What do people fear most when they're in a state of extreme stress? A hand suddenly reaching out from the darkness? A shadow silently approaching from behind? No, the most terrifying thing is when you suddenly look up and meet a pair of dead eyes. Those eyes stare back at you, pupils dilated, yet moving like a living being. Shi Man met Gu Weimin's gaze. Her heart instantly contracted, her blood seemed to freeze, and even her breathing stopped for a second. But she didn't panic. She simply felt an icy chill creep up her spine, like a venomous snake, slowly and fatally wrapping around her heart, dragging it bit by bit towards the abyss. Because of Gu Weimin, only a head remained. An old, shrunken head placed on the desk. And he was still alive. How could a person be left with only a head and still be alive? Or rather...was the living person truly "Gu Weimin"? Huang Mingzhu slowly walked towards the desk, her steps eerily light, as if she were being drawn by something. She sat at the end of the bed, facing the head, motionless. The dim light of the desk lamp stretched her shadow, distorting it against the wall. The tentacles on her head had unknowingly extended, wriggling slightly in the light, like some greedy, exploratory organ. Then, the head spoke. "Learn." The voice, like it was squeezed from a rotting throat, was hoarse, broken, yet incredibly clear. Shi Man's blood froze instantly. This scene shattered his entire worldview. It was like stepping from a science fiction set into a horror film! A head... speaking? "Learn, learn..." Huang Mingzhu repeated, her voice mechanical and stiff, like a machine that had just learned to pronounce. "Human." "Human, kind..." "Think." "Think, consider..." An eerie silence descended into the room. The old man's head and the little girl's stiff back formed a grotesque and terrifying scene in the dim light. They were "teaching." One teaching, the other learning. Each word strung together like a thread, forming the following: - Learning how humans think. At that moment, Shi Man, and even Qin Weishan and the others, felt not fear but a deeper, more primal shudder. At that moment, everyone witnessing this scene wished ghosts existed in the world rather than that this scene was real. It was a biological, species-level feeling of terror. Humanity was being spied on, studied, imitated... And before this feeling of terror had faded, Gu Weimin's head suddenly spoke, "Who is observing me?" Shi Man's heart raced uncontrollably. She had been discovered! Gu Weimin's gray, blurred eyes seemed to be looking in her direction, yet not quite. But the next moment, Huang Mingzhu turned her head, looking at the very corner where she was. "Who. Is. Observing. Me?" she said, word by word, standing up and walking towards Shi Man. Shi Man's invisibility cloak only deceived the senses, not truly invisible. If touched, she would be exposed. Huang Mingzhu's room was a completely enclosed space, windowless, with no escape! If she touched Shi Man, she would be exposed! What should they do? Qin Weishan and the others' hearts tightened, and everyone clenched their fists for Shi Man. Inside the holographic projection, they watched Huang Mingzhu stop and reach out toward the camera, getting closer and closer—and everyone had a single thought in their minds: It's over!
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