第13章

“Some say,” 老伯 whispered, “that the lost tablet and the 神木 were not just protecting the town, but also sealing something away. And now, after so many years, maybe the seal is weakening… or broken.”

Broken seal? What was sealed away? The shadows in the forest? The black tower in my dreams?

I started to experience not just visual and auditory hallucinations, but also somatic ones. I would feel an icy touch on my skin, a prickling sensation on the back of my neck, as if something was standing right behind me. Sometimes, I would feel a heavy weight on my chest, making it hard to breathe.

My sleep became almost non-existent. Every time I closed my eyes, the black tower stood before me, closer and closer, and the whispers turned into a deafening roar, filled with malice and alien sounds.

I was losing my grip on reality. Was I going insane? Or was all this real?

My fellow project members were also suffering. Fear, suspicion, and paranoia were spreading like a plague among us. Arguments broke out over dwindling resources. Some became withdrawn and silent, others became irritable and aggressive. One of them, a young researcher, finally snapped. He started raving about being watched, about the walls closing in. He ran out into the night, screaming, and was never seen again.