Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Odysseus was a hero from Greek mythology.

After the Trojan War ended, he sailed home. On the way, his ship passed through the Sirens’ waters, where he encountered the three Siren sisters.

He had his crew seal their ears with wax, then ordered them to tie him to the mast because he wanted to hear for himself just how enchanting a Siren’s song could be.

In the end, he was captivated by that sweet, beautiful singing. Like a madman, he demanded his crew untie him so he could swim over to the Sirens.

The crew couldn’t hear him. Only after they had rowed with all their might and gotten the ship out of those waters did they untie him.

And the eldest of the three Siren sisters was in love with Odysseus. When she saw that her song had failed to lure him in, she threw herself into the sea in shame and rage.

When I first read that story, I was struck by how bizarre and fantastical it was, but one question still lingered in my mind: how does a Siren drown herself by jumping into the sea?

I didn’t get it.

But if there really were Sirens here…

Then my advantage had arrived. I was deaf. Without my hearing aids, I couldn’t hear a damn thing.

What did a Siren singing have to do with me?

Those veterans reacted too. After reading the message and exchanging a few looks, they scattered, searching every corner of the ship for life-saving items.

Soon, someone found a pair of earplugs with a cry of delight.

For a while, everyone was in a frantic rush, rummaging around for items.

But that devastatingly handsome man suddenly collapsed to the floor with a thud. His face had turned bluish-purple, and he looked like he was in agony.

Everyone else was busy trying to save their own lives. No one paid him any attention.

After thinking it over, I still went up to check on him.

The man’s eyes were tightly shut, and his lips had been knocked bloody. There was a strange, eerie beauty to him.

Sensing someone approach, he forced his eyes open. His star-bright gaze was full of wariness.

I hesitated. “It looks like you’re allergic to something.”

His eyes darkened slightly. “The scent here is making me uncomfortable.”

The scent!

I looked around and found a stick of burning incense on the pedestal of a huge statue in the center of the hall.

The statue was of a beautiful Siren, but the Siren’s chest and abdomen were completely open, revealing a skeleton inside. The rest of the body, however, had been carved with flesh and blood.

In short, it was extremely weird.

I didn’t dare look at it for long. I put out the incense, then helped the man to a better-ventilated area.

He recovered and thanked me.

“My name is Huaichen. I owe you one. What’s your name?”

“I’m Song Ye. Let’s go look for earplugs. If we wait any longer, it might be too late.”

Huaichen and I joined the search for earplugs too.

But by sunset, we still hadn’t found any…

Lao San forcefully tallied up the earplugs in everyone’s possession, then discovered that among eighteen people, there were only ten pairs of earplugs.

Their faces darkened.

A few people started muttering among themselves.

Huaichen quietly repeated their words by my ear.

“They’re saying that only having ten pairs of earplugs isn’t right. They think there should be eleven pairs, because the life-saving items correspond to the number of survivors.”

“Right now, there are only ten life-saving items. That means eight people have to die.”

“But the survival period is seven days. Logically, one person should die each day. Now they’re not sure anymore. It feels like the situation is a bit complicated.”

His breath brushed past my ear without meaning to, and for some reason, my heart started beating faster.

Keeping my face blank, I pretended nothing had happened and whispered, “You can hear what they’re saying?”

Huaichen said, “I know a little lip-reading.”

Me: “…”

Impressive, Allergy Guy.