Frightening Joke: Above the Mist
Chapter 191: Cracking

Chapter 191: Chapter 191: Cracking

"Qi Nian."

Bai Yanliang suddenly called her name.

Qi Nian looked up at him, seeing Bai Yanliang staring at her intently without blinking.

"Wha... What’s wrong?"

For some reason, she suddenly felt an inexplicable tension, a sense of helplessness arose in her heart.

"You’re next, right."

Bai Yanliang’s words made Qi Nian pause, and then she realized what Bai Yanliang meant after a moment of thought.

"Yes, according to the order of drawing lots, I’m next to be the ghost."

Bai Yanliang was silent for a moment, then said to Qi Nian, "After the third round of the game starts, no matter what you see or discover, pretend you don’t know. If you trust me, it’s best to do nothing."

Qi Nian’s eyes widened, although she recognized every word Bai Yanliang said, she couldn’t understand what he meant when they were combined.

"You... found a way out?"

"Sort of." Bai Yanliang expected Qi Nian’s reaction, he smiled slightly, looking at his injured fingers, and said, "Have you ever thought about why each of us must play the ghost once in this game."

"Huh?" Qi Nian was somewhat clueless, rules are rules, is there a reason behind it?

She shook her head, confusion still not diminished in her eyes.

Bai Yanliang looked up at her and said, "Although I’ve never played hide and seek, I know the rules. Generally speaking, after choosing the ghost through rock-paper-scissors or other methods in the first round, the one caught by the ghost should be the ghost next, right?"

Qi Nian nodded, indeed, this rule is similar everywhere in the world.

"Then... why isn’t Fog Gathering’s hide and seek game following this rule?"

Bai Yanliang seemed to be asking her, or asking himself.

Qi Nian hesitantly glanced at him, "Maybe... to ensure fairness?"

In Qi Nian’s view, having everyone play the ghost once ensures the game’s fairness.

"Yes." To Qi Nian’s surprise, Bai Yanliang affirmed her statement.

His eyes shone with a haunting brilliance, and he said softly, "Indeed, it’s for fairness, but... not for fairness in playing the ghost, but to give everyone a chance to play the game one-on-one with the real ghost."

Qi Nian’s heart suddenly skipped a beat, it seemed she understood something. Looking at Bai Yanliang, she found Bai Yanliang already standing up, the giant full moon outside the window just behind him.

"If Song Que doesn’t die, we could find out if it was Yuan Jie who trapped him. If it was Yuan Jie, that would mean... the hide-and-seek game still follows the universal rules, the one caught by the ’ghost’ will be the ’ghost’ in the next round, so what’s the point of us playing the ’ghost’?"

Qi Nian stared blankly at Bai Yanliang, Bai Yanliang himself didn’t know he was smiling now. Although the smile was subtle, it was not a fake facade but a real, genuine smile!

"Qi Nian, the ’ghost’ we play will enter another hide-and-seek game after the countdown ends." Bai Yanliang looked at Qi Nian and said seriously, "In that game, only you and the real ghost will participate. What you must do is find it. However... if you trust me, just do nothing and lose that game directly. The cost of doing this is having your memory erased, but there will be no other danger. Leave the rest to me."

Qi Nian stared at him blankly, not fully understanding what Bai Yanliang said afterward, partly because Bai Yanliang hadn’t explained some of the logic yet, and partly because she just... got distracted.

For the first time, Qi Nian thought, a person’s smile could actually look this good; the smile that had just appeared on Bai Yanliang’s lips made him seem to come alive!

She didn’t feel she was exaggerating at all, though Bai Yanliang had smiled before too, for some unknown reason, Qi Nian couldn’t feel Bai Yanliang’s emotions.

But just now... she felt it.

"Qi Nian?" Bai Yanliang waved his hand in front of her, "Qi Nian? What’s the matter with you?"

Qi Nian suddenly snapped out of it, she didn’t know what she was thinking, quickly stood up, and stammered, "Ok... alright... I trust you, if it’s really as you say, I’ll do nothing."

In the dim light by the window, Bai Yanliang couldn’t see Qi Nian’s blushing face.

He merely nodded, quietly waiting for the time to end.

...

Song Que licked his dry lips, pressing firmly against the locker room door.

Yuan Jie’s face, which had extended from above, had already disappeared.

Song Que let out a long sigh of relief, for now, it seemed to have worked.

It was waiting, waiting for Bai Yanliang and the others to come to save him and trap them all at once.

Song Que knew that if Bai Yanliang and the others weren’t fools, they would definitely not come over, he also didn’t expect Bai Yanliang and the others to come save him, as attempting that would likely result in the opposite effect; one by one, they’d die and the next round, they might all end up as ghosts.

He just needed time.

Although his phone had automatically shut off, and he couldn’t check the time, unlike Bai Yanliang, he still had a valuable watch.

The time now was almost the end of the second round of the game.

As long as he could delay until the game ended, he would be completely safe.

However, at this moment, an eerie bell sound rang.

"Ding-ling——"

"Ding-ling——"

"Ding-ling——"

Song Que felt his whole body’s muscles tremble uncontrollably, it was that ghost... the real fierce ghost had arrived!

Although he was prepared for attracting this rotten fierce ghost, and it was indeed part of his plan.

But what he couldn’t predict was the terrifying aura exuded by this ghost!

Its mere approach made Song Que feel a strong sense of suffocation.

It made Song Que involuntarily recall Yu Wenxuan’s words...

Fog Gathering is changing, it wants to... wipe them all out!

However, at that moment, the locker room door, which Song Que tightly resisted, suddenly exerted an overwhelming force!

"Bang——"

The wooden door broke with a sound!

"Pfft——"

Song Que was also sent flying to the wall due to this force, his internal organs suffered massive impact, causing a turmoil inside him, making him vomit out a mouthful of fresh blood in excruciating pain!

Song Que fearfully turned over and got up, his sight slowly moved from the bottom up...

Standing at the doorway, were a pair of rotten, bare feet.

The dimness before him looked like broad daylight to Song Que, so... he saw clearly what terrifying appearance this fierce ghost had.

It was over two meters tall, with no clothing on its body, human-like in form, but the skin and flesh were largely rotting...

Such a thing shouldn’t exist in the world!

Finally... under Song Que’s terrified gaze, it leaped straight into the locker room with both legs, standing right in front of Song Que!

"Ah... ah..." Song Que opened his mouth, his pupils kept contracting and expanding, emitting meaningless sounds from his throat, too scared to utter a word.

He wanted to resist, wanted to run, but his whole body was already too terrified to muster any strength...

The terrifying fierce ghost looked down at him, its eyes full of crimson.

It swiftly extended its hand, reaching directly for Song Que’s head!

Song Que instinctively closed his eyes, his heart already in complete despair, in the end, he couldn’t wait for the game to end.

He felt its nails had already scratched his scalp, about to penetrate his skull, and dig out his brain...

However, at this moment!

A strong sense of dizziness surged in, interrupting Song Que’s despair, and he was overjoyed!

The second round’s time was up!