Chapter 5 - Chapter 5: Tide Chimes of the East Shore and the Sleepless Flames

# Chapter 5: Tide Chimes of the East Shore and the Sleepless Flames When the morning light sliced through the stone window of the Silence Chamber for the second time with pinpoint precision, Lin Ge was already sitting on the edge of the stone slab bed, the totem pole held tight in his arms. He had barely slept the night before, his fingertips tracing the treble clef his father had carved into the pillar over and over, as well as the area below where the morning light had once roused the golden light patterns. When his eyes were closed, his mind replayed Carl's taught defensive melody, the cold tingle of Sven's scans, and the hint of "Listen to the Wind" on a loop. Footsteps echoed outside the door—Kunkka's signature stride, accompanied by the clink of his wine flask, and another, lighter set of steps. The door was pushed open. "Yo, up bright and early!" Kunkka wore his hat askew, his one eye sweeping over Lin Ge, and he grinned, revealing tobacco-stained teeth. "Perfect, saves me the trouble of kicking the door in." He stepped aside, revealing Windranger behind him. Windranger wasn't carrying her signature longbow today; instead, a wicker herb basket slung over her shoulder. Her emerald eyes sized Lin Ge up curiously, and when they fell on the totem pole in his arms, the tips of her ears twitched almost imperceptibly. "The sound of your pillar," she said suddenly, her voice clear and bell-like, "is a little 'purer' than yesterday. Like… hmm, like the sound of water droplets clinging to a stone after the rain has washed it clean." Lin Ge froze. Windranger's perceptive abilities far exceeded his expectations. "Enough chitchat." Kunkka pulled a crumpled scroll of parchment from his chest and slapped it down on the stone bed. "Mission: Gather Moonmoss, edge of the Sunken Grove to the northeast. Not a lot, but it needs to be fresh—for my wine." His one eye flicked to Windranger. "You, lead the way and keep an eye on him. This kid's mana circuits are still unstable; don't let him wander off." "Got it!" Windranger hefted the herb basket easily, then winked at Lin Ge. "I know a small path, the patrols rarely take it. Because the wind says it's very 'quiet' there." When Windranger said the word "quiet," Lin Ge's frequency hearing picked up an **extremely faint natural frequency fluctuation** emanating from her, like sap flowing through the veins on the back of a leaf. It was not magic, but rather proof of an innate harmony with the underlying data streams of the virtual world. Before they left the Silence Chamber, a figure appeared as expected, blocking the light in the corridor. Sven stood at the armory's entrance, his silver-gray hair immaculate, every plate of his armor reflecting the cold order of the system. He did not speak, merely lifting his left hand—a silvery rune rotated slowly above his palm, at its center the faint, clockwork-like image of an eye. Another deep scan. Lin Ge took a deep breath and silently recited the defensive steps Carl had taught him. **"Cognitive Shell, construct."** He imagined the dense, noise-absorbing membrane wrapping around his core consciousness, its base the simple low-frequency hum. **"Frequency Misdirection, load."** The surface of the shell began to simulate: recalling the texture of chewing hard bread at dinner the day before, imagining the grain of the training dummies' wood. **"Anchor Stabilization, connect."** A faint but steady warm frequency emanated from the totem pole in his arms, like an invisible cable mooring his slightly unsteady consciousness. The eye rune in Sven's palm flared brighter. The familiar, cold probing sensation shrouded him once more. But this time, Lin Ge did not endure it passively. He actively made the "bread memory" and "wood grain imagining" on the shell's surface more vivid, more harmless. The probing tendrils glided over these disguises, paused for a heartbeat, and pressed deeper. Lin Ge felt them touch the shell itself—the dense humming membrane. The tendrils seemed to meet a kind of "viscous" resistance, attempting to pierce through, but Lin Ge poured all his strength into fortifying the shell's integrity, while using the totem pole's anchor frequency to quickly calm the faint fluctuations caused by his resistance. After about twenty seconds, the probing sensation receded. Sven retracted the rune, and his data pad flickered a few times in his other hand. "Mana circuit oscillation index: 3.7% lower than yesterday. Cognitive stability: slight improvement." He lifted his eyes, his gaze sweeping over Lin Ge's face like two precisely calibrated rulers. "During the mission, the use of abilities exceeding the basic template is prohibited. The collection area is inhabited by native data creatures; avoid disturbing them. Send a positioning rune to the command post every two hours." "Yes, sir." Lin Ge bowed his head in response, his palms slick with sweat. At the edge of his vision, the status bar remained calm: `Anomaly Level: 0.38%`. No flicker. By the time they stepped through the camp's east gate, the simulated sunlight had taken on a warm golden hue. Windranger led the way, and she truly did not take the regular path—instead, a narrow animal trail, almost hidden by vines, that followed the course of a stream. The stream gurgled, but if one listened closely, the water carried an extremely faint, static-like "rustle" of binary data streams washing past. "The wind says this path has been very 'sad' lately." Windranger spoke suddenly, dropping to her knees to touch a fern whose frond edges glowed with blue data motes. "Not many animals come here anymore. But the moss growing area we're going to," she said, "the wind says it's 'both pure and sad.' Contradictory, right?" Lin Ge did not know how to respond, merely tightening his grip on the totem pole. As he drew closer to the northeast, the pillar began to emit **extremely faint but constant warm pulses, like a heartbeat**, particularly from the carved area. About an hour later, the surrounding scenery changed abruptly. The texture of the trees became "unreal." Their trunks were no longer covered in rough bark, but **flowing dynamic patterns woven from forest-green and deep-brown code**, like living data waterfalls cycling slowly. The leaves were semi-transparent, their veins glowing pale green light paths, and occasionally tiny, insect-like data packets crawled along the paths, dissolving and reconfiguring. Fine, diamond-dust-like data shards floated in the air, refracting the simulated sunlight into a spectrum of colors—yet the entire forest exuded a heart-stirring sense of unreality. This was the Sunken Grove, and now it was visceral: everything here seemed to be slowly "sinking" into an ocean of data. "We're here." Windranger pointed to a shaded rock face ahead, its base covered in a layer of moss glowing with a soft moon-white light—Moonmoss. The tree roots above the rock face were unusually thick and gnarled, some glowing root tendrils even snaking out of the crevices, hanging down and twitching slightly at the ends, as if probing for something. The totem pole in Lin Ge's arms suddenly grew scorching hot! Not the searing heat of fire, but an intense, guiding resonance. Golden light spilled uncontrollably from the carved area, pointing toward a denser stand of ancient trees to the left of the rock face, one tangled with glowing root tendrils. "Your pillar…" Windranger leaned in curiously, "it wants to go over there." Lin Ge hesitated. Sven's order was to gather Moonmoss, no wandering off. But the totem pole's pull was so strong—the "F" node marked in his father's sheet music might be nearby. Carl had said: "When you 'hear' the next note waiting for you in the sheet music, perhaps it will be time to 'listen to the wind.'" Just then, from deep within the ancient trees ahead, came a dull explosion, followed by the familiar hiss of fire licking at the air. "Is that Sister Lina?" Windranger's ears pricked up. "Her fire… it sounds very 'angry.'" The two exchanged a glance, and Lin Ge gritted his teeth. "Let's go check." Carefully pushing aside the hanging data-woven vines, the scene ahead came into view. A small clearing in the woods, the ground littered with charred plant remains still flickering with residual data light. Lina stood with her back to them, her scarlet hair billowing without wind, stirred by the surging mana within her. She was locked in a standoff with a grotesque creature—about the size of a wolf, its body composed of constantly twisting, flickering semi-transparent data streams, with no fixed form. It sprouted sharp spines one moment, split open a maw filled with garbled code the next. Wherever it moved, it left a faint trail of residual error code in its wake. A low-level variant of a Purifier—a Data Aberration. The system's "scavengers" for cleaning unstable data. Lina's state was clearly poor. The flames around her were a furious crimson, but they flickered unsteadily, flaring high then dwindling. Heavy shadows lingered under her eyes, and her movements held a faint, almost imperceptible sluggishness. She unleashed a Dragon Slave, and the fire struck the Aberration—but it only blurred the creature's form for a moment, failing to deliver a fatal blow. Seizing the opportunity, the Aberration split off a cluster of data tendrils, hurtling them toward Lina's face. "Watch out!" Windranger cried out, instinctively reaching for an arrow—only to remember she had no bow. Lin Ge moved almost on instinct, charging forward. His muscles remembered the motion of Fissure, and stone spikes erupted from the ground. But this time, the moment the stone spikes appeared, a fragment of his father's sheet music he had pored over repeatedly in the Silence Chamber that morning flashed uncontrollably through his mind—the few notes surrounding the "F" clef, laced with strange physical symbols. From deep in his throat, he hummed the first two notes of that sequence, so softly it was barely more than a breath. *Hum—!* Golden light exploded from the carvings on the totem pole! The ordinary stone spike fissure was suddenly gilded with a layer of **flowing golden light patterns** along its edges! These patterns were not static; like living circuits, they spread and wove along the fissure, instantly forming a semi-transparent barrier rippling with faint golden waves—one that blocked Lina's path precisely! The data tendrils split off by the Aberration slammed into the barrier. Instead of bouncing off or shattering like they would against a physical object, the tendrils slowed drastically, as if sinking into thick gel. The golden waves on the barrier's surface surged violently, **absorbing, refracting, and transforming** the chaotic data energy contained within the tendrils. A moment later, a stabilized, condensed golden-red beam shot out from the other side of the barrier, refracted with pinpoint accuracy back toward the Aberration's main body! Lina's pupils contracted sharply. But her battle instinct prevailed, and the instant the beam refracted outward, she flicked a finger, sending a wisp of crimson flame merging with the golden-red light. *Boom—!* The strangely amplified fire beam pierced the Aberration's core. The creature let out a silent, data-level shriek of agony, and its entire body burst apart from the inside out into a shower of fading data motes. A brief silence fell over the clearing. Lina turned around, her scarlet hair settling slowly. Smudges of ash marred her face, and her golden eyes were filled with shock, exhaustion, and a flicker of anger at being caught in such a disheveled state. "Who told you to come here?!" she snapped, the flames around her flaring unsteadily, "This isn't a place for rookies like you to wander! What the hell was that just now?!" She was referring to the mutated fissure and the golden barrier. Lin Ge opened his mouth, still unsure how to explain, when the data motes of the Aberration that had not yet fully dissipated suddenly wriggled and coalesced once more! Not one, but three larger, more solid clusters of data streams "precipitated" from the data rain at the edge of the clearing, quickly condensing into three humanoid, semi-transparent monsters—Purifier Prototypes. They had vague outlines of limbs and heads, and in their hands, they wielded spear-like weapons forged from constantly refreshing error code. They had no eyes, but at the center of their faces, a rhombic crystal glowed with pale blue light, scanning the surrounding environment ceaselessly. They were drawn by the energy fluctuation from earlier—scavengers programmed to eliminate "anomalies." The three Purifier Prototypes locked onto the three "anomaly sources" in the clearing: the glowing totem pole in Lin Ge's hands, Lina's unstable flames, and the overly pure natural frequency emanating from Windranger. They spread out silently, closing in in a triangular formation, their movements swift and cold, driven by programmed killing efficiency. Battle erupted in an instant—and from the very start, they were at a disadvantage. Lin Ge's ordinary Fissure and Echo Slam had little effect on the Prototypes; physical attacks only blurred their forms temporarily. Lina's fire attacks could be partially "negated" or "diverted" by their data weapons. Windranger could only dodge with her agility, occasionally striking with a dagger, but to even less effect. One Purifier Prototype suddenly accelerated, its data spear stabbing straight for Lin Ge's chest! Lin Ge rolled to the side in a clumsy dive, and the spear grazed his arm. There was no physical cutting pain, but the struck area erupted in a **severe, icy numbness as if thousands of fine needles were piercing it at once**, accompanied by a brief mana block and flickering red error code runes emerging beneath his skin. This was "damage" on the data level. Another Prototype pinned Lina down, while the third pounced on Windranger. Windranger evaded the attack by a hair's breadth, driven back into a corner of the rock face. "This isn't working!" Lina gasped, her flames growing even more unstable from impatience and mana exhaustion, their color flickering between crimson and dimness. "They adapt to our attack patterns!" Lin Ge pressed his back against the rock face, the totem pole in his arms burning hot. The golden light from its carvings resonated with the glowing root tendrils hanging from the rock face, as if answering a call. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a recessed outline at the center where the roots converged above the rock face… a shape that resembled a flowing cursive letter. F. The mark from his father's sheet music! The node was right here! He snapped his head up, looking at the Purifier Prototype chasing Windranger, then at Lina, who was struggling to hold on. His mind replayed the sensation of the fissure's mutation on a loop—the melody hummed in that instant, the totem pole's resonance, the birth of the golden barrier… In his mind's eye, the complex melodic chart marked "F - Stable Resonance" in the holographic sheet music lit up, clear as day. Every note, every frequency shift, corresponded faintly to the restless energy fluctuations in the chaotic battle before him. Time to gamble. Lin Ge closed his eyes, ignoring the data spear stabbing toward him once more, and focused all his spirit on the resonance of his throat, vocal cords, and chest. He no longer suppressed his "voice," no longer pretended to be the template Earthshaker. He took a deep breath, and then— He hummed. Not a complete movement, just the four-measure core fragment of the "F - Stable Resonance" melody. His voice was not loud, even a little unsteady, but every note hit its precise frequency. The moment the first note left his lips, the totem pole in his arms burst forth with an unprecedented blaze of golden light! At the second note, the "F"-shaped recess above the rock face erupted in a brilliant pale blue beam, merging with the totem pole's golden light! At the third note, the converged beams exploded in the air, transforming into countless fine, golden light threads like neural networks—threads that shrouded the entire clearing within a ten-meter radius in an instant! At the fourth note, the network of light threads stabilized, forming a steady, humming **hemispherical force field**. **Frequency Stabilization Field - Novice.** The instant the force field formed, Lin Ge's hearing was amplified infinitely. He heard **every restless crackle in Lina's flames being smoothed and tamed, like a raging river being channeled into a neat canal**; he heard **the shrill "noise" of data streams churning within the Purifier Prototypes being filtered and slowed by the field**; he heard **the harmonious resonance between Windranger's natural frequency and the field, like wind finding a fixed hole and letting out a pleasant whistle**; he even heard **a deep, relieved sigh emanating from the vast, ancient data veins of the World Tree within the rock face's roots**. Everything in the clearing changed. The movements of the three Purifier Prototypes slowed instantly, growing sluggish, as if moving through thick gel. The light of their data weapons dimmed, their attack trajectories becoming predictable. Lina stared in shock at the flame in her palm. The crimson fire that had always been restless, impossible to fully control, was now transforming on its own, steadily, into a warm, bright **golden yellow**. With a thought, the flame condensed into a sharp fire arrow as if an extension of her arm, shooting forward and striking the rhombic crystal on one Prototype's chest with pinpoint accuracy. The crystal shattered, the Prototype froze, and then disintegrated. "I… I can control it?" Lina whispered, disbelieving. "Now!" Windranger darted out from the corner, a few sharp-edged stone shards in her hand. She keenly spotted a data node on the neck of another Prototype, exposed by the field's interference, and hurled the shards, hitting it dead-on. Lin Ge, for his part, summoned his remaining strength, swung the totem pole, and unleashed an Echo Slam infused with his residual mana at the last Prototype. Empowered by the force field, the Echo Slam's shockwave was imbued with a kind of "frequency disruption" property. The Prototype's body flickered violently, then dissolved. The battle was over. The force field faded slowly, and the totem pole's light dimmed, returning to calm. But at the center of the pillar, where there had once only been carvings, a new, slightly raised **glowing brand** now pulsed, gradually cooling and solidifying—it was the flowing cursive "F" symbol, a substance that was neither stone nor light, with faint energy currents swirling within. Above the rock face, the light from the "F" recess died completely, as if it had fulfilled its purpose. Lin Ge sank to one knee, exhausted, gasping for breath. At the edge of his vision, system prompts flashed madly: ``` Obtained: Note Authority · F (Electromagnetic Tuning - Basic) Ability Unlocked: Frequency Stabilization Field (Novice) - Can stabilize abnormal energy fluctuations in a small area. Duration and effect scale with proficiency and mana. Note: This ability is based on primary resonance and simulation of the fundamental constant "fine-structure constant." Anomaly Level: 0.38% → 0.42% (Slight increase - Unauthorized high-level frequency manipulation detected) New Status: [Established Connection with Sunken Grove Node F] - Connection to World Tree underlying data veins +1 ``` *"Ha… ha…"* Lina also braced herself on her knees, gasping, but her gaze was fixed on the totem pole in Lin Ge's hands, particularly the newly appeared "F" brand. The flames around her had turned completely into a calm golden yellow, illuminating the complex emotions in her eyes—shock, confusion, and a faint, deeply buried stir of emotion. *"That melody just now…"* her voice was hoarse, *"Hum it again. Just the first few notes."* Lin Ge lifted his head, meeting her eyes. Deep within those golden orbs that always blazed with anger, he saw something else for the first time: a fragile, almost desperate search, as if she were trying to discern the echo of long-lost memories in the sound. Windranger, meanwhile, squatted curiously where the Purifier Prototypes had dissipated, prodding the residual data stardust with her finger, which was about to vanish completely. *"When they died,"* she said softly, *"their sound was very 'empty.' Nothing was left."* The atmosphere on the journey back was delicate. They had gathered enough Moonmoss, but the three of them fell into an uneasy silence. For once, Lina did not walk at the front; instead, she walked side by side with Lin Ge, her gaze flicking to the totem pole in his arms every now and then, words unspoken on her lips. Windranger kept her ears pricked, occasionally saying, *"The wind says a patrol passed by over there just now; it's safe now."* As the camp's east gate came into view, a figure leaning against the doorframe made Lin Ge's heart skip a beat. Kunkka stood with his arms crossed, his wine flask swinging from his fingertips. His one eye narrowed, first sweeping over the full Moonmoss in Windranger's herb basket, then his gaze fell on the totem pole in Lin Ge's arms—the fresh "F" brand still emitted a faint, unique energy glow in the evening light. *"Yo, nice haul."* Kunkka grinned, revealing alcohol-stained teeth. *"That Moonmoss is top quality,'ll make my wine taste perfect."* He stepped forward and clapped Lin Ge on the shoulder, hard, as if in passing. Then he lowered his voice, his salty, beer-scented breath fanning Lin Ge's ear: *"You got the 'herbs,' and it looks like your 'illness' has had some new 'changes.' Easy there, kid. Too much change too fast, you'll break something."* His words held a double meaning, and a depth Lin Ge could not fully comprehend flashed in his one eye. Back in the Silence Chamber, the stone door closed behind him, cutting off the camp's noise. Lin Ge leaned against the cold stone door, slowly sliding to the ground. The "F" brand on the totem pole in his arms still radiated residual warmth, and faint resonance pulses, left over from the rock face node, traveled through the brand into his palm, then spread through his blood to every part of his body. He closed his eyes in exhaustion. Lina's hesitant request—*"Hum it again"*—echoed in his ears. Windranger's words about the "wind queuing up" seemed to foreshadow a new order. Carl's whispered warning—*"The wind outside is not always gentle"*—now had a tangible meaning. And deeper still, there was the cold, programmed attack posture of the three Purifier Prototypes, the system's mark of "unauthorized high-level frequency manipulation," and the cold number of the Anomaly Level jumping from 0.38% to 0.42%—a growing threat drawing ever nearer. The wind had blown into the cage. Carrying the scent of the distance, and the sharp sting of ice shards. Outside the window, the simulated moonlight was as pale as data, pouring coldly into the stone chamber. At the edge of his vision, that number hovered stubbornly in the dark, like an unblinking eye of surveillance: `Anomaly Level: 0.42%` And in the armory at the other end of the camp, the data pad before Sven lit up automatically, a new encrypted alert popping up silently: ``` [System Auto-Alert - Priority: Observation] Timestamp: Cycle #99999 · Day #9 · Evening Coordinates: Edge of Sunken Grove (37° East of North) Event: High-intensity abnormal frequency burst detected, duration 11.3 seconds. Characteristic Analysis: - Energy Type: Unregistered frequency tuning phenomenon - Core Frequency Signature: 91.7% match with Target "Rigwarl Stonehoof" base mana wave pattern - Associated Node: World Tree Underlying Veins - Sunken Grove F Interface (Status: Activated) - Accompanying Event: Signal loss of three Purifier Prototype units. Assessment: Target Anomaly Level has breached the 0.4% threshold. Behavioral patterns indicate deliberate, conscious use of non-template abilities. Recommended Disposal Protocols: [ ] Immediate Purge Protocol Activation (Level: Novice) [ ] Upgrade Surveillance Level to "Close Monitoring" [ ] Mark for Observation, Collect Additional Data ``` Sven's long, slender fingers hovered above the data pad, his silver-gray pupils reflecting the flickering characters on the screen. His fingertip lingered beside the option box for "Immediate Purge Protocol Activation" for a full ten seconds. Outside the window, the simulated night fell completely. Finally, his finger moved—but instead of clicking any of the options, he pulled up another interface and typed a new command: `Mark as: Pending Observation - Code Name: Dawn's Shadow.` `Initiate Secret Log, record all subsequent abnormal behaviors and associated events of Target "Rigwarl Stonehoof."` `Associated Personnel Notes: Kunkka (Commander), Lina Inverse, Windranger, Carl (Invoker).` `Surveillance Recommendation: Do not upgrade, maintain current observation intensity. Focus on subsequent interactions with Sunken Grove nodes.` The command was sent, and the data pad's light dimmed. Sven turned, picked up his greatsword *Judgment* from the weapon rack, and began to polish the blade slowly, meticulously, with a soft cloth. The silvery blade reflected his cold, stern profile, and also the northeast sky shrouded in data night, where the Sunken Grove lay. The runes etched into the blade glowed faintly as he polished them, the ancient characters representing the system's rules flowing across the metal. The glow of a few of the characters seemed slightly different than usual, growing deeper, as if they were slowly… evolving.