Chapter 100: The Weeping Source

No one around was speaking but it wasn’t truly quiet.

From the distant city district waves of sound and heat rolled in punctuated by occasional explosions and cries of alarm. All this drifted over creating a stark contrast with the oppressive silence blanketing the open space beneath the High Wall.

Lu Xin stood quietly taking in his surroundings.

Quietly… quietly…

And then he almost drifted off to sleep.

…

…

“Something must be wrong…”

Lu Xin thought silently. He was definitely a normal healthy ordinary person.

So he should definitely be able to feel whatever was affecting these people.

Just like before when he entered the Coffee Shop the waiter tried to pollute him. Later when he dealt with Pollution Source 072 he could also feel that fear. Even when handling the rose pollution he could feel the flower’s influence he just managed to resist it. That’s why Lu Xin decided to use this method to find the Pollution Source.

Lu Xin wasn’t just saying he was an ordinary person; he was constantly looking for evidence to prove it.

This situation was another chance to prove it…

But his legs were aching and he hadn’t felt a thing. The reason…

Lu Xin suddenly realized something opening his eyes and looking beside him.

His sister was squatting nearby looking up at him as if he were an idiot.

Lu Xin gripped his headset and whispered to his sister “Maybe it’s because you’re nearby affecting me. Can you leave me alone for a bit?”

Her look intensified as if confirming he was an idiot. “If I go aren’t you afraid someone will eat you?”

Lu Xin thought for a moment. “Don’t go too far though. If things look bad come help me right away…”

A hint of resentment flickered in his sister’s eyes.

Lu Xin could only give her a look that was partly pleading partly affectionate.

His sister said angrily “Then you have to make it up to me!”

Lu Xin frowned slightly. “I gave you all the chocolate I hid…”

She eyed him suspiciously. “You definitely hid some more.”

Lu Xin shook his head earnestly. “No I really gave you all of it.”

“Just chocolate isn’t enough!”

She seemed to believe him but wasn’t satisfied. After thinking for a moment a smug look appeared in her eyes. “I want a toy too.”

She gestured as she spoke. “A really big one! One that cries and screams… a living… toy!”

Lu Xin considered it seriously feeling he couldn’t just appease his sister this time. He nodded. “I’ll think about it!”

“Really?”

His sister tilted her head studying him for a moment.

“Really!”

Lu Xin said seriously “But you have to watch closely. The moment something’s wrong come quickly otherwise there’ll be no one left to buy you toys.”

His sister finally fell for Lu Xin’s reasoning nodding contentedly.

Then looking back every few steps she crept away into the distance quickly vanishing into the forest of weeping people.

…

…

Lu Xin let out a soft breath standing once more amidst the crowd.

He tried hard to empty his mind quietly sensing everything around him.

Now he could hear the night wind whistling overhead the cries from the distant city district the loud blare of broadcast warnings and even the slow sway of the waist-high weeds at his feet or the occasional pop of a seed pod.

Because he was surrounded by people all quietly weeping.

So Lu Xin could feel an immense heavy sadness blanketing the wasteland beneath the High Wall.

If this vast sorrow was an ocean he was a single drop slowly merging into it becoming one with it.

Then as he began to sink into this sorrow he suddenly heard…

…crying!

The faint thin weeping of a little boy.

The sound was incredibly fine and low almost inaudible unless listened for carefully slipping into his ears like a soft silken thread.

Upon hearing the cries Lu Xin even thought he saw a little boy huddled in a corner.

He was small and thin facing the wall weeping softly.

Afraid to make noise as if fearing he might disturb something he could only suppress his sobs crying cautiously.

The crying seemed to possess a kind of infectious power instantly stirring up endless waves of sadness within one’s heart.

It felt as if a dam had broken inside Lu Xin and an intense surge of sorrow flooded out.

In an instant he seemed to experience countless tortures.

Countless times he saw gleaming silver scalpels cutting into his body while he was fully conscious.

Countless times he sat vacant for entire days in a pitch-black room devoid of any light.

Countless friends appeared briefly by his side only to be dragged away.

Behind the glass wall behind him were countless adults with strange smiles observing him.

…

…

He feared loneliness feared the dark longed for someone to appear.

But he also knew that whenever someone did appear it was time for him to be hurt.

And so enveloped day after day by this fear and sorrow…

…he could only curl up in a corner by the wall weeping softly faintly afraid to make a sound.

…

…

“Ouch…”

Lu Xin suddenly opened his eyes and looked down to see his sister biting his thigh.

Seeing Lu Xin look at her his sister released his leg smiling rather eerily. “Brother you cried…”

Lu Xin reached up and wiped the corner of his eye; his fingertips came away damp.

“No!”

He shook his head took a deep breath and looked into the distance.

He knew what this pollution was now.

It was a pollution spread through sound. Hearing the crying turned you into one of the weepers.

This reminded him of the lone dead person discovered yesterday in the Mining Cave Community.

Special Pollution Source 072 Wang Chu.

…

…

“I’ve found traces of the pollution…”

He spoke into the channel his voice grave as he strode forward. “Get ready.”

Han Bing’s voice immediately tensed up on the channel. “What type?”

“It’s crying…”

Lu Xin explained quietly into the channel “A little boy’s crying. It’s very suppressed hard to detect. But anyone who hears it gets overwhelmed by intense sadness and experiences hallucinations. I suspect this is how all these people were affected.”

“My guess is the Pollution Source is a little boy hiding somewhere in the crowd…”

…

Han Bing replied “Understood. Reporting to the Investigation Team now.”

“Don’t let the Investigation Team come in yet…”

Lu Xin said softly pausing slightly before explaining “They might not be able to resist it.”

…

…

Upon hearing the crying Lu Xin already understood how this Pollution Source spread.

Because the pollution spread through this faint crying it was hard to detect with mental detection instruments.

Moreover the crying was extremely faint easily drowned out by the surrounding chaos in this turbulent city.

Even when the Investigation Team members came to investigate they wouldn’t dare go too deep into the crowd. Plus to prevent pollution they wore thick protective suits which muffled their hearing making their chances of finding this Pollution Source very slim.

And if they took off their helmets they’d be even more likely to be directly polluted by the crying and become ‘weepers’.

Step by step it was arranged so meticulously so cleverly.

Lu Xin felt this Pollution Source must have been deliberately designed by someone.