Strange

Chapter 7: Eerie

"Ring-a-ling-ling—"

Bai Yanliang opened his eyes to see a stark white ceiling.

Where is this...

He climbed out of bed, scanned the room, and finally fixed his gaze on the calendar sitting on the nightstand.

The 9th Time Node.

"Is this thirteen years ago? Or another world entirely?"

Bai Yanliang rolled out of bed and began to carefully examine the ordinary-looking room.

The people who had come with him had completely vanished: Xu Zhi'an, Feng Xinghan, Jiang Li, and Li Yuejun.

Aside from Li Yuejun, Bai Yanliang knew nothing about the other three.

As for Li Yuejun, Bai Yanliang had only concluded that she was a pitiful woman—neurotic, lonely, and desperate for a sense of existence.

Where... were the four of them?

No... Bai Yanliang re-examined the layout of the room.

This wasn't a private residence; it was... a hotel.

Does that mean "I" came here for a vacation?

Or perhaps, am "I" an employee of this hotel?

Regardless, the most urgent task now was to figure out his own identity.

"Knock, knock, knock—"

A polite, light tapping at the door interrupted Bai Yanliang's thoughts. Through the peephole, he finally saw a "familiar face."

Xu Zhi'an.

He was in his thirties, dressed like a clerk with his hair combed meticulously, though his posture was slightly hunched, as if he were accustomed to bowing.

But Bai Yanliang did not open the door.

Instead, he retreated to the window, pushed it open, and glanced down. He was on the fourth floor...

However, it might be possible to risk climbing across to the balcony of the adjacent room.

"Mr. Bai? Are you in there?"

Xu Zhi'an's voice rang out from outside the door.

Bai Yanliang leaned against the window frame, saying nothing.

"Mr. Bai, it's me! It's Xu Zhi'an!" Xu Zhi'an's voice sounded somewhat urgent, as if he were desperate not to be locked out or left standing in the hallway for long.

Bai Yanliang still ignored him.

It was impolite, certainly.

But Bai Yanliang was eighty percent sure that the "Xu Zhi'an" outside the door was not the real Xu Zhi'an.

He had no memory of checking into this hotel upon waking, and he believed the others were in the same boat; they likely woke up around the same time as well.

So... how would the "Xu Zhi'an" outside know which room was his?

Moreover, he was completely alone.

Logically, even if Xu Zhi'an knew where everyone was staying, he should have sought out people he actually knew first.

Bai Yanliang did not consider himself close to him at all.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The knocking grew louder.

The sky outside was gradually brightening; it was 5:30 AM on the 9th Time Node.

Bai Yanliang already had one leg over the window sill, preparing to climb to the next room. He had no interest in verifying whether the "Xu Zhi'an" outside was real or fake; suspicion alone was enough.

"Bang! Bang!"

"Xu Zhi'an" seemed to be getting angry.

The pure white wooden door shook violently under his assault, and furthermore, he had stopped speaking entirely.

Bai Yanliang sat astride the railing, eyes fixed on the door. At the slightest sign of it opening, he would vault over without hesitation and leap to the balcony next door.

Strangely, the noise seemed to have died down.

Nearly a minute had passed since the violent pounding began.

Did he leave?

Bai Yanliang pondered, and inadvertently, he glanced down at the ground four floors below.

Suddenly, he yanked his leg back from the railing and scrambled into the room.

Just a moment ago, on the ground outside the first floor, Bai Yanliang had seen "Xu Zhi'an" staring straight up at him!

"His" gaze was filled with malice, his complexion as deathly pale as if coated in a layer of paint. An ordinary person would surely have been frightened weak at the knees by a single glance, with a ninety percent chance of tumbling right over the railing.

"Hoo... my heart rate is actually accelerating..." Bai Yanliang muttered to himself.

Just a moment ago, he had clearly felt his heart skip a beat, only to resume thumping at a pace faster than usual.

His breathing grew slightly ragged in sync with his elevated heart rate, yet Bai Yanliang did not dislike this sensation.

In fact, he even found he enjoyed it; this vivid perception allowed him to realize that he... was still alive.

Minimal emotional fluctuation was never a good thing. From childhood to adulthood, Bai Yanliang had spent most of his time wondering if he was already dead.

Otherwise, why would a living person find it so difficult to feel emotions?

Pulling back his thoughts, Bai Yanliang had no desire to look down from the window ledge again. Moreover, through that recent incident, he had confirmed one thing.

That was... "he" did not seem able to appear in any corner at will.

It had taken "him" nearly a minute to descend from the fourth floor to the first.

And... if "he" were truly capable of teleportation, "he" should have already appeared inside his room by now.

With this thought in mind, taking advantage of the gap while Xu Zhi'an was still on the first floor, Bai Yanliang opened his door.

Just then, a rooster crowed.

Dawn had broken.

Bai Yanliang turned his head to glance out the window; the gloom had dissipated significantly in these few moments.

Although the sun was blocked by thick layers of clouds, at the very least... it was daylight.

"Creeeak—"

No sooner had Bai Yanliang opened his door than he heard the sound of a door opening across the hall.

At the same time, half a head poked out timidly.

Upon meeting Bai Yanliang's gaze, she first recoiled, then, as if remembering something, she pushed her door wide open.

"Bai Yanliang?"

"Mm."

Li Yuejun's voice did not sound particularly moving to Bai Yanliang, so his expression remained indifferent.

Li Yuejun sensed Bai Yanliang's lukewarm attitude and was quite dissatisfied. Just as she was about to say something, her gaze inadvertently fell into the room behind Bai Yanliang.

It was a room furnished much like her own: a bed, a nightstand, an alarm clock, a desk calendar, and... a television turned off in the corner.

In short, it was a typical hotel layout with nothing special about it.

However... Li Yuejun's body froze at that moment, stiff as if she had been turned to ice!

Behind Bai Yanliang, beneath the bed, a pale, wide-eyed woman's face had appeared!

This terrifying face had emerged so abruptly that Li Yuejun could not react in time!

Terrified to the point of heart failure, Li Yuejun stumbled and fell to the floor, covering her mouth as she pointed in horror at the space under Bai Yanliang's bed.

In fact, Bai Yanliang had noticed the moment Li Yuejun's strange expression appeared.

But he did not react—not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't!

A gaze filled with malice was cast upon his back without the slightest attempt at concealment.

Bai Yanliang was certain that if he were to turn around, something truly horrific would happen.

Therefore, feigning ignorance, he walked over to Li Yuejun's door and, while helping her up, asked, "Ms. Li, what is the matter?"