Shrouded in Mystery

Inside Yan Shuangying's Safe House.

Once he had recovered, Yan Shuangying's conversation with Natasha began to flow more smoothly.

"Mr. Yan, you're saying you haven't seen any other living people besides me?"

Natasha found that claim strange.

No living people? Had he seen dead people, then?

Sitting directly across from her, Yan Shuangying leaned against his chair and sighed softly. His gaze was slightly unfocused, but his expression remained serious.

"Yes. You're the first human I've met whom I could communicate with," Yan Shuangying said earnestly.

"But... as far as I know, this village had a sizable population. Its last contact with the outside world was only six days ago, when someone went out to buy supplies for a shop." Natasha frowned.

"In that case, perhaps we're not in that village anymore?" Yan Shuangying stood, pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, then slowly settled back into his chair. "What do you think?"

Natasha shook her head.

Having only just arrived, she was still completely in the dark.

"I'm not sure, but if I could take a look at the buildings in this town, I should be able to tell."

Before coming here, Natasha had studied a detailed map of the village. If she could see the town's buildings firsthand, she could identify them.

Yan Shuangying looked at the hazy sun through the skylight.

"It's only noon. We can go out and have a look around."

Rumble-

A noise like heavy factory machinery running echoed through the fogbound fishing village. A breeze swept scraps of paper off the ground and sent them flying.

Beside a small house on the edge of town, Yan Shuangying stood with Natasha, covering their mouths and noses to minimize their exposure to the mist.

The door was slowly pushed open. Dust drifted down, making the air even murkier.

Yan Shuangying, wearing a long black leather coat, went in first.

His left hand stayed on the pistol at his waist as he kept a careful watch.

Natasha followed him with a pocket pistol in hand.

They scanned their surroundings.

"Nothing unusual."

Yan Shuangying stepped cautiously into a relatively spacious room.

"I don't really remember this house."

Natasha carefully recalled the photographs of the houses she had examined before coming.

"Mm." Yan Shuangying nodded. "Do we need to check a few more houses?"

"We should."

Without another word, Yan Shuangying secured the long black case on his back and headed outside.

The fishing village lay along the coast. It was neither prosperous nor deserted, with several thousand permanent residents spread across a few hundred households, and naturally several hundred houses.

Yan Shuangying made his way to another house with practiced ease and pulled a hand-drawn map from its chimney.

He casually handed the map to Natasha.

Just then-

"La~ la~ la~"

The eerie singing sounded outside the window again.

Yan Shuangying and Natasha reacted swiftly, ducking down and taking cover against the wall.

The singing slowly faded into the distance again.

"That singing?"

"I don't know. They're the other people I've seen. Perhaps they're dead," Yan Shuangying explained.

"Mm," Natasha answered, then began trying to make sense of the hand-drawn map.

It looked... more or less the same?

Natasha felt that the hand-drawn map resembled the maps she had studied before coming.

"Is there no way out?" Although she knew they couldn't leave, Natasha still asked.

Yan Shuangying shook his head. "No. The closer you get to the edge of town, the stranger and more intense the murmurs become. If you keep going, your head feels like it's going to split."

"If we want to solve this, we may still have to listen to that song!" Yan Shuangying led Natasha back to the Safe House and took out a battered radio.

He played the eerie little tune again.

Silence settled over the room.

Yan Shuangying managed well enough, keeping his expression under control.

The corners of Natasha's mouth began to twitch. She clenched both hands into fists, her expression shifting through a remarkable range.

After listening several times, she began to make sense of it.

It told the story of someone finding a statue.

The story of a deaf mother who prayed day and night, until she finally heard murmurs.

The key was-the statue.

"My mission this time was to investigate where the statues came from." Natasha looked at Yan Shuangying.

She vaguely remembered that when Yan Shuangying had saved her, he seemed to have used a statue.

Yan Shuangying thought for a while, hesitated, then slowly reached into a concealed pocket and took out a stone carving.

The stone carving was human-shaped, its hands seemingly clasped in a gesture of worship.

"May I take a look at it?"

After a moment's hesitation, Yan Shuangying handed her the stone carving.

The instant it touched her hand-

Cold-

Empty-

Still-

Holding the stone carving, Natasha felt as though she had lost the ability to control her own senses, passively perceiving the world around her.

Whispers seemed to sound beside her ears.

Cold and terror stood out above everything else.

Clack-

The stone carving fell to the floor.

Yan Shuangying picked it up as though nothing had happened, though his arm trembled slightly as he did.

"Mr. Yan, what's going on?"

"Exactly what you saw and felt." Yan Shuangying turned the stone carving in his hand, then put it away.

Recalling what she had just experienced, Natasha couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath.

"We can barely even examine this stone carving closely, let alone find any answers."

"It's getting late. Let's rest for now."

S.H.I.E.L.D.

Nick Fury's secret hideout.

"Still no response from Agent Romanoff?"

Nick Fury's face was expressionless, his voice echoing through the spacious office.

"No, sir. As of now, we've received no word from the team led by Romanoff, and none of its members have returned."

A woman dressed as a communications officer answered Nick Fury's question.

"Should we follow protocol and send support for Romanoff's team?"

"No."

Nick Fury turned and left the room.

Something had gone wrong.

Even an agent as outstanding as Natasha couldn't handle it.

Nick Fury sighed inwardly.

Specialized matters still required specialists.

Nick Fury left the base and got into his personal vehicle.

He headed for Old Man's Antique Shop.

The Antique Shop.

"Frank, Old Man wanted lizard saliva, not goat spit!" The short Old Man stood at the table, shouting at Frank.

"Yes, sir. I'll look for it right away." With no other choice, Frank began searching again.

Seeing that he couldn't continue, Old Man went back into his room to rest for a while.

"Demons and monsters, begone-"

A dark green flash suddenly struck a certain spot.

"Oh!"

A black man dressed in black stood up, clutching his head.

Old Man held the Dried Pufferfish. "Who are you? Want to try your luck against Old Man?"

The Dried Pufferfish flashed again.

"Wait." Nick Fury lost his composure.

"I'm Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D. I know Frank, and Coulson works under me."

"Frank!" Old Man remained on his guard.

"Coming, sir... oh, Nick Fury. What are you doing here?"

"So you know him!" Old Man put away the Dried Pufferfish. "Then you two can talk. Make sure he pays for anything that got broken."

"Wait, Mr. Cheng," Nick Fury hurriedly called out. "I came specifically to see you today. Because of this."

Nick Fury took out several pictures. They clearly depicted the statues that had been discovered.