Frightening Joke: Above the Mist
Chapter 73 Searching for Clues

Chapter 73: Chapter 73 Searching for Clues

Li Mu shared some of his views, and then everyone went to rest.

This night, because Huang Yourong and Yu Hanzhou both had incidents, the vigil time was changed to one and a half hours per person.

Su Qian started, and Li Mu ended.

The wind was a bit strong tonight.

The mountain wind outside the house wandered through the village, as if searching for a way in.

The sound of it sweeping over the eaves and treetops sounded like crying or wailing, sending chills down one’s spine.

Su Qian sat quietly hugging her knees, listening to the wind outside, staring blankly at everyone, finally resting her gaze on Bai Yanliang.

Because everyone was very tired today, they quickly entered a light sleep. Although during deep sleep, the brain’s cortical cells are in a state of full rest, which helps stabilize emotions, balance mentality, and restore energy, but... in a place like this, no one can sleep peacefully.

Su Qian’s gaze was distant, Yu Hanzhou was dead...

Just died like that.

Even now, she felt a sense of unreality. A person alive just a few hours ago was gone like that?

Perhaps... Li Mu was mistaken?

Su Qian thought absentmindedly, and at this moment, the person she was unintentionally watching suddenly opened their eyes.

"Is something wrong?"

Bai Yanliang opened his eyes, looking at the woman staring at him.

"Ah... nothing." Su Qian was startled by him but then came to her senses.

"Today... thank you for saving me."

Bai Yanliang shook his head, glanced at everyone resting quietly, and said softly, "No need, whoever it was, if they could help, they would help."

Su Qian was taken aback by his words because... Yu Hanzhou had also said something similar...

"You’re a good person..." Su Qian lowered her head and whispered.

Bai Yanliang smiled, looked up at the ceiling, and mumbled, "Am I..."

He seemed confused.

Neither Yu Hanzhou’s nor Huang Yourong’s deaths stirred any unusual emotions in him.

In fact, not just them, even Bai Yanren, his only brother...

Whenever he thought about his brother’s death, although Bai Yanliang would feel some emotions, after repeatedly confirming it, those emotions were not entirely sadness or anger. Compared to those two, what he felt more was... curiosity.

How could I be so cold-blooded?

Bai Yanliang sometimes asked himself.

No one could tell him why, maybe one day, Bai Yanliang could find the answer himself, but by then... what would he become?

...

The night passed peacefully without incident.

At dawn, the village became a bustle.

The disappearance of the village chief was a big deal, a huge matter.

The villagers organized themselves and planned to search everywhere.

For now, the one in charge was the village chief’s granddaughter, Lu Bingyan.

Li Mu and his group stood beside her, quietly observing the unusually strange-looking villagers.

"Where are Second Luo and Wang Gui?"

"Yeah... why haven’t they come?"

Soon, the crowd grew noisy again.

Another two villagers were missing.

Everyone’s expressions began to look a bit odd... A moment later, they started shouting:

"We must find the village chief! Today is the ritual, and there’s no way we can do it without him!"

"Yes!"

The Old Village Chief had high prestige and was very knowledgeable; it seemed no one wanted anything to happen to him.

But... perhaps this didn’t include two people.

Li Mu glanced at Xiao Bin and Lu Bingyan.

Xiao Bin’s face showed pleasure, with no intention of looking for the village chief.

And Lu Bingyan... her expression was so calm, calm as if the missing person wasn’t her grandfather at all.

The crowd quickly dispersed, and Li Mu turned to everyone and said, "Be careful of everything."

Everyone nodded. This was the third day, the last day of the survival task. Two comrades had already died...

Nobody knew what would happen in the end.

After sharing their information from last night, everyone had new thoughts. If they could find that rule, the rule even the fierce ghost must obey, that would be great...

Bai Yanliang was the first to leave.

He had an idea he had to confirm. After hearing the information everyone got last night, he increasingly felt something was strange.

Strange enough that he had to take a risk to confirm it.

If it was really as he thought, perhaps all their assumptions were wrong...

After Bai Yanliang left, the remaining four soon separated too.

Li Mu turned and entered the village chief’s house, and Yu Sheng wheeled himself to Lu Bingyan’s room next door.

Su Qian pulled herself together and looked towards the house in the distance, determined to find out if that woman was truly mad or pretending.

Only Lin Yan seemed somewhat aimless.

As she mentioned before to Bai Yanliang and the others, she never quite agreed with Li Mu and the others’ approach.

In her view, the survival task shouldn’t involve too much exploration. Just understanding the deadliest taboos, then avoiding them with all your might to survive should be enough.

She really did just that, and her personality didn’t have too much curiosity, which is why... she always played the role of someone in ignorance.

Ignorance doesn’t mean stupidity.

Especially in Fog Gathering.

The more you know, the more you grasp, the smarter you are, the longer you don’t necessarily live.

Their intense curiosity led them to go to extremely dangerous places, or they would be deemed passive by certain rules.

People like Lin Yan, however, didn’t have this worry.

What she needed was to do only the basic investigation, enough, without any extra curiosity.

Lin Yan stood in place, thought for a moment, then decided she should still do something. So she caught up with Lu Bingyan and the villagers, planning to act with the main group.

This seemed like a very safe choice.

Lin Yan nodded to herself secretly. Meanwhile, she was worried about Li Mu and the other four for not heeding her advice. After all, it was the last day of the survival task.

The danger of investigating alone was unimaginably high; hopefully, they... could succeed.

...

Li Mu entered the village chief’s house.

This elder’s only kin was his granddaughter, Lu Bingyan.

The house wasn’t small. Although they stayed here for two nights, they were always on the first floor, and this house was the village’s only two-story building, the second floor where the village chief’s room was, had never been looked at.

This time, his goal was there.

Li Mu firmly believed the village chief was definitely the one with the most problems and the most secrets. Now that he was missing, it was a disadvantage, but also an advantage.

At least... now he could freely search for the secrets the Old Village Chief hid.

Li Mu looked up towards the second floor.

Connecting the first and second floors was a rather old wooden staircase.

Li Mu took a deep breath and ascended the stairs.

It seemed truly worn out, each step creaking under his weight, the handrails covered in dust.

Luckily, nothing abnormal happened.

Li Mu quickly reached the second floor, standing before a wooden door.