Frightening Joke: Above the Mist
Chapter 289 Monster

Chapter 289: Chapter 289 Monster

Ye City.

"Your mother... left you two keys?"

Bai Yanliang carefully chose his words; he sensed that Xu Zhifei wasn’t too keen when it came to family matters, yet he needed to know these details.

"Ding—"

The elevator doors opened, and Xu Zhifei stepped out, not looking back. While opening the door, she simply said, "The other one is his."

Him.

A somewhat unfamiliar term, but it wasn’t hard to guess she meant her father.

Both parents were haunted by a curse, no wonder Xu Zhifei seemed different from ordinary people from birth.

"Creak—"

Xu Zhifei pushed open the door but stood still at the entrance.

Bai Yanliang glanced in and his expression immediately changed.

Someone had been inside.

The air humidity was off; Xu Zhifei’s automatic humidifier had been turned on after he left.

They exchanged glances, and Bai Yanliang was the first to step into the room.

He glanced quickly, then shook his head at Xu Zhifei, "They’re gone."

Only then did Xu Zhifei close the door.

"Nothing was rummaged through, no extra traces were left, it doesn’t seem like a break-in." As he spoke, Bai Yanliang’s expression slightly changed, "The key."

Xu Zhifei also thought of this. She walked straight to the balcony, and picked up a flower pot that had no plants, only soil left.

A dark key appeared.

Xu Zhifei sighed in relief, set the pot aside, and picked up the key.

Bai Yanliang’s face turned a bit strange.

She actually hid something so important at the bottom of a flower pot?

It seemed Xu Zhifei knew what Bai Yanliang was thinking. She said seriously, "My mother taught me."

Alright... it is indeed a key, no doubt about it.

"I have a question: leaving the key like this, won’t it be sensed by other key holders?"

Bai Yanliang inquired.

Xu Zhifei looked at the key in her palm, then tossed it to Bai Yanliang: "Now, only when drenched in palm blood and carried on oneself can it be sensed."

Bai Yanliang hurriedly caught the key Xu Zhifei had thrown over.

So, whether a key or its holder is alone, they can’t be sensed by others?

Only when the key is carried by its holder will others sense it.

But... if so.

Bai Yanliang’s heart sank, an eerie thought surfaced.

Before, he always wore Bai Yanren’s key, yet his key was sensed by Feng Xiuxue, and he believed Xu Zhifei could also sense it.

Not just them, members of the Dark Abyss could sense it too, and even attacked him multiple times.

But that key was clearly used by Bai Yanren, and Bai Yanliang was definitely not the holder of the key.

Why... could he and the key be sensed by other holders?

While using the Blood-red Key, the bizarre scene that flashed in his mind seemed to be a corroboration.

Was he and Bai Yanren truly the same person...

"Bai Yanliang." Xu Zhifei suddenly looked at him seriously.

"What?"

"Who... are you really?" Xu Zhifei’s voice seemed to strike his soul.

Who... am I.

Bai Yanliang silently gazed at the black key in his hand.

After a long while, he finally made up his mind, looked at Xu Zhifei, and said, "Before, you asked what my key’s ability is. Now I’ll tell you."

A faint confusion flickered in Bai Yanliang’s eyes, "The ability of the Blood-red Key is... to create another self."

Xu Zhifei was stunned. Although she understood every word Bai Yanliang said, when put together, she was somewhat bewildered.

"Create... another self?"

If it weren’t for Bai Yanliang’s steady gaze and clear mind, Xu Zhifei would definitely think he’d lost it.

"When I pushed open the crimson door, I sensed danger, so I pierced my palm, using the ability of the Blood-red Key."

Bai Yanliang’s voice was light, as if narrating something trivial, "At the moment of death... I saw myself being born... from my brother... Bai Yanren’s shadow."

"At that time... I was just a body. Then, he awakened me with three keys."

Xu Zhifei, who’d been watching Bai Yanliang, saw the man who was always calm and unfazed, now had pupils that were trembling violently.

He was afraid, terrified, but he lost these emotions, leaving him only with pain.

"Xu Zhifei... tell me... who am I?" Bai Yanliang looked at Xu Zhifei, "Bai Yanren? Bai Yanren’s shadow? Or... a monster."

Bai Yanliang leaned against the balcony, his hand holding the key trembled slightly.

"By also using the Blood-red Key, why couldn’t I create another life from the shadow? Because... I am the shadow, I am the created life... the soul of a five-year-old child, perhaps resulted from an unexpected event due to my uniqueness..."

"I don’t even know... what I am now..."

"I don’t know..."

Xu Zhifei looked at him blankly. In her memory, Bai Yanliang seemed to know everything. His breadth of knowledge was vast, he was always so confident, no matter the dilemma, he could find a solution.

But now, he was confused.

He too had riddles he couldn’t solve; he too had... situations he couldn’t overcome.

"Bai Yanliang."

"Hmm?"

Bai Yanliang turned his head to look at Xu Zhifei.

He intended to keep these matters to himself, never mentioning them to anyone, but he also knew he couldn’t hide from Xu Zhifei.

The existence of that five-year-old child claiming to be Bai Yanren had already puzzled her, not to mention... she took out her father’s relic, willing to help him.

Bai Yanliang never felt he owed Xu Zhifei anything, likewise, there weren’t too many entanglements between them.

Maybe, she would help him merely because of a dream.

Xu Zhifei was evidently conflicted too. She feared the predestined future, yet instinctively trusted him.

Perhaps out of gratitude for her trust, perhaps as repayment for her assistance, Bai Yanliang, without much internal strife, revealed the deepest secret of his heart to her.

Xu Zhifei’s gaze probably reflected a loneliness too long endured, even now remaining cold and somewhat unsettling.

She managed a not-so-cold expression, an awkward curve at the corner of her mouth, looking at Bai Yanliang, said, "I ask, why isn’t Bai Yanliang an option?"

Bai Yanliang stared at her, suddenly feeling maybe he was being too melodramatic.

"Alright then, Bai Yanren, Bai Yanren’s shadow, monster..." He lowered his head, looking at his palm, "And... Bai Yanliang."

"Tell me... what am I?"

"A monster."

"...Hmm... huh??"

Bai Yanliang widened his eyes and raised his head, only to see a light-hearted figure turning away.

"I said, you’re a monster!" Xu Zhifei tilted her head, and in the shadows, the expression on her face seemed much gentler, "But so am I..."

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