Frightening Joke: Above the Mist
Chapter 265 Location

Chapter 265: Chapter 265 Location

When Bai Yanliang arrived, Xu Zhifei was standing by the river bank, letting the wind blow.

Still wearing the same black dress, still exuding that aura of ’No living person should approach.’

"...I have a question..." Bai Yanliang approached Xu Zhifei, hesitating whether to speak.

Xu Zhifei turned to look at him, her dark long hair making her face appear even paler.

Her eyes were as cold as ever, but the look in them clearly said, "Ask."

Bai Yanliang pointed at Xu Zhifei, "You... never change clothes?"

"Hiss—"

As soon as these words left his mouth, Bai Yanliang felt the temperature around him drop by several degrees, not just psychologically, but physically.

It really got colder around him!

"I have many." Xu Zhifei stared at Bai Yanliang, her tone icy but earnest, "The same ones."

Alright... so that’s how it is.

The answer was actually quite simple.

It’s just that Bai Yanliang didn’t expect Xu Zhifei to take it to this extreme...

Seems like she really favored this style.

Before Xu Zhifei could get upset, Bai Yanliang cleverly changed the topic.

"Thank you for investigating those things for me." Bai Yanliang pointed behind him, "I’ll treat you to lunch later."

Xu Zhifei stared at him, silent for a moment.

Bai Yanliang thought she wouldn’t agree, but then heard Xu Zhifei say softly, "The money is mine."

...

Bai Yanliang thought that such an emotion as embarrassment could never happen to him in a lifetime, but at this moment, he seemed to feel some...

A strong urge to flee the scene arose, but he forcefully suppressed it.

"Let’s talk about the case instead."

Bai Yanliang glanced at Xu Zhifei, she didn’t even bring a handbag, could it be she secretly photographed the files onto her phone? That would be illegal.

Although Bai Yanliang wouldn’t report her anyway.

However, Xu Zhifei didn’t even open her phone, just looked at him and said:

"Ten in total, one every three days on average."

"And then?" Bai Yanliang looked at Xu Zhifei.

"That’s it."

"That’s it?" Bai Yanliang’s eyes widened slightly, "The method of crime? The crime scene? The motive? The identity of the deceased? Don’t tell me, you only remembered the number of murders..."

After saying this, Bai Yanliang felt something was off, and upon carefully checking again, he realized she played him.

Though not obvious, Bai Yanliang caught the slight curve at the corner of Xu Zhifei’s mouth.

This was retaliation.

Retaliation for Bai Yanliang questioning her dress sense.

Uh...

Okay, I was wrong first.

"Alright, hand over the files."

"Don’t have them."

"Stop joking."

Bai Yanliang looked at Xu Zhifei.

"I really don’t have them."

Xu Zhifei looked at him unyieldingly.

"Really?"

"Yes."

So why did you call me over... to enjoy the breeze?

"Can’t take photos, can’t take them out." Xu Zhifei looked at Bai Yanliang, "So, I memorized them."

"..."

So she’s messing with me again, huh?

She seems to really enjoy seeing me annoyed.

Bai Yanliang thought suspiciously.

Next, Xu Zhifei didn’t "mess" with Bai Yanliang anymore, she recounted the details of the ten murder cases thoroughly.

The wind by the river was gentle and warm, even making Xu Zhifei’s voice seem warmer.

While listening, Bai Yanliang opened his phone, constantly cross-referencing something.

"The case on East Country Road can be ruled out, it’s a vendetta, the killer is an acquaintance of the deceased." Bai Yanliang suddenly said.

"The remaining nine cases all have inconsistencies, leaving very clear traces of the Dark Abyss." Bai Yanliang’s eyes left the phone, looking at Xu Zhifei.

"Do you remember the locations of these nine murders?"

"Yes."

Xu Zhifei stared at Bai Yanliang, listing the locations one by one: "Zhongliangkou, Five Taiwan, Fengming Road, Songling Slope, Beixi, Zhu Yun Road, Wentan, Yakou, Kuzhu Road."

With each location she mentioned, Bai Yanliang marked it on the map on his phone, then... selected the distance between Beixi and Wentan as the radius, with the crime scene as the center, drawing a circle.

Suddenly, nine blood-red circles appeared on the map.

Xu Zhifei stopped speaking, her gaze also turned to Bai Yanliang’s phone.

"Found him."

Bai Yanliang stared at the nine circles on the screen.

These nine circles were nested, overlapping each other, and there was one point that was contained in all nine circles—Ghost Head Mountain.

Ghost Head Mountain again.

Qi Nian had mentioned Ghost Head Mountain to him before.

Because she had a white hook jade, and Lu Guo had a black hook jade, both of them, in their respective cities, dreamed of the faraway Ghost Head Mountain in Ye City.

This was clearly strange.

The two had pinned their hopes on completely freeing themselves from the hooks of the ghosts onto Ghost Head Mountain.

But... Lu Guo died in the last Dark Abyss trap mission.

And Qi Nian, her hook jade was...

Bai Yanliang looked directly at Xu Zhifei.

Xu Zhifei seemed to be unaware of what embarrassment was, being stared at by Bai Yanliang like this, she did not avoid his gaze.

"You ate half a ghost."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Replenishment."

Xu Zhifei’s reason was the same as Bai Yanliang’s guess, she wasn’t lying to him.

"Do you know anything about Ghost Head Mountain?"

"I’m not from Ye City." Xu Zhifei said.

"You haven’t dreamed of Ghost Head Mountain?" Bai Yanliang looked into Xu Zhifei’s eyes, "You swallowed the white hook jade."

This time, Xu Zhifei did not answer immediately, she finally turned her head, looking at the river surface.

"I don’t dream."

Xu Zhifei said coldly.

"Once it appears, it’s prophecy."

Xu Zhifei turned to look at Bai Yanliang, "No exceptions."

Is that so...

So, it’s the ability of the key Xu Zhifei holds that suppresses the ghost in the hook jade.

Or perhaps... that ghost has already been digested by Xu Zhifei, no, it’s been digested by her key.

Thinking of this, Bai Yanliang squeezed the blood-red key in his own pocket.

Xu Zhifei had told him the method to use the key, which was to stain it with his own palm blood.

However... Bai Yanliang did not plan to easily take such a risk, not because he didn’t trust Xu Zhifei.

But rather... the cost of using it once seemed to be a massive amount of life.

This kind of thing is not something you can casually try.

However, besides a special ability in the real world, each key has the ability to open and construct a terrifying world. How is that ability used?

According to Feng Xiuxue, opening the world inside the key would only result in one of two outcomes. One is the death of the person trapped in the world.

The other is... the key holder being devoured by a fierce ghost.

Bai Yanliang suddenly thought, whether the latest action by the Dark Abyss had a price or not?

Fifteen people, he caused the deaths of six. Was his ghost... satisfied?

Gazing at Ghost Head Mountain nested by layers of red circles on the phone, Bai Yanliang made a decision in his heart.

It’s been so long, it’s time to give them a gift.