But Grace Cooper suddenly interrupted him, saying, “I’m asking you, how long has Samuel Harris been awake, and why has he attracted so much hatred?”

“Hatred?”

Henry Bennett was even more confused, looking at Grace Cooper with a dazed expression.

“Haven’t you noticed?”

In the faintly mint-scented curling smoke, Grace Cooper’s eyes seemed a bit mysterious as she softly said, “This city is fake…”

“All around us are evil spirits…”

Chapter Two: The First Commandment for Strangers

“Fake? Evil spirits?”

Grace Cooper’s voice, mysterious and a bit lazy, snapped Henry Bennett back to his senses, sending a bone-chilling cold through him as if he’d fallen into an icy lake.

And the Grace Cooper before him, that mysterious and aloof girl, simply looked into his eyes and softly said, “Don’t you feel that everyone around you has developed an inexplicable and intense hatred toward you?”

“Don’t you feel like they all want to kill you, eat you?”

“…”

Henry Bennett looked at her in shock, and, unreasonably, a sense of gratitude welled up inside him.

Because this woman had precisely described what he had just felt.

But then, Grace Cooper sighed softly and said, “I can tell you, it’s all real.”

“The hatred they showed you in the room just now was real. If you had left the room even a little later, they would have killed you. That’s real too.”

“…”

At that moment, Henry Bennett felt his scalp tingle, as if the world behind him was silently shattering.

After a long while, he finally asked in a low voice, “Why?”

“The reason is simple.”

A wisp of minty smoke drifted past Grace Cooper’s face as she softly said:

“Everything and everyone around us only appears the same as in your memory. They’ve long since been unknowingly replaced by fake monsters.”

“You no longer fit in with this world, like a nail stuck in a clock.”

“This world loathes you, hates you, wants to kill you completely…”

“…”

Henry Bennett couldn’t describe how he felt hearing these words. He just stared blankly at Grace Cooper; her calm and beautiful face gave him a strong sense of madness.

“I…”

He didn’t know how many questions he wanted to ask, but Grace Cooper quickly stood up, placed her hand on his shoulder, and whispered in his ear, “Don’t talk, they’re coming.”

Henry Bennett was still filled with confusion, but suddenly felt a jolt of alarm.

In the corridor, William Carter was already walking over with a smile. The same person who had just looked at him with that sinister gaze now seemed like a different person, smiling broadly as he said:

“I was wondering why you two had been gone so long. Turns out you’re here whispering secrets.”

“Can I hear what you’re talking about?”

“…”

Henry Bennett was now full of vigilance, but Grace Cooper answered easily with a relaxed smile, “Just chatting about something interesting.”

William Carter glanced at Grace Cooper, then at Henry Bennett, his expression seemingly a bit dissatisfied, but he just smiled and waved his hand, saying, “Alright, alright, everyone’s getting impatient.”

But as he spoke, he suddenly turned to Henry Bennett and said, “Grace Cooper, you go back first. I have something to say to Henry Bennett.”

The instant he turned his head, a flash of malice seemed to flicker in his eyes.

This made Henry Bennett instantly alert. He instinctively looked at Grace Cooper, of course not wanting her to leave, but unexpectedly, she just nodded obediently and turned to go.

But as she turned, she suddenly leaned close to Henry Bennett’s ear and quickly said, “The first commandment for strangers: don’t let yourself appear weak.”

“If you don’t want him to kill you, you’ll have to kill him.”

“…”

“Kill him?”

Henry Bennett was startled by these words, looking at Grace Cooper in shock.

But Grace Cooper had already turned and left, her face still as calm as ever.

As for William Carter, seeing Grace Cooper whisper something to Henry Bennett, seemed to make him extremely displeased.

Watching Grace Cooper leave, the smile that had been on his face suddenly vanished.

When he turned to look at Henry Bennett, his face was full of coldness and anger. Suddenly, he grabbed Henry Bennett and dragged him into the bathroom.

His hand gripped Henry Bennett’s arm tightly, slamming him against the bathroom wall. With a crash, the glass mirror shattered, shards scattering all over the floor.

His voice was twisted and venomous with coldness: “You think you’re worthy?”

“You…”

Henry Bennett was caught off guard, pinned against the wall, instinctively panicking and blurting out, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Everyone knows this party was organized because I met Grace Cooper.”

“Everyone knows I like Grace Cooper.”

“Everyone knows Grace Cooper is mine. You think you’re worthy to compete with me? You think you’re worthy to look at her? You think you’re worthy to come out here and whisper to her?”

“…”

William Carter shouted with a cold expression, anger causing the veins on his forehead to bulge and twist like earthworms. In that instant, Henry Bennett felt a strong sense of threat from him. The unrestrained fury made him feel an uncontrollable panic. He could feel William Carter’s anger erupting without restraint, blood vessels spreading like spiderwebs, quickly crawling over his entire eyeball.