SES Chapter 29 V1

Chapter 29 

Cao Yanhua lived up to expectations. After a few minutes of rattling, prying, and clanking, the lock bolt clicked open—a sound as sweet as music to their ears.

That soft click had a strangely calming effect on Mu Dai. She blurted out, “Wait!”

Too late. Cao Yanhua had already pushed the door open.

Luo Ren had indeed made preparations. The room had been cleared out almost entirely. A large floor-to-ceiling cabinet blocked the windows. The only furniture was a desk with a pair of scissors, a water cup, and a stopwatch on it. Even the air vents had been sealed up with tape.

Yi Wansan craned his neck, glancing around. “No one’s here?”

As soon as he spoke, the bathroom door opened. Luo Ren emerged, carrying Ping Ting in his arms.

Her arms hung limply, her body lifeless. Though her clothes were dry, her face and hair were dripping wet. Water ran down in rivulets. Luo Ren’s face looked terrifying. He rasped, “Don’t come in.”

Had he drowned Ping Ting?

Mu Dai’s heart pounded. She instinctively held Yi Wansan and Cao Yanhua back. Luo Ren quickly stepped to the desk and laid Ping Ting face down across it. He picked up the scissors and cut open the back of her shirt. With a sharp rip, he tore the fabric apart.

Even from the doorway, her skin gleamed pale and smooth like jade.

Yi Wansan stammered, “He… what the hell is he doing?”

No one answered.

Luo Ren picked up the stopwatch. His lips moved slightly; his hands were trembling. The watch’s chain swayed back and forth.

Mu Dai’s ears buzzed with tension. In moments like this, every second counted. Within two or three minutes—whether the thing detached or not—Ping Ting would have to be taken for emergency treatment. But what if they couldn’t save her?

If she died, Luo Ren would become a murderer.

And what about what the fortune-teller had said? That the “human skin” was sentient and avoided too much attention. Could it still detach now, with so many people watching?

Mu Dai’s mind was spinning. There were too many unknowns. But Luo Ren was so worried about Ping Ting, he’d chosen to take the risk without thinking it through.

Is this what people mean when they say, “love clouds your judgment”?

Without looking at her, Luo Ren spoke toward her: “Mu Dai, keep your head. When it’s time to go, you go.”

Mu Dai’s eyes reddened. She nodded instinctively, then realized he couldn’t see that. She wanted to say “okay,” but the words caught in her throat.

Cao Yanhua, having picked the lock, didn’t even get a thank you. Now he was lost. “Mu Dai,” he asked repeatedly, “what the hell is going on here?”

At that moment, Yi Wansan gasped, his eyes wide. “What the hell is that?!”

It felt like a scene from a slow-motion movie. A piece of human skin began to curl up from Ping Ting’s back.

It was thin as a cicada’s wing, with a weird glistening sheen and blood-red streaks around the edges. It curled naturally, like scorched plastic.

So that’s the human skin?

Mu Dai’s breath caught. She could see every detail in perfect clarity.

Maybe because it had just detached, it moved slowly. The middle of it arched upward as it slithered forward—or turned, or pulled back.

Gradually, it slid down from Ping Ting’s back onto the table.

Cao Yanhua answered Yi Wansan’s question: “Might be some kind of parasite.”

Yi Wansan found that plausible. After all, the world’s full of strange things—carnivorous pitcher plants, man-eating spider flowers—so why not this?

Luo Ren didn’t care what anyone else was doing. His eyes were locked on that piece of skin. As soon as it was off Ping Ting, he scooped her up, hesitated, then shouted, “Take her! Get her out—where’s Uncle Zheng? Emergency help!”

Mu Dai lunged forward to catch Ping Ting. The force of it knocked her back three or four steps. She nearly fell, but the crowd by the door steadied her.

Uncle Zheng had been waiting outside. He was nervous to begin with, but Luo Ren had given strict orders: no matter what happens, prioritize saving Ping Ting.

He quickly took her out. Seconds later, they heard the nurse shouting from the living room: “Quick, lay her flat!”

It felt like running a relay at full speed, only to collapse at the finish.

Mu Dai was gasping for breath. She looked up—and her mind blanked.

The skin had already climbed onto Luo Ren’s shoulder!

She screamed and—who knew where the strength came from—pushed off the doorframe and flung herself at him. Luo Ren didn’t even know he was in danger. He thought she was falling and reached out to catch her.

Mu Dai grabbed his arm to steady herself, and with her other hand, lightning-fast, she snatched the skin and slammed it to the floor.

All in less than a second.

A moment later, she was stomping her feet and shrieking, flinging her hands around wildly.

Maybe it was her martial arts training—sometimes her body moved faster than her brain. If she’d had time to think, she never would have dared to touch it. What if it carried a virus?

Now she could feel the texture again—slick, sticky, writhing—and nearly vomited.

Luo Ren saw the skin twist and rise from the floor and panicked. Without thinking, he wrapped an arm around Mu Dai’s waist and tossed her upward. “Get on the wall!”

Then he yelled, “Shut the door—don’t let that thing escape!”

Mu Dai’s reflexes were excellent. She twisted in the air and used the corner joint of the walls to brace herself against the ceiling.

Luo Ren felt a bit of relief knowing she was safe. But when he turned back to the door, he almost burst out laughing—or crying.

They’d misunderstood. He’d meant to get everyone else out before shutting the door. But now Yi Wansan and Cao Yanhua were inside, bracing the door from the inside. Cao Yanhua was even pressing his body against it. “Locked up tight!”

From her perch, Mu Dai shouted, “You two—run! Don’t let it touch you! It’s toxic—contagious!”

Toxic?! Oh hell no. The “parasite” scuttled toward them. Cao Yanhua took off running. Yi Wansan, a beat slower, scrambled up the wardrobe, clinging to a corner like a frightened cat.

The skin started climbing the cabinet, heading right for his face.