A steady, forceful voice came through the radio: "Calm down. Crush the radio."
Ye Buyu sniffled and squeezed hard. It didn't break.
She looked down at the radio in her hand and burst into tears. "Made in Great Xia! You really didn't need to make it this sturdy at a time like this!"
She looked around, grabbed a nearby oar, and smashed it down on the radio several times before finally breaking it.
"Then what?"
Amid the chaotic tide of sobbing and shouting, a calm, rational voice cut through the noise behind Ye Buyu.
"Then leave it to us."
Vast waves of energy spread from the newcomer before Ye Buyu could even make out his face.
He leaped into the air like a streak of rainbow light, reaching the underside of the [Whale of Wailing] in the blink of an eye. Beneath its sky-blotting shadow, he became a solid mass of golden light and slammed into the [Whale of Wailing].
Above the River of Forgetfulness, the whale, formed from some unknown substance, was as enormous as an upside-down city. Its edges lay beyond the reach of the naked eye, and only its vague outline could be seen.
The golden light rising toward it was like a flying fish leaping from a boiling sea. Against the colossal creature overhead, it seemed hopelessly inadequate.
Then several more figures appeared, charging without hesitation toward the culprit behind the River of Forgetfulness's turmoil.
"It really is the [Whale of Wailing]. Wasn't it always asleep in the restricted zone?"
"No idea. I danced right in front of it before, and it didn't even twitch."
"The most harmless Calamity... bullshit! It stirred up the River of Forgetfulness the moment it appeared. I'll slap anyone who calls it harmless!"
More and more pillars of light rose, like golden threads linking together, overlapping and reinforcing one another.
Hundreds of figures turned into light and wove a vast net, illuminating the sunless River of Forgetfulness as it closed around the [Whale of Wailing].
Ye Buyu tilted her head back, the rising meteors reflected in her pupils.
The awe-inspiring light seemed to dispel that lingering sorrow. The turmoil in the River of Forgetfulness gradually subsided, but towering waves surged through Ye Buyu's heart.
By that brilliant light, she vaguely glimpsed the [Whale of Wailing] in its entirety. It was no fantastical creature, but the remains of something dead.
Its entire wrecked body was forged from steel. The jagged black edges along its back looked like hardened asphalt, or ancient city walls sealed away by time. As its body swayed, howling storms passed through those lifeless angles, producing a reverberating wail.
It was the floating wreckage of a dead world.
In an instant, soul-piercing sorrow swept through Ye Buyu's heart. Her pupils contracted, and a stabbing pain forced her eyes shut.
The pain made her temples throb. Her head felt so swollen and agonized that it threatened to drive her mad, and even her soul began to twist.
Ye Buyu felt something thick flowing from her eyes. Behind her closed eyelids, everything was scarlet.
Could souls bleed too?
The image that had pierced her heart and struck her soul refused to fade. The wailing grew clearer, like a vengeful ghost in the wilderness, drawing closer from somewhere unseen.
Ye Buyu was forced to open her eyes. The [Whale of Wailing] descended, and endless darkness flooded her vision.
She saw the heavens shatter and the earth split, the world collapse. In an instant, a flourishing world was swallowed by an all-engulfing tide. Souls drowned and twisted. Hands reached out, pleading for salvation, their wailing unending.
There was no shaking off those images, no escaping them. They bored into her ears and invaded her mind, until reason snapped completely and madness took hold.
Within that invisible, intangible terror, Ye Buyu's soul short-circuited, and she lost consciousness entirely.
She had no idea how much time passed before she regained consciousness.
In the silent room, Ye Buyu stared at the snow-white ceiling. Her crashed brain finally began to reboot, her jumbled thoughts tumbling for a long while before getting back on track.
Good news. I think I'm alive.
Ye Buyu slowly sat up, felt her arms, and stretched her legs. Once she confirmed that her physical body existed, she smiled in satisfaction.
"Thank goodness. I survived."
She got out of bed and surveyed her surroundings, her gaze passing over the advanced medical equipment. Walking to the window, she took a deep breath into the breeze, her face filled with the relief of having survived a catastrophe.
"It's so good to be alive."
A gentle breeze drifted through the window, sweeping away her exhaustion and tenderly lifting her silvery-white hair. The swaying strands slipped softly over her shoulders like scattered stars and fell across her chest.
Ye Buyu felt none of that tenderness. Her blood ran cold, and the smile gradually vanished from her face. Slowly, she lowered her head to look at her hair.
White. Shockingly white, impossibly white, whiter than anything she had ever seen!
"What the fuck?!"
Ye Buyu screamed and quickly pulled open the bathroom door. Bracing both hands against the edge of the sink, she stared at herself in the mirror with pomegranate-red eyes.
Her long silvery-white hair fell like silk woven from moonlight. Bewilderment showed in her ruby-like eyes. Their red was not a thick scarlet, but clear and translucent, like red cherries that could refract sunlight, vivid and bright.
Her snow-white lashes resembled fallen snow, softening the bold color of her eyes and making them all the more captivating, like works of art.
Like an elk lost in the woods, Ye Buyu helplessly raised a hand to pinch her cheek, then tugged at the ends of her hair, which gleamed with a cold light.
She wanted to cry, but no tears came.
"Oh, heavens, why did you change my character skin too?"
Before she could figure out what had happened, measured footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door.
Click.
The door to the hospital room opened. The first person to enter held a notebook and walked to the bedside without looking up, speaking to the stern-faced man behind her.
"According to Ferryman No. 477, the person in this bed is the one who witnessed the [Whale of Wailing] firsthand, and also the innocent victim caught up in the [Streetlamp] incident."
She flipped through the photographs in her notebook, her brows tightly furrowed. "For some unknown reason, though, both her hair and eye color changed after she returned from the River of Forgetfulness. Her black hair and black eyes became white hair and red eyes.
"I suspect it has something to do with her awakening. According to the previous records, Ye Buyu was an ordinary person and wasn't in the awakening class. Perhaps the trip to the River of Forgetfulness stimulated her soul. She has now awakened an ability called [Life Breath].
"But there's still one question. Even a fourth-tier ferryman couldn't resist the influence of the [Whale of Wailing]. How did she stay sane?"
Ye Buyu, who had somehow appeared beside the bed and was now standing with the two of them, shook her head and answered gravely:
"I don't know either."
The young woman giving the report abruptly looked up, and she and Ye Buyu stared at each other.
She glanced at the empty bed, then back at Ye Buyu standing before her.
"When did you wake up?!"
"Just now?" Ye Buyu tilted her head.
Her gaze passed over the young woman in front of her and settled on the man behind her, who carried himself like someone in charge.
"And you are?"
"Si Weijian." The man took out his identification. "An agent of the Social Security Bureau, assigned to investigate the [Whale of Wailing] incident."
Putting away his identification, the man gave her an approachable smile and pulled over a stool. "Don't be nervous. Have a seat. There are just a few things we'd like to ask you."
Ye Buyu sat down uneasily. "Well, this young lady pretty much covered everything just now. I don't really have anything to add. As for why I was able to stay lucid, I don't know either."
Before you continue