Chapter 32: Human Skin Script (10): Crawling Companions

Night fell once again. The relentless rain, which had never stopped, seemed to grow even heavier. If not for the villa being situated on high ground, the ground floor would already be flooded.

The group finished exchanging what information they could and prepared to go their separate ways when Zhuo Heng couldn’t help but ask, “Can’t we all stay together? On the first night we were strangers and it wasn’t appropriate, but now we’re friends. Staying together makes sense, right?”

A moment of silence followed. The first to refuse was Su Qing. She shook her head and said cautiously, “My current state isn’t suitable for sharing a room.”

She badly wanted a corpse. She feared that once someone beside her fell asleep, she might do something irreversible.

If she really did that, she would become a second Lou Hao—her limbs would degenerate, she’d lose all ability to resist, and then someone would strip the skin from her body.

The script was pushing her along. She was already being assimilated. She also feared that if someone revealed an ugly side in front of her, she’d be seized by the urge to skin them.

Su Qing was quiet. Even while quietly following the others, she never stopped thinking for herself. Though much couldn’t be said openly, she had already deduced the general picture from the available clues.

Their assigned roles were all deeply flawed people—polished on the surface but hiding something disgusting underneath.

Once fully assimilated by these roles, they would become Skinners. Once their hideous side was exposed, they would become helpless Skinned.

Was skinning someone a righteous act?

Of course not. So a Skinner would eventually become the next Skinned.

All the paths led to death.

That was why Wen Danning had said the only way out was to purge the Pollution Source and leave this place as quickly as possible. The longer they stayed, the more the script would push them toward the end.

Zhuo Heng clearly really didn’t want to be alone. After Su Qing refused, he immediately looked at Li Sha.

Li Sha had always come across as silent and aloof, but not entirely unapproachable. She was the oldest one here, and she saw Zhuo Heng somewhat like a younger brother.

Both she and Zhuo Heng were in decent mental states. If they shared a room, it was unlikely things would escalate to one of them killing the other.

Thinking this, she nodded in agreement.

Zhuo Heng was elated. “Awesome. Staying alone in a dark, cold, pitch-black room… even if nothing happens, I’d still be terrified. Two people together, we can just tough it out all night.”

He knew that the three from the Security Administration Bureau wouldn’t choose to huddle in a room with him. That bastard Zhou Cao had disappeared ages ago—probably in his own room—and Su Qing had already turned him down. So the only one he could keep company with was Li Sha.

From Zhuo Heng’s perspective, not causing trouble was the biggest help he could offer.

The professionals should handle the professional stuff.

The other three didn’t object, but Wen Danning warned, “Don’t think you can just skip sleeping and tough it out. Rest up and keep your mind sharp. Your mental state is the most important thing.”

“Oh, okay.” Zhuo Heng agreed, pulling out his phone for light. The battery was already almost dead, so in the end he picked up a candle from the table and lit it.

The others followed him upstairs.

Zhuo Heng took the room closest to the staircase. Li Sha went in with him. Further down the corridor, the second room belonged to Su Qing, and directly across was Zhou Cao’s.

Now only Xie Lincheng, Wen Danning, and Lou Hao remained in the second-floor hallway.

None of the three lit a candle or used any other light source. In the darkness, Xie Lincheng raised an eyebrow at Lou Hao and confirmed, “You really don’t need us to interfere with your matter? We’re colleagues. Don’t say we stood by and watched you die when the time comes.”

Wen Danning was also looking at him, her brow knitted with concern.

Lou Hao maintained his usual cool, stubborn attitude. “No need. I told you I have my own plan. Hmph, I’m not an idiot either.”

“Fine. You’re so tough. Look after yourself.” Xie Lincheng and Wen Danning continued walking forward. Their rooms were at the far end on the other side.

“Make a move now?” Wen Danning asked Xie Lincheng.

Xie Lincheng replied, “Let’s wait a bit. Let’s see if she comes out.”

In Lou Hao’s current condition, he could no longer help Xie Lincheng monitor changes in the Contamination Level. That task had naturally fallen to Wen Danning.

Wen Danning said, “It’s already a confirmed fact that the contamination level drops during the day and rises at night. I don’t understand the point of keeping an eye on it.”

Xie Lincheng said, “A rise is of course nothing worth watching. What I want to observe is a drop.”

“A drop?” Wen Danning looked surprised, then shook her head. “Impossible. Whether it’s Anomalies or the Pollution Source, they’re always more unrestrained at night than during the day.”

“Doesn’t matter. Just trying our luck. What if?” If Lou Hao hadn’t found an opportunity to escape from the Pollution Source’s past, then the more likely scenario was that the contamination level had dropped, allowing him to seize the chance.

Lou Hao claimed it was definitely because of Lu Ren. Did Lu Ren, as an Anomaly, have that kind of ability?

He tilted his head, looking toward the direction of Lu Ren’s room. They weren’t on the same corridor; with several walls in between, there was naturally nothing to see. Yet Xie Lincheng smiled.

He didn’t know what kind of existence Lu Ren really was, but trying to verify it on a whim was harmless.

Wen Danning didn’t understand his excitement, but it wasn’t a troublesome task, so she agreed nonchalantly. “You already have an idea about what the Pollution Source is, don’t you?”

Xie Lincheng exchanged a glance with her in the darkness and said unhurriedly, “Those contaminated become the same kind of existence as the Pollution Source.”

Wen Danning nodded. “Skinner or Skinned.”

Xie Lincheng continued, “From the script’s logic and Bai Luwei’s characteristics, it’s clear that when she was alive, she was human. After suffering a major blow and a mental breakdown, she entered the Inner World and became an Anomaly. Before becoming an Anomaly, she was the Skinned. After becoming an Anomaly and then breaking down further into a Pollution Source, she became the Skinner.”

Wen Danning said, “Following the script’s logic, she must have done evil to end up skinned. I hope you can dig out her true face.”

Xie Lincheng said, “The knife you aim at others ultimately turns back on yourself? Not a bad method.”

“Isn’t that exactly the mechanism of this round? What, you disagree?” Wen Danning asked.

“No. If I could see the Pollution Source’s true form, I think I’d try firing a shot first.”

“I don’t have a gun,” Wen Danning said calmly.

The guns were all specially made. The Security Administration Bureau couldn’t yet equip every member with one.

Xie Lincheng expressed understanding. “Then just grab a weapon from here. The stuff inside is more useful than anything we brought from outside.”

“Got it.”

The two stopped talking. They leaned against the wall, listening to the sounds in the corridor at night.

Lou Hao entered his own room, found the key, and came back out, locking the door with it. Then he walked next door and knocked on Xu Xiye’s door.

Thump, thump, thump.

“Teacher Lu Ren, are you in there?”

Thump, thump, thump.

“Who is it?” A pleasant young male voice came from inside, lazy and tinged with the irritation of being disturbed.

The soundproofing in the villa’s rooms was excellent. Lou Hao had practically pressed his ear to the door to hear it.

Hearing the irritation, Lou Hao didn’t give up. He continued, “It’s me, Lou Hao. Teacher Lu Ren, may I come in?”

Lou Hao waited. The door clicked open. He couldn’t see where Lu Ren was; all he saw before him was darkness.

That was normal. After all, Teacher Lu Ren’s true form was darkness.

Lou Hao stepped inside and closed the door.

“Teacher Lu Ren, what are you busy with?” he attempted to make small talk.

Xu Xiye was actually a bit baffled. Driven by a sense of possessiveness, he never liked others stepping into his home. Everyone was like that—without an appropriate role, no one would casually enter another’s territory. So Lou Hao was the first person to enter his room.

But this was only a room temporarily assigned to him for work, so on second thought, it didn’t matter much.

Was this considered hosting a guest now? Should he invite him to sit and pour him a glass of water? Just as he was thinking that, he heard the question about what he was busy with. Yes, he was indeed busy.

“I’m watching TV,” he answered.

Lou Hao scanned the room in surprise. There was a TV in the room, but no electricity. “How can you watch without power?”

Xu Xiye said matter-of-factly, “I’m watching somewhere else, of course.”

The working conditions here were both good and bad. There was time to watch TV, but no electricity, so he had just gone home to watch it.

Only a part of him went.

Lou Hao said, “You’re still watching now?”

“Of course,” he said excitedly. “The female lead has been found because of the male lead’s mother.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. So, what do you need? Want to come in and sit, and I’ll pour you some water? Or are you here to invite me out for a crawl?”

“Crawl?”

What? He looked like he didn’t understand a thing. Xu Xiye had to explain. “You know, nighttime activity. To relieve stress. Like last night when you were lying on the ground, wriggling inch by inch. Wasn’t that crawling?”

As he spoke, the Black Blob floating in the air wriggled along with his words. But the room was too dark; Lou Hao couldn’t see the difference at all.

Lou Hao remembered how last night’s embarrassing display had been committed to memory. His icy face grew taut, and he was momentarily speechless.

But it seemed that, in Teacher Lu Ren’s eyes, his humiliating behavior was perfectly normal.

“It’s not that I can’t go out crawling with you, but it’s too early now. I’m still watching TV; we’ll have to wait a bit,” Xu Xiye continued, clearly in high spirits, presumably because this was a first-time invitation. After a pause he added, “But our crawling habits might not match. You can crawl on the ground, and I’ll crawl above. Would that work?”

Silence.

The Black Blob wrinkled, staring at Lou Hao with suspicion.

Lou Hao sensed this and immediately declared, “Teacher Lu Ren, I am absolutely not a petty man who uses lies to gain trust and advantage. So even if it might disappoint you, I must state my true purpose for coming here. What I did last night was indeed a form of crawling, but my reason for coming here now is that I want to hide in your room. I’ll just stand behind the door—no need to sit or drink water. I need to stand here and observe Zhou Cao’s movements.”

Xu Xiye couldn’t even remember who Zhou Cao was. All he knew was that this guy wasn’t here to play with him.

Fine then. You’ve lost your chance to become my first crawling partner.

“Do whatever you want. I’m going to seriously watch TV.”

“Thank you, Teacher Lu Ren.”

Xu Xiye ignored him after that. As he turned away, he saw a Fly Person fly out from Lou Hao’s hair. Even then, Lou Hao noticed nothing.

The Fly Person flew over beside Xu Xiye. Its reactions were still very sluggish. Only after a long pause did it start buzzing.

“Are you really going to help him? This guy is really bad and disgusting.”

“How is he bad?”

“He hit someone with his car on purpose and fled.”

“Ah, a hit-and-run killed someone? Who did he kill?”

“…He killed Bai Luwei.”

“Bai Luwei isn’t dead. She’s right next door to me.”

“?”

“You must be mixing up acting and reality. Even though you’re an actor, you can’t get so deep into character that you can’t tell the difference between reality and the plot.”

“Teacher Lu Ren, are you hearing some kind of sound? Teacher Lu Ren?”

Xu Xiye rolled, wriggled, and pulled out his script to take a look.

[A passerby drifting through the worlds of the various leads.]

[Your name is Lu Ren, a young man renting a room in the villa. One rainy night, a group of people moved in, and you often catch glimpses of them everywhere.]

[Because you’re always spotted by chance, your elusive nature has made you a suspect.]

[But, heaven and earth bear witness, you’re just a passerby who happens to be named Lu Ren.]

After reading it, he put it away and said to Lou Hao, “I’m a passerby. I don’t know anything. You’re a lead actor; if you hear something, you have to find out for yourself.”

He hesitated. “Are you suspecting me?”

Lou Hao said, “I’m not.”

Xu Xiye said, “Then you have to find out yourself. That way, when the film is edited, you’ll get more screen time and highlights.”

Lou Hao: “…”

Very sound logic. He couldn’t refute it.

As time passed and the night deepened, his perception of his limbs grew even weaker. He stopped paying attention to those sounds and instead leaned against the door, peering out through the peephole.

Under the constant roar of rain, the entire villa seemed to fall silent. The first person to pass by outside was Bai Luwei.

She was wearing her white dress. That swath of white in the night was especially terrifying. As she passed, she turned her head to look this way. Lou Hao wasn’t sure if she saw him, but her steps didn’t halt; she walked straight past.

Another long stretch of nothing outside the door followed. Lou Hao heard some movement. After that, Xie Lincheng and Wen Danning walked by.

They were probably going after Bai Luwei.

Lou Hao waited for Zhou Cao to appear. Even Su Qing wanted to skin him; he didn’t believe Zhou Cao could hold back through the night.

At last, Lou Hao got his wish.

He couldn’t see what was happening at his own room’s door, but he heard the sound of his own door lock being twisted, along with Zhou Cao’s curses.

Those sounds subsided for a moment, then an even louder racket erupted. Zhou Cao seemed to have grabbed something heavy to smash his door lock.

Lou Hao stood behind the door, a confident, well-prepared expression on his face. But could someone as far gone as Zhou Cao be saved?

The excessive noise drew Xu Xiye over. He shuffled to the door and asked curiously, “What’s the plot now?”

Before Lou Hao could answer, he squeezed out through the crack in the door. The Fly Person followed right along with him.