Frightening Joke: Above the Mist-Chapter 7 Abnormality

"Ring ring ring——"

Bai Yanliang opened his eyes to a stark white ceiling.

Where is this...

He climbed out of bed, glanced around, and finally fixed his gaze on the calendar on the bedside table.

September 3, 2006.

"Is this thirteen years ago? Or another world?"

Bai Yanliang turned over and got out of bed, scrutinizing this utterly ordinary room.

The people who came with him had completely vanished—Xu Zhi'an, Feng Xinghan, Jiang Li, Li Yuejun.

Aside from Li Yuejun, Bai Yanliang didn't know the other three at all.

As for Li Yuejun, so far Bai Yanliang had concluded that she was a pitiful woman, sensitive, lonely, and desperate for a sense of existence.

Where are the four of them...

No... Bai Yanliang assessed the room's layout again.

This isn't a residential house, it's... a hotel.

So, am 'I' here for a vacation? Or, am 'I' an employee of the hotel?

In any case, the most urgent thing now is to figure out my identity.

"Knock knock knock——"

A polite light knock interrupted Bai Yanliang's thoughts, and through the peephole, he finally saw a "familiar face."

Xu Zhi'an.

He looked to be in his thirties, dressed like an office worker, hair neatly combed, yet slightly hunched as if accustomed to bending over.

But Bai Yanliang didn't open the door.

Instead, he stepped back to the window, opened it, and glanced downstairs. This was the fourth floor...

However, the balcony of the adjacent room might be possible to climb over to.

"Mr. Bai? Are you there?"

Xu Zhi'an's voice sounded from outside the door.

Bai Yanliang leaned against the window, saying nothing.

"Mr. Bai, it's me! I'm Xu Zhi'an!" Xu Zhi'an's voice was somewhat anxious, as if he didn't want to be stuck outside, standing in the corridor for long.

Bai Yanliang still ignored him.

Though it wasn't very polite.

But Bai Yanliang was eighty percent sure the "Xu Zhi'an" outside wasn't Xu Zhi'an.

After waking up, he had no recollection of checking into this hotel, and he believed the others were likely in a similar situation, possibly even waking up around the same time.

So... how did the "Xu Zhi'an" outside know his room...

Besides, there was no one with him.

Logically, even if Xu Zhi'an knew everyone's rooms, he should have first looked for someone he knew.

Bai Yanliang didn't feel he was that familiar with him.

"Bang bang bang!"

The knocking became louder.

The sky outside gradually brightened, now it was 5:30 AM on September 3, 2006.

Bai Yanliang had already swung one leg out the window, ready to climb to the neighboring room. He had no interest in verifying whether the "Xu Zhi'an" outside was real or fake; as long as there was doubt, that was enough.

"Bang! Bang!"

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"Xu Zhi'an" seemed to be angry.

The pure white wooden door shook wildly from his pounding, and moreover, he hadn't spoken a word since just now.

Bai Yanliang mounted the railing, eyes fixed on the door. As soon as it showed any sign of opening, he'd leap without hesitation to the next balcony.

Strangely, his movements seemed to have quieted down?

Almost a minute had passed since the fierce pounding on the door.

Gone?

Thoughtfully, Bai Yanliang inadvertently glanced at the ground below the fourth floor...

At that moment, he suddenly pulled back the leg he had over the railing, swiftly scrambling back into the room.

Just then, Bai Yanliang saw the "Xu Zhi'an" staring up at him on the ground outside the first floor!

"His" gaze was filled with malice, his face deathly pale as if coated with paint, a sight that would make any ordinary person weak at the knees, nine times out of ten falling off from fright.

"Phew... my heart is actually racing..." Bai Yanliang murmured to himself.

Just then, he distinctly felt his heart skip a beat, then resume beating at a faster pace than usual.

Breathing, as his heartbeat quickened, became somewhat erratic, yet Bai Yanliang didn't dislike the sensation.

In fact, he rather liked it; this tangible awareness made him realize he was... still alive.

Having minor emotional fluctuations wasn't necessarily a bad thing. For most of his life, Bai Yanliang had pondered whether he was already dead.

Otherwise, why would a living person find it so difficult to feel emotion?

Regaining focus, Bai Yanliang had no desire to look down through the window again, and from the recent event, he confirmed one thing.

It seems... "he" cannot appear anywhere at will.

It took "him" nearly a minute to go from the fourth floor to the first.

Furthermore... if "he" could instantly teleport, "he" should already be in this room by now.

With this thought, taking advantage of "Xu Zhi'an" being on the first floor, Bai Yanliang opened the door.

At that moment, a rooster crowed.

Dawn had come.

Bai Yanliang turned to look outside the window, the darkness dissipating significantly in that brief moment.

Though the sun was blocked by thick clouds, at least... it was now daylight.

"Creak——"

As Bai Yanliang opened his door, he heard the sound of a door opening opposite.

Simultaneously, half a head timidly peeked out.

Upon meeting Bai Yanliang's gaze, it first retracted, then, as if recalling something, the person flung her door open.

"Bai Yanliang?"

"Yes."

Li Yuejun's voice didn't sound particularly appealing to Bai Yanliang, so his expression remained indifferent.

Noticing Bai Yanliang's lukewarm demeanor, Li Yuejun felt quite displeased and was just about to say something.

Her gaze, inadvertently, fell into the room behind Bai Yanliang.

It was a room decorated similarly to hers—a bed, a bedside table, an alarm clock, a calendar, and... an unpowered TV in the corner.

All in all, a typical hotel setup, nothing out of the ordinary.

Yet... Li Yuejun's body suddenly stiffened as though frozen!

Behind Bai Yanliang, under the bed, was the ghastly face of a woman, eyes wide open!

The terrifying face appeared so abruptly that Li Yuejun couldn't even react!

Li Yuejun's heart skipped a beat, and she stumbled backward, sitting on the floor, mouth covered in terror pointing towards the bed beneath Bai Yanliang.

In fact, Bai Yanliang had noticed Li Yuejun's strange expression as soon as it appeared.

But he didn't react, not out of unwillingness, but inability!

A malicious gaze was unshieldedly fixed on his back.

Bai Yanliang was certain that terrible things would happen if he turned around.

So, with an unaffected air, he approached Li Yuejun's door, helping her up as he asked, "Miss Li, what's wrong?"