Frightening Joke: Above the Mist
Chapter 282: Bewitching

Chapter 282: Chapter 282: Bewitching

"Miss Xu Zhifei?"

The silhouette in the moon gate suddenly emitted a somewhat hesitant voice.

Ruan Jie?!

Isn’t she dead?

"Is it you, Miss Xu?" Ruan Jie’s voice trembled slightly; the surrounding environment was too dark for her to easily confirm the outline in front of her was indeed Xu Zhifei.

"It’s me."

After a few seconds of silence, Xu Zhifei answered her.

"Whew, thank goodness, I finally found you guys..." Ruan Jie clearly breathed a sigh of relief, her tone rising slightly. "Miss Xu, come quickly! It seems we can clear the level by crossing this courtyard! I can see something like an emergency exit; we should be able to leave this ghost house from there!"

This news stirred something within Xu Zhifei, but then she felt a vague sense of unease. She wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

Was this Ruan Jie really alive?

She needed to find a way to verify this.

But this was also a very risky endeavor. Whether in novels or films, many fierce ghosts don’t act until their identities are exposed by humans. The moment they reveal their true nature is often when humans discover a flaw, which has a sense of being angered by being unmasked.

Xu Zhifei didn’t follow Ruan Jie’s suggestion to immediately cross the courtyard and go to the moon gate on the other side. Instead, she stood still, kept her distance, and said, "Yang Xiaocan said you were dead."

Ruan Jie was silent for a moment, as if recalling something unpleasant. Then her voice lost its cheerfulness and was mixed with some resentment, "She used me repeatedly, betrayed me. She’s not wrong; I died. That naive fool is already dead."

Xu Zhifei did not respond. She was a profiler but didn’t enjoy speculating on people’s psychology.

Ruan Jie’s words sounded like the resoluteness after despondency, but in fact, expressing such words was still an immature act.

Ultimately, there are significant differences between people. Whether in appearance or intelligence, Ruan Jie was evidently inferior to Yang Xiaocan.

She thought that making changes would yield results, but it wasn’t so.

Gold will always shine, yet she was evidently just a stone, unable to shine anywhere.

Xu Zhifei didn’t want to listen to her nonsense, and luckily, Ruan Jie didn’t dwell on her own sadness or disappointment but simply said, "When I passed by the coffins, Ou Zheng’s head suddenly appeared on the ground, then it flew up and bit toward me. But... it was just an illusion; it didn’t actually bite me. I successfully made it through the courtyard to the moon gate."

"Miss Xu, this courtyard is simply a test of courage. As long as you aren’t scared to a halt by these coffins, you can successfully pass through. Everything that happens midway is an illusion. Just close your eyes and run across."

Ruan Jie sincerely gave her suggestion.

Xu Zhifei listened quietly, analyzing her words in her mind.

Ruan Jie’s statements matched what Yang Xiaocan mentioned before; for now, she hadn’t lied.

But not lying did not confirm she wasn’t a ghost.

Ghosts are typically omniscient.

And they are adept at deception.

Ultimately, there was only one way to determine if Ruan Jie was a ghost: ask a question only she knew, but which Ruan Jie should not know.

Just as Xu Zhifei was contemplating this, Ruan Jie suddenly said urgently, "Miss Xu! The wall behind you is moving!"

What?

Xu Zhifei turned around abruptly; the wall, which had been two to three meters away, was now about to press against her back!

If she didn’t hurry across, she would inevitably be pushed near the coffins by the wall.

But... was it really like Ruan Jie said, that what happens near the coffins is merely an illusion?

She didn’t believe the one who arranged this would be so kind as to merely test their courage; they would certainly try every means to kill them, without any mercy in such a place.

Therefore... there must be some lethal trap hidden here.

However, the fact that the wall was continuously moving gave Xu Zhifei immense pressure.

Her effective thinking time was greatly reduced; at the moment, it seemed, there was only one option: to heed Ruan Jie’s advice, and dash heedlessly past the five coffins toward the moon gate.

Wait...

One option?

Xu Zhifei suddenly realized something. She looked toward the five coffins in the courtyard, her mind racing.

Something seemed off... Whether it was Ruan Jie appearing at the moon gate or the wall continually moving behind her, both seemed to share the same purpose, which was... to lead her to the moon gate.

At some unknown time, a bizarre message had formed in her mind: "The moon gate equals the way out."

Afterward, her thought process had been driven by how to safely pass through the courtyard, with avoiding the five eerie coffins as the focal point.

But perhaps it was a case of being too clever for her own good; had the wall remained stationary, it might have been alright, but its movement confirmed her suspicion.

The real path to survival wasn’t at the moon gate, but within the coffins!

The apparent path to life was actually a dead end, while these five terrifying coffins were the begrudging loophole left by the arranger within the rules—a narrow chance for survival!

Originally, coffins were dreaded objects, easily associated with the supernatural and ghosts. Coupled with the strange phenomena occurring around them, they naturally bore a huge "danger" label.

Anyone would instinctively avoid them; how could they think that they were the path to survival?

Xu Zhifei’s mind whirled rapidly, and after confirming that the coffins were the way out while the moon gate was the dead end, an event from earlier replayed in her mind.

She remembered... when Ruan Jie first called her, she used her name.

She called her "Miss Xu Zhifei."

It was a ghost!

A fierce ghost!

But it couldn’t enter the courtyard, it could only lure from the moon gate. If she truly listened to it, ran past the coffins toward the moon gate, she’d be torn apart instantly!

Xu Zhifei suddenly recalled that Bai Yanliang hadn’t told Ruan Jie and the others their real names; he used the name Bai Yanren, and for herself, Bai Yanliang only told everyone to call her Xiao Xu, without revealing her real name.

Therefore... Ruan Jie couldn’t possibly know her name was Xu Zhifei.

So, the one who immediately called her Xu Zhifei must be a ghost!

Upon realizing this, Xu Zhifei immediately dashed toward the coffins.

In the darkness, Ruan Jie’s face was expressionless as she watched Xu Zhifei approach, revealing a strange smile.

Yet, Xu Zhifei suddenly halted and pushed open the lid of a coffin, crawling inside without hesitation.

Ruan Jie’s face abruptly twisted into a horrifying and unpleasant expression. She stared intensely at the coffin, as the wall continued to draw near.

In the end, she burst into flames at her feet, turning to ash, her figure vanishing.

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