This memory was implanted under Hua’s control, the changes were minor—just a few lines of dialogue altered.
For her, this was nothing.
She and Ding Ning just wanted Jiang Che to experience an illusion that was impossible to distinguish from reality, because in any spectral dungeon, illusions are almost impossible to defend against.
No hints, no warning signs—some people don’t realize they’re caught in a phantom world until the moment they die.
And then there are those who know it’s all an illusion, but still can’t bear to leave.
Just like in a beauty trap;
It’s not a seductive woman reaching out her hand to someone, but rather, when a person has finally succeeded in life, the person they’ve longed for day and night—pure as ever from the first meeting—suddenly appears at their side.
Their virtues magnified endlessly, their flaws almost invisible.
Many people, even knowing it’s a trap, even knowing it’s fake, will step right in regardless.
This time, what they wanted was that even after Jiang Che saw through the facade, he would still want to escape from it.
Maybe he didn’t have a white moonlight, but an ordinary life—that was the one thing he could never have.
To wake up and go back to being Jiang Che, struggling for survival at Red Pearl Mental Hospital, facing a world shrouded in darkness, about to be consumed by danger...
That’s why Hua said, for Jiang Che, this game was immeasurably cruel.
Just living here—and then having to leave—for him, that alone was agony.
After promising the school leaders yet again, Jiang Che’s mother took his hand and led him away from the school. "Mom knows you haven’t been yourself lately. How about we go see a psychiatrist?"
"It’s all my fault. I used to think you just liked to daydream, and I was afraid others would gossip."
"Is it too much pressure from your studies? Should we take a year off so you can rest?"
"Or maybe we should see a mental doctor? But I heard about a kid who was sent to a psychiatric hospital and only ended up worse, totally broken. Mom’s afraid you’ll suffer."
"Mom... do you know about those supernatural incidents too?" Jiang Che’s voice shook. When his mother and teacher talked about his poor grades, he hadn’t thought about anything else—he’d only wanted to get out of there fast.
But just now, hearing his mom say she didn’t want him to suffer in a mental hospital, didn’t want him treated like a lunatic—it was like a string inside him suddenly relaxed.
He looked up at the sky—this world’s sky didn’t look any different from the one outside Red Pearl Mental Hospital. The blue sky, the white clouds; the breeze was cool, almost chilly as it brushed his face.
The only difference was, here the air carried the scent of dust and water, as if a sprinkler truck had just passed by.
But at Red Pearl Mental Hospital, even the wind always smelled of disinfectant.
For the longest time, he didn’t know where the scent came from. It wasn’t until after leaving that he found out it drifted from the operating room at the back.
"Of course I know. For the last two years you kept talking about it—said 2025, supernatural events would descend. When I checked, it’s only 2021. So the world gets destroyed when you turn twenty?" His mother laughed at his side, clearly not believing a word.
Jiang Che froze; he was only sixteen years old now.
"Even if the world ends, we still have to live well until then, right? Study hard, live well. You can still get into college before all that." His mother patted him on the back.
Jiang Che said nothing more. He looked at his mother standing beside him; she looked almost like the Blood Nurse, except with more wrinkles on her face, some white flour dust on her hands. She was usually kneading dough at this hour, but it seemed the school’s call had brought her rushing here instead.
"You must study hard. I really don’t want to send you to the hospital. But if you’re not well, you can take a break from school. Only then you won’t graduate with Ding Ning. I was hoping you’d take care of her at college."
"That poor girl lost her parents so young. Such a pity." With a long sigh, she spoke softly.
Memories of Ding Ning suddenly surfaced in Jiang Che’s mind—her parents had left when she was little. Ever since, she’s either studied or worked part-time, even tutoring Jiang Che himself. And his parents always made sure she was fed.
Ding Ning seemed almost like another child in their family.
"I know, Mom. I’ll study hard." Jiang Che had no desire to go to a mental hospital—he had spent far too long in one in his other memories.
As they talked, they had just gotten home, only to see his father, who was busy with his business, storming towards Jiang Che with a stool in hand.
The breakfast rush was over, so he finally had some free time.
"Why bother with school? Come back and help me sell buns!"
"I work from dawn till dusk just to get you into a good college. Here you are obsessed with that supernatural stuff, right?" His father raised the stool threateningly, but a diner stepped up and stopped him.
"Jiang, it’s no bad thing for a child to have imagination."
"So he’s not good at studying, so what? There’s a bright future in every profession."
"Exactly! If the kid’s disobedient, just use a stick, not a stool—break the stool and it’ll be you who’s sorry."
...
Jiang Che glanced at the uncle who’d spoken out, eyes wide, thinking, What do you mean "just use a stick"? Is that even human speech?!
Yet, this clamorous scene somehow made him feel more at home in this life.
It was as if, for a moment, all those incidents—supernatural descent, everything at Red Pearl Mental Hospital—were just hallucinations.
Was it all really just in his head? Did he just take it all for real after one strange dream?
"Dad, I get it, I’ll study hard. I still have a year left, don’t I?" Jiang Che clung to the stool, making sure it didn’t hit him.
But the stool was so heavy; his old man really was strong!
"Useless brat, you haven’t the strength to carry a brick!" Seeing Jiang Che’s promise, and with the other diners’ persuasion, his father finally put the stool down.
"And you’re still not going to school?" As he set the stool aside, his father glared at Jiang Che again.
"Huh?" Jiang Che was startled. I still have to go today?
"It’s only ten o’clock, there’s still a whole afternoon and evening class. You’re not going?" Even as he spoke, he raised the stool again.
"I’ll go, I’ll go!" Jiang Che grabbed his schoolbag and made a dash for it.
As the shouts chased after him and the breeze swept his face, he wondered if that other world really was just his own imagination.
He thought of his daughter, Tuantuan, then realized he was still just a student here—where would a daughter come from?
"If in the future I had a daughter, and she grew up to look like Tuantuan—wouldn’t that prove that this world is fake?" The thought flashed through Jiang Che’s mind, but he refused to pursue it any further.