Having dealt with the Faceless one, I had established an unspoken authority among them, which now provided me with the leverage to issue commands. Regardless of their reluctance, they could only shuffle reluctantly toward their tasks.

Taking advantage of their absence toward Section Chief Wang's location, I quickly pulled out the sutra I had hidden in my coat. The scripture was printed on traditional langdu grass paper, which was not unusual; this paper is pest-resistant, waterproof, and durable, often used by many Tibetan monks for copying scriptures and historical records meant to last generations.

Opening the cover and casually flipping through, I confirmed that the pages were indeed packed with dense Tibetan script. My head immediately began to ache; I didn't recognize a single character. What a waste of effort hiding it for so long. Flipping through somewhat carelessly, my eyes suddenly caught three characters written in blue-black ink in the upper right corner of the flyleaf header: Wang Weicheng!

Wang Weicheng? A surge of ecstasy flooded my heart. The room belonged to him, the notebook was his, and now this scripture was his too. That meant... he might have left a prescription inside the scripture. I quickly began flipping through it carefully, but alas, apart from the name "Wang Weicheng" on the flyleaf, there wasn't another single Chinese character in the entire book.

Still, it was something. Even if I hadn't found anything substantially useful, at least I now knew that the Faceless one before me was the owner of this room, Wang Weicheng.

Speaking of Wang Weicheng, I hadn't heard a sound from Xiao Zhou and the others for a long time. I looked up to see the three of them pinching their noses, standing next to Section Chief Wang, looking up and down, having done absolutely nothing for the better part of an hour.

I should have stopped relying on them to actually do anything long ago. I tucked the scripture back inside my coat and walked over without a word. I found a piece of dirty cloth, wrapped it around my hand, and then squatted down, preparing to simply push the Faceless one off Section Chief Wang's back. It was just a corpse; I figured it wouldn't take much effort. So, with one push, I intended to watch Wang Weicheng—no, the Faceless one—fall off Chief Wang’s back. To my surprise, the Faceless one didn't budge an inch at my push. Had I tired myself out? Was my strength too weak? I pushed again, harder this time, nearly knocking Section Chief Wang off balance, but the Faceless one remained fused seamlessly to his back. I was dumbfounded. What was the meaning of this?

"Someone come here. I’ll hold Chief Wang down; you pull the corpse off his back to the side," I said without looking up.

No one responded. I looked up and swept my gaze over the three of them. They were standing there, holding their noses in disgust, looking both shocked and terrified, staring at the Faceless one. I was right next to it; how could I not smell that odor of rancid grease? Was I not human? Was I immune to disgust and fear?

"You—" I pointed at Xiao Zhou, "Help me."

Xiao Zhou reluctantly approached.

I pressed down firmly on Section Chief Wang's shoulders, signaling Xiao Zhou to grab the Faceless one's shoulders as well. The Faceless one’s head was lolling to one side, the severed neck still oozing grease. Xiao Zhou seemed terribly frightened; instead of following my instruction, he grabbed the Faceless one's legs. With the first tug, the figure still didn't move.

I increased the force on my hands, and Xiao Zhou also seemed to put more effort into his pull. After a faint sound, like tearing flesh—"Chak!"—the Faceless one finally shifted down slightly. Immediately afterward, Section Chief Wang, who had been completely still, let out a scream like a slaughtered pig: "Ah—" His limbs thrashed wildly as he struggled desperately. "It hurts—"

I was startled by his sudden outcry and scrambled backward, tumbling away. Before I could even catch my breath and stand up, Section Chief Wang cried out to me in agony: "Technician Luo..."

I dared not even breathe deeply, trembling all over, afraid to approach him or answer, unsure if he was a man or a ghost.

All the spotlights were fixed squarely on Section Chief Wang. I watched as he struggled to turn his body, attempting to rotate his face, but with even that small movement, he let out another piercing shriek: "Ah—" Goosebumps instantly erupted all over my body.

After the wail subsided, Section Chief Wang called out weakly and painfully, "Luo... Technician..."

My legs were shaking uncontrollably, my teeth chattering, yet I still dared not utter a single reply.

After a moment, I heard him speak again: "I... I am Section Chief Wang..." He articulated each word as if enduring immense pain.

Hearing him claim to be Section Chief Wang, I felt a degree of relief. At least this confirmed he was a conscious human being, not something else.

I tried my best to keep my voice from trembling and asked cautiously, "Section Chief Wang? I... I... I am Technician Luo."

Hearing my reply, Section Chief Wang seemed slightly relieved. He still couldn't turn over, but spoke in a low tone befitting his status as a senior official: "There's... something growing on my back... Pull it off for me."

Something growing? Did he mean the Faceless one was grafted onto him? I couldn't help but step forward to look at his back. Below his neck, I saw something resembling a black arthropod limb, from which thin, needle-like blood was slowly welling up. Looking back at the Faceless one, a similar structure protruded from its severed neck, but instead of blood, it was oozing grease.

Could it be...? I dared not follow that line of thought. I glanced at Xiao Zhou and the others; they were staring at me in terror, waiting for me to make a decision.

It was, after all, a human life. I gritted my teeth, forcing my whole body to stop trembling, and then said, "Two people... hold Chief Wang down... the others, pull with all your might to separate the Faceless one..."

I cautiously approached Section Chief Wang, and the others followed. I squatted down, turned my face to the side, gritted my teeth hard, and reached out to grip Section Chief Wang's left shoulder with desperate force. Xiao Zhou held his right shoulder. The other two were equally afraid to touch the Faceless one's head, so one grabbed each of its legs.

"I have him steady... Pull together with all your strength..." I commanded.

Four men applying force was substantial nonetheless. As soon as I finished speaking, they pulled back fiercely, and the Faceless one immediately tumbled to the side. "Ah—" Relieved of the weight, Section Chief Wang began to scream and roll on the floor.

I quickly retreated toward the corner of the room, watching Section Chief Wang in horror as he rolled screaming from one end of the room to the other, then rolled near the Faceless one, bumping into Adjutant Liu. Upon being hit, Adjutant Liu seemed to wake up as well and began to wail too...

I dared not exhale, my palms slick with sweat, as I fumbled for the pistol at my waist.

...

After an unknown length of time, Section Chief Wang finally quieted down, lying completely still, seemingly unconscious. Only then did I dare to take deep breaths. However, after just two breaths, I heard Adjutant Liu crying for help, "Help—help—who tied me up..." he shouted while struggling.

I was already completely numbed by the unfolding horror. Gripping the pistol tightly, I walked over to Adjutant Liu and lowered my head, using the flashlight to examine his eyes: the pupils and irises were distinct, and they reflected an inner panic. He appeared to be normal. I reached out and untied the ropes binding him, then walked back toward Section Chief Wang. He lay motionless on the ground, still face down. Seven or eight of those animal-limb-like structures were scattered across his back, all trickling with fine, needle-like blood. His clothes were pierced, revealing abnormally crimson muscle underneath.

After checking Chief Wang, I turned to the Faceless one. It lay on its back, seemingly lifeless. Its face was utterly devoid of features, save for one gargantuan mouth, completely bloodless, its skin appearing desiccated, as if wind-dried. The wounds on its body had stopped oozing grease, and the intense foul odor had somewhat diminished. Though numbed, I lacked the courage to flip its body over to see if its back was in the same condition as Chief Wang's.

After observing all this, I sat down woodenly on the floor, attempting once more to find a cigarette. Just as I was rummaging through my pockets fruitlessly, a violent explosion suddenly echoed from the hallway, shaking the very building...