“do not succumb to the sound of the clocks! any sound here can accelerate the speed by which you lose your memories!” the leader of team two clapped her hands. “find wan jie. his eyes will help us find the exit!”

the security members from xin lu started to mobilise. zuo jun was still chasing after the painter gao ming. the other tenants were plotting as well.

...

in room 0715, gao ming stood at the door, looking at the hanging clock inside the room silently. the strange sound from the clock had ceased. he felt like he had forgotten something as if something had been forcibly dug out of his mind.

“did my home have this clock? who gave it to me?”

gao ming’s stomach grumbled. gao ming sat at the dining table. he heard the commotion outside, his grandmother’s heart-wrenching screams and a lot of running footsteps.

“is this place really haunted?” the words on the paper note stood out to him. gao ming felt afraid just by looking at the message. “if my neighbour’s place is really haunted, this whole floor is unsafe. i need to escape while i still can.” gao ming took out his phone to call his parents. however, there was only a busy tone. “why are they not picking up today?”

after giving it some thought, gao ming sent his parents a message, telling them about the situation at home. out of concern for his parents, gao ming told them in the message that he was about to leave the apartment and warned them from coming home that night. there was no calculative idea or absolute brilliance. the thought of this most common gao ming was simple. he didn’t want to put his parents in danger.

“all the calls can’t be connected. i can’t request aid from outside. staying here makes me a sitting duck.” the running sound made gao ming worried. “some have already left. i should go when people are moving around. if i’m the last one left behind...” gao ming didn’t even dare to imagine how scary that would be. it would be despairing.

gao ming finished his meal as fast as possible. he shoved some food and water into his schoolbag and then tossed in his mother’s jewellery and bank card. after he was ready, gao ming walked past the dining table, and his gaze was drawn to the big red box again.

“there’s a gao ming living in each room?! the note is not lying?!” the normal gao ming panicked. if the note was not lying, it meant that the place was really haunted.

“did you receive the note too?” the gao ming beside the corpse took out a note from his school bag. “it’s not safe here. i was trying to escape when i came across this dead body. we look the same, so i didn’t have the heart to leave him out in the open.”

“but he’s already dead. aren’t you scared?” the normal gao ming looked into the room. the room was decorated almost the same as his room was. however, there were a lot more accolades. his parents’ wedding picture hung on the wall. fresh flowers were planted beside the window.

“i was scared, but i didn’t want to leave him behind.” gao ming rummaged through his bag to pull out his diary. “based on the note, we’re all gao ming, but we’ve made different choices. can we exchange our diaries? so we can get to know each other better.”

“okay.”

looking through the other gao ming’s diary, the normal gao ming’s eyes flashed with a trace of envy. this gao ming’s parents were very loving. he lived in a home filled with love and care. he was also very kind and often helped others. compared to the other gao mings, this gao ming didn’t face any challenges in his life. he was clever, fit, handsome, and hardworking. he was the gao ming with the best physique and the best examination results.

looking into the young man’s clear eyes, the normal gao ming felt like a pool of dirty water. he was so much worse than his counterpart.

“if i can choose my life’s script, i’ll definitely choose yours.” the normal gao ming said enviously, “every choice you’ve made is the best.”

the kind gao ming handed his bag to the normal gao ming as he carried the dead gao ming, “how can you know that since you don’t know how your own life script will end? perhaps you are the perfect gao ming.”