt off. Perhaps he was missing something…

Nidhogg continued, “After the famine game started, the Eye appeared before me. He just said that one strange thing to me.”

“But… I did something else.”
Nidhogg flexed his ruined body, looking away.

“I, uh, I challenged the Eye.”

Thud!
Shi He’s hand slipped, bashing his head against the rock wall as he struggled upright, staring wide-eyed at Nidhogg.

For a moment, even Si Zhiyan didn’t know what to say.

He had spent so much time and effort just placating the Eye’s rage as the farm grew to its current size—only acting once he could avoid it no longer, planning the entire strategy.

Yet someone had actually gone up and challenged such a colossal power on the very first day?

“It was on that day I realized the nature of my healing ability. Even if I were shot through the heart a thousand times, if my bones were shattered to dust, if my whole body were ground to pulp, or my head smashed into bits… it still all grew back as if nothing happened.”
Nidhogg.
“…It’s funny, really.

“And, just as you’d expect—

Nidhogg looked up, “just the same, Boss.”
“I can’t claim to be as skilled as you, I couldn’t drive that thing off. The trial began at midnight; as long as the candidate still had a pulse by morning, the Eye’s attack would cease.”

Thus, Nidhogg learned what a trial was, and realized the farm was under the Eye’s watch. He also understood that when the Eye’s trial came to the farm, he absolutely could not be present.

Otherwise, the coming test would not be an “Initial Trial” but an even harsher, more merciless ordeal.

All that was left to him was to hide away in a mountain cave, using his own blood and flesh to help the farm and his child survive,
leaving the ground littered with ruined bits of himself,

like so much worthless waste.

He’d then concealed from Si Zhiyan the fact that he’d ever survived a trial himself—perhaps for fear that Si Zhiyan would see him as a rival and strike preemptively.

…

Si Zhiyan bowed his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. “……”

“Come with me,” he said.

Nidhogg: “Huh?”

“Come with me.” Si Zhiyan repeated, patient and calm, his tone emotionless. “This is not a request: you don’t get a choice. If you’re tactful, we can skip the rougher methods.”

Nidhogg poked at his ear as if he’d misheard, so incredulous he nearly burst out laughing. “What? Why? Is this how you treat your own people, Boss? Throwing me in the dungeon, is that it?”

His slitted pupils flashed with fire.

“You really think I wouldn’t fight you?”

But Si Zhiyan had already moved on to something else.

“The day you took Shi He in, you limited your bond to eight years: you wanted to raise the child so he could survive after the countdown ended. But after those eight years, after the task was done—why did you leave him, in such a dangerous time?”

Nidhogg’s expression faltered.

“You never really wanted to know what would come when the countdown ended, nor play in the hunger game, nor become an Eye… Perhaps, from the very beginning, from the moment you were brought to this world as a clone, you had no choice. Rushing into the fire, setting a limit on your bond, provoking the Eye—these all point to the same thing—”

“You wanted to end your own life, didn’t you?”

“When you asked me for the blood sacrifice altar, this was also why. You wanted a way to erase yourself completely, to die inside Shi He’s body.”

…

Nidhogg stared at Si Zhiyan, struck silent.

“Those who most want to live cannot manage it, yet you, who wants only to die, are cursed with endless healing.”

“A truly ironic world.”

Si Zhiyan sighed quietly.

“But…

“I am grateful for everything you have done so far, Mr. Evil Dragon.”

“Perhaps you’ve always seen your life as a tedious, miserable game—that is your right, and I have no intention of interfering.” Si Zhiyan looked down at Nidhogg, his voice steady. “Even so, I hope you will remember what it feels like—right now, being embraced by Shi He.”

“If you were to die somewhere, this child would be utterly heartbroken. And I would feel that loss too.”

“As I’ve told you before: you are not some wild beast no one cares for in life or death.”

“If you truly sacrificed yourself entirely to Shi He… did you ever stop to consider how he would go on after?”

Drip.
Suddenly, a sharp twinge passed through him. Nidhogg flinched and looked down, discovering that, at some point, the child had gripped his sleeve tightly.

A boy’s tears fell into the blood at their feet, dissolving with it in an instant.

How long had he been crying?
How much longer would he cry?

Would he ever get up again?

This child was always so quiet, trailing after him like a little animal. If not for those rare, uncontrollable outbursts, Nidhogg might hardly notice he was there at all.

“You’re not going to die anyway, so stop looking for ways to throw your life away.” Si Zhiyan’s voice was almost gentle. “Why not give us a chance?”

“While you were away, a lot has been added to the farm. I’ve set up a really good self-service grill for fish—there’s even a forest hunting ground with all sorts of species. In the depths of the woods there’s an onsen inn; it’s booked solid almost every day. If you come, I can reserve a spot for you. The empty houses in the Fantasia Town are all still available; outside, there’s a new flower field, very beautiful—Shi He likes it, too.”

“And later, I’ll be doing more expansion, maybe a moat, a few tall towers atop the city walls—I could use a dragon to stand guard.”

“Come with me.”
Si Zhiyan smiled,
“The farm is a place worth being.”

“We need you.”

Flesh and bone continued to heal.

Nidhogg took Shi He’s hand in his, looked up at Si Zhiyan suspended in midair. Amid the bloody, fetid ruins, those red eyes were as cool and gentle as in years past… or perhaps, simply as soft.

For a fleeting moment, he felt as if he were back in the heart of that fire again: flesh scorched, pain unbearable, the end looming—and as he looked up, there was a figure, standing unflinching amid the flames.

And after that… everything changed.

After a while, Nidhogg finally laughed.

“…Ha.”

At last, the dragon’s wings lost their tension. Utterly exhausted, he slumped down, closed his eyes, and held tightly to Shi He’s hand.

“I haven’t the strength to walk.” He gave a feeble order, “You two have to carry me back.”

Shi He threw himself onto him, hugging him tight, his voice choked beyond recognition: “Brother…!”

Si Zhiyan smiled and gestured, letting mist bear them gently aloft.

Let’s go home.

…………
……

By now, night had fully fallen over the farm. In Fantasia Town, multicolored lights glowed, and laughter rang through the air.

The rest were all shocked at the sight of Nidhogg. Yet Shi He, though tear-streaked and smiling, was incredibly steady, clearly having prepared himself to explain everything. Whether or not Nidhogg could get along with everyone else remained to be seen… but honestly, Si Zhiyan was less worried about Nidhogg being shunned than that he might end up bullying others.

He left them to sort it out for themselves; after all, even if something went wrong, Si Zhiyan could always cover for them.

He handed the two to the Xubei team and turned to leave.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, Nidhogg called out to him.

“Wait. Boss.”

He frowned, quickly and seriously:

“There’s something I must confirm with you.
Have you received notice of the next level of trial from the Eye?”