Chapter 73: The Girl with Many Faces

Nearby, Mr. Xu felt his soul practically leap out of his chest in terror.

He could also see the raised skin on his daughter’s back, faintly outlining the shape of a face.

The sight of a face growing on his daughter’s back sent a wave of unnatural horror through him.

But when he saw Lu Xin *also* flash a strange smile, the feeling went beyond mere horror.

The two faces stared at each other, smiling. That sight inexplicably turned his legs to jelly…

…

…

“What kind of monster is this?”

Lu Xin ignored Mr. Xu. Pinning the girl down with his knee against her waist, he watched the eerie face on her back become increasingly distinct. It meant the ‘snake’ beneath her skin was moving faster…

The faster it moved, the more agitated the entity inside her grew.

Oddly enough, the girl pinned beneath him was struggling with diminishing strength.

Lu Xin frowned.

He could now guess that this face was responsible for the girl’s madness. He could almost feel its solid presence beneath her skin. Curing her meant dealing with *it*. Having never encountered such a thing, Lu Xin instinctively wished Han Bing was present to offer her analysis.

But without enough information, he had to figure it out himself.

Gazing at the face, Lu Xin frowned.

Theoretically, the simplest and most direct solution was…

…to cut it out!

…

…

He seriously contemplated the feasibility of this approach…

Just a small incision… shouldn’t be fatal.

But how to make the cut?

He wasn’t like the Support Team, always carrying around all sorts of equipment.

As he thought this, he glanced up at his sister. She was crouching nearby, apparently fascinated by the bizarre face. Her eyes shone brightly, her little hands twisting, looking like she wanted to snatch it right off.

His sister’s hands were sharp enough to tear the girl’s skin.

But his sister could be careless, sometimes heavy-handed. Lu Xin worried she might rip the girl apart along with the face.

With that thought, Lu Xin turned to Mr. Xu. “Got a knife?”

Mr. Xu froze, his expression tense. “What kind of knife?”

“Any knife will do.”

Lu Xin replied, adding, “Even a kitchen knife.”

Mr. Xu’s face paled with fear. *You’re holding down my daughter… why do you need a kitchen knife?*

Just as he pulled himself together, ready to find a knife no matter what, the girl pinned beneath Lu Xin’s knee suddenly unleashed a hysterical shriek. The sound was so piercing it cracked the glass tumbler on the table.

Simultaneously, the face on the girl’s back became terrifyingly distinct.

Sensing something amiss, Lu Xin abruptly stood and retreated two steps.

Then he watched as tentacles sprouted from the girl’s back, one after another. Each was about three centimeters thick and covered in fine black scales. They emerged rapidly, yet miraculously, her skin didn’t tear. So many grew so quickly that her back looked like a dense, writhing thicket.

And at the end of each tentacle grew a fist-sized head.

They possessed human features—some looked male, others female; some beautiful, others grotesque. Every face bore a fixed expression, either fervent or utterly blank. In place of eyes were two black dots, their ability to see uncertain.

Once fully emerged, they began to sway slowly like seaweed caught in a current, turning their heads to gaze around.

“What happened?”

The shriek had left Mr. Xu stunned, his ears ringing and head buzzing.

He managed to turn his head and saw Lu Xin had backed away. The girl lay motionless on the floor.

An impulse surged through him—to rush over and check on his daughter.

“Don’t move.”

Lu Xin quickly turned, holding up a hand to stop him.

But his gesture caught the attention of the tentacles sprouting from the girl’s back. Lu Xin watched as the heads swayed slowly, rhythmically, like seaweed in an ocean current. Their movements gradually synchronized, and then, as one, they turned towards him.

From where Lu Xin stood, all he could see was a field of heads.

Each wore an eerie, frozen smile directed right at him.

The atmosphere was deeply unsettling.

So Lu Xin quirked his lips into a smile back at them.

…

…

*Swish…*

The instant Lu Xin smiled, the mass of tentacle heads lunged at him.

Though they only seemed about thirty centimeters long, they now stretched as if infinitely extendable.

The wave of heads surged towards Lu Xin, their faces alight with fervor.

Lu Xin frowned. Before he could react, a white blur zipped past him. His sister materialized in front, giggling as her small hands shot out, grabbing the two nearest heads and ripping them clean off.

*Hiss…*

The remaining tentacle heads recoiled sharply, as if startled.

But his sister wasn’t done. She scrambled across the floor in pursuit, her predatory eyes gleaming.

As his sister closed in, the tentacle heads seemed to sense the imminent danger.

The expressions on their faces shifted, fervor twisting into something akin to terror.

Then, with a sudden scattering sound.

All the tentacles suddenly shot outwards in every direction, scattering like startled snakes.

Some coiled around the coffee table, others wrapped around pillars, some burrowed into potted plants, and one even melded into a wall portrait depicting a plump woman from medieval Europe, striving to become part of the painting.

In that instant, it was as if everything in the room had sprung to life.

…

…

Nearby, Mr. Xu was just shaking off the dizziness caused by that piercing shriek.

As he looked around again, everything seemed bizarre.

The coffee table seemed strangely animate now, almost like a coy, cute girl.

The potted plant resembled a tall, slender girl wearing a green dress.

The plump woman in the wall portrait seemed to have come to life, slowly stepping out of the frame…

…

…

The living room’s layout hadn’t changed, yet in an instant, everything felt utterly different.

Everything had become animated, imbued with a strange… allure.