Frightening Joke: Above the Mist
Chapter 301: Breaking the Illusion

Chapter 301: Chapter 301: Breaking the Illusion

"Xu Zhifei!"

Song Que shouted loudly, but the floor above had already disappeared...

Everything went dark in front of him, and he felt himself sliding rapidly down a smooth slope.

"Bang——"

Song Que hit the cold ground, somewhat dazed.

But in just a moment, he immediately flipped himself over and got up, looking up above.

There... a pit was closing.

"Xu Zhifei..." Song Que clenched his fist tightly, wishing he could slap himself. Why? Why didn’t he realize she couldn’t hold on any longer?

No matter how strange or out of place she was, she was still a girl, how could her stamina compare to his, having undergone systematic training...

Now she was fainted in that oven-like hall by herself, the chances of survival were slim to none!

Thinking about how Xu Zhifei, in her last conscious moment before fainting, was still telling him where the way out was, Song Que felt a strong sense of regret and guilt rise within him.

His body trembled uncontrollably, not from fear, but from self-blame.

Wait for me... wait for me... you must... not die!

Song Que trembled as he turned around, frantically searching for the exit.

He had to find a way back to the surface, go back... and save her.

...

The basement.

Liu Ruonan huddled in the corner of the wall, fearfully looking at the man in front of her.

"You... what do you want to do?"

"Did you hear that?" Bai Yanliang’s voice was like ice in the dead of winter, strangely cold, but his eyes were not on Liu Ruonan, they were always on the ceiling above.

"You... what did you say?"

Liu Ruonan could not conceal her inner fear, daring not to look at Bai Yanliang.

"I asked you, did you hear it... someone was calling ’Xu Zhifei’." Bai Yanliang lowered his head to look at her, the chilling intent in his eyes almost drove Liu Ruonan to collapse.

"Heard... I heard, I heard..." Liu Ruonan couldn’t stop her tears from flowing, trembling all over as she said: "I’m sorry... I’m sorry... I shouldn’t have dragged you down..."

For a long while, she heard no response.

When Liu Ruonan cautiously raised her head, she discovered that Bai Yanliang, who had just been beside her, had disappeared.

Liu Ruonan let out a sigh of relief, sitting weakly against the wall.

That man just now... that Bai Yanliang, was simply... too terrifying...

At this moment, Bai Yanliang took out his phone and attempted to call Xu Zhifei’s number.

The voice just now was Song Que’s; after being dragged into the pit by Liu Ruonan, only Xu Zhifei and Song Que remained above.

Although Song Que had character flaws, overall he wasn’t a bad person, his call was filled with remorse, it must be... something happened to Xu Zhifei.

Bai Yanliang didn’t want to come down because this was not a real way out!

"Pick up the phone... Xu Zhifei..." Bai Yanliang seemed to understand what tension and anxiety were like, he hated this emotion, even more so he hated seeing this emotion appearing in himself.

"Ring——"

"Ring——"

"Ring——"

The call connected, Bai Yanliang felt the sweat in his palm.

Good, if at least the call can connect... Xu Zhifei would have a chance to answer, she could understand his meaning, she would surely find... the real way out.

Bai Yanliang rarely had hope this strong, not even his hope of escaping the mental hospital was as strong as this moment.

Right now he desperately hoped that the button to answer the call would be pressed on the other side of the phone.

However... there was still no response.

Just as Bai Yanliang was about to hang up the call, his phone suddenly lit up, and a weak, hoarse voice came through: "Bai..."

Bai Yanliang’s eyes suddenly brightened, and he immediately said: "Xu Zhifei! The temperature you feel is an illusion! Convince your brain to deny everything you see in front of you!"

On the other end of the phone, upon hearing this, Xu Zhifei’s muddled mind suddenly cleared up.

She immediately realized something.

Yes, if these temperatures were real, then the wooden furniture, books in this room, at least, would start curling...

Moreover, the most important thing is.

Xu Zhifei blinked and looked in the direction Bai Yanliang was looking at before.

It was the very center of the hall, where a landscape painting hung. Its paper was very thin and also very large, with the top part already near the ceiling.

Logically... its top part, being so close to such roasting, should at least have become charred yellow if not self-igniting.

Yet the fact was... it was unchanged.

Therefore, the temperature of this room was fake.

Everything was as Bai Yanliang said, this was just a terrifying illusion!

Of course, a hallucination of this degree is enough to kill a person, even in the real world, some hypnosis with strong psychological suggestions can cause death!

This is the power of the mind.

As long as it believed everything it saw in front of it, they would "burn" themselves to death even if this hall was actually at normal temperature!

Understanding the crux of the matter, Xu Zhifei immediately began self-hypnotizing.

She originally had quite reliable psychological knowledge, so... convincing herself that the temperature in front of her was fake was not difficult for her.

Gradually... change occurred.

The temperature quickly receded, returning to normal in no time.

The distance to the ceiling also quietly reverted; as it turned out, it had always remained at a height of five meters, unchanged.

Except, that pile of smashed fixtures was indeed real.

It was true that Bai Yanliang and others had fallen underground.

Xu Zhifei was slightly panting, already drenched in sweat.

She glanced down at the phone in her hand which had already hung up, knowing... she had come perilously close to death just now.

But just as she was about to faint, the phone rang.

As she stared, the corners of Xu Zhifei’s mouth actually lifted slightly, unlike the usual stiff arc, her smile at this moment... was breathtakingly beautiful.

...

Phew...

Bai Yanliang breathed a sigh of relief.

Xu Zhifei had narrowly escaped danger.

Truth be told, it was now they who were in greater peril.

Smashing the fixture was simply not the correct way out, because it was based on a false condition, that is... acknowledging that the temperature was real.

From the start, it was wrong, so naturally, this path was wrong all the way down.

Now due to that illusion just now, he, Song Que, and Liu Ruonan had been brought to the basement.

This disrupted Bai Yanliang’s plan.

Originally, he had planned for the four of them to split up, two would follow Ouyang Kang, two would follow Zhan Yunhong.

Because, those two people had very big problems.

First was Ouyang Kang, when he saw that A4 paper, his reaction was completely wrong. Logically speaking, an A4 paper sitting on a table in a hall should not have surprised him so much, after all, it wasn’t a severed human head.

Next was Zhan Yunhong.

There were right and left exits to leave the hall, Bai Yanliang noticed that whether it was Ouyang Kang or Wang Rui, or Lin Dayou, they hesitated slightly when leaving the hall, choosing whether to go left or right, only Zhan Yunhong marched through the right door without hesitation, clearly, he knew something, he was sure of the path he chose, thus he walked with unusual confidence.

But... now this basement had completely disrupted Bai Yanliang’s plan.