Chapter 11: Whispers in the Ruins

Landon… there isn’t much water to spare right now. Please forgive me.

Mr. Hunter Lancaster, the acting director, searched for a long time and finally only managed to pull out a piece of coarse grain bar that had just been made this morning.

He placed it on the plate in front of Landon and Helentine, treating it as a refreshment for guests.

“Thank you, but you don’t have to do this. We…”

“Thanks!”

Helentine didn’t bother being overly polite to the gaunt man before her. She reached out, her hand brushing over the plate like a dragonfly skimming water, and took the shriveled grain bar, stuffing it into her mouth.

As expected, because it was too dry, she started coughing softly. Her mouth was glued together, and she needed water to wash it down.

Helpless, Landon could only fish out a water pouch from his bag and hand it to her before she could open her mouth to beg.

Then Landon looked at Hunter again.

Hunter used to be just a church sexton. The original director and priest was someone else, but judging by Hunter serving as acting director, it was likely that person had unfortunately perished.

Landon’s impression of Hunter remained among the older generation who had been quite strict with him as a child. The man had been healthy then, an energetic, aggressive old man.

Now he looked much more dispirited.

“Few people come to Whispering Town anymore… The young men we sent out haven’t returned either…”

Hunter leaned on the sofa and sat down with difficulty, his gaze fixed intently on Landon and Helentine.

He knew Landon. Two years ago, Landon had left Whispering Town, saying he was going to make it big in the city, and he had even swindled Liana out of some money.

Hunter had thought he wouldn’t come back, but now he had brought back a woman.

His gaze fell on Helentine again. This woman was well-nurtured, with fair skin and frivolous movements. She was probably some young lady from a wealthy family.

Money and power. What did Landon have to deserve her?

And what about Liana?

He had watched Landon and Liana grow up. Those two children were a good match, well-suited for each other. But ever since Landon left, Liana waited at the town entrance every day. He never came back.

The busybodies in town all said Landon was a heartless man who had run off with the money, probably spending it on women somewhere.

Liana didn’t get angry. She said that was fine, but every day she would look down the only road that led back.

So Hunter was angry.

“Can you tell me about the town’s situation? Where is the mayor?”

Landon didn’t read the suspicion and sigh in old Hunter’s eyes. His mind was full of things related to Liana.

“When I arrived, I went to the mayor’s house first. I only found one of Mrs. Ferti’s arms…”

Ferti was the mayor’s surname.

“An arm… So the madam was at home…”

Hunter murmured, then his whole body fell backward, sinking limply into the sofa.

“On the day of the earthquake, a group of heretics appeared in the east and snatched several children. The mayor took the guard team and went. I stayed in town with the priest to save people.”

“What does that have to do with Mrs. Ferti?”

Landon frowned. In his memory, the mayor doted on his wife immensely, to the point that even Liana, as his daughter, found it embarrassing.

“During the earthquake, there was no way to contact many people. The mayor was afraid there weren’t enough hands, so he didn’t go home to find his wife. He said she was smart and would take care of herself, then went east to fight the heretics.”

“And then?”

“The children were rescued, but the ground collapsed again. He couldn’t be pulled back.”

After that, the three fell into a long silence. Only Helentine kept chewing that tasteless grain bar.

Afterward, Landon asked about several acquaintances he remembered well, and found that a good number of them were missing. Only a scattered few younger playmates had escaped.

But those people had either died on the way to seek help or had never returned at all.

After all, even now, in Whispering Town, there were still some heretics whose whereabouts were unknown.

Landon and Helentine hadn’t run into them, but that was because the enemy knew to avoid their edge. They were like a pack of jackals, only launching an attack when they confirmed their opponent was weaker.

Once painful memories start, they are hard for anyone to digest. Landon wanted to ask more about Liana’s whereabouts, but Hunter no longer wanted to talk.

Hunter found a nun and ordered her to take Landon and Helentine to a room. Landon had no choice but to say goodbye to Hunter for now, leaving behind the jerky, military rations, and water from his backpack.

On the way, Landon passed the monastery and saw the remaining people of Whispering Town gathered together. The church used for worship had instead become a place to rest.

Whispering Town originally had over seven hundred people. The recorded death toll was over two hundred, but those remaining here were far fewer than a hundred.

Where were the others? Only the old, weak, women, and children were left!

If he hadn’t brought Helentine, Landon might have carried more food, and wouldn’t have hesitated between his own rations and those hungry mouths.

Unable to tell whose faces those dirty ones were from his memory, Landon followed the thin nun to the first floor of the monastery.

The room was the one Landon had used as a child. There was only one bed and one table. The things from his memory were still there, but Landon had no time to care.

The nun said this room had been used by Hunter after the earthquake. Since Landon had come, Hunter decided to move to the study.

She also brought fresh sheets to change them, with a kind of panic that feared Landon and Helentine would abandon this place.

After checking equipment, organizing information, and counting the rations in his backpack, it was already evening. Landon went to find Hunter again and asked what help was needed.

Landon made a to-do list and gave away two-thirds of the rations before finally returning to the room.

Helentine was already curled up on the bed. She turned a blind eye to the disaster and hardship here, and Landon was long used to it.

He planned to sleep early and tomorrow look for clean water nearby, and see if he could clear a road for vehicles to pass.

At the very least, he should send some of the wounded here to a place where they could be treated.

But just as Landon pulled out his sleeping bag to rest, a figure suddenly flashed outside the window.

This was the first floor, so it wasn’t surprising for someone to pass by. But the problem was that the window of Landon’s childhood room didn’t face a place where people would stroll by.

And the strangest thing was that the person’s height was only a little above the windowsill. That meant either a child, or someone crouching.

Or else it was the nun in the wheelchair he had met today.

Landon immediately vaulted out the window, and sure enough, he spotted the nun in the wheelchair. After being discovered, she hurriedly turned the wheels, trying to flee from Landon, but in her haste she fell heavily to the ground.

“Are you okay?”

Landon rushed to her in one stride, but was stopped by her scream:

“No! Don’t come! Don’t come near me!”

Landon froze. His breath caught in his throat, his heart clenched tight in his chest, his body went stiff, and his gaze fixed on the girl.

Because this was clearly Liana’s voice.

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