[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-whispers-of-the-nether":3,"chapter-whispers-of-the-nether-whispers-of-the-nether-chapter-3":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Whispers of the Nether",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2233601,4233,"Chapter 3: Funeral","whispers-of-the-nether-chapter-3",3,"\u003Cp>Having settled his own final affairs, the detective on the bed closed his eyes; Xia De pressed his lips together, waited a moment, then freed his hand to test for breath and pulse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Dead?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could not believe the other had died so easily, and truly in barely ten minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before he could react further, a sudden black light flashed across the corpse's face. Xia De's heart tightened without reason; extreme terror instantly overwhelmed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when he came to his senses, the black light had scattered into the air and vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As this light disappeared from the corpse, the emaciated body, which looked as if it had starved to death, began to plump up at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if someone were inflating it from within, until it became a normal corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How is this considered normal? What exactly is happening now?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the room's silence, Xia De looked around uneasily; his unease stemmed not from being alone with a corpse, but from the unfamiliar environment. This world was not the world he knew; he had already glimpsed a corner of the truth of a world filled with mystery and danger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The woman's voice in his mind sounded again, as if reminding Xia De that this place was not for a \"human\":\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[You have contacted 'Whispers'.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What contact? What Whispers? Can you explain in detail?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the voice still offered no answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Whispers] was one of the \"Four Elements of Mystery\" the detective had just mentioned; clearly, the so-called [Relic] and [Whispers] were the truth behind his death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the suppressed and unknown truth left Xia De at a loss, looking at the corpse on the bed, he felt surprisingly little terror.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If all this were someone playing a joke, that would be wonderful.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, he hoped this was acting, yet his reason knew it could not be.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Standing by the bed in silence for a while, he quietly circled the four-poster bed to reach the window, carefully and calmly drawing open the heavy curtains; immediately, the faint morning sunlight filtered through the gray fog on the street and the window glass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This light seemed to temporarily dispel the unease in his heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is it morning now?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of the heavy fabric curtains, he had thought it was night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bang, bang, bang~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound of knocking suddenly rang out at this moment, startling Xia De; instinctively, he let go of the curtain, but immediately gripped it again and pulled it fully open. Squinting out the window, he saw that outside lay the street; having no time to examine the strange sights of the steam era shrouded in fog, he first looked down to confirm the knocker was a corpse carrier and that he could see the hearse, before turning to open the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Being able to know his exact time of death is why the contacted corpse carrier could arrive so precisely.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Speaking thus in his heart, he pushed open the bedroom door. Outside was the living room, likewise featuring gas pipes climbing the walls, seemingly from the steam era, along with hand-polished solid wood furniture and various piled-up documents and books bearing alphabetic script.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A small blackboard hung on the wall, accompanied by a very formal coffee table and a fabric sofa set, very much resembling the style of a detective agency.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The living room curtains were undrawn, allowing the dim morning light through the fog to stream in, casting slanted rays upon the floor before Xia De's feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within the light, dust motes drifted quietly, like eerie tiny creatures swimming; this sense of reality made Xia De's hair stand on end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlocking the cold bolt and security chain on the door, he faced a dark staircase spiraling downward directly opposite, while another door stood next door; in other words, this floor held only two residences, somewhat like the apartment buildings in Sherlock Holmes novels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finding no lamp, he could only wind his way down the dark, oppressive staircase, his heart seeming to tremble wildly with every step. In the dark environment, Xia De, whose thoughts were already scattering excessively, felt as though some terrible existence was spying on him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the second floor to the first, the staircase led directly to the foyer. On one side of the foyer, the passage connecting to the rest of the first floor was completely sealed off with wooden planks, as if sealed like a coffin, leaving only the foyer usable on the entire first floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This sight made the outsider, already somewhat nerve-racked, even more bewildered:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why seal off the first floor? What exactly is going on here?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Passing the shoe cabinet, he casually righted an overturned umbrella and glanced at the gas lamp on the wall above the cabinet; after carefully twisting it open, the light steadied his heart.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Taking a deep breath, he opened the front door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An elderly man in a silent black coat stood at the doorway, a badge of intertwined leaves hanging on his chest, while behind him loomed a gloomy sky and choking fog. The old man raised his eyes to look at Xia De, his voice low like leaves scraping against damp, cold ground:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Xia De Hamilton?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The language he used was consistent with that of the dead detective, both being the so-called Dralion tongue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia De nodded somewhat stiffly, gesturing for the seemingly numb old man to follow him upstairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, the old man signaled to the dejected middle-aged man behind him who was soothing the horses; the latter's expression was gloomy, much like the current weather.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three ascended the stairs together. Xia De, knowing not what to say, silently led them to the bedroom on the second floor bearing the doorplate \"Room 1\".\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Throughout the process, almost no one spoke; the old man and the middle-aged man both carried the scent of corpses. They first donned gloves to confirm that the detective's corpse on the bed was truly dead, then handed Xia De a document requiring his signature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a confirmation form entrusting the corpse to the City Public Cemetery Administration, bearing dual official seals from both the City Public Cemetery Administration and the City Funeral Committee at the bottom. At the very bottom was a prayer for the deceased, the translated meaning of which made the living Xia De feel extremely uncomfortable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While the old man and the middle-aged man examined the condition of the corpse, Xia De sat at the bedroom desk and picked up the cold steel pen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His mind was somewhat chaotic now, yet he realized he could understand what he heard and read, but could not write. Fortunately, the knowledge he had just received included not only the ability to speak but also to write. Translating his name into phonetically similar \"Human Northern Common Tongue Dralion,\" he intended to sign his name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the cold pages, the content held nothing noteworthy, essentially confirming the transfer of the corpse and that the funds commissioned for the funeral had been settled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But judging from another signature on the document belonging to the Committee Secretariat, names in this world resemble those of the West in my previous life, divided into three parts; formal documents require a middle name. The given name is 'Xia De,' the surname can follow 'Hamilton,' but the middle name...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chaotic and uneasy outsider temporarily did not know whether the deceased Mr. Hamilton had assigned a middle name to the body's original owner. But this was no time to rummage through the room; he must immediately devise a name to cope for now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Suellen.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That whispering voice sounded in his mind again, the murmur nearly making Xia De jump; the voice provided a single word, a word existing in both the ancient language used by the woman and the Northern Kingdom Common Tongue used by the detective, its meaning being [Silver Moon].\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I can use this as my middle name, but you must explain.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia De attempted to communicate again, his heart abnormally tense, and the woman's whispering voice indeed responded:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[This is fate, outsider; the Silver Moon is your fate. When you gather the Four Elements, push open the Gate of the Extraordinary, and gaze upon this terrifying world, the meaning will naturally reveal itself.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frowning slightly, Xia De suppressed the panic in his heart, thought for a moment, then forcefully signed his name:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia De Suellen Hamilton (Shade·Suellen·Hamilton).\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The corpse carriers did not ask Xia De for a death certificate or a cause-of-death report, nor did they intend to notify the police for an autopsy; it was as if the detective's death were as ordinary as the passing of a stray dog on the street.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After retrieving the \"Corpse Transfer Authorization Commission\" from Xia De, they gave him a receipt slip noting the grave location, then silently carried away the corpse of Mr. Hamilton, still clad in pajamas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia De escorted them to the doorway downstairs but did not step out himself; watching as the corpse was placed into the narrow coffin within the hearse, the coffin lined with brown cloth that looked as if stained with blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The middle-aged man drove the hearse, carrying the coffin and the old man, together deep into the thick fog far down the street.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Well then, farewell, Mr. Spyro Hamilton.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking silently thus, he closed the door; Xia De stood for a while in the dim light of the foyer, then ascended the gloomy staircase that had frightened him earlier. The outsider's steps were somewhat heavy, yet with no one else around, amidst the tension he felt an inexplicable sense of relief:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Simpler than I imagined; they did not inquire about Mr. Hamilton's cause of death, nor did they care whether I was truly Xia De Hamilton, and they didn't even ask for a tip for carrying the corpse... Detective Hamilton indeed had everything arranged.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The corpse departed with many secrets, leaving countless mysteries for Xia De, this despicable outsider who had occupied another's body. In truth, he still had many questions he wished to ask Mr. Hamilton, and countless doubts awaiting answers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the dead cannot return to life; he must accept the fact of the other's death and strive to establish himself in this world that appeared exceedingly askew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only good news was that the house on the second floor, formerly belonging to Mr. Spyro Hamilton, now belonged to Xia De; in an instant, in this otherworld resembling the mid-19th century Victorian era, he had become a homeowner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first floor was sealed off with wooden planks, the neighboring \"Room 2\" on the second floor was locked from the outside, and the staircase leading to the third floor was completely broken; therefore, in this empty house, only Xia De remained at this moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He returned to Room \"1\" on the second floor, carefully inspecting every corner of the unlit study, living room, washroom, and bedroom; only after confirming that no one truly lurked in those shadows did he exhale a long breath, sit on the living room sofa, and tilt his head with slight relief to gaze at the morning fog outside the window.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia De finally had time to organize the current situation:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I have transmigrated, inheriting a detective agency. The body's original owner might have had mental issues, trained by the former detective to help him complete a seemingly simple task after his death... Detective Spyro Hamilton had secrets; mysterious powers exist in this world, and both the detective's death and the voice in my head prove this. What I need is to gather the Four Elements; the detective's death has already allowed me to contact 'Whispers'...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rubbing his face, though worried, the current situation was at least not bad. Although Mr. Spyro Hamilton died suddenly, at least Xia De had gained a foothold in this new world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was enough to sustain his life, to investigate the secrets of this world, and perhaps to find a way home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia De was not one to take things as they came, but neither was he one to complain about everything; leaving his hometown inexplicably to come here was certainly unfortunate, yet for now, all he could do was accept it, live well here, and strive to live even better.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Besides, how could I be content with mediocrity when I can explore this world possessing the extraordinary, the mysteries of the steam era, those secret rites and spells...?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xia De sighed softly, and the woman's laughter rang out in his mind, as pleasant as a breeze blowing through a field of lavender.\u003C\u002Fp>",2098,"2026-06-18T07:21:54.551Z",1,"Qwen3.5 397B","62ab48943f9baa5f6f1e6e1e8ad53b5849d895cba3cc553a12c906c422b74094","whispers-of-the-nether-chapter-4","whispers-of-the-nether-chapter-2",8,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwhispers-of-the-nether-cover.jpg"]