Hao Xuan had prepared himself for another wave of whispers but the moment he stepped through to the other side all of them stopped, all at once.
A deafening silence washed over him that brought with it both a feeling of calmness and an unknown dread that prickled at his subconscious. He couldn't see anything around him other than the handful of torches in the near distance but all the other senses became a lot more sensitive.
For some reason he could hear his own heartbeats much more clearly now. They felt bulkier in his chest, bigger somehow. He could feel the skin around his muscles becoming tighter as if it was not his own but a suit that he had outgrown. He placed his hand over his chest and felt the heavy thumping.
*Thump*
*Thump*
It sounded identical to a jackhammer being slammed against a mountain of meat.