Those few discarded human skins seemed to come alive, precisely attaching themselves to several innocent bystanders nearby.
“Aaaah!”
“What on earth is that?”
“So disgusting...”
The bystanders let out startled cries, feeling their bodies suddenly tighten as if they had been instantly fitted with an invisible bodysuit.
But the sensation was fleeting, leaving no lasting discomfort.
After doing this, Boss Pi’s face twisted in extreme heartache. He didn't dare linger, shrinking his body down and ducking into a crowded dessert shop nearby, his figure vanishing into the surging tide of people inside.
Yue Shi reached the area beneath the billboard; he had briefly lost the target's exact location.
His cold gaze swept rapidly over the chaotic crowd, attempting to find the individual with the highest level of attractiveness.
However, to his confusion, there were many handsome men and beautiful women in the area. Bystanders were pointing at them, their expressions a mix of surprise, envy, and jealousy as they talked amongst themselves.
“What's going on? Why are there so many highly attractive people here?”
He could have identified Boss Pi by his looks, but now his senses were being misled. As Yue Shi's vision blurred with confusion, a golden vertical mark appeared on his forehead.
In the next second, the information that flooded into his Insight vision caused his pupils to tremble—
【A Human Skin】
【A Human Skin】
【ordinary human】
【A Human Skin】
【ordinary human】
【A human with multiple malignant infectious diseases】
【A Human Skin】
【A genderless human】...
After the brief shock, Yue Shi immediately realized that this was Boss Pi's trick. He had forcibly placed human skins onto innocent bystanders, using those attractive husks to create a large number of decoys to interfere with Yue Shi's judgment.
With that slight delay, Boss Pi had completely vanished into the massive crowd of the commercial plaza.
Moreover... although Boss Pi preferred to collect skins with exceptional looks, if he had an unremarkable, average face in his inventory and switched to it, the difficulty of tracking him would increase exponentially.
Yue Shi stood where he was, his gaze scanning the bystanders who had been given new skin. Some were still panicking, while others quickly accepted the situation, their surprise turning to joy as they struggled to hide their smiles.
The autumn sun continued to shine warmly as the bustling commercial plaza gradually recovered from the chaos. Pedestrians talked and looked around in suspicion and uncertainty, unaware that a most dangerous supernatural creature was now hidden almost perfectly within the city.
On the other side, at Mrs. Li's home, after Yue Shi had jumped out of the window to give chase, the assistant investigator who remained behind endured both physical and psychological discomfort. With trembling hands, he finished organizing the evidence.
Then he looked at Mrs. Li, who was slumped on the floor with a dull gaze. her eyes were hollow and lightless as she unconsciously muttered, “Xiao Ya... My Xiao Ya...” She no longer responded to anything around her.
A wave of immense bitterness and powerlessness surged in the assistant investigator's heart. He took a deep breath, stepped forward to forcibly help Mrs. Li up, and led her down the stairs step by step, settling her into the back seat of the Bureau's official vehicle.
“Ma'am, let's go. We should leave; it might not be safe here.”
Several ravens landed silently on the car roof and nearby streetlights, their pitch-black eyes alertly scanning the surroundings. They were left by Yue Shi to escort the assistant investigator and prevent any mishaps along the way.
The assistant investigator didn't look at the ravens. Carrying the silently weeping Mrs. Li and that hair-raising bag of evidence, he drove toward the Bureau.
The ravens on the roof followed like shadows. Fortunately, the journey was peaceful, and no further accidents occurred.
Back at the Bureau, the mentally broken Mrs. Li was placed in a reception room and temporarily cared for by a female clerk. She remained immersed in her own world, completely oblivious to the outside.
The assistant investigator didn't dare delay for a moment. Carrying the evidence bag containing the human skins, he hurried straight to the Section Chief's office of the Special Operations Section.
He didn't even have time to knock before rushing in, his face pale and his breathing ragged. “Section Chief Ling, something big has happened!”
Ling Xun, who was processing documents, looked up. Seeing his subordinate in such a distraught state, his brow furrowed immediately. “Calm down. What happened? Where's Yue Shi?” He noticed that the assistant investigator had returned alone.
The assistant investigator swallowed hard and recounted the supernatural incident at Mrs. Li's house as concisely as possible: Xiao Ya's abnormality, Yue Shi's sudden “strangulation,” the corpse's bizarre “resurrection” and molting, the repeated molting into different people, and finally Yue Shi's pursuit...
As he spoke, Ling Xun's expression became increasingly grave. Especially when he heard about the “molting” and “turning into different people,” he seemed to think of something, and his eyes suddenly grew sharp.
“Are you sure? The target can't be detected by instruments, and they can turn into entirely different people by shedding layers of skin?” Ling Xun's voice carried a hint of subtle urgency.
“It's absolutely true. I saw it with my own eyes! One layer of human skin after another came off, and another person crawled out from inside. Mr. Yue Shi shattered many of his skins,” the assistant investigator gestured excitedly, the shock still visible on his face.
Ling Xun stood up, his usual composure vanishing, replaced by an expression of extreme gravity. He grabbed the evidence bag from the assistant investigator's hand. “I will handle these personally. Follow me!”
He led the assistant investigator, almost running through the corridor, until they reached the director's office.
Ling Xun had the assistant investigator wait outside the door while he knocked. Upon receiving permission, he pushed the door open and entered.
Director Tang Zhuhe was sitting behind her large desk reading a book, the sunlight casting mottled shadows through the blinds. She looked up and, seeing the urgent look on Ling Xun's face, put down her book and asked calmly, “Section Chief Ling, what is it?”
Ling Xun didn't beat around the bush, placing the evidence bag directly on the desk and lowering his voice. “Director, we may have... found traces of ‘Boss Pi’.”
A slight ripple passed through Tang Zhuhe's eyes, though she didn't seem to take the matter very seriously. She didn't check the evidence bag immediately, but instead turned her gaze to Ling Xun. “Details.”
Ling Xun used the most concise language to repeat the core content of the assistant investigator's report.
Tang Zhuhe listened quietly, her face unreadable. After a few seconds of silence, she slowly reached out to open the evidence bag.
She gave the decayed and damaged fragments of skin a faint glance before setting them aside. Her gaze finally fell on the relatively intact skin.
It was Xiao Ya's skin, slumped in a heap while maintaining a rough humanoid shape. Her hair and facial features were clearly visible, but it had lost all support and life.
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