Chapter 50: Self-Deception

The owners of Greenwater Bay Estate had a disturbing sense of humor—the changing room for female staff featured a one-way mirror that allowed observation from the outside, leaving Ning Zhe deeply puzzled.

To construct such an opulent facility in Greenwater Bay required immense wealth and extensive connections; any man meeting both criteria could easily bed a movie star—so why risk such a dangerous stunt to spy on his own female employees? Ning Zhe could not comprehend the estate owner’s twisted fetish, yet he could not deny that some people simply had such tastes.

And there were more than a few such people.

Leaving the changing room, Ning Zhe hurried upstairs and entered Bai Zhi’s room, where he found Feng Yu and her mother.

As soon as he stepped inside, Ning Zhe shed his suit; his short hair lengthened and coiled into a bun at the back of his head, his shirt and trousers transformed into a form-fitting waiter’s uniform, and his long legs were sheathed in sheer flesh-colored stockings.

“Ning Zhe?” Feng Yu, seated on the bed, stared curiously at him in his female guise: “How did you…?”

“Don’t ask questions. Just do exactly as I say when the time comes.” The sharp, high-pitched voice of Liu Yunzhi emerged from Ning Zhe’s throat: “Where’s Bai Zhi?”

“She… is asleep.” Feng Yu shook her head, glancing at her daughter curled up on the bed like a caterpillar, and sighed softly.

Bai Zhi truly believed this was a dream—she could no longer distinguish reality from illusion, and had become utterly unrecognizable.

“I feel her behavior is strange—her mannerisms, her speech—it’s not like the person I know at all. It’s as if she’s someone else.” Feng Yu whispered: “Bai Zhi is a quiet girl. Though she has few friends, she’s always gentle—even if only outwardly. But today…”

“Perhaps the person you’ve always known isn’t the real her?” Ning Zhe said casually: “When you’re ready, come out. We’re starting.”

“Alright.” Feng Yu rose from the bed and followed Ning Zhe out the door, into the hallway.

The corpse of the electrician, previously possessed by the ghost, still lay where it had fallen beside the balcony, untouched.

“Listen, your task is simple.” Ning Zhe pulled a flashlight from his pocket and placed it in her hand: “When I count to three, turn on the flashlight and shine it on my shadow. The ghost will be drawn to it immediately.”

“Unless something goes wrong, the ghost will possess that corpse and kill me. You must watch it without blinking—see every moment of how it kills me.”

“I will die as Liu Yunzhi. After I’m dead, you must shut off the light instantly—no delay. Understood?”

“Understood.” Feng Yu gripped the flashlight tightly and nodded solemnly.

She understood what Ning Zhe was doing now—he had reached his final step. He intended to use a close-range death to determine the exact trigger condition for the ghost’s killings.

“Before we begin, I have one question.” Feng Yu suddenly asked: “Why Liu Yunzhi? Why not that Brother Li?”

Ning Zhe had already stolen the identity of “Brother Li as known by Xie Yaoan.” Old Li was still alive, though barely. Why hadn’t Ning Zhe used his identity for the experiment instead of going through the trouble of stealing Liu Yunzhi’s? “Old Li’s identity isn’t complete,” Ning Zhe replied calmly.

“What do you mean, ‘not complete’?” Feng Yu was even more confused.

“Literal meaning. Time’s running out. Let’s begin.”

“Mm.”

Feng Yu nodded, switched on the flashlight. A colorless white light illuminated the darkness, casting the silhouette of a woman in a dress onto the wall—the electrician’s corpse lay just a few paces from Ning Zhe.

Ning Zhe waited silently for the ghost’s arrival, his mind perfectly calm. He did not explain to Feng Yu why he chose Liu Yunzhi, because the reason involved the fundamental logic of the Taiyi Rules—rules that were the ghost’s lifeline and also Ning Zhe’s own. The more people who knew the details, the greater his danger.

Reviewing the Taiyi Rules once more:

【When someone mistakes Taiyi for someone they know, using that mistaken perception as a medium, Taiyi may steal the corresponding person’s identity and associated memories.】

In simple terms—what you believe him to be, he becomes.

A person is the sum of all social relationships; their image varies in the eyes of different people. One’s identity can be broken into fragments: the son as seen by his mother, the brother as seen by his friends, the student as seen by his teacher… and so on.

The same identity, viewed from different perspectives, fractures into countless fragments. Only when all fragments overlap does a complete person emerge.

When Taiyi impersonates Person A, the more people among A’s acquaintances it successfully deceives, the more identity fragments it acquires—and the more complete its theft of A’s identity becomes.

When complete enough, it can even deceive the rules—even the rules of She Shen Zhao You.

When Ning Zhe violated the death taboo in He Family Village, enough villagers mistook him for She Shen; his stolen identity as She Shen was complete enough to deceive the rules, allowing him to transfer his own death penalty onto She Shen.

But the identity of “Old Li” that Ning Zhe now possesses is incomplete.

He holds only one fragment: “Old Li as known by Xie Yaoan.” At most, he has added Liu Yunzhi.

If these two were Old Li’s parents or siblings—or anyone else with deep, intimate knowledge of him—Ning Zhe might have stolen a sufficiently complete identity through their perceptions. But that is not the case.

They were merely ordinary coworkers. Their knowledge of Old Li was partial, fragmented. Such a crude impersonation could never deceive the rules.

So what method could most rapidly grant him the most complete identity, so he could quickly obtain a life to test with?

Or put another way: In this world, if you had to find the one person who knows you best—who would it be?

The answer: yourself.

No one understands you better than you do—not even a psychologist who claims to see into your soul.

Through the one-way mirror in the changing room, Ning Zhe successfully deceived Liu Yunzhi into believing the reflection was herself, stealing the most complete identity he had ever acquired.

No deception is harder to detect than self-deception. No one knows Liu Yunzhi better than Liu Yunzhi herself.

The flashlight’s light fell across Ning Zhe’s dress, making the flesh-colored stockings on his legs appear like white silk. Silent moments passed—then a sound came from the hallway. The corpse stood up.

The ghost has come.

(End of Chapter)