Memory

Gao Tian looked at "Father," "Mother," and his "younger sister," Gao Xi, who stood by the door, waiting to let in his girlfriend from outside.

He asked his final question:

"What is the name of this residential area we live in, and this building?"

It was strange. He had lived in this residential area for more than ten years, yet Gao Tian couldn't remember its name at all. What's more, ever since he'd entered the complex, everything here—the plants, the buildings—had felt deeply unfamiliar to him.

Mother still shook her head with a cheerful smile.

"You've forgotten too much, Tian Tian.

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

Ren Huo.

Ren Huo.

Ren Huo.

Turn Huo Ren around, and what did you get?

Living Person!

Living Person Apartment!

Gao Tian understood everything in an instant.

When had he fallen victim to this?

Without realizing it, his perception had become impaired. Under the influence of some mysterious force, he'd willingly walked into Living Person Apartment!

That was the name the group owner in the Jialan Society Chat Group had changed his username to: "Living Person Apartment."

Gao Tian had once suspected that the owner of the Jialan Society Chat Group had also wandered into Living Person Apartment while he was alive, and had managed to resolve the Living Person Apartment Incident to some extent. It had been one of the hardest Supernatural Events he'd dealt with during his career as a Ghost Hunter, which was why he'd made Living Person Apartment his name and codename.

But the Jialan Society group owner was dead. His current identity was a Ghost, not a Ghost Hunter. And since Living Person Apartment, also a Ghost, couldn't be killed and could never be eradicated completely, it had returned.

Why had he wandered into Living Person Apartment in a daze? The "Father," "Mother," and "younger sister" before him probably weren't human at all. They were Ghosts, pretending to be his family and constantly implanting False Memories into his mind through their words and hints!

If Gao Tian's will had been even a little less firm, he might really have accepted an excuse like "Intermittent Memory Disorder" and gradually embraced the idea that they were a Family of Four.

With a boom, Gao Tian's mind felt as if he'd been drowning and had suddenly been hauled out of the water. A flood of fresh information surged toward him, and his brain almost exploded.

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

He was an only child. He had no brothers or sisters, not even cousins.

No wonder Father, Mother, and his younger sister all looked like strangers.

Because Gao Tian had no mother!

After the fire, Gao Tian had become an orphan. Fortunately, his real parents had both been scientists, and they'd left behind a foundation that sent him living expenses every month.

The University Teacher Dormitory where his parents had lived had long since been reclaimed after its lease expired. That was why Gao Tian had had to move out and rent a new place.

As for why he was retaking the Gaokao, that was simply because he'd failed it the first time. Gao Tian hadn't inherited his parents' brains. He'd always been an average student, and even getting into a 985 university had been incredibly difficult. Universities on the level of Tsinghua, Peking, Fudan, and Jiaotong were out of the question.

It was all fake. The certificates filling the room were fake, the diary was fake, his younger sister was fake, his parents were fake, and the "girlfriend" frantically pounding on the door was fake, too.

His real memories had been "blocked" all along. His mind had been left full of gaps to make it easier for the Ghosts to implant the memories they'd fabricated.

Honestly, when had he started wandering around in a daze and willingly entering Living Person Apartment?

It had been when he saw that Weird Photo. The girl in the picture had smiled at him...

That was when his will and memories had been contaminated. He'd developed his first False Memory Point, walked into the Fourth Floor of Living Person Apartment of his own accord, and mistaken the Ghosts there for his "family."

Fortunately, Gao Tian was steadfast enough. He believed his memory was fine, and that he couldn't possibly be the one who was wrong. That mysterious force had never managed to force this False Memory into his mind.

The question was, now that Gao Tian knew the "family" before him weren't human, what should he do next to escape them?

He had to stay calm. He couldn't let things turn ugly or reveal that he'd remembered anything.

The Ghosts posing as his family were still so kind and willing to speak gently with him because they thought they were close to succeeding, close to assimilating Gao Tian.

If the Ghosts realized their Memory Implantation had failed completely, would they stop pretending and just kill Gao Tian outright?

What excuse could he use to leave this cozy Family of Four?

Worse still, even if he found an excuse, he couldn't get out. Another Ghost had arrived outside, posing as Gao Tian's girlfriend, Li Xing, and was blocking the door as it kept knocking. Never mind getting out through the door; the urgent thing was to keep the Ghost outside from getting in.

"Gao Tian, have you remembered?

"Li Xing has been locked outside for too long. She might be getting a little short-tempered."

The thing outside had been knocking for so long without anyone opening the door that its soft, gentle taps had gradually turned violent. Fists like hammers pounded the iron door again and again, shaking the whole room. The dishes on the table clattered against one another with metallic clangs.

Could a human really do that?

Mother looked at him, and at some point the smile on her face had turned sinister. It was as if she were studying his expression, trying to see whether he'd really been convinced or was starting to remember something.

Now that he knew the so-called "parents" and "younger sister" were all Ghosts, Gao Tian had no reason to hold back.

He cast aside his last hesitation and activated the Shattered Face Ghost's ability from the urn.

He chose to copy his "younger sister's" facial features.

Along with the two times he'd exchanged glances with her in the corridor and the study, Gao Tian had now collected three of his "younger sister's" facial features. If he got two more, he could copy her Killing Rule and use it himself.

The Shattered Face Ghost's ability could hold up to three Ghosts' Killing Rules. He had one from the Memory Ghost now, leaving two slots.

At that very moment, he saw that the security door had been battered by some indescribably frenzied force. Whole handprints had been pressed into the metal. The thing outside had truly flown into a rage. It had stopped pretending, and an ordinary iron door probably wouldn't keep "her" out for long.

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

"You look awful, and your features... seem to have changed a little."

Mother had also abandoned her usual gentleness. The hand she pressed onto Gao Tian's shoulder was corded with bulging veins. The force weighing down on him was unbelievably strong, as if she were afraid he'd run away.

Good. No more pretending. None of them were pretending anymore.

There was no time left to copy his "younger sister's" facial features. Gao Tian decided to risk everything. When "Father" and "Mother" both turned their gazes on him, he met their eyes and copied both their faces.

All three sets of features appeared on his face together, but there was no rejection. To his surprise, they blended together perfectly.

Gao Tian immediately understood. Whether it was "Father," "Mother," or "younger sister," they were all being impersonated by the same Ghost. It was playing three roles at once, acting out a cozy family life and leading Gao Tian around by the nose.

And now, after exchanging glances with his "younger sister" three times and with his "parents" once each, he'd unwittingly collected all five of this Ghost's facial features. He'd successfully triggered Shattered Face's ability and stolen its power.

He'd call this Ghost the Memory Ghost.

The Memory Ghost's ability was simple. Through language, surroundings, and physical gestures, it could implant False Memories into its victims' minds.

People had different levels of mental resistance, and their ability to resist the Memory Ghost varied accordingly. Gao Tian was exceptionally strong. No matter how much "younger sister" tried to prove he had memory loss, even though he still couldn't remember why there were gaps in his memory, he hadn't given in.

An ordinary person, faced with a room full of certificates and a diary they'd written themselves, might waver for even a moment. The Memory Ghost could seize that opening, take advantage of their weakness, implant more and more False Memories, and ultimately assimilate them completely.

Now that he'd acquired this Killing Rule, Gao Tian knew he had to act. If the Ghost outside got in, he was dead.

That one was a pure power-type Ghost with no Killing Rule at all. It could kill him with a single slap.

As "Gao Xi" reached out again, about to open the security door already covered in iron handprints, Gao Tian's mind raced. He shouted:

"Hey, have you forgotten? Li Xing died last summer! We went to her funeral, then took a taxi home. You were the one who cried the hardest, Gao Xi.

"Look through the peephole again. Is the person outside really Li Xing?"

As long as the story was plausible enough and the hints were rich enough, he could alter someone else's memories.

The Memory Ghost's ability worked not only on humans but on Ghosts, too. He just didn't know whether it worked on the Memory Ghost itself.

Hearing Gao Tian's words, "Gao Xi" kept her hand on the doorknob, but she clearly hesitated.

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

"I don't remember any of that. Don't make things up to fool me."

Her hesitation gave her away. The Memory Ghost's ability could even affect the Ghost itself.

Gao Tian was going to alter a Ghost's memories!

He spoke without pause, pressing his advantage:

"Have you forgotten, Gao Xi? You were the one who made Li Xing go into the river to teach you how to swim. You started cramping halfway across, and Li Xing dragged you to shore with all her strength, but she didn't have enough strength left to make it out herself.

"They sent several boats out to search for her body. They searched from dawn until dusk before they finally pulled Li Xing's waterlogged, bloated corpse out of the river.

"You collapsed into my arms and cried until you lost your voice. You said you'd killed Li Xing, and that she'd never forgive you, even as a Ghost. You said she'd come back this summer to find you and take your life.

"Now look again. Is the Li Xing outside really the Li Xing you remember?

"Or—"