The Vanishing Song Family

As for why Song Xiaoyu didn't notice her hair growing longer at first, it likely had to do with the fact that she already wore her hair in a long, shoulder-length style.

From this, one could infer that the strand of hair currently growing on Shen Xing's head shouldn't be excessively long; otherwise, it would have been impossible for Song Xiaoyu not to notice something amiss with her own hair.

What puzzles Shen Xing now is why his scalp is itching, and where this hair even came from. Has he been possessed by a ghost, or has some sort of curse been placed upon him?

From Hong Bin having his body replicated by a ghost, to Lin Wanru's pupils mutating (presumably influenced by the obsession of a vengeful spirit), this bizarre symptom of itchy skin now seems to be spreading through some unknown method.

He wonders if Feifei is alright, and if that male volunteer who fainted at the entrance has also been infected just like him.

Shen Xing finds himself increasingly curious about his current predicament.

Furthermore, he has noticed that within his trait deductions, the percentage of his understanding regarding whether these things are truly ghosts has not changed at all.

Whether he labels Hong Bin as a ghost or something else entirely, the numerical value for his trait understanding remains stagnant.

After a moment of silence, he once again makes the best possible trait deduction regarding the itching scalp.

[If the scalp itching and hair growth are left unchecked, the person's body will eventually be completely controlled by a bizarre force, turning them into... a walking corpse.]

Once the trait description is complete, the silver text in his mind shifts, and the value changes once more.

[Unknown Anomaly, current trait understanding: 75%.]

Holy crap! Shen Xing is somewhat startled as he introspects the text in his mind.

He never expected the deduction to go so smoothly; he has practically stripped this ghost—whether it be the scalp or the hair—down to its underwear!

According to his previous experiences, if his trait understanding exceeds 80%, he can directly lock onto "Song Xiaoyu," which should allow him to avoid the same tragic fate as her.

Right now, his understanding of Song Xiaoyu's ghost feels like peeling an onion, layer by layer, until he strips the other party down to their very core.

He didn't expect this feeling to be quite so satisfying. If possible, after encountering a ghost, he might be able to incapacitate it through deduction alone, allowing him to seal it away even without a wooden carving.

Of course, this is just Shen Xing's wishful thinking; for the remainder of the time, no matter how he deduces, he cannot raise his trait understanding by even another 5%.

He takes out a pair of scissors, snips off the strange, long strand of hair from the back of his head, and returns to the bedroom.

That night, worried that his itchy scalp might lead to further bodily mutations, Shen Xing is unable to sleep at all. He sits on the bed, constantly pondering what other traits this thing might possess.

He sits until 3:00 AM, and still too afraid to sleep, he finally reaches a decision. He leans back against his pillows to take a cautious nap, preparing to take action as soon as the sun rises.

The same night.

In the garden opposite Building 7, Unit 1, at the Jujia Garden Residential Quarter in the center of Yungu City.

Behind a bench in the garden, a man has been squatting in silence: Zheng Ruijun.

Worried that staying motionless in the residential garden at night might startle passing residents, Zheng Ruijun chose to squat in a secluded spot deeper within the garden, trying his best to avoid the night-time crowd.

His gaze remains fixed on the eighth floor of Unit 1 across the way.

Song Xiaoyu lives in Room 8-2 of Unit 1. From this position in the garden, one can see the floor-to-ceiling windows of her living room at a glance, yet the lights inside have never been turned on.

Since Zheng Ruijun is squatting in a dark corner of the garden, he has undoubtedly been feeding mosquitoes all night.

In this summer night, mosquitoes gather in droves in such places, and a buzzing sound has been flying around his ears constantly.

However, he has barely moved. Because he has spent years running around outdoors, his skin is rough and thick, so he has very few actual bites, though the buzzing near his ears is quite distracting.

A few large welts have swollen on his skin, but Zheng Ruijun remains as steady as a rock. Having arrived after eight in the evening, he has squatted there all night until the horizon begins to turn a pale, fish-belly white.

He lifts his wrist to check his vintage Laojiang Brand watch from '82; it is 5:30 AM, and it will be fully light soon.

Zheng Ruijun frowns slightly. Although people have entered, exited, or passed by the bottom of Unit 1, Building 7 throughout the night, he has watched very carefully, and Song Xiaoyu was not among them.

The lights in the eighth-floor apartment never turned on either.

She didn't come back? Where on earth did this family go?

Just past 6:00 AM, Zheng Ruijun frowns and stands up from behind the garden bench. He rubs his numb legs and turns to sit on the bench.

Because he is constantly on the move, he looks thin, but his physical fitness is actually quite good. When his legs went numb during the night, he would shift his position slightly, allowing him to hold out for a long time.

After resting for fifteen minutes, the soreness and numbness in his legs gradually fade. Zheng Ruijun stands up and walks to the entrance of Unit 1, Building 7. He peeks into the locked corridor and notices a security camera pointed directly at the door.

After a moment of thought, he heads toward the residential property management office.

Upon arriving at the office, he produces his identification.

"Hello, I am a peace officer investigating a case. I need to view your surveillance footage."

The staff member on duty is very cooperative, skillfully pulling up the surveillance footage for the entrance of Unit 1, Building 7. He adjusts the time to shortly after the shift ended at Qiguang Orphanage yesterday, then clicks play.

After watching for about twenty minutes, he sees over twenty people entering and exiting the entrance of Unit 1, and can vaguely see other residents passing by.

A few minutes later, a tall, thin woman wearing a light blue volunteer uniform appears on screen. She returns from outside the residential quarter, opens the unit's security door, and walks into the building without stopping.

"Stop," Zheng Ruijun says immediately.

The staff member hits the pause button at once.

Zheng Ruijun leans toward the screen to examine the image carefully, confirming that this woman is indeed the Song Xiaoyu who returned from the orphanage yesterday.

She is easy to identify; he had looked at several photos of Song Xiaoyu beforehand. Not only are the figure and features in the video very similar, but she is even wearing the same volunteer uniform.

"Officer, is this the woman you are looking for?" the staff member asks, pointing at the frozen image of Song Xiaoyu.

But Zheng Ruijun does not answer him.

Because at this moment, a thought suddenly arises in Zheng Ruijun's mind—a thought he himself finds hard to believe.

A moment later, he looks up and mutters to himself in astonishment: "Could it be that this family has been home the entire time, and they just never turned on the lights?!"