Chapter Ninety-nine: The Face of the Demon

The next morning, in an abandoned house on the eastern outskirts of Zhengzhou.

Doctor Huang peeled back the "bandages" on Liu Chang's face and looked at the "face" beneath—raw, bloody pulp with not even bone remaining. She said helplessly, "I can't treat this injury."

"I can't do anything about hers either." Doctor Huang gestured toward the bound female officer with the aquiline nose in the corner of the room. "The wound where her limb was severed is too large. All I can do is stop the bleeding and disinfect it. As for your injury—half your facial bones are shattered. There's nothing I can do."

"Can't fix it, then forget it. As long as it doesn't kill me, it's fine." Liu Chang re-wrapped the bandages around his face and said, "Sorry for sneaking you out of the compound in the middle of the night."

"It's all right. It's just that when you showed up covered in blood last night and carried me off without a single word, you really gave me a scare." Huang Yin said. "But seriously, what kind of trouble did you stir up? A lot of soldiers came to the compound that day. With all those troops, they still couldn't catch you?"

"We only got away by luck. That, over there—the bound female officer—she's their leader." Liu Chang pointed at He Zhizhi, then asked, "If this injury on my face keeps dragging on, will it put my life in danger?"

"I don't know. I've never treated an injury this severe." Doctor Huang said. "It all depends on your constitution. I can give you basic medical care, but beyond that, there's nothing I can do. Especially your face—I don't think I can restore it. The bone is gone. As for surgery, a procedure that major is beyond my ability."

"Mm, understood. It's fine." Liu Chang touched his cheek and laughed at himself. "Anyway, I was never much of a looker. Now the bandages keep me from scaring people. Don't you think so, He Zhizhi?"

As he spoke, Liu Chang turned to look at the female officer bound in the corner.

"Why tie me up? I already told you, I'm not going back. If you do this, how are we supposed to continue working together?" The aquiline-nosed female officer struggled on the ground. "And treating a badly wounded prisoner like this—do you have any humanity at all?"

"Teacher Li once said that something as complex as humanity isn't something ordinary people can grasp. And as I see it, tying you up is the finest display of my humanity." Liu Chang walked over to the female officer as he spoke. "Because I don't trust you yet."

"Time will prove my innocence." The female officer smiled, offering no defense.

"Very well, then. I'll ask you a few questions. Answer them well, and I'll untie you." Liu Chang crouched in front of the female officer and raised a finger. "First: was it Zhao Zhuo who ordered you to capture me?"

"Yes, no question about it. He also ordered that you be taken alive." He Zhizhi nodded.

"Good. Second question: in the military, how many people are there with tracking abilities like yours?" Liu Chang's expression grew somewhat solemn as he asked.

"There are two more. One of them is a scent tracker like me, but his mutation level isn't as high as mine—his olfactory cells aren't as sensitive. The other is from the Second Research Group, the biological weapons division—a quasi-cerebral mutant. He has enormously powerful analytical and deductive abilities. Even if you left a single footprint on the ground a dozen days ago, he could use that footprint and the surrounding conditions, apply his formidable reasoning, track you the whole way, and eventually pinpoint your location. However, that man has a very high status—in his group he ranks no lower than Li Qingshui does in Group One—so Zhao Zhuo may not be able to deploy him." He Zhizhi said.

"Can you identify the scents of these two people?"

"Yes. I've met both of them. I remember what they smell like."

"Which means..." Liu Chang untied the ropes around He Zhizhi's body. "...with you around, I no longer have to fear being hunted?"

"Yes, you could say that. Let alone the one whose sense of smell is inferior to mine—even if that deduction expert really came, I'd smell him long before he arrived. You can be assured of that."

"All right. One last question." Liu Chang's expression turned even more serious. "How has Li Qingshui been doing in the military lately?"

"I don't know about matters among the higher-ups, but I get the sense that he's grown quite close to Zhao Zhuo. The combination of the two of them in Group One makes it impossible for any other research group to challenge them. The two highest military commanders and the highest government officials all think highly of them. I'd say they're riding high."

"Good. That's good." Liu Chang nodded and turned away.

Seeing that his questions were finished, He Zhizhi rose from the ground as well, lifted her bandaged arm, and asked, "Doctor, this injury of mine won't kill me, will it?"

"It shouldn't. After all, human vitality nowadays isn't what it used to be." Doctor Huang said. "But as for growing your arm back—that's impossible."

"Sigh. So I'm crippled?" He Zhizhi looked at her missing forearm, her tone thick with resignation, laced with the ache of deep regret.

"Don't think too much about it. Which do you think is worse—losing your face, or losing an arm?" Liu Chang pointed at his own face, from which only a single eye was visible. "I'm probably uglier than Freddy the demon now. And I've got you to thank for it!"

"Ah..." He Zhizhi looked at Liu Chang's face, and her expression relaxed slightly. Human suffering is always a matter of comparison. When you see someone else in greater pain than yourself, your mood somehow turns strangely brighter.

And just like that, amid this peculiar atmosphere, a small group came together, each nursing their own hidden agendas.

One had been an informer; one had been an enemy. In the apocalypse, it seemed none of the old grudges were remembered forever. As long as you were alive, the enemy of the previous second could become your companion the next.

Three days later.

Inside a residential compound, it was time to distribute food once more. Liu Chang and the others had been hiding here for two days. His role in this new compound was guard.

In the evening, the little girl collected today's food portions for herself and Liu Chang, then walked over to him.

"Big brother, is your face any better?" The girl asked, setting some beans down in front of him.

"A little, I guess. The swelling's gone down at least. But it just hurts—other than pain, I can't feel anything else." Liu Chang touched his cheek through the bandages. "Where's He Zhizhi? Keep an eye on her. Don't let her slip away."

"Mm, I know." The little girl sat down beside him. "Don't worry. She's always within my perception field. If she gets more than fifty meters away from me, I'll report to you immediately."

"That's good enough. Within fifty meters, I'm confident I can stop her from running." Liu Chang nodded. After resting a while, he saw Huang Yin and He Zhizhi approaching with a small bowl in hand.

"Officer He." Seeing the aquiline-nosed officer walk up to him, Liu Chang grinned, though no one could see the ghastly smile hidden behind his bandages. "Could you trade these beans for some ordinary food for me? Even if it's less in quantity, as long as someone in the compound is willing to trade, just make the exchange."

"You still won't eat the grain beans?" He Zhizhi said, swallowing her own portion in one gulp.

"No."

"Then what were you eating before?"

"Little bugs. But on the first day you came after me, I lost my insect box." Liu Chang said. "Do you remember the girl in that room the day you caught me? I think she took it. Those bugs were pretty good. Li Qingshui said they were highly nutritious. I was thinking—maybe I should go find that girl in the next couple of days and get the bugs back."

"Go get them. Let me have a taste too. I still remember that girl's scent; finding her won't be hard." He Zhizhi waved her severed limb. "Find her, and half the bugs are mine."

"Deal!" Liu Chang nodded, looking at her missing arm. "Why have you been so fond of waving that stump around these past two days?"

"And you've been just as fond of touching your own face, haven't you?" He Zhizhi said helplessly. "When someone has lost a part of themselves, that's exactly the part they pay the most attention to. It's only human nature."

"True." Liu Chang touched his face again as he spoke, and the soft, mushy sensation from beneath made him deeply uneasy. These past two days he had been longing for his old face—it had never been handsome, but it had been angular, with neat, regular features. Now half the bone within was gone. If not for the bandages, half his face would probably sag downward at once, more terrifying than any demon or ghoul.

He remembered that when their group had first arrived at this compound, the residents had nearly refused to take them in because of his bandaged face. Over the past two days, no stranger had spoken to him unprompted. He had endured no shortage of discrimination.

"Big brother, don't worry. There will be a way." Seeing Liu Chang fall abruptly silent, the little girl beside him seemed to see through his thoughts and hurried to comfort him. "Once Teacher Li Qingshui settles down, we can go back and find him. He's so brilliant—doing a reconstructive surgery for you would probably be very simple. That sort of thing is far easier than the life sciences he studies all day. Maybe he could even turn you into a really handsome guy."

"Hahaha..." Hearing her words, Liu Chang suddenly burst out laughing. "No need for handsome. Just restore me to how I looked before."

"Even if it can't be restored, big brother is still handsome." The little girl pressed on with her comfort.

"Ugh!" Hearing this exchange, He Zhizhi let out a dramatic groan, interrupting their conversation. She wrinkled her aquiline nose. "That's disgusting enough to kill me. Your dialogue is like a Korean romance drama, and the age gap is like some twisted Japanese movie. You're making Lord He sick."

"Oh? Lord He?" Liu Chang looked at her with his single eye. "I don't find anything disgusting about it. Only someone with a filthy mind sees filth in everything. And by the way, might I ask Lord He's age?"

"Twenty-six." He Zhizhi replied. Then she paused, thought it over, and added, "Still unmarried." (To be continued)