Frightening Joke: Above the Mist-Chapter 9: No Solution

Bai Yanliang took the breakfast handed to him by the male waiter and casually asked, "By the way, where is the waitress from earlier? She promised to replace the pillow for me. Don't let her forget."

The two waiters' expressions seemed a bit strange, but they answered politely, "Certainly, sir."

"Oh... sir, please don't take her words too seriously in the future. She... has been under a lot of stress lately and might be having some mental issues," one waiter said with a smile, not allowing Bai Yanliang to continue speaking before turning away with the other.

"There's something wrong."

The speaker was Xu Zhi'an, who was watching the backs of the two waiters thoughtfully.

"You guys, take a look at this."

At this point, Feng Xinghan suddenly took out a newspaper and handed it to Bai Yanliang and Li Yuejun.

Bai Yanliang took it, quickly skimmed through the pages, and then fixated on a news description.

"Ding Lei, owner of the Ruyi Hotel, whose wife has been missing for six days. Police have conducted multiple investigations and collected evidence but found no clues. There are rumors among the locals that Ding Lei's wife has been murdered, and it is highly likely that Ding Lei himself is the killer..."

Bai Yanliang folded the newspaper, handing it to Li Yuejun while letting his gaze fall upon the reception desk in the lobby.

Ruyi Hotel.

Visit freewebnoveℓ.com for the best novel reading exp𝒆rience.

Isn't this place the Ruyi Hotel?

"Is Ding Lei's wife a ghost?" Bai Yanliang looked toward Feng Xinghan and the others.

Xu Zhi'an was the first to shake his head: "Not sure. Even if she were, it wouldn't be so simple. There's definitely more to the story. That stressed-out waitress might know something."

Bai Yanliang nodded and asked, "By the way, I have a question. What does the phrase 'sleep beneath an attached pillow, wake from a soulless dream, limit of seven days' mean?"

Bai Yanliang's question drew the attention of all four present to him.

This time, it was Jiang Li, who had been constantly observing Bai Yanliang, who spoke.

"Speaking of which... I almost forgot you're a newcomer to the Fog Gathering, Mr. Bai. You're quite remarkable; you seem... to have no negative emotions at all?"

Bai Yanliang smiled slightly, without speaking.

More than just having no negative emotions, he almost had no positive ones either...

"Every decryption points to survival or hints. As long as you can understand it, getting out alive won't be too difficult. However, there are also misleads and traps hidden within the decryption, and how to interpret it entirely depends on the individual," Jiang Li explained, his voice as clear and youthful as his appearance, which finally clarified his gender to Bai Yanliang.

"What about this limit of seven days?" It had always been Bai Yanliang's good habit to ask when he didn't understand something.

This time, the one who answered him was Li Yuejun, in fact, it was also her first sentence since they came to the first floor.

"The time limit is the endpoint. You should have noticed, this world is not some parallel universe but a current reality existing in the past. Everything here has happened before. Seven days is the maximum this past time can sustain. As long as we can hold out for seven days, we can safely return to reality."

Then... what's the difference between this and Yu Hanzhou's task?

Bai Yanliang remembered that Yu Hanzhou's group's task was 'Don't open your eyes in front of a mirror, don't look back upon a light call, survive a day.' One is about survival, the other is about a time limit, but ultimately, both are about staying alive until leaving.

"Young man," said the oldest, Feng Xinghan, looking at him, "don't underestimate this place. The only difference between a survival task and a time-limit task is that the fierce ghost in the survival task is a true ghost without any weaknesses, whereas the ghost in a time-limit task can be defeated if we find its weakness within the time limit, allowing us to complete the task early and return to reality."

So it's like having an extra way out?

Bai Yanliang nodded silently.

"However," Xu Zhi'an interjected, his voice still hoarse as he looked at him, "the closer we get to the time limit, the stronger 'it' becomes until... the weakness vanishes completely, turning into an unsolvable fierce ghost."

Being stared at by Xu Zhi'an made Bai Yanliang somewhat uncomfortable, after all... a 'person' who looked exactly like him had just smashed through his door.

Moreover, Bai Yanliang couldn't even confirm whether this Xu Zhi'an was the real Xu Zhi'an...

What if Xu Zhi'an had already died?

He maintained his usual expression, looking at the four of them, and said, "Let's take advantage of the daytime and split up to investigate."

Bai Yanliang's suggestion once again caught them by surprise; even Jiang Li looked at him with genuine interest, saying, "I thought we would have to waste some effort convincing you, but instead, you proactively suggested splitting up. You are indeed quite different, Mr. Bai."

Bai Yanliang seemed to ignore any hidden meanings in the words, smiling as he took a sip of his soy milk, watching the four disperse.

Indeed...

Although risky, splitting up was the most efficient method and the best way for everyone, considering... there's someone with the 'resentful' status that attracts fierce ghosts.

After finishing his breakfast, Bai Yanliang wiped his mouth, preparing to set off as well.

As for his goal, it might be a bit different from the others...

...

Qi Nian was about to go crazy.

She could clearly see the abnormality on the wall behind Yu Hanzhou.

Those were... footprints!

Wet, as if someone had just stepped out of the bathroom.

But... can a human walk on walls?

She trembled violently all over, not only that, but since just now, she felt like there was someone constantly breathing next to her ear.

The breath was icy, making her entire body stiff as if her blood had frozen.

"Everyone, remember, never look back. Even if you walk into a dead end, back out instead. Also... watch out for mirrors, although none have been found in this villa yet, the decryption has already warned us, so it can't be false," Yu Hanzhou instructed seriously to the group of people sitting in a circle.

This time, not only had he become a resentful, but this group, including himself, consisted of as many as eight people.

And the most unfortunate thing was drawing a survival task.

This meant that the fierce ghost in this villa was unsolvable!

There was no way to hurt it; all humans could do was flee and seek a way out from the brief decryption.

Fortunately, this time the decryption gave Yu Hanzhou some temporary relief. It wasn't profound, even quite straightforward.

Don't open your eyes in front of a mirror, don't look back upon a light call.

This should be the taboo of this fierce ghost; as long as it's not violated, even though some unimaginable horrifying scenes may occur, at least one's life won't be greatly threatened.

With this thought, Yu Hanzhou emphasized once again, "Regardless of what happens behind you, or what you see behind others, don't say anything! Don't look back! It's just one day, hang in there."

Although the crowd showed varying expressions, Yu Hanzhou was quite well-liked, and at that moment, no one opposed him.

Ma Zirong twisted his neck; he felt very stiff, having arrived at the Fog Gathering for only a month. This was his second month and his second task. Ma Zirong deeply agreed with Yu Hanzhou's words; he believed, as long as he adhered to the instructions from the decryption, nothing would happen.

However, the looks from people sitting around in a circle towards him were growing increasingly terrified.

Everyone... what's happening?

Huh?

I didn't raise my head, so why... can I see the ceiling?