Infinite Game Ch.14

Chapter 14 – Human Skin Honghong (3)

The polite demeanor of Jiang Yujin was finally responded to. Slowly, with a tightening grip on the surgical knife, Honghong said, “Long time no see, trickster 001.”

The exemplary citizen Jiang Yujin didn’t acknowledge the title of trickster.

The surgical knife slipped a bit from her hand, seeing the other person’s seemingly honest face. The smile on Honghong’s face gradually faded. “You actually don’t remember.”

This person, who now appears innocent, lied to her in the game, saying that he’d give her his face if she gave him a surgical knife. Instead, he used that surgical knife to kill most of the strange species in the instance and left without returning.

She waited year after year until the world collapsed, the game beaten, yet she never saw this trickster again.

Jiang Yujin raised an eyebrow slightly. “Is that so?”

The smile completely vanished from Honghong’s face. Under the faint blue light, numerous surgical knives appeared, all their tips aimed in one direction, their sharp glint dazzling.

Jiang Yujin frowned in disapproval. “How can a child play with such dangerous things?”

The surgical knife instantly thrust toward him, seemingly trying considerately to avoid his face.

The surgical knife was too perilous, so he chose to help destroy it, leaving only one held in his own hand.

Honghong just watched as her knife turned into a heap of debris in the air, her once innocent eyes instantly turning pitch black.

Her body’s stitched seams at every joint gradually elongated, strained, then ruptured. Her figure stretched, her jagged back reaching the ceiling, her body stooped forward. Her hands elongated, fingers merging, elongating further, eventually taking on a shape akin to a knife.

Jiang Yujin lifted his head, looking at the face now elongated beyond recognition, and the surgical knife spun in his hand. He squatted, leaped, and forcefully thrust the knife into Honghong’s neck, then spun it around from front to back.

The massive, grotesque head smoothly fell off, just before dropping completely, slender stitches extended from the neck, reattaching the head.

The knife blade formed from merged fingers swung forth. Jiang Yujin skillfully evaded, then once more sliced through the stitched seams across Honghong’s body, cutting through flesh, swiftly severing the slender threads hidden within the bones.

The surgical knife couldn’t withstand such rapid wear and force, breaking into two pieces, hitting the ground with consecutive clanks.

Honghong, or rather the ‘contorted and stooped monster’ description fitting better, its joints unsupported, collapsed as the surgical knife fell.

The seams began to emerge from the incisions, but slowly. Jiang Yujin approached steadily, took a glance, then kicked the grotesque head far away.

The stitches emerged but remained too distant, never reaching each other. The face on the head gradually turned pale, a pair of purely black eyes fixated on the person towering above it. It seemed like it wanted to speak, but its vocal cords were disconnected from its head, rendering it voiceless.

Jiang Yujin understood what it wanted to say.

[Give me your face.]

Even at this stage, still fixated on her creation, this child was strangely persistent.

After such a long time away from her own body, as the face began to decay and the viscous blood slowly flowed out, the eyes on the head ceased movement entirely, coming to a complete stop.

In the quiet room, the only sound was the slow trickle of liquid from the tubular object accidentally attacked, with glass shards scattered all around.

Jiang Yujin bent down, ready to pick up the comfortably laid-out Zhou Yang on the floor, as if noticing something, hesitated.

After a brief thought, he turned and walked toward the body lying near the room’s entrance, gripping the dismantled knife-like hand, gestured twice towards himself, then decisively struck his shoulder without any hesitation.

Letting dark red blood stain his clothes, he scanned the room, finally finding a clean spot without shattered glass, and lay down.

*

Zhang Si and the others left the mountain road after finding no clues, heading back to the city. Halfway there, they remembered the encounter at the foot of the mountain and found it increasingly peculiar, deciding to return.

As they headed back, not quite reaching the mountain’s base, they spotted something suddenly appearing in the distance. They stopped the car and upon closer inspection, discovered a colossal tunnel that seemingly materialized out of thin air.

Although unsure if this unexpected tunnel was related to Zhou Yang’s disappearance, they recorded a video and handed it over to the Special Investigation Unit for Strange Species. The unit quickly dispatched someone nearby to investigate.

A tall, unexpectedly handsome man with grey eyes arrived at the scene. He was not talkative.

Before his arrival, the tunnel vanished. Zhang Si’s group had been contemplating how to explain the existence of the tunnel in the distance. However, the man didn’t question the authenticity of their video. He instructed them to stay put and not approach, while he walked toward where the tunnel had appeared. Along the way, he glanced at the parked electric scooter before diverting his gaze.

As he approached, the vanished tunnel reappeared. Unlike the pitch-black appearance in the video, it was now visible as long as there was light.

Xu Tonggui stepped in, passing by a mound of garbage, glancing past fur and dismembered parts, then traversing a lengthy corridor, finally arriving at a partially open door.

The overhead incandescent light flickered as he pushed the door.

There seemed to be something obstructing the door, requiring a bit of effort to move it aside.

Blocking the door was a broken and grotesque corpse of an unusual species, blood staining the floor.

At the far end of the shattered tubular object lay two individuals. One was soaked but physically intact, seemingly unconscious.

The other was extremely familiar, lying quietly. Blood oozed from a wound on his shoulder, staining most of his upper garment, spreading onto the ground.

“…”

The ambulance, police cars, and other members of the Special Investigation Unit rushed to the scene. Due to the immense workload, the road, usually dark and quiet at night, remained bustling with constant incoming vehicles and various flashing lights.

The members of the Special Investigation Unit were the first to venture into the tunnel and found a place resembling a laboratory after the room with unusual features.

In the laboratory, they discovered the body of a young woman who had gone missing a long time ago and had recently died. The skin above her collarbone had been removed.

After eliminating all potential dangers, the members of the Special Investigation Unit stayed on-site to transport the strange species stored in a cylindrical container. Others were responsible for the people inside and the remaining limbs in the pile of garbage.

Xu Tonggui, who initially entered the tunnel, did not stay behind. Instead, he went to the hospital with the individuals rescued from the tunnel.

Zhou Yang was merely rendered unconscious by someone or something; there were no apparent injuries to the body. Friends accompanied him, and his parents were on their way after receiving the notification.

Jiang Yujin emerged from the operating room, still asleep. He only had one adopted son on paper who was still in high school. There was no one the hospital could notify. Eventually, only Xu Tonggui and Hu Li, who was still wearing a floral shirt, stood outside the ward.

Xu Tonggui looked through the ward’s window at the person lying inside, while Hu Li glanced at the large bloodstains on Xu Tonggui’s body and asked, “Are you hurt?”

The tone didn’t sound concerned but rather almost gleeful, as if surprised that someone like him could get injured one day.

Xu Tonggui lowered his eyes to the dried bloodstains on his arm and said, “This isn’t mine.” It belonged to the person in the ward.

Hu Li clicked his tongue in regret and also looked toward the ward, saying, “The doctor mentioned that his wounds were deep and would require a long period of rest.”

He arrived late and didn’t see the injuries, but he heard from the doctor that whoever did it showed no mercy.

The doctor wasn’t aware that the patient’s injuries were caused by a strange species, nor did he disclose it. He came here right after hearing about it.

Hu Li said, “According to the rough estimate based on the residual energy, the level of the anomaly inside the tunnel is approximately around S.”

The scene was chaotic, but there were minimal signs of a struggle, nowhere near the level expected from an S-class strange species. If it wasn’t due to the restricted space, then it was likely that someone with even greater strength had suppressed the situation, preventing it from escalating.

From the situation at that time, apart from the two surviving victims, there should have been a third person present who could easily kill an S-class strange species.

It unexpectedly resembled the situation previously at the Hongsheng Building.

Xu Tonggui acknowledged with a ‘Mm’.

Hu Li, feeling bored, had come over only upon hearing about Xu Tonggui having blood on him, seeking some excitement. Finding nothing much happening, he glanced at the ward and then left leisurely.

As Hu Li departed, the person inside the ward moved slightly. Xu Tonggui opened the door and stepped into the room.

Jiang Yujin woke up, and the first thing he did upon opening his eyes was to yawn, inadvertently causing pain in his shoulder wound. He took a breath, and his vision instantly cleared.

He saw Xu Tonggui standing by the side.

As if entirely unsurprised by this person’s appearance, he casually extended his uninjured hand and, in a natural tone, hoarsely said, “My phone is dead.”

He looked at the person by the bedside, who looked back at him.

“…”

After a brief gaze, Xu Tonggui took out his phone from his pocket and handed it over.

Taking the phone with delight, Jiang Yujin opened Xiaoxiaole and, with politeness, thanked Xu Tonggui before asking, “How did you come here?”

Apart from the bandages still wrapped around him and a paler-than-usual face, his spirit, evident from playing the game, seemed much better than an average person.

“I’m in charge of the tunnel incident.”

While eliminating little virtual animals on the phone, Jiang Yujin heard the person beside him inquire about what exactly happened in the tunnel.

He selectively recounted the truth, mentioning, “After Zhou Yang was knocked out, I was hit too, and I don’t remember anything after that.”

He said it seriously, nodding as if affirming his words, then added, “It’s terrifying, really.”

Fiddling with the game, he spoke like this without a trace of fear.

Xu Tonggui remained silent, and the room was filled only with the sound of the game being played.

Silently passing a few levels, Jiang Yujin lay comfortably in the ward, feeling as if he were in a five-star hotel. His gaze never left the phone screen, and he skillfully extended his hand, “Xu Tonggui, water.”

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