had saved me countless times; my life practically belonged to him.

Without him, I would have perished long ago.

The thought brought a sting to my eyes, and they grew red again.

After a moment of grief, I reminded myself that * was dead, but now that I inhabited his form, I must live on for both of us.

Lying on **, although my emotions were still turbulent, I couldn't resist the overwhelming urge to sleep, gradually drifting into slumber.

Even though I had changed bodies, the mental and physical exhaustion had not lessened in the slightest; I slept deeply.

Once asleep, I was plagued by many bizarre and shifting dreams.

Several times I found myself back in the scenarios from the four Atlantean revelations, startling myself into a cold sweat.

After an unknown duration of sleep, I was abruptly awakened by a peculiar sensation.

It felt as though I were a snake in the process of shedding its skin.

This sensation was akin to, perhaps even more awkward than, the recurring dream of being naked in a classroom.

The feeling tormented me, rendering sleep impossible, and I shot up from **.

Since I must have awakened in the dead of night, and although the fireplace cast some light, I couldn't clearly make out my own features.

Still, I had a strong intuition that something about my body had changed.

I glanced to either side and saw that besides myself, no one else occupied the bed.

It seemed the fake me and Da Xiong had given me the entire bed so I could rest properly.

This fact pleased me; it meant I had my own space to deal with whatever was happening.

Confirming the door was shut and no one would enter, I slid off **.

I haphazardly threw on some clothes and walked towards the mirror.

Standing before the looking glass, I took a candle from the drawer and lit it.

The sight of my reflection made me jump in genuine fright.

Because what I saw was my face split down the middle.

And where the face was cracked open, another face was emerging.

Seeing the features of the inner face brought immediate relief—it was my own.

With a strangely detached feeling, I pulled at the rift on both sides.

To my surprise, it wasn't painful as I expected; the material, resembling human skin, seemed to peel away almost automatically.

I watched the discarded skin writhe on the floor, possessing an unsettling, almost animate quality, which struck me as profoundly eerie.

I pinched my own face, confirming this was not a dream.

As I watched, the discarded skin began to contract, eventually morphing into something resembling a long, white tongue.