Frightening Joke: Above the Mist
Chapter 34 As You Wish

Chapter 34: Chapter 34 As You Wish

Bai Yanliang’s voice wasn’t agitated, yet it pierced into Ding Peng’s heart like a knife.

He wore Ding Lei’s face, donned Ding Lei’s clothes, assumed Ding Lei’s identity, enjoyed Ding Lei’s wealth, but... he wasn’t Ding Lei.

He was just a rascal often caught in the police station.

Bai Yanliang released his grip on his hair and looked away.

The safe was still open.

He stepped closer and, upon reaching the safe, discovered an ancient Jade Ruyi inside.

This Jade Ruyi was shaped like a long-handled hook, its head flat as a leaf, the entire body smooth, purely white and pristine, the fine white seemed to flow with clear water, both glossy and translucent.

But... upon closer inspection, Bai Yanliang noticed a faint red thread running through the ancient white Jade Ruyi.

"You did all this for it?"

Bai Yanliang turned and looked at Ding Peng.

This man hadn’t spoken since earlier, his head bowed, lost in thought.

Only after Bai Yanliang spoke did he lift his head slightly, looking at Bai Yanliang, and in a dry and hoarse voice said, "Do you know... why this place is called Ruyi Hotel?"

Bai Yanliang just quietly looked at him.

Ding Peng mustered a sarcastic smile: "This is the most valuable thing in this hotel, a family heirloom of Li Yuhua’s family."

Seeing Bai Yanliang remain silent, whose eyes didn’t even glance at the Jade Ruyi, Ding Peng genuinely looked at Bai Yanliang:

"You and I are different."

"A Qiao, I harmed her..." A trace of anguish appeared on Ding Peng’s face, and Bai Yanliang could tell this pain was different from the stab wound in his palm earlier.

"I stole the Li family’s treasure and released a monster..." Ding Peng’s left hand tightly covered his face, his voice trembling.

Bai Yanliang finally spoke, looking at the Jade Ruyi, asking: "Was it Zhang Qiao that it killed?"

Ding Peng nodded, regret mixed with fear in his expression.

"After getting it, I gave it to A Qiao to keep, but... from then, A Qiao started having endless nightmares each day."

Listening to Ding Peng’s account, Bai Yanliang heard a terrifying story and finally understood why Zhang Qiao had died under the bed of room 405.

"At first, it only vaguely appeared in A Qiao’s dreams, but then... its image became clearer and it got closer and closer to A Qiao..."

"A Qiao was very scared, but at that time... I thought it was just A Qiao’s inner unease acting up, and I didn’t pay attention until... it crawled out of A Qiao’s dreams and appeared in front of us."

Ding Peng was trembling all over, just thinking about the monster sent chills down his spine, an unbearable fear.

"As soon as it appeared, it walked towards A Qiao. A Qiao, terrified, ran out of the room. I... I too was overwhelmed with fear, grabbed the Jade Ruyi, and ran... By the time I mustered the courage to go back, A Qiao was already dead... Dead under the bed of room 405."

Bai Yanliang looked at the seemingly pained Ding Peng, and for the first time, there was a clear hint of mockery in his eyes.

The pain and regret this person felt at this moment were less about mourning Zhang Qiao and more about selfish self-pity.

His selfishness and vileness were ingrained into his bones; just from his description, it was apparent that in the face of life and death, what he thought of was running away with the treasure?

Bai Yanliang couldn’t be bothered to look at him any longer.

He turned, picked up the Jade Ruyi, and felt an involuntary shiver pass through him.

This Jade Ruyi had none of the warmth typical of jade, instead, it was freezing cold like... something freshly unearthed from an ancient tomb...

"You... where are you going?"

Hearing Bai Yanliang’s movement, Ding Peng hurriedly lifted his head and asked.

Although he was questioning Bai Yanliang, his eyes instinctively followed the Jade Ruyi in Bai Yanliang’s hand.

Bai Yanliang paused, glanced back at him, and without another word, he simply closed the door to the office.

He had no interest in saving or preaching to such a beast.

What he had to do now, of course, was the final task.

To put back what had been released.

...

The sky had darkened.

Li Yuejun was on her way with the police; the woman had ultimately ignored Bai Yanliang’s words.

Jiang Li and Xu Zhi’an were hiding on the rooftop, beside three water tanks, two of which contained the decaying bodies of two dead people.

Xu Zhi’an wasn’t worried about his severed hand; as long as he could return to Fog Gathering, he could come back to life even with his last breath.

What concerned him was success or failure this time.

As for Jiang Li, she leaned against the wall, silent, looking up at the familiar yet strange night sky, lost in thought.

The night deepened, the eerie atmosphere swirling above Ruyi Hotel like a corpse exuding a foul stench of blood.

"Ding..."

The elevator stopped on the fourth floor.

A man stepped out.

Bai Yanliang looked at this place that had changed beyond recognition, without much emotion.

Although he had anticipated the danger lurking on the fourth floor, he hadn’t expected it to have become like this.

The spread of water stains under the dim light looked like coagulated blood.

The corridor, meant to be snow-white, was covered in filthy, dirty smudges.

At first glance, this place seemed abandoned and decayed for years.

Bai Yanliang stepped on the wet ground, feeling the stickiness of the water stains.

Looking down, they transformed into flesh-and-blood faces.

The surroundings were filled with a disturbing, terrifying atmosphere; the walls and floor seemed to be rotting, like living skin, emitting a nauseating odor.

Room 406 was ahead, its door already open.

Ignoring the bizarre scene before him, Bai Yanliang, holding the Jade Ruyi, walked straight in.

Suddenly, a drop of water fell silently onto Bai Yanliang’s head!

Bai Yanliang looked up, a slight ripple in his calm heart.

Because... a pale, bloated woman without pupils was crouching on the ceiling, thoroughly soaked, staring at him with malice!

Simultaneously, ahead, at the staircase’s dark opening, a figure gradually appeared.

With the appearance of the figure, Bai Yanliang showed immense joy in his eyes for the first time!

It was a man who looked seven parts like him, dressed in a suit, exuding maturity, smiling at him...

Brother...

The joy in Bai Yanliang’s eyes flickered and quickly returned to calm, ignoring both the ghostly woman above and the man in front.

He continued walking toward room 406.

The malicious eyes on the ceiling moved with him, and the smile on Bai Yanren’s face became more eerie.

But... Bai Yanliang felt utterly assured.

These two ghosts couldn’t harm anyone.

Because the true killer... was it!

Bai Yanliang stopped at the doorway of room 406, raising his gaze to the room’s interior.

There... a twisted humanoid shadow was spreading in the darkness.

It moved bizarrely, like a boneless snake, approaching Bai Yanliang.

Its long, twisted limbs reached from Bai Yanliang’s front toward his back, a dreadful chill rose behind him, and Bai Yanliang could distinctly feel its presence... it was death.

But... the more it was like this, the more sure he felt.

"I don’t know what you are, but here... is not your world."

Bai Yanliang lifted the Jade Ruyi, throwing it forcefully into the depths of room 406!

There... a massive mass of twisted darkness roiled.

The unremarkable Jade Ruyi, upon contact with the darkness, triggered a sudden change!

This twisted monster seemed to be swiftly pulled back, not just it, but the ghostly woman on the ceiling and Bai Yanren in the hallway were all sucked in!

Yet, Bai Yanliang didn’t feel any pull!

He watched calmly as the Jade Ruyi lay on the ground, emitting a faint white light, frantically absorbing the surrounding abnormalities. Within a few breaths, all the strange phenomena vanished!

Bai Yanliang finally exhaled, leaning against the doorframe, he removed two earplugs from his ears.

He succeeded!

He gambled! This time, he was right!

Ding Lei, Li Yuhua, Zhang Qiao becoming ghosts was no coincidence.

They were influenced by the entity in the Jade Ruyi, but they couldn’t kill.

The real killer was that twisted black monster!

And it needed an intermediary to kill... sound.

Specifically, the sound of water.

Just as Bai Yanliang breathed a sigh of relief, a red mist suddenly rose from above him, and simultaneously, the surroundings rapidly lost color!

Bai Yanliang watched the bizarre sight, about to reach out to touch the already black and white door beside him.

The world shattered like a mirror!

Shadows gradually appeared before him.

He... returned!

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