Gao Tian looked at his "father," his "mother," and his "sister," Gao Xi, who stood by the entrance waiting to open the door for his girlfriend.
He asked his final question:
"What is the name of this residential compound and the building we live in?"
It was incredibly strange. Despite having supposedly lived here for over a decade, Gao Tian had no recollection of the compound's name. Furthermore, ever since he had set foot inside, every plant, every tree, and even the exterior of the residential buildings had filled him with a profound sense of unfamiliarity.
His "mother" just smiled and shook her head.
"You've forgotten so much, Tian.
"This place is called the Renhuo Residential Compound. And this building, naturally, is the Renhuo Building."
Renhuo.
Ren-huo.
Renhuo.Reversed, wasn't it huoren?
Living humans!
The Living Apartment!
In an instant, Gao Tian understood everything.
Exactly when had he fallen for it?
Without realizing it, his perception had been impaired. Under the interference of a mysterious force, he had willingly walked right into the Living Apartment!
This was the very same Living Apartment that the Galan Society Group Admin had adopted as their username in the Galan Society Chat Group.
Gao Tian had once speculated that when the Galan Society Group Admin was alive, they had also accidentally entered the Living Apartment and had, to some extent, resolved the incident. It must have been one of the most difficult supernatural events they had solved in their career as a ghost hunter, which was why they had taken the Living Apartment as their alias.
But the Galan Society Group Admin was dead. Their current identity was a ghost, not a ghost hunter. Furthermore, the Living Apartment—being a supernatural entity itself—could not be killed, meaning the anomaly could never be completely eradicated. And now, it had returned.
Why else would he have stumbled into the Living Apartment in such a daze? The "father," "mother," and "sister" standing before him were in all likelihood not human at all. They were ghosts disguised as his family, constantly forcing false memories into his mind through conversation and suggestion!
If Gao Tian's willpower had wavered even a fraction, he very well might have accepted the excuse of "intermittent memory impairment," step by step embracing the illusion of this family of four.
With a resounding boom inside his head, it felt as though he had been drowning and was suddenly pulled above the surface. Countless genuine memories surged back into his mind, nearly causing his brain to explode.
He remembered now. His real parents had burned to death in a fire when he was ten.
He was an only child. He didn't have any siblings, or even any cousins.
No wonder the faces of this "father," "mother," and "sister" were completely unfamiliar.
Because Gao Tian simply had no mother!
After that fire, Gao Tian had become an orphan. Fortunately, his true parents had been scientists and had left behind a trust fund that transferred him living expenses every month.
The university faculty housing his parents had lived in had long since been reclaimed. That was why Gao Tian had been forced to move off campus and rent a new place.
As for why he was retaking his exams, he had simply failed the gaokao. Gao Tian hadn't inherited his parents' brilliant minds; he had been perfectly average academically since childhood. Just getting into a respectable Project 985 university was monumentally difficult for him, let alone a top-tier institution like Tsinghua or Peking.
Fake. Everything was fake. The wall full of certificates, the journal, the sister, the parents—all of it was fake. And the "girlfriend" pounding frantically on the door outside was even faker.
His true memories had been kept in a shielded state. The numerous blank spots left in his mind were simply there to make it easier for the ghost to implant its fabricated memories.
When exactly had he started feeling so dazed? When had he willingly walked into the Living Apartment?
It had to be when he looked at that eerie photograph, when the girl in the picture had smiled at him...
That was when his willpower and memories had been corrupted. The first false memory node had taken root, leading him straight up to the fourth floor of the Living Apartment, where he had mistaken these ghosts for his "family."
Fortunately, Gao Tian was resolute. He firmly believed there was nothing wrong with his memory, certain that he wasn't the one making a mistake. That mysterious force had never been able to successfully force these fabricated memories into his head.
So the question remained: even though Gao Tian knew the "family" in front of him weren't human, what was his next move to escape them?
He had to stay calm. He couldn't drop the act, and he absolutely couldn't give off any sign that he had remembered the truth.
These ghosts playing the role of his family were still amicable and willing to speak nicely to him purely because they felt they were on the verge of success, right on the cusp of assimilating him.
If the ghosts realized their memory implantation had completely failed, would they drop all pretenses, stop acting, and outright kill him?
How exactly was he supposed to find a reasonable excuse to leave this cozy family of four?
To make matters worse, even if he found an excuse, he couldn't leave. There was a new ghost right outside the door playing the role of his girlfriend, Li Xing, continuously pounding away. Let alone escaping through the front door, the most pressing issue was keeping the ghost outside from getting in.
"Gao Tian, have you remembered yet?
"Li Xing has been locked outside for far too long. She might be getting a little short-tempered."
The thing outside the door seemed frustrated by the delay. Its originally gentle knocks had gradually grown violent. Fists like iron hammers slammed heavily against the metal door again and again, sending tremors through the entire apartment and causing the utensils on the dining table to clatter against each other.
Was this really something a human could do?
His "mother" stared at him, her smile having turned sinister at some unknown point. It was as if she were scrutinizing his expression to see if he had truly been convinced, or if he had remembered something.
Since he already knew these so-called "parents" and "sister" were ghosts, Gao Tian had no need to hold back against them.
Banishing the final shred of hesitation from his heart, he decisively activated the ability of the Shattered Face Ghost from the Urn.
He chose to copy the facial features of his "sister."
Including the two previous times they had made eye contact in the hallway and the Study, Gao Tian had already collected three of his "sister's" facial features. He just needed two more to directly copy her Killing Rule and use it for himself.
The Shattered Face Ghost's upper limit was taking three ghosts' rules. Having secured the Memory Ghost now, there were still two empty slots.
At that moment, he looked at the security door. Under the frantic, indescribable pounding, perfectly formed handprints were being dented right into the solid metal. It seemed the thing outside was completely enraged and had dropped the act entirely. A mere metal door likely wouldn't be able to keep "her" out for long.
"Tian-tian, what's wrong with your face?
"You look awful, and your facial features... they seem to be changing."
His "mother" had also dropped her usual gentleness. The veins on the hand pressing down on his shoulder bulged. Gao Tian felt an impossibly immense pressure weighing him down, as if she were worried he would run away.
Perfect. The act was up. They were all done pretending.
There was no time left to copy his "sister's" facial features. Ready to fight to the bitter end, Gao Tian met the gazes of his "father" and "mother." The moment their eyes locked onto him, he completed the eye contact, directly copying both of their facial features.
The facial features of all three people appeared on his own face simultaneously. There was no rejection; instead, they blended together in surprising harmony.
Gao Tian immediately understood. The "father," "mother," and "sister" before him were all the same ghost in disguise. It was playing three roles all by itself, acting out the cozy life of a family of three just to string him along.
And now, having made eye contact with his "sister" three times, and once each with his "parents," Gao Tian had unintentionally gathered this ghost's facial features the required five times. This successfully triggered the Shattered Face's ability, stealing the entity's power.
He might as well call this entity the Memory Ghost.
The Memory Ghost's ability was simple. Through language, environment, and physical gestures, it could pour false memories into a victim's mind.
Different people had different mental resistances, which meant different levels of resistance against the Memory Ghost. Someone like Gao Tian was exceptionally resilient. No matter how much evidence his "sister" produced to prove he had amnesia, and even though Gao Tian couldn't remember why his memory had blank spots, he never surrendered.
Had it been an ordinary person facing a room full of awards and a handwritten journal, even a momentary waver in willpower would have allowed the Memory Ghost to seize the opening. It would have slipped in, implanting more and more fabricated memories until the victim was completely assimilated.
Now armed with this Killing Rule, Gao Tian knew he had to act. If the ghost outside got in, he would undoubtedly die.
That entity was purely brute force, lacking any specific Killing Rule. A single slap from it would be enough to squash him dead.
Seeing "Gao Xi" reach out again to open the security door—which was already battered with metal handprints—Gao Tian thought on his feet and shouted, "Hey, have you forgotten? Li Xing died last summer! We took a taxi home together right after her funeral. You were the one crying the hardest, Gao Xi!
"Take another look through the peephole. Is the person out there really Li Xing?"
As long as the story he fabricated was reasonable enough and packed with enough suggestions, he could rewrite his target's memories.
The Memory Ghost's ability didn't just work on humans; it worked on ghosts too. He just didn't know if it would work on the Memory Ghost itself.
Hearing Gao Tian's words, the "Gao Xi" standing by the entrance clearly hesitated, though her hand was still resting on the doorknob.
"What are you talking about, brother? When did Li Xing die?
"Why don't I remember that at all? Stop talking nonsense and trying to trick me."
Her hesitant movements gave it away. Incredibly, the Memory Ghost's ability was effective on itself!
Gao Tian was going to modify a ghost's memory!
He launched right in, pressing his advantage:
"Have you forgotten, Gao Xi? You forced Li Xing to take you into the river to teach you how to swim. But halfway through, your leg cramped up. Li Xing used every ounce of her strength to drag you to the riverbank, but then she had no energy left and sank into the water.
"They dispatched several recovery boats. They searched from dawn until dusk before finally pulling up Li Xing's pale, bloated corpse.
"You threw yourself into my arms and cried until you lost your voice. You said it was your fault Li Xing died, that she wouldn't forgive you even as a ghost, and that she would definitely come back this summer to claim your life in revenge.
"Now look again. Is that Li Xing standing outside the door really the Li Xing you remember?
"Or is it—"