“No!” Fatty gripped his head and shouted, “Not only me, but it must have sensed them too! They are not dead! Everyone is still alive!” Subtly, Fatty’s words changed. “Everyone is still alive! No. You… You are still alive… Haha… Living inside my body…”
When he opened his eyes again, Fatty realised he was lying on the sandy beach. The waves lapped at his feet. He jumped up with fright.
“Are you normal now?” It was the Doctor.
Fatty turned around and realised the Doctor was lying not far away from behind him. He was relaxing inside a newly dug sandpit, using a leaf of an unknown tree to block the sunlight from his face. If not for the nightmare realm, Fatty would think he was on a holiday.
“How do you feel?” Jiang Cheng removed the leaf. His eyes narrowed from the blinding sun. He told Fatty, “If you’re fine, stand up and walk around.”
Before he knew what happened, Fatty decided to listen to the Doctor. He stood up and walked around. Then, he followed Jiang Cheng’s instructions and stomped his feet a few times. “Doctor, I’m sure I’m fine. Nothing is wrong with my body.” He straightened his numb legs and asked confusedly, “I just want to know what happened. Why am I here all of a sudden? Weren’t we by the cliff?”
Jiang Cheng thought about it and said, “You fainted, and I carried you here.”
Fatty looked around and commented helplessly, “Doctor, we’re the only ones here, so stop joking. With your laziness, why would you possibly carry me here?”
There was a blank spot in his memory. The last thing he remembered was the Doctor asking him a question. And then… he remembered nothing after that. When he opened his eyes again, he was lying on the beach.
Fatty saw Jiang Cheng open his mouth again, and his heart boiled. He had a feeling that this part of his missing memory was very important to him. If he could find it, certain things would become…
“You sure think highly of yourself,” Jiang Cheng mocked him, “Carry you? In your dreams. I dragged you here like you’re a piece of log.”
Fatty looked beside him. There was a trail in the sand that looked like a snake had slithered through. It moved from his feet to the cliff. There were a few large holes along the trail. These must have been made when the Doctor was annoyed with dragging him and dumped him on the ground. He probably kicked him to roll around like a barrel.
“If you are still alive, come with me to check out the forest,” Jiang Cheng huffed, “If you’re not alive…”
“Doctor,” Fatty sighed, “I’ll go with you.”
Even though Fatty didn’t go into the ocean, his body was drenched by the waves. Jiang Cheng purposely chose a path that was inside the shade of the cliff. The breeze caused Fatty to shiver.
“Why are you staying so close to me?” Jiang Cheng asked, “If you’re cold, go under the sun.”
Fatty jogged beside Jiang Cheng and shook his head, “No, Doctor. I’ll feel much blissful staying close to you.”
Jiang Cheng tutted with annoyance.
Fatty had his own hypothesis regarding his memory loss. However, it all surrounded the nightmare realm. He had too few clues to make sense of anything. Thankfully, the Doctor was by his side during that period. Perhaps the Doctor had captured something.
At this point, Fatty pressed his lips and looked at the Doctor. They had moved along the cliff and came to the edge of the forest. Based on what the Doctor said, when he was unconscious, he didn’t see the Su Siblings exit the forest. The prospects were not good for them.
Standing there, Fatty really felt the strangeness of the forest. The forest was sprawling, but there was no sound at all. There was no chirping or the skittering of small animals. The forest was… deadly quiet.
Every plant and tree in his sight was normal, but when paired together, there was something unsettling about them. His gaze travelled deeper into the woods through the gaps in the trees. The strange feeling grew stronger. When Fatty realised something was wrong and wanted to pull his eyes away, he realised he couldn’t do it. The darkness inside the forest was like a gooey liquid. Once stuck, one couldn’t pull away from it. He felt his whole body sinking into it…
His world was replaced by darkness like he had sunken into the deep sea.
Fatty suddenly widened his eyes. A beautiful melody swam around his ears. It was melodious and epic. He hadn’t heard anything before, but at the same time, he realised what this sound was…
It was the whale song the others had mentioned!
Underneath the majestic song, he heard a dull exploding sound. It was slow and powerful. It was the heartbeat of this whale. He came to that conclusion subconsciously. Pressure poured down on him and shattered the darkness before him. Fatty woke up the next second. His back that was blown dry by the wind became wet with cold sweat again.
Fatty was snapped out of it by a loud growl. He turned to the source and was knocked off his feet by a powerful force. The thing that knocked him over wasn’t large but was very powerful. After all, his large size was not just for show.
After he was knocked down, his assailant straddled him. Fatty was pinned to the ground.
Fatty was seeing doubles. Eventually, he saw his assailant. “Doctor?” He gasped.
Jiang Cheng ignored him. He stood up and looked at the forest. Two figures stumbled out as they supported each other. It was Su Xiaoxiao and Su An.
When she saw Jiang Cheng, Su Xiaoxiao’s weakened eyes burst with a bright glow. However, the glow was swiftly extinguished. Her body tilted sideways.
The siblings collapsed right at the edge of the forest.