Frightening Joke: Above the Mist
Chapter 160: Where?

Chapter 160: Chapter 160: Where?

Where is the ghost exactly?

Feng Xiuxue pondered over this question that ordinary people tend to avoid. This type of ghost must be eliminated before it fully manifests. Once it does, death would be the only path left for her.

Feng Xiuxue glanced around again.

The wooden floor was covered with dust, the scratches on the wall were old but clear, and a staircase connected the first floor to the second.

Yet, neither the first nor the second floor had any furniture or extra rooms. It was empty, dim, and everything was laid bare at a glance.

If this were an escape room in an amusement park, the designer would certainly get fired.

It was so dull that there wasn’t even a place to hide.

But in reality, this was undoubtedly the most terrifying ghost house, prepared for her and Bai Yanliang by that mysterious person.

The stress on the mind is immense precisely because there’s no place to hide.

Just thinking about a ghost lurking in the dark, ready to take a life at any moment, would unsettle anyone.

Even though Feng Xiuxue was quite familiar with it all, she still couldn’t suppress her fear.

After all... she was still human, a living person, and as long as one is human, they will feel various emotions. The most she could do was to minimize fear’s impact on her.

Because of her family background and social status, Feng Xiuxue could immediately see the value of this house. It looked old, yet the overall design was clearly the work of a master.

To find the ghost’s true form, she must first find the abnormalities in the house.

However, although it’s called an abnormality, most of the time they appear more normal than anything else, and humans can’t detect them until the last moment.

Therefore, Feng Xiuxue didn’t overlook anything that seemed normal.

Yet, there was pathetically little in this house.

The floor, the stairs, the walls, the wardrobe, the ceiling, the windows, the doors—frankly, aside from the wardrobe which looked unusually strange at a glance, everything else could only be considered part of the structure. If they were the ghost’s true form, then wouldn’t that mean the entire house was actually a ghost?

Theoretically, it wasn’t impossible, but realistically it was utterly unlikely.

Feng Xiuxue understood the limits of human use of keys; it simply wasn’t a power controllable by humans. Using it forcefully would exact a terrible price, and... there’s a significant risk the fierce ghost from the world opened by the key would escape its original world and... retaliate against humans.

That’s why Feng Xiuxue set two bottom lines for herself: never use the key unless absolutely necessary, and even if she used it, when determining the rules and selecting the fierce ghost trapped in that world, she could only choose the one that seemed to have the weakest ability.

Because from start to finish, it was never about humans harnessing the fierce ghosts or controlling another world.

Put bluntly, humans possessing the key were nothing more than children who had stumbled upon nuclear weapons.

Therefore, if truly the entire house was the embodiment of a fierce ghost, the mysterious person who arranged this world would have long since been devoured.

Weakness is humanity’s eternal label; even when compared to other creatures on earth, humanity’s strength advantage isn’t significant.

What we can truly trust, what really established humanity’s dominance, is the mind.

Feng Xiuxue has always had great faith in her mind.

She knew she was extremely dangerous at the moment because every spot her gaze passed could potentially be the embodiment of a fierce ghost.

A moment later, she recalled something.

The fierce ghost might not have disguised itself as an object in the house; it might be... invisible.

For ghosts, invisibility is an incredibly common and abnormal ability.

Upon thinking of this, Feng Xiuxue immediately sprang into action.

The ghost hadn’t acted yet; she still had a chance.

Feng Xiuxue opened her phone again.

The phone she used differed from Bai Yanliang’s ancient device; quality in, quality out, as they say, producing high-resolution photos.

Thus, Feng Xiuxue began aiming the camera at various corners.

This was a method she’d used before to search for ghosts, believing that things invisible to the naked eye might be revealed through mirrors, photographs, or videos.

However, to her dismay, even after photographing everything with her phone, she couldn’t identify the ghost’s true form.

Outside the windows, a fierce storm raged, lightning flashed, thunder roared, and the sky was oppressively dark and daunting.

Occasionally, the wind would slam a window against the wall with a thudding sound.

At this moment, Feng Xiuxue suddenly got a spark of inspiration.

Yes... could it be? Outside the house?

With this thought, she immediately turned towards the window to look outside.

The wind’s wailing eerily resembled a woman’s cries, just the sound alone causing her skin to crawl.

Suddenly, a loud bang came from downstairs!

"Bang!"

That was the wardrobe sound!

Upon hearing the noise, Feng Xiuxue jumped and quickly dashed towards the stairs, racing to the first floor.

This was a very risky move, but she had no choice.

Everything in front of her made Feng Xiuxue feel the chilling cold surround her.

The old wardrobe on the first floor had been knocked over.

"This is..."

Feng Xiuxue slowly approached the wardrobe, for she discovered, seemingly for the first time, a handprint on the fallen old wardrobe!

However, just as she was about to get close to the wardrobe, Feng Xiuxue suddenly felt a chill spread all over her body!

Every cell in her body resisted moving forward, as if something terrifyingly dreadful dwelled within that fallen wardrobe.

Feng Xiuxue froze, sensing a gaze upon her!

A terrifying gaze...

That fierce ghost is watching me now...

Feng Xiuxue realized this acutely.

She took deep, deliberate breaths; the fierce ghost wasn’t acting out of playful malice but merely because... it wasn’t capable yet.

However, the time until it was fully formed was evidently very near.

Now, it could already disturb Feng Xiuxue’s mind with this dreadful gaze, forcing her into a struggle immersed in fear.

No... she had to quicken her pace!

She must find it soon and figure out a way to eliminate it!

The current situation felt like a blood-dripping scythe placed at Feng Xiuxue’s neck, getting closer by the second.

Soon, time would no longer be on her side. When that moment arrived, Feng Xiuxue would be completely reduced to prey, without any means of resistance.

Feng Xiuxue endured the chilling gaze as she peered around again; yet, she still discovered nothing.

What exactly is it?

Not outside the house, and not inside either, then where could it be?

Feng Xiuxue shrank into the corner, beginning to notice her fear intensifying.

Although she knew it was the psychological pressure stemming from her fruitless search, she couldn’t help it.

Where is that fierce ghost exactly? Why can it see me, yet I can’t see it?

If it’s neither inside nor outside the house, then where?

Could it be... on me?

A bold thought suddenly passed through Feng Xiuxue’s mind, and with it, a realization hit her. She jumped up from the corner and opened her phone’s camera.