On the stretch of ice within Lan Jin's line of sight, a crowd of people had already gathered, each one deep in a state of madness.
These "same kind" paced back and forth across the ice, colliding into one another, then letting out hoarse cries. Yet, despite the jostling, none of them attacked each other. It was not hard to guess that the insects inside their bodies must have some way of recognizing their own kind.
Which meant anyone without those insects would immediately become the top priority target.
The frenzied people cried out more and more often. Every time someone bumped into another, they would scream, and as soon as one person screamed, everyone nearby who heard it would join in.
If they had no prey to find, did that mean they stayed locked in this restless state all the time?
And if this anxiety lasted long enough, once they caught a whiff of someone different from themselves, would they go even more berserk than before?
Lan Jin didn't dare imagine such a scene. It was one thing to fight off one or two of them, even if they were strong. But if they came in an endless stream, no amount of stamina would keep them alive.
Of course, all of this was just her speculation. For all she knew, maybe this was simply the way mad people acted.
Afraid her watching might draw their attention, Lan Jin quietly retreated into the apartment, slowly sliding the balcony door shut and locking it. Seeing no reaction from the crowd below, she finally let out a breath.
But then, the walkie-talkie on the coffee table crackled to life.
Zzzzt.
The static noise made Lan Jin's heart jump. Normally, the walkie-talkie didn't sound very loud, but in the stillness of night, it felt amplified, as if broadcast through a loudspeaker. Down below, the frenzied people froze in unison, lifting their heads to search for the source of the sound.
Thankfully, whoever was on the other end must have noticed the disturbance and immediately cut the signal. After a round of roaring, the crowd went back to pacing as before.
Lan Jin exhaled slowly. Even such a small incident proved their hearing was extremely sharp. Maybe the man who showed up earlier hadn't just been drawn by Lao Gao's shouting. Perhaps he had heard their movements and followed the sound here.
Either way, it was a possibility.
The walkie-talkie stayed silent after that. She had no idea what the caller had wanted to say, but the quiet that followed was uncanny.
With the situation outside, there was no way Lan Jin could sleep. She set an electric heater beside her, hooked it up to the hand-crank generator, and sat by the balcony door, keeping watch on the outside.
She kept her vigil until dawn began to break. That was when she heard a gentle knock on the door.
"Sister Lan, Sister Lan, Sister Ling, Sister Ling."
It was Lao Gao's voice, kept low. Lan Jin padded softly to the door and slowly opened it. Lao Gao stood there, with Huang Jinghe right behind him. A moment later, Ling Jiang cracked open her own door as well.
Once they were all together, Lao Gao whispered, "The walkie-talkie last night, that was me. I wanted to warn you those things had gotten out of the houses, but I didn't know their hearing was so sharp. And it was too dark to see clearly. It wasn't until morning that I realized quite a few of them had gotten loose."
Lan Jin said, "I spent half the night by the door watching. Once they go into that frenzied state, they don't need electric shocks to return to normal. They come out of it on their own. But it never lasts long. Last night, one of them came to their senses and tried to run home for clothes, but before they could even get inside, they went mad again."
Lao Gao was surprised she had observed for so long, and even gathered such useful information. There had been no lights outside, and even moonlight was too dim to see clearly. How had she managed it?
Lan Jin pulled out a pair of night-vision goggles. "I watched through these. The view is almost the same as daylight. I started after midnight. Since then, each person woke up two or three times. Without outside interference, each frenzy lasts around two hours. But when they wake, it doesn't even last a full minute."
Lao Gao gave her a thumbs-up. Honestly, for her to even have something like that… It made him realize she must have a far deeper background than she let on. But they were not the kind of people to pry into another's secrets.
This time, Lao Gao's praise was genuine. "Sister Lan, you're amazing. I tried to watch last night too, but I couldn't see anything. So I put on headphones and listened to the radio instead. I heard something about all this.
The flour we bought in the markets is made from ground-up insects. But because insect powder isn't thick or filling like wheat flour, the sellers added a powdered plant to it. That way, it can be made into flatbread.
This plant only began growing after the climate went strange. It's a mutated species, and it keeps growing even in extreme cold. No matter when it was added, mixing these two mutated things together is what caused people to react this way.
The authorities are telling everyone that if you have other food, don't eat that flour. Also, try to make yourself as unnoticeable as possible. Because when these people are frenzied, they're incredibly strong, with sharp senses, and ordinary folks can't match them."
And that was it. No more useful details.
Ling Jiang frowned. "Most of that is stuff we already know. Anyone with a bit of sense could have guessed it. What about salt? Did the broadcast say salt could fix this? Or maybe some other kind of rescue?"
Lao Gao shook his head. "No solution mentioned. And as for rescue… how could they? Who knows if there's even anyone left out there who hasn't eaten the insect flour? Everyone's struggling to survive. It'd be normal if everyone's eaten it. If everyone's frenzied, even if the authorities want to save people, how could they?"
Lan Jin nodded. "I think they know the solution but can't act. Like you said, they can't save them. From what we've learned, the only fix is salt. But if this many people are frenzied, how much salt would it take to save them all? And how much salt do the authorities even have?"
Most of the salt they ate now came from wells, and extracting salt from wells…
That was simply impossible.
As for sea salt, given the current situation, there was no way to collect it. Which meant, with the majority of the population frenzied, there was no source that could provide enough salt to save them from the fire and water they were trapped in.