You Moved

He let out a roar! The eye outside vanished without a trace in an instant!

His hand had already found the wooden stick beside him, his knuckles white from gripping it so hard!

His view returned to the outlines of the classroom in the moonlight.

The people on watch were still there, and the people who had been asleep were still sleeping. Nothing seemed to have changed.

Lin Yang slowly let out his breath.

His hand was still shaking. It wasn't because he was scared... all right, part of it was because he was scared.

The eye had appeared and disappeared so quickly that he hadn't even had time to see whose face it belonged to.

One of the people on watch? Or someone from the muscular man's group pretending to be asleep?

He leaned against the wall, laid the stick across his knees, and closed his eyes without falling asleep.

He forced himself to stay awake, because he knew one thing: something was watching him!

Maybe it was because he had killed a Faceling, or maybe it was because he had stepped to the front of the group!

Time crawled slowly by in the silence.

A faint sound of wind came from the ventilation duct, as though something were breathing far away.

Occasionally, someone outside turned over, or mumbled something indistinct in their sleep. Then silence returned.

Midnight passed.

A system notification sounded in his head.

[Midnight has passed. Seer, please begin your investigation.]

[1. Investigate someone's identity.]

[2. Randomly obtain a piece of information that may help you survive.]

Lin Yang rubbed his aching eyes and took a few seconds to wake himself fully.

"It finally refreshed."

An investigation or information?

He thought it over carefully.

He still needed food!

Even if he identified a Faceling now, it wouldn't be much use.

The food left in the refrigerator wouldn't last long, and he had no idea where his next meal would come from.

He chose 2.

[Obtaining information...]

The system fell silent for two seconds, and then a line of text appeared before his eyes.

[Information: A key is hidden beneath the third red brick under the classroom podium. This key can open the classroom's front door.]

Lin Yang's eyes widened!

A key? One that could open the door?

That was useful. Once the door was open, he might be able to find a way out and have more chances of survival!

He looked through the peephole at the tightly shut iron door at the front of the classroom.

His heart beat faster.

But he didn't go out yet. Facelings were roaming in the darkness now. Once the classroom door was open, nobody knew what would be outside. Acting rashly would be asking for death.

He'd better wait until daylight.

He suppressed his surging excitement and forced himself to close his eyes.

The next morning, he was awakened by a scream!

It sounded as if someone's own mother had been murdered!

Sharper and shorter!

Lin Yang practically sprang up and rushed to look through the peephole.

The classroom was in chaos again!

This time, the crowd had formed an unusual arrangement.

Most of the twenty-five people on Lin Yang's side stood where they were. Some were pale, while others craned their necks to look. But the muscular man's side had erupted!

The muscular man and the well-groomed woman stood at the edge of their camp, both looking terrible!

The woman's hand was shaking like a leaf, one finger pointing at the corner as her lips moved,

but Lin Yang was too far away to hear what she was saying.

He could guess, though. Someone had probably died again!

Lin Yang opened the storage room door and walked out with the wooden stick in hand. He went to the middle of the classroom, and the crowd automatically parted for him.

Shen Cheng stood at the front of the crowd, his face grave. When he saw Lin Yang come out, he nodded to him.

"Who died?" Lin Yang asked.

"Two people. From their side." Shen Cheng pointed toward the muscular man's group.

Lin Yang walked over. When the muscular man saw him coming, his lips trembled. He seemed about to say something, but nothing came out.

Lin Yang ignored him and went straight to the bodies.

Two men. One was older, around forty, wearing a gray work jacket. He lay on the floor with his head tilted to one side.

His wound was on his neck, just like Zhang Lei's. His throat had been torn open, the flesh curling outward. The blood had dried into a black scab on his neck!

The other was younger, in his early twenties, wearing a black T-shirt. He was still lying facedown, his fingers dug into cracks in the floor, every fingernail torn back!

A deep wound ran diagonally across his back from his left shoulder to his right waist. His clothes and flesh had been sliced open together, exposing the pale spine beneath.

Both men had been on the muscular man's side during yesterday's fight. Their wounds were deeper.

"H-how did they die?" a girl asked, trembling.

"Do you even need to ask?" Shen Cheng crouched beside the bodies and examined the wounds.

"A Faceling definitely did it."

The fatty sneered. "You wouldn't listen and keep watch. Now you're paying for it, aren't you?"

The announcement sounded again.

"Current survivors: 31. Current Facelings: 5."

The well-groomed woman was scared half out of her wits when she heard it. "More people are dead! Help!!"

The muscular man gritted his teeth. He pointed at Lin Yang's people and cursed. "You were on watch last night! Why weren't you keeping a proper lookout?!"

The fatty gritted his teeth. "Keep a lookout for your ass! You went against Brother Lin yourself, and you still expect us to stand watch for you?"

"You!"

Seeing that the two groups were about to fight again, Lin Yang spoke up to stop them. "Stop!"

Everyone paused.

He went on, "Everyone who was on watch last night, come here!"

Six people stepped forward. The fatty was first, followed by Shen Cheng, a middle-aged man with glasses, two young men who looked like college students, and a quiet man with a crew cut.

All six looked rather pale, apparently badly frightened by the bodies that morning.

"One at a time," Lin Yang said, looking at them. "What did you see last night?"

The fatty spoke first.

"I was on watch for the first half of the night, until about midnight, I think.

"I kept my eyes on our people. I didn't look over at their side. Nobody on our side moved. They were all asleep, and nobody got up during the night." He scratched his head.

"I got sleepy partway through and asked someone else from our group to take over. I woke up again in less than an hour."

Shen Cheng spoke next.

"I was on watch in the second half of the night, from about two to four. I kept an eye on the whole classroom, sweeping my gaze around every so often. Nobody on our side got up, that's true."

"What about their side?" Lin Yang pointed to the muscular man's camp. "Did any of you look over there last night?"

The six exchanged glances, their expressions a little strange. The fatty was the first to shake his head.

"We didn't have time to watch them."

Lin Yang looked at the other five.

The others were silent for two seconds before the crew-cut man spoke. His voice was quiet but steady.

"I saw something."

Everyone turned to look at him.

"I was on watch from about one to three last night," the crew-cut man said.

"I was sitting over there-"

He pointed to where he had sat the night before, near the window at the front left of the classroom.

"From there, I could see the corner on their side."

"What did you see?" Lin Yang asked.

"A figure," the crew-cut man said, frowning slightly.

"Over there. It just appeared out of nowhere. I stared at it for about two or three seconds, and the figure swayed, then disappeared!"

"A figure? What kind of figure?" Shen Cheng pressed.

"I couldn't make it out. It was too dark. The moonlight didn't reach that corner." The crew-cut man frowned more deeply.

"But there's one thing I'm sure of. It didn't look like anyone was sleeping where the figure appeared."

The people around them fell silent for a few seconds.

"Did anyone else see it?" Lin Yang continued.

Another college student who had been on watch raised his hand, looking a little embarrassed.

"I saw something move over there too, but I couldn't tell if it was a person or a shadow. I didn't look closely because I was responsible for watching our side..."

The other three shook their heads. They said they had kept watching Lin Yang's side and hadn't noticed what happened on the muscular man's side.

Lin Yang nodded. The crew-cut man's account was vague, but it provided at least one piece of information.

Someone, or something, had appeared in the muscular man's camp last night!

Lin Yang continued.

"Last night, did anyone leave their group's area during the night?"

All six watchers shook their heads. "Everyone was too scared even to piss. Nobody dared move at all."

Lin Yang looked at the watchers again. "What about you? Did any of the six of you move?"

"Even though the classroom was dark, you should have been able to notice the watchers near you."

Everyone shook their heads.

But then the fatty slapped his thigh, remembering something, and pointed at the crew-cut man.

"Wait! Around two this morning, I think I saw you move!"