I was contemplating whether I should go over, but Officer Liu beat me to it, stepping right up to the open window, pushing it further while sticking his head out to ask, "He didn't jump from here, did he?"

Shaken by the earlier incident with the insects, everything seemed ominous; the moment Officer Liu opened that window, I was filled with a sudden, inexplicable dread.

Everyone crowded into the room, a mix of terror and exhaustion gripping them. The air above five thousand meters was so thin it could leave even a robust man breathless; simply sitting on the floor to catch one's breath was a victory, let alone worrying about what Officer Liu was up to.

I, too, was utterly spent, and I slumped down, sitting against the wall. As soon as I settled, my eyes caught sight of a notebook with a blue plastic cover, conspicuously placed right by the bedside, almost as if displayed deliberately. In those days, that was a fine item; how did such a thing end up in this desolate wilderness? I mused, reaching out and picking it up.

Perhaps due to the passage of time, the notebook was worn, its pages yellowed and extremely fragile. I gingerly opened the cover. Neatly written on the flyleaf were the characters: Wang Weicheng, Tibet. Wang Weicheng? That name sounded terribly familiar. Hadn't I just seen his name pieced together from broken porcelain shards on the way here? Why was his notebook here too? His name was also in the War History Museum... This notebook of his...

Just as I was thinking this, I suddenly heard Officer Liu utter an astonished "Eh?" I looked up to see him wiping something off his face with his hand, continually tilting his head back and looking upward as he scrubbed. Following his gaze, my mind instantly detonated: directly above the window, over Officer Liu’s head, hung the head of Section Chief Wang, dangling upside down. Red drool streamed from his mouth, his eyes wide and fixed in a stare at Officer Liu. When he saw me looking, he actually grinned in my direction.

And Officer Liu seemed paralyzed with fear, only knowing how to keep wiping the saliva from his face, completely forgetting to pull away!

Horrified, I snatched a small folding chair from the bedside and hurled it at Section Chief Wang—it struck him squarely on the head. Section Chief Wang let out a sharp cry and jerked his head back instantly.

The small chair bounced onto the floor, and Officer Liu turned his bewildered gaze back to me.

"Officer Liu! Get over here!" I yelled in panic.

"Doing what?" he asked me, unhurriedly.

"Hurry over here..." As I spoke, I tried to get off the bed to pull him closer, only to find my limbs weak and unresponsive to my will. This realization only heightened my terror. "Sec... Sec... Section Chief Wang..." I stammered.

Hearing the name Section Chief Wang, the other three who had been feigning sleep opened their eyes to look at me. I gestured toward Officer Liu's face. Xiao Zhou remained impassive, showing no reaction, but the other two looked genuinely concerned for Officer Liu and got up to approach him.

Clearly, they couldn't see Section Chief Wang, so they weren't frightened, and their movements were still relatively agile. "P-pull... him... over," I managed, my teeth chattering.

They didn't grasp the source of my terror and simultaneously turned to look at me, confused.

Section Chief Wang! Section Chief Wang's head reappeared, dripping red saliva, hanging upside down above the window frame. He seemed to be carrying something on his back and was attempting to squeeze through the window.

"Ah—" I shrieked, suddenly finding a surge of unknown strength, and rushed over to drag them toward the center of the room.

"What are you doing, Technician Luo?" Xiao Zhou finally lost his patience and asked.

"Outside... outside... Section Chief Wang... help me!" Xiao Zhou finally reacted and quickly helped drag Officer Liu away. I immediately spun around and rushed to close the window.

At the window, Section Chief Wang was struggling ceaselessly to get in. Fear forgotten, I grabbed the small folding chair again and slammed it with all my might onto his head. With a slight recoil, I immediately slammed the window shut and quickly bolted it. Before I could turn around, Section Chief Wang was already pressing against the glass again, watching me with cold malice. The saliva from his mouth slowly dripped downward, beginning to seep through the glass.

The immediate urge to survive had fueled my courage just moments ago, but now that the immediate danger had passed, seeing Section Chief Wang in that state made my limbs weak again, leaving me utterly incapable of moving a single step away from the window.

Section Chief Wang tried to squeeze in again, but this old-style window had anti-theft features, and after several failed attempts, he began crawling back and forth across the glass. This time, I clearly saw what he was carrying on his back. I instantly collapsed onto the floor, my eyes wide and mouth agape, utterly unable to make a sound—on Section Chief Wang's back was the Faceless One, the kind Old Li had told us about! The man-eating Faceless One!

Downstairs was a dense mass of insects, and up here was a Faceless One intent on consuming the living. It's over... we are truly going to perish here. I thought in despair.

"Hehehehe... hehehe..." It was Officer Liu's voice. I lacked the strength to turn around, not understanding why he was laughing like a fool for no apparent reason.

"Old Liu..." "Officer Liu..." Xiao Zhou and the others called out to him. I assumed he had suffered a mental break from the shock, but right now, barely able to save myself, I had no energy left to care whether he lived or died.

"Something seems wrong..." Xiao Zhou's voice broke the silence. "Officer Liu's face looks strange..."

I remained fixated on Section Chief Wang's movements. The Faceless One on his back flickered in and out of my vision, and the red drool from his mouth had already permeated the window slightly. Because they hadn't seen the Section Chief crawling up and down by the window, they were still concerned enough to examine Officer Liu's face.

"Yes, something does seem wrong," someone said cautiously, as if closely examining Officer Liu's face. Officer Liu continued his steady "hehehehe" laughter, devoid of inflection, the sound flat and monotonous.

"Technician Luo!" Xiao Zhou shouted. "Technician Luo! Officer Liu's face is swelling!"

"Face swelling? What? Face swelling!" I leaped up instantly, a dreadful premonition gripping me. "Quickly, tie him up, hurry... or we'll die a far worse death!"

My sudden movement made them all look toward me. Upon seeing Section Chief Wang's actions, everyone except Officer Liu turned ash-white, frozen like statues.

And Officer Liu? He was slowly, deliberately walking back toward the window again!

"Tie him! Tie him down!" I commanded, trembling as I fumbled for the rope in my backpack. Thankfully, Xiao Zhou snapped back to reality and lunged to grab Officer Liu.

...Officer Liu's body was surprisingly weak; with minimal effort, Xiao Zhou and I managed to bind him securely.

Afterward, my undershirt was soaked with cold sweat, and I had no strength left in my body, forced to sit on the floor and gasp for air. Xiao Zhou was no better off; his face was pale, and he remained silent. The other two were stunned, standing there for a long time unsure of how to react.

After a considerable period, I could finally breathe evenly. My mind cleared slightly, and I quickly assessed the situation: Outside, Section Chief Wang continued his ceaseless crawling; inside, Officer Liu behaved suspiciously. Neither inside nor outside was safe.

Glancing around again, I noticed the room seemed specially reinforced. Apart from the window, there wasn't a single crack, and even the door was heavily fortified.

This room was highly peculiar. Could its owner have been an extraordinary person?

Thinking of the owner, my mind returned to the notebook whose name I had only briefly glimpsed. Wang Weicheng—Wang Weicheng—. Could he possibly be the owner of this place? Would a regular communications technician inhabit a dwelling like this?