Frightening Joke: Above the Mist

Gu Pingsheng watched the heavy rain outside, but what echoed in his mind was Bai Yanren's advice from back then...

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"There aren't many people I trust, Ping Sheng, you're one of them." Bai Yanren said with a smile.

"Go ahead, what do you want me to do this time?" Gu Pingsheng said somewhat helplessly, though he had long been accustomed to agreeing to the other's requests. After all, after so many life and death experiences together, he couldn't tell if he had saved Bai Yanren more or if Bai Yanren had saved him more.

"From now on, follow Dr. Zhou Tian," Bai Yanren said, uncharacteristically serious, "he has issues."

"You're the one with issues," Gu Pingsheng said more speechlessly, "look at you, you're the most different one, and even now I don't know why Fog Gathering always picks you."

"Haha, do you want to know?" Bai Yanren suddenly asked.

"Would you tell me?" Gu Pingsheng didn't believe Bai Yanren would say, because he thought Bai Yanren himself didn't know why either.

"If you want to know, I'll tell you." Bai Yanren said mysteriously.

"You..." Seeing Bai Yanren actually seemed ready to tell him some secrets, Gu Pingsheng suddenly hesitated, "You better not tell me, I'll promise you, I'll keep a close eye on Zhou Tian from now on."

"No, it's not about keeping an eye on him, but joining him, no matter what Dr. Zhou Tian does, you need to join him." Bai Yanren emphasized.

"Why? Do you think Zhou Tian would need me? I don't have the confidence to fully join his 'enterprise.'

"It's alright... I'll help you." As soon as Bai Yanren finished saying this, he suddenly leaned close to Gu Pingsheng's ear.

"Hey, Ping Sheng, let me tell you, actually... I'm a living person."

Gu Pingsheng's heart skipped a beat, he looked at Bai Yanren seriously, and suddenly laughed, "Stop joking, all of us entered Fog Gathering after experiencing death, so, although we feel fear towards various ghosts, if we really think about it, we should thank Fog Gathering for keeping us alive, it's what has given us the chance to continue living."

"But, I'm telling the truth, you can sense it, right? I'm not joking..." Bai Yanren continued.

"I really didn't enter Fog Gathering after dying, I walked in through the door."

"Through the door?" Gu Pingsheng was confused.

Bai Yanren was silent for a moment, then as if he suddenly thought of something, he glanced at Gu Pingsheng and said, "Ping Sheng, ten years from now, you will also have the opportunity to enter Fog Gathering through a door, if this really happens, then... my hypothesis might come true."

"What hypothesis?"

Gu Pingsheng pressed on.

"Aside from each time's blood letter, I suspect the Fog Gathering itself is an exceedingly covert long-term mission."

"If ten years later, everyone enters Fog Gathering through a door, then I've guessed right."

Bai Yanren, saying this, looked seriously into Gu Pingsheng's eyes, "Ping Sheng, in strict terms, you can't enter the Fog Gathering ten years from now, but I'm really not sure, I'll figure out a way to get you in, along with some other elders who will enter the Fog Gathering ten years from now, just pretend not to know each other."

"And then, besides keeping a close eye on Dr. Zhou Tian, and verifying whether I can enter Fog Gathering through a door ten years later, what exactly do you want me to do?" Gu Pingsheng asked.

He was very clear that Bai Yanren, to date, had only requested the observation of certain phenomena, not yet reached the stage of a specific next step, Gu Pingsheng didn't fully believe Bai Yanren had no further plans.

"Hehe… regarding Dr. Zhou Tian, as long as you receive the news that I've returned, you can ignore him, because my return signifies his failure." Saying this, Bai Yanren muttered a laugh, "No matter if the one who returns is still me."

Gu Pingsheng's eyelid twitched.

"As for observing whether it turns into entering the Fog Gathering through a door, as long as this matter is confirmed, it proves that I have succeeded, I have advanced a stage of the long-term mission of Fog Gathering itself, pushing it to the next stage... or rather, Fog Gathering itself should have two stages."

"It is a presence woven between the material world and the world of consciousness..."

Upon hearing this, Gu Pingsheng immediately thought of what Bai Yanren mentioned earlier, about him being a living person entering Fog Gathering.

Now hearing him mutter softly again, that Fog Gathering is an entwining of the material world and the world of consciousness, that Fog Gathering itself should have two stages... It was hard for Gu Pingsheng not to have some conjectures.

For instance... the previous stage is the rule when Fog Gathering is dominated by the Fog Realm.

And the latter stage... is the rule when Fog Gathering is dominated by the Mortal World.

Gu Pingsheng's serious expression was entirely seen by Bai Yanren.

Those so-called "mutterings," of course, were intentionally spoken for Gu Pingsheng to hear.

He indeed wasn't lying.

Fog Gathering... or rather, this batch of them inside Fog Gathering, had already gone through the cycle seven times.

After every "clearing" of Fog Gathering, time and memory seemed to reset, except for a key they got upon clearance, nothing changed.

What's more troubling is, except for him, no one else even remembers they have cleared Fog Gathering many times.

Bai Yanren was lonely.

In the numerous investigations, he had learned most of the circumstances.

And confirmed that apart from himself, only a doctor named Zhou Tian retained all past memories.

But... it was futile.

He and Zhou Tian, were trapped in a closed, dead-looped space-time.

Even if they cleared Fog Gathering, they couldn't break the loop, so-called escape only led to another cycle restart.

This had happened seven times already.

And soon, it would be the eighth.

This time, it was also the final attempt Bai Yanren was about to make.

He had been trying since the third time, but never succeeded. This world... seemed real and vivid, but actually, it was merely a "dead" space; even the companions he was familiar with, had long been gone.

And the attempt he was going to make was the last method he and Zhou Tian came up with after discussion.

"This world's time won't flow forward, only circumvents and loops back again." Zhou Tian looked at the unchanging starry sky, "I'm certain that this is a world formed by the Origin power of the Fog Realm, whereas you, as the only living person in this world, in this game, obstruct the game from continuing, meaning, if this world becomes completely 'dead,' and everyone is a 'dead' person, clearing one more time at this juncture, Fog Gathering will naturally advance to the next stage."

"However, I won't let you truly die; over the time, I've thought of many ways, and finally found a gap in space-time," Zhou Tian's gaze returned from the starry sky to Bai Yanren, "hide into that gap in space-time, creating the illusion of your death, but... you must evade the inspection from the Fog Realm and Fog Gathering, and the space-time for you to hide won't be pleasant either."

"How long do I need to hide?" Bai Yanren asked.

"About... ten years."

Answered Zhou Tian.