Chapter 15 Mysterious Whispers
At night, I also slept uneasily. There was a strange sound, continuously whispering in my ear, as if instigating me to do something, or trying to convey some information to me.
But when I tried to listen to what it was saying, I couldn’t hear anything, only indistinct mumbling, not forming complete sentences at all.
I tried hard to distinguish the whispers, but suddenly my hair stood on end. I felt as if countless pairs of eyes were staring at me in the void, or perhaps it was just one pair of eyes. Fear spread in my heart, gradually filling it.
“Parul! Parul!” A voice shouted in my ear, pulling me back from the abyss to reality. I suddenly woke up, and the murmuring whispers instantly disappeared. The gaze that was watching me from somewhere unknown, however, lingered for a long time.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t confirm where those gazes came from because my mind was in chaos, I felt dizzy, and my head was very heavy. My body was cold, and I had no strength at all. And I was very thirsty. This feeling seemed to indicate that my condition was worsening.
“Parul, are you alright? You were groaning just now… Hiss! So hot.” Jayad was beside me. When he touched me, he felt my body temperature rising abnormally.
He doesn’t know what a fever is, but I know very well that it’s a reaction of the immune system to kill the germs invading the body. I admit I took a gamble, but today, either you or the virus has to die.
“Water, water…” My consciousness was already somewhat blurred. I could only instinctively say the thing I needed most. As soon as Jayad heard this, he immediately went to the river and brought back a pot of water. Since there were no cups or spoons, he fed me water directly from the pot.
He first helped me up, then brought the pot’s rim to my mouth, and had to do it carefully so as not to spill any on me. Luckily, although I was feverish and dazed, I still had the instinct to drink water.
But as soon as a mouthful of water entered my mouth, I didn’t feel the sweet and refreshing plain water, but an indescribable strange taste. It was bitter, sour, salty, and even smelly. I immediately choked.
“Cough, cough, cough!” I coughed out quite a bit of water, but I had already swallowed more water into my stomach. It seemed my body instinctively needed to replenish fluids.
“Parul, are you alright?” Jayad took a torn cloth and helped wipe my face.
“Where did this water come from?” I immediately asked. The taste was very similar to the river water I had drunk in memory, but it was much worse.
“I’m sorry, I drank the previous water. The current water is… it’s just from the river.” Jayad said.
In other words, it was completely raw water, unpurified, polluted water, even worse than I remembered. I saw that the water in the pot was not clean and transparent, but had a layer of colorful grease floating on top.
But even such water, after drinking some, made me feel much better. At least I woke up and could think a little.
I looked at the cave entrance. The fire pit had not been extinguished. To keep the cave warm, Jayad would add small pieces of wood to the fire pit from time to time to keep the flame burning.
Not drinking water was definitely not an option, but now the night was even deeper, and it was too selfish to let Jayad venture out. The unknown gaze from before still made me feel uneasy, and I didn’t want to be alone.
So, I could only compromise myself. Anyway, I had already drunk it, so what’s the difference between drinking more or less?
“Boil another pot of water, I’ll need it later. Also, uh, bring back another bucket of water,” I said. Luckily, the cave owner had left more than one pot, as well as some broken buckets and rusty basins. I didn’t know where he had picked them up.
Jayad nimbly placed the pot on the fire pit and went to fetch a bucket of water. Then he looked at me with confusion. My aversion to river water was obvious, and since one pot was already boiling, what was the point of fetching another bucket?
“The rag you just used to wipe me with…” I hesitated before saying, looking at the torn cloth in Jayad’s hand. I really didn’t want to call this thing a rag. “Soak it in cold water, wring it out a bit, and put it on my forehead.”
Jayad found it strange why I wanted to do this, but he did as I asked without asking any questions, and placed the rag on my forehead.
The weather was so cold, and the river water was naturally icy. Instantly, a chill seeped into my forehead, making me much more awake. At least if I didn’t have to drink it, I wouldn’t have to worry too much about the water being polluted.
While waiting for the water to boil, we looked at each other in silence. Jayad sat, and I lay down. The atmosphere was a bit awkward. He broke the silence first: “I feel like Parul has really changed a lot since she got sick.”
I knew he must have suspected it long ago. The personality I showed was completely different from his younger sister’s. In fact, I hadn’t concealed anything, nor did I have the leisure to disguise myself.
I remained silent, neither confirming nor denying. Jayad continued, “I always feel like Parul knows some things she didn’t know before?”
“What do you mean?” This time I asked him back. It seemed Jayad’s train of thought was different from what I had imagined?
“You know not to light the fire pit in the room, you care about not drinking river water, and you put a wet cloth on your forehead when you’re sick. I’m wondering if some doctor told you something?” Jayad asked.
Wow, this child is so naive. He doesn’t seem to suspect that I might be impersonating his younger sister, but rather thinks I might have learned something from some mysterious person.
Is this a miraculous encounter type of plot development? Your sister has extraordinary talent and is taken a liking to by some white-bearded old man, who casually teaches her a few things, then irresponsibly says the burden of saving the world is on her, and then disappears?
If possible, I’d also like to have that kind of script. It would be better than staying in these slums, having no home, and having to drink sewage.
“When I was sick, I seemed to hear some whispering voices in my head, and then I inexplicably knew some of this knowledge,” I said, half-truthfully and half-falsely.
Unexpectedly, Jayad not only didn’t suspect me but asked excitedly, “Really? Can Parul really hear this knowledge? That’s great! Parul might become a doctor in the future!”
This time, it was my turn to be surprised and confused. “Um, you just believe me? You don’t think I’m bragging?”
“Yes! I’ve heard others say before that legendary doctors can hear sounds that ordinary people can’t, and they learn mysterious medical skills from those sounds,” Jayad said confidently.
No way? Did I get lucky by chance? Or maybe not. What kind of doctor can hear strange sounds? Even the voice in my head just now, I couldn’t hear it clearly at all.
“That’s great. If Parul becomes a doctor in the future, we won’t have to worry about money anymore. I heard doctors are very wealthy!” Jayad continued happily, even starting to look forward to the future.
