Better to Kill the Wrong Person Than Let One Go

Someone was dead!

The Seer was dead.

Zhang Lei lay on his back, a huge gaping wound in his neck.

His flesh had curled back, its edges ragged, as though it had been bitten and torn apart by brute force!

His eyes were still open, his face horribly contorted, his mouth wide. He looked as though he had desperately tried to shout something before he died!

Lin Yang did not recognize the man beside him, whose death had been even more gruesome.

He lay facedown, the clothes on his back torn open. Five deep bloody gouges ran from his shoulder blades all the way to his lower spine, deep enough to expose bone!

A horrifying trail of blood stretched across the floor from the middle of the classroom to the corner. He had clearly struggled before dying, but had not crawled far!

Everyone in the classroom stared at the two bodies.

The people who had already been on the verge of a breakdown completely lost it.

"Aah!! Someone's dead! Someone really died!"

"Help!! Help!"

A girl screamed, frantically backing away.

The people behind her were shoved off balance, but no one cared. Fear showed in everyone's eyes.

"Who did it? Who the hell did it?!"

"Don't you get it yet?"

Someone roared, his voice trembling on the verge of breaking.

"It's over!! We're doomed!"

"It was a Faceling! The broadcast was telling the truth! Facelings really do kill people! Facelings really exist!"

"This isn't a variety show at all! We've transmigrated into a world of Facelings!!"

The words fell on the crowd like a bucket of ice water, silencing everyone for a moment.

Those who had sworn up and down yesterday that this was a variety show were now deathly pale!

Even the fat man with the loudest voice was huddled in the middle of the crowd, his lips trembling, unable to utter a word.

"Wh... how could this... Facelings... someone's dead?!"

"..."

Just as everyone was at a loss, the young man from last night stepped forward.

He was around twenty-five or twenty-six, wearing a dark gray hoodie. He was about 1.75 meters tall and carried himself steadily.

"Everyone, shut up!" He raised his voice above the clamor of the crowd.

"Right now, there's only one thing that matters! Find the Faceling! Otherwise, even more people will die tonight!"

The clamor in the crowd gradually died down. Harsh as those words were, everyone knew they were true.

Someone asked in a trembling voice.

"But Zhang Lei is dead. The Seer is gone. How are we supposed to find the Faceling? Who can still check for Facelings?"

"I told you we should have protected the Seer!" The fat man suddenly erupted, pointing at the young man.

"It was you! You said everyone should stay where they were last night, but the Seer still died! Are you a Faceling? Did you kill him?"

The young man's face turned livid with anger.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? You were the one guarding Zhang Lei last night! If we're talking about suspects, you're the biggest one! You were closest to him, and he died while you're perfectly fine. How do you explain that?"

The fat man froze, clearly not expecting the other man to turn the accusation back on him. His face flushed a deep purple.

"Bullshit! I fell asleep last night! I didn't hear a thing!"

"Asleep? Two people were killed right next to you, and you were asleep?" The young man sneered.

"Aren't people like you the kind who'd be a Faceling's accomplice?"

"You-"

"Stop arguing!" A girl's voice cut them off.

Everyone looked over. The speaker was a girl with a ponytail and delicate features. She had dark circles under her eyes and clearly had not slept well.

She pointed a trembling finger at a short man in the crowd.

"Zhang Lei checked him yesterday and said he was a Faceling. The Seer's check is ironclad proof. No matter who killed the Seer, he's definitely a Faceling!"

At those words, the air fell silent again for a few seconds.

Everyone's gaze turned to the short man at once!

He was a little over 1.6 meters tall and slight of build. Standing at the edge of the crowd, he had barely been noticeable to begin with.

With so many people staring at him at once, his body went rigid, and the fear in his eyes nearly overflowed.

He shook his head rapidly, as though he had been burned.

"N-no, it wasn't me! I'm not a Faceling! How could I possibly be a Faceling?!"

No one spoke.

Sometimes silence was more frightening than any accusation. It was a silence that felt like a sentence had been passed!

Panic flashed across the short man's face, and his voice grew high and shaky. He pointed at the bodies on the floor.

"I'm not a Faceling!!

He was lying! That Zhang Lei! He wasn't the Seer! He might have been a Faceling pretending to be one!"

Hearing this, the fat man stepped forward and pointed at him, an angry sneer on his face.

"He was a Faceling? You think a Faceling would kill himself?"

The words caught in the short man's throat. All he could do was shake his head desperately and explain.

"N-no... I mean, he could have been an ordinary person pretending, too!

Didn't the broadcast say Facelings could pretend to be the Seer too? Ordinary people can pretend to be the Seer as well! I didn't kill him! I was with you all last night. How could I possibly..."

The fat man pushed his way out of the crowd, clutching a knife he had found somewhere. Its blade gleamed coldly in the sunlight!

"Cut the crap!"

His face wore an expression mingling fear and ferocity. Now, scared out of his wits, he only wanted to use violence to redirect his fear!

"He said you're a Faceling, so you have to die! Better to kill the wrong person than let one go!"

"What gives you the right?!"

The short man backed up two steps, his back hitting a desk with a grating scrape. His eyes reddened, and he was nearly in tears.

"What right do you have to decide who dies? I told you I'm not a Faceling! Besides, what you're doing is against the law!"

"The law? Hahahaha!" The fat man laughed. "In this godforsaken place, the knife is the law!"

The fat man did not back off. Instead, he pressed a step forward, tightening his grip on the knife and pointing it straight at the man.

"Those who achieve great things don't bother with trifles! One of you dies, and more than thirty of us get to live. Can't you figure out that much?"

"If you're not a Faceling, count yourself unlucky. If you are a Faceling! Then... we've come out ahead!"

The young man in the dark gray hoodie immediately rushed forward and spread his arms, shielding the short man. His voice was urgent and firm.

"You can't kill him! What if Zhang Lei was just an ordinary person who pointed at someone at random?

If you kill him today over a claim with no evidence, couldn't someone else use the same excuse to kill you tomorrow? Or me? By then, everyone will fear for their lives, and no one will survive!"

His argument was sound, and people in the crowd began to nod.

Several people who had been moving closer also stopped, hesitation showing on their faces.

But the fat man did not listen at all.

The flesh on his face twitched twice, and his gaze grew even more vicious. Like a rat backed into a corner, he bared his teeth instead.

He shoved the young man aside with enough force to send him stumbling back several steps, nearly falling to the floor!

"Don't fucking lecture me!"

The fat man pointed the knife at the short man's face, his voice trembling, frenzied and wild!

"I don't want to die! Anyone who threatens my life has to die!"

The short man collapsed onto the floor, staring at the knife suspended above his head.

Tears rolled from his eyes, and his lips trembled so badly he could barely get a word out. "N-no... no..."

The fat man stepped forward and raised the knife over his head. He was about to stab down!

But just then, a shout came from the direction of the storage room.

"Stop!"