Memory

Gao Tian looked at his "Father," "Mother," and his "Sister," Gao Xi, who was standing by the door waiting to open it for his girlfriend outside.

He asked the final question:

"What's the name of this residential area we live in, this building?"

It was strange. He had lived in this area for over a decade, yet Gao Tian had no impression of its name at all. What's more, after entering the area, every plant, every tree, and the appearance of the residential buildings felt deeply unfamiliar to him.

His Mother still shook her head cheerfully:

"You've forgotten too much, A'Tian.

"This residential area is called Ren Huo Residential Area. This building, naturally, is called Ren Huo Building."

Ren Huo.

Ren Huo.

Ren Huo.

Ren Huo backwards, isn't that Huo Ren?

Living Person!

Living Person Apartment!

Gao Tian understood everything in an instant.

When did he fall victim?

Without him realizing it, his cognition had become impaired. Under the interference of a mysterious force, he had willingly walked into the Living Person Apartment!

It was that Jialan Society Chat Group, where the Group Owner had changed his Username to "Living Person Apartment."

Gao Tian had once speculated that the Jialan Society's Group Owner had also mistakenly entered the Living Person Apartment when he was alive and had resolved the Living Person Apartment Incident to a certain extent at that time. This was also one of the most difficult Supernatural Events he had resolved in his career as a Ghost Hunter, which was why he had set the Living Person Apartment as his name and Codename.

But the Jialan Society Group Owner was dead. His current identity was a ghost, not a Ghost Hunter. Furthermore, since the Living Person Apartment, which was also a ghost, could not be killed, it could never be completely resolved. So now it had returned.

Why had he dazed into the Living Person Apartment? His "Father," "Mother," and "Sister" before him were most likely not human at all. They were ghosts, disguised as his Family, and were constantly feeding him False Memory through Language and Hints!

If Gao Tian's will had been even a tiny bit less firm, he really might have accepted an Excuse like "Intermittent Memory Disorder" and, step by step, accepted the setting of this Family of Four.

With a boom, Gao Tian's mind felt like a drowning person suddenly being lifted out of the water. Countless fresh pieces of information surged towards him, and his Brain almost exploded.

He remembered. His real parents had died in a fire when he was ten years old.

He was an only child, with no siblings, not even any cousins.

No wonder the faces of his Father, Mother, and Sister were all unfamiliar.

Because Gao Tian had no mother at all!

After that big fire, Gao Tian became an orphan. Fortunately, his real parents were two scientists who left behind a Foundation that would send him living expenses every month.

The University Teacher Dormitory where his parents lived before they died had already expired and been repossessed. That's why Gao Tian had to move out and rent a new place off-campus.

As for why he was repeating the year, it was just a normal Gaokao Failure. Gao Tian hadn't inherited his parents' good brains; he had always been a person with average learning talent. It was extremely difficult just to get into a 985 university, let alone one at the level of Tsinghua, Peking, Fudan, or Jiaotong.

Fake, all of it was fake. The award certificates filling the room were fake, the logs were fake, the sister was fake, the parents were fake. And the "girlfriend" frantically knocking outside was even more fake.

The real memories in his brain had always been in a "shielded" state. Large parts of his memory were left blank to make it easier for the ghosts to implant fabricated memories.

To be honest, when did he start feeling dazed and actively walk into the Living Person Apartment?

It was when he saw that Weird Photo, and the girl in the photo smiled at him...

It was at that moment that his will and memory were already contaminated, and the first False Memory Point began to form. He actively walked to the Fourth Floor of the Living Person Apartment and treated the ghosts there as his "family."

Fortunately, Gao Tian was firm enough. He firmly believed that his memory was fine and that he wasn't the one who was wrong. That mysterious power had always been unable to forcibly implant this false memory into his brain.

So the problem was, even though Gao Tian now knew that the "family" in front of him were not humans at all, what should he do next to escape them?

He had to stay calm now, not tear off face, and definitely not reveal any signal that he had remembered.

These ghosts, who were impersonating his family, were still so kind and spoke to him politely because they felt they were about to succeed, about to assimilate Gao Tian.

If the ghosts realized that their Memory Implantation had completely failed, would they tear off face, stop pretending, and simply kill Gao Tian?

How could he find a reasonable excuse to leave this warm Family of Four?

Even more troublesome, even if he found an excuse, he couldn't get out. Another new ghost had appeared outside, impersonating Gao Tian's girlfriend, Li Xing, and was still blocking the door and knocking incessantly. Forget about leaving through the door; the immediate priority was to prevent the ghost outside from coming in.

"Gao Tian, have you remembered?"

"Li Xing has been locked outside for too long. Her temper might be a bit irritable."

The thing outside the door, as if no one had opened it for a long time, the originally gentle knocking sound gradually became enraged. Like a Hammer, fists pounded heavily on the Iron Door, shaking the entire room. The Tableware on the dining table clattered against each other, producing a Metallic Clang.

Was this truly something a Human could achieve?

Mother looked at him, her smile turning sinister at some point. She seemed to be observing Gao Tian's expression, to see if he had truly been convinced or if he had recalled something.

Since he already knew that his so-called "parents" and "sister" were ghosts, Gao Tian no longer needed to go easy on them.

The last shred of concern in his heart was discarded. Without hesitation, he activated the ability of the Shattered Face Ghost from the Urn.

He chose to copy his "sister's" Facial Features.

Coupled with the previous two encounters in the Corridor and the study, Gao Tian had already collected three of his "sister's" Facial Features. With two more, he could directly copy her Killing Rule and use it for himself.

The Shattered Face Ghost's ability limit is to obtain the rules of three ghosts. He has obtained one Memory Ghost, leaving two empty slots.

And at this moment, he saw the security door at his home. Due to some indescribable frantic pounding, complete handprints actually appeared on the sheet metal. It seems the thing outside is truly enraged, no longer pretending. A mere iron door will hardly stop "her" from entering.

"Tian Tian, what's wrong with your face?"

"It's so ugly, and your facial features... seem to have changed a bit."

At this moment, "Mother" also changed from her usual gentleness. The hand pressed on Gao Tian's shoulder bulged with veins. Gao Tian felt an incredible force pressing down on him, as if she was afraid he would escape.

Very good, no more pretending, all pretense is gone.

There was no more time to copy "Sister's" facial features. Gao Tian decided to fight to the death. With one "Father" and one "Mother," as their gazes met his, Gao Tian directly met their eyes and copied their facial features.

The facial features of three people appeared on his face simultaneously. There was no rejection reaction; instead, they blended surprisingly harmoniously.

Gao Tian immediately understood. Whether it was the "Father," "Mother," or "Sister" before him, they were all impersonated by the same ghost. It played three roles by itself, acting out a warm family life here, completely fooling Gao Tian.

And now, Gao Tian had looked at "Sister" three times and his "parents" once each, unintentionally accumulating five instances of facial feature copying for this ghost, successfully activating the Shattered Face ability and stealing its power.

This ghost, let's call it the Memory Ghost for now.

The Memory Ghost's ability is simple: it can implant false memories into a victim's mind through language, environment, and body movements.

Different people have different mental resistances, and their ability to resist the Memory Ghost varies. For someone like Gao Tian, his mental fortitude is exceptionally strong. No matter how much evidence "Sister" presented to prove he had amnesia, even if Gao Tian couldn't recall the reason for his memory blanks, he did not yield.

For an ordinary person, facing the award certificates filling the room and the logs he wrote himself, even a momentary waver of will could allow the Memory Ghost to seize the opening, exploit the weakness, and implant more and more false memories, eventually leading to complete assimilation.

Having gained this killing rule, Gao Tian knew he had to act. If the ghost outside broke in, he would surely die.

That entity was a pure numerical ghost, possessing no killing rule. A single blow like that could kill him.

Seeing "Gao Xi" reach out again, preparing to open the security door already covered in handprints, Gao Tian had a sudden inspiration and shouted:

"Hey, have you forgotten that Li Xing died last summer? We took a taxi home after attending his funeral. You were the one crying the hardest then, Gao Xi."

"Take another look through the peephole. Is the person outside really Li Xing?"

As long as a story is fabricated plausibly enough and the hints are rich enough, one can alter the other's memories.

The Memory Ghost's ability is not only effective on humans but also on ghosts. It's just unknown if it's effective on the Memory Ghost itself.

Upon hearing Gao Tian's words, "Gao Xi," who was standing at the door, hesitated despite her hand on the doorknob, showing a clear look of indecision:

"What are you talking about, brother? When did Li Xing die?

"I have no recollection of that at all. Don't spout nonsense and lie to me."

Her hesitant action revealed that the Memory Ghost's ability was actually effective on itself.

Gao Tian wants to alter the ghost's memory!

He opened his mouth and struck while the iron was hot, pressing his advantage:

"You've forgotten Gao Xi. It was you who forced Li Xing to go into the river to teach you how to swim. Halfway through, your leg started cramping. Li Xing exhausted all her strength to drag you to the shore, but she didn't have the energy left and sank into the river.

"Several corpse-retrieval boats were dispatched then. They searched from dawn till dusk before finally recovering Li Xing's bloated, pale corpse.

"You collapsed into my arms then, crying uncontrollably. You said you had killed Li Xing, that she wouldn't let you go even as a ghost and would definitely return this summer to seek revenge and claim your life.

"Now, look again. Is the Li Xing standing outside the door truly the Li Xing from your memory?

"Or—"