Frightening Joke: Above the Mist
Chapter 163: Disappearance

Chapter 163: Chapter 163: Disappearance

The police contacted Feng Xiuxue, and with Feng Xiuxue’s testimony and the café’s surveillance records, Bai Yanliang was quickly cleared of suspicion.

Relieved, he went home and organized the information he had gathered today.

Meanwhile, after work, Gao Fei brought him an interesting piece of news about the male corpse.

"Barber?"

Bai Yanliang looked at Gao Fei in surprise.

Gao Fei gulped down some water and nodded as he drank.

"Mmm, mmm... mm."

"Wasn’t there a criminal gang that came to Ye City some time ago? This guy was one of them, codenamed Barber," Gao Fei said, wiping his mouth. "To be honest, this guy got what he deserved. His past crimes involved shaving all the victims’ hair and stuffing it down their throats. Who would have thought that when it was his turn, he died the same way? Truly, heaven has eyes."

Heaven has eyes...

Bai Yanliang smiled without denying it, but he knew that the reason the criminal codenamed "Barber" died was that he hadn’t eliminated Bai Yanliang and Feng Xiuxue. Fierce ghosts are not easy to handle, and when Bai Yanliang and Feng Xiuxue successfully escaped that world, this guy’s death was already destined.

He died at the hands of the "ghost" in his key.

And now, that key had been taken away by another man, a suit-wearing man with severed fingers.

"How many people were in that criminal gang?" Bai Yanliang asked out of curiosity.

"Nine... oh no, eight now, since the Barber is dead, isn’t he? We now suspect this is a typical betrayal within the criminal organization, a case of black eating black," Gao Fei said.

There were eight left.

Bai Yanliang stroked his chin and asked with interest, "What are the codenames of the remaining eight people?"

Gao Fei glanced at Bai Yanliang, feeling a bit awkward, but then he remembered that Yanliang was Yang Wanlong’s trusted person and had been involved in many cases. Moreover, Gao Fei understood that if Bai Yanliang really wanted to know, he’d find out sooner or later, even if Gao Fei tried to hide it now...

Thinking of this, Gao Fei glanced around to make sure He Yige was still not home, leaving just himself and Bai Yanliang. He then whispered, "The eight codenames are Paper Card, Bone Scrapper, Lawyer, Two-faced Man, Red Spider Lily, Puppet, Musician, and Secret Key."

Paper Card, Bone Scrapper, Lawyer, Two-faced Man, Red Spider Lily, Puppet, Musician, Secret Key...

Bai Yanliang memorized these codenames and quickly spotted a small anomaly.

If you add Barber, there are four with profession-related codenames: Bone Scrapper, Lawyer, Musician, Barber. And there are four with item-related codenames: Paper Card, Red Spider Lily, Puppet, Secret Key.

The only one that’s neither a profession nor an item is... Two-faced Man.

"Who’s the leader among them?" Bai Yanliang asked, looking up.

Gao Fei shook his head: "No idea. In my opinion, how could these heartless creatures take orders from anyone? Maybe none of them respects the others."

Bai Yanliang nodded in understanding, but his mind was pondering something else.

The leader of these nine individuals was most likely the one with the most peculiar codename, Two-faced Man.

After all, compared to normal people, sinister criminals pay more attention to rituals and... rules.

That’s right, although it sounds ridiculous, criminals often emphasize rules even more than ordinary people, even if those rules are self-imposed.

"Alright, alright, enough about that. Let’s talk about you," Gao Fei suddenly teased with a wink. "Hey, I saw you the other night, putting Feng Xiuxue in a taxi. Not to criticize, but she’s a big star, and a girl. Since you were sending her off, why not go all the way?"

Bai Yanliang glanced at Gao Fei, finally understanding why Gao Fei mentioned "again" earlier; he had seen it with his own eyes.

"You’re mistaken, we are not in a romantic relationship."

Gao Fei pouted, disdain written all over his face: "Tsk tsk tsk, who would believe that? Unless you can magically bring a girlfriend here right now..."

"Knock knock knock—"

A gentle knock suddenly came from outside, a mannerly act that didn’t seem like a familiar person...

Gao Fei looked wide-eyed at Bai Yanliang, could it really be that coincidental?

"Who is it?" Gao Fei craned his neck and shouted.

"Excuse me... is Bai Yanliang here?"

A woman’s voice! An unfamiliar woman’s voice!

Gao Fei turned his head in disbelief to look at Bai Yanliang, could she actually be his girlfriend?

Hearing the voice, Bai Yanliang felt both realization and confusion. He got up to open the door, but Gao Fei beat him to it, bouncing along.

"Creak—"

The door opened, and Gao Fei looked straight ahead but saw no one; only by lowering his gaze did he finally see someone.

Stunning, admiration, yet... various emotions flashed across Gao Fei’s eyes.

"Yu Sheng, long time no see."

Bai Yanliang looked at the girl sitting in a wheelchair and greeted her with a smile.

Yu Sheng also smiled, but it was clear to anyone that her smile was very forced.

Bai Yanliang glanced at her and said, "Come in and talk."

...

At the stone table, Yu Sheng held the plain water Bai Yanliang had poured for her, unsure of how to begin.

Bai Yanliang turned to look at Gao Fei: "Don’t you have something to do?"

Gao Fei suddenly realized: "Oh... oh! I just remembered! Yes, yes, yes! I have a case to handle..."

Gao Fei laughed it off as he quickly slipped back to his own room.

"Go ahead, what’s happened with Ren Wudao?"

Bai Yanliang fixed his eyes on Yu Sheng and asked.

Although Yu Sheng had no intention of hiding anything from Bai Yanliang, she was surprised that he immediately guessed it was about Ren Wudao.

"My brother... has disappeared."

Disappeared?

Thinking back, the last time they had met was the morning Ai Qing’s corpse was discovered.

Ren Wudao had found him and showed him the key’s outline on his palm. Although Bai Yanliang didn’t know how he did it, without a doubt, he had already been cursed by the Wuji Curse.

After that, Ren Wudao talked about Yu Sheng’s illness, and Bai Yanliang still remembered his expression at the time—painful, unwilling, confused, bewildered...

Ren Wudao was one of the few people Bai Yanliang acknowledged, with acute observation and intelligence. For someone like him to show such vulnerable emotions was strange.

Looking back, Ren Wudao’s sudden visit that day to talk about these things seemed somewhat hurried.

"Did he tell you where he was going?"

Yu Sheng shook her head, her knuckles turning white from gripping so hard.

He was her only family left, and if something happened to him...

"Take me to your house."

Bai Yanliang’s voice startled Yu Sheng. She looked up to see a pair of clear, bright eyes.

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