There's a Faceling Among Them

Every breath in the classroom stopped for a moment. The despairing faces froze.

The fat man was the first to jump up. "You know?! Who is it?!"

Lin Yang turned around.

"Bring Zhang Hao and the other two here and tie them up!"

Zhang Hao was leaning against the railing, gnawing on a moldy biscuit he had dug out of some drawer.

He froze at the sight of a group of people carrying ropes. The biscuit fell to the floor.

"Tie me up?! What gives you the right? I'm not a Faceling!"

The two people behind him, one his brother and the other a balding middle-aged man, also stood up, surprise and wariness rising on their faces at the same time!

"Are you looking for a fight?"

"Then let's go! We're not afraid of you!"

They were brave, but reality was harsh.

The fat man charged over with a few others, and they pinned all three down in no time.

Zhang Hao was pressed to the floor with his arms twisted behind his back. The biscuit had fallen into the dust, and he struggled a couple of times, his facial muscles contorting with anger.

"What are you doing?! I'm not a Faceling! I'm fucking not!"

His voice exploded through the corridor. He kept struggling!

The fat man kicked him in the stomach. "Shut up!"

He curled up with a muffled grunt, the curses kicked back down his throat.

Lin Yang swept his gaze over the three of them.

"There's a Faceling among you!"

The words struck like a thunderclap, and everyone fell silent!

Shen Cheng frowned and took a step forward. He glanced at Zhang Hao and the other two, then looked at Lin Yang.

"How do you know?"

Lin Yang turned to face everyone.

"Last night, a Faceling was prowling around the office vent. The vent is on the outside wall, three stories up!

Without a ladder or a way up, the only person who could have climbed to the vent on the outside wall was someone who wasn't in the classroom.

And last night, everyone in the classroom was watched by the night guards, who kept an eye on one another. No one left, and no one was outside the classroom.

So the thing lying outside my vent and looking in couldn't have been anyone in the classroom!"

He paused for a second, his gaze sweeping over every face.

The atmosphere was strange. They weren't listening to a baseless accusation, but to the steps of a solution to a math problem.

Every step was certain, every one a fact they had witnessed with their own eyes.

"And they were the only three who weren't in the classroom last night!"

Zhang Hao gritted his teeth and began hurling abuse, nearly spitting in people's faces!

"Lin Yang! You bastard! You're using this to settle a personal grudge! What the hell are you talking about?! I'm not a Faceling! I slept through the whole night! The two of them can vouch for me!"

He pointed at his brother and the balding man.

Both men nodded, but at different rates.

Lin Yang had already begun to speak, his voice drowning out Zhang Hao's increasingly rapid protests.

"I know it isn't you."

"Then why the fuck did you grab me? Are you fucking sick?!" Zhang Hao's eyelid twitched.

Lin Yang continued explaining to the crowd.

"Based on what we've seen these past few days, Facelings hide among people.

They know better than anyone how to act like normal people. They wouldn't spend the whole time playing the hero like you, afraid no one would notice you.

You've done more stupid things than anyone else. There's no way someone like you could be a Faceling!"

"You!!"

Zhang Hao opened his mouth to curse him back, but the fat man beside him glared at him, and he promptly shut it.

Shen Cheng looked thoughtful and brought the conversation back on track. "Then which of these two is the Faceling? Or are they both Facelings?"

"No, there's only one," Lin Yang said.

"Why?"

"The broadcast said that when Facelings outnumber ordinary people, they stop disguising themselves and enter a killing state."

Lin Yang looked at the three of them.

"There are three of them. If two were Facelings, the Facelings would have been in the majority and should have made their move last night. But no one died last night. So there can be at most one Faceling among the three!"

Shen Cheng slowly nodded.

The logic was clear, and he understood now. Everyone present went from exchanging glances to nodding in agreement.

This wasn't a guess, but a deduction. Every step could be traced back, and every step was built on facts they had already confirmed!

A hint of admiration gradually appeared in everyone's eyes as they looked at Lin Yang!

"Then how do we find this last Faceling?" someone asked.

"Wait," Lin Yang said.

Everyone was confused. Shen Cheng pressed him.

"Can we find the Faceling just by waiting?"

Zhang Hao had recovered in the back and gave a couple of dry laughs.

"Hmph, you're just putting on an act. We can find the Faceling by waiting? Go to hell. You won't find it even if you wait until you're all dead!" His voice wasn't loud, and he sounded far less confident than before.

The others also thought it was a long shot, but no one argued.

Lin Yang offered no further explanation. He simply turned and walked back into the office, then closed the door. He leaned against it and closed his eyes.

If he simply waited, it would be difficult to catch the Faceling slipping up. He was waiting for midnight, when the system would refresh and his inspection opportunity would return.

One night, one inspection-that was enough for him to ferret the Faceling out from the last two people!

The wait through the day was long and restless.

Lin Yang sent people to look for food, but they too came back empty-handed.

Everyone stayed in the classroom as Lin Yang had instructed, taking turns guarding Zhang Hao and the other two.

The fat man sat by the door, a table leg across his knees, staring at the two men without blinking.

Zhang Hao's brother huddled in the corner, his face largely expressionless. He merely looked up at the people around him from time to time.

The balding middle-aged man sat on the floor with his eyes closed. It was impossible to tell whether he was resting or thinking.

Time crawled from morning to noon, and from noon to evening.

The sunlight went from gray and hazy to dim yellow, then to a cold white.

Moonlight shone through the windows, a little brighter than it had been the previous few nights.

The night-watch arrangements remained the same.

Lin Yang told the night guards to keep a close eye on the three of them, especially the two men beside Zhang Hao.

Then he went into the office, closed the door, and braced it with a wooden stick. He stood behind the peephole and watched outside for quite a while. Only after confirming that everyone was at their post did he sit down against the wall.

Midnight passed. A system notification sounded in his mind.

[Midnight has passed. Prophet, please begin your prophecy.]

Lin Yang did not hesitate.

He chose to inspect, then randomly picked one of the last two targets: Zhang Hao's brother.

[Inspecting the target's identity.]