He had only been away from home for half a year, not fifty. His mother in the kitchen had even said that they kept his bedroom just for him, so what exactly was going on?
Gao Tian knew perfectly well that his room was incredibly simple. The bookshelf opposite the door held a stack of specialized textbooks and a few comic books. An old desktop computer sat on the desk. Aside from an alarm clock by the bed and a few pairs of shoes shoved underneath, the space was bare. There were certainly no flashy posters.
But now, his bedroom was completely unrecognizable. The books on the shelves had been replaced by a display of My Little Pony and Labubu figures, sealed behind glass doors. A fluffy pink carpet covered the floor, matching the completely pink bedding. Even the ceiling lamp had been swapped out for a crystal chandelier. The walls were plastered with celebrity posters.
This was no longer his bedroom. It was a girl's bedroom.
Gao Tian slowly backed out of the room, pulled the door shut, and shouted back toward the living room, "Did we have guests over recently?
"Why is my bedroom being used by someone else?"
The sound of running water echoed from the kitchen. A moment later, his mother's voice called out, "Which bedroom did you open?"
Gao Tian called back, "The second-to-last room at the end of the hall."
In the living room, his father turned down the volume on the TV and shouted back, "You've been gone too long. You went to the wrong room.
"That isn't your bedroom at all!"Gao Tian said, "Dad, are you joking?
"How could I forget where my own bedroom is?"
His father's next words sent a chill through him like plunging into an ice cavern, making him seriously question his own sanity:
"That's your sister's bedroom. Did you forget?
"Hurry up and come out. If she finds out you went into her room without permission, there's no telling how crazy that little girl will get."
Gao Tian could hear the blood rushing through his veins; he could feel every pulse and contraction of his internal organs.
This was his sister's bedroom.
How was that possible?
Was his memory really failing him, or was there some kind of bug in this world?
Gao Tian lost control of his own throat. Like a detached bystander, he quietly listened to his own voice ask, "Dad.
"Mom.
"When did we get a sister in the family? When did you guys have another daughter?
"I'm an only child. I am the only child in this family. There shouldn't be any sister here."
His mother finished washing the vegetables in the kitchen, completely unfazed by Gao Tian's words. She merely said casually, "Alright, alright, I know you've been under a lot of pressure from your studies lately, but don't joke around like this.
"You and your sister have been bickering under this roof for over a decade. And now you're seriously telling me you're an only child? Gao Tian, did your sister ask you for living expenses again? Are you trying to pull the 'severing blood ties' trick again?
"Stop making jokes like that."
Hearing his parents act so calm and nonchalant, Gao Tian wondered for a moment if he was the one who had gotten things wrong.
Was there truly something wrong with his memory, were his parents playing a prank on him, or had a non-existent person actually appeared in their home?
But no matter how hard Gao Tian searched his memories, he couldn't find a single trace of this supposed "sister" ever existing throughout his childhood.
While Gao Tian was still racking his brain, the bathroom door slowly swung open, letting out a billowing cloud of steam. A tall, slender girl with twin tails strolled out. She was casually draped in a brown coat that belonged to Gao Tian, leaving wet footprints on the floor as she walked:
"It's so early in the morning, and I can already hear my brother making a racket out here.
"Bro, why did you suddenly come back from your rented apartment? Did you finally think it through and decide to give up on retaking the gaokao? Or are you suddenly okay with me playing games in the middle of the night and ruining your studies?"
Looking at the girl's face, hearing how she addressed him, and listening to her familiar, teasing tone... this had to be his "sister."
Yet Gao Tian still couldn't remember her. No matter what, he couldn't find the slightest trace of her face anywhere in his life.
Watching this "sister" step toward him, Gao Tian, rooted to the spot, suddenly calmed down. He slowly spoke, "I understand now."
The twin-tailed girl asked curiously, "Understand what?"
Gao Tian stated flatly, "You're a ghost. This is a ghost's illusion.
"I just escaped one pursuit, only to fall into a new illusion."
If this mysterious girl who appeared in his house and tampered with his parents' memories was a ghost, then everything made sense.
Different ghosts had different Killing Rules. Perhaps this ghost's ability was to hypnotize his parents, and her next step was to hypnotize him.
Gao Tian wasn't panicking like he had when he first encountered Shattered Face. He now possessed the Urn, which contained the Shattered Face Ghost, allowing him to wield a ghost's power.
All he needed to do was make eye contact with his "sister" five times. Then, the Urn would copy her Killing Rule and turn it against her.
Perhaps exposing "her" true identity directly wasn't a wise choice. Gao Tian realized he should feign ignorance and stall for time in front of this non-existent "sister," keeping her distracted until the Shattered Face Ghost's ability could snatch her Killing Rule.
His twin-tailed sister let out a long sigh.
Being called a "ghost" clearly displeased her, but she seemed used to it. It evidently wasn't the first time her older brother had insulted her like this.
The girl shouted toward the living room, "Dad! Mom! Did you hear that? Bro is bullying me again.
"Why am I always the first one he forgets? Do you think he's doing this on purpose?"
In the living room, his father was still watching the soccer match. To him, this was just typical sibling bickering, not nearly as important as the impending goal on the screen.
"No matter what kind of illness he has, he's still your brother.
"Do him a favor as his sister and give him a tour of his bedroom. Help him remember."
After failing to get backup from their parents in the living room, the twin-tailed girl slowly turned her head, twitched her cute nose, and said with a hint of impatience, "Alright, alright, I get it.
"Come with me, Bro."
Without waiting for Gao Tian to agree, she walked straight past him—prompting him to flinch and dodge back, assuming the ghost was about to attack—and headed toward the end of the hallway.
Gao Tian stared at her back, steam still rolling off her wet hair:
"Where are you going?"
His sister, who had reached the second-to-last room, stopped in her tracks. She turned around and shot a helpless glance at Gao Tian, who was still rooted to the spot.
"Taking you to your real bedroom. There are a lot of familiar things in there, including the journal you wrote yourself during your last bout of amnesia. Maybe it'll help you jog your memory."
Gao Tian insisted, "My bedroom is the second-to-last room.
"I don't know why, but it's turned into your bedroom. Even though there are traces of you all over this house, I am absolutely certain that we have never had a so-called 'sister' in this family.
"You've altered my parents' memories, but you haven't had the time to alter mine yet."
His sister heaved a long sigh, tilting her head back to gaze at the ceiling at a forty-five-degree angle. Her expression was extremely gloomy.
She pointed a finger at her own head.
"Bro, whatever is wrong with your brain, it's getting worse."
Gao Tian said,
"You're not part of our family.
"Who exactly are you?"
The twin-tailed girl answered, "My name is Gao Xi. I'm the younger sister of a total idiot suffering from an intermittent memory disorder—you.
"Growing up, your grades were always amazing. You were a regular in the school's top ten. But about three years ago, probably because the academic pressure was too intense, you started forgetting important things all the time.
"One moment you'd ask who Mom was, and the next you'd claim Dad wasn't part of our family. Now, it's finally my turn. Basically, you frequently forget the existence of one of our family members.
"And honestly, I feel like your problem is getting worse. You've had episodes like this before, but you always got your memories back quickly after a few simple reminders. This time is different, though. You've never spouted nonsense like this before, straight-up calling me a ghost."
Gao Tian stared at this girl calling herself "Gao Xi," counting silently in his head. That was their second time making eye contact.
He would find out soon enough if she was a ghost or not. As long as they made eye contact five times, no matter what this girl was, he would instantly plunder her abilities, her memories, and absolutely everything else.
The Shattered Face Ghost's ability was just that tyrannical; once it was given the chance to activate, there was no stopping it.
Seeing her brother standing at the other end of the hallway, still looking at her with sheer disbelief, Gao Xi had no choice but to prove her innocence. She pushed open the door to the bedroom at the very end of the hall—a room that had been vacant for half a year—and gestured inside while continuing her explanation:
"Look, Bro. Look at the wall full of your Merit Student certificates and scholarship awards. This is your real bedroom.
"Haven't you ever wondered about this? Someone with such excellent grades, someone who attended key schools their entire life—why would you fail the gaokao and need to rent a place outside to retake it?
"And if you're retaking it, why couldn't you just stay at home?
"None of this makes any sense. Haven't you ever felt that something was off?
"The real reason is simple: you suffer from a rare condition called intermittent memory impairment. When you walked into the exam room, the immense mental pressure caused you to momentarily forget you were a high schooler. You actually thought you were still in junior high, which is what caused you to fail your first gaokao.
"The doctor advised you to rest for a while and not put too much pressure on yourself, suggesting that it might help ease your condition. But you were unwilling to accept that. You refused to give up on the prestigious university admission letter that was right at your fingertips. So, you insisted on moving out, renting an apartment to study for the retake all by yourself.
"Mom and I often visit you at your place to check up on you. But now you've completely forgotten about all of that. These things happen a few times every month. I'm already used to it."
She motioned for Gao Tian to step into the final room and take a look for himself.
"If you still don't believe me, then come in and take a look at the bedroom you actually lived in. Seeing some familiar things might just jog your memory.
"There's also a journal in here. Every time you were brought out of your amnesia, you wrote down exactly what happened to warn your future self.
"Come here and take a look. Surely you can recognize your own handwriting."