Frightening Joke: Above the Mist-Chapter 144: Raw Ghost

Very late, night descended, and today Gao Fei actually got off work on time.

Bai Yanliang chatted with him for a couple of sentences, and from Gao Fei’s mouth, Bai Yanliang finally learned Xu Zhifei’s identity; she is a profiler from Liang City.

The term seems rather mysterious, but it is not as godlike as rumors suggest.

A profiler is someone who sketches the criminal’s mindset through analysis of methods, crime scenes, and characteristics, to further predict their race, gender, age, professional background, physical traits, personality characteristics, and even next move, helping the police to narrow down the search and promptly prevent the continuation of criminal activities.

Xu Zhifei, though young, is already a somewhat famous profiler.

The most crucial step in profiling is empathy, which means analyzing and reasoning from the criminal’s point of view.

Therefore, a highly talented profiler or detective always has the potential to become a terrifying criminal.

And mentioning Liang City, Bai Yanliang couldn’t help but think of Li Mu and the criminal he mentioned — Secret Key.

It’s heard that the criminal organization he works with has already arrived in Ye City, but there’s still no news of them yet.

Bai Yanliang petted Allen Allan Poe’s head while silently thinking.

Gao Fei was exhausted and had already gone to rest. That lawyer, He Yige, hasn’t been seen today, and even now that it’s dark, he hasn’t returned.

Bai Yanliang was about to go back to rest when there was a knocking sound at the door outside the courtyard.

Originally thought it was He Yige who forgot the keys, but after opening the door, Bai Yanliang was a bit surprised.

"Feng Xiuxue?"

In the mottled light outside the door stood Feng Xiuxue, wearing large sunglasses; wearing sunglasses at night is undoubtedly a very silly thing.

Bai Yanliang remembered telling her before that wearing those sunglasses would only draw more attention, especially at night.

"How did you know I live here?"

Bai Yanliang calmly looked at her, not wanting her answer to be that she secretly investigated him.

Feng Xiuxue looked up at him and said, "I asked Xu Zhifei."

Is that so...

"Why are you looking for me? Didn’t we agree to meet tomorrow?" Bai Yanliang was somewhat puzzled.

"Dinner."

"Huh?" Bai Yanliang was taken aback, looking at Feng Xiuxue, he asked again, "You came to have dinner with me?"

Feng Xiuxue nodded, finally taking off the large sunglasses; she still looked the same.

Speaking of appearance, in Fog Gathering, only Xu Zhifei could compare with her, even Yu Sheng with her beauty fell slightly short.

"No, I invite you to dinner, if you help me with something."

"Let’s hear it."

"Kill Feng Xiuxue."

Her lips appeared exceptionally cold and glamorous in the night, and her spoken five words sent a chill down one’s spine.

"So you are Feng Yiru." Bai Yanliang looked into her eyes; this extremely calm sensation wasn’t Feng Xiuxue.

Feng Yiru quietly looked at Bai Yanliang: "I have always been Feng Yiru."

Bai Yanliang clearly remembered that when Feng Xiuxue first approached him, she presented a photo of Bai Yanren, claiming Bai Yanren was her brother-in-law and that her sister had strangely disappeared.

Then Feng Xiuxue continued to use the name Feng Yiru in the entertainment circle.

Now, the two personalities of this woman contradict each other, and Bai Yanliang couldn’t immediately discern who was truthful and who was not.

"Are you planning to stand at the door all night?"

Feng Yiru looked at him and asked.

Bai Yanliang suddenly smiled, went back into the room, took an overcoat, and said, "It just so happens, I haven’t had dinner yet."

...

If Bai Yanliang had a greatest flaw, it would undoubtedly be his lack of social experience.

After all, he spent a whole ten years in a mental institution, but what surprised Bai Yanliang was that Feng Yiru seemed to be the same kind of person.

She said she would treat him to dinner, but only brought money, no reservation, no chosen restaurant, not even any specific meal planned.

She only stared at Bai Yanliang with calm eyes, as if saying you decide, I’ll pay.

Bai Yanliang thought about it and found a bustling food stall by the roadside.

Hmm... bringing the hot celebrity Feng Yiru to a food stall. Fortunately, it’s nighttime, and Feng Yiru was standing in the shadows. Although she still looked stunning, she wasn’t recognized.

Bai Yanliang didn’t think it was inappropriate, nor did Feng Yiru.

The two of them sat at a corner street table led by the owner.

Bai Yanliang ordered the signature dish, and after the owner left, they resumed their previous conversation.

"Why me? Besides, killing Feng Xiuxue would also mean your death." Bai Yanliang asked.

Feng Yiru moved further into the shadows and said, "Not killing in reality, in Fog Gathering."

Bai Yanliang quietly looked at her: "I don’t understand your meaning."

Suddenly, Feng Yiru stared fixedly at Bai Yanliang and said hauntingly: "Do you know... how ghosts come into being?"

Under her strange and mysterious gaze, Bai Yanliang felt an unusual sensation.

He shook his head: "I don’t know."

Feng Xiuxue turned her head, gazing into the depths of the city’s shimmering lights, and murmured: "Decayed human nature is the ’ghost’." fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

She seemed to be implying something.

"Bai Yanliang, did you know? Ghosts are not the souls of dead people, only the living can give rise to ghosts."

She stared at Bai Yanliang once more: "And dead people are just that, dead people; they cannot become ghosts."

The words she spoke were peculiar, as if she was drunk even without having consumed alcohol.

"You don’t believe?" Feng Yiru suddenly cocked her head at Bai Yanliang.

Bai Yanliang nodded, "I don’t believe."

Feng Yiru smiled coyly: "You really are bad at lying."

Immediately after, a ghostly stillness overtook her expression as if recalling something: "I personally saw... a ghost growing on a living person..."

A bolt of lightning flashed through Bai Yanliang’s mind.

A ghost growing on a living person...

Feng Yiru’s words reminded Bai Yanliang of those distorted shadows he had seen.

He made a preconceived mistake; perhaps those twisted shadows were not foreign invaders but... monstrous creatures born from within humans themselves.

He thought of Hao Bowen, who eerily committed suicide in the detention center, with a twisted shadow emerging from his body.

Then, there was Lei Dongming’s wife, on whom he also witnessed a twisted shadow.

And even... Bai Yanliang thought of Li Degang.

The headmaster killed by Hao Bowen, beneath his apartment building, there was a tall, skinny monster covered in eyes...

Suddenly, Bai Yanliang had a thought, maybe... the newly born "ghost" is just a warped shadow, and a fully formed "ghost" turns into all sorts of bizarre and terrifying forms, such as... the monster beneath the apartment building.

It... very likely was a ghost born from Li Degang’s deformed and diseased mind.

Just when Bai Yanliang was about to ask Feng Yiru further, the owner brought a large plate of spicy crawfish.

"Enjoy your meal, both of you."

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