Frightening Joke: Above the Mist-Chapter 401: The Truth

"I am not Zhou Tian."

Yu Wenxuan spoke concisely, glancing briefly in Gu Pingsheng’s direction.

"Since your return from your disappearance, you’ve been acting strange. I just wanted to remind you..."

Yu Wenxuan withdrew his gaze, staring at Bai Yanliang: "Instead of getting lost in a sense of self-awareness, why not focus on something real."

"Also, you’re receiving too much information. Your energy is being wasted distinguishing truth from lies. If you ask me, just consider them all lies. We only need to focus on one thing—the impending end of Fog Gathering."

"No matter what people or organizations plan, they can’t shake the fact that the last key to Fengquan Command Prison will intertwine in our hands."

Yu Wenxuan turned away, delivering a final reminder:

"Don’t analyze those or things that are hard to distinguish as true or false. Let them analyze you."

"Don’t follow in their footsteps. Instead, tread a new path, making them follow you..."

Bai Yanliang remained expressionless, standing by the riverbank, watching as Yu Wenxuan’s figure gradually disappeared into the distance.

This is how people are—they understand the reasoning, but once entangled, they inevitably get lost.

"Yu Wenxuan!"

Bai Yanliang called out.

The sound reached the nearby path, where Song Que and others, confronting Gu Pingsheng, turned their heads, eyes falling on Bai Yanliang.

Yu Wenxuan stopped, but Bai Yanliang asked:

"Am I the only one who can enter that world?"

Yu Wenxuan did not turn back, but his voice drifted over:

"Haven’t you already figured out the answer?"

Bai Yanliang stood in silence, watching Yu Wenxuan walk away.

Yu Wenxuan had denied being Zhou Tian, yet there must be some connection between them, otherwise, the vast amount of information Yu Wenxuan possessed couldn’t be explained.

And the last words he left confirmed Bai Yanliang’s suspicions.

He... was truly not human.

Why was Yu Wenxuan so sure that only he could enter the "Ghost World"?

Because he knew that Bai Yanliang’s soul’s origin... was that world.

He was merely a foreign soul growing up in the body of a dead child named Bai Yanliang.

Yu Wenxuan’s intentions were simple—he didn’t want to see Bai Yanliang lost, nor did he want him to get entangled in the man-made setups of the Dark Abyss and Nine Prisons.

His sole goal all along had been to enter the Fog Realm.

Yu Wenxuan walked in the cool night breeze, his thoughts crystal clear.

Last time during Fog Gathering, Bai Yanren made his final attempt, but failed. Yu Wenxuan knew the reason.

He knew nearly everything about Fog Gathering.

He did not deceive Bai Yanliang; he indeed was not Zhou Tian.

But...

He might be the only one in this world who could understand Bai Yanliang’s struggles and empathize with him.

However, none of that mattered, as he had just said; all man-made conspiracies and lies were of no consequence.

Over these years, the only ones truly on the correct path were him and Bai Yanren.

Now, Bai Yanren is dead.

But his death was not in vain. He obtained crucial information, and... left a true path for Bai Yanliang.

Instead of leaving cryptic blood letter hints for the next cyclical "selves."

Is Bai Yanliang always chosen by Fog Gathering?

Of course...

Because the control of Fog Gathering had always been in the hands of his deceased "brother."

Whoever holds the most keys wields greater power. However, even if they could accomplish something in Fog Gathering, it was all relative.

Fog Gathering is indeed the boundary between life and death.

The rules of the Human World and the Fierce Ghost World are fundamentally different, restraining and entangling each other. It’s less about human-ghost confrontation and more about the collision of the two worlds’ wills.

Fog Gathering is merely a balance scale.

On the left is the Human World; on the right is the Fog Realm.

Obtaining keys means gaining the qualification to open the "Door of Wuji Realm," giving humans a part of the Fog Realm’s power.

On the balance, it meant humans could achieve certain things through Fog Gathering.

For instance...

Leaving blood letter hints, or perhaps... designating the next chosen one.

The keys had always been in Bai Yanren’s hands because he was the only one who retained memories of past cycles.

But... Zhou Tian had memories as well.

Zhou Tian was the one who discovered the Fog Realm, and also the one who unleashed this catastrophic disaster.

Zhou Tian knew everything about the Fog Realm, therefore... Yu Wenxuan knew as well.

"Ship travels under the moon, people perish in the water" was a safeguard set by the deceased Bai Yanren, the last thing he could achieve within Fog Gathering using his keys.

Perhaps he told Bai Yanliang the truth?

Perhaps he said nothing and just wanted to see what would happen in ten years?

Who knew...

To Yu Wenxuan, none of this was crucial.

Time was running out.

Fog Gathering is a balance scale.

Humans selected and pass through the current cycle of the Hell Realm can obtain keys, slightly manipulating Fog Gathering to favor humans.

This is the advantage of the Human World.

But the Fog Realm’s advantage isn’t like humanity’s gradual acquisition.

In the Nine Hell Cycles, if all humans escape, it will trigger the final game.

Enter the Fog Realm and... escape the Fog Realm.

Yet, it couldn’t be done.

Bai Yanren, who possessed memories of previous cycles, had attempted to enter the Fog Realm. He did open the door, but only created a subspace of the real world, unable to truly reach the Fog Realm.

Moreover, even in those subspaces opened with keys, there was a sense of rejection for those from his reality, making it impossible for him to stay.

It was a lie...

A monumental lie!

Even if successfully escaped all Nine Hell Cycles and obtained nine keys in total, humans... simply couldn’t enter the Fog Realm!

This life-death game between the Human World and the Fog Realm was doomed to fail from the start.

If humans couldn’t survive in the Fog Realm, how could they accomplish the final escape in the Fog Realm?

Who told this lie?

Or perhaps...

Who made the contract with some existence of the Fog Realm, awakening the Fog Gathering and forcing humans and fierce ghosts into a deadly entanglement?

It was Zhou Tian.

Others didn’t know, including Bai Yanren.

But Yu Wenxuan’s memories told him it was Zhou Tian.

Even Yu Wenxuan didn’t know exactly what Zhou Tian did, but the awakening of Fog Gathering and the initiation of each blood letter mission—all were indeed triggered by Zhou Tian.

Zhou Tian, who perhaps didn’t even know he himself had been deceived when he made the contract with the Fog Realm.

Or maybe he knew... but had no choice but to weave this monumental lie, trying to extend the time of Nine Hell Cycles as much as possible to seek a way out.

The truth, however it might be, didn’t concern Yu Wenxuan.

He looked up at the full moon overhead.

He knew, eventually, whether the Fog Realm devoured the Mortal World or humans successfully escaped—

everything would start again.

Because humans are slaves to emotion.

And the eerie powers wandering the Fog Realm love to attach to those negative emotions.

If humans don’t perish, neither do ghosts.

They ultimately can’t stop anything.

Perhaps the only thing they can do is ensure they live as best as they can.