Chapter 354: Signal or Illusion
Inside the quiet bedroom, cold sweat slid down Gu Jun’s forehead. The headache intensified as a voice drifted towards him through the darkness. It was staticky like it ca out from an old-fashioned radio. It was intermittent. It was a firm male Chinese voice and it uttered evenly, “If you can hear us... We are... innocent...” No matter how hard Gu Jun tried to focus, he could not hear anymore than that... It did not feel like soone was trying to converse with him. It was more like a transmission signal and he was the only one who could tune into it.
“If you can...” The pain reached Gu Jun’s threshold and the voice faded away. His eyes flew open and Gu Jun took gasping breaths. He was exposed to strange voices in his head many tis in the past, so ca from ntal intervention, while others were through the dium of spell or ritual but this ti, it felt very unique... His most direct impression was, it was so kind of broadcast signal. ‘But who’d broadcast sothing like this? What would be the purpose?’
Gu Jun dissected the single sentence.
For one, ‘if you can’ suggested that the other party considered the possibility Gu Jun could not hear him; the broadcast would not be picked up by anyone.
For two, ‘we’ ant an organization. And it was from within the country for the language used was Chinese.
For three, ‘innocent’ signified that the broadcaster wished to persuade the listeners that they were on the sa side as them. Considering the signal was received by Gu Jun, it was safe to assu that these people ddle in the supernatural as well. It was the only reason to warn the listeners of their stance. A normal radio channel would not preface their broadcast with such warning. Of course, this could very well be a trap for the listeners to think this way.
Gu Jun looked around him and saw shadows looking back at him. ‘Innocent?’ He had very serious doubts about that. Gu Jun was not sure he was the only recipient or not, but how many organizations within the country could accomplish sothing like this? It was beyond Phecda and even FBM. He and Dirty-minded Yu successfully transmitted pictures before but it was not even close to the level of sothing like this. If they were really innocent, with such powerful resources, why didn’t they show themselves after so many tragic incidents? Both FBM and GOA were public organizations now, they could be easily reached.
Gu Jun frowned as another possibility entered his mind. ‘Could it be a transmission from the future or the past? No, it does not feel like it... Or it’s from another dinsion like the Dreamlands? ...But then again, I probably shouldn’t think too much of it. It’s most likely the Afterlife Cult’s doing again... It does sound like their modus operandi. After all, they stressed that they were innocent and they only wanted to help usher in a new era.’
“Who are you?” Gu Jun stood up and asked the emptiness around him. He checked for ripples in the air. “Innocent? But innocence is subjective. Your moral compass might be different from ours.” He said as he moved around the room. He pulled out the drawers and opened the dressers. All the while, he maintained this one-sided conversation. “Are you the R’yleh Cult? I know so of you are still alive. The people from Afterlife Cult might have sacrificed themselves but you people are still out there, probably hiding in so mountains, trying to summon Cthulhu with that shaman of yours... Or you’re the Yellow Brotherhood.... Mr. Wang Erde, is that you? You’re not dead, are you?”
These thoughts gripped Gu Jun’s brain and squeezed on it. His heart skipped a beat as his muscle tensed. The symptoms angered him further. Now just the thought of the supernatural could weaken him to this state...
Then so scary images filtered into his mind. Cities crumbled into dust, Wu Siyu’s smiling head stuck on a pike... His heart was lacerated.
“Ah!” Gu Jun groaned from pain. He vented his frustration at the innocent wooden dresser. The dresser shuddered. He took a deep breath and tried to control his emotions... PTSD... He ultimately could not accept this condition. He was deprived of the ability to even protect the person he loved...
“If you can hear , listen carefully...” He slugged back to the bed. “No matter if you’re innocent or not, I’m already useless. There’s nothing you can get out of ...”
That very thought confused Gu Jun. ‘What is their goal? To push towards madness? Even though I’m already practically a benched player? Or... was the voice that I heard even real?’ Gu Jun used to be able to identify the authenticity of these voices easily but that ability had deserted him. Then again, this could be the uniqueness of the broadcast. It was extrely random, it had no trigger like Gu Jun’s other illusions. Or all of these were just syndros of his PTSD...
Gu Jun sat by the bed for a long ti before he broke into a bitter laugh. ‘Be thankful, it’s a miracle that you’re still alive. You should be dead from the brain tumor two years ago. You should be thankful for what you have today. I have left Phecda for just one day, it won’t be that easy to revert to normal life. This is common among veterans. Whether they suffer from PTSD or not, there will be an adjustnt period... I should heed the doctor’s orders and take my dicine and rest.’
Gu Jun persuaded himself that it was nothing more than his illusion—after all, research showed that 50 percent of PTSD victims suffer from acoasm. Regardless, he gave Elder Tong a call and reported the incident, “It could be soone or so organization broadcasting their signal. I worry this might be their new thod of recruitnt.” Elder Tong treated it seriously and quickly made an enquiry. The result showed that no one other than Gu Jun had reported sothing similar.
“Ah Jun, we will follow up on this and we will update you if there’s anything new.” Elder Tong said, “It’s getting late, you should be sleeping.”
It was almost dawn when Gu Jun ended the call. His head was still pulsing. He laid down in bed and took deep breaths. He forced himself to go to sleep.
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