Frightening Joke: Above the Mist

"You're sick."

The rain from ten years ago is, after all, different from that ten years later.

Bai Yanren didn't have as many sentiments as Feng Yiru, he just said it calmly, almost indifferently.

"Sick?"

Feng Yiru's heart ached, feeling somewhat self-mocking.

Indeed, for his words, I split my mind in half. Yes... I'm insane.

To enter the new realm of Fog Gathering, I became a completely new person.

Feng Xiuxue? Feng Yiru?

Many times she couldn't even tell who she really was.

Even the reasons for all these years of persistence were a bit blurry.

One word from Bai Yanren forced her into a state of self-doubt.

"I... am indeed sick."

Feng Yiru looked at Bai Yanren under the umbrella, her gaze also briefly swept over Bai Yanliang.

Has Bai Yanliang completely sided with Bai Yanren?

Even if he's a demon?

Suddenly, she felt that she and these people were still somewhat naive.

Bai Yanliang, someone who never reveals true emotions, seemed to possess some "human emotions" through the life-and-death crises they went through together.

And it was this delicate change that made everyone hold different expectations for him.

After all, no one who survived until now was a fool.

Everyone could see Bai Yanliang's anomaly; from the day he entered Fog Gathering, he would always be chosen by it.

This is not a matter of probability, but Bai Yanliang himself has some kind of connection with Fog Gathering, and this connection is hardly secret, as any observant person can see it.

Trusting him, though partly due to growing familiarity, also had a sense of placing a bet.

But now, seeing Bai Yanliang standing by Bai Yanren, Feng Yiru knew it had failed.

All had failed.

Bai Yanren failed; this monster holding the umbrella was no longer the gentle and kind person he once was.

Bai Yanliang also failed; he couldn't become a real human, but chose to stand with the monster, no... perhaps more accurately, Bai Yanliang chose to stand with his own kind.

"Are you Feng Yiru or Feng Xiuxue?"

Bai Yanliang's question seemed to add insult to injury.

At this moment, the mentally unstable Feng Yiru was suddenly overwhelmed by another consciousness surging from the depths of her heart; she struggled to maintain an outward calm, but her whole body was teetering, seemingly about to fall into the Blood Rain at any moment.

"Feng Yiru..." Bai Yanren said, "You're sick, take out what I once entrusted you with, and then, rest."

"Rest?" Feng Yiru knew that the Bai Yanren in front of her was merely a distorted product of who he once was, but she couldn't contain the impulse to speak to him.

But the words of the person in front of her were so ridiculous.

At this point, who could calmly make an exit and then... rest?

She thought as much.

But soon, she realized she was wrong.

The expressions of Bai Yanren and Bai Yanliang were surprisingly similar.

When they looked at her, their eyes didn't seem to be looking at a human at all, but at a piece of wood, a stone monument.

More precisely, they looked at a decayed thing that had long lost its life.

She suddenly understood.

His talk of "rest" was definitely not about handing over the key and then having a "beautiful retirement."

But rather to make her... close her eyes forever.

"You want... to kill me?"

Feng Yiru's head was splitting with pain.

Feng Xiuxue's consciousness was continuously assaulting her.

It was truly ironic... Feng Yiru endured the pain and glanced at Bai Yanren and Bai Yanliang.

Ten years ago, she fell in love with him.

For his plan, she split her consciousness.

Yes, Feng Xiuxue was a personality created to infiltrate the next Fog Gathering.

Yet what she didn't expect was that the one this personality was fond of, was actually the person beside Bai Yanren.

Ha...

She had tripped twice on the same road.

Come to think of it, the splitting of consciousness was also carried out under Bai Yanren's suggestion.

He once told her... it didn't matter, even though there are two personalities, as long as they can access each other's memories, they are the same person.

But now, she knew how ridiculously wrong that statement was.

Two consciousnesses in one body, even if they can access each other's memories, are not the same person at all.

No matter how perfectly made, a movie that can even make the audience feel immersed, would quickly return to reality after the screening ends.

Feng Yiru and Feng Xiuxue were just two people who had watched each other's "movie."

Ha...

So, was he lying from the beginning, ten years ago?

Feng Yiru recalled that sentence...

"It doesn't matter, even though there are two personalities, as long as they can access each other's memories, they are the same person..."

So, did he decide ten years ago to kill me?

Why?

What exactly did I do that would make him take such an extreme action?

Feng Yiru couldn't comprehend any of it.

However, Bai Yanren's response at that moment made her chaotic brain suddenly fall into a brief emptiness.

"Kill?" Bai Yanren, hearing her words, slightly shook his head.

The Blood Rain was still falling, his voice somewhat faint amidst the wind and rain: "I didn't kill anyone, I just let the once-dead return to death."

Feng Yiru stood frozen in place, staring blankly at Bai Yanren.

Why... say it like that?

Bai Yanren's eyes seemed to ripple a bit.

"Can you still recall it? The conversation we had when we first entered Fog Gathering..."

As Bai Yanren spoke, he seemed to slightly tilt his head to glance at Bai Yanliang.

"I asked everyone, how did you get in?"

"Do you remember what your answer was?"

Bai Yanren's eyes eventually settled entirely on her.

My answer...

Feng Yiru stared blankly at him.

My answer...

Her pained brain pulled out scattered fragments from ten years ago amidst the jumbled thoughts.

"Everyone, how did you get in?"

"I don't know, I was opening the door after work, smelled a strong gas scent, just turned on the light, and everything went white, arrived at this ghost place..."

"I don't quite remember either; the last memory is a dump truck ran a red light and crashed sideways into my car..."

"Well, it's similar for me; I slipped while cleaning the outside of a window and ended up here."

Everyone's stories were filled with accident, and what I said was...

"It seemed like I was already sick, lying on a hospital bed looking at the ceiling, kept looking, and then ended up here."

Feng Yiru said.

The memory abruptly ceased.

Looking up at Bai Yanren again, Feng Yiru's expression was full of horror.

"Back then, did you lie?"

Bai Yanren nodded, seemingly speaking to Bai Yanliang as well:

"Yes, hearing everyone say they came from various death scenes, so I made one up too."

"Actually, I entered Fog Gathering after pushing open a door."

"So, I'm the only living person."