Frightening Joke: Above the Mist-Chapter 392 Bai Yanren

Endless cold and the persistent sensation of falling.

Bai Yanliang’s perception ability had become completely chaotic as Xu Zhifei pulled him into the ocean, into the reflection of the full moon on the sea.

A key?

A door?

Nothing could be seen, the ocean was entirely dark.

Even the hand of Xu Zhifei, which he was clutching tightly, at this moment seemed to turn into stone, devoid of any feeling of flesh and blood.

Bai Yanliang only felt that he was falling... endlessly falling.

And at this moment, Xu Zhifei’s face was covered with dense wrinkles; she was rapidly aging.

This woman who could devour ’ghosts’, though not entirely human, was also not a ghost.

In the dark and shadowy ocean, Xu Zhifei gazed at Bai Yanliang.

She knew that Bai Yanliang couldn’t see her appearance, so she no longer concealed her true gaze.

At this moment, the way Xu Zhifei looked at Bai Yanliang was particularly complex, even... for an instant, there was a hint of murderous intent, but soon, this murderous intent vanished into thin air.

She knew Bai Yanliang hadn’t done anything wrong, it’s just...

Still, let’s give him the right to choose for himself...

From within Xu Zhifei’s body, strands of inexplicable strange power transmitted through her palm into Bai Yanliang’s body.

And in that instant, the continuously falling Bai Yanliang suddenly discovered he could see clearly in the pitch-black water.

Below him, the ocean floor, like an abyss, reflected his and Xu Zhifei’s ever-sinking figures.

It was as if an enormous mirror lay at the bottom of the sea.

In his descending posture, uncontrollably, he drew closer and closer to the "mirror" version of himself at the ocean’s base.

The same posture, the same position, like a person reaching out to touch the reflection in a mirror.

Only this touch turned into a descent.

At the instant his feet touched the "mirror" self at the ocean’s bottom...

The lines of time folded at the point of contact between him and "himself," merging past and future in this pitch-black dreadful deep sea, in this incredible space-time convergence...

The sensation of falling disappeared.

Or rather, the entire world fell into a silent hush.

But this state only lasted a moment; Bai Yanliang seemed to turn into a "third-person perspective."

He watched as he and Xu Zhifei floated upward from the sea, no...

This wasn’t floating upward!

This was time reversing!

The bubbles, which surged due to their descent, were also reversing from above downward!

Soon, Bai Yanliang watched himself return to the ship’s bow, as if a movie had hit the rewind button.

The massive ship, which was shrinking and gradually disappearing, grew larger, and everyone’s positions returned to the beginning...

The bright moon in the night sky also slowly shifted from bright to dim.

Bai Yanliang, from a "third-person" perspective, earnestly experienced what it meant by the fleeting passage of time.

Time, in front of his eyes, seemed like a band being kneaded at will, and the shadow of ages cast upon Bai Yanliang, changing light and dark, shifting unpredictably.

Reversal... reversal...

The hand he promised Xu Zhifei never to let go of had long been released.

Reversal... reversal...

Bai Yanliang no longer knew where he was; he could only watch himself moving swiftly, traversing the reversed flow of time...

Spring flowers, autumn moons, withering of vegetation, time had no distinct form, yet through the changes in surrounding things, it made its existence feel distinctly palpable.

Bai Yanliang felt like an outsider, watching time manipulate the entire world, but fortunately, his own body did not regress to childhood with time.

It was as if... the reversal of time-space affected the entire world, but the one constant... was himself.

This silent theatrical world stirred in Bai Yanliang a desolation and void he had never felt from any ghost, something beyond words.

If he were emotionally normal, he would understand that this desolation and void were more suffocatingly terrifying than the existence of fierce ghosts.

Just then, the reversing of time began to slow, and sound... gradually returned to Bai Yanliang’s ears.

"Beep beep—"

It was the sound of a car.

His body was no longer at sea, nor was it on a ship anymore. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Feeling the cool breeze brush his cheek, Bai Yanliang was in a daze for a long time.

This real and finely detailed sensation, could it be that... he truly returned to ten years ago?

"Hoo..."

He slowly exhaled a breath.

Suddenly, sounds from all directions rushed in at that moment, all pouring into his ears.

Car horns, people talking, hurried steps, street vendor shouts, TV commercials, store promotions... the surrounding bustling noise pulled Bai Yanliang completely back to his senses.

He blinked his eyes forcefully; at this moment, he was standing amidst a crowded throng.

Men, women, the elderly, and children brushed past him, and Bai Yanliang felt like a stone suddenly dropped into a stream, out of place with everything around.

The dim glow of the setting sun slanted down through the gaps of the city’s tall buildings, where students carrying schoolbags gathered in groups chatting.

Amidst the steaming stalls, with smoke swirling around, a half-squinting vendor fried skewers and collected money simultaneously...

Bai Yanliang glanced at the clock on the wall of a street shop; the time was now... five thirty-six.

And judging by the attire of the pedestrians and students, these clothes... these conversations, even the phones they held...

The still-existing newsstands and newspapers... even that phone booth hadn’t been dismantled.

Bai Yanliang’s heart pounded more violently.

This street...

This street is...

He wanted to take a step, but suddenly found that his legs were somewhat weak.

He hadn’t... returned here in a long time.

Since the beginning, since being discharged from the psychiatric hospital, he had not returned here.

Ye City, Jiangbei District, Haitang Street.

This place was Yanren’s workplace, and also... their home.

Bai Yanliang trembled all over; these "outdated" clothes on the street, these "outdated" phones, everything told him this was definitely not his original time.

But all this was beyond explanation by illusion; this world was so real, so real that Bai Yanliang’s heart quivered.

Memories gradually activated; ten years ago, he and his brother also came to Haitang Street to eat; they had visited that shop and that one too...

Walking step by step, Bai Yanliang stopped and slowly lifted his head.

The second floor, that was... Yanren’s office.

As long as it wasn’t illegal, he accepted any work, from finding cats and dogs to helping the police track down serious criminals to earn bounties...

This office had no catchy name, not even a name.

But...

Bai Yanliang stood there dazed, staring at those familiar doors and windows.

Suddenly!

"Hello?"

A gentle male voice sounded behind Bai Yanliang.

"Is it for a commission?"

Bai Yanliang shuddered; this voice...

He slowly turned around; at that moment, even the wind seemed to pause.

This man stood in the evening glow cast by the city’s skyscrapers, backlit, and vaguely, Bai Yanliang saw him still smiling.

"Hello, I am the person in charge of this office."

He smiled brightly against the light, exactly as Bai Yanliang remembered...

"My name is Bai Yanren."