Late at night.
After a busy day, I turned on my computer, ready to relax.
“Dingdong.”
An email popped up in the upper – left corner of the computer.
“Pseudo – Man Test Software.”
After I clicked on it, a black – and – white picture popped up.
The woman in the picture had an extremely exaggerated grin, almost reaching her ears, and her eyes were dull.
A line of blood – red text appeared below the picture.
“If you think this photo is normal, please exit the test software immediately.
If you feel this photo makes you uncomfortable, then please continue with the following test.”
1
“Pseudo – Man Test Software?”
My eyes lit up. I thought this game seemed quite exciting.
I put the Coke in my hand on the table.
“Click.”
I clicked to download.
This software wasn’t large, only about twenty – odd megabytes.
After clicking in, what came into view was a black – and – white photo of a girl.
“What?”
I was startled.
The girl in the picture had a very strange appearance.
The distance between her eyes was wide, her mouth was grinning, looking like a monkey.
At this time, a line of text popped up on the screen.
“If you think this picture is normal, it is recommended that you exit this test.
If you think this picture is abnormal and even makes you uncomfortable, then you must continue with the following test.”
Immediately after, two options popped up below.
They were “Continue” and “Exit” respectively.
Looking at the eerie black – and – white photo on the screen, I felt a twinge of discomfort in my heart and decisively clicked “Continue”.
Two more pictures popped up on the screen.
The system prompted:
“Please click on the picture you think is a pseudo – man.”
One was a middle – aged man smiling.
The other was also a little boy with a smile on his face, but the boy’s expression was very stiff, and his facial features seemed pieced together.
“Why does this little boy look like a puppet toy?”
I silently complained in my heart.
How could a normal person’s expression be as stiff as this little boy’s?
“If this is a real person, I’ll eat it!”
Without hesitation, I clicked on the little boy.
Immediately after, two more photos popped up on the screen.
One was a selfie of a long – faced man.
The other was a selfie of a middle – aged man.
After observing carefully for a while, I decisively clicked on the long – faced man.
“These people all have one thing in common, that is, their eyes are very dull, their gazes are blank, and their mouths are not very natural.
In short, they don’t seem human.”
Combining with the pictures from the previous round, I came to this conclusion.
Then there were several more rounds of picture selection, and I got all of them right without exception.
Until the last round.
“Fuck!”
As soon as the pictures came up, I exclaimed.
“Isn’t this Uncle Wang next door to me?”
There were two pictures on the screen.
On one side was a woman with a normal expression.
The other was my neighbor Uncle Wang across the door.
In the picture, “Uncle Wang” had his eyes wide open, his gaze was dull, and the corners of his mouth were strangely raised.
“This is too much! Isn’t this an infringement of someone’s portrait rights?
I’ll report this crappy game later!”
While condemning this game, I clicked on the picture of “Uncle Wang”.
Because after several rounds of the game, I could tell at a glance that “Uncle Wang” wasn’t human!
“Click.”
The clear clicking sound of the mouse rang out, and the screen suddenly froze for a moment.
Then two options popped up.
“Are you still alive?”
“Yes” “No”.
“Are you crazy? If I’m not alive, who’s doing the questions for you?”
I clicked “Yes”, and I increasingly felt that this was a boring prank software.
At this time, the screen froze again.
Just when I suspected that my computer had been invaded by a virus.
Several lines of big blood – red characters appeared on the screen.
“Congratulations, you have passed the test.
We will come to pick you up within a week. Please don’t talk, don’t open the door, and don’t answer any calls now!!!
Don’t let them know that you’ve discovered their abnormality.
If you don’t receive any emails from us after a week.
Then you can only wish yourself good luck.
Beep…”
The computer screen flashed frantically, and finally, it directly turned blue.
“Fuck, I got a virus!
This crappy software really has a virus!”
I turned off the computer and was about to restart it.
But just then.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
2
There was a knock on the door outside.
I got up and was just about to ask who it was.
But then I remembered the words on the computer just now, and I hesitated for a moment.
So I walked to the door barefoot and looked out through the peephole on the door.
“Uncle Wang!”
It was Uncle Wang, my neighbor across the door, who was knocking on the door.
The more I looked, the more something seemed off. Uncle Wang’s expression was very different from usual.
His eyes were dull, and the corners of his mouth were strangely grinning.
“Isn’t this the way he looked in the photo just now?”
I was startled, and my body froze in place.
I felt a chill rise from the base of my spine, raising goosebumps all over my body.
The “Uncle Wang” outside the door seemed to sense something and brought his eyes close to the peephole.
His knocking became more forceful, even turning into pounding on the door.
“Bang, bang, bang.”
A hoarse voice sounded, as stiff as the clashing sound of a machine wheel.
“Open… the… door…
“Bang.
“Bang.
“Bang.”
The force of “Uncle Wang” pounding on the door was getting stronger and stronger, and I even felt the door frame shaking.
“Gu Bei… Open the door for me…”
“Should I call the police?”
I felt that “Uncle Wang” was about to break in at any moment, and it was too late to call the police now.
My eyes scanned around, trying to find a handy weapon.
“What are you doing! What are you doing!”
It was the voice of Aunt Zhao next door.
“What are you doing, Lao Wang? Why are you pounding on Gu Bei’s door in the middle of the night?
My grandson was woken up by you and is crying his eyes out.”
In the peephole, Lao Wang turned his head when he heard the sound, and a strange smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
He smiled at Aunt Zhao who was walking over and said:
“I have something to do with him.”
“Oh my god, why are you smiling so creepily.”
Aunt Zhao stopped in her tracks when she saw the strange smile on Lao Wang’s face and didn’t dare to step forward for a moment.
“Don’t knock on his door anymore. Gu Bei is probably asleep. If you have something to do, come back tomorrow.
It’s not good to disturb the neighbors in the middle of the night.”
Aunt Zhao left a sentence and hurried away.
In the peephole.
Lao Wang stared at Aunt Zhao’s back, lost in thought.
The next second, his head suddenly turned around.
He bent down slightly, and his wide – open eyes were closely pressed against the peephole.
“Shit.”
I was so scared that I quickly took a few steps back.
When I leaned forward again, the figure of “Uncle Wang” was no longer in the peephole.
“Pseudo – man…?”
My tense body relaxed, and a sense of weakness welled up in my limbs.
With difficulty, I moved the shoe cabinet at the entrance to block the door.
I planned to go back and look at the computer to see if there were any missed hints.
“Whoosh.”
A strong wind blew into the living room from the balcony, lifting the curtains.
“What a strong wind.”
Already as nervous as a startled bird, I was frightened by this wind.
I held the doorknob of the bedroom.
I paused.
“I’d better close the French window on the balcony. I always feel unsafe.”
There was no iron frame outside the balcony, only a row of glass fences to prevent falling.
I turned around and closed the French window on the balcony and locked the switch from the inside.
“Okay, hang this up.”
I hung the bell hanging in the living room on the doorknob.
As long as something tries to turn the doorknob from the outside, the bell above will fall.
I returned to the room and locked the door behind me.
After the computer was restarted, the homepage had returned to normal.
“Where’s the software?”
I slid the mouse and searched through the homepage. The previous Pseudo – Man Test Software seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
The mouse clicked loudly, and my heart became more and more uneasy.
“The pseudo – man seems to have his eyes on me.
What’s even more terrifying is that the pseudo – man lives next door to me…”
“Vibrate.”
The phone on the table vibrated. I opened the caller ID and saw that it was a strange number.
I didn’t answer or hang up. I turned on silent mode and let it vibrate on its own.
After a while.
The other end of the phone should have thought that I wouldn’t answer the call, so it hung up.
“Whoosh…”
Just as I let out a sigh of relief, the phone vibrated again.
It was still that strange number.
“Don’t answer the phone!”
Remembering the prompts from the Pseudo – Man Test Software, I directly turned off the phone and threw it aside.
Then I plunged into the quilt.
It seemed that hiding in the quilt could defend against all kinds of strange attacks.
After staying in the quilt for a while.
The quilt gradually became warm, and my heart, which had been pounding with fear, also calmed down.
“Damn, I need to pee!”
Just as the quilt got warm, a feeling of urgency to urinate hit.
Looking at the door of the room, I forced myself to hold back the urge to pee.
Who knew if there was something strange standing outside, waiting for me to go out.
My eyes moved to the iced – tea bottle beside me.
3
“Ding – ding – ding.
Ding – ding – ding.
Ding – ding – ding.”
The phone alarm clock rang on time, waking me up from my deep sleep in bed.
I swiped to turn off the alarm clock and took a look.
“It’s eight o’clock.”
I patted my swollen cheeks.
“Obviously in a dangerous situation, yet I can still sleep so soundly.”
There were 99 + incoming call messages on the screen.
I opened it to take a look.
The calls had been coming in frantically from twelve o’clock last night until six o’clock in the morning.
“This…”
Looking at the dense caller IDs, a chill ran down my spine.
I swallowed hard, gritted my teeth, and got out of bed.
“As long as I pretend I don’t know anything.
They shouldn’t be able to do anything to me, right?
It should be like that…”
I couldn’t stay at home all the time. I still had to go out eventually.
As for calling the police, that was just nonsense.
Who would believe your made – up talk about pseudo – men?
They might even send you to a mental hospital.
I opened the door.
There was no movement in the living room, and it was quiet all around.
“Fortunately, I closed the French window.”
My eyes fixed on the bell on the ground.
“It seems that something tried to come in from the balcony last night.”
I picked up the bell and shook it gently.
“Ding – dong.”
A clear ringing sound came from the bell.
“The bell fell, but I didn’t wake up.”
I was too speechless to comment on my own pig – like sleep.
I quickly washed up and planned to go out to catch the bus.
“Creak.”
I opened the door a crack and scanned the surroundings with my eyes.
“No one.
Whoosh.”
I let out a sigh of relief, slipped out of the door, and just closed the door.
Out of the corner of my eye.
I saw “Uncle Wang” standing expressionlessly behind the door, quietly watching me with his empty eyes.
“Finally, I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Uncle Wang” showed a stiff smile and grabbed my arm.
“Hey, Uncle Wang, what do you want with me?”
I was almost stiff in place, trying to pretend to be calm and asked.
“Don’t you really know?”
“Uncle Wang”‘s head tilted, and his two eyes turned strangely from side to side.
“I really don’t know.
Uncle Wang, please let go of me. I’m going to be late for work.”
“Uncle Wang” seemed to be thinking. After a while, he actually let go of me.
“I’m leaving, Uncle Wang. Bye.”
I didn’t dare to stay any longer and left quickly.
“Click… click… click.”
“Uncle Wang”‘s gaze was always fixed on my back, and his head actually slumped onto his shoulder.
4
The morning bus was crowded with office workers.
This real – life scene pulled me out of the fear of pseudo – men.
After squeezing on the bus for twenty minutes, I finally arrived at the station. I checked the time.
“It’s half past eight.
Work starts at nine. I’ll go have breakfast first.”
It was about the same time as usual. I’d still have half an hour to have breakfast when I got to the company.
Even if I came late, I’d still punch in downstairs at the company and then go have breakfast.
“People regard food as their prime want.”
I skillfully walked to my usual seat, ordered a bowl of soy milk and a fried dough stick.
The golden and crispy fried dough stick made a crunching sound in my mouth, and it was a real treat with a bowl of soy milk.
“Crunch, crunch.”
I stuffed the end of the fried dough stick into my mouth with satisfaction.
As I sipped the remaining soy milk, my eyes were fixed on an old man not far away.
The old woman was bending over, reaching into the roadside trash can to pick up plastic bottles she could take.
This was a normal thing, but this old woman had been repeating this action for nearly fifteen minutes.
It was like a video playing on a loop, and there was no change in her movements.
“This old lady is like a robot.”
After the last sip of soy milk, I quipped.
“Robot…”
Suddenly, I thought of something, and my heart sank.
“Could it be?”
After paying the bill.
I planned to get up and go to the company, but the way back was blocked by the old woman.
This was a straight – through road, and there were merchant shops all around. There was no way to detour.
“Forget it, pretend I didn’t see it.”
I took a deep breath, looked straight ahead, and walked straight forward.
The old woman seemed to be frozen, and the movements of her hands kept repeating.
As I passed by her, I still couldn’t help but glance at her out of the corner of my eye.
Gray – white hair covered her wrinkled face, and her dark and cracked hands reached into the trash can and then came out.
But there was nothing in her hands.
“Whoosh.”
As if she felt my gaze, she suddenly turned her head towards me.
But I had already withdrawn my gaze and passed by her.
The old woman with a stiff face had her head turned towards my receding figure, and her hands were still repeating the movements.
Pedestrians passed by her on the road, but no one noticed anything strange.
5
“Morning, Gu Bei.”
As soon as I sat down at my workstation, a pair of hands landed on my shoulders.
“Thud.”
I flinched, and my knee hit the computer desk.
I turned my head and saw that it was Li Yang, a colleague I got along well with.
“Don’t you know that scaring people can kill them?”
I rubbed my knee, too speechless to comment.
“What’s wrong with you? You’re so jumpy.
Did you steal something last night and are worried about being caught?”
Li Yang said with a teasing smile on his face.
“I’m really afraid of being caught.”
I silently complained in my heart, but my face remained expressionless.
“You’re still chatting with me here. You’ll know when the supervisor comes later.”
“Tsk, do I look like I’m afraid of that old skin – flint?”
Although he said he wasn’t afraid, Li Yang obediently walked to his workstation.
On weekdays, time flies by quickly when slacking off, but today I felt extremely tormented.
My mind was full of pseudo – men.
“Hey, why don’t I look it up online first? Maybe I can find something.”
Thinking this, I casually opened Feidu:
“What are pseudo – men?”
“Do pseudo – men exist?”
“Will pseudo – men harm others?”
I typed in a series of search terms in a row, but there was no relevant record on the Internet.
I scratched my head, looking incredulous.
“It can’t be. How could there be no trace at all?
As long as something has appeared on the Internet, it must have left some trace on the Internet.
Could it be that all this information has been erased by someone?”
I was just wondering in my heart when I heard a loud exclamation from Li Yang not far away.
“Fuck, pseudo – man!”
The originally somewhat noisy office seemed to be pressed the mute button, and it suddenly became quiet.
I looked up.
Almost everyone in the office was looking in Li Yang’s direction with expressionless faces.
The supervisor not far away quickly walked to Li Yang’s side and turned off his computer with a click.
“What are you doing during working hours!
Come out with me.”
After saying that, he dragged Li Yang out of the office.
After more than ten minutes, Li Yang came back with his head down.
Seeing this, I didn’t go up to ask.
I endured until the end of work, and the people in the office left one after another.
I saw Li Yang leaving the office alone and quietly followed him.
“Dingdong.”
The elevator door opened. Only Li Yang and I were waiting for the elevator.
I looked around and saw no one, then I pulled Li Yang into the elevator.
“What did you see on the computer this morning? What are pseudo – men?
What did the supervisor say to you?”
My series of questions left Li Yang stunned. He collected his thoughts and replied.
“When I was slacking off this morning, a file called ‘Pseudo – Man Test Software’ suddenly popped up on my computer.
My hand slipped and I downloaded it. It was a game where you identify a kind of creature called pseudo – man.
It was nothing at first. I just regarded it as a small game. But then the supervisor’s photo appeared on it.
The supervisor in the photo was really scary. I was startled, so I shouted out.”
“So what did the supervisor take you out for?”
“The supervisor dragged me out, stared at me for a while, and then started laughing. He just told me not to slack off at work.
Um… that’s all.”
Hearing this, I felt a sense of unease.
Li Yang had also used that software, and it seemed that the supervisor was a pseudo – man.
What was even worse was that Li Yang had already exposed the fact that he knew about pseudo – men.
“Dingdong.”
I wanted to remind him a couple of things.
But the elevator door had opened, and there were several people waiting for the elevator outside.
I closed my mouth, didn’t say goodbye to Li Yang, and left the company directly.
6
When I got home, it was already dark.
I wasn’t in the mood to cook, so I just soaked a bucket of instant noodles and squatted in front of the computer.
My fingers typed the search terms quickly, trying to find even the slightest trace of pseudo – men on the Internet.
After searching for more than half an hour, the soup in the instant noodle bucket had been absorbed by the noodles.
“Why can’t I find anything?”
I refreshed the desktop irritably, and then a thought suddenly flashed through my mind.
“Maybe there’s information in those ancient forums.”
So I opened an old – fashioned forum and kept searching for relevant information.
But after looking up and down, there was still no information.
“Could it be -?”
I typed the initials of “pseudo – man” in the input bar.
“wr.”
Click.
I pressed the Enter key, and a long post appeared in my sight.
“Found it!”
I opened the post without looking closely, and quickly took screenshots of all the content inside for backup.
After confirming that all the content had been screenshot, I started to read it carefully.
I looked at the time at the beginning of the post. It was recorded starting from January 13, 2204.
But it was already October 20, 2214. The post was already ten years old.
I put aside the random thoughts in my mind and seriously browsed the content inside.
“Pseudo – weiren – man.
“From now on, we’ll use ‘wr’ to refer to them.
“wr emerged at the beginning of this century. They like to secretly observe human behavior and try to replace a person after fully mastering it.
“The above is just my personal speculation.
“2204.1.20.
“wr may exist in a form similar to an energy body (uncertain). They will secretly observe you in the dark.
“2204.2.1.
“Through my observation, I seem to have found a wr.
“2204.3.3.
“wr won’t take action in advance before being discovered. If you have been discovered by wr, stay at home and lock the doors and windows.
“When necessary, pick up weapons around you to protect yourself.
“2204.6.10.
“I found that there seems to be a wr around me. Its behavior is very strange, like…
“Like… a clumsy robot.
“2204.6.11.
“It was taken away by the official.
“2204.8.7.
“The movements of wr are very chaotic. They often can’t control their facial features well, and what they say has no logic.
“Because they can’t control their movements well, they like to crawl.
“2204.8.16.
“I seem to have been targeted by the official organization.
“2204.8.18.
“This message has been deleted.”
I saw that part of the post seemed to have been deleted here.
The next update was almost a year later.
So I scrolled down.
……
“2205.3.10.
“I’ve learned a lot of things. I can share some of what I can say.
“The origin of the first – generation wr is currently uncertain, but it’s very simple to distinguish them.
“Their actions and language are not in line with normal people’s and seem very strange.
“Pseudo – men will use special methods to peel off a person’s skin, then get in and sew it up. There is a black line on the back of all pseudo – men.
“If you encounter such a strange person on the road, stay away.”
……
“Fuck.”
I was startled when I saw this, and I thought of Li Yang during the day.
After hesitating for a while, I still called him.
“Beep…”
“Hello? Is that Gu Bei?”
Li Yang’s voice came from the other end of the phone, and I let out a sigh of relief.
“Have you arrived home?”
“I’m home. I’m having dinner right now. What’s up?”
“Go lock the door first. I have something to tell you.”
“What’s the matter? Why are you being so mysterious?”
Li Yang mumbled, but he still listened to me and was going to close the door.
While Li Yang was going to close the door, my eyes turned to the content on the screen.
“2205.4.13.
“According to inside information, it seems that the second – generation wr has emerged.
“Their language and actions are almost indistinguishable from normal people’s, except that their expressions are a bit stiff sometimes.
“Maybe there are already quite a few wr among us.”
……
“Knock, knock, knock.”
I was concentrating on looking at the content on the screen when there was a knock on the door from the other end of the phone.
“Who is it?”
Li Yang asked.
“Don’t open the door!”
I shouted at the phone.
But Li Yang had already put down the phone and put his hand on the doorknob.
“Click.”
The sound of the door opening and Li Yang’s voice sounded.
“Supervisor?”
7
“Supervisor? What are you doing here so late?”
Li Yang’s confused voice came from the other end of the phone, making me break out in goosebumps.
“Bang.”
The sound of the door closing came, followed by Li Yang’s muffled groan.
“What are you guys going to do…”
The phone fell to the ground with a click, and Li Yang fell silent along with it.
“It’s over!
“If only I had called Li Yang earlier, this tragedy might not have happened.”
The thing had already happened, and there was nothing I could do about it.
To avoid being discovered by them, I directly hung up the phone.
“Pseudo – men…”
I thought of the old woman I met this morning, as well as the strange – behaving colleagues and supervisor in the company.
“Have we been completely infiltrated by pseudo – men…”
Fear spread in my heart, and my palms began to sweat.
“Now the only one who can break the situation is you.”
My eyes focused on the computer screen again.
I slid the mouse, and the subsequent content of the post appeared.
The post was updated almost over half a year.
“2205.12.10.
“I joined an institution called the wr Containment Center.
“The purpose of this institution is to study and contain wr from the outside world.
“It records the known wr files in our country.
“Currently, it is known that wr is a species with extremely fast evolutionary and adaptive abilities. As long as you kill the host body they inhabit, you can eliminate them.
“But killing wr from the host body will also kill the host.
“We are researching a way to eliminate wr without harming the host.
“2206.1.10.
“This message has been deleted.
“2206.2.9.
“This message has been deleted.
“2206.5.7.
“This message has been deleted.
“……
“Why were three messages deleted in a row here?”
My eyes moved down. The post was almost at the end.
“2209.1.7.
“The third – generation wr has been born!
“Their characteristics… are currently unknown.
“They are almost indistinguishable from humans.
“2209.10.19.
“They have launched a large – scale invasion of humans.
“The containment center has been captured!
“Run!
“2210.1.26.
“They are right outside the door.
“To those who come later, if you can see this message.
“……”
“Is there really a’real person’ who can see it?
“Anyway.
“Good luck to you.”
In an instant, a huge sense of fear welled up in my heart.
“The containment center has been captured…
“The person who posted the message has been caught.”
The website refreshed, and when I looked again, the previous post had been completely deleted.
Strangely, new floors had been refreshed under the post.
“2214.10.20.
“I’m fine, still alive.
“If you need to contact me, my phone number is 1758*******.
“Please contact me if you see this post.”
I was stunned when I saw this new post.
“Was this posted by a pseudo – man? Do pseudo – men know how to fish now?”
I let go of the mouse, let my arms hang down weakly, and stared blankly at the ceiling.
“Uncle Wang next door, Li Yang, colleagues in the company…
“Who can I really trust?”
“Dingdong.”
My phone message rang. I picked it up and took a look.
“Li Yang!”
8
“Gu Bei, save me!”
The message on the screen was starkly Li Yang’s.
“Could it be that Li Yang is being impersonated by a pseudo – human?”
I opened my phone and stared blankly at the message.
The next second, the phone continued to send messages.
“Gu Bei, I’m Li Yang.
“I’m being chased by those damned things. Come and save me quickly!”
The phone messages were flashing non – stop, but I was determined not to reply.
“Even if you are Li Yang, I can’t take the risk. Besides, are you even likely to be Li Yang?”
The “Li Yang” on the other end of the phone, seeing that I didn’t reply, was still persistent and sent another message.
“Gu Bei! Are you really going to stand by and watch me die?”
I didn’t pay much attention and turned off the phone.
I locked all the doors and windows in the living room and hung something like a bell that would make a sound.
After locking the room, I sat on the bed and couldn’t fall asleep at all.
“I have a hunch that they might come to the door tonight.
“But running out now would be even worse. I don’t know how many pseudo – humans are out there eyeing me.”
Looking around, the bright lights in the room dispelled some of my fear.
“Ah, I remember I bought a wild boar spear last year.”
This thing is also called a Zulu hoe. Even with the wooden handle, it’s only a few dozen yuan each.
I bought it at that time in case a thief broke into the house and I didn’t have a weapon to deal with it.
Now it can just come in handy.
I rummaged under the bed and pulled out a wild boar spear about 1.3 meters long.
The protective oil on the iron spearhead was still there, and it didn’t seem to be rusty.
I put the long spear into the quilt, turned off the light, and lay down on the bed.
The night grew deeper.
I lay there stiffly for four or five hours, and finally felt sleepy.
My eyelids blinked.
“Click.”
There was a sound on the bedroom window, which instantly dispelled my sleepiness.
“Are they here?”
I tightly grasped the wild boar spear in my hand and stared fixedly at the position of the window.
The curtains of the window were not drawn.
Through the outside lights, a black shadow could be seen, lying prone outside the window and peeking into the room.
Seeing that the person on the bed in the room didn’t move, the black shadow tried to pry open the window.
It couldn’t pry it open because I had locked it from the inside.
But this didn’t stop the black shadow. It took out a glass cutter from its pocket and gently scratched the glass.
A large piece of glass was taken off by it.
It was seen that while holding the glass, it crawled in through the big hole in the window.
After entering the room, the black shadow put the glass in its hand on the ground.
Then it walked to the side of my bed and stood there, quietly staring at me who was pretending to be asleep on the bed.
After about ten minutes, it seemed that it finally couldn’t bear it anymore.
It raised its hands and reached towards me on the bed.
“Just in time!”
I shouted loudly.
Holding the wild boar spear, I flung off the quilt and stabbed the black shadow to the ground with one thrust.
In the dark, I faintly felt something warm splashing on my face.
“Patta.”
I reached out and turned on the bedside lamp.
There was “Li Yang” lying on the ground in pain.
It was holding the spear with a blood groove in its chest with both hands.
“Gu Bei… It’s me.”
“Still pretending!”
I pulled out the spear and stabbed it down violently. The “Li Yang” on the ground twitched and then lost its breath.
In less than a minute, the “Li Yang” on the ground shriveled up and turned into a shriveled skin.
“Li Yang…”
Looking at my former friend, I couldn’t help but feel sad.
But then came extreme anger.
“It’s all these damned things that caused this!”
When the adrenaline subsided, I looked at the blood – red floor in the room and felt my stomach churning constantly.
But I still endured the discomfort and put the shriveled “Li Yang” on the ground into a bag.
“I should have avenged you.
“I hope you can bless me down there.”
As I rolled up “Li Yang”, I murmured in a low voice.
Together with the blood all over the room, this scene looked strange and eerie.
While rolling, I found a long black line on Li Yang’s back.
“Black line!
“Yes, that post also said that humans parasitized by pseudo – humans will have a black line on their backs.
“As long as I can see someone’s back, I can tell whether he is human or not.”
But then I was in a dilemma.
“Who would show their back to you in broad daylight?”
I tied up the plastic bag, squatted on the ground and thought for a while.
“Got it!”
9
Since “Li Yang” came late at night, I slept lightly for two hours and then it was dawn.
My withered yellow eyes were full of bloodshot eyes. I could only pat some cold water on my face to wake myself up.
I plan to go to the water park today.
It’s summer now, and there must be a lot of people in the water park.
Most people who play in the water wear relatively thin clothes. I can take the opportunity to observe whether there are normal humans.
I put the fruit knife on the cabinet into my pocket. The wild boar spear is too long and not easy to carry.
I stuffed a piece of toast into my mouth and was about to go out.
Out of caution, I still walked to the door lightly and looked out through the peephole above.
This look scared me.
“Aunt Zhao?”
There was Aunt Zhao standing straight outside my door.
She didn’t say a word, just grinned strangely, and her two eyes would turn from time to time.
“Fuck!”
I covered my mouth and slowly stepped back.
“Aunt Zhao has also been parasitized by a pseudo – human.”
I didn’t relax until I retreated to the room.
“It seems that I can’t get out through the front door.”
I looked around, and my eyes fell on the scratched window.
My house is on the second floor. If I’m careful, I can still climb down.
I opened the window and looked down. It was only more than five meters.
And there is grass below. Even if I fall, I won’t die.
I picked up my clothes and wrapped the spearhead of the wild boar spear, and threw it down first.
“It’s too dangerous. There are pseudo – humans everywhere. I’m still not at ease without you.”
Then I climbed onto the window sill and slowly climbed down.
There was an air – conditioner outdoor unit under the window. I stepped on the outdoor unit, about four meters from the ground.
“Gulp.”
I swallowed a mouthful of saliva, aimed at the place with the most grass on the ground and jumped down.
“Plop.”
My feet landed on the ground, and my knees went soft and I fell down.
Fortunately, I wasn’t sprained, but my ankles and knees felt weak.
I patted the dirt on my body, picked up the wild boar spear and was about to leave.
“Gu Bei, where are you going?”
A hoarse and low voice sounded behind me. “Uncle Wang” had somehow stood behind me.
I was a little scared, but the next second these fears turned into unexplained anger.
“Uncle Wang, I was just about to look for you.”
After saying that, I picked up the spear and walked towards “Uncle Wang” with big steps.
Hearing this, “Uncle Wang” was stunned, and the corners of his mouth twitched unnaturally a few times.
“What do you want with me?”
“Send you…
“On your way!”
The distance between the two of us was only three or five steps. After I finished speaking, I had already walked up to “Uncle Wang”.
I tore off the clothes wrapping the spear tip and stabbed “Uncle Wang” through.
“You!”
“Uncle Wang” obviously didn’t expect me to have this move and could only hastily hold the handle of the spear.
The long handle made of synthetic wood creaked under the grip of “Uncle Wang”‘s two hands.
“Stop struggling. Things like you don’t deserve to live!”
Seeing that “Uncle Wang” still wanted to resist, I used all my strength to push him against the wall on the side.
“Bang.”
The wall hit “Uncle Wang”‘s body, and he subconsciously let go.
I took the opportunity to pull out the spear and stabbed it again in the position of its heart.
This time, “Uncle Wang” was no longer able to struggle. Blood foam gushed out of his mouth, and he slowly slid down the wall with his back against it.
But there was still that strange smile on his face, and his eyes were staring at me.
“You can’t escape, you can’t escape…”
After saying that, his body gradually shriveled up.
“Huff huff huff.”
I stuck the wild boar spear on the ground, slumped down on the ground myself, and gasped for breath.
“Even if I can’t escape, I’ll send you away first.”
I stared at the shriveled skin of “Uncle Wang” and said viciously.
After resting for a while, I stood up, used the wild boar spear to poke “Uncle Wang”, and there was also a black line on his back.
“What the person in that post said is indeed true. These parasitized humans all have a black line on their backs.”
This strengthened my determination to go to the water park.
So I rolled “Uncle Wang” into a ball and threw it into the bushes next door. As for the blood on the ground, it had been absorbed by the soil.
After rubbing the blood on the spear tip clean on the ground, I put on my clothes and left.
10
I got on the bus to the water park.
No one on the bus cared about me who was covered in mud, and it was still noisy.
But I was still on high alert.
Who knows if there are a few pseudo – humans mixed in among them.
“Ding dong, the water park stop has arrived. Please get off from the back door.”
Half an hour later, the announcement sounded, and I got off the bus with the wild boar spear.
The moment the bus door closed, the originally noisy vehicle suddenly became quiet, and pairs of eyes stared closely at my figure getting off.
“Ding ding ding.”
The phone in my pocket kept vibrating. I took it out and looked.
The caller ID was the name of my supervisor.
I immediately hung up the phone and blocked the supervisor’s number by the way.
I walked to the small store next to the water park and planned to buy a swimsuit.
I bought a pair of shorts and a long – sleeved swimsuit.
“Why are you, a big man, buying a long – sleeved one? Is there something to hide?”
The owner of the grocery store asked me strangely.
“I have small cauliflower on my back. I’m afraid of scaring others.”
I casually fooled him.
After all, while observing others, I can’t expose my own back.
“Doo.
“Doo.
“Doo.”
The phone kept vibrating, and a lot of red dots of messages popped up.
I clicked to look.
“Come back to work!
“Come back to work!
“Come back to work!
“Come back…”
“Really haunting.”
After buying the ticket, I directly turned off the phone.
I didn’t take the wild boar spear in. This thing probably can’t be taken in either.
After changing clothes in the dressing room, I walked out.
What came into view was a bunch of white bodies.
But at this moment, I didn’t have the mood to appreciate them.
“Black line.
“Black line.
“They’re all black lines!”
Yes, on the backs of those white bodies were all long and thin black lines.
Even the backs of those seven – or eight – year – old children had black lines.
I walked by the pool. Clearly, I didn’t go into the water, but I felt cold all over.
Looking around, there were thousands of people, and they all had black lines on their backs.
“Is there still hope for humanity?”
I stood there dumbfounded.
“Giggle.”
“Haha.”
A few frolicking children ran past me from behind. One of the naughty little boys stopped behind me.
Obviously, he was just a little kid a few years old, but there was a cunning look on his face that didn’t match an ordinary person.
He reached out and lifted the swimsuit on my back, and his eyes widened instantly.
“Mom! There’s no black line on his back!”
The shrill voice of the child spread throughout the pool.
Whether it was the adults or the children who were playing in the park, they all stopped what they were doing and turned around to look over in unison.
“Damn you——”
I covered my clothes and was about to catch that little brat and beat him up.
But the child had already run away with a cunning smile.
I raised my legs to run, but thousands of “people” around had blocked me.
“Catch him.”
“Catch him.”
“Catch him.”
The low voice kept echoing in the “crowd”.
“Slap.”
A hand suddenly grabbed my neck, and then countless hands pressed me to the ground.
“Catch him!”
“Catch him!”
“Catch…”
…
“Patta.”
I suddenly trembled while lying on the table, and the waving arm swept the coke on the table to the ground.
I didn’t care about the bottle on the ground that was gurgling out coke. My back was already soaked with cold sweat.
“Was it just a dream?”
I turned my head to look at the lit computer screen.
My mouse hovered over a file named “Pseudo-human Test Software.”
Looking at the time in the lower – right corner of the computer, I was back to the night when I opened the software.
“Then this thing…”
I stared at the software on the screen, hesitating whether to open it.
This thing might be a software used by pseudo – humans to test whether there are normal people.
After thinking for a while, I still decisively clicked on the screen to open it.
“Does the above picture make you feel uncomfortable?”
“Yes” “No”.
This time I decisively clicked “No”, and then uninstalled the software.
“The most urgent thing is to get in touch with Li Yang. There aren’t many people I can trust now.”
I took out my phone and dialed Li Yang’s number.
“Hello, Gu Bei.”
“Li Yang, come over now. There’s something very important.”
Li Yang heard that my tone was serious and there was no joking meaning.
“OK, wait a minute. I’ll be right there.”
Li Yang’s home is about ten kilometers away from mine. It only takes about half an hour by taxi.
“Knock knock knock.”
There was a knock on the door. I had been waiting at the door for a long time and took a look through the peephole.
It was Li Yang.
“Come in quickly.”
I pulled him in.
Li Yang looked at me in a hurry and couldn’t help asking curiously:
“Gu Bei, what on earth happened that you were in such a hurry to get me here?”
I pulled him into my room and told him the whole thing in detail.
“…
“Are you saying that the world is controlled by pseudo – humans, and then you were reborn and plan to save the world?”
“Logically speaking, that’s right.”
Seeing that he seemed a little unbelieving, I was going to explain it to him again, but he held my shoulder.
Li Yang said excitedly.
“This is really… So cool!”
Actually, he had always hidden a dream of saving the world in his heart. Which little boy didn’t have a hero dream?
“Look at this first.”
I opened the forum that recorded the pseudo – humans. The things in it hadn’t been deleted yet.
“See if you can restore the deleted content.”
Actually, Li Yang is a hacker master.
I called him here also to ask if he could restore the deleted content in it.
After all, these few pieces of information about pseudo – humans are very useful to me now.
“This post is a bit old. Let me see if I can restore it.”
Li Yang adjusted his black – framed glasses, sat in front of the computer, and his fingertips flew, tapping the keyboard crackling.
After about half an hour.
He pressed the Enter key with a “patta” sound, adjusted his glasses and said:
“Got it!”
Hearing this, I quickly put my head up and looked at the restored content.
“2206.1.10.
“wr has been confirmed to exist by parasitizing on the human body in the form of an energy body. We have made corresponding countermeasures for this.
“The research institute made a super – large micro – sonic oscillation device in the mountain body of Yuding Mountain. The sound waves emitted by this device will cause a devastating blow to wr.
“2206.2.9.
“Currently, a problem has been discovered. The energy required to cover the global with sound waves is huge, but it’s not easy to carry out large – scale projects to prevent wr from detecting.
“We had to make an energy – storage device underground. It will probably take 10 years to be fully charged.
“2206.5.7.
“Our plan has been leaked, and wr has already detected it.
“To open the gate of the research institute, fresh human blood is needed, and after the instrument scans and confirms that the blood is consistent with the person, the gate can be opened. wr and humans together can’t open the door.
“If the door is forced to open, the device will release sound waves in advance, and the power is enough to cover an area of hundreds of square kilometers.”
Li Yang and I looked at each other in dismay after reading these messages.
Li Yang started to analyze, “That means ten years ago, the pseudo – human research institute left us a powerful weapon to save the world.
“But because it wasn’t fully charged, it wasn’t activated.
“However, now most humans have been infiltrated by pseudo – humans. No one knows where this device is, let alone how to open it.”
I nodded.
“That should be the case.”
Then Li Yang raised a question.
“Then why, since the pseudo – humans know about this device, don’t they go and destroy it?”
I rolled my eyes and looked at Li Yang like he was a fool.
“If someone told you now that there are hundreds of nuclear bombs buried in a place and asked you to detonate them, would you go?”
“Of course I wouldn’t.”
Li Yang understood after I said this.
“That means they can only watch this ‘nuclear bomb’ that’s getting more and more dangerous, and no one dares to detonate it.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Yuding Mountain. It was only a few hundred kilometers away from where we were.
“I’m going to save the world tomorrow. Do you want to come with me?” I asked Li Yang, looking at him.
“Of course I’m going. Isn’t this what life is all about for once?”
Li Yang nodded without hesitation.
The picture of being surrounded by thousands of pseudo – humans in the swimming pool suddenly came to my mind, and I couldn’t help asking, “You might die. Do you still want to go?”
Li Yang thought for a while and then nodded.
“Go. I don’t want to see the world controlled by pseudo – humans.
“I don’t want to see my parents turn into pseudo – humans.”
“Then let’s go!”
I booked two high – speed rail tickets to Yuding Mountain for tomorrow on my phone.
Li Yang was right. Now it’s no longer about personal heroism.
Who can stand by and watch their relatives, wives, children, and friends have their bodies occupied by those damned things.
Although there is a possibility of death, Li Yang and I are now determined to risk our lives.
11
The night passed quickly.
Li Yang and I had red – rimmed eyes, obviously having stayed up all night.
After all, the actions and various things for tomorrow couldn’t be taken lightly and had to be discussed clearly.
Sitting on the high – speed rail, I watched the scenery outside the window changing constantly.
Li Yang beside me, however, kept staring at his phone.
I turned my head. On the phone screen was a photo of Li Yang with two dark – skinned and gray – haired old people.
“These are my parents.”
Li Yang looked at the two people on the screen, and the emotions hidden in his eyes couldn’t help overflowing.
“I was born in the countryside when I was a kid. My parents worked hard to support me, hoping that I could get into college so that I wouldn’t have to suffer like them in the future.”
Li Yang chuckled.
“I finally got into college, but found that the outside world wasn’t much better.
“It’s a pity that I didn’t find a daughter – in – law to make them happy.”
Listening to Li Yang’s words, I also fell into deep thought.
I was from an orphanage, with no father or mother.
It was only with the help of kind – hearted people in society that I was able to get into college.
It seemed that I didn’t have many memories to cherish.
After thinking for a while, my eyes became firm again.
“Even for those kind – hearted people, I will do whatever it takes.”
Li Yang beside me had already transferred all his savings to his parents’ account.
I took a look and smiled, “You’ve saved almost 100,000 yuan in these years. Not bad!”
Li Yang looked proud.
“Of course. Who do you think I am?”
Then he fell into desolation again.
“But this little money isn’t enough to support them in their old age…”
“Ding dong, xx Bank has received 60,000 yuan…”
He looked at me in surprise. I smiled.
“I’ll also give you some support. I don’t have parents to support.”
“Thanks.”
Li Yang thanked me.
I patted him on the shoulder, and we looked at each other without saying a word.
12
After getting off the high – speed rail, we took a taxi and stopped five kilometers away from Yuding Mountain.
We couldn’t let the driver see that we intended to get close to Yuding Mountain.
Now the two of us didn’t trust anyone.
We rented two shared bikes and rode to the foot of Yuding Mountain.
The weeds at the foot of the mountain were thick and there were many scattered rocks. We couldn’t ride through, so we had to walk.
Following a path in front, we went up the mountain along the path.
After walking for almost an hour, a long fence appeared in front of us.
Li Yang was about to point at the fence not far away and say something when I quickly pulled him into the grass beside us.
“What’s wrong?” Li Yang asked in a low voice, looking puzzled.
I pointed to two surveillance cameras in the distance.
“Wow, you’re really vigilant.”
Li Yang looked at the cameras with lingering fear.
“Let’s see if we can go around from the back.”
I pulled Li Yang and started walking around the fence with the wire – mesh rack.
After walking for a while, my body was scratched by the thick grass several times.
“We can climb up here.” Li Yang pointed to the fallen wire – mesh rack on the fence.
“Then let’s go.”
Li Yang helped me climb onto the wire – mesh fence. It would probably take a lot of effort for one person to climb up.
“Plop” × 2.
The two of us jumped to the other side of the fence. I patted the dirt on my hands and led Li Yang to explore deeper into the mountain forest.
The person who posted only said it was on Yuding Mountain, but didn’t say the specific location. We could only look for it bit by bit.
Li Yang took out a biscuit and handed it to me.
“Get some energy. Don’t be too tired to run if we encounter pursuers later.”
13
Fortunately, Yuding Mountain wasn’t big, and there were many signs of human activities.
We followed a path and quickly found the entrance to the research institute base.
Li Yang and I crouched in a patch of grass, looking at the pseudo – human soldiers guarding outside the research institute, feeling a bit helpless.
“There are pseudo – humans guarding. We can’t get in.”
After thinking for a while, Li Yang stood up on his own initiative.
“I’ll go and distract them. Gu Bei, you go and start the device.”
Seeing that I wanted to dissuade him, he said firmly, “You’re a person who has experienced rebirth. You must be calmer than me when doing things. If it doesn’t succeed, maybe you can be reborn again.
“I believe you can do it.”
After saying that, without waiting for me to speak, he ran towards the grass on the other side.
“Li Yang…”
Sadness only stayed in my eyes for a moment, and then turned into determination.
I had to seize the opportunity that Li Yang created for me.
Li Yang ran to the grass not far from the detention center and shouted loudly, “I’m lost! Is there anyone?
“Can someone come and help me~”
Outside the gate of the research institute, two pseudo – humans with guns heard Li Yang’s shouts.
They looked at each other, took off the rifles on their backs, loaded them, and then walked towards the direction where Li Yang was.
I watched their figures being attracted away by Li Yang, then crouched down and secretly lurked down the mountain, walking to the outside of the research institute gate.
I walked a few steps inside the gate of the research institute and then encountered a thick iron gate.
Suddenly, a camera extended from the iron gate, and then a green light scanned my whole body.
“Detection result: Human.
“Please conduct a blood identification test.”
A round platform rose from the ground. There was a fingerprint groove on the round platform glowing, indicating that I should put my finger on it.
Seeing this, I didn’t hesitate and pressed my thumb on it.
14
“Who are you? Raise your hands!”
Two pseudo – humans with guns pointed their muzzles at Li Yang. Li Yang was so scared that he immediately raised his hands.
One of the pseudo – humans motioned to its companion, then walked around behind Li Yang and kicked him down.
It pulled open the clothes on Li Yang’s back and took a look.
“It’s a human.”
The two pseudo – humans looked at each other and both showed strange smiles.
“Boom.”
The ground shook, and the research institute not far away made a humming vibration sound.
The two pseudo – humans realized something was wrong and turned to go back.
But one of them felt its leg being hugged tightly.
Looking down, it was Li Yang who had hugged its leg.
It smashed the butt of the gun hard on Li Yang’s face. Blood and teeth came out of Li Yang’s mouth.
“Let go!”
Li Yang’s head was buzzing from the blow of the gun butt, and his vision became blurred.
But his hand holding the pseudo – human’s leg became even tighter.
Because he knew that the more seconds he could hold the pseudo – human in front of him, the more time Gu Bei would have to act.
The pseudo – human whose leg was hugged told the other companion to go first, then picked up the gun butt and smashed it hard on Li Yang’s head a few more times.
“I told you to let go!”
Even though there was a hole in his head and he had lost consciousness, Li Yang still held the pseudo – human tightly.
“Damn it. I could have gotten a reward for catching a human. Since you want to die, I’ll grant your wish.”
The pseudo – human pointed the muzzle of the gun at Li Yang’s bloody forehead.
…
I felt a stinging pain at my fingertip.
“Ding dong.
“Verification completed. The gate of Human Guardian No.1 is opening for you.”
With a loud bang, the gate slowly rose, and the whole mountain body shook.
Before the gate was fully raised, I climbed in.
Inside was a control room full of a sci – fi feel. There was only a bright red button on the console in the middle.
I quickly stepped forward to check. The crystal screen of the console showed “Fully charged”.
“Please verify your identity.”
Another blood – testing device rose beside it.
“Bang.”
A gunshot came from outside the research institute, and my heart was severely tugged.
Without time to be sad, I directly pressed my thumb on the verification device.
“Verification completed. The button can be activated.”
I lifted the protective cover of the button and was about to press it.
“Bang.”
A bullet pierced through my chest.
“Bang bang bang.”
Then a burst of bullets pierced through my chest.
The strength in my body was drained in an instant, so fast that even the pain couldn’t catch up.
But there was still a smile on my lips.
The moment the bullet penetrated my chest, my hand had already pressed the button.
“Click.”
A clear mechanical sound rang out.
“Pseudo – human elimination device activated.
“Hum.
“Hum hum hum.”
A huge signal amplifier rose on Yuding Mountain, and the sound waves of a special frequency spread out at the speed of sound.
The pseudo – human in the research institute who was shooting at me and the one outside, before they could react, widened their eyes and fell to the ground.
The sound waves continued to spread out from Yuding Mountain. Wherever they passed, people fell like wheat being cut, and no one could stand.
Lying in a pool of blood, my vision seemed to meet Li Yang’s through numerous obstacles.
“I didn’t let you down.”
15
There was a huge electronic screen hanging on the high – rise building. The female host on it was reporting today’s news.
Today is xx year, xx month, xx day.
Just the day before yesterday, people all over the world suddenly fell into a coma.
The cause has not been found yet. Citizens are requested not to panic.
The federal government has decided to set this day as World Coma Day.
– End –
