Chapter 506: Faceless Man

Blood trickled from the bright yellow beak, dripping drop by drop onto the vibrant red down of the little bird's chest. The already vivid feathers grew even more glaring.

The tall boy shook out his hand, staring down at the bird. He realized he had made a terrible mistake. The bird must have belonged to the director, and he had just accidentally killed it.

"Fu Ming, let's go." He grabbed the short boy and ran for the door, tossing a threat to the Hunchbacked Boy before they left. "If you dare tell the director about this, your life will be a living hell."

The tall boy was older than the rest, his voice a bit coarse. His massive head wobbled back and forth, a sickening sight when paired with the expression on his face.

Once the tall boy and the short boy were gone, the Hunchbacked Boy walked over and squatted down, staring at the smashed robin on the ground.

Its gray feathers were dyed dark red by its own blood, and its cute little body was deformed from the tall boy's grip. Its tiny head dangled loosely from its neck, much of the surrounding down missing.

Life was so fragile. Just one squeeze and a toss, and death arrived right on cue.

The Hunchbacked Boy reached out and grasped the robin's wings, slowly spreading them open. He didn't say a single word from start to finish; he simply placed the bird's corpse back into its cage and shut the door.

A sudden pang of sorrow hit me. Was it out of sympathy for a faded life? Or was it the Hunchbacked Boy returning the robin's corpse to its cage? I couldn't say for sure.

After returning the cage to its original spot, the Hunchbacked Boy wiped the shoe print off the chair with his clothes and headed out the door. The hunch in his back looked even more pronounced, as though his tiny body were carrying an invisible mountain.

The boy left the director's office. Although I was extremely curious about the room—figuring a thorough search would turn up some clues about Elder Chen—I suppressed the urge for now so I wouldn't lose the Hunchbacked Boy. I trailed right behind him and left the office.

Looking out from the school building, it was already pitch-black outside. There were no clocks inside, and a heavy, stifling atmosphere shrouded the entire orphanage.

After leaving the director's office, the Hunchbacked Boy went straight down to the first floor and hurriedly darted into the first classroom around the corner.

I didn't dare follow him inside, so I hid by the back door and peeked in.

I had visited this classroom earlier that evening. Back then, it just seemed terribly dilapidated, and I hadn't noticed anything else off about it.

But now, looking at it again in the dead of night, the scene inside had turned rather terrifying.

The room was packed. Sitting in every chair was a deformed doll with shriveled limbs and an enormous head.

'Did all these children mutate as soon as night fell?!' I thought in shock. When my gaze swept toward the podium, I spotted a completely different "monster."

This one was an adult, likely an orphanage teacher. His appearance differed from the big-headed children, though it was just as bizarre.

He stood about 1.8 meters tall, and his bodily proportions were entirely normal—except for the extra hands sprouting from his stomach, the top of his head, and the left side of his face!

'What kind of form is this? Five hands?' A person or a hand wasn't terrifying on its own, but combined like this, the sight was deeply horrifying.

'The figures in the Dream Realm aren't entirely fictional; most carry some symbolic meaning. If this is the Hunchbacked Boy's dream, then why do his teacher and classmates look like this at night in his eyes?'

"Class begins now," the male teacher announced, rapping on the dilapidated blackboard. He chalked up a few lines to assign some tasks, then dragged over a relatively decent chair and leaned back in comfort. He didn't actually teach; his eyes simply roamed around the classroom.

The children in the classroom varied greatly in age. This room was likely meant for preschoolers and the younger orphans. The children flipped through the textbooks on their desks, but only a tiny fraction were actually reading and learning words. Most were just going through the motions and gradually started playing around. As long as they didn't make too much noise, the male teacher at the podium completely ignored them.

'With such a crude environment and an irresponsible teacher, how can they guarantee any teaching quality?' My gaze zeroed in on the Hunchbacked Boy. He sat pressed against the wall, staring unblinkingly at the book on his desk as if lost in a daze.

'Night classes? This school is truly bizarre.' I didn't dwell on it, simply watching in silence. Unhurried footsteps suddenly echoed from the other end of the corridor. I quickly ducked into the stairwell, whipping out my phone to peek through the camera.

'Why does this person feel so familiar to me?' The owner of the footsteps was dressed in a conservative, plain light-colored suit. He had a book tucked under his arm and carried a birdcage in his other hand.

'Isn't that the birdcage from the director's office? Could he be the director? Elder Chen from over twenty years ago?!' I hastily adjusted the camera's angle, but the moment it captured the man's face, I froze.

He had a well-proportioned body that matched a normal person's build, with no extra appendages growing out of him, yet staring at the image on my phone screen still filled me with dread.

This person had no face.

It wasn't just a blur where his features should be; he truly had no face. It was completely blank. No eyes, no nose, no mouth—nothing at all.

'A Faceless Man? This guy's build and aura are identical to Elder Chen's, but why would he appear like this in the Dream Realm?' Everyone's appearance in the Dream Realm was shaped by the dreamer's memories. This was exactly how the Elder Chen of twenty years ago looked in the dreamer's mind.

'Does he lack a face because the memory is blurred? Or is it a subconscious refusal to recall that face—a form of self-protection?' If only Chu Men were here. Unfortunately, he had entered the Dream Realm one step ahead of me. 'Let's hope he hasn't run into any trouble. The difficulty of this Dream Realm is honestly staggering.'

The Faceless Man carried the birdcage into the classroom, instantly prompting a flurry of noise inside. Desks and chairs scraped against the floor as the fooling students all scrambled back to their seats, grabbing random books to pretend they were studying hard.

The teacher with extra hands on his head and stomach quickly sprang up from his chair, bowing and scraping. "Director, what brings you here?"

"Just a small matter. I'll only hold you up for two or three minutes." Hearing that voice, I was absolutely certain: this Faceless Man was Elder Chen.

I quietly slipped out from the corner, returning to my previous vantage point to peek inside. 'How is he even speaking without a mouth?'

Every time he spoke, the blank skin on Elder Chen's face rippled like water. It was a bizarre, chilling sight.

"Please, go right ahead." The male teacher stepped aside. Elder Chen took the center of the podium and gently placed the birdcage down.

"Children, tell me, what is inside this cage?" Elder Chen's voice carried no particular emotion. There was no anger, no fury. He didn't seem like someone looking to hand out punishments.

"A sparrow."

"A little gray bird."

"A dead bird."

...

The children threw out all sorts of answers. Elder Chen slowly turned his head, his blank face eventually settling on the Hunchbacked Boy sitting in the corner.

Gripping his textbook, the little boy spoke up at his teacher's urging. "Blood and feathers."

"Blood and feathers?" Elder Chen seemed rather pleased with the Hunchbacked Boy's answer. "Clotted blood symbolizes death and despair, while drifting feathers represent freedom and hope. Little one, your answer is very interesting. But that isn't what I came to discuss today. One of you has done something wrong, and I hope that person will take the initiative to step forward and confess."

The male teacher was highly adept at reading the room and instantly caught on. "Who killed the director's robin? Step forward immediately! If you confess right now, the director will surely forgive you. But if I have to find out who did it myself, I'll send you out to the playground to..."

Elder Chen cut the male teacher off, waving a hand. "Don't frighten the children. I'm merely asking."

The classroom plunged into silence for ten or so seconds. Suddenly, the tall boy sitting at the very back stood up.

Seeing the culprit who killed the robin stand up, the Hunchbacked Boy's beautiful eyes widened. He tilted his head back, his spine slowly straightening.

"Fu Xin, did you kill the director's robin?"

The male teacher's voice was sharp and stern. Trembling, his enormous head wobbling frantically, the tall boy decisively pointed a finger right at the Hunchbacked Boy.

"It was him! He killed the director's robin! Fu Ming and I both saw it! He tore at the little bird's wings, pinned its neck down with his fingers, and smashed it onto the ground!"