Frightening Joke: Above the Mist
Chapter 173: Gathering

Chapter 173: Chapter 173: Gathering

A crime committed by someone with antisocial personality disorder might be to vent some kind of emotion.

But when they form an organization and commit multiple crimes, it must be for a certain purpose.

Murder?

The number of psychopathic killers isn’t high, but it’s certainly not low either. If it were merely for personal pleasure, they wouldn’t need to form an organization, tying their hands and feet.

Therefore, Bai Yanliang is sure that the criminal organization called Dark Abyss is conspiring something, or to put it more bluntly, they gain something from each gruesomely cruel, bizarre crime.

First, it can be ruled out that it’s not for money, and secondly, they don’t seem to care about fame either.

So what is the purpose of their repeated cruel and perverse murders?

Bai Yanliang believes they are not merely acting themselves but also encouraging others to act.

In Ai Qing’s case, although the murderer was Chen Huaiyu’s father, to this day, the origin of that large bottle of sleeping pills with Ma Junsheng remains unclear. And in Li Degang’s case, the fluorescent agent Hao Bowen used to cover an entire wall could not have been obtained by a high school student, currently leaving no witnesses. As for Lei Dongming’s case, how the blood stains at the murder scene in the street park disappeared remains unknown.

Each case, though successfully broken, always seems to be missing something, making Bai Yanliang feel a sense of forcefulness and omission.

Now, he understands.

Each case involves distorted human-shaped shadows, and those shadows... are inevitably linked to Dark Abyss.

Nowadays, the changes in Fog Gathering have become incomprehensible, and in the real world, fierce ghosts are attacking members of Fog Gathering, with an inexplicable and eerie organization like Dark Abyss hiding in the shadows.

Unusually, Bai Yanliang felt a bit of urgency.

That night, Bai Yanliang rested well for the night.

Li Mu, due to nightmares, only slept for more than three hours, but his problem has some leads now, and Li Mu’s state of mind has improved considerably. At least he knows his adversary is Dark Abyss, and what haunted him wasn’t a fierce ghost, but a curse.

The next afternoon at three, Bai Yanliang and his two companions took a car to the West Suburb.

This was initially planned to be Ye City’s commercial circle, but for some reason, the development plan was suddenly halted, leaving a vast area of unfinished buildings.

So, although you can see reinforced concrete modern buildings everywhere, the sight still gives off a sense of desolation.

Besides some natives, the West Suburb is virtually deserted.

Bai Yanliang wasn’t late, but when he, Li Mu, and Yu Sheng arrived at New Moon Department Store, there were already seven or eight people there.

What’s more, all five people scheduled to carry out the mission at midnight were already present, looking at Bai Yanliang with various expressions.

"Everyone’s here, I’ll first go over the information about this place," said Li Mu with the demeanor of a detective.

"The New Moon Department Store, the first completed building in the West Suburb of Ye City, currently primarily sells daily necessities to surrounding residential buildings. There are some rumors online that many workers inexplicably died when the New Moon Department Store was constructed. After completion, blood footprints and other supernatural phenomena were occasionally seen on the glass and floors, which were later officially debunked as acts of competitors."

This short piece of information was compiled by Li Mu after waking up, gathered from online and police system sources. As you can see, there isn’t anything too bizarre happening regarding New Moon Department Store.

"You missed one thing," Song Que looked at Li Mu, still clutching the ever-present coin in his hand.

"Today is April 3rd, the same day New Moon Department Store broke ground years ago."

This reminded Li Mu, who nodded and looked at everyone, "Yes, today is indeed the day New Moon Department Store broke ground."

Yang Mowan turned her head, looking at the dark entrance. Although it was afternoon and people were coming in and out of the entrance, she couldn’t help but feel a chill.

"This place... is so oppressive..."

Yang Mowan said in a low voice.

Song Que glanced at her, "When you’re feeling oppressed, everything looks oppressive."

In fact, everyone else felt the oppression Yang Mowan mentioned, and it wasn’t just psychological as Song Que suggested.

The entrance to this department store seemed to have a strange power, causing dizziness and suffocation when you looked at it.

Zhou Li felt this too.

He was the first to arrive, and the most prepared. He even had a telescope around his neck.

Yuan Jie had flown from the distant North City early in the morning, and now as night was falling, his mood grew increasingly irritable. Glancing at Zhou Li, an inexplicable anger surged up, "Why did you bring a telescope? Afraid you can’t see the ghost?"

Zhou Li gave him a sidelong glance. Everyone reacts differently to fear; some are silent, some tremble, some are anxious, and some become angry.

Obviously, Yuan Jie was the kind of person who gets anxious and angry out of fear.

"I don’t dare enter the building directly to look, so I brought the telescope to observe from afar." Zhou Li did not show much reaction to Yuan Jie’s loss of composure.

"Let me see." Yuan Jie swallowed hard.

He also felt something off about his emotions.

Zhou Li handed the telescope to him, and Yuan Jie grabbed it and raised it to his eyes.

They were standing across the street, about ten meters away from New Moon Department Store, so there was no real need for a telescope.

When Yuan Jie pointed the telescope at the department store, he began moving it around subconsciously, looking chaotically.

The entire exterior of New Moon Department Store was made of transparent glass, so he could see clearly.

The first floor sold jewelry, cosmetics, watches, and leather goods.

The second floor had household items and everyday goods.

The third floor was the sports brand area.

The fourth floor had dining and entertainment.

The fifth floor housed a cinema.

Additionally, there was a basement level selling groceries and food.

Looking at it this way, the building didn’t seem remarkable, and Yuan Jie even saw a salesgirl on the second floor yawning.

Such a normal place...

Then, Yuan Jie shifted the telescope towards the window on the third floor.

But this time... he saw a pair of blood-red eyes!

A person, decaying and twisted, was clinging to the transparent glass, staring at him intently!

"Aah!"

Yuan Jie let go out of fright, and Zhou Li’s telescope dropped to the ground.

"What’s wrong? What did you see?"

Zhou Li didn’t care about his telescope, rushing to ask.

Everyone was startled by Yuan Jie’s sudden scream and quickly looked at him.

Yuan Jie’s lips were pale, even though there was a street between him and that terrifying thing, he still felt it staring at him. He shivered as he spoke, "Ghost... there’s a ghost! A rotting ghost was clinging to the glass on the third floor..."

What?!

Bai Yanliang immediately turned to look, but there was nothing by the third-floor window.

He picked up the fallen telescope, looked at the third-floor window through it, but found nothing out of the ordinary.

It had disappeared.

But after such an event, despite not having entered the department store yet, everyone already felt a deep chill.

The sky had darkened.