Anomaly Management Bureau, Forging City Branch.
The screen wall in the observation room consisted of dozens of split-screens.
The screens were filled with Yu Duanhong’s daily life.
In the morning, he edited videos, occasionally frowning and muttering to himself.
At noon, he cooked instant noodles with practiced movements.
In the afternoon, he did a livestream for sales; in the evening, he picked up packages and greeted his neighbors calmly when they crossed paths.
He even found time to watch a movie.
Everything was normal.
In fact, it was too normal.
The analyst submitted the report: the target showed no anomalies.
The captain stood by the window, not even looking at the report.
It was too normal.
So normal that it felt wrong.
Humans are not machines, and Yu Duanhong was certainly no exception.
In theory, the Bureau hoped someone like Yu Duanhong would be an honest man who would endure mistreatment without fighting back, choosing to suffer in silence.
But in reality, when Yu Duanhong displayed such absolute honesty and normalcy, they knew very well that it was against human nature.
Feeling wronged, harboring hatred, and possessing negative emotions—those were the hallmarks of a normal person.
Yu Duanhong’s excessive calm and normalcy made people feel... that there was a problem.
The Bureau was well aware of his past.
His enrollment spot had been stolen, and he had spent years struggling at the bottom of society; these things should have left marks—sensitivity, low self-esteem, cynicism.
Now, he had a ghost inside him and lived under constant surveillance.
In such a situation, there should be pressure, humiliation, and intense emotion.
But he had none. He acted with utter composure; every word and every expression was perfectly reasonable.
He was like a program, not a person.
The captain in charge of the surveillance felt that Yu Duanhong might be suppressing all his negative emotions deep within his heart, using sheer willpower to maintain this perfect shell.
How long could that shell hold?
When the things underneath finally exploded, what would it look like?
The Bureau knew about what happened back then. They were perfectly clear on how the Wang family had manipulated things to steal his spot.
But they wouldn't interfere.
Because stability was more important than justice. Wang Hao was already a cog in the machine, and the connections behind him were too extensive.
In contrast, Yu Duanhong used to be a mere ant, and now he was a potential risk.
It would be best if he didn't cause trouble. But currently, even the 'best' situation was unsettling.
“He’s faking it,” the captain turned and said to the analyst.
“Keep watching him.”
“Micro-expressions, physiological data, all related information—especially any signs of contact regarding Wang Hao.”
The analyst nodded, but secretly complained in his heart. The captain had already formed a bias, assuming Yu Duanhong would definitely commit a crime.
By pushing someone so hard, even a good person would end up turning dark.
The monitoring continued.
Trust had never been established.
In the eyes of the Bureau, whether Yu Duanhong acted normally or abnormally, there was a problem.
They were waiting for him to commit a crime.
It would be another achievement on their records.
...
The Wang Residence.
“Ahhh! Who was it?!”
A middle-aged man roared in grief and rage.
The scene before him was far too gruesome.
Wang Hao’s belly had burst open.
Intestines and internal organs were scattered across the floor. Severed limbs and undigested food had ruptured the delicate digestive tract.
However, his vitality was remarkably tenacious; he hadn't died on the spot despite such injuries.
He was still clinging to a final breath, perhaps a momentary surge before the end. Wang Hao’s eyes searched around unwillingly.
At the very least, he wanted to die knowing why.
Of course, Yue Shi was not about to grant him that kind of deathbed comfort.
“Second Uncle...” Wang Hao struggled to call out, the light in his eyes fading rapidly.
Second Uncle Wang’s eyes filled with tears. He had come to find his older brother today for some business, but he couldn't reach him, and his sister-in-law was also unreachable.
Fearing something had happened to them, he hurried over to check.
The moment he entered, he saw this tragic sight.
His dear nephew had been stuffed to death, and he could see the incomplete remains of his brother and sister-in-law inside the boy's stomach.
“Who did this? Who dares to act so brazenly in my Wang family?!”
Second Uncle Wang looked around but saw no one else.
Just a moment ago, he had seen Wang Hao stuffing things into his own mouth, but it was obvious that Wang Hao was being forced.
There was something foul in this house.
“Cowards hiding in the shadows!”
“To dare run wild in my Wang family... you will pay for this a hundredfold!”
Second Uncle Wang’s expression was grim; he had confidence in his own strength.
As he spoke, the aura around him surged, and an invisible pressure spread in all directions.
Yet, it was useless.
Even the servant, Wang Ma, was unaffected, standing in the corner of the dining room like a corpse.
Second Uncle Wang’s heart sank. How could Wang Ma completely ignore his pressure?
His gaze locked onto her.
“Who are you?”
He growled and took a step forward, his right hand hooking like an eagle’s claw as he reached for Wang Ma’s shoulder.
He wanted to subdue this obviously problematic witness first!
But just as he was about to touch her...
The scene before his eyes suddenly shattered like a kaleidoscope.
Second Uncle Wang felt the ground vanish beneath him as a sense of weightlessness hit.
He let out a low shout, twisting his body mid-air with core strength and landing firmly.
But the sensation was wrong.
Beneath his feet was not the soft carpet of the Wang family dining room, but something smooth and hard.
He looked around, and his breath hitched instantly.
He was no longer in the Wang residence.
He was standing in a space composed of countless mirrors.
Above, below, left, right, front, and back—as far as the eye could see, there were mirrors reflecting countless versions of him.
But those reflections were all wrong!
One reflection was still performing the mid-air twist.
Another reflection still had traces of shock and rage on its face.
One reflection’s eyes were filled with confusion.
And one reflection actually pulled its lips back slowly, flashing a creepy smile at him.
“An illusion?” Second Uncle Wang barked. His voice bounced between the mirrors, overlapping into countless echoes that buzzed in his ears, making it impossible to tell the source.
He took a deep breath and slammed his fist into the mirror directly in front of him!
Bang!
The mirror didn't budge; not even a single crack appeared.
The reflected force made his arm go numb.
His reflection in the mirror also threw a punch, but its eyes watched him mockingly through the glass.
He tried the mirrors beside him and above him, but the result was the same.
These mirrors were unimaginably hard. His strength was enough to shatter a load-bearing wall with one punch, but here, he couldn't even leave a white mark.
He began to move, walking forward along what seemed to be a path.
But every few steps, the scene ahead changed abruptly. Sometimes it was a straight corridor with endless mirrors on both sides.
Sometimes a fork in the road appeared suddenly, with every path looking identical.
Sometimes, while walking, he would look up and find his reflection in the ceiling mirror walking in a completely different direction.
When he tried to turn back, the way he came had already vanished, sealed off by more mirrors.
He tried to memorize the route and leave markers, but it was useless. The space seemed to be in constant flux.
His anger gradually turned into unease.
“Come out! If you have the guts, face me directly! What kind of skill is this, playing these ghostly tricks?!”
Second Uncle Wang roared at the top of his lungs.
The countless versions of him in the mirrors roared back, though their poses and expressions were all slightly different.
He quickened his pace and began to run.
But no matter how fast he ran or how many corners he turned, the sight before him was always those mirrors and those reflections.
His breathing grew heavy, sweat soaked his back, and his instincts were screaming. Danger was everywhere, yet nowhere to be found.
Unease turned into terror.
He stopped, leaning against a mirror and panting heavily.
His reflection did the same, but its eyes grew increasingly unfamiliar and malicious.
“Who? Who is it?!”
His voice dropped low as his mind raced, trying to figure out who was targeting the Wang family.
To use such a vicious method!
Thinking carefully, the Wang family had quite a few enemies.
After all, for a family to rise, their hands couldn't possibly be clean.
Just then, the mirror surface not far to his left suddenly rippled like water.
Immediately after, a figure slowly emerged from the mirror.
It was Wang Hao!
He was wearing the clothes he had died in, his abdomen still burst open, dragging bloody organs behind him. His face was frozen in that expression of extreme pain and terror from his final moments.
Without any warning, he appeared right there, standing just a few steps away from Second Uncle Wang.
Second Uncle Wang’s pupils dilated as he took a half-step back.
But Wang Hao moved. He raised a finger and pointed at his own belly, then pulled the corners of his mouth toward his ears. The grin grew wider and wider until the skin of his face tore apart.
“Ah!” Second Uncle Wang finally couldn't take it anymore. He let out a scream, squeezed his eyes shut, and snapped them open again.
There was nothing in front of him—only his own reflection, face filled with panic.
Was it a hallucination? Or...
Before he could think further, Wang Ma’s face appeared in the mirror to his right.
It was still that deathly face, but her neck was turning in a series of mechanical jerks at an impossible angle.
Eventually, her face turned completely to her back, and those hollow eyes stared straight at Second Uncle Wang from inside the mirror.
A chill ran down his spine.
Then, even more bizarre scenes played out in the surrounding mirrors.
Reflections began to slaughter each other; his own face melted into a pile of mud; countless pale arms reached out from the depths of the mirrors to scratch at him; he even saw himself nailed to a mirror surface, being sliced apart inch by inch...
Terror completely took over.
The composure of a martial arts expert and family honor were all thrown to the wind in an instant.
He ran through the maze like a headless fly, fruitlessly attacking the mirrors as his mind gradually collapsed.
An unknown amount of time passed.
A different kind of light appeared ahead.
It wasn't the silver-white reflection of the mirrors, but a normal, warm yellow light, like it was leaking through a crack in a door.
Could it be the exit?
Like a drowning man grasping at the last straw, Second Uncle Wang stumbled toward the light.
Even if it was a trap, he accepted it; he didn't want to be tortured in that mirror maze any longer.
Passing through a stretch of mirrored corridor, the yellow light grew larger.
Finally, he seemed to burst out of the maze and into a... room?
It was a very small room. There were no lamps, yet it emitted a warm yellow glow.
This wasn't the Wang residence, nor was it anywhere he recognized.
Second Uncle Wang looked around. The room was almost empty, except for a single painting hanging on the wall directly facing him.
The material of the painting was strange—not cloth, not paper. It had a warm, yellowish-brown hue, and the surface had a greasy, oily sheen.
The painting depicted a woman.
She was stunningly beautiful, with skin like porcelain. A hint of a smile played on her red lips, and her eyes were filled with affection, as if she could see through the canvas and straight into the viewer's heart.
She was so lifelike and vivid that she didn't seem like something of this world.
Second Uncle Wang was stunned.
What a beautiful Portrait of a Lady.
But what he needed right now was to leave, not to admire a beauty in a painting.
He immediately began to inspect the room.
There was only that painting. When he looked at the back of it...
“Ugh!”
His stomach lurched.
The back of the painting wasn't canvas at all!
From the edges of that yellowish-brown material, countless fine, thread-like things that looked like nerves or blood vessels spread out!
They were tangled together, writhing slightly as if they were alive.
This painting was like a living thing.
“What... what kind of monster is this?”
Second Uncle Wang’s teeth chattered as he tried to back away.
Just then, the eyes of the beauty in the painting shifted.
Her gaze landed on Second Uncle Wang.
Second Uncle Wang froze in place.
The slight smile on the beauty’s lips deepened. On the back of the canvas, those nerve-like threads accelerated their writhing, shooting out like a swarm of vipers. Their speed far exceeded his reaction time.
They coiled around his body.
“No! Let me go! Let me go!”
Second Uncle Wang roared and struggled, his martial arts essence bursting outward desperately, but he couldn't snap those seemingly flexible threads.
The threads bored into his body.
The beauty’s smile grew wider.
Then, Second Uncle Wang felt an indescribable icy sting crawling between his skin and muscles.
“Ahhh!”
A blood-curdling scream rang out.
Silence returned to the room.
Only a skinless corpse remained on the floor. The beauty in the painting held a complete human skin in her hands.
Footsteps approached from a distance.
The beauty in the painting immediately put on a fawning expression, respectfully holding up the human skin with both hands.
A large hand took the skin.
A moment later, a brand-new Second Uncle Wang appeared, a sinister and malicious smile hanging on his lips.
He straightened his collar, which wasn't even wrinkled, and stepped out of the room.
Outside the door was the Wang residence. Wang Hao’s mangled corpse was already starting to emit a foul odor.
Wang-Yue Shi-Ershu pinched his nose in disgust, took two steps back, and forced a sorrowful expression onto his face.
“Too fake. You don't look sad at all right now; you look like you’re gloating,” Wang Ma said from the corner.
“Are you questioning my acting skills?”
“Do you even have acting skills?”
“An agency wanted to sign me once, you know~”
“They just liked your face and wanted you to be eye candy.”
“True. And they even tried to trick me with a trap in the contract. Fortunately, I’m smart and buried them all alive.”
Second Uncle Wang really couldn't manage a sorrowful look, so he simply stopped trying.
Even though the real Second Uncle Wang loved his nephew dearly, that love could easily be faked.
In these elite families, one could easily imagine eighty episodes of domestic intrigue dramas.
Struggles for succession have always been like this.
The fake Second Uncle Wang took out his phone, intending to call the police directly.
“Hurry up and get ready. The Wang family massacre is all your doing now,” he said to Wang Ma.
Wang Ma hesitated slightly. “Do we really have to use that script? The whole ‘true and false young master’ thing feels way too melodramatic.”
“Then let's change it. Think of something more explosive. For example, Mrs. Wang fell in love with your hemorrhoids, and you refused her to the death. She tried to coerce you with threats and bribes, you endured the humiliation, but she grew even more aggressive, tattooing her name on your hemorrhoids first, until you couldn't take it anymore...”
“Stop, stop, stop! Do you even hear what you’re saying?!”
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