“Why don’t a few of us go out there and knock some of them dead, and the rest of us escape?” someone suggested.
Setting aside the question of whether they would even be able to kill enough of those wretches, anyone that tried would surely become infected as well. It would mean sacrificing oneself to save others, so who would want to volunteer? No one.
Xie Lian would, if he could. However, he was being restrained by White No-Face. And although he could knock down seven or eight of the mad victims at a time, it would be hard to completely shut down a group of seventeen or eighteen. There was bound to be one who broke through and rushed into the Temple of the Crown Prince.
As for killing White No-Face? Xie Lian would be a fool to even consider trying.
However, the crowd needed someone to calm everyone down. Xie Lian gathered his composure and said calmly, “Everyone, please don’t lose your heads! It won’t spread that quickly. We still have time to think of a solution.”
But a mere guarantee that it “won’t spread that quickly” was hardly enough to reassure them. Surprisingly, the one who lifted the cloud of despair was none other than White No-Face.
“There is a way to prevent and cure Human Face Disease,” he said, cutting in.
At his statement, the heads of the crowd shot up.
“It can be cured? How?!”
Xie Lian felt his heart stop.
“Why don’t you ask His Highness? He knows the method,” White No-Face mused leisurely.
In an instant, a hundred pairs of eyes were focused intensely on Xie Lian. The sharpness of their gazes made him instinctively recoil, but he was caught by White No-Face and shoved forward again.
Xie Lian could hear some hopeful voices in the crowd.
“Your Highness, do you really know?”
Before Xie Lian could answer, someone else shouted excitedly, “I heard from somebody that he does know!”
However, some were suspicious. “If he knew, then why did the capital still…? Unless he knew and deliberately didn’t tell anybody?”
“Your Highness, please hurry up and tell us, yeah?”
Xie Lian immediately denied it. “I don’t know!”
However, White No-Face insisted, “You lie.”
Furious, Xie Lian wanted to rebuke him, but he was afraid it would instead drive White No-Face to leak more information.
He had a feeling that White No-Face would say it regardless, though, whether he denied it or not.
After struggling for a while, Xie Lian admitted in defeat, “There’s…no way. It’s useless!”
After a pause, the sea of people started to stir. “What do you mean, ‘useless’? How can we know it’s useless if you don’t even tell us?”
A drop of cold sweat slid down his forehead. Xie Lian thought, I really can’t say it…
He mustn’t say it! If the truth ever came to light, it would all be over. Chaos would reign!
Within the crowd, someone was finally fed up and jumped to their feet. “We’re already at death’s door, so what’s the point of keeping secrets? Unless you want us all to wait here like sitting ducks until we die?”
In a gentle voice, White No-Face offered, “Then let me tell you.”
“Be quiet!” Xie Lian yelled angrily.
Naturally, his shout wasn’t threatening in the least, and White No-Face ignored him. “Do you know which people in the capital were least likely to catch Human Face Disease?”
The crowd watched him in trepidation. Although afraid to get close, they couldn’t help but ask, “Wh-which people?”
“Soldiers,” White No-Face answered.
It was all over now.
“Why was it the soldiers?” White No-Face continued. “Because they all did one specific thing. It’s something that isn’t done by ordinary citizens, which is why those ordinary citizens caught Human Face Disease.”
The crowd’s eyes were growing wider and wider. Holding their breaths, they inquired, “And that thing was…?”
Xie Lian lunged headfirst in White No-Face’s direction, but his effort was in vain. Laughing, White No-Face shoved him back in place.
“What was it, you ask?” He hummed. “Murder.”
It was all over!
He’d actually said it. As he slumped on top of the altar, Xie Lian’s heart felt cold as ice.
After the initial shock, some people repeated it in disbelief, “Murder…? You have to kill someone to become immune? You need to kill someone to be cured?”
“You’re lying, right?!”
The terrible thing was—no, it wasn’t a lie! It was the ultimate truth, and Xie Lian had verified it himself. One who was stained with blood, one who had ended another’s life, was immune to Human Face Disease!
Nobody had expected this to be the secret to gaining immunity. Stunned, they discussed among themselves.
“How can this be?”
“I always thought it was odd, but it’s true that I haven’t ever heard of anyone in the army who got infected with Human Face Disease! So it’s probably true!”
“It is true!”
“But doesn’t that mean we have to kill someone to prevent infection?”
“Who do we kill?”
The person who posed the question immediately got lectured. “What do you mean, ‘who do we kill’? Don’t tell me you actually want to kill someone?”
The man didn’t dare to say anything more. However, the hundred pairs of eyes that had been filled with nothing but simple terror now contained many other emotions; it was very subtle, very strange.
This was exactly what Xie Lian had feared. Once the cure for Human Face Disease was brought to light, one thing would inevitably happen:
Mass murder.
This was the sole reason that Xie Lian had kept the secret to himself after discovering the way to gain immunity. As long as one had killed another human being, they would be safe from the disease. Perhaps most people would be able to control themselves initially, but there was bound to be someone desperate enough to take the risk. The moment blood was spilled in the name of preventing the disease, it would soon be followed by a second killing, then a third… As more and more people followed suit, the whole world would be thrown into chaos. If that was the inevitable result, it was better for Xie Lian to firmly guard the knowledge and keep it only to himself.
Xie Lian smiled wryly. “Now you understand why I said the method is useless.”
The crowd was silent. Xie Lian sighed. He forced himself to keep his chin up, then soothed them with a gentle tone.
“No matter what happens, please stay calm and don’t act rashly or you’ll play right into this creature’s hands.”
Among the crowd, there was a genteel-looking couple. With her child wrapped in her arms, the mother wept, “How did this happen?! Why is this happening?! Why does it have to be us, of all people? We’ve never done anything wrong!”
“Cry, cry, cry—what are you crying for?” a nearby person snapped at her. “All you know how to do is cry and cry! No one here has done anything wrong! You think you’re the only unlucky ones?”
“What, you’re not even going to let people cry?!” the husband retorted angrily.
“What’s the use of crying so much that you annoy everyone around you? Shut your mouth!”
It was unbelievable that a fight could break out over such a petty thing. Everyone was clearly teetering on the edge of breakdown, and even a small touch could set them off.
Xie Lian was quick to pacify them. “Stop arguing! Stay calm! Only calm minds can bring solutions!”
However, the more he tried to calm the crowd, the more agitated they became.
“Stay calm? How can we be calm at a time like this? If you’re so calm, why don’t you think of something? Let’s hear what you got!”
The request silenced Xie Lian. What kind of solution was there?
None!
He dug through his mind desperately for an answer until his brain was on the verge of exploding. But he couldn’t think of any way to resolve the situation in front of him!
Suddenly, he felt someone squeeze his cheeks. A hand had cupped his face and twisted it to face the audience below the altar. Xie Lian’s eyes widened in confusion.
