Frightening Joke: Above the Mist
Chapter 247: Searching for Ghosts

Chapter 247: Chapter 247: Searching for Ghosts

After Bai Yanliang came out of the well, he noticed that the atmosphere between Yu Wenxuan and Jiang Li was somewhat eerie.

"What happened?" Bai Yanliang looked at Jiang Li, who was sitting on the ground gently rubbing her ankle, and Yu Wenxuan, who stood leisurely to the side; the scene resembled a domestic violence scene.

"Didn’t you hear us talking while you were down the well?" Yu Wenxuan glanced at him.

"No." Bai Yanliang was sure he hadn’t heard any sounds while he was down the well.

"Alright, it’s nothing major," Yu Wenxuan looked Bai Yanliang up and down, "Did you discover anything?"

"Hmm." Bai Yanliang nodded, "Let’s talk as we walk."

"Are you okay?" Bai Yanliang extended a hand to Jiang Li while asking.

Jiang Li shook her head, her face still lingering with an expression of fear, clearly indicating that what had just happened wasn’t as trivial as Yu Wenxuan claimed.

Bai Yanliang saw she didn’t want to talk, so he didn’t press the issue.

"Let’s go."

The three of them walked side by side towards the center of the village.

"How many ghosts do you think are in this village?" Bai Yanliang asked suddenly, looking at the unoccupied houses as they walked.

A few...

His casual manner was as if he were asking how many bowls of rice you had last night.

He’s still so strange... Jiang Li thought to herself.

"To figure out that question, we first need to understand how many supernatural phenomena there are in this village and whether those phenomena are caused by the same ghost," Yu Wenxuan said, arms crossed.

"Hmm." Bai Yanliang also crossed his arms and nodded.

"The funeral clothes, the wellhead, and the supernatural event that Jiang Li just encountered were likely all caused by the same ghost."

Yu Wenxuan stated.

"But what about the plague that broke out in the village twelve years ago and the villagers who are human by day and ghosts by night?" Yu Wenxuan frowned, unable to unravel the mystery.

"It’s the same ghost." Bai Yanliang gave his answer.

"I saw the reoccurrence of death scenes, the source of the village’s plague, the appearance of the funeral clothes, and the transformation of the wellhead, all originating from a baby." Bai Yanliang looked at the ground, "The plague that erupted twelve years ago, the baby born just before, would be at least thirteen years old this year."

"Could it be Kangkang?!" Jiang Li suddenly thought of the little boy at the village chief’s house.

The whole village is full of elders, and his appearance somewhat fits.

But... not entirely, because Kangkang looks to be only eight or nine years old, so how does that work?

Jiang Li voiced her doubt, "But Kangkang looks only eight or nine, not like a twelve or thirteen-year-old kid..."

"He may not be human." Bai Yanliang said, also looking at Yu Wenxuan, "I saw the swaddling cloth from twelve years ago at the bottom of the well, and a human-shaped shell from which something emerged."

Something... emerged...

The notion sent a shiver down Jiang Li’s spine.

How could such strange things exist in this world?

But then again, if Fog Gathering and fierce ghosts exist, the existence of such "creatures" might not be implausible.

"Maybe we should find out when Kangkang appeared in the village."

"Exactly."

Bai Yanliang and Yu Wenxuan each said in turn.

"But..." Bai Yanliang hesitated for a moment and said: "There’s another very strange thing. In the scene I saw, this village was already odd before the plague broke out; every household had white mourning clothes hanging at their door."

"Oh?" Yu Wenxuan also showed a look of surprise.

"So, those red funeral clothes should have originally been white mourning clothes?"

"Hmm."

Bai Yanliang lowered his eyes in thought; this was the most puzzling thing for him, as the village seemed to harbor some strange customs itself.

"Mourning clothes... making the whole village wear mourning garments, who is the deceased that deserved such tribute..." Yu Wenxuan muttered.

"That’s the clue we should find."

Bai Yanliang said and glanced at Jiang Li, "I remember, you’ve been to a shrine."

"Hmm." Jiang Li replied, sneaking a glance at Yu Wenxuan. At the last moment, she was saved by Yu Wenxuan from a giant woman who had captured her by the hair.

Although according to Yu Wenxuan, the woman wasn’t a ghost but a sick person, Jiang Li didn’t believe him this time.

Such an illness might make villagers as bloodthirsty as Mrs. Wu at night, but it wouldn’t allow a person’s hair to suddenly lengthen and bind another’s feet, right?

Moreover... the aura of that tall woman was completely different.

If Mrs. Wu exuded a stench of decay, then that woman gave off the purest coldness.

It wasn’t Jiang Li’s first time feeling that chill; most fierce ghosts had that eerie aura that sent shivers down the spine.

Jiang Li could see through it, so there was no way Yu Wenxuan couldn’t see it, yet he deliberately trivialized his life-risking help as a simple gesture.

This left Jiang Li puzzled but also piqued her curiosity about him.

"Jiang Li? Jiang Li?"

"Ah..." Jiang Li snapped back to reality, realizing Bai Yanliang was waving his hand in front of her eyes, and Yu Wenxuan was looking at her expressionlessly.

"Sorry... I spaced out."

"It’s alright." Bai Yanliang didn’t mind her daydreaming and continued to ask, "Did you see anything in the shrine? Anything that felt strange."

Strange things...

When Bai Yanliang mentioned that, the first thing Jiang Li recalled was those paintings.

"Hmm... Yes!" Jiang Li nodded, "On the shrine’s wall hung three paintings of three men... but I found them eerie as if they were staring at me, so I didn’t dare to look closely..."

"Dear miss, that’s not a supernatural phenomenon, it’s a natural one." Yu Wenxuan’s glance made Jiang Li uncomfortable, "Our eyes, when viewing a flat surface, keep the perspective of the near and far points unchanged, no matter the angle. However, in the natural world, when the viewing angle changes, the visual information changes too. You subconsciously think the painting is a real object, creating a visual illusion making you feel like the eyes of the painting follow you everywhere."

Jiang Li’s curiosity and faint admiration were shattered by Yu Wenxuan’s mocking look.

He’s really a difficult bastard to get along with...

However, at this moment, Bai Yanliang made a gesture for silence.

"Wait, don’t go any further." Bai Yanliang looked around at the houses.

"It seems everyone in the village has disappeared."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.