Chapter 06: Liao Tianhua

The wild, clawing hair locked onto Xia Mi in an encircling formation, cutting off her path of retreat.

Given time to prepare, Xia Mi could have fended off the hairdresser’s hair. The warning from Hani Apartments had given her confidence, but caught off guard, the hairdresser’s hair was clearly more troublesome than the transparent man.

The biggest problem was that Xia Mi was no longer in a safe environment. She was immersed in the Zhuo. As long as she touched an mutated part of someone’s body, she would begin to undergo mutation herself.

She could not let that hair touch her.

Xia Mi swallowed hard, trying to reason with the hairdresser. “I don’t have a source of income right now. If I borrow money, I don’t know when I’ll be able to pay it back. If you lend me the money, you might hit your KPI¹, but you’ll lose two thousand yuan. Isn’t that more loss than gain?”

The Hairdresser’s hair paused. She tilted her head, her compromised intellect processing this for a moment. “Then what should I do?” she asked melancholically. “If I don’t finish my task, I’m finished.”

“Today is only the 22nd. There are still several days until the end of the month. It’s not like it’s the end of the world, right?” Xia Mi urged.

The Hairdresser seemed unable to register Xia Mi’s words. She shook her head incessantly. “No, no, no. It must be finished today. It must!”

Xia Mi thought back to the twenty-four-hour time limit the Unknown Number had mentioned. Why exactly twenty-four hours?

Was it because from the moment the Zhuo shrouded the entire area, the mutated people inside only had twenty-four hours left?

After twenty-four hours, these people would completely lose their humanity.

This seemed to explain why the hairdresser was so desperate to complete her task today. Because by ten o’clock tonight, it would all be over.

The mother who wanted to protect her son, the student who wanted to become transparent to escape heavy burdens, the Delivery Man who wanted to trade in his scooter, the Otaku who wanted to be a big shot in his game, the agent who wanted to sell a house, the hairdresser who wanted to push memberships…

Each of them clung to their desires as if those wishes were the only way they could still retain their humanity.

Xia Mi realized this was her opening.

“Actually,” she said earnestly, “I’m currently on a secret mission. Once I succeed, I’ll get a Bianzhi position. When that happens, forget about just me getting a membership card; I’ll bring all my colleagues to sign up too!”

The Hairdresser’s eyes lit up. “How long until you get the Bianzhi?” she asked expectantly.

“Before the end of today, for sure,” Xia Mi said firmly.

The Hairdresser asked, “What secret mission are you doing? Can I help you?”

Xia Mi looked at the hairdresser’s hair, which filled the entire stairwell. Among the few people she had encountered so far, the hairdresser’s mutation was the strongest. Having a helper wouldn’t be a bad thing.

“I can’t tell you the details of the secret mission,” Xia Mi said. “But you can escort me to the Rooftop first. I’ll tell you what to do next based on the situation.”

“That’s wonderful,” the hairdresser said. “Let’s go to the Rooftop right now.”

She ran excitedly toward the upper floors. After two steps, she suddenly whipped her head around and said eerily, “You… aren’t… lying… to me… are you?”

What little remained of the hairdresser’s intelligence had somehow managed to seize the high ground at this critical moment.

Xia Mi quickly replied, “How could I? I’m a college graduate. Why would I lie?”

She did her best to show the hairdresser her “clear yet foolish²” eyes, the look of a naive student.

The Hairdresser nodded. “It’s true, most of you college students are pretty stupid. You don’t even dare to argue when your hair gets ruined; you just pay the bill with a long face. Even if there’s a balance left on your card, you don’t ask for a refund, you just silently stop coming.”

Xia Mi: “…”

How could someone who had turned into a monster still be so insulting?

The Hairdresser continued, “A small number of people come to make a scene, but most of you are honest and docile.”

Xia Mi felt humiliated, but she couldn’t talk back. She could only force a smile and say, “Right, right, yes, yes. You’re absolutely right.”

“I can say all that to you and you still agree. You really are an honest college student who doesn’t know how to lie,” the hairdresser added.

She just wouldn’t stop!

Xia Mi endured the humiliation for the sake of her goal. “So you have to believe me. I’ll get my Bianzhi very soon. Today, definitely. I’ll certainly get a card from you. How about this: if I don’t have the Bianzhi by 6:00 PM today, I’ll find a way to get the money to buy a membership from you regardless.”

The Hairdresser’s eyes brightened again. “I have a friend in the micro-loan business,” she said. “If I bring him customers, he gives me a commission. Do you want to consider him?”

“When the time comes, definitely,” Xia Mi brushed her off. “Now, pull your hair back. I don’t like touching other people’s hair.”

“Alright. You college students certainly are obsessed with cleanliness.” the hairdresser wrapped the masses of hair around her limbs. She looked like a person made of hair, a truly terrifying sight.

She had so much hair that her limbs weren’t enough to hold it all. A portion of the hair spread out over the stairs like a conveyor belt, transporting the hairdresser up to the eighth floor.

Xia Mi waited until the hairdresser’s hair had cleared the floor before slowly following.

She had wanted to go up faster, but with the hair clearing the way ahead, she couldn’t risk touching it. She had to follow at a steady, measured pace.

By the time Xia Mi reached the eighth floor, the hairdresser was already on the ninth.

Xia Mi noticed the door to the eighth-floor stairwell was slightly ajar. Several pairs of eyes were peeking through the crack, watching them shiftily.

Xia Mi slammed her axe against the door and barked, “If you want to come in, come in! Stop acting so suspicious!”

Perhaps deterred by her axe, the people behind the door scrambled back.

The Hairdresser stood quietly on the ninth-floor landing, waiting for Xia Mi.

Xia Mi asked, “Aren’t you going to ask them if they want to buy a membership?”

The Hairdresser replied, “They won’t work. We have rules. Colleagues aren’t allowed to sell cards to each other.”

But those people weren’t from the same salon as the hairdresser.

Xia Mi realized that whether it was the hairdresser or the other neighbors, the reason they sought her out was because she was the only normal person in the building.

The Unknown Number had said that the Zhuo would try to infect normal people. It seemed these mutated individuals were seeking her out driven by an instinctive urge to spread the infection.

Yet, at the same time, they still possessed a shred of humanity. Their desires and fears were temporarily suppressing that infectious instinct.

For now, she was relatively safe. However, Xia Mi suspected that as the mutation grew more severe in the coming hours, these people would lose the humanity required to suppress their infectious instincts. When that happened, she would be in dire trouble.

She hoped that going to the Rooftop would work as the Unknown Number had promised, opening a passage to let the professionals in to resolve the situation.

With the deterrent of her axe and the hairdresser’s escort, Xia Mi successfully reached the 11th floor.

There was another half-flight of stairs above the 11th floor leading to a small door. That door opened onto the Rooftop.

Xia Mi turned to the hairdresser and said, “Pull back your hair and let me through. I’ll go up to the Rooftop alone. Don’t follow me.”

The Hairdresser looked at Xia Mi with deep suspicion. “You aren’t planning to jump and end it all, are you?”

“I’m young and have a bright future ahead of me,” Xia Mi countered. “Why would I jump?”

“Hard to say,” the hairdresser replied. “I heard people saying you couldn’t find a job after graduating, and then you got dumped by your boyfriend after he passed the civil service exam. Supposedly your parents wanted you to go back to your hometown to get married, but you refused, so they cut off your allowance. You had no money for rent and cried while begging the landlord to lower the security deposit. You only paid for three months, you’ve already lived here for two and a half, and in another two weeks, you’ll be broke.”

Xia Mi gritted her teeth. “Who is spreading these rumors? I have a great relationship with my parents. They’re very open-minded and support my goal of getting a Bianzhi. I just felt too embarrassed to keep taking their money.

“And I didn’t beg the landlord to lower the deposit! It was supposed to be one month’s deposit and three months’ rent³, but the landlord insisted I’d use my axe to wreck the place and tried to charge me double the deposit. That’s why I was arguing with him!”

The Hairdresser asked, “So it’s true you haven’t found a job since graduation?”

Xia Mi paused. “I just didn’t want to go to a company with poor working conditions.”

The Hairdresser continued, “Do you have the money for next month’s rent? Three months’ worth at once?”

“I’ll figure something out when the time comes,” Xia Mi muttered.

“And it’s true your boyfriend dumped you?”

“Our living environments changed, and we lost our common language. We were just drifting apart. We hadn’t even talked about breaking up yet, so how does that count as being dumped?”

The Hairdresser ignored Xia Mi’s explanation and spoke to herself. “You’re so pitiful, and you still owe me two thousand yuan for that membership card. There’s a high probability you’re going to jump.”

Xia Mi gnashed her teeth and declared, “I’m about to get a Bianzhi! Once I have it, I’ll kick that jerk to the curb and buy the highest-level membership card at your shop. Just you wait!”

With that, she gave her axe a spiteful flourish and pushed against the Rooftop door with renewed fighting spirit.

It didn’t budge.

An old-fashioned lock hung on the door, a key for which only the property management possessed.

Xia Mi raised her axe and slammed it against the lock several times. The sharp blade eventually shattered it.

Hearing the sound of Xia Mi smashing the lock, the hairdresser silently retracted her hair. “I believe you won’t commit suicide now,” she called out. “But don’t go killing anyone. Your boyfriend only broke up with you; it’s not a capital offense.”

Xia Mi stood speechless.

You’re already mutated, stop worrying about so much nonsense!

She pushed open the door and stepped onto the Rooftop.

The sky above was still blanketed in black fog. Neither the sky nor the city’s neon lights were visible.

Xia Mi walked a circle around the Rooftop. Just like a broken game, she found no weapons and no passage leading in or out.

Everything felt like an elaborate hoax.

Perhaps, like all the other mutated people, she was merely clutching a desperate hope, holding onto a beautiful dream of remaining human even as she turned into a monster.

Xia Mi didn’t know if the Unknown Number could still receive messages, but she tried sending a short text: [Are you there?]

The phone vibrated almost instantly.

The Unknown Number replied: [I am.]

Xia Mi had no way of knowing if this message had been tampered with by the Zhuo.

Xia Mi: [I can’t see you.]

Unknown Number: [Calm your mind. Hold firm to your convictions. Cast aside doubt and frustration. Listen closely; your senses will surely break through the haze of the Zhuo.]

Xia Mi took a deep breath, clutched the axe to her chest, closed her eyes, and listened in the silence.

She had her doubts and her confusion, but at this moment, she had no choice but to believe.

Since she had already chosen to trust the Unknown Number, to believe that the state would not sit idly by, she would see it through to the end.

Xia Mi recalled the theoretical knowledge she had studied for the Essay Writing for Civil Service and began to recite it silently in her heart.

Slogans, faith, and conviction dispelled the haze in her mind. A rhythmic “thud-thud-thud” began to echo in her ears, sounding like the blades of a helicopter.

She opened her eyes and noticed a faint, pale patch amidst the black fog.

Xia Mi turned on her phone’s flashlight and aimed it at that spot.

Where the light hit, the black fog gradually thinned. Xia Mi saw a helicopter hovering above the Rooftop. A figure in a black Protective Suit and a sealed helmet was standing on a lowered rope ladder, waving at her.

Xia Mi didn’t wave back. Instead, she lowered her head to send a message: [Is that you on the helicopter?]

The person gripped the ladder with one hand and pulled out a phone with the other, tapping quickly.

Xia Mi soon received a reply: [It’s me. Liao Tianhua, Captain of the First Squad of the National Special Events Disposal Bureau.]

Xia Mi didn’t have time to be moved. She immediately asked the question she cared about most: [What’s your rank? Can you really get me a Bianzhi?]

Liao Tianhua visibly stiffened upon seeing the message, nearly falling off the helicopter.

After stabilizing himself, he sent a reply.

Unknown Number: [I am currently at the Section Chief level⁴, but due to the nature of my position, I have the authority of a Deputy Division Chief. None of that is important. What matters is that I have the authority to recruit new members.]

The Unknown Number immediately followed up with another message: [All members are granted a Bianzhi.]

At those words, Xia Mi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Her Bianzhi was secure!

Translator’s Notes