Chapter 44 Whispers

The words had barely left his mouth when Fatty seemed to suddenly realize something. He looked up and hesitantly asked, "Could it be... could it be they heard something?"

Based on the reactions of the blond man and the others, they seemed to have heard some kind of sound, and this sound filled them with such terror that they ran away.

"You mean, inside this room, you can hear sounds that normal people can't?" the rock-climbing woman asked, her eyes taking on a strange look.

As soon as she said that, everyone held their breath, as if they could really hear something if they just stayed quiet.

Outside the square window, the city floating on the sea was still brightly lit, with specks of light flitting among the buildings; no doubt, these were people carrying torches.

A faint layer of black mist enveloped the city, and the sound of waves lapping against the shore only added to the city's mysterious aura.

Seconds later, Jiang Cheng and the young master's pupils suddenly contracted. They really could hear it!

It was a faint but rapid breathing sound.

Right there in the room.

Besides them, there was someone else in the room!

They quickly located the source of the breathing: the wood basket.

The young master held the torch up with one hand as he approached, while Jiang Cheng held his extinguished torch like a makeshift weapon.

This was where the advantage of an experienced player team shone through. They were seasoned and didn't panic. Everyone knew their role.

Jiang Cheng, the young master, and Fatty moved in, while the rock-climbing woman, the loli girl, and the tall man guarded the only exit behind them. Whether it was a person or a ghost, they couldn't lose their escape route.

The young master reached out and quickly lifted the lid of the basket. What greeted him was a face twisted beyond recognition.

"It's you!" Fatty exclaimed in surprise.

The old woman was curled up inside the basket, her face green and contorted in a bizarre expression. Her withered, chicken-claw-like hands were tightly clamped over her mouth, and her eyes looked as if they were about to burst from their sockets.

The first thing that flashed through Fatty's mind when he saw the woman was Xie Yu's death in the first instance.

What had frightened the woman so much?

And this basket... Fatty looked it over and over. He couldn't see how it could possibly hold a grown adult; a child of six or seven, maybe, but he really couldn't imagine how the woman had squeezed herself inside.

Many of the others shared his sentiment, but because of this preconceived notion, they hadn't thoroughly inspected all the baskets in their haste.

This was their oversight.

Jiang Cheng and the young master grabbed the woman by either arm and helped her out. She seemed to be paralyzed with fear; all she did was tremble and struggle to keep her hands clamped over her mouth.

As he gripped her arm, Jiang Cheng realized how thin she was, impossibly thin, a layer of skin stretched over fragile bones, like a Jew held in a concentration camp during World War II.

They helped the woman to a seat on the side, but she was still trembling, her eyes unfocused. Everyone watched her with scrutiny.

The rock-climbing woman tried to close the stone door of the room, but the loli girl stopped her.

The group formed a semi-circle, with the old woman huddled in the corner, shivering.

They opened the remaining baskets and then carefully searched the entire room again, even moving the shelves, but they couldn't find the motorcycle woman.

"Where did the other woman go?" the rock-climbing woman asked.

She had had enough of the old woman's sour face. Losing her patience, she stepped forward, grabbed the woman by the collar, flexed her arm muscles, and yanked her to her feet. "I'm talking to you! Where did that woman go? Did you hurt her?"

Many people in nightmares weren't killed by ghosts; they died at their own hands after losing control of their emotions. The young master stepped forward and separated the two women.

The rock-climbing woman shoved the old woman away, sending her crashing to the ground.

The woman lay on the ground, looking half-dead, her eyes vacant, her body frighteningly emaciated. "It's coming..." the woman suddenly said. "Everyone will die."

"What did you say?" Fatty asked, his voice trembling with fear as he looked around. "Who's coming? Did something come here?"

"I heard its voice," the woman suddenly said, her voice shrill. "I heard its voice. It's calling me! It's calling me!"

"It recognized me. It must have recognized me!"

The woman seemed possessed, muttering to herself faster and faster, as if she were talking to someone else inside her. "I should have died here back then, died here with them!"

"No!" the woman shouted, her eyes bloodshot. "It must have sensed them too. They're not dead! None of them are dead!"

"Everyone's alive! No, it's you. You're all alive, living inside my body," the woman said, crying and laughing. Her eyes were filled with a mixture of madness and devotion.

"It's waiting for us, waiting for us to come back... No one can escape. No one!"

After saying this, the woman suddenly tilted her head and collapsed to the ground, silent.

After a moment of hesitation, the young master stepped forward quickly. First, he checked the woman's breath, then he felt her neck. He turned and exhaled. "She's unconscious."

The woman wasn't in good health to begin with, so it made sense that she fainted after getting so agitated.

After settling the woman down, the others sat in a circle and began discussing what to do next.

"Is there really some kind of sound?" Fatty licked his lips, glanced at the woman's prone form, and said softly, "She said she heard it too."

"She's probably just crazy, talking nonsense," the rock-climbing woman said angrily. "I suspect she had something to do with the other woman's disappearance."

The young master chuckled. "But this crazy woman has never met anyone from Black Rock Town."

The rock-climbing woman was stunned for a moment, then her face turned ugly.

He was right. This woman hadn't met anyone from Black Rock Town, so there was no way she could know the information they carried. But their stories... were eerily similar, especially regarding the so-called "sound."

The woman said she heard it too. The sound.

A chill began to spread through the group. It seemed that this so-called "sound" was real, but most people couldn't hear it.

And the most frustrating thing was that the only one on their side who could sense the "sound" had fainted, and her mind was clearly not right. What she said made no sense.

"Let's leave it at that for now. Everyone get some rest," the young master glanced at the city on the sea. "I'll take the first watch, and then..."

"It's whale song," the loli girl said softly.

Her voice was light, but with an undeniable strength. She looked up at the tall man squatting beside her, holding her arm tightly, and patted his hand. Then, she looked away and continued, "That sound is whale song. Normal people can't hear it, but he can."