Chapter 623 - 620: The Essence of Vibration

Chapter 623: Chapter 620: The Essence of Vibration

’If a thing’s vitality comes from vibration, then eliminating that vibration would mean its utter death.’

Mo Ling focused his attention once more on a distant Feeding Bird of Prey.

As he imagined the vibrations on the Feeding Bird of Prey vanishing, a massive, cube-shaped void suddenly appeared and completely devoured it.

’The vibration is really gone...’

There was no more vibration, no more sound. It was utterly silent.

Mo Ling was stunned. He had never heard of an ear fly with the ability to make vibrations disappear.

If they had this power, the ear flies would have defeated the flocks of Feeding Birds of Prey and reclaimed their home long ago...

’Is it because of me?’

Doubts about his own identity once again flooded his mind.

However, the current situation didn’t give Mo Ling time to think. More and more Feeding Birds of Prey were flying in from the sea, spreading throughout the cavern and hunting the creatures within.

The echoes formed an image in Mo Ling’s mind.

The world of sound, made manifest, was suffering a massacre at the hands of the Feeding Birds of Prey.

Now understanding his special ability, Mo Ling no longer hesitated and focused his attention on the Feeding Birds of Prey.

’Whether strong or weak, once its vibration is gone, it becomes a dead thing.’

The cavern grew even noisier. The Feeding Birds of Prey flapped their wings relentlessly, using their sharp talons to chip away at the rock walls, fighting and scrambling amongst themselves as they dove for the same prey.

To Mo Ling’s senses, all these sounds were nothing but noise.

’Stop the noise, and it will all be over.’

The moment this thought appeared, the sounds stopped dead.

The Feeding Birds of Prey in mid-flight were suddenly and inexplicably shorn of their wings. Those chipping at the rock walls abruptly lost their talons. And those fighting over prey simply vanished, as if they had never existed at all...

Silence.

In a single instant, the cavern became utterly silent. The gentle sound of dripping water once again became dominant.

This was followed by countless piercing shrieks. The Feeding Birds of Prey that had lost body parts let out pained cries, but before long, their heads vanished as well, and they could no longer make any noise.

’So quiet...’

’So, the world isn’t actually noisy.’

Mo Ling remained quietly in his world of sound, listening as his surroundings gradually fell silent.

’The weak, the strong... they’ve all fallen silent.’

A long-lost sense of peace washed over Mo Ling.

The despair he had just felt for the world dissipated. The Feeding Birds of Prey, the thunderstorms, the earthquakes—none of them seemed so terrifying anymore...

An unprecedented sense of security filled Mo Ling’s heart.

But on the surface of the sea connected to the cavern, Feeding Birds of Prey were still emerging. Mo Ling’s peace did not last long before it was once again shattered by their cries.

’So noisy.’

The noisy Feeding Birds of Prey were once again decapitated, their bodies plummeting onto the surface of the sea.

’If only I could block the entrance from the sea...’

As he was thinking, a huge pile of severed limbs and fragments suddenly materialized above the water, crashing down and completely sealing the relatively small opening to the sea.

Mo Ling recognized them immediately. These were the "vibrations" that had just vanished.

They had returned, but in a different form.

Like the sand and gravel the ear flies used to seal their tunnels, these mangled remains completely blocked the cavern passage above the water. Pulled down by gravity, they prevented the Feeding Birds of Prey below from getting through.

They tried to gnaw at this food that had fallen from above, hoping to carve a path through, but the sound of their gnawing reached Mo Ling’s ears.

And so, they too became part of the mangled debris...

And so, Mo Ling clung quietly to the cavern wall, listening as the sounds from beneath the water’s surface dwindled, until there was no more noise.

The mangled remains at the cavern’s entrance had now completely sealed the entire passage. The space below the water was also stuffed with a thick layer of fragments, the flesh and blood compressed so tightly it was as hard as rock.

Wings, heads, talons... all of them were body parts from the Feeding Birds of Prey.

These parts, which had once emitted powerful vibrations, had now become mere material to plug a hole.

Mo Ling’s mind was still a sea of tranquility. He was completely immersed in the world of sound.

’Everything that can produce sound has its own fixed vibration, be it strong or weak.’

’But when deprived of that vibration, it becomes an indeterminable, dead thing.’

’A stone and a severed limb are both silent when not struck. In that moment, their state is uncertain.’

’Only when a "striker" personally strikes the stone and the limb, and based on the different sounds they produce, can one determine which is the stone and which is the limb. Only then is the state of the stone and the limb determined...’

’Therefore, it is not the essence of the object that determines the type of vibration.’

’It is the act of "striking" itself!’

Mo Ling was completely lost in a bizarre, kaleidoscopic world. Using that strange ability seemed to have elevated his thoughts to a peculiar plane, allowing him to observe the world from an uncanny perspective.

Stone, severed limbs, seawater... all were indeterminate. Only when his perception touched them was their state truly determined.

For instance, he wasn’t really in a cavern, but in a swirling, chaotic fog. Only when the buzzing sound he emitted touched the fog and bounced back was that fog determined to be a "cavern."

Only then was the stone determined to be "stone."

Only then were the severed limbs determined to be "severed limbs."

Only then was the seawater determined to be "seawater."

’Only then was I determined to be "me"!’

Just as Mo Ling was about to grasp the profound mystery of perception, his body received an unknown "strike" that knocked him straight back to reality.

"What are you doing?"

It was the survivor, who had approached Mo Ling without him noticing.

"You’re injured?" The survivor noticed the wound on Mo Ling.

"I..." Mo Ling began to explain, but the survivor cut him off. It quickly had a few other ear flies help carry Mo Ling back to the depths of the cavern where the Great Clan Leader was.

"We did it. The flock of Feeding Birds of Prey has been wiped out," the survivor told Mo Ling, sharing the good news.

"That’s good."

"Your wound..."

The survivor trailed off, pausing for a moment.

"What about my wound?" Mo Ling pressed.

"A scratch from a Feeding Bird of Prey’s talon... the wound will fester. You might..."

The survivor’s voice grew quieter and quieter, unable to bring itself to finish the sentence.

"It’s all right."

For some reason, in the face of death, Mo Ling felt not a shred of fear.

"Let me tell you what happened at the underwater entrance..."

Mo Ling slowly explained to the survivor and the surrounding ear flies why those Feeding Birds of Prey had been immune to their cries, and warned them to be cautious of it...

"This flock... it wasn’t all of the Feeding Birds of Prey, was it?" Mo Ling asked seriously.

"That’s right. The ones that came to the coast were only a small fraction. The main flock is still gathered at Heaven’s End Mountain," the survivor said, sounding dejected.

"But it’s a good start," Mo Ling said reassuringly. "At least we’ve won our first victory. One day, we’ll return to Heaven’s End Mountain and kill every last Feeding Bird of Prey."

"We will..." the survivor echoed, but its voice was still tinged with an undeniable sadness.

Despite their victory, the ear flies in the cavern couldn’t bring themselves to celebrate. Their resistance had come at a heavy cost.

"The Great Clan Leader... was sacrificed..."