Chapter 100: Crying Little Boy

No one around spoke, but it wasn’t actually quiet.

From the direction of the distant city blocks, waves of sound and heat waves could still be heard, punctuated occasionally by explosions and shouts of alarm. All of this echoed from afar, creating a stark contrast with the oppressive, dead silence of this clearing beneath the High Wall.

Lu Xin stood quietly, sensing everything around him.

Quietly, quietly…

Then he nearly fell asleep.

…

“Something must be wrong…” Lu Xin thought silently. He definitely was a normal, healthy, ordinary person.

Therefore, the influence these people were feeling, he should definitely be able to sense too.

Like before, when he entered the café, the waiter had attempted to Contaminate him. Later, when he handled Source of Contamination 072, he had also been able to feel that Fear. Even when dealing with the rose Contamination, he had been able to sense the influence of that rose; he’d just been able to resist it. That was why Lu Xin had decided to use this method to find the Source of Contamination.

That he was an ordinary person wasn’t just something Lu Xin said idly; he had constantly sought evidence to prove it.

This current matter was also another attempt at proof…

It was just that his legs were getting sore and he still felt nothing. The reason must be…

Lu Xin suddenly realized something. He opened his eyes and looked beside him.

Little Sister was squatting beside him, looking up at him. The look in her eyes was as if she were looking at an idiot.

Lu Xin pressed his earpiece, whispering to Little Sister: “It might be because you’re beside me, affecting me. Leave me alone for a while.”

Little Sister looked at him even more like he was an idiot: “If I leave, aren’t you afraid of being eaten?”

Lu Xin thought for a moment and said, “But don’t go too far. If anything seems off, quickly come back to help me…”

Little Sister’s eyes immediately became a bit resentful.

Lu Xin had no choice but to give Little Sister a look that was both placating and affectionate.

Little Sister said angrily: “Then you have to compensate me!”

Lu Xin furrowed his brow: “I already gave you all the Chocolate I hid…”

Little Sister looked at him suspiciously: “You must have hidden some more.”

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

“Just candy isn’t enough!”

Little Sister believed him, but wasn’t satisfied. She thought for a moment, a hint of glee appearing in her eyes: “I want a Toy.”

She gestured while speaking: “A huge one, one that cries, one that screams, a living… Toy!”

Lu Xin seriously considered this and felt now was not the time to humor Little Sister further. So he nodded: “I’ll think about it!”

“Really?”

Little Sister tilted her head, scrutinizing him for a while.

“Really!”

Lu Xin said seriously: “But you have to stay sharp. If anything seems off, come here immediately. Otherwise, no one will buy you that Toy.”

Little Sister was finally persuaded. She nodded, satisfied.

Then, looking back every few steps, she quietly crawled away and soon vanished among the forest of weeping figures.

…

Lu Xin let out a soft sigh and stood once more within the crowd.

Straining to empty his mind, he quietly sensed everything around him.

At this moment, he could hear the night wind whistling overhead, the cries and wails drifting from the distant city blocks, the blaring broadcasted warnings, the slow swaying of the waist-high Wasteland Grass at his feet, and even the occasional soft pop of a grass seed bursting open.

Because the place was crowded, and crowded with people quietly weeping.

Lu Xin could sense it: an immense, heavy sadness enveloping this wasteland beneath the High Wall.

If this vast sadness was an ocean, he was a drop of water, slowly merging into it, becoming part of it.

And just as he began sinking into this Emotion, he suddenly heard…

… crying!

A faint, wispy cry of a little boy.

The crying was extremely thin and faint, almost inaudible if one didn’t listen carefully, like soft threads weaving into his ears.

Upon hearing the cry, Lu Xin almost seemed to see a small boy crouched in a corner.

His body was thin and small. He faced the wall, weeping softly.

He dared not cry loudly, seemingly afraid of disturbing something, so he stifled his voice, shedding tears cautiously.

The weeping seemed infectious, instantly stirring up boundless sorrow within one’s heart.

Within Lu Xin’s heart, a breach seemed to open, allowing a fierce wave of sadness to surge out.

He felt as if he had endured countless torments in an instant.

Countless times, he appeared to see shining silver surgical tools making incisions into his own body while he was conscious.

Countless times, he spent entire days sitting blankly in pitch-black rooms devoid of any light.

Near him, countless friends appeared fleetingly only to be dragged away.

Behind the glass wall behind him, numerous adults observed him with strange, unnerving smiles.

…

Afraid of loneliness, terrified of darkness, he yearned for someone to appear.

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

Thus, perpetually shrouded in this fear and sorrow,

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

…

“Aiyo…”

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

Seeing Lu Xin look at her, Little Sister released her bite and smiled weirdly, “Big Brother, you were crying…”

Lu Xin reached up, wiped the corner of his eye, and felt moisture on his fingertips.

“No, I wasn’t!”

He shook his head, then took a deep breath and gazed into the distance.

He now understood the nature of this contamination.

It was a form of contamination spreading through sound; hearing this crying meant becoming a weeper.

This reminded him of the lone victim discovered yesterday in the Kuanggong Residential Area.

Special Contamination Source No. 072, Wang Chu.

…

“I’ve identified traces of the contamination…”

He said into the comm channel while striding forward, his voice grave. “Prepare yourselves.”

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

“It’s crying…”

Lu Xin said quietly into the comm. “The crying of a little boy. Very suppressed, hard to detect. But just hearing that weeping traps you in overwhelming sadness and causes hallucinations. I suspect this is how those people were affected.”

“I estimate the Source of Contamination is likely a little boy hiding among the crowd…”

“…”

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

“Don’t let the Investigation Team enter yet…”

Lu Xin said softly, pausing briefly before explaining. “They likely wouldn’t be able to resist it.”

…

Hearing the crying, Lu Xin had already discerned this contamination’s transmission method.

Because the Contamination spreads through this faint weeping, it’s hard to detect with a Spirit Detector.

Furthermore, the crying is extremely faint, easily drowned out by the surrounding Chaos in this chaotic city.

Even members of the Investigation Team, conducting their search, avoid going deep into crowds. To prevent Contamination, they wear thick Protective Suits which impair their hearing. Consequently, their ability to discover this Source of Contamination is slim.

And if they remove their helmets, they become far more susceptible to being contaminated by the crying, turning into a “weeper.”

Step by step, arranged with such precision and cunning.

Lu Xin felt that this Source of Contamination had likely been meticulously designed.