One-Eyed Monster

”You don’t need to console me anymore,” Kadi, who had been upset for a while, gradually regained his calm.

”Er...” Igor didn’t know what to say.

”I’ve always longed to find the Moonflow Stream and Guru Guru there, so I’ve always been deeply moved by the song of the Moonflow Stream.”

Kadi slowly opened up. The shocks he had experienced lately weighed heavily on him, and he had a lot on his mind. Coincidentally, Igor’s recent discovery had contradicted his firmly held beliefs, giving him an intense urge to speak his mind.

”I’ve always felt that the stones, the waves, the stars... that they were truly summoning me. So, every time I heard the song, I would chase it for a very long way...”

”Unfortunately, you ran too far,” Igor said, cracking a smile. In his view, Kadi had fallen into someone’s trap, which was why he couldn’t find the real Moonflow Stream.

”Now that I think about it, you were right. Every time I followed that song, I always went astray,” Kadi said, recalling his previous frustrating experiences searching for the Moonflow Stream.

”I used to think I failed to find the Moonflow Stream because of other factors. For instance, I always believed that whenever I got close to it, something else would distract me.”

”That could be one reason. I think someone deliberately set things up to prevent us from finding the Moonflow Stream. As long as we can’t find it, we have no chance of finding Guru Guru...” Igor continued his analysis. His mind worked quickly, and he soon forgot Kadi’s earlier distress.

”It seems the monster leader of Guru Mountain doesn’t like to come out.”

”When I was very young, I heard he lived deep in the mountains. So many years have passed, and I still haven’t even seen him.”

”Living in seclusion... that monster leader is truly mysterious.” Igor’s eyes lit up, seeming to sparkle again.

”Exactly! I’ve always wanted to meet this monster leader and see what makes him so special. I just don’t get why Kevin and the others revere him so much.” Kadi’s mood had improved; his initial disbelief and denial had shifted to a sense of frustration over his repeated failures.

”I find something really strange,” Igor said, as if he had just remembered something.

”What’s strange?”

”The song of the Moonflow Stream!” Igor blurted out.

”What’s wrong with the song?” Kadi was puzzled. He realized Igor always managed to point out peculiar things, and these peculiarities often made Kadi overturn his own understanding and build a completely new one. I wonder what Igor has discovered this time.

”Didn’t you say before that the song of the Moonflow Stream is moonlight’s power? That the stream only sings after the moon rises?”

”Yes, that’s right!”

”So, does that mean you always searched for the Moonflow Stream at night?”

”Not at all! Who would go around asking... at night?”

”Then here’s the problem: how could you hear the Moonflow Stream’s song in broad daylight?”

”This...” Kadi instantly understood what Igor meant, and a chill ran down his spine.

Isn’t it obvious? Either I saw a ghost, or I was tricked again.

Kadi broke out in a cold sweat. Igor’s discovery was like a clap of thunder out of a clear sky, instantly jolting Kadi awake.

Was I really asleep all this time?

Why didn’t I realize any of this?

Why is it always Igor who helps me find the crucial elements? Could Igor truly be sent by Heaven to save me?

Kadi’s mind raced with countless thoughts. He even felt he had lived in vain, having failed to notice these problems for so long.

”I think,” Igor said, ”if you heard the Moonflow Stream’s song during all those failed attempts, it means there’s a nasty little fellow living in your ear.”

”What?” Kadi was hearing another astounding claim, one that threatened to shatter his previous understanding yet again.

”Your ear. If someone put a little fellow in there, he’d jump out and cause trouble every time you reached a critical moment, preventing you from accomplishing anything,” Igor replied without a second thought.

Although Kadi didn’t quite understand, considering Igor’s recent feats on Guru Mountain, he decided not to dwell on it. Even if I racked my brains, I wouldn’t figure it out anyway. It seems whether I think about it or not won’t make much difference, especially since I have no idea where to even begin thinking.

”This method should be considered an advanced trap,” Igor continued, looking at Kadi. ”It makes you subconsciously accept its arrangements. It seems the person who set this trap put a lot of effort into it.”

”What exactly is this ’fellow’ in my ear?”

”Hmm, how should I put it... It’s probably a type of Spirit Form. I only heard about it once when I was at the Yonder Travel Academy.”

”Oh... so it’s not a real, physical thing?”

”Not exactly. It’s a type of Spirit Form. It likely formed in your mind naturally because you’ve heard the song so many times. Then, hearing a similar sound activates this reflex.”

”That sounds so confusing,” Kadi said, still not understanding.

”Yes, I admit my explanation isn’t very smooth either. How about I summon the Spirit Book to explain it to you?” Igor suggested.

”No, no, no,” Kadi quickly waved his hands. ”The stuff that thing comes up with is even more long-winded and confusing! Your explanation is easier to understand than that.”

”This auditory trap is indeed more advanced than a visual one. It’s hard to find a way to break it.” Igor scratched his head. This was the first time he had encountered something like this, and he felt a little excited.

”First, we need to determine what factor triggers that little fellow in your ear to awaken.”

”Uh, what do you need me to do?”

”I’ll test things one by one in a moment. For now, don’t move. I’m worried about disrupting the process,” Igor said.

”How do you know so much, Igor!” Kadi exclaimed, his admiration growing again.

”Well...” Igor was a bit embarrassed by the compliment and, for a moment, didn’t know how to reply. Actually, I don’t know that much. It’s just a coincidence that the things I happen to know have all shown up here.

”Let’s not talk about that for now.” Igor scratched his head. ”We need to find the factor that awakens the little fellow in your ear.”

”Okay, I’ll listen to you.” Kadi’s reverence for Igor had risen to another level; he practically saw Igor as a deity now.

”Stones, stars, water splashes...” Igor murmured to himself. These trivial things were all mentioned in those two song verses. They might be the factors that awaken that thing in Kadi’s ear...