Chapter 2: The Mosquito’s First Kiss, Lost Forever

On the beam above, a thread hung down. A spider slowly descended along it, directly in the path of Lu Wu’s advance. Lu Wu was puzzled; did this spider intend to ambush him? An ordinary mosquito probably wouldn’t react to such a scene, but Lu Wu possessed a human consciousness, and the reminders from the Book of Knowledge were ever-present.

“Hm?”

“Damn it!”

If I left you alone, you’d be content, but you dare to scheme against me? The spider dropped a line across Lu Wu’s flight path, setting an ambush. Did this spider really think it could provoke him?

Lu Wu deliberately flew to a spot beyond the spider’s reach. There was something odd about this spider—it wasn’t hunting with its web, but rather suspending a tiny droplet from its silk. Lu Wu recalled seeing similar tactics in wildlife documentaries; that little droplet was sticky.

He purposefully circled, luring the spider to move up and down. Each time he approached, the spider hurled its droplet like a meteor hammer, but Lu Wu always escaped ahead of time.

“Apparently, a spider’s legs aren’t trapped by its own web,” Lu Wu mused, tempting the spider to throw the meteor hammer diagonally upward. Sure enough, the spider tossed it.

Once Lu Wu flew past, the hammer spun around due to inertia and entangled the spider itself.

“Will your body stick to your own web?” Lu Wu wondered. It hardly mattered now—the spider web had become a noose, binding the spider tighter each time Lu Wu flew by.

Soon, the spider was so thoroughly wrapped it could no longer move. Lu Wu gently landed atop it, carefully avoiding the sticky web with his legs, flattening his mouthparts.

He pierced the spider.

“Mortal-grade spider fluid, utterly useless.”

“What a waste, all for nothing.”

Lu Wu resumed his flight.

“This must be a corridor,” he thought. “What a strange layout. My laboratory never had anything like this. Did I analyze it wrong?”

He could surmise that this place was quite different from the world he knew. Pressing onward, the exclusive human perspective granted by the Book of Knowledge refreshed, new lines appearing before him.

“Distance to Sage: Ten meters.”

He had entered the range he could analyze in the macroscopic view.

Directly ahead, there was no carbon dioxide drifting his way, but two humanoid shapes were clearly visible—one black, one white.

“By experience, white signifies high energy?”

Shouldn’t the human body appear purple? Ultraviolet bodies ought to be purple, so why were these two black and white?

Wait—the reminder says Sage… Could it be that they don’t breathe, hence no carbon dioxide flow?

Lu Wu circled, observing the two figures. One black and one white—the black lay prone, the white stood beside her. The black didn’t emit light or heat; purple was for low-energy bodies, so what was white?

High-energy?

Why did this woman glow like a furnace?

She must be a woman, right?

“The Book of Knowledge says this female Sage is in a vegetative state, so…”

“The one lying down is the female in a vegetative state.”

As for what a Sage truly was, Lu Wu couldn’t understand.

He dared not approach, for the Book of Knowledge warned there was a thirty percent risk.

Flying within a few meters, he kept observing, confirming that the elegant black shadow remained motionless. The white shape, however, seemed to turn its head, as if fixing its gaze on him.

At that moment, Lu Wu heard a voice.

“What a peculiar little insect.”

“What kind of bug is this? I’ve never seen anything like it before. It actually killed a spider despite its size?”

Lu Wu dared not get closer now—the other had already spotted him.

Most importantly, her eyesight was extraordinary. From such a distance, she witnessed his battle with the spider?

Drawing on years of mosquito extermination experience, he knew that humans’ first impulse upon seeing a mosquito was to reach for a handy tool to strike it.

Now that he was a mosquito himself, he realized most people’s first reaction would be to swat him.

Lu Wu hesitated to approach.

That strange Book of Knowledge said he had a thirty percent chance of dying here.

He longed to speak, opened his mouth: "Hoo~"

A mosquito had no vocal apparatus; his attempt produced nothing but a breath.

From the white figure’s perspective—

In a magnificent hall, a mosquito hovered in midair, blowing at her.

The woman’s appearance matched that of the body lying down. There was no distinction of black or white, only corporeal and ethereal. The prone figure was flesh, youthful and beautiful—a celestial maiden descended to earth. The floating form was her soul, gazing at the mosquito.

“You can hear me speak? You want to respond?”

Lu Wu was shocked.

How could anyone see, with their naked eye, a mosquito’s slender mouthparts blowing a few meters away?

Could this person see carbon dioxide?

Lu Wu traced the word “hello” in the air with his flight path.

The female Sage’s spirit, glowing with pale yellow light, widened her eyes: “Hello?”

“You’re writing with your flight?”

“You can see me?!”

“You understand my speech?”

“A humble spirit-insect can comprehend me?”

“A humble spirit-insect can see my soul?”

Lu Wu traced the words “You’re the insect” in his flight.

The female Sage was puzzled: “If you’re not an insect, then what are you?”

Lu Wu had no idea what world he was in, or where, only that someone had discovered him.

And that person knew he was sentient.

Now, she asked what he was if not an insect.

Lu Wu dared not reveal himself as human. What if she decided to dissect him?

After a brief pause, he wrote “I am a mosquito” in the air.

“Mosquito?” The female Sage was confused. “A bug and a wen—how is that pronounced, ‘wen’?”

“What creature is called a mosquito?”

“Such a tiny being possesses intellect—could it be a divine creature favored by the heavens, like the sacred silkworm?”

Lu Wu was utterly bewildered—divine silkworm, heavens?

Wait—this woman didn’t know what a mosquito was?

Had he accidentally slept for a million years and mosquitoes had gone extinct, so future generations forgot them?

The Sage’s spirit continued: “What kind of creature are you? How do you survive?”

Lu Wu traced “bloodsucking” with his flight.

“Bloodsucking?” The Sage stared intently at his slender mouthparts, her body stiffening before bursting with delight: “Your mouth can pierce skin for blood?!”

Lu Wu flew: “Correct.”

The Sage pointed at her own body: “Here, try a bite.”

Looking closer, Lu Wu saw her spirit indicate her own lips.

“Hmm…”

Such an odd request. Lu Wu: “Are you sure?”

He flew over, recalling years of mosquito research and the bloodsucking process.

First, brush the mouth with the forelegs, then…

"Ding!" It was like piercing a wall of iron; Lu Wu’s mouth felt numb.

He failed to draw blood, delivering instead the mosquito’s first kiss.

The Sage sighed regretfully: “It’s still not quite right.”