Fatty suddenly reacted and raised his head. He hesitated, “Could… they have heard something?”
Based on the golden-haired man and the others’ reaction, they had heard something that instilled them with great fear.
“You mean, you can hear sounds that normal people can’t hear by being inside this room?” The climber woman asked.
At that moment, everyone held their breath. It was as if once they kept quiet, they could really hear something. Outside the window, the city floating on the sea was still covered in lights. Occasionally, a spot of light moved through it. It should be someone with a torch. A layer of light mist surrounded the city. Among the waves, the city appeared very mysterious.
A few seconds later, Jiang Cheng and the young master narrowed their eyes. They really heard something! It was a weak but rapid breathing sound. It came from inside the room. In other words, there was someone else other than them inside the room!
The two quickly triangulated the source of the breathing. It was from the basket that previously held the bundle of wood. The young master approached it with the torch raised while Jiang Cheng held the extinguished torch as a club.
This was where the experience of the veteran travellers was shown. No one panicked and assumed their roles quickly. Jiang Cheng, the young master and Fatty surrounded the basket. The Loli girl, the climber woman and the tall man guarded the only exit.
The young master reached out his hand and pulled off the lid from the basket. They were greeted by a twisted face.
“It’s you!” Fatty gasped.
Plus this basket… Fatty studied it for some time. He didn’t think it could fit an adult. How did the aged woman get into it? There were many who shared Fatty’s thoughts. In their hurry, they forgot to check the capacity of the baskets. This was their mistake.
Jiang Cheng worked together with the young master to help the woman out. She seemed to be catatonic from fear. Other than shivering, she kept her hands over her mouth.
When Jiang Cheng held the woman’s arm, he realised the woman was extremely thin. Her skin basically only wrapped around her bone. They held the woman to the side and eased her to the ground. She was still shaking. Her eyes were unfocused. Everyone looked at her strangely. The biker woman tried to close the room door but was stopped by the Loli girl. The group formed a circle around the aged woman. They looked through the other baskets and searched the rest of the room but failed to find the biker woman.
“Where is the other woman?” The climber woman asked. Her patience with the aged woman was running thin. She grabbed the woman by her collar and yanked her off the ground. “I’m asking you! Where is she? Did you have her killed?” Many people were not killed by the ghosts in the nightmare realm. Instead, they were harmed by other travellers.
The young master hurried forward to separate the two. The climber woman shoved the aged woman angrily to the ground.
The woman collapsed and looked like she was about to die. Her eyes were dull. “It is here…” The woman suddenly uttered, “Everyone will die.”
“What did you say?” Fatty’s voice changed from fear. He looked nervously around. “Who is here? Is something coming over?”
“I can hear its voice.” The woman suddenly became animated. Her voice became shrill. “It is calling me! Yes!
“It has recognised me!”
The woman appeared to be possessed as she rambled to herself. She spoke faster and faster as she conversed with someone inside her body. “I should have died here many years ago with them!” The woman widened her bloodshot eyes and shouted, “Not only me. It must have sensed them as well! They are not dead! Everyone is still alive! No. You! All of you are still alive, living inside my body!” The woman laughed and cried. It was unhinged. “It is waiting for us, waiting for us to return. No one can escape! No one!” Suddenly, the woman tilted her head and collapsed to the ground.
After a short hesitation, the young master went forward and checked the woman’s breath. Then, he touched her neck. He turned around and sighed, “She has fainted.” With the woman’s physical condition, it was unsurprising that she had fainted. After settling the woman, the rest sat in the circle to discuss what to do next.
“Is there really a voice?” Fatty licked her lips and glanced at the unconscious woman. “She said she heard it.”
“She might have lost her mind.” The climber woman huffed, “I suspect she’s behind the disappearance of the other woman.”
The young master smiled, “But this crazy woman hasn’t seen the people from Black Iron Town.”
The climber woman’s face froze. He was right. This aged woman hadn’t met the people from Black Iron Town and didn’t know what they said. However, their words were so similar… especially their reaction to this ‘voice.’ The woman said she heard the voice too.
The ‘voice’ probably existed, but most people couldn’t hear it. To make things more helpless, the only traveller who could hear the voice had fainted. Even if she hadn’t, her mental condition was not fit.
“How about this? We should rest for now.” The young master glanced at the city on the sea, “I’ll take the first shift. Then…”
“It’s a whale song,” The Loli girl whispered. Her voice was light but undeniable. She glanced at the tall man who knelt beside her. She patted his hand and turned around to face the other travellers. “That voice is the song of the whales. Normal people can’t hear it, but he can.”