Frightening Joke: Above the Mist-Chapter 148 Hope

During lunch, Bai Yanliang asked Gao Fei a favor.

"A man between 1.7 and 1.75 meters tall, missing a little finger on his right hand?" Gao Fei stared at Bai Yanliang in surprise while stuffing noodles into his mouth, "Is he connected to this case?"

Bai Yanliang shook his head, saying, "No, but the car accident I encountered might be related to him. I’d like you to help check if the police files have a person like this."

Gao Fei looked dully at Bai Yanliang, and with such words spoken, how could he still not understand that the seemingly accidental incident had something fishy?

"Don’t worry! Leave it to me!" Gao Fei patted his chest and then frowned, "But if that guy has no criminal record, things might get a bit tricky..."

Bai Yanliang didn’t mind since he wasn’t placing all hope of finding that mysterious man on the police.

"It’s alright, do your best. I’ll get going now; leave the investigation at Chen Huaiyu’s place to me."

"Okay!"

...

Meanwhile, in Liang City.

Li Mu woke up.

He looked at himself in the mirror, that haggard, almost lifeless person—was it really him?

"Should I... give my parents a call..."

Li Mu turned to look out the window, thinking.

The Liang City Police Station deliberately gave him three days off because anyone could see that Li Mu’s condition was really poor. His under-eye circles were incredibly dark, indicating a lack of proper rest.

Everyone thought Li Mu was just working too hard; after all, he had always been that kind of person.

But Li Mu knew it wasn’t like that.

Though he worked tirelessly on cases, he always knew how to manage his time, ensuring he had enough rest. But... his problem was that his sleep time was growing shorter and shorter.

His brain was exhausted, but his body would only fall asleep for about two hours, and... that time was still decreasing.

This was a very frightening thing. The brain wanted to sleep, but the body could not fall asleep. This contradictory torment had pushed Li Mu’s spirit to the limit, so much so that he didn’t even have the energy to organize everyone to analyze this significant change in Fog Gathering.

Ordinarily, he was the one to do this since he was the one who had survived the longest as the "first person."

If he really couldn’t organize the discussion, then it would be initiated by Du Shangjing.

But this time, Du Shangjing was absent too.

Du Shangjing and Li Mu were quite good friends in reality, but this time even Li Mu couldn’t reach him.

Hopefully... nothing bad has happened to him...

Li Mu lifted the blanket and got out of bed.

Although it was just past noon, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep today. That bizarre old man’s head in his dreams would continuously call out to him, making it impossible for him to rest.

Li Mu was already quite sure he had unintentionally broken some taboo and had encountered a ghost.

Moreover, it wasn’t in Fog Gathering but in reality.

What surprised Li Mu himself was that he thought he’d be terrified and desperate, but when he truly confirmed he had seen a ghost, he didn’t feel that kind of emotion.

This reminded Li Mu of when he first entered Fog Gathering.

Back then, when he learned he had to constantly confront fierce ghosts, forever trapped in a curse, his emotions indeed collapsed.

Fortunately, at that time in Fog Gathering, there was someone who held a position like his now, whose name was always in the first place.

Only when looking at him could Li Mu muster up some strength.

"Everything has an end, and Fog Gathering is no exception. One day, we will escape the curse..."

He had said this to Li Mu.

Li Mu had always kept this sentence in his heart, remembering it every time he found despairing enough to want to give up his life.

However, now thinking about it, it was a kind of self-deception... after all, the person who said it had been dead for a long time.

Now, Li Mu had long since lost any expectation of leaving Fog Gathering, perhaps having prepared for death at any time, so upon learning he had encountered a ghost, Li Mu wasn’t as panicked as he thought he’d be.

He looked at the time, it was 1:20 in the afternoon.

Li Mu grabbed the clothes hung over the chair, put them on, and then... turned on his phone.

A text message hovered at the top of his phone screen.

Li Mu opened the message; it was from his mother.

"Xiao Mu, how have you been in Liang City recently? Is work busy? You never love to tell the truth to your dad and me. The leaders at your station told us you are sick. We called you, but your phone was off, so we had to send you a message. There’s a big temperature difference between morning and night in Liang City, so take care to keep warm. Health is most important. Don’t send your salary home; your dad and I have enough money. Working hard is good, but don’t push yourself too much. Some things aren’t your sole responsibility; you don’t have to carry them all on your own... No matter what... as long as it’s your thought, your dad and I support you, feel free to follow your heart, don’t worry about us..."

Li Mu quietly read the message over and over. Before he knew it, a tear had fallen onto the screen.

He looked up blankly at the ceiling...

Li Mu knew he couldn’t hold on much longer.

He wasn’t afraid of death, but he feared the news of his death reaching his parents.

Maybe he was a good policeman, but he wasn’t a good son.

If possible, Li Mu didn’t want to die either, but the old man’s head in his dreams was like a worm on his bones, appearing every time he fell asleep.

He couldn’t think of any solution, and earlier at a meeting in Fog Gathering, he had mentioned his predicament, hoping everyone could think of a way, but unfortunately, everyone was at a loss.

Because everyone knew that in this world... while there might be ghosts, there were no gods, no Buddhas.

No matter if it’s East or West, exorcism or ghost expelling, all methods were ineffective. freēwēbnovel.com

Someone once hoped to hide in a temple to avoid Fog Gathering’s summon, but in the end, he died miserably...

And Li Mu’s case was even more severe.

Because what haunted him wasn’t a ghost from Fog Gathering but a real ghost from reality...

Before this, although Li Mu had investigated supernatural events in reality, he had never personally encountered a ghost.

Who... could help him in this situation?

Names flashed through Li Mu’s mind. Though he saw them as intelligent and composed individuals, solving a fierce ghost in reality seemed beyond their capabilities.

Moreover, several of them were already aware of his situation, yet no one had mentioned any help, obviously indicating they couldn’t do anything about it.

Furthermore, there were no rules in reality like in Fog Gathering; even if there were rules, it would be up to oneself to uncover them, which was something only a few people might achieve.

No one would risk their lives to help him.

Thinking of this, Li Mu suddenly paused, a thought flashing in his mind.

That Madman might not care much whether encountering a ghost happened in Fog Gathering or reality; what he cared about seemed only to be the interest in it.

After hesitating for some time, Li Mu, clinging to his last hope, dialed a number.

Visit freewe𝑏no(v)el.𝘤𝑜𝓂 for the best novel reading experi𝒆nce