Chapter 4: Wood Carving

At this moment, Hong Anjie was equally flustered and said, "When I just came out, to be on the safe side, I asked my neighbor Uncle Zhao to keep an eye on the one at home."

While speaking, he quickly went out and descended the stairs

At this moment, he certainly would not directly split the wooden sculpture in half, but rather was curious as to why he could see through the surface of the sculpture and perceive the curled-up Hong Bin within it

He did not understand why these things appeared, but it was evident that after the wooden sculpture struck Hong Bin, Hong Bin vanished, and then his shadow appeared within the wooden sculpture, allowing him to see, and furthermore, these three inexplicable progress bars emerged

How about you make a call now and ask if there is anything unusual

This line of text appears for about five seconds and then quickly disappears

Moreover, the progress bar continuously rotates with one's line of sight, making it impossible for others to see. As for the shadow within the wooden carving, it is highly likely that only oneself can perceive it

A small piece of the wooden sculpture's base has been chipped off, but the damage is minimal and will remain inconspicuous after sanding

After cleaning the house, not long after, Hong Anjie called to inform Shen Xing that his father was no longer in critical condition, that he was currently awake in the hospital, and that his speech and thought processes were normal, with a fairly good mental state.

Shen Xing was crouching on the ground, carefully examining the spot where Hong Bin had fallen moments ago. There were no traces left here, except for the wooden sculpture that had already been lifted up.

Staring at these three lines of text and the progress bar, Shen Xing had good reason to suspect that their appearance was related to the wooden sculpture that had just struck Hong Bin and subsequently absorbed him into its half-body sculpture.

After spending approximately half an hour searching every corner, cabinet, under the sofa, and beneath the bed of the rental unit, he felt somewhat relieved once he was certain that he had not seen anything unusual

Shen Xing could not help but reach out to touch the half-body sculpture that was placed beside her hand

If it were not for the photo that Shen Xing had sent to himself at the very beginning, Hong Anjie would never believe that his other father had just suddenly disappeared.

The third line of text is quite simple, displaying the three characters "潜技能". However, next to these three characters, the word "无" is directly shown.

It now appears that the reason for Hong Bin, who was just struck by the wooden sculpture, suddenly disappearing has been found

To the left of the second line of text are four characters: Physical Strength

He sat by the edge of the bed near the sculpting workbench, staring at the empty floor

At that moment, he suddenly froze, his expression one of astonishment, as a line of seemingly tangible silver-white text suddenly appeared in his mind

As for the individual in Hong Anjie's family, although they appear to behave unusually, everything else is quite normal. For instance, they can communicate with themselves like an ordinary person, do not exhibit aggressive behavior, let alone bite others.

At that moment, he noticed three lines of semi-transparent text appearing in his peripheral vision.

Although the content of the progress bar is quite understandable in a literal sense, Shen Xing does not believe that they would appear before the wooden sculpture struck Hong Bin

The sequence of events must be that the wooden sculpture struck Hong Bin, inadvertently absorbing him, which then activated the wooden sculpture system, causing it to display three attribute values.

To the right of "Physical Strength," there is also a progress bar, with the text "Body 37%" appearing above the surface.

The photo in the frame features a young woman with long hair, dressed in a white T-shirt and denim overalls, wearing a pair of white mesh shoes. She leans against a sycamore tree, her face adorned with a sweet smile, yet it seems that this scene is forever frozen in that moment

Shen Xing tentatively reached out to touch the wooden carving, but could only feel its surface, while Hong Bin's dark shadow seemed to be concealed within the carving

While pondering, Shen Xing went to the kitchen to fetch a sharp kitchen knife, turned on all the lights in the room, and then began to search little by little.

Hanging up the phone, Hong Anjie stood up anxiously and said: "Uncle Zhao just told me that my dad suddenly fainted. He said he has already called an ambulance. I need to rush to the hospital now"

Just as I set my hands down, my gaze fell upon the half-body sculpture placed on the workbench. At that moment, a black shadow was curled up within the wooden carving, and the outline of this shadow was strikingly similar to that of Hong Bin.

Since that young man left, Shen Xing has been in deep thought

Listening to the hurried footsteps fading away, Shen Xing still felt as if he were dreaming. He stood at the bedroom door, turned back to look at the place where Hong Bin had originally been lying, unable to suppress the fear that arose in his heart

Just as he finished speaking, Hong Anjie’s phone began to vibrate. He glanced at the screen and, with a strange expression, said: "It’s a call from Uncle Zhao"

What the hell ... ... is it ultimately, a human, a ghost, or a beast

While speaking, he answered the phone, "Hello, Uncle Zhao, what?! I will come over immediately, thank you, Uncle Zhao!"

After throwing away the trash in the room, I returned to the bedroom, turned on my phone, and scrolled through the strange photo of Hong Bin that I had taken earlier. After looking at it for a long time, I noticed that it seemed no different from the person at Hong Anjie’s home.

Indeed," Shen Xing nodded decisively.

Hong Bin, current understanding of the characteristics is 20 percent

"So this is how it is triggered, what a ridiculous system!" Shen Xing muttered to himself

Shen Xing also stood up and asked, "Is the situation serious?"

In fact, he is quite fortunate that he took a photo of the now-missing Hong Bin just moments ago and sent it to Hong Anjie for confirmation; otherwise, if this person suddenly disappeared, he would find it impossible to explain himself, no matter how many excuses he had.

Suddenly, Shen Xing felt a slight irritation and itchiness in his right eye, and he instinctively reached out to rub his eye

To the right of the "spiritual antibody" is a gray progress bar, on the surface of which appears a line of text stating "Antibody Level 0"

The Hong Bin in this room has already disappeared after sustaining a head injury. If he were an ordinary person, it would be impossible for him to vanish into thin air; this has already exceeded the bounds of reason. Therefore, the likelihood that this Hong Bin is a fake is the greatest.

According to convention, ever since his reincarnation, Shen Xing has never believed that he does not have a system father. He has always been trying to activate his golden finger in various ways, but to no avail.

"Are you saying that the person was struck on the head by the wooden sculpture that fell, and then you ran out to open the door for me? In just those brief ten seconds, he disappeared?" Hong Anjie asked, his face filled with confusion.

Hong Bin?" Shen Xing said in surprise, "It was actually carved into the wood sculpture?"

The shadow in this wood carving remains utterly still, as if it will never move again, merely maintaining a curled posture

Hong Anjie shook his head: "I don't know. You don't need to come with me. First, let's see what's going on here."

The left side of the topmost line of text contains four characters: Spiritual Antibody

However, I never expected that, given the current situation, it seems that my golden finger has indeed appeared!

The right eye began to itch again, and Shen Xing could not help but rub his eyes. He turned his gaze away and no longer stared at the wooden carving.

As for why the false Hong Bin appeared and why he chose to attack others, it remains unknown for the time being. Based solely on the current clues available, Shen Xing is unable to deduce any conclusions.

Return to the kitchen to properly place the kitchen knife, tidy up the room, lock the living room door from the inside, and especially wipe the upright picture frame near the window on the workbench carefully to ensure that the frame is free of dust

Hong Bin's ferocious face, bulging eyes, curled lips, and menacing teeth are still vividly etched in my mind from the perilous scene just moments ago. Had I not swiftly brought him down to the ground, I would likely have been bitten on the carotid artery.