"Since you returned safely to Nuuk and said you wanted to put everything that happened during that expedition completely behind you, why did you join this mysterious cult?" Song Jia asked the question that troubled her most.
"Because the doctor and I both underestimated the effect that thing we saw down there had on us. Our lives were indeed peaceful for a while after we returned, but then we started having nightmares at night and inexplicable low fevers. The dreams were generally related to that Underground City. At first, we thought the sights we had witnessed had simply been too terrifying and left too deep an impression on us, which was why they kept recurring in our dreams. But later, we compared the dates and discovered that we had nightmares on almost exactly the same days, and the contents of those dreams were identical. That was when we realized something might have happened to us.
"But after that, we underwent medical examinations and nothing showed up. All our physical indicators were normal. Other than being somewhat listless from the nightmares, we were fine. We did not know whom to turn to for help. Ever since that expedition ended, we had lost contact with Mr. Taim. He seemed to have vanished into thin air. And considering what he had done to us, even if I had had a way to contact him, I would never have gone looking for him again.
"So I called that Chinese Couple. They told me they had not been troubled by similar nightmares. Since the expedition ended, both their physical and mental condition had been perfectly normal—better than ever.
"The doctor and I found that very strange. For a time, we suspected it was all just our imagination. But when we found the Old Seal they