His Name

Through testing, the think tank discovered that if they tried to have Xu Chen convey individual characters or words, the information would come out wrong.

If someone listed every character and word, Xu Chen's altered perception would immediately and mistakenly identify one of them as the one he wanted.

The change in perception seemed to be based on Xu Chen's own knowledge, and there was essentially no way around it. They could only request help from psychology experts.

As for Old Ge's research, his students would continue his work, but without someone to lead them, it was hard to say how well it would go.

Just as everyone was at a loss, Captain Chu received a call transferred to a landline.

He then brought a package and handed it to Xu Chen.

"Yang Tianyou sent this package. It's been inspected, and there's nothing dangerous inside. He also asked me to tell you to read the letter first."

Xu Chen was puzzled, but he nodded and took the package.

Sure enough, it contained a letter and a small object wrapped up tightly.

He took out the letter first and began to read.

"You know what you should know. Your anchor is secure, but others' are not. You need not fear being washed away, but others will be.

You have already seen those who were washed away. Their forms and bodies were destroyed, and they could neither live nor find death, all because they knew His name!

Those who learn His exalted name are noticed by Him; those who call upon His name are seen by Him.

Do not pass on His name. Do not pass on His name!

Enclosed with this letter is a jade pendant. Wearing it wards off evil and misfortune, and brings good luck in all things!"

Xu Chen frowned as he read. He had not met Dean Yang many times, but he had never known him to speak like this. Judging by the letter, Grandpa Yang also seemed to know what had happened here, and had even given him a jade pendant.

He picked up the tightly wrapped object.

Dean Yang seemed very afraid the jade pendant would be damaged. He had wrapped it in layer after layer of thin foam, then wound tape around it several times.

As it was now, Xu Chen could probably throw the package hard against the floor without damaging the pendant inside.

Xu Chen used a key to cut through the tape and opened the little package, revealing a jade pendant roughly shaped like a teardrop and about the size of an ornament.

He carefully picked it up and found that it did not seem to be made of fine jade. It let no light through, looking as though it had been carved from slightly green stone. It also seemed to have been handled over many years, and its surface was quite smooth.

He examined it closely. From the knowledge he had not yet forgotten, it seemed to be a Hongshan Culture jade pig-dragon-shaped jue. If it was genuine, then it was extremely old, and it might not even be a jade pendant. Its owner was certainly in some archaeological excavation pit now.

He just didn't know why Grandpa Yang had given it to him.

Xu Chen clicked his tongue. "A real antique..."

His voice cut off abruptly, and Xu Chen froze in disbelief.

Finally, he cleared his throat and said to the air, "Six, six, six."

The words came out smoothly, without a hitch.

Xu Chen scratched his head and soon realized that the jade jue in his hand might be responsible. After all, he had only touched the jade jue just now.

He tried putting the jade jue down. Sure enough, he could no longer make a sound.

Xu Chen hurriedly looked around and found a piece of binding cord. He picked it up, made a makeshift necklace with the jade jue, and hung it around his neck.

There was nothing else he could do. With limited materials, this would have to do for now.

Still somewhat puzzled, he picked up the letter and read it again. This time he studied it carefully and found that Grandpa Yang also seemed to think he wasn't afraid of being washed away. But what did being washed away mean?

The more Xu Chen thought about it, the more confused he became.

According to the letter, he had seen them before. Those who had been washed away would struggle to leave even an intact corpse behind, and if they wanted to die, they simply couldn't live... Had he really seen them?

Xu Chen suddenly started. He had thought of it.

Those who had been washed away were the humans infected by Aspergillus flavus, and that had also been the internship group Grandpa Yang had arranged.

The patients' bodies had rotted away, their flesh and skin hollowed out. The fungal mats growing on them had relentlessly plundered the nutrients from their tissues and cells. Their damaged bodies looked as though a predator had bitten chunks out of them, and no drug could stop the fungus from growing and spreading. There really had been no way to save them.

According to Grandpa Yang, their infection did not seem to have been a simple case of contagion. Had they merely learned one of Cthulhu's names?

Was Cthulhu spreading His name?

Xu Chen suddenly realized something was wrong. If Cthulhu wanted His name to spread, why had Xu Chen been hit with a silence? If the Cthulhu consciousness hadn't cast it, why had this happened to him?

Could there be a second supernatural entity?

Xu Chen stared blankly at the package he had opened, unable to figure out what was going on.

If Cthulhu was sufficiently chaotic and mad, He might have had a screw loose and cast the silence spell at random. That wasn't impossible.

Then Xu Chen realized that the silence spell seemed to have saved his life. After all, without it, he would probably have kept blurting out Cthulhu's name afterward. Not only would he have drawn Cthulhu over, he would also have been dancing right under His nose.

If Cthulhu hadn't cast the silence, it was hard to say whether it had been meant maliciously or kindly.

Xu Chen then called out loudly, bringing Captain Chu straight to him.

Captain Chu looked at Xu Chen in delight. "You can speak? It really works..."

"Cut the chatter. I need to write a letter. Bring me a couple of extra sheets of paper."

Captain Chu didn't fuss. He went out and quickly returned with writing paper and a pen.

Xu Chen tried writing a few words and found that he could indeed express himself clearly. Then he began writing swiftly.

The letter was for Dean Yang. After all, he had been able to escape that bizarre state entirely thanks to his jade jue. Xu Chen began with a greeting, then went straight to his questions: how had Dean Yang known what was happening here, where had the jade jue come from, why did it have this effect, and a whole series of other questions.

Then he had Captain Chu, his errand boy, deliver it for him.

After Captain Chu went out, Xu Chen locked the door behind him. He took the extra writing paper, spread it on the table, and wrote carefully.

He wrote the three characters for Cthulhu.

In an instant, Xu Chen saw the white writing paper turn deep black. Its surface was like the smooth skin of some kind of monster, one that could only have been born in darkness or water.

It was underwater, twisting, dark, writhing, crawling, prostrating itself, prostrating itself, prostrating itself, prostrating itself...

One of its own kind cut open its back with sharp nails and peeled off its skin.

By the time Xu Chen came to his senses, he found that he had somehow torn the sheet bearing the three characters for Cthulhu into fingernail-sized pieces.

Xu Chen was somewhat horrified, and all the hairs on his body stood on end.

He had only wanted to see whether there was a way to record it and convey it in writing. He hadn't expected to fall victim again, and this time what he saw was more abstract.

But the disturbance this time was small. He didn't know whether it was because there were too few people or for some other reason.

Xu Chen wanted to record His name using pinyin or an English word, but he found that he had a premonition: if he wrote it down, the result would still be the same.