At that, Fatty shivered, hopping about on the spot as if a cockroach had crawled on him. Only after ascertaining that there were no strange faces within sight did he stop.

Then he groped around in his pocket with a grotesque grimace on his face, letting out a breath of relief upon feeling the emptiness within. "It shouldn't be on me."

Meanwhile, Keke and 007 rapidly searched their own bodies but found nothing.

007 frowned. If the face wasn't hidden in their clothes or pockets, the situation could be worse.

"Take off your clothes," 007 said decisively, beginning to strip off her jacket.

Fatty hastily covered his eyes and turned away. "What are you doing?"

Keke, standing beside him, understood, her expression turning grave. "Could the ghost face have grown on us?"

007 nodded. She had already lifted her shirt to confirm there was no ghost face on her front. She then turned her back towards Keke. "Do you see anything on my back?"

"Nothing." Keke swiftly bared her own back for 007 to examine; there was nothing on it either.

At that moment, Fatty, his back still to them, suddenly shouted, "Oh no! I think I feel something on my back!"

The two turned towards Fatty. He had his back to them, one hand covering his eyes, the other strenuously reaching around to fumble at his back.

Indeed, there seemed to be a bump in the center of his back. It wouldn't have been noticeable unless observed closely due to his clothing.

Because of Fatty's build and short arms, he couldn't quite reach the bump on his back.

007 and Keke immediately rushed over, held him down, and lifted his shirt to reveal his back. Upon seeing it, both gulped.

A face-like piece of skin was attached to Fatty's back, significantly larger than a normal face.

"What's on my back?" Fatty asked nervously. "It's not really there, is it?"

He attempted to twist his neck to see for himself.

007 pushed Fatty's head back to keep him still and continued examining the face on his back. "Something's off. This face isn't just stuck to your back. It appears to be growing out of it."

Keke felt the same. She carefully reached out, trying to find an edge to peel the face-like skin from Fatty's back, but found no seam. It seemed to be fused with his skin.

"AH?" Hearing 007's words, Fatty asked in a timid voice, "It can't be... you're not going to gouge it out of my back, are you?"

Fatty couldn't help but remember the time in the Fairy Tale City instance, when his skin had fused with wolf fur, and Miss Xiao Qiao had swiftly ripped it off him, flesh and all.

He could still recall the excruciating pain from that time.

Am I set to experience skin removal again today? At least it's only one face. It's a much smaller area than the wolf fur that previously fused with me, so the pain should be lesser... Fatty was constantly reassuring himself.

At that point, 007's voice came from behind him. "We need to hurry and gouge this face off. Have you noticed? It's grown larger than a normal human's face and seems to be getting bigger with time."

She was directing this at Keke by her side.

Keke also nodded solemnly. "I've noticed, too. Though it's slow, it's definitely growing."

Fatty, having listened to their conversation, became a little flustered. "How big has the face on my back gotten? It's not as big as a washbasin now, is it?"

"Pretty much," 007 said, looking at the ghost face on Fatty's back, which was now the size of a washbasin. "It's fortunate we noticed early. The face hasn't yet spread to cover your entire body. If we had discovered it later, your whole body might've been engulfed by this ghost face."

At that point, Fatty's life would be in danger, and he might even turn into a mindless monster.

"Then... then hurry and gouge it out! I can bear it!" Fatty understood the severity of the situation. He immediately lay prone on the ground, exposing his back, seemingly ready for anything, though his quavering voice revealed his lack of conviction.

"But I don't know how to stop the bleeding if we tear off such a large patch of skin." 007 didn't move, glancing at the countdown timer. There are still over four hours before we can leave the instance. If we can't stop the bleeding in that time, Fatty will likely bleed out.

"Moreover, we can't use special items in this instance. Even if we have life-saving items, we can't use them." Keke looked at the ghost face on Fatty's back, which was slowly burgeoning. We can't delay any longer.

Keke was already clutching a sharp dagger, ready to gouge out the face at any moment. She always kept this in her inventory. While it couldn't harm ghosts, it could be used against humans harboring malicious intentions within the instance.

"I have a way to stop the bleeding," 007 suddenly said, standing up.

Keke glanced up in surprise. "What way?"

007 answered, "Since we can't use special items, we'll have to make do with what we have here. Watch Fatty for me; I'll be right back."

She then headed briskly towards the adjacent room.

She didn't keep Keke and Fatty waiting long. In less than a minute, she returned, carrying a bucket.

Fatty raised his head and stared. "Gasoline?"

007 nodded. "The gasoline from room 706."

Seeing the gasoline in her hands, Keke immediately understood. "You want to use fire to cauterize the wound?"

"Yes." 007 put down the gasoline bucket and picked up the jacket she had taken off earlier from the ground. "We coat the blade with gasoline, heat it until it's red-hot, and then use it to peel off the face."

This way, they could directly cauterize the wound, which should stop the bleeding, more or less.

However, this would be extremely painful. But right now, saving his life was paramount.

007 quickly soaked the jacket in gasoline and lit it. The flames shot up high instantly. She then picked up an axe from the room and placed its bladed head into the fire.

"The area of your wound is too large. A small dagger might not cauterize it quickly enough, but the flat side of the axe head is much larger," 007 explained to Fatty, who was staring at her wide-eyed.

Fatty, already terrified by the idea of fiery cauterization, grew even more frightened at the prospect of being seared with an axe. I wish I could just faint right now!

Soon, the dagger was red-hot, and the axe in the fire began to SIZZLE.

"Let's start," 007 said to Keke, who was holding the red-hot dagger.

Fatty's hands and feet had been tied by this point to prevent him from jumping up and trying to escape when the pain hit as the face was being cut from his back.

Fatty, now bound, had teary eyes. "The Doctor isn't here either. If I pass out from the pain, there'll be no one to give me CPR... AHHH!"

Keke, seizing the moment while Fatty was distracted, made her move with the red-hot dagger.

Piercing screams of AHHH! echoed throughout the room.

Perhaps to prevent players on adjacent floors from alerting each other through sound, the building's soundproofing was excellent. Gu Mian, on the sixth floor, hadn't heard Fatty's agonizing screams at all. At that moment, he was undertaking his third task.