Something to Fill Their Stomachs

Thick black blood soaked through his clothes and spread across the concrete floor, giving off a bloody smell that wasn't rust! It smelled like rotten eggs, exactly the same as when Li Wei died!

His body twitched twice. His eyes were still open, and tears still clung to his face, but his pupils had already begun to lose focus.

That tear mingled with his black blood, glinting with an eerie light!

"What about now?" Liu Jialiang lowered his gun and looked at the black blood.

"Is he still innocent?"

The classroom fell silent, save for the last few gurgling gasps of air escaping the corpse's chest.

Then, as if answering the question for everyone, the announcement rang out!

"Current survivors: 28. Current Facelings: 4."

"Friendly reminder: Facelings are skilled at disguising themselves. Please be sure to identify them carefully."

Twenty-eight. There had been twenty-nine just now. One had died. The number of Facelings had dropped from five to four!

The classroom fell silent for three whole seconds. Then it erupted!

"He really was a Faceling!"

The fatty was the first to shout. He slapped his thigh, his expression changing from shock to wild delight, then to belated anger-all within three seconds.

"Fuck! He really was a Faceling! I fucking said he was no good! And he was crying just now! Cry, my ass! Fucking Faceling, crying my ass!"

"Four... there are only four Facelings left!"

Someone started counting and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Li Wei was one, and this guy was another. That leaves four!"

"Brother Lin was right! He picked the right one!"

The girls slowly lowered the hands they had clamped over their ears.

They looked at the black-blooded corpse on the floor, then at Lin Yang. The fear on their faces gave way to a complicated expression that was hard to describe.

There was shame, lingering fear, and guilt over having nearly gotten everyone killed.

If Lin Yang hadn't insisted, if Liu Jialiang hadn't fired that shot, the Faceling would still be hiding among them. Someone might have died tonight!

They looked at Lin Yang, their lips trembling for a long moment before they managed to force out a few words.

"Brother Lin... we're sorry. We shouldn't have... stopped you!"

Liu Yan stood where she was, staring blankly, her certainty utterly shattered.

She looked at the corpse on the floor, then her expression changed as quickly as turning a page. Smiling coquettishly, she stepped forward and reached for his arm.

"Brother Lin, I was just too softhearted. You were right. From now on, whatever you say goes. I'll listen to you!"

The fatty rolled his eyes beside them but said nothing.

Lin Yang glanced at the corpse, which was still twitching on the floor, then looked up at the people bowing their heads and apologizing before him. He said calmly,

"If anyone stops me again, don't blame me for using my knife."

No one argued.

In fact, if these people had really stopped him, he might actually have killed someone just now.

But... this Faceling really could act!

Once he had collected himself, Lin Yang's gaze fell on Liu Jialiang's gun. So... this was the gunman's ability.

Once things quieted down, everyone's attention turned to Liu Jialiang!

He stood on the edge of the crowd, having already put his gun away.

The gun was hidden in the pocket of his undergarment. He had returned to his quiet, taciturn manner, his gaze deep.

The way everyone looked at him changed as they finally realized what had happened.

"A gun!"

"He has a gun!"

The fatty was the first to rush over, his eyes wide and his face full of shock.

"You've got a fucking gun! Where did you get it?"

Shen Cheng looked just as stunned. "That shot just now was dead on! Where did you get that gun? You really aren't a Faceling!"

Liu Jialiang knew he couldn't keep it hidden anymore, so he had no choice but to explain.

"When I transmigrated, the system gave me an identity, along with this gun. I'm not a Faceling. I have a different identity."

Everyone understood at once.

"So that's it. No wonder you dared to go off on your own. You had a gun!"

"Doesn't that mean your identity is really powerful?"

The fatty slapped him on the shoulder, making Liu Jialiang stagger half a step forward.

"Why didn't you bring that thing out earlier? If you had, would we have been scared like that? Doesn't this make us invincible? Fuck the Facelings! We'll blow away every one that comes!

"Why don't we just lure the Facelings out and blow them all away, one by one?"

Liu Jialiang gave a wry laugh. He shook his head without saying a word.

Everyone who had grabbed him by the collar and pointed in his face while calling him a Faceling now lowered their heads.

The fatty scratched his head, looking thoroughly ashamed.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"For those punches I threw earlier, if you want to pay me back, you can do it now. I won't hit back."

Liu Jialiang shook his head. "Forget it. Better save your strength and find the remaining Facelings first."

The two smiled at each other and shook hands, putting the matter behind them.

Lin Yang waited until everyone's excitement had died down a little before stepping forward to ask a question.

"How many bullets do you have left?"

Liu Jialiang looked up at Lin Yang and fell silent for two seconds. Then he said quietly, "Not many."

He didn't give an exact number, but that shake of his head was enough to answer every question.

Lin Yang thought for a moment. "Thanks for what you did just now."

"What I did just now?"

"If you hadn't shot that guy, I'd still have plenty of trouble on my hands."

Liu Jialiang smiled. "You saved me before, so it only makes sense for me to help you now."

"..."

The night watch continued as usual.

The night was quiet. Nothing unusual appeared outside the vent again.

The eye never returned.

Lin Yang looked through the peephole several times but saw only the back of the person on watch in the moonlight and the fog outside the window.

The next morning, Lin Yang wasn't woken by a scream. He woke to stomach cramps.

His stomach clenched into a knot, then suddenly relaxed, only to clench again. After repeating this several times, it began to spasm.

Hunger seemed to seep out from between his bones. His hands trembled involuntarily, his mouth tasted bitter, and the saliva he swallowed was thick and astringent.

He had been here for so many days without a filling meal, and now that yesterday's tension had eased, he was naturally ravenous.

He pushed the door open and saw everyone in the classroom clutching their stomachs.

No one spoke or argued. Even their breathing had grown shallow, as though they were conserving their strength.

The fatty sat in a corner, the flesh of his face sagging. He looked a size smaller.

Liu Yan leaned against the wall, her lips dry and peeling. Her carefully applied makeup was completely ruined, revealing the sallow skin beneath. She didn't even have the strength to complain.

"If this goes on... we'll all starve to death..."

The food was gone.

What they had distributed yesterday was the last of the supplies in the refrigerator. Everyone had gotten just enough to take the edge off their hunger and make it through the day, but today there was nothing left.

Some people searched the classrooms and offices they had already been through countless times, bringing back nothing but moldy books and rusty paper clips.

Someone found half a bag of flour in the cafeteria at a corner of the school, but the flour had turned black and clumped together, and it smelled sour and rotten.

"Brother Lin," the fatty said, clutching his stomach, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"Is there anything else we can do? If we don't find food soon, we'll starve before the Facelings can kill us."

"Can we eat Facelings? What if we kill one and eat it?"

"..."

Lin Yang said nothing. He leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, and opened the system interface in his mind.

[Prophecies remaining: 1 (refreshed)]

He chose intelligence.

[Acquiring intelligence...]

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

[Intelligence: There is a loose wall panel in the northeast corner of this classroom. Behind the panel is a hidden compartment. Inside the compartment is something you need. It can fill your stomachs.]