The boundless black mist resembled a pitch-dark ocean, and Xiang Nuan was like a solitary island at the center of the vast sea. He bore all the sins, his body fusing with his shell of the past until the two could never be separated again.
His will began to dissipate, and Xiang Nuan's gaze froze on the great whale beside him.
The sins and curses far beyond what he could bear pressed down upon him. The massive shell fused with Xiang Nuan sank deep into the ground of the black mist world, and his skin gradually took on the same color as the land.
The great whale kept crying out, as though calling a name, but Xiang Nuan could no longer hear it.
His movements grew slower and slower, until sin covered his entire body and his last shred of will was on the verge of being extinguished.
His lips moved slightly. Xiang Nuan seemed to have said something, but no one heard it clearly.
Those present only saw him fully merge with the shell, becoming part of the black mist world.
His final flicker of consciousness faded into the fog. Dark Nascency, with all his sins, dispersed into nothingness, leaving behind only a solitary island of humanity in the black mist world.
The sins were so profound that even the ghosts in the black mist were unwilling to approach this small island, but that enormous, beautiful whale stayed by its side the entire time.
The black mist was eroding her body, yet she paid no attention. Her massive form circled the island, driving away the encroaching mist and shielding it from the black rain falling from above.
He turned his head to look.
The two of them watched for a long time, until a pale arm stretched out from beneath "the Past's" pitch-black shell. That hand was covered in shattered human faces.
The Faceless Doctor struggled to crawl out of the shell. His blood-stained coat was gone, and his entire body was riddled with wounds. Those broken faces had all grown onto his body.
Having narrowly escaped with his life, the Faceless Doctor was still shaken. He cursed Dark Nascency viciously, yet his eyes never left the great whale above him.
"Power completely untainted by sin? Dark Nascency gave everything he'd accumulated over more than a decade to that woman?!" Greed filled the Faceless Doctor's eyes, but before he could entertain any further thoughts, an incredibly terrifying aura appeared behind him.
He spun around. Every shattered face on the Faceless Doctor's body changed its expression. He saw Zhang Ya and Chen Ge standing not far from him.
"I know you're after Dark Nascency's leftovers too. That much power—you can't swallow it all on your own. Why don't we cooperate?" The Faceless Doctor was deeply wary of Zhang Ya. He had sustained grievous injuries, and surviving this far was already a miracle. He had absolutely no courage to fight Zhang Ya right now.
"Cooperation is fine, but you'll have to answer my questions honestly." Chen Ge stepped out from behind Zhang Ya. The moment he saw the Faceless Doctor was still alive, he had Zhang Ya carry him over for a closer look.
Whatever Dark Nascency had left for Wen Qing, he had no intention of taking it. But the Faceless Doctor, this fierce god—he would absolutely not let him go.
"What do you want to ask?" This was the first time the Faceless Doctor had ever conversed with an ordinary person like this. Every face on his body stared at Chen Ge, that incomparably cold and terrifying feeling piercing into Chen Ge's heart. But to his surprise, Chen Ge showed absolutely no reaction.
"First question—when did you start targeting Dark Nascency?"
"From the moment he fled to Hanjiang. We knew most of what he did. Once someone becomes a patient at our hospital, they're marked with its curse. Even if they escape, someday the hospital will appear before them again." The Faceless Doctor didn't hide anything. For someone like him, he'd do anything to stay alive.
"So you knew all along that Dark Nascency was hiding inside Xiang Nuan?"
"Of the nine children Dark Nascency chose, only Xiang Nuan had no self-awareness. He nearly died at birth. It was Dark Nascency who saved his life—and then took his place." The Faceless Doctor was seizing every moment to recover. "Not only did we know Dark Nascency was inside Xiang Nuan, we also knew he was destined to fail. The distance between life and death is something no one can cross. That's why we waited until this very last moment to come and reclaim him."
"Reclaim? Before he became one of your patients, he was my shadow." Chen Ge's tone was impossible to read.
"Are you trying to use that to claim a larger share? Sure—of the power Dark Nascency left behind, I only want thirty percent." The Faceless Doctor didn't know if he was stalling for time or deliberately saying this to keep Chen Ge at ease.
"I'll give you all of Dark Nascency's power, but I want you to answer my next few questions honestly." Chen Ge's head slowly lowered, and no one could see his expression at that moment. "Why doesn't your hospital dare to enter Hanjiang freely? Is there some secret hidden in this city?"
"We're right here, aren't we? I don't know how to answer that question."
"Patient number 0004, Dark Nascency. Doctor number 0011, and many other patients—all hiding in Hanjiang. Yet for over a decade, you never went to retrieve them. It was only recently that you started entering Hanjiang without restraint. I suspect that some power you feared has recently disappeared, which is why you've grown bolder." Chen Ge pushed his Yin Eyes to their absolute limit, slowly raising his head and committing every micro-expression on the Faceless Doctor's faces to memory.
The Faceless Doctor said nothing. The shattered faces on his body all studied Chen Ge. After several minutes, he finally spoke. "You're right. The reason we couldn't freely enter Hanjiang before was because of a curse—or rather, an agreement. That curse has now been broken."
"Broken?"
"Mm. Because the person who cast the curse is dead." The Faceless Doctor was closely watching Chen Ge's expression for any changes.
"Do you know the name of the person who cast it?"
"The curse was cast by a married couple, but their names, what they looked like—only the Director knows those details." This wasn't the first time the Faceless Doctor had mentioned the Director. He seemed to genuinely revere the man from the bottom of his heart.
"How can I meet the Director?" Chen Ge's face was expressionless. No one could tell what he was thinking.
"The only known method is to become a patient—and not just any patient. You'd need to be among the top ten in numbering." The Faceless Doctor didn't seem to be lying. After serious thought, he had arrived at the most easily achievable answer.
"Last question. Dark Nascency, as a fierce god, is only ranked fourth in your hospital. How terrifying are the top three patients? Tell me everything you know about them."
"I'm sorry. Information about those three patients is itself part of the curse. The moment it's spoken aloud, misfortune will follow."
"So you're not going to tell me?"
"I've already told you quite a lot, in fact. You need to understand—the more you know, the more dangerous your situation becomes." The Faceless Doctor's body had recovered slightly. The shattered faces on his skin were slowly fitting back together.