Hong Bin

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Hong Bin (洪斌)
Alias(es)	Uncle Hong
Species/Race	Human
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Hong family
Status	Alive; recovered from the Fake Hong Bin incident and later traveled with Hong Anjie to visit his daughter and son-in-law in another province. 21
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Background / History

Hong Bin began exhibiting alarming changes in behavior, including refusing to bathe, staring at the table while eating, and making a gurgling noise when alone. His son Hong Anjie initially feared that the man in their home was not his real father. 1

Before the incident, Hong Bin had encountered a silent figure squatting in a rapeseed field. When the figure counted aloud, Hong Bin involuntarily joined in by saying “six,” then lost consciousness and remembered nothing until waking in the hospital. Shen Xing later concluded that this encounter enabled an anomaly to replicate Hong Bin and indirectly affect his mind and behavior. 6

Shen Xing initially found an identical, confused-looking Hong Bin in the city and brought him home for safety. This duplicate later attacked Shen Xing, vanished after being struck by a wooden bust, and was absorbed into the carving. Meanwhile, the real Hong Bin—who had remained at home—fainted and was hospitalized. 2 3 4

After the duplicate was contained, Hong Bin’s condition improved rapidly. He was discharged from the hospital, resumed normal habits such as bathing, and described feeling mentally clear again. 6 He later appeared fully recovered during a trip with Hong Anjie and again when collecting the replacement bust Shen Xing carved for him. 21 26 27

Appearance

Hong Bin is an older, dark and thin man. The Fake Hong Bin was physically identical to him in both appearance and build. 2

• Has a light-red birthmark on his left shoulder. 1
• The duplicate was noted for a stiff gait, minimal arm movement, a lowered head, and an initially unfocused gaze. 2
• Hong Bin’s commissioned half-body bust captured his facial wrinkles, hair, clothing folds, and other details closely enough to be considered lifelike. 23 27

Personality

Following his recovery, Hong Bin is cooperative when asked about the strange events preceding his hospitalization, honestly recounting his encounter in the rapeseed field despite being frightened by the memory. 6

He is appreciative of Shen Xing’s craftsmanship, enthusiastically praising the completed replacement bust and giving Shen Xing a thumbs-up. 27

Relationships

• Hong Anjie — His son. Hong Anjie became deeply concerned by Hong Bin’s abnormal behavior, helped investigate the duplicate, and stayed with him during his recovery. 1 2 6
• Shen Xing — Hong Anjie’s university classmate and the woodcarver commissioned to create Hong Bin’s bust. Shen Xing’s containment of the duplicate coincided with Hong Bin’s recovery. 1 4 6
• Unnamed daughter and son-in-law — Hong Bin and Hong Anjie traveled to another province to stay with them after his recovery. 21
• Fake Hong Bin — An anomaly that perfectly replicated Hong Bin and indirectly caused his abnormal behavior. 6 21

Fake Hong Bin

Feature	Details
Name	Fake Hong Bin
Anomaly Number	01 21 42
Type	Ghost 42
Trait Strength	F-Rank 42
Status	Contained as a black shadow within Shen Xing’s original Hong Bin wood carving; its traits were later absorbed. 4 7 44

Replication and Control

The Fake Hong Bin can replicate itself into an exact copy of a human and continue living in that person’s likeness. It generally remains silent, speaks little, and rarely expresses an independent will. 21 42

• It created confusion by appearing as a second Hong Bin while the real Hong Bin was still at home. 2
• It could indirectly control the real Hong Bin, leaving him muddled and causing the abnormal behaviors that made it difficult for others to determine which Hong Bin was genuine. 6 21
• Shen Xing inferred that the anomaly’s replication was connected to the counting exchange in the rapeseed field. 6

Aggression

Although categorized as weaker than later anomalies, the duplicate became physically violent after seeing its own image in Shen Xing’s phone and the unfinished bust. 3

• It gripped Shen Xing’s shoulder with increasing force, made a drowning-like gurgling sound, and lunged for his neck. 3
• Shen Xing was able to force it backward; a falling wooden bust struck its forehead, after which it disappeared. 3 4
• Shen Xing later judged that it had almost no direct mental attack or influence compared with the Blood Pupil and Skin Face. 42

Woodcarving Containment

Physical contact with the Hong Bin bust caused the duplicate to vanish and appear as a curled black shadow inside the carving. This event activated Shen Xing’s Woodcarving System. 4

• Gazing at the carving steadily restores and increases Shen Xing’s Mental Antibody, though more slowly than the Blood Pupil carving. 5 6 21 22
• The Hong Bin carving produces a calmer and more stable mental state for Shen Xing than the Blood Pupil carving. 22
• Shen Xing absorbed the anomaly’s traits at 85% understanding, increasing his Physical Strength from Mortal Body 37% to Mortal Body 52%. 7
• Fake Hong Bin possessed no Latent Skill. 7 21

Notable Items

• Original Hong Bin bust — The first half-body carving made by Shen Xing. It contains the Fake Hong Bin’s black shadow and is retained by Shen Xing rather than given to the Hong family. 4 7
• Replacement Hong Bin bust — A second, more lifelike half-body carving completed for Hong Bin after the original became an anomaly container. Hong Bin received it and approved of the result. 23 27

Trivia

• Shen Xing’s records identify the Fake Hong Bin as the first anomaly he formally documented, assigning it Number 01. 21 42
• The original Hong Bin carving’s effect on Shen Xing’s Mental Antibody is slower than that of the Blood Pupil carving, but it is more emotionally stabilizing. 21 22
• After Shen Xing later absorbed the Blood Pupil’s traits, the Fake Hong Bin carving briefly trembled and an identical but mindless copy of Shen Xing appeared in his apartment. 43 44