The darkness wrapped the cavern in its thick mantle, swallowing sounds and amplifying the silence. Hong Min turned with difficulty on the rocky ledge where they had been thrown. He tried to push himself to his feet, but his exhausted body wouldn’t obey. His stomach was a hollow pit, letting out muffled cries of hunger, and every muscle in his body shivered from cold and fatigue. He looked down at the abandoned city, a portion of which was visible in the shadows, looking like a giant mouth swallowing all hope. The idea of descending into it seemed impossible.

  "How… how in the hell are we going to get down from here?" Hong Min muttered to himself, his voice barely audible, before glancing at the giant man sitting calmly beside him. The man was looking down as if it were just a small puddle.

  Before Hong Min could voice any objection, or even utter another word, he felt a powerful arm wrap around his waist. It was an arm as hard and cold as rock, with none of the warmth or softness of a human. In the next moment, the giant man lifted them both, and then he jumped.

  It was a leap no sane person could imagine. They fell into the void for a moment that seemed like an eternity before landing on the lower cavern floor with a startling silence. Hong Min felt no jolt, only a cold shock that coursed through his body. He fell to his knees the instant the man released him, gasping for breath, his heart hammering violently.

  "What in the hell did you just do, you madman?!" Hong Min yelled, his voice trembling with shock and terror. His eyes widened as he stared at the giant, who stood calmly as if he hadn't just done something superhuman. This being… his strength was as terrifying as his silence.

  As he panted, trying to catch his breath, a strange feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time crept over him. He was in a new place, far from the high walls of Chang'an, far from the daily injustice and the looks of pity and contempt. There was nothing to remind him of his old poverty and misery. This vast cavern, with its shadows and strange atmosphere, gave him an odd sense of freedom, a strange happiness from an unknown source, as if the world's burdens had suddenly vanished. It wasn't pure joy, but a bizarre mix of awe and liberation, yet it was there, flickering deep inside him.

  He began to move cautiously deeper into the shadows of the abandoned city. The mysterious man followed him in silence. They passed by a crumbling wall, upon which was a strange, time-worn engraving: a circle with three interlocking triangles inside it.

  While Hong Min ignored the engraving, focusing on scouting for any danger, the giant suddenly stopped.

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  Hong Min turned, feeling the tension rise. "What now?"

  The mysterious man was standing with his head tilted slightly, his grey eyes fixed on the symbol carved into the wall. It wasn't an empty look, but one of concentration, as if he were scanning data he recognized.

  "You wretch! Are you just going to stand there like a statue?" Hong Min shouted, his patience wearing thin. "Let's go!"

  The giant man turned toward him, his eyes returning to their usual emptiness. "Environmental data analysis," he said in his calm voice. Then he resumed walking behind him.

  They walked in silence for minutes that felt like an eternity. There was only the sound of Hong Min's hesitant footsteps on the stone floor. As for the massive being behind him, he moved with a deadly quiet, as if he displaced no air. This silence, and this heavy presence right behind him, began to fray Hong Min's nerves. He felt like prey being stalked by a patient, soundless hunter.

  He couldn't take it anymore. He spun around suddenly, his voice sharp and tense. "You wretch! Are you just going to keep following me like a ghost? What exactly do you want from me?"

  The giant man replied in his quiet voice, "I want to search for feelings. You told me I would live if I helped you."

  Hong Min sighed deeply, feeling a slight pang of regret for all the words he'd said. "To hell with everything I said! It was just the nonsense of a drunk! Did you want me to get eaten by that damned tiger?" He scoffed at himself and at the giant, who continued to follow him silently.

  "Listen, you strange man," Hong Min said, pausing for a moment. "What in the hell is your name? I have to call you something other than 'you wretch' all the time."

  The giant man looked at him coolly. "What is a name?" he asked in a low voice.

  "A name! What do people call you?!" Hong Min shouted.

  "404."

  Hong Min's eyes widened in astonishment, then he burst out in a sarcastic laugh. "404?! Are you a joke?! What is this nonsense?!" He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

  404 remained silent, watching him calmly.

  "404," Hong Min said, trying out the strange name. "Why don't you talk much? Is it because you don't have much to say, or do the feelings you're looking for not require words?"

  After a short silence, 404 replied in his monotone voice, "Why use more words than needed."

  The two continued to walk in silence. But the silence of hunger was stronger.

  "Damn it! I'm starving!" Hong Min suddenly cried out. He looked at 404 with a smirk. "Mr. 404, the emotionless one, given your massive size, I assume your pockets contain enough food for a small army, right?"

  404 looked at him coolly. "Pockets? I have none. Food? I have none. I do not need to eat or drink to live."

  Hong Min felt a strange mix of shock, envy, and indignation. What a bizarre creature! He doesn't get hungry, he doesn't get thirsty, he doesn't feel! Meanwhile, he was writhing from the eternal pain of hunger.

  The two continued their walk toward the heart of the abandoned city, where the majestic structures of buildings loomed on the horizon, like ghosts of the past welcoming their new visitors, each step bringing them closer to uncovering the secrets of this forgotten world.