The Strange

"Ding-a-ling-ling—"

Bai Yanliang opened his eyes. A stark-white ceiling greeted him.

Where was this...?

He climbed out of bed, looked around, and finally fixed his gaze on the calendar on the bedside table.

The ninth time node.

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

Bai Yanliang got out of bed and carefully examined the ordinary-looking room.

The people who had come with him had vanished completely: 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, so far he had concluded that she was a pitiful woman—nervous, lonely, and desperate for attention.

Where were the four of them...?

No... Bai Yanliang examined the room's layout again.

This wasn't a private residence. It was... a hotel.

So, was "I" here on vacation?

Or was "I" a hotel employee?

Whatever the case, the most important thing now was to figure out who he was.

"Knock, knock, knock—"

A polite, faint knock interrupted Bai Yanliang's thoughts. Through the peephole, he finally saw a "familiar face."

Xu Zhi'an.

He was in his thirties, dressed like an office clerk, with his hair neatly combed. His figure was slightly hunched, as though he was used to bending over.

But Bai Yanliang didn't open the door.

Instead, he backed up to the window and pushed it open. He looked down at the ground. He was on the fourth floor...

But he could risk climbing across to the balcony of the room next door.

"Mr. Bai? Are you there?"

Xu Zhi'an's voice came from outside the door.

Bai Yanliang leaned against the window and said nothing.

"Mr. Bai, it's me! Xu Zhi'an!" Xu Zhi'an sounded anxious, as if he really didn't want to be left standing in the corridor outside the door for long.

Bai Yanliang still ignored him.

It wasn't very polite.

But Bai Yanliang was eighty percent certain that the "Xu Zhi'an" outside wasn't Xu Zhi'an.

After waking up, he had no memory of checking into this hotel. He assumed the others were in the same situation, and had probably woken up around the same time, too.

So... how had the "Xu Zhi'an" outside learned which room he was in...?

And he was alone.

Even if Xu Zhi'an knew where everyone was staying, he should have looked for someone he knew first.

Bai Yanliang didn't think he and Xu Zhi'an were close.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The knocking grew louder.

The sky outside was gradually brightening. It was five thirty in the morning at the ninth time node.

Bai Yanliang had already swung one leg out the window, ready to climb over to the next room. He had no interest in finding out whether the "Xu Zhi'an" outside was real or not. Having doubts was enough.

"Bang! Bang!"

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

He pounded on the pure-white wooden door until it shook violently. And since a moment ago, he hadn't said another word.

Perched on the railing, Bai Yanliang stared intently at the door. If it showed the slightest sign of opening, he would climb over without hesitation and jump onto the neighboring balcony.

Strangely, the noise seemed to have faded?

Nearly a minute had passed since the pounding began.

Had he left?

Bai Yanliang pondered this, then glanced down at the ground four floors below.

At that moment, he abruptly pulled back the leg hanging over the railing and scrambled into the room.

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

"His" gaze was full of malice, and his face was so pale it looked as though it had been painted white. An ordinary person would have been terrified at the sight, and there was a ninety percent chance they'd have fallen off the railing.

"Whew... My heart's actually beating faster..." Bai Yanliang murmured.

Just now, he had clearly felt his heart skip a beat, then resume beating faster than usual.

His breathing grew a little ragged as his heart rate climbed, but Bai Yanliang didn't dislike the feeling.

In fact, he even liked it a little. That vivid sensation made him realize that he was... still alive.

A lack of emotional fluctuations wasn't a good thing. For most of his life, Bai Yanliang had wondered whether he was already dead.

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

Brushing the thought aside, Bai Yanliang decided not to look out the window again. What had just happened had also confirmed something for him.

That was... "he" didn't seem able to appear wherever he wanted.

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

Besides... if he could really teleport, then he should already have appeared in Bai Yanliang's room by now.

With that thought, while "Xu Zhi'an" was still on the first floor, Bai Yanliang opened the door.

Just then, a rooster crowed.

Day had broken.

Bai Yanliang turned to look out the window. The darkness had already receded considerably.

The sun was still hidden behind thick clouds, but at least... it was daylight.

"Creak—"

As Bai Yanliang opened the door, he heard another door opening across the hall.

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

When she met Bai Yanliang's gaze, she first pulled back, then seemed to remember something and shoved the door open.

"Bai Yanliang?"

"Yeah."

Li Yuejun's voice wasn't particularly pleasant to Bai Yanliang, so his expression remained calm.

Noticing how indifferent he seemed, Li Yuejun was rather displeased. She was just about to say something when—

Her gaze inadvertently fell on the room behind Bai Yanliang.

It was laid out much like her own room: a bed, a bedside table, an alarm clock, a calendar, and... an unplugged television in the corner.

In short, it was a typical hotel room, with nothing unusual about it.

But at that moment, Li Yuejun's whole body stiffened as though she'd been frozen!

Beneath the bed behind Bai Yanliang, a ghastly pale woman's face stared out with its eyes wide open!

The terrifying face had appeared so abruptly that Li Yuejun couldn't react in time!

Her heart seemed to stop from sheer terror. She stumbled backward and fell to the floor, covering her mouth as she pointed in horror beneath Bai Yanliang's bed.

In fact, Bai Yanliang had noticed Li Yuejun's strange expression as soon as it appeared.

But he didn't react. It wasn't that he didn't want to. He couldn't!

A gaze full of malice fixed itself on his back without the slightest attempt at concealment.

Bai Yanliang was certain that something terrible would happen if he turned around.

So he pretended not to notice, walked over to Li Yuejun's door, and helped her up as he asked, "Ms. Li, what's wrong?"