Before long, Bronya and Mei had already discussed and finalized the withdrawal plan.
When they arrived, Mei had already secured one end of the rope Shu was holding within the village. Now, they just needed to find that rope, follow it across the river, and return to the train.
It was a simple plan, but Shu frowned upon hearing the words "cross the river."
He felt something was off... Had he forgotten some common knowledge again?
Shu was extremely unconfident in his own judgment now, feeling all his thoughts might be wrong, that his common sense had been distorted.
Sighing, Shu said nothing, instead focusing his attention to continue listening.
However, such a simple withdrawal mission clearly didn't require such lengthy discussion. The main issue the two discussed was why this was happening to them, and exchanging information they each knew.
This couldn't have happened suddenly. There must be a medium of transmission, or some reason.
Under any circumstances, dosage and effect are proportional. Even the slightest difference makes a difference.
All of them exhibited such symptoms, yet the effects were completely different. Therefore, they needed to find the common element among the things each person had encountered.
Was it the candy and other items the old grandma gave?
No, none of them ate the candy... Only Shu and Kiana tried a tiny bit.
This indicated it wasn't ingestion. But regarding receiving and touching, Bronya took the most candy. Logically, Bronya should be the most severely affected, yet currently, Shu seemed the most severe.
Or did both play a role?
Then what about Kiana, who took and ate them?
Not the candy. Judging solely by Kiana eating the most of everything yet having average effects, the old grandma herself, her cooking, the candy she gave, etc., were not the cause.
Then what else could it be?
Bronya looked up towards the outside.
At this moment, the window outside was shrouded in hazy mist, turning into a vast expanse of white.
It was early morning, the sun having just risen not long ago. The warm sunlight caused the river mist and the water vapor in the sky to float low, forming this dense fog.
Wait... When did they start experiencing memory loss issues?
Bronya suddenly jolted awake, then began biting her thumbnail, starting to recall carefully.
Hope I don't forget... Hope I don't forget...
Was it this morning? No... Sister Mei just said that their silly companion Kiana had already mentioned forgetting things yesterday.
Then it was yesterday? Did it start right when they arrived here...
Tsk... Of all things, the memory of Kiana is missing...
"Shu," Bronya looked towards Shu, the only one here who still remembered the sequence of everyone, and asked, "Can you specifically describe the situation when Kiana said '[Is there some curse here that makes people forget things]'?"
Shu didn't respond until Bronya called him again and Kiana patted his shoulder. Only then did he abruptly look up.
"Me?" Shu asked puzzledly.
"Um, do you need to rest for a bit?" Mei looked worriedly at Shu's dazed expression.
"No need..." Shu let out a long sigh. "Just thinking about miscellaneous things... You want me to recount the situation then..."
Shu thought for a moment. "I remember at that time, I..."
Shu gestured twice, then pointed to his mouth, opened and closed it, representing "propose," "say."
"I... Bronya, you didn't launch the drone, and then Mei also..." Shu made this gesture again very naturally, as if he had been doing it like this for a long time.
"Mei also... forgot about it herself. Kiana and I were very surprised, then Kiana... this..."
Shu's gesture changed again, making a motion of holding something up in front of everyone with both hands.
This meant "thing," "concept"...
"She also..." Shu's gesture changed back. "...She forgot what she ate, forgot what she learned..."
The three watched Shu's nonchalant, even habitual gestures, listened to his stumbling words, and felt a pang of heartache.
This must be so hard... Yet Shu doesn't seem to notice his own changes at all...
Seeing their expressions, Shu lowered his hands and spoke hesitantly, "That's all... Is my way of speaking... very... [simple]?"
This was a word he had just learned. After all, based on everyone's description just now, didn't the word "simple" mean very "trash"?
He still knew what "trash" and "bad" meant!
"Is that all?" Bronya clenched her fists but forced herself to remain calm.
Now is not the time to spare thoughts to pity Shu... Must find a way to prevent this situation, leave here, and find the root cause of the illness!
"That's all. I hadn't experienced this kind of... back then." Shu silently recalled again, then affirmed while gesturing.
"Okay..." Bronya averted her gaze from Shu's still-raised hands, then closed her eyes and began analyzing rapidly.
At that time, all three showed symptoms... but Shu's were the mildest...
So, what had the three experienced that Shu hadn't?
...Was it because of that pig?
She remembered when they first entered the village, she and Mei... and maybe Kiana too, looked at that pig together.
But Shu didn't go look at the pig later... Could it be that all animals here have that effect?
No... Mei mentioned that yesterday Kiana curiously looked at all the animals... Then she should be the biggest victim...
Not the animals either...
...Not people...
...Not objects...
Objects? Fog? [Wu, Wu - similar pronunciation in Chinese]
The similar pronunciation suddenly made Bronya open her eyes. She looked at Shu, saw his damp hair. At this moment, it felt like something exploded in her mind.
"Fog!" Bronya exclaimed. The attention of the other three immediately gathered on her.
"What 'wu' (object)?" Kiana asked confusedly.
"It's the fog! The fog outside!" Bronya said. "The water on your head is condensed from the fog, right!"
Seeing Bronya staring at him, Shu touched the water in his hair.
A small part was soaked with sweat, but most of it was fog he had collected from staying outside all night and in the early morning...
Wait!
Shu suddenly thought of something.
[Shu shook his head, untying the rope from his wrist while saying, "I'm clueless too..." (lit. "I also have a head full of fog water")
Glancing at the trio's soaked hair, Shu, the only dry one, paused for a moment and rephrased...]
Back then, everyone had "a head full of fog water."
What about him?
He had applied a protective film to himself that isolated water vapor!
"It's the water!" he and Bronya exclaimed in unison.