Zhou Haimei nodded, sheathed her knife, and melted into the crowd.
The man who had lost his belongings was also in the crowd, winking at Xu An, signaling her not to be afraid.
Xu An wasn't particularly scared, just disdainful of the landlady's precise act of retaliation.
It was typical to drag someone down with you when facing death.
Under the coercion of the crowd, Xu An agreed to proceed with the landlady, but insisted on walking beside the victim, not with the landlady.
Seeing Xu An yield, everyone took a step back. The landlady reluctantly opened the iron chain hanging by the door.
The inn and the backyard were not directly connected; one had to go out the front door and circle around to the backyard.
After the woman unlocked the iron chain, many people became restless, attempting to seize the opportunity to escape.
However, men who had already set their sights on those girls spotted them and immediately grabbed the girls' hands.
"Don't leave, let's watch the excitement together."
The woman shook her head in terror, trying to struggle, but found she couldn't break free from the man's grip.
Xu An, struggling to protect herself, didn't witness this scene. She was being pushed forward by the crowd.
As she passed through a somewhat desolate courtyard, Xu An felt a wave of dizziness.
However, she observed that everyone else's reactions were normal.
Just as she was wondering if her heightened senses were allowing her to hear something others couldn't, Ze Yuan, who had been silent in the space for a long time, quickly spoke up, "Don't listen!"
Almost instinctively, Xu An covered her ears, but even that wasn't enough. Ze Yuan temporarily sealed her hearing.
She mentally asked, "What's wrong?"
Ze Yuan's tone was grave, "Something is calling. I don't know what it is, but it can confuse people's minds."
Speaking of this, Xu An suddenly remembered the butterfly she had long forgotten.
Ze Yuan, however, disapproved. "Let's observe the situation first. Don't release anything and make things worse."
Xu An agreed, primarily because she really didn't want to save these scumbags.
However, she noticed a few girls inside seemed to be under duress, being forced.
As they got closer, Xu An saw a deep well, and the shrill sound was emanating from it.
"Do you hear anything?"
"No, but my head hurts a bit. Did I not sleep well?"
"No, there really is a sound. Listen carefully."
Many people in the crowd were discussing the sound. Xu An could only judge the situation of those around her by their lip movements.
The man who lost his belongings was named Wang Mang, and he lived up to his name.
He stood behind Xu An and whispered, "I just went to blow something up. One of my brothers died. They told me they were going to check out this landlady's lair, and they asked a few of us to stay behind as cover. My eldest brother still hasn't returned."
Xu An nodded, acknowledging, and since they were allies, she decided to offer a timely reminder.
"Don't listen to the sound from that well."
The man was feeling incredibly agitated at the moment, and since he couldn't find an outlet for his distress, he felt miserable. Upon hearing Xu An's words,
He immediately pulled out two clumps of tattered cotton from his ragged clothes and, unnoticed by the crowd, secretly stuffed them into his ears.
As soon as he plugged his ears, he felt much better. The tense and impatient mood was dispelled, and his mind became much clearer.
Wang Mang seemed to notice that Xu An, like himself, had also plugged her ears, so he mouthed a "thank you."
"What is in that well?" Xu An asked Ze Yuan.
"It seems to be a fish. Have you heard of fairy tales?"
"The Little Mermaid?"
"The Siren. It's said their voices can bewitch passing travelers, driving them to madness, frenzy, and finally, to kill each other on the sea surface, devouring each other's remains."
Xu An: "........" Are you telling me ghost stories in broad daylight?
Ze Yuan's tone was like that of a little old man.
"Most sirens written by you humans are evil, wanting to eat humans, which is why they use beautiful singing to lure passing travelers on the shore or in the vast sea."
Ze Yuan became increasingly strange as he spoke.
"Why must it be beautiful female sirens luring, instead of a bunch of stinking fishermen?" Ze Yuan's tone grew more puzzled.
Xu An: ........
She felt the topic was drifting too far. "Let's get back to business. It can't be a siren in this well, can it?"
"Tsk, sirens wouldn't be here. I think the fish inside must be a mutant, possessing the same magic as a siren. Its voice can drive people mad, into a frenzy, and ultimately, to kill each other."
"Then why did so many people say they couldn't hear anything, yet still felt a headache?"
"Because your human hearing is limited. Just like beluga whales have their own specific frequencies, and so do bats."
"There are many sounds in nature that humans cannot hear. However, because of my presence, your senses have actually surpassed human limits. Therefore, before you even entered this courtyard, you could already hear the sound."
Xu An was speechless. "I really thank you!"
"Then how do I solve this?"
Ze Yuan said with some disdain, "Solving this fish is easy. Just pull it up. As long as you don't listen to its voice, there's no problem. But what you should worry about is not the fish, but the people around you. They're already starting to go mad."
As Ze Yuan's voice faded, Xu An felt a sharp jolt to her shoulder.
A slender man who had been standing next to Xu An suddenly had a hint of red in his eyes.
It was like his eyeballs were bloodshot from staying up for days, and his expression was frenzied.
He looked like a madman, with vacant eyes, and staggered towards Xu An.
Before the apocalypse, this well water was specifically dug by the landlady of this establishment.
This well connected directly to mountain springs. After the apocalypse began, many people suffered from a lack of water due to contamination.
But she wasn't worried at all because she knew this well was pure and drinkable. This allowed her to exchange a considerable amount of essential supplies in the early days of the apocalypse.
Just then, Xu An saw a crimson signal flare shoot up into the sky.
She knew Zhou Haimei had found the child.
Looking at the scene about to turn into an inferno, Xu An called out to Wang Mang, who had been following behind her.
"Did you see the landlady?"
Wang Mang, a former retired mercenary, could read lips and understood what Xu An was asking.
He shook his head and said, "No."
Xu An scanned the surroundings, realizing that the people here were beyond saving. She then led Wang Mang towards the direction of Zhou Haimei's signal flare.
Meanwhile, hidden behind a pile of discarded tiles, the landlady, her figure unclear, watched the scene of inferno unfolding before her, obscured by the thick fog.
She grinned, splitting her parched, torn lips in excitement.
"Now the rations for the future are secured!"