The Eye (Part Three)

A moment later, Shen Xing pulled an irregular piece of wood about the size of an egg from the pile.

At first glance, its surface was covered in knots, making it look like a low-quality piece that could be tossed aside without a second thought.

This was Shadow Wood, taken from the burls that grew on the trunks or roots of diseased trees. It was relatively rare.

Of course, Shadow Wood was rarely used in woodcarving. Whether it was suitable depended on the piece being carved and whether the design matched the wood's growth pattern.

A good woodcarving had to balance the wood's texture, grain, color, branch structure, flexibility, and wax absorption with the finished piece.

Strictly speaking, though, Shadow Wood was not a type of wood in its own right. It was neither northern nor southern wood, but a special material that grew as a result of disease.

Still, its shape was a perfect fit for Shen Xing's original vision of the bloodshot eyeball.

He had bought this piece on a whim, never imagining he would use it someday. Even if he had simply kept it as a collectible, Shadow Wood would have been an excellent choice.

Its surface was rough and pitted, covered in irregular knots that rose and fell. But to Shen Xing, its natural growth pattern resembled the back of an eyeball—the tangled optic nerves.

With careful cuts along the smooth front, and some fine work on the nerves at the back, it would become a complete eyeball.

Once he had a rough plan in mind, he began carving.

First, he stripped the bark and sketched the rough shape of the eye onto the parts of the Shadow Wood he needed to carve. He could have drawn it on paper first, but he had been in this body long enough to control the basic rhythm of carving. For a small wooden carving like this, there was no need to make a preliminary drawing.

Besides, the eye had left such a deep impression on Shen Xing that it was etched into his mind. He could never forget it.

After drawing the basic shape on the Shadow Wood, he secured it in the bench vise on the worktable and used the jigsaw to cut away the excess, bringing it closer to the size and shape of an eyeball.

He needed to leave some extra material for the later shaping, so he couldn't cut it down to the exact size of an eyeball just yet. Otherwise, there would be nothing left to refine.

Then he began fine-tuning the Shadow Wood with the Spiral Fine-Tooth Tool.

As he worked, Shen Xing showed more focus than ever before. He forgot the passage of time, his hunger, and his fatigue.

He was in a near-trance, his mind filled with the image of that bloodshot eyeball.

Normally, with Shen Xing's skill and speed, finishing the eyeball would have taken at least twenty-four hours. But from morning until dusk, he had already completed the entire eyeball.

After shaping the surface and sides with the Arc Blade and the Flat Chisel, he switched to the Electric Dental Drill for the fine details.

Soon, the last rays of sunset vanished, and the city lights came on.

Shen Xing let out a heavy breath and suddenly stopped. He slowly lowered his tools and stared without blinking at the almost-finished eyeball.

Only then did he feel as if he had finally come back to life, able to sense the world around him again.

The night breeze drifted in through the window. The yellow streetlight fell across the corner of the window, casting a long triangular shadow.

By now, he had recreated the physical form of the bloodshot eyeball in his mind. But the most accurate parts were the front and sides—the surfaces that had faced him. Since he had never seen the optic nerves at the back of the eye, he hadn't carved them yet.

He removed the wooden eyeball from the bench vise and carefully inspected it in his hands. Suddenly, a powerful wave of weakness washed over him.

Shen Xing was overcome by thirst. He immediately got up and, his steps unsteady, made his way to the water dispenser in the living room. He filled a large glass and gulped it down. Soon, he felt full, and then a powerful wave of sleepiness swept over him.

He had been jolted awake shortly after four in the morning, fought with Lin Wanru's corpse, then ran downstairs in terror to dig out her eyeballs. After that, he had spent so long speaking with the Public Security Bureau officers who arrived, constantly afraid of exposing his secret. His nerves had been stretched taut the entire time.

Now he had spent nearly ten hours carving at the worktable with complete concentration, his mind free of distractions. Shen Xing had never felt so exhausted. He could barely keep his eyes open.

He set down the glass and returned to the bedroom. The moment he lay down and his head touched the pillow, he fell asleep.

The worktable lamp was still on, and the window was still open. But just as Shen Xing had told Xiong Wei and the other officers, the old apartment building was utterly quiet, cloaked in an eerie stillness.

Time passed.

He slept until five the next afternoon.

Shen Xing woke up from hunger.

Before he even opened his eyes, he heard his stomach growling.

Half-asleep, he opened his eyes. The face of a stranger appeared before him: a woman standing beside his bed, bent over and watching him.

The sight jolted Shen Xing upright.

"Don't be nervous. I'm an investigator with the Public Security Bureau." The woman stepped back, smiling as she spread her hands. "You were sleeping so soundly that I didn't want to wake you."

She was tall and attractive, with clear eyes and short hair cut to her ears. She wasn't wearing a uniform, but a fitted white T-shirt and belted jeans, with a small glossy black backpack on her shoulders.

As she spoke, the woman took out her credentials and held them up close so Shen Xing could get a good look.

Shen Xing glanced at them.

The card read, "Li Naijing, Investigator, Special Case Investigation Unit, Yungu City Public Security Bureau." A black six-pointed star was centered near the bottom.

Shen Xing remembered the officers he had just met. Xiong Wei's credentials didn't seem to have a similar symbol.

"Li Naijing?" he murmured.

The name sounded imposing, yet somehow had a... milky quality to it!

"How did you get in?" Shen Xing asked, gathering his wits.

Li Naijing shrugged. "I came in through the front door. The Investigation Team has plenty of ways to open a junk lock like this. We also have the authority to enter private property without the owner's consent."

With that, Li Naijing turned and walked toward the living room. "Get up. Let's talk about the details of yesterday's case."

As she turned, her gaze passed over the unfinished wooden eyeball still in Shen Xing's hand. Her eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn't ask about it.