Frightening Joke: Above the Mist
Chapter 285: The Lawyer

Chapter 285: Chapter 285: The Lawyer

It’s like ice and snow suddenly exposed to the scorching sun, the whole world quickly melts away.

To a fierce ghost, splashing water is the most deadly poison. When Xu Zhifei splashed water on the female ghost, it didn’t even struggle or scream, silently turning into a pool of complex-colored water, flowing on the ground.

Bai Yanliang fell down with a thud, and before Xu Zhifei could glance at him, she felt a whirl in her head.

...

"Whew—"

The cool river wind blew through her long hair.

Bai Yanliang and Xu Zhifei still stood at the river bank, without moving an inch.

"Cough cough..."

Bai Yanliang rubbed his neck, gasping heavily.

As always, Xu Zhifei was mysteriously elegant, her water stains vanished into thin air, and the injury on her ankle had healed.

"Without death, there will be healing," Xu Zhifei said.

Bai Yanliang looked up at her, "Psychological effect, coughing a few times makes it feel better."

Xu Zhifei stared at him without blinking, "Three minutes?"

Bai Yanliang evasively avoided her gaze, "I just... wanted to escape."

He spoke the truth; for one, he didn’t like lying, and second, Xu Zhifei seemed like someone who wouldn’t be easily fooled.

"But that five-year-old kid really exists; my time with him... half and half."

Xu Zhifei listened quietly, puzzled, "What ability does your key have?"

Bai Yanliang was silent for a moment, turning his head to stare blankly at the river surface.

By now, he already understood the ability of the silver-white key left by Bai Yanren.

The key could only be used once, and... Bai Yanren had already used it.

The coolness of the river wind slightly eased Bai Yanliang’s complex feelings. He turned to Xu Zhifei and asked irrelevantly, "Why did you save me?"

"Destiny."

For the first time, Xu Zhifei’s voice carried confusion.

"Destiny?"

Bai Yanliang felt curious about the two words coming from her mouth.

"Do you know?" Xu Zhifei’s eyes lost some of their coldness, "When you appeared in my dream, I was very scared."

She looked at Bai Yanliang without hiding.

"Yes, I know, you said I looked like a fierce ghost, killing everyone."

Bai Yanliang recalled his first meeting with Xu Zhifei.

"I’m not afraid of that," Xu Zhifei shook her head, looking seriously at Bai Yanliang, "To me, you’re just a stranger, but in my future... there is you."

Xu Zhifei quietly looked at the river surface, "I’m afraid of a destiny that’s been arranged."

Destiny...

Bai Yanliang glanced at her profile, still unable to discern her emotions.

An arranged destiny... Not just her; he was almost the same.

However, Xu Zhifei’s dream might have been arranged by some elusive will, but he... was set up by another person.

Bai Yanliang had even thought, is everything he’s currently experiencing following the path designed by Bai Yanren?

Even... discovering "his" existence at this moment.

For a time, the two were silent, until they remembered the one who laid the arrangement but had the layout broken by them.

They searched around but didn’t find any bodies this time.

Until... a business card was found.

Bai Yanliang picked it up and read softly:

"Yinshui Law Firm—He Yige."

Lawyer He... Why is your business card here?

Xu Zhifei glanced at it too, seemingly recalling the person He Yige, as He Yige often appeared at the Ye City Police Station.

"He is the attacker," Xu Zhifei said with certainty, "but he didn’t die."

Bai Yanliang didn’t nod or deny.

He’d always had a good impression of He Yige; this Lawyer He was very adept, making interactions with him quite comfortable.

Yet many times, Bai Yanliang intentionally avoided thinking about certain details.

For example... why He Yige inexplicably appeared at the scene of the previous few cases.

Once might be a coincidence, but twice or thrice... it became intriguing.

Bai Yanliang didn’t want to suspect him, but he was indeed suspicious.

Firstly, he’s undoubtedly a member of some space similar to Fog Gathering.

The time when Ren Wudao disappeared, it was He Yige who led him to Mercury Night.

However... the owner of Mercury Night was also a key holder.

Furthermore, in the Dark Abyss, there’s someone codenamed Lawyer, who’s always concerned Bai Yanliang.

However, if He Yige were the Lawyer, that would be too rash.

But currently, it seems that it’s indeed He Yige’s tactics, combining reality and illusion, incapable of fooling fools, yet effectively working in front of someone like Bai Yanliang.

"You know the Dark Abyss, right?" Bai Yanliang put away the card and looked at Xu Zhifei.

Xu Zhifei nodded, "I’ve encountered their cases, a crime group with a strong sense of ritual."

"Not just a sense of ritual," Bai Yanliang said, "They have mastered a method to relieve the negative effects of using keys through killing."

"For example... he failed this time, but didn’t die from the fierce ghost’s backlash."

Xu Zhifei didn’t show any surprise, but what Bai Yanliang said next made her face cold.

"The last mission wasn’t released by Fog Gathering, but they used a member of Fog Gathering to create a virtual and real world, aiming to accelerate the end of Fog Gathering for a new key." Bai Yanliang revealed this fact.

"They have people inside Fog Gathering?" Xu Zhifei looked at Bai Yanliang.

"Yu Sheng, Ren Wudao."

Bai Yanliang mentioned two names.

"Gu Pingsheng and Feng Xiuxue also have doubts." Bai Yanliang added two more.

Xu Zhifei looked at Bai Yanliang unexpectedly, only to see his face suddenly change, looking at her seriously and saying, "I won’t want to die anymore."

Xu Zhifei didn’t quite understand why he suddenly said this, but saw a faint yet genuine wry smile on his face, followed by Bai Yanliang’s eyes lighting up as he grabbed Xu Zhifei’s sleeve.

"Sister!"

Xu Zhifei was stunned and finally realized what Bai Yanliang just meant.

Turns out this five-year-old kid came out...

For Xu Zhifei, she was more adept at communicating with someone like Bai Yanliang, who spoke cryptically, than chatting with a child who always looked at you with big curious eyes.

"Are you hungry?"

After a moment of silence, Xu Zhifei realized she couldn’t take any other action now; everything would have to wait until Bai Yanliang "returned," so she asked this question.

Bai Yanliang’s bright eyes lit up even more, and he jumped up happily, clapping his hands, "Yanren wants cotton candy!"

Xu Zhifei quickly pulled him along, leaving hurriedly under the incredible gazes of pedestrians around.

But neither she nor Bai Yanliang noticed a man holding a small black cat watching them from a bench by the river. The small black cat struggled incessantly, as if wanting to pounce over.

"Did you find him..."

The man murmured, pressing down on the small black cat with a hint of a smile on his lips, then stood up and left.