Little Bai Liu (6) suddenly added, "You also didn't say 'good evening' to me last night. That's something I usually say to wealthy backers when I'm taking their money. But you're the wealthy backer—you don't need to say that to me. You didn't say it last night, so it was strange that you opened with 'good evening' tonight."
That was true. Bai Liu recalled that he was only polite and courteous to strangers when money was involved. The odd phrasing reminded him of Puppet Zhang. He hadn't even realized he was capable of speaking like that.
"How did you think of letting Mu Ke take your phone and speak to me?" Bai Liu asked with a faint smile. "And why are you with Mu Ke tonight? Did something happen?"
On the player's side, the phone was bound and couldn't be exchanged. But on the children's side, it was different.
Still, it was extremely difficult for the children to sneak out to make phone calls. Miao Gaojiang would probably never have imagined the possibility of one child dragging another out and handing the phone over the moment the call connected.
A child's execution ability and obedience were far lower than an adult's—especially compared to adults who had survived multiple game instances. Under such restrictive conditions, only a little lunatic like Bai Liu (6) would stay up in the middle of the night for money and drag Mu Ke all over the yard just to make a call.
Forget Miao Gaojiang—even Bai Liu himself had been slightly surprised by his younger self's rare level of execution.
He knew he could do anything for money. Still, the moment he heard little Mu Ke's voice on the phone, Bai Liu couldn't help raising an eyebrow in surprise.
Little Bai Liu (6) reported flatly, "There's a baptism ceremony tomorrow. The teacher asked us to inform the investors and parents, so many children came out to make calls tonight. However, no one except me has successfully connected yet. The sound of the flute drew some of the children away, so the deformed children aren't chasing us for now. The situation is stable."
"As for why I'm with Mu Ke tonight—you should already know." His tone turned cold with faint disgust. "Didn't you pay me last night to look after two children? One is a blind girl. I've learned her name is Liu Jiayi. The other is Mu Ke. I couldn't contact the girl for now, but Mu Ke sleeps in the same room as I do. Since I'm taking your money, I brought him with me when I came out to call you."
"I originally intended for you to hear his voice so you could verify that the 'goods' are in good condition. He can run and cry. I didn't expect something unusual to be happening on your end, so I stayed silent and handed him the phone to pretend to be your investment child."
He paused subtly before asking directly, "Actually, when you said last night that you'd pay me to help people, you were planning for Mu Ke to call you tonight, weren't you?"
Bai Liu leaned lazily against the wall, a faint smile in his voice. "You could say that."
When he told Bai Liu (6) that he would pay him to take care of Mu Ke and Liu Jiayi, he had already anticipated that his younger self would drag one of them out to make a call.
His fourteen-year-old self's obsession with money had been stronger than ever. He wouldn't miss such an opportunity. Bai Liu had always honored his trades—from childhood to adulthood. He wouldn't easily deceive a partner in a transaction. The best way to verify the deal's success was to let Mu Ke personally confirm that he was safe.
And Bai Liu (6) had indeed done exactly that.
"You could've simply told me to bring Mu Ke out to call you tonight instead of going in circles," Bai Liu (6) said. His voice still carried the youthfulness of a teenager, but its calmness made it sound cold. "As long as you pay me, I'll do anything."
"Then you would've known in advance that I have hostile plans involving two other investors," Bai Liu replied slowly. "You would've guessed what I intended to do, what kind of danger I might face, and what this call meant to me. And you might've sold that information to my enemies in exchange for more money."
"That's something you would do, isn't it?"
Silence fell on the other end.
Bai Liu chuckled softly. "I can't let you figure out my plans. You're a very dangerous person."
"In fact, I think you're more dangerous to me than anything else in this game. Fortunately, I understand you. So let me tell you something based on that understanding." His voice lowered slightly. "Bai Liu (6), I will give you more money than anyone else in the world. I can even give you all my money."
"There will be no one more generous to you than me."
Because I am you, and you are me.
Money flows strangely between us across time and dimensions, but in essence, it all belongs to the same identity. The money I possess belongs to both of us. It won't diminish in the slightest.
"All your money?" Bai Liu (6)'s tone remained cold, tinged with unmistakable irony. "Then you must be a truly kind and selfless person, Mr. Investor."
"I am selfish and greedy," Bai Liu replied calmly, unoffended by the sarcasm. The gentle smile never left his face. "So I would never treat anyone else this way. But you are the most special person in this world. I can't hold anything back from you."
Bai Liu (6) didn't respond. He maintained a faintly skeptical silence.
"I understand what you're thinking," Bai Liu continued. "You believe human beings are inherently selfish. Why would an investor go against his own instincts for a stranger? Such a person doesn't exist. And if they do, they must be pretending to gain something greater. After all, there's no such thing as a free lunch."
The other end fell into another strange silence. It was clear that Bai Liu knew exactly what his fourteen-year-old self was thinking.
"That's what I thought at your age."
Leaning against the wall, Bai Liu closed his eyes slightly.
Because of his weakened body, the special significance of this welfare home instance, and the presence of the NPC version of himself, he found himself recalling the past more vividly than usual.
What had he been like at fourteen?
He had assumed he wouldn't remember much.
After all, humans were forgetful creatures. Perhaps memory truly lasted only seconds, and everything else was merely a construct—something people fabricated to deceive and comfort themselves.
Yet the moment he heard that cold, emotionless voice on the other end of the line, he remembered clearly.
At fourteen, he had been lonely, indifferent, and utterly out of sync with the world around him. No one understood the frail boy who spent all day reading horror stories, obsessed with grotesque tales and strange games in the welfare home.
At that age, Bai Liu couldn't mask himself the way he did now. Disgust lingered in his eyes when he looked at others. His entire presence felt cold. Naturally, no other children wanted to approach him.
Of course, part of the problem had always been him.
The other children treasured donated toys—trains, building blocks, picture books. Bai Liu preferred dolls with missing arms and legs. When others read comics and fairy tales, he read Slenderman's Ghostly Book of Murder, a horror novel donated by some unknown benefactor.
Back then, the children hadn't yet been shaped by society's rules. In the welfare home, they fought fiercely—for better toys, better food, the chance to be adopted, or to avoid sleeping on damp straw beds.
No one taught them to do it. Trampling others in order to live better felt like pure instinct. Bai Liu had realized that very early on. So he chose to stay as far away from them as possible.
In the welfare home, there were only two people who didn't fight over those things. One was Bai Liu; the other was Lu Yizhan.
Bai Liu didn't care for them because he preferred money, and children in the welfare home were rarely given money. As for Lu Yizhan, he believed others needed those things more, so the fool took the initiative to give them away.
Lu Yizhan voluntarily gave up better food, better toys, and even opportunities to be adopted. He simply watched the happy smiles of those who benefited from him. They offered him only shallow thanks, which made him scratch his head awkwardly and smile even brighter than they did.
"I used to believe that no one in this world would truly give everything for others," Bai Liu said softly. "Even when people give, they do it for the sense of satisfaction shaped by society's moral standards. In the end, it's still self-serving."
"There are no purely good people in this world—only purely bad ones."
On the other end of the line, little Bai Liu (6)'s breathing could be heard as he dragged the still-sniffling Mu Ke around the welfare home in the middle of the night. Bai Liu knew he was listening.
The boy hadn't hung up because the call was charged by the minute. He was a diligent little wage earner, albeit child labor.
A faint, lazy laugh entered Bai Liu's voice as though he were recalling something amusing. "Just when I was absolutely certain of those ideas, I met a fool who insisted on being my friend."
"He kept asking why I was always alone. When I was hungry, he gave me food. When he saw me reading bloody, bizarre books, he was stunned—but then he secretly went out to find more for me." Bai Liu's tone remained calm. "I was cold to him from beginning to end. He gave without receiving anything in return. I thought he would give up soon."
From the other end came a flat question. "Did he?"
"He avoided me for a while, so I assumed he had." Bai Liu paused. "Then one noon, I went to the backyard and found a Slenderman doll."
It was a clumsy, thin ghost figure. Its suit had been stitched together from discarded bedsheets. The hat was crooked and poorly made, like a failed elementary school craft project. The doll waved a scarf sewn from ragged cloth, as if cheerfully greeting him.
At the time, the only horror books available in the welfare home were about Slenderman. No one had donated other titles of that genre. Lu Yizhan mistakenly assumed Bai Liu loved this strange, legendary creature. So he stayed up all night under his blanket making that doll. The next day, he put it on his head and danced awkwardly in front of Bai Liu, grunting and sweating. His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, but clear and hopeful.
Lu Yizhan treated Bai Liu like a child who adored cartoon characters. He simply wanted to make him happy. He didn't expect thanks. Of course, Bai Liu didn't thank him. It was just—
"…He was stupid," little Bai Liu (6) concluded flatly.
"Yes. That's how I felt at the time." Bai Liu let out a soft laugh. "I looked at him like he was an idiot and politely explained that I wasn't a fan of Slenderman. I just liked horror stories where monsters devour foolish and wicked people."
Little Bai Liu (6) was quiet for a moment. "I like that too. But he shouldn't… like it."
Normal children wouldn't. Back then, Bai Liu had been a freak in the welfare home. The books he read and the things he drew were bloody and abnormal. Teachers paid special attention to him, suspecting antisocial tendencies. Eventually, they threw away everything he liked—books, games, even the dolls he stared at too often.
They monitored him as though he were a juvenile delinquent under reform. To some extent, their vigilance wasn't entirely wrong.
Bai Liu suppressed his obvious interests and pretended to be a reformed, obedient child.
Lu Yizhan didn't enjoy horror stories or strange games. But disliking them didn't mean he couldn't accept that Bai Liu did. He knew Bai Liu was pretending not to care.
"He didn't like them," Bai Liu recalled, eyes closed. "But he was always popular. Somehow, he managed to find many horror novels and games. He hid them from the teachers and secretly gave them to me."
Little Bai Liu (6) asked quietly, "Why would he do that?"
"That's what I asked him," Bai Liu replied, his voice nearly a whisper. "He said, 'Aren't we friends? It's something I can do for you, so I did it.'"
"When did you become friends?" Bai Liu (6) asked. "You never agreed to that."
"I don't know," Bai Liu admitted. "Lu Yizhan decided it unilaterally. I told him I was probably a freak and likely to do bad things in the future. He said very seriously that if I became a bad person, he would become a police officer to arrest me."
Bai Liu chuckled. "He said that way he wouldn't let me turn bad. After all, a police officer can't be friends with a criminal."
They played horror games together for years. Even after Lu Yizhan realized Bai Liu wasn't exactly normal, he insisted on staying his friend.
"Why?" Bai Liu (6) asked again, genuine confusion in his voice. "You couldn't even understand each other. Did he gain anything from being your friend?"
"No," Bai Liu answered readily. "I was troublesome in every way. I'm not good at being human. But he said he didn't need benefits to be my friend."
"Then for what?"
"He just wanted to be my friend."
That was Lu Yizhan's reason. He wanted Bai Liu to smile a little more. He wanted him to have someone beside him. There was no pity, no calculation. He simply thought so—and acted.
Lu Yizhan was the first anomaly in Bai Liu's worldview. His existence nearly overturned Bai Liu's understanding of human nature. A person with no ulterior motive, no self-interest. Morally upright—even if a little foolish.
In Bai Liu's eyes, he was the textbook definition of a self-sacrificing idiot.
He was also Bai Liu's only friend in this life.
"There really are pure, good people in this world," Bai Liu said softly. "They contradict evolutionary logic and human instinct, so their lives are often difficult. But they exist. And you will meet one soon."
Yes, Bai Liu (6). You will meet someone who plays games with you, who dresses up as Slenderman to make you laugh, who stays by your side for years.
"They're rare, aren't they?" little Bai Liu (6) said casually. "Maybe you encountered a miracle. But I won't meet someone that stupid."
"You will," Bai Liu replied with a smile. "You already met me."
"I knew you were a bad child. I knew you might betray me. But I still told you my plan." His voice grew soft, almost coaxing. "You're more important to me than any plan—even more important than my own life."
"You're the most important person here. I promise I can be your strange but reliable friend."
This time, Bai Liu (6) remained silent for a long while. Just as Bai Liu thought the call had ended, the boy abruptly changed the subject.
"You like horror games too? Have you played any good ones?"
Bai Liu lowered his gaze, the faintest smile curving his lips. "Yes. I've played two excellent ones. One is called Siren Town. The other is Exploding Last Train."
At fourteen, he had still been easy to move—easily swayed by someone like Lu Yizhan.
If fourteen-year-old Bai Liu had met the twenty-four-year-old version of himself, things would have been far more complicated.
Bai Liu had neither the time nor the inclination to provide psychological counseling to his younger self—and he didn't believe Bai Liu (6) needed it.
He told that long story for a reason: to ensure Bai Liu (6)'s wholehearted cooperation.
Unfortunately, the most effective way to control his younger self's money was no longer sufficient. He had given most of his points to Miao Feichi.
This was dangerous. His remaining points were fewer than his enemies'. The items he could use to restrain Bai Liu (6) were also fewer.
Once they met the next day, the perceptive Bai Liu (6) would quickly realize that Bai Liu had less money than Miao Feichi.
That would be disastrous. Given the hostile relationship between the parties, Bai Liu (6) would naturally gravitate toward the side with more leverage. He might even sell Bai Liu's information to Miao Feichi.
At fourteen, Bai Liu had not been obedient—only loyal to money.
He wouldn't care if betrayal led to his older self's death. Back then, his desire for money had been even stronger.
So Bai Liu needed something equal to money to restrain him.
From experience, he knew the perfect weapon: Lu Yizhan.
For years, Lu Yizhan had restrained Bai Liu from stepping onto the path of crime. It wasn't just stubborn friendship that made it work.
It was curiosity.
Bai Liu was deeply curious—especially about abnormal behavior. He had always wondered how someone like Lu Yizhan could remain so good. What drove him?
That curiosity was powerful enough to rival his desire for money. Lu Yizhan didn't exist in this dungeon. So Bai Liu created the idea of such a person—and temporarily played that role himself. He extracted the most restraining element Lu Yizhan had ever held over him: curiosity.
Little Bai Liu (6) was curious about him now. He wanted to understand his logic. And that was how every story began.
Just like it had with Lu Yizhan.