1. The Mask's Grip
The porcelain mask's fusion accelerated, its tendrils now burrowing through Lin Feng's facial muscles like:
Biological Takeover
Left Cheek: Petrifying into ceramic, every movement producing a chalkboard screech
Right Cheek: Flesh becoming transparent, revealing the 7th's shadow swimming beneath
Jawline: Developing hairline cracks that bled liquid mnemonics (memories in fluid form)
Dual Vision Overload - New Layers
Xiao Qi's Light Eye now perceived:
The disinfectant handprints aging backward from adult to child sizes
Faint needle marks around each tiny fingerprint
7th's Shadow Eye revealed:
Nurse-doll strings weren't connected to the Hollow King...
...but to Lin Feng's own ribcage, vibrating when he breathed
The Whisper's Origin
The voice wasn't from the mask—it was his own future voice echoing through time fractures:
"They needed broken tools...
...to break better tools."
2. The Needle in the Comedy
Bai Yu's transformation became a grotesque inversion of his humor:
Comedy Core Dissection
The frost needle unspooled his laughter into:
Slapstick Quark: Condensed into a rubber chicken with too many joints
Deadpan Quark: Crystallized into a stopwatch with negative numbers
Their separation exposed:
A void where his heart should be
Inside: A miniature stage with puppet versions of all six personas
The Key's True Form
When the needle-key absorbed the ribbon-blade's commands:
First Tooth: "OBEY" morphed into "OBSERVE"
Second Tooth: "RUN" inverted to "UNRAVEL"
Third Tooth: "LAUGH" fractured into "AU" + "GH" (gold & ghost)
Bai Yu's Last Joke
As his body petrified:
"Know why the comedy core crossed the tragedy plane?
To prove the punchline...
...was always...
...a callback."
3. The Whetstone Truth
The merged Yan Jiu entity's demonstration:
Live Reenactment
Its needle-key scratched the air, replaying:
First Era: Children being tested with:
Frost Moon's needles before they froze
Cloud Soaring's threads before they cut
Selection Process:
Those who broke cleanly → became cultivators
Those who shattered irregularly → became whetstones
The Nurse-Dolls' Original Manual
Projected from the key:
*"Protocol 0:
Irregular subjects shall be repurposed to:
Sharpen time (via forced deja vu)
Hone pain (via memory loops)
Edge obedience (via lullaby harmonics)"*
Lin Feng's Realization
His pear-blossom scar wasn't a brand—
—it was a whetstone grading mark.
4. The First Scribe's Ink - Molecular Breakdown
The liquid laughter's sonic signature contained:
Three Core Frequencies
740Hz: A baby's first cry (the seed of all sound)
3,140Hz: A snapping bone (the first break)
9Hz: The hum of a stopped clock (the first silence)
Ink-Testing Sequence
When Lin Feng's quill touched it:
First Stroke: Drew the facility's original floorplan
Second Stroke: Wrote "Subject 0's" true name...
Third Stroke: The name erased itself as the ink screamed
The Price of Authenticity
Each attempt to write:
Turned his fingernails to chalk
Made his tongue taste blackboard dust
Left teacher's red ink stains in his tear ducts
5. The Thirteenth Child - Full Manifestation
Subject 0's shadow solidified into:
Physical Form
A shattered porcelain doll with:
Xiao Qi's eyes
The Performer's joints
Li Feng's fracture patterns
Its voicebox produced multiple frequencies simultaneously
The Petrified Seed's Secret
When placed against Lin Feng's mask:
Grew instant roots into his ceramic cheek
Bloomed a black pear with:
Skin like eraser rubber
Juice that dissolved ink
Seeds that played recordings of the first lesson
Ultimate Revelation
The facility was never physical—
—it was the Tome's first draft made flesh.