Chapter 29: The Song in the Mist

A fog had descended.

Ever since Qing Yu and Aldoran had returned to the inn the previous night, a dense fog had engulfed the small town, refusing to dissipate. Even as they awoke this morning, there was no sign of it relenting.

However, this certainly wouldn’t deter Aldoran and Qing Yu from their plans for the day.

It was, after all, merely a bit of fog.

Yet, just before they left, Qing Yu, as if by some strange impulse, glanced at the flowers Ms. R had gifted them earlier. The two pale pink blossoms bloomed quietly, their delicate fragrance permeating the small room, filling the entire space with a rosy aura.

After only a brief look, Qing Yu, impatient to depart, pulled Aldoran out the door.

More than the flowers, he yearned to meet the bard with Aldoran.

****

The streets were largely deserted, perhaps due to the pervasive mist. Even holding hands, Qing Yu and Aldoran found themselves unable to discern each other’s faces, their voices alone carrying through the ethereal whiteness and the damp air.

Such a dense fog rendered Aldoran and Qing Yu’s search for the bard exceedingly difficult. They could only grope their way forward, step by arduous step, constantly wary of obstacles underfoot, their progress agonizingly slow.

As they advanced, Aldoran suddenly halted, asking, “Do you smell anything?” Qing Yu, caught off guard, stumbled, nearly losing his footing.

‘A smell?’

Qing Yu subtly flared his nostrils, confirming that a peculiar scent indeed permeated the air.

It was an inexplicable aroma, drifting faintly through the air—sweet, saccharine, and subtly enveloping Qing Yu and Aldoran with an irresistible allure.

‘Strange,’ Aldoran’s voice murmured into Qing Yu’s ear, as the damp mist beaded his eyelashes.

A single, crystal-clear droplet of water detached from his lashes.

The ‘plink’ of the water droplet hitting the ground was amplified a hundredfold. Qing Yu’s ears twitched subtly, followed by another ‘plink.’

‘Plink.’

‘Plink.’

The air vibrated faintly, and the fog grew even denser. Qing Yu could no longer even discern Aldoran’s hand clasped in his own.

A gentle breeze whispered past his ears.

‘Plink.’

‘Plink.’

The droplets began to fall faster and faster, until Qing Yu could no longer distinguish whether they were dew or rain.

‘Plink-plink.’

‘Plink-plink.’

The sound intensified, the pace quickened, and then, accompanied by a colossal ‘rumble’ from the heavens, a torrential downpour cascaded. In that vast expanse of white, Qing Yu couldn’t even perceive the falling rain.

“I’ve already granted you my protection, so rest assured, you won’t get wet,” Aldoran’s voice resounded once more. Qing Yu realized his body was indeed perfectly dry, not a single spot touched by the rain.

“Aldoran, which way do we go now?” Qing Yu inquired.

Silence.

‘Plink-plink.’

Raindrops heavily pounded the earth, and the air vibrated, enveloped by the lingering aroma.

Then, a song, emanating from an unknown source, began to dispel the lingering fragrance.

An ethereal and profound melody drifted through the insubstantial whiteness, reaching Qing Yu and Aldoran’s ears.

“We must walk towards the song,” Aldoran replied.

Thus, hand in hand, they advanced, step by deliberate step, towards the source of the melody.

****

The song possessed an immense penetrative power, interwoven with strains of soothing, melancholic lyre music. Ancient verses resonated throughout the blank world.

As they drew closer to the origin of the melody, the sound grew louder, and the gathering crowd of passersby swelled.

Amidst the torrential downpour, the passersby stood silently in the mist, seemingly oblivious to the rain that drenched their bodies. Only upon hearing Qing Yu and Aldoran splash through puddles did they subtly turn, their faces devoid of expression, their gazes fixed upon them. As Qing Yu and Aldoran moved forward, the crowd parted, step by step, creating a clear path for them to continue unimpeded.

Although Qing Yu, enveloped in the hazy mist, could not discern the expressions of the passersby, an inexplicable sensation of being intensely scrutinized gnawed at him. It was as if countless eyes had materialized within the fog, relentlessly observing his and Aldoran’s every movement, no matter where they stood.

Qing Yu shifted his neck uncomfortably.

‘How unsettling.’

Aldoran, on the other hand, did not possess Qing Yu’s acute sensitivity; she merely felt an increasing sense of eeriness as they drew closer to the song’s source.

‘A strange sensation.’

‘Is this the song of the Horus clan?’

Aldoran had never heard tales of the Horus clan’s singing; she only knew them as inheritors of myths, born natural vocalists.

Finally, Aldoran led Qing Yu to a halt at a particular spot.

The source of the song appeared to be directly before Qing Yu and Aldoran. She played a lyre while singing, her wondrous voice reverberating in their ears.

‘A peculiar feeling.’

To Qing Yu, the voice did not seem to emanate from a throat; it carried an indescribable strangeness. Within the melody, a peculiar magic resided, akin to a potent poison, instilling an urge to forget everything, to be utterly consumed by the song.

‘Dangerous yet beautiful.’

“Qing Yu,” Aldoran tugged at his hand, pulling him back from the brink of enchantment.

A rich, fresh aroma once again wafted towards them, permeating the space around Aldoran and Qing Yu. Its origin unknown, it simply circulated freely in the air, swirling, and entering their nostrils.

A faint scoff echoed from an indiscernible direction, but it lasted only a fleeting instant before being swallowed by the soaring lyre and song. Qing Yu even questioned if he had imagined it.

“Qing Yu, how do you feel?” Aldoran’s voice inquired. She, too, seemed to have detected the unsettling quality of the song, tightening her grip on Qing Yu’s hand as a faint blue luminescence flickered intermittently within the mist.

“Mmm, I’m fine,” Qing Yu replied, patting his head, feeling a slight return of clarity.

The song continued, while the passersby listened motionlessly to the peculiar melody. They remained clustered together in silence, allowing the fierce wind and torrential rain to drench their bodies without protest.

Amidst the song, the passersby stared intently in Qing Yu and Aldoran’s direction, their gazes, as if capable of piercing the mist, devoid of luster and utterly vacant, unerringly fixated on their forms.

The singer in the mist played her lyre and sang, as the wind and rain grew increasingly savage, sweeping across the land with the fury of a thousand charging armies. The raindrops, thick and viscous, splattered onto the ground, congealing into sticky puddles that oozed sluggishly.

A low, guttural ‘rumble’ echoed overhead, as if a colossal explosion had occurred. The terrifying roar seemed to rend the very heavens, causing the earth itself to tremble.

‘Plink-plink.’

Aldoran, still grasping Qing Yu’s hand, pressed forward through the ceaseless drumming of raindrops, inching closer and closer towards the direction of the song.

The song reverberated, every syllable, every word, every phrase so ethereal, as though emanating from another realm—hollow, distant, profound.

The rain could no longer be called a mere downpour; it was akin to the deluge Qing Yu had read of in myths, the one that sparked world-ending floods. Thunder roared wildly, and torrents surged.

The water level had now risen past Qing Yu’s ankles, though it could scarcely be called water. It was a viscous, opaque liquid that enveloped his ankles, sending a bone-chilling cold through him. The ‘current’ seemed to crawl up his body, causing Qing Yu to involuntarily shiver.

The raging current also began to roar, churning up wave after wave. Despite its shallow depth, it managed to whip up a sky-obscuring curtain of water, howling as it scoured everything in the world.

Unbeknownst to them, the song had transformed into a chorus. Within the sorrowful melody, one numb voice after another joined, their chilling, piercing, and utterly freezing tones assailing Qing Yu and Aldoran’s bodies.

Struggling against the deluge, Qing Yu and Aldoran pressed on, step by arduous step, towards the singer.

One step, two steps, three steps.

The faint blue luminescence was swallowed by the mist as Aldoran clutched Qing Yu’s hand tightly, advancing towards the singer.

The song was melodious, yet frigid; numb, yet passionate.

Ancient voices, hoarse voices, childish voices, mature voices—

A symphony of terror resounded in their ears, as something within the mist appeared to writhe.

Despite all their efforts, Qing Yu and Aldoran found themselves unable to advance even a single step further.

The song slowly reached its crescendo, indescribable phrases floating around them, twisted, eerie sounds piercing their eardrums.

The mist itself seemed to come alive, like some grotesque creature, writhing and churning.

The song was a lament, a chant, a soaring anthem.

The cacophony deeply assailed Qing Yu and Aldoran’s minds.

Mist, mist.

Song, phantom.

The scenery before them gradually warped. The pale world transformed into a succession of peculiar circles, then bizarrely distorted polyhedrons. Objects that appeared round from Aldoran’s perspective were unsettling cubes to Qing Yu.

Within that blankness, something seemed to hum, to twitch, and an inexplicable dread crept into their hearts.

Whispers chanted all around them, and the world began to crumble, piece by piece.

In the kaleidoscope world that unfolded before Qing Yu and Aldoran, countless dark figures danced, soaring with grotesque and twisted forms. They possessed four limbs, like humans, yet their bodies shifted unpredictably—at times coiling like serpents, at others twitching like octopi, an unholy abomination.

These were creatures utterly beyond Aldoran and Qing Yu’s comprehension.

The raging storm howled, twisting into bizarre phantoms and shifting into strange hues, flickering rapidly within a world consumed by chaotic geometric forms.

Everything conspired to distort Qing Yu and Aldoran’s minds.

Collapse, terror, destruction—

And then—

The aroma.

Just as their minds verged on collapse, the aroma, its origin unknown, surged into their nostrils.

Suddenly, everything dispersed, and their minds were gradually drawn back to clarity by the fragrance.

The delicate scent enveloped Qing Yu and Aldoran’s bodies, and the world returned to its pristine whiteness.

As if under some divine protection, a pink luminescence shielded Qing Yu and Aldoran’s forms, compelling them to press onward.

“Hah,” Aldoran and Qing Yu simultaneously drew deep breaths. The aroma had banished the fear and confusion from their hearts.

Suddenly, a hand reached out—

A black robe drifted gracefully to the ground.

The world returned to light.

A cacophony of sounds flooded Qing Yu and Aldoran’s ears. The day was bright and sunny, and apart from the two of them, drenched to the bone, everyone else remained perfectly dry…