Cao Yanhua lived up to everyone’s expectations. After a series of metallic clanking and prying sounds, the lock bolt finally clicked open—a sound that was like heavenly music.

This soft click helped Mu Dai calm down, and she blurted out: “Wait.”

It was too late. Cao Yanhua had already pushed open the door. Luo Ren had indeed made preparations—the room was essentially empty. The window was completely blocked by a large floor-to-ceiling cabinet. The room contained only a simple desk with a pair of scissors, a cup of water, and a stopwatch. Even the air conditioning vents had been completely sealed with tape.

Yi Wansan stretched his neck, looking around and muttering: “There’s no one here.”

Just as he finished speaking, the bathroom door opened, and Luo Ren walked out carrying Pin Ting.

Pin Ting’s arms hung limply, her body completely lifeless. Her clothes were dry, but her face and hair were dripping wet. Luo Ren’s expression was terrifying as he shouted hoarsely: “Don’t come in!”

Had Luo Ren… drowned Pin Ting?

Mu Dai’s heart pounded violently. She instinctively reached out to block Yi Wansan and Cao Yanhua. Luo Ren quickly walked to the desk and placed Pin Ting face down. He grabbed the scissors from the table, cut open the back of her clothes, and with both hands, ripped them apart with a tearing sound.

Even from the doorway, they could see her snow-white skin, smooth as jade.

Yi Wansan was so shocked he stuttered: “W-what is he doing?”

No one answered him. Luo Ren picked up the stopwatch. His lips trembled slightly, and his arm seemed to shake, causing the watch chain to sway.

Mu Dai was so tense that her ears were buzzing. At this moment, time was more precious than anything. Within two or three minutes, regardless of whether the human skin was detached or not, Pin Ting needed to be taken for emergency treatment. But what if something went wrong? What if they couldn’t save her?

If that happened, Luo Ren would essentially have killed Pin Ting with his own hands, making him a murderer.

Also, Shen Gun had said the human skin was alive and tended to avoid being seen by many eyes. The current situation was different—with so many witnesses, would the skin still detach?

Mu Dai’s head was about to explode. There were still too many uncertainties in this matter, but Luo Ren was so anxious about Pin Ting that he had rushed into this dangerous plan without thinking it through.

Was this what people meant by “anxiety clouds judgment”?

Luo Ren didn’t look at her, but his words were directed at her: “Mu Dai, you must know your limits. When it’s time to leave, leave immediately!”

Mu Dai’s eyes reddened. She nodded instinctively, then realized he couldn’t see her nod. She wanted to say “okay,” but her voice was choked in her throat, and she couldn’t speak.

Cao Yanhua, who had just accomplished a great feat, hadn’t even received a word of thanks and felt somewhat dejected. The scene before him was bizarre, and with no explanation, he kept asking: “Sister Mu Dai, what’s going on here?”

Just then, Yi Wansan, whose eyes had been wide open, suddenly sucked in a cold breath: “Holy crap, what the hell is that?”

As if in slow motion, a piece of human skin slowly curled up from Pin Ting’s back.

It was as thin as a cicada’s wing, with a strange luster. The edges had blood traces, like thin plastic curling naturally when heated by fire.

Was this the human skin? Mu Dai’s breathing almost stopped as her pupils reflected every strange movement of the skin.

Perhaps because it had just left the body, it moved rather slowly. The middle part of the skin arched upward, using this arch to move forward or turn backward.

Very slowly, it crawled off Pin Ting’s back and onto the desk.

At this moment, Cao Yanhua answered Yi Wansan’s question.

“It might be some kind of parasite.”

Yi Wansan found this quite reasonable. After all, the world is full of wonders—carnivorous pitcher plants that eat flies, sun wheel flowers that help spiders eat people—so a parasite like this wasn’t too strange, just very creepy.

Luo Ren paid no attention to anything else. He had been staring intently at the human skin. As soon as it left Pin Ting’s body, he immediately picked her up. After a moment’s hesitation, he directly pushed her toward them, shouting: “Leave now! Take her away! Where’s Uncle Zheng? Emergency treatment!”

Without thinking, Mu Dai lunged forward to catch Pin Ting. But her arm strength wasn’t her forte, and despite having the right position and posture, she was still pushed back three or four steps by the force, nearly tripping. Fortunately, there were many people crowded at the door who helped stop her.

Uncle Zheng had been waiting anxiously at the door, his heart nearly stopping. Although he knew something strange was happening, Luo Ren had instructed him earlier that no matter what happened, Pin Ting’s rescue came first.

He quickly took Pin Ting out. Within seconds, they heard the nurse in the living room shout: “Quick, quick, lay her flat!”

It felt like they had just completed a relay race and were about to collapse from exhaustion.

Mu Dai was breathing heavily. When she looked up at Luo Ren, her brain suddenly froze.

The human skin had already risen to Luo Ren’s shoulder!

She let out a scream. With strength from who knows where, she braced her right foot against the door frame and lunged straight into Luo Ren’s arms. Luo Ren hadn’t noticed his danger but was worried she might hurt herself, so he reached out to hold her waist. Mu Dai used the momentum to grab his arm with one hand to stabilize herself, while her other hand moved like lightning, grabbing the human skin and smashing it violently to the ground.

Grabbing and smashing it took less than a second.

A second later, Mu Dai was stomping her feet frantically and shaking her hands while screaming.

Perhaps due to her martial arts training, sometimes her actions were faster than her thoughts. If she had time to think about what just happened, she would never have rushed in so recklessly, let alone grab something potentially lethal. Who knew if touching it would transmit the virus?

Now she recalled the sensation—smooth, sticky, soft, and writhing. The memory alone was enough to make her sick.

Luo Ren saw the human skin rising from the ground, and his scalp tingled with fear. Ignoring Mu Dai’s screams, he grabbed her waist and tossed her upward, commanding: “Up the wall!”

Then he shouted: “Close the door! Don’t let this thing out!”

The girl’s martial skills were truly excellent. As soon as she touched the wall, she flipped upward, stabilizing herself at the corner where three surfaces met, essentially sticking to the ceiling.

With her safe, Luo Ren could relax halfway. When he turned back to look at the door, he was both amused and frustrated enough to want to bang his head against the wall.

He hadn’t expressed himself clearly. He had meant for everyone else to leave and then close the door, making sure the human skin couldn’t escape. But Yi Wansan and Cao Yanhua had firmly shut the door from the inside. Cao Yanhua was even bracing it with his large body, proudly announcing: “It’s closed!”

Mu Dai shouted from the wall: “You two, run! Run! Don’t let this thing touch you! It’s poisonous! Infectious!”

Poisonous? Good heavens, that was serious! Seeing the “parasite” quickly crawling toward them, Cao Yanhua turned and ran. Yi Wansan reacted more slowly. Panicking, he hurriedly tried to climb the cabinet blocking the window, but the surface was too slippery. Unable to climb up, he could only grip the upper corner of the cabinet, with both feet jumping and curling upward.

The human skin, writhing menacingly, began climbing up the cabinet surface, approaching Yi Wansan’s face.

Luo Ren urgently called to Mu Dai: “Do you have the knife?”

She did. Mu Dai pulled the knife from behind her waist and threw it to Luo Ren. Without hesitation, he threw it, producing a thud as the blade sank an inch into the cabinet, pinning the human skin firmly.

Yi Wansan quickly jumped down from the cabinet, but before he could catch his breath, the skin suddenly broke free, without even splitting in half.

Immune to knives? Luo Ren’s heart sank.

Yi Wansan cursed loudly: “Damn, I’ve never seen such a freakish bug! Brother Cao, cover me. I’m going out for a moment. I don’t believe we can’t deal with this little bastard!”

He ran to the door, opened it, and darted out. Cao Yanhua quickly closed the door, but when he turned around, he saw the human skin coming toward him, sending chills down his spine.

Just then, Luo Ren grabbed him by the collar and tossed him aside: “Up on the desk!”

Alerted, Cao Yanhua scrambled onto the desk, nearly knocking over the water cup.

At this point, three people remained in the room: Mu Dai on the wall, Cao Yanhua on the desk, and only Luo Ren was still on the floor.

Indeed, the human skin was alive. It stood in place for a moment, then turned toward Luo Ren.

Luo Ren didn’t dodge but instead stepped forward.

The human skin’s movements seemed much faster than before. Suddenly, it leaped from the ground at almost a thirty-degree angle. Mu Dai shouted anxiously: “Luo Ren, don’t let it touch you!”

She was almost crying.

Luo Ren smiled bitterly. His plan had truly been disrupted. If he had been alone in the room, he probably would have quietly allowed the skin to attach to him. But with Mu Dai and the others interfering, and after seeing the eeriness of the human skin firsthand, his desire to sacrifice himself suddenly wasn’t so strong.

Better to stall as long as possible.

He rolled on the ground, avoiding the attack. Just as he reached the door, he heard it being kicked violently, with Yi Wansan shouting: “Open up, the divine weapon is here!”

What thing? Luo Ren had no time to think and quickly twisted the door open.

Yi Wansan entered carrying a basin, his eyes fierce and determined: “Where is it? Where’s the parasite?”

Cao Yanhua and Mu Dai screamed in unison: “There! There!”

Seeing the human skin moving again, Yi Wansan covered it with the basin.

Like covering a mound, oil spread across the floor—he had brought in a basin of cooking oil.

The overturned basin made muffled thumping sounds, then began to shake. Yi Wansan fumbled for his lighter, grinding his teeth: “Damn it, I’ll burn you to death!”

The moment the basin was lifted, flames quickly spread across the oil surface.

There was a moment of silence as the flames reflected in everyone’s eyes. The human skin seemed to quieten, but Yi Wansan’s expression gradually changed.

He looked up at Cao Yanhua: “Brother Cao, are you kidding me? How can this be a parasite?”

Under the flames, the human skin rose an inch from the ground, slowly unfolding in midair from top to bottom, with neat edges forming a rectangular shape. If the guess was correct, it was approximately 15cm long and 5cm wide.

It was charred black all over, but in the center, there was a blood-red character that was blindingly bright.

It resembled an elongated “s” shape with a small stroke added on the left—the oracle bone script character for “knife.”

Yi Wansan slowly backed away: How the hell could this be a parasite?

The fire didn’t spread, but it burned quickly. Soon, the flames subsided, and the human skin fell to the ground in wrinkled folds, like a piece of charred cloth.

Everyone stared at it in silence.

As if unwilling to disappoint their expectations, the human skin suddenly moved.

Cao Yanhua shouted: “Quick! Quick! Upon the desk!”

Yi Wansan had probably never run so fast in his life. The human skin darted out, and Cao Yanhua grabbed the water cup from the desk and threw it.

He intended to cripple it, but the cup’s lid wasn’t secured properly. In midair, the remaining water spilled out, leaving a trail of water when it hit the ground.

Something strange happened: the rapidly moving human skin suddenly stopped midway, shrinking back as if in fear.

In a flash of insight, Luo Ren suddenly realized: “Mu Dai is afraid of water!”

Why had there been a gap of over a decade between the first murder and the second? Because Zhang Guanghua had drowned, because it had been taken underwater, because it couldn’t escape the water.

It feared water!

Mu Dai understood his meaning: “Hold on, wait for me!”

She slid down from the wall and rushed into the bathroom. Soon, the sound of running water could be heard.

Luo Ren instructed Cao Yanhua and Yi Wansan: “Stay on the desk, don’t come down.”

He walked a couple of steps toward the human skin, as if to lure it. Several times, he narrowly escaped danger, relying on his agility to avoid the skin’s lunges.

Mu Dai emerged with a basin of water, breathing heavily. Luo Ren glanced at her, gestured slightly, and then suddenly leaped up the wall.

The human skin sprang toward him.

Luo Ren quickly ducked, avoiding the skin’s attack, while Mu Dai rushed in from the other side with the water basin. Her light body technique was excellent—she kicked off the wall, dumping the water directly onto the human skin.

She managed to cover it, but couldn’t stop her momentum. Luo Ren intercepted her midway, one arm around her waist, the other steadying the water basin. Both fell to the ground, enduring the pain of the fall while focusing eight-tenths of their strength on the basin.

With a clang, the basin hit the ground, splashing water that nearly spilled over. The human skin floated right at the peak of the water’s surface.

Mu Dai and Luo Ren’s eyes were fixed on the human skin.

Yi Wansan and Cao Yanhua, crouching on the desk like two watchful frogs, held their breath as they stared.

In a wonderful moment, due to the forces of nature and perhaps principles of physics, the water receded.

The next wave had less amplitude.

Slowly, the water’s surface became still.

No one knew how much time had passed before Cao Yanhua said, “It sank to the bottom.”

…

Still, no one moved. Everyone maintained their positions until a knocking sound came from the door.

Uncle Zheng’s voice: “Pin Ting has been taken to the hospital. She’s temporarily out of danger.”

Luo Ren finally let out a sigh of relief. He released Mu Dai and lay flat on the floor, his back feeling ice-cold. Everything that had just happened felt like a dream.

Mu Dai also lay down, mumbling: “I’m exhausted.”

Luo Ren turned to look at her. She was lying on his arm, her eyes closed from exhaustion, her thick eyelashes like small fans. Her chest rose and fell heavily, and her fair face showed a flush from exertion.

Looking down, he saw her hand next to his. Luo Ren reached out to gently cover her hand, but carefully avoided touching it.

…

The two “frogs” still maintained their original crouching positions on the desk.

Cao Yanhua asked Yi Wansan: “Should we get down?”

Yi Wansan refused: “Wait, wait until the danger is completely gone.”

After a pause, Cao Yanhua nudged Yi Wansan with his elbow: “Do you have your phone?”

“What for?”

Cao Yanhua nodded toward the two people lying on the floor: “Let’s take a picture. It’s harmonious.”