Published at 8th of October 2024 3:14 am

Chapter 1556: Escape and Companions

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Wu Yiliu, fleeing for his life, jumped onto the first public bus that came into view and sat on it for a full two hours.

He huddled in the last row, using his backpack to occupy the seat beside him, and pulled his hat down to pretend to sleep. Li Bo knew where he lived in the dormitory, and after his escape, he likely went there to lie in wait. But Wu Yiliu couldn’t hide on the bus forever, and when the driver, whose face had changed, looked back at him for the umpteenth time, he knew it was time to get off.

Should he go home?

He staggered off the bus, lost in thought. During his last video call, the faces of his parents had widened and expanded before his eyes, like two slowly rising balls of dough, finally merging and blending together as they met. When his mother asked, “What’s wrong with you?” her mouth sent a wave that rocked his father’s face as well.

After that, he hadn’t contacted home.

No matter what was wrong with the world, his parents were safe in a way: they stood with the majority, changed like them, so he didn’t have to worry about them. What he had to worry about was himself, a lone outcast.

Wu Yiliu didn’t know where he could find refuge in this world.

But no matter where he went next, he needed money. When he left that day, he had only grabbed a couple of banknotes. His backpack, besides textbooks and notes, was missing essentials like a water bottle, charger, or change of clothes.

He had to return to the dormitory, but what if Li Bo was waiting for him? What if he had notified others? If the dormitory had become a trap, how could he avoid being discovered?

In his distress, Wu Yiliu’s mind wandered, and it took him a while to realize that he had gotten off the bus in an unfamiliar neighborhood. He looked around at the street signs, trying to determine the direction to the school—when he inadvertently glanced back, his hair stood on end.

More than ten minutes had passed, but the bus was still stopped several streets away, unmoving. Through the front window, he could make out the silhouette of the driver, frozen over the steering wheel.

Turn slowly, don’t run!

Despite his mind’s scream, Wu Yiliu nearly tripped and fell. He quickly steadied himself, lowered his head, and walked briskly forward, pretending nothing was amiss. Among the people on the street were twisted faces, faces that looked like they were sucked in by a vacuum, faces that appeared entirely normal—all of them seemed to sneak a glance at him as they passed.

After crossing two streets, Wu Yiliu glanced back at the corner.

The bus had slowly come to a stop just dozens of meters behind him.

His hair was standing on end.

He didn’t know how long the bus had followed him or how long the driver had been watching him. Had the driver become suspicious?

His survival instincts quickly took over. Wu Yiliu hurriedly rushed across the street and hailed a taxi, giving the name of his school. The bus, being large and slow, couldn’t catch up with the taxi. After looking back several times and seeing the bus finally disappear from view, Wu Yiliu let out a sigh of relief, cold sweat breaking out all over his back.

Those who can transform seem to react to normal people who can’t transform… Now it appears that even Li Bo, who had invited him to dinner, might have approached him because he noticed that his appearance never changed. The Changelings would track, observe, and probe; if exposed like the woman in the restaurant, all the Changelings nearby would surround the person as if summoned…

Panic and helplessness are still panic and helplessness, but Wu Yiliu couldn’t stop thinking. He repeatedly examined the information he had collected so far, hoping to gain as much advantage in his actions as possible—the more information he had, the safer he would be, but he still didn’t know enough. After thinking for a while, he gathered the courage to ask, “Sir, didn’t you take off your face today?”

“Not yet,” came the driver’s almost cheerful voice from the driver’s seat. “Wait a few more days, I will soon.”

So, was it a process? From facial transformation, gradually developing until the face could finally be removed?

Apparently, facial transformations don’t happen all the time. Thanks to the fact that they look the same as normal people when not transforming, it leaves a small space for survival for normal people like him.

He didn’t dare to look at the back of the driver’s head and only nodded calmly, asking, “Any plans for when the time comes?”

“What do you mean?” The driver seemed confused. “I will continue to work as usual.”

Wu Yiliu wanted to know what these Changelings ultimately wanted, but he couldn’t think of the right question. He had many more questions, but he didn’t know if he could ask—if some information was common knowledge among them, asking would expose him.

Unexpectedly, the taxi driver continued to talk. “How is your school doing? I heard there are many stubborn people there who should have been dealt with long ago.”

Was this probing or small talk? Wu Yiliu was a little unclear. His normal-looking face had already brought him too much trouble. “There are some suspicious ones,” he mumbled, “but most of my classmates are… good.”

Should he have used the word “good”?

He began to doubt himself only after the words were out of his mouth, but the driver didn’t pursue it further. “It’s a good thing you didn’t take off your face. Those hiding in the corners will let down their guard. My son’s class teacher caught his father-in-law like this.”

The driver’s voice was clear, and his tone was casual, as if talking about a household matter.

“Tell me about it?” Wu Yiliu asked, steadying his voice.

“That teacher is quite amazing, very alert. He became suspicious when his father-in-law said he was sick and didn’t leave the house for some time. So he never took off his face when he visited. Once, he pretended to be shocked looking at their faces, and his father-in-law was deceived… He took him to the hut and confessed everything. They say the old man was quite excited at the time, thinking he had found a companion,” the driver said, laughing dryly at the end.

What happened to the old man then?

He definitely couldn’t ask that question… All the Changelings seemed to know the answer.

Wu Yiliu sat in his own cold sweat, almost numbly watching the streets, utility poles, shops, and pedestrians recede, his mind seemingly blank for a moment. He didn’t know how he responded, only realizing where he was when the car stopped next to the school’s side gate.

These Changelings, not only do they retain their sanity, but they have also quietly begun hunting normal people.

Perhaps his acting was convincing, Wu Yiliu was somewhat surprised that he could get out of the car in one piece—only when the taxi was indeed gone did he suddenly feel weak in the knees. He wiped his face hard and, before entering the school, detoured to a nearby stationery store to buy a bottle of glue and some flesh-colored adhesive tape.

Hiding in a corner where no one was around, he carefully glued half an eye shut. The glue wasn’t very strong, so he had to constantly be careful not to open the eye all the way. Besides pressing down half his eyelid with glue, he also pinched his lips and taped them up with the flesh-colored tape—thus, at first glance, he appeared to have one eye half-closed, and his mouth had disappeared.

Certainly, as soon as one gets close, they will discover that his face doesn’t withstand scrutiny; but he has always used his hat to cover his face and keeps his head down to avoid people. To have changed to this extent, he could probably ensure his temporary safety.

Despite the disguise, Wu Yiliu didn’t rashly enter the dormitory building. He found a hidden spot nearby and watched the people coming in and out of the main gate for half an hour. It seemed that no one was keeping watch downstairs, but he dared not say that Li Bo was not waiting for a chance upstairs.

He could feel himself becoming more and more anxious, more and more uneasy – he was afraid that he would make some irrational decision when he got emotional. So, he quickly stood up, head lowered, and turned towards the library. Behind the library was a large area of grassland and woods, relatively sparsely populated, naturally safer.

Just as he was walking towards the library gate, Wu Yiliu inadvertently looked up and happened to see the old lady from logic class walking out of the door, holding a stack of books and documents, slowly descending the stairs. He recognized her at once, her appearance unchanged and her expression still calm. Come to think of it, it seemed that he had never seen any change in the old lady’s face.

This, of course, meant nothing in itself; Wu Yiliu naturally wouldn’t repeat the mistake of trusting Li Bo. His eyes lingered on her face for two seconds, then he planned to pretend he hadn’t seen her and continue walking forward – but in those short two seconds, the old lady saw him first.

When her eyes fell on Wu Yiliu’s face, she clearly widened her eyes and took a small breath.

This surprise was so subtle and fleeting that if Wu Yiliu hadn’t just withdrawn his gaze, he probably wouldn’t have noticed at all. However, even though his eyes saw it, his brain didn’t react at once, and he continued to walk forward; the old lady also didn’t call out to him, quickly turning her head as if she realized she had made a big mistake, as if she hadn’t seen him at all.

The class head, she’s just pretending to be surprised—

Wait.

Wu Yiliu suddenly stopped, turned quickly, and caught sight of the old lady’s hurriedly retreating figure.

He ran up to her and gently tapped her shoulder – the old lady seemed to have been prepared for this moment. When she turned around, her face was so pale that not a trace of color was left, her lips trembling slightly, looking more desperate and aged than ever.

Wu Yiliu almost cried for joy at this desperation.

“Professor,” he said softly, at once fearful and hopeful, his heartbeat so loud that he could hear nothing else. Apart from that, he was speechless and couldn’t say anything.

The old lady looked at him, the fear on her face gradually fading. She carefully examined Wu Yiliu’s mouth, and he only then realized that in his excitement, the flesh-colored patch had come loose a little when he opened his mouth to speak. Before he could react, the old lady reached out and reattached the flesh-colored patch.

“I-I knew it,” she said, her voice extremely low, still unable to control the trembling brought by excitement. “I knew it. You’re not one of them.”

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