True and False

Bai Yanliang had been pondering a question.

That was... why did the ghost capable of disguising itself as others not make a move?

"It" had clearly found many opportunities when the others were alone, yet it chose not to act, and the strangest part of all was the encounter involving Xu Zhi'an.

Xu Zhi'an seemed to have been deliberately led by "it" to Zhang Wen's room...

Therefore, Bai Yanliang decided to take a gamble. His actions might seem dangerous and inconceivable, but perhaps... things would be simpler than he imagined.

Legend has it that when a person is on the verge of death, their past life flashes before their eyes like a carousel.

Jiang Li felt that she was currently experiencing this very stage.

Her parents divorced when she was young, and her father, busy with work and neglectful of her upbringing, allowed her to fall in with a crowd of bad company.

Jiang Li knew she wasn't particularly attractive, and she knew that these so-called friends were likely only after her money.

But she didn't care.

What she cared about was her father's gaze...

She even found herself hoping that if she turned bad, her father would give her a sound beating...

But Jiang Li was disappointed.

The father she had pinned her hopes on never even noticed his daughter's transformation. Regarding Jiang Li's ever-increasing financial demands, her father was always generous and open-handed, as if providing enough money was equivalent to expressing enough love...

However, while money and love might be equated in society, this clearly did not hold true in a parent-child relationship.

Jiang Li became increasingly bold and reckless, acting with total abandon.

Until her birthday, when she suddenly realized that she had truly become a bad person...

She could no longer hold any expectations for that successful businessman, that man who always measured everything in terms of money, or rather, she could no longer hold expectations for anyone at all.

She only believed in herself.

After receiving a few hurried, perfunctory words of blessing from her father, Jiang Li gave a cynical smile and opened the door.

An empty, hollow house could not be called a home.

However... after opening the door, Jiang Li had stepped directly into a space filled with gray mist...

From panic and terror to becoming accustomed to life and death.

Jiang Li had thought she was already used to all of this, but now it seemed that was merely self-hypnosis.

She was afraid of death, deathly afraid...

She didn't want to die in this damned Mist Space; she still had a whole life left to live.

But... all of this was about to vanish into thin air under the gaze of that figure in the door crack...

Jiang Li closed her eyes in despair as the sound of the storage room being pulled open reached her ears.

She buried her head low, even though she knew it was useless.

"Creak--"

The door opened.

A beam of light poured in.

However, what she had imagined did not happen; instead, a voice that was not unfamiliar rang out:

"Miss Jiang."

It was Bai Yanliang's voice!

Jiang Li jerked her head up to look, and wasn't the person pulling open the storage room door none other than Bai Yanliang?!

At this moment, Jiang Li felt as if she had seen a savior; no... to her right now, Bai Yanliang was a savior!

Heaven knows how terrified and uneasy she had been, yet in such a desperate situation, Bai Yanliang had appeared!

"Come out, Miss Jiang."

Bai Yanliang reached out his hand to Jiang Li; it was long and fair.

Jiang Li stared at him blankly, unable to recover from the shock of such extreme highs and lows.

She subconsciously placed her hand in Bai Yanliang's.

Cold.

Such a cold hand...

Jiang Li shivered, and then was gently pulled out of the storage room by Bai Yanliang.

"Your current situation is very dangerous, Miss Jiang." Bai Yanliang kept his gaze fixed on her, making Jiang Li feel a bit self-conscious.

She felt strange; this kind of bashful emotion hadn't appeared in her for many, many years.

"Are you... here to find me?" Jiang Li looked up at Bai Yanliang, her expression softening considerably.

Bai Yanliang smiled, saying nothing.

"Let's go, I'll see you to the first floor." Bai Yanliang didn't say anything more, turning to lead the way and pressing the elevator button.

"Ding..."

The elevator had been waiting on the sixth floor, and it opened abruptly at that moment.

Standing before the elevator, the long corridor stretched out behind them.

For some reason, the moment the elevator doors slid open, a cold, damp, and deeply unsettling sensation suddenly emerged, causing Jiang Li to instinctively recoil.

Yet Bai Yanliang seemed to notice nothing, still looking at her with a smile: "Don't delay, Miss Jiang, this place is very unsafe."

Although she knew Bai Yanliang's words made perfect sense, Jiang Li was still reluctant to step into that elevator.

It was an indescribable, indefinable feeling that made Jiang Li feel exceptionally uneasy.

But... the next moment, Bai Yanliang had already taken the lead, stepping into the elevator and holding the button while waiting for her.

Under his gaze, Jiang Li hesitated, but finally... she extended her foot, preparing to step inside.

"Wait!"

Suddenly!

A shout rang out from afar.

The source of the sound was the end of the corridor, by the stairwell!

The word "wait," though ordinary, sounded no less than a death knell to Jiang Li's ears!

Because she had just heard that exact voice moments ago!

Jiang Li whipped her head around, staring toward the end of the corridor.

A refined young man was standing there—it was... Bai Yanliang!

Another Bai Yanliang!

A chill rose up her spine; Jiang Li didn't even have time to glance back at the Bai Yanliang in the elevator before she bolted forward, stopping in the middle of the corridor.

"Thud."

The Bai Yanliang in the elevator stepped out with one foot, leaning his body forward as he looked at Jiang Li anxiously, shouting: "Miss Jiang! What are you doing? Don't believe him, come here quickly!"

His urgency felt genuine and sincere, one foot wedged against the elevator door, his expression appearing far from feigned.

However, on the other side, the Bai Yanliang who had run up from the stairwell remained silent, simply watching Jiang Li and the elevator area quietly, his face devoid of much expression.

Who was real and who was fake seemed clear at a glance.

But for Jiang Li at this moment, choosing wrong meant being killed by a fierce ghost! Dying in the world of the Mist Space!

What should she do...

Who is real?

Who is fake?

Jiang Li pressed against the wall, looking left, then right.

The Bai Yanliang by the elevator was so anxious he was practically sweating, while the Bai Yanliang by the stairs remained gloomy and quiet, her eyes darting back and forth between the two.

"Miss Jiang, if you don't come now, I'm leaving!"

The Bai Yanliang by the elevator seemed unable to wait any longer; the foot he had extended was gradually retracting, and at the same time, the Bai Yanliang by the stairs actually began to move, stepping closer to Jiang Li step by step!

Thump-thump...

Thump-thump...

Thump-thump...

Jiang Li's heart hammered like a drum, blood rushing wildly to her head. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she whipped her head back and forth with increasing speed!

Who is real, who is fake?

"I'm leaving!" The Bai Yanliang by the elevator issued his final ultimatum, his foot snapping back inside as if he were prepared to abandon her.

Jiang Li's heart jolted, and she finally made up her mind!

She moved her feet, sprinting instead toward the stairwell!