Chapter 34: Human Skin Script (12): Abnormal Phenomenon Part 1

【Come here.】

He really had discovered him.

Go over? How was he supposed to go over? He was already here.

Xu Xiye just watched him, unmoving.

Yet Xie Lincheng, as if confirming his existence, continued to send signals: 【Darkness, come here, okay?】

Darkness?

That wasn’t him. No matter how dark he was, he wasn’t darkness itself.

Xu Xiye didn’t move.

Xie Lincheng was still watching him.

His condition was far worse than expected. When he was engulfed by a swarm of black shadows, on the verge of being skinned, discovering that the darkness above was another entity—something that could change his situation—was like seeing a ray of light.

Not just because it was a potential turning point, but because it was the first time he had ever sensed another person’s Spiritual Power.

Twenty minutes earlier, after he and Wen Danning saw Bai Luwei leave her room, they immediately decided to follow.

Bai Luwei’s room was unlocked. Wen Danning asked Xie Lincheng, “Should we go in and look? The Pollution Source’s true body might not be the Bai Luwei we see.”

Standing before the door, Xie Lincheng gave it a gentle push. The door swung open. Through the gap, he could only see pitch blackness inside.

It wasn’t locked; it wasn’t even fully closed. It was left just slightly ajar, like a trap waiting for someone to enter.

Xie Lincheng said, “Yeah, it’s highly unlikely. Rather than hiding in the room, I think the true body is hiding beneath Bai Luwei’s skin. Miss Wen, you think the same, don’t you? There’s no need to test me like this.”

If he walked into that room, he would likely face the same scenario as Lou Hao.

Wen Danning didn’t deny it. “My words are just more tactful.”

Having reached an agreement, they continued forward, following Bai Luwei. She stopped in front of Zhuo Heng’s door.

She was knocking on Zhuo Heng’s door. Her head swiveled to face them, her face pale as paper, looking exceptionally ghastly in the night.

As she knocked, she stared at them.

This was the Pollution Source on the second night. Just this direct gaze alone gave them a feeling vastly different from before.

Xie Lincheng and Wen Danning simultaneously felt their steps grow sluggish, their breathing labored.

The scene around them began to warp and shift—one moment it was the villa’s dark corridor, the next it was the highway they had driven along. The two scenes blended and fused, causing nausea and vertigo.

Xie Lincheng steadied his mind, fixing his thoughts to stabilize his Sanity Value. At the same time, he saw Bai Luwei’s mouth opening and closing, as if she were speaking to the person inside the room.

“Don’t open the door!” Xie Lincheng shouted involuntarily.

Crash! Boom!

His voice was swallowed by the thunder. Even without the thunder, the door and the distance meant no one inside could have heard him anyway.

Normally, knowing Bai Luwei was outside, Zhuo Heng and the others would ignore her and not open the door. The fear was that no one was acting normal anymore.

Xie Lincheng glanced at Wen Danning, who stood quietly beside him, brow furrowed, and said, “Don’t get too close too fast. Stay out here and keep watch. I’ll go.”

Wen Danning didn’t argue. Their plan was always for Xie Lincheng to make contact with the Pollution Source while she monitored the data. “The Contamination Level is rising. Of course, it’s still within the A-Class range. Are you confident?”

Xie Lincheng replied, “Barring any accidents.”

Wen Danning adjusted her breathing. The air around her felt increasingly stagnant. “If… and what if there is an accident?”

Xie Lincheng had already walked ahead, leaving her only the view of his back. “If you’re willing, then find a way to wake me up.”

If she wasn’t willing to be dragged down, then he’d just have to fend for himself.

“Fine. I’ll use a knife.”

“I’ll do my best not to let Miss Wen’s hands get stained with blood.”

As he drew near, the door was opened from the inside. A strange, eerie smile appeared on Bai Luwei’s face. Her eyes were still fixed on Xie Lincheng, her neck twisted, until her figure retreated into the room.

The moment her gaze vanished, Xie Lincheng felt a great weight lift from his body. After a brief, stunned pause, he immediately quickened his pace and blocked the door before it could close, then walked inside.

“Zhuo Heng?”

“Li Sha?”

For those who frequented Contaminated Zones, their adaptation to darkness was quite high. But within this room, Xie Lincheng could barely make out the positions of the others.

Zhuo Heng didn’t respond. He was too preoccupied to hear anything from the outside world. Li Sha was in a similar state.

After the two had entered the room with a candle, they washed up briefly. Zhuo Heng gave the bed to Li Sha and made a pallet on the floor rug beside it.

Pampered young master though he was, he couldn’t drag someone here for moral support and then make them sleep on the floor.

They chatted idly for a bit, then lay down, each preparing to fall asleep. Nothing was better than sleeping through this.

He hoped he wouldn’t hear anyone calling his name tonight, Zhuo Heng thought. Even if he did, with another person in the room, he wouldn’t be so terrified.

Reassured, Zhuo Heng relaxed. Outside was rain and thunder; inside was the dim, yellow glow of the candle. If this place weren’t so Anomalous, it could even feel atmospheric.

Poof.

Just as Zhuo Heng was thinking this, the candle abruptly went out.

The window was shut tight, and there was no wind in the room. How could it go out so suddenly? Zhuo Heng’s heart lurched involuntarily. “Li Sha, Sister Lisha, did you blow it out?”

“No.”

Li Sha’s voice was cold and seemed to come from a distance. Zhuo Heng’s heart pounded in terror; he didn’t dare ask anything more.

Sensing something wrong with him, Li Sha added, “Ignore the candle, and don’t overthink it. Something has probably found its way to us.”

Zhuo Heng: “!”

You tell me not to overthink, but you had to add that last part, Sister!

The heavier the storm and thunder, the more conspicuous the room’s silence became. Zhuo Heng could hear his own breathing and heartbeat drumming against his eardrums, thump, thump, heavier and heavier.

Suddenly, Zhuo Heng heard that woman’s voice again.

The voice was sinister and terrifying, drifting over from some unknown place, tirelessly calling his name in the same unvarying tone.

“Zhuo Heng.”

“Zhuo Heng.”

“Zhuo Heng.”

The tone never changed from beginning to end, yet Zhuo Heng perceived different nuances. At first, it was lingering and cloying, then it turned urgent and malicious, dripping with resentment, as if it wanted to tear him to shreds.

“Zhuo Heng, Zhuo Heng, Zhuo Heng.”

Zhuo Heng curled up, covering his ears, but the sound was pervasive.

“Sister Lisha,” Zhuo Heng called to Li Sha, trying to use someone else’s presence to dispel his inner fear. “Do you hear it? Someone is calling my name. She’s calling me again.”

Li Sha replied, “I don’t hear it. That’s your hallucination. So what if she’s calling you? Stay calm, don’t be afraid, and she can’t hurt you.”

Among all the ordinary people, Li Sha was the one who applied the Security Administration Bureau trio’s warnings most thoroughly.

Zhuo Heng paused. It made sense, but the pervasive sound, the sinister, chilling sensation crawling over his skin like caterpillars, was something he couldn’t shake off.

Not being afraid wasn’t something achieved simply by deciding not to be.

“Then let’s talk.”

“Okay, Sister Lisha.”

“What do you do for work?”

“I don’t work. I just have fun.”

“Oh, a rich second-generation heir. You must be popular with girls.”

“I suppose. I’m pretty well-liked.”

“Really? I told you early on, you’re a hot commodity. Is changing girlfriends for you as easy as changing clothes?”

“No, it’s not…” Zhuo Heng suddenly felt something was off. Would Sister Lisha say something like that? Did her voice sound like this?

“Zhuo Heng.”

“Zhuo Heng.”

“Zhuo Heng, who are you talking to?”

Zhuo Heng felt someone grab his shoulder and shake him. He snapped out of it to find Li Sha crouching beside him. “I…”

Li Sha: “What’s your character setup?”

Before Zhuo Heng could speak, Li Sha had already made a guess. She declared, “You shouldn’t be sharing a room with a woman.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, both of them stiffened. Frantic knocking suddenly came from the front door.

The two looked towards the door. The knocking grew more and more urgent, but the person outside didn’t speak.

Zhuo Heng swallowed hard. Li Sha stood up and asked, “Who is it?”

Thump, thump, thump!

Thump, thump, thump!

Thump, thump, thump!

Li Sha frowned. She knew ignoring it was the correct course of action, but the sound pounded against her heart, making her breathing grow involuntarily heavy.

Even if that thing couldn’t get in, their minds would still be ravaged. Hallucinations might follow, and then they might turn out like Lou Hao or Zhou Cao.

Thump, thump, thump!

Thump, thump, thump!

Thump, thump, thump!

Li Sha took a deep breath. She decided to go take a look. The sound itself seemed to urge her to do so.

She pushed back Zhuo Heng, who had already started to get up. “I’ll go.”

“O-Okay.”

Li Sha walked over. She told herself not to open the door, that she just needed to send the person away.

Do not open the door.

Li Sha felt her way through the darkness to the door. She leaned close, one eye shut, pressing the other against the peephole. The corridor outside was pitch-black; she couldn’t see a thing. But for some reason, what she saw didn’t seem like a dark hallway—it seemed like a dark, viscous eye.

She was making eye contact with a single eye.

The person outside was just like her, pressed against the door, one eye glued to the peephole, looking in.

Li Sha’s heart lurched violently. She took a deep breath, stepped back, and asked, “Who is it?”

“Who are you? I’m Zhuo Heng’s girlfriend! Why are you in his room? Who exactly are you? What’s your relationship?”

The woman outside was frantic, her voice shrill, twisted, and crazed. Even more bizarrely, the knocking hadn’t stopped the entire time she was speaking.

“Open the door!”

“Open the door!”

“Let me in to find him!”

Li Sha said, “Please leave. I won’t open the door.”

“You won’t open the door? You won’t open the door?” At these words, that cold, slimy, staring sensation intensified. “Who are you? Are you a homewrecker? He betrayed me! You both betrayed me!”

Thump, thump, thump!

Thump, thump, thump!

Thump, thump, thump!

Li Sha could no longer distinguish her own frantic heartbeat from the knocking at the door. Her thoughts grew sluggish. She stood there motionless, forgetting what she was doing. At the same time, her Script was updating.

【Your name is Li Sha, a surgeon. You have successfully performed numerous skin graft operations. But what no one knows is that what you want most for yourself is a face with flawless, smooth skin, completely free of blemishes.】

【While driving back to the city, you encountered a torrential rainstorm and were forced to seek temporary shelter at a hotel villa by the roadside.】

【This villa feels familiar to you, but you can’t recall the specifics. Others taking shelter from the rain said this place used to be abandoned, and you remember it that way too. Perhaps it was renovated at some point without you knowing.】

【You entered a room. That sense of familiarity grew stronger. You have been here before, you are certain.】

【But why would you have visited an abandoned villa in the past? What did you do there?】

【You can’t remember. You just want to get through this rainy day in peace.】