The old Finger Insect kept touching Mo Ling, using all its strength to describe the beauty of this world. But Mo Ling could feel its strength fading, its tactile language growing increasingly faint and unclear.
Eventually, Mo Ling could no longer understand what the old Finger Insect was saying. He could only feel it stroking him ceaselessly, just like in the very beginning when the old Finger Insect had pulled him from the Sea of Blood.
Its jelly-like body finally slumped down, limp.
'Dead.'
'A corpse.'
'Cold.'
This was the first time Mo Ling had touched "death," and he now truly, viscerally felt the meaning behind the word.
In the language of the Finger Insects, to express the word "death" to another, you had to strike their head forcefully.
But now, even though no other Finger Insect was touching him, he could feel a violent impact on his own head.
'So, is death something that can be touched?'
