Lost in the Fog

Gu Yunqing?

Wasn't he dead?

Who had his phone?

Was the person on the other end of the call human or ghost?

Several thoughts flashed through Zhang Yangxu's mind. He decisively turned off the screen and hung up.

Outside the wall, the patter of footsteps grew denser.

Zhang Yangxu had learned a little about the mansion bearing the plaque "He Manor." It belonged to a wealthy family, and many servants and maids worked there. Whenever the Old Man went out, he was surrounded by a crowd, and when he returned, a large group accompanied him as well.

Hearing the footsteps heading toward the main gate, Zhang Yangxu held his phone and walked along the wall toward the side gate. He wasn't the type to keep banging his head against a wall. Since he couldn't find Ye Miaozhu, he'd stop looking. Even if this impulsive woman was willing to work with him, she'd probably do more harm than good.

He hadn't gone far when his phone vibrated again.

This time, the vibration was brief and urgent. It wasn't an incoming call, but a new message notification. Zhang Yangxu unlocked the screen and looked down. He'd just received a new text.

Sender: [Gu Yunqing]

Message: [You really think I'm dead?]

Right after that, another message came in:

[You've been played by Ning Zhe.]

"Gu Yunqing isn't dead?"

"I've been played by Ning Zhe?"

Looking at the two messages on his screen, Zhang Yangxu's expression darkened.

Knowing that a "ghost" was roaming He Family Village, stealing people's identities and disguising itself as the living, Zhang Yangxu wouldn't blindly believe the claims in two short messages. He stayed on guard.

But while remaining wary of the "Gu Yunqing" on the other end of the call, whose identity as human or ghost was unknown, Zhang Yangxu also tried to recall his conversations with Ning Zhe and the others.

"These two messages are suspicious, sure—but isn't Ning Zhe suspicious too? I've never actually seen Gu Yunqing's body. The claim that Gu Yunqing died by the river, just like Xie Sining... I've never seen any of that with my own eyes."

Once planted, the seeds of doubt immediately began to take root and grow.

Holding his phone in one hand and trailing the wall with the other, Zhang Yangxu walked on, reviewing the entire course of his conversations with Ning Zhe and the others.

"Ning Zhe can't be trusted. He seems to have killed Lin Zhiyuan and hidden his body. Even if I give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he didn't kill Lin Zhiyuan, Ning Zhe is still at least a lunatic who has no reverence for human life. He'll use someone else's death without a shred of restraint to achieve his goals. He's a madman."

And a terrifyingly intelligent one.

"Feng Yushu—I know a little about her too. She was raised in seclusion by her family when she was young, then sheltered by her husband after marriage. She'd never suffered much. Having lived in comfort for so long, she was like a canary that had never left its cage; she'd easily submit to real violence. So Feng Yushu can't be trusted either. Ning Zhe has already tamed her into obeying his every word. She hasn't even realized how he's gradually trained her to submit, like he's teaching a dog."

Neither Ning Zhe nor Feng Yushu could be trusted. What about Ye Miaozhu?

Ye Miaozhu's intense reaction to Gu Yunqing's death didn't seem fake. Such grief would be perfectly genuine if someone had lost a loved one. But the problem was...

"Were Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu really that close? Close enough that his death would make Ye Miaozhu give up on her own life too?"

Zhang Yangxu couldn't be sure. They were all strangers who'd met by chance. From what he knew, Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu were classmates from the same medical university, who'd come to the countryside together to earn their internship credits.

They might have been a couple, or something else. But if they were only dating—or merely classmates—then Ye Miaozhu's extreme reaction earlier seemed a little "over the top." Like some pampered young man who'd scrape his hand and start crying, demanding an emergency appointment at a top-tier hospital right away.

So...

"Should I trust Ye Miaozhu? Or this 'Gu Yunqing'?"

Zhang Yangxu hesitated.

He knew full well that the person on the other end of the phone could very well be the Evil Ghost, which was good at donning Human Skin and luring others to their deaths. It might even be Ning Zhe himself, using Gu Yunqing's phone to set a trap for him. But the chance that the other person really was Gu Yunqing, though small, wasn't zero.

Just then, his phone vibrated again. A new message arrived:

[I can guess what you're worried about—that I'm a ghost who stole Gu Yunqing's identity.]

[Your concern is reasonable, but time is running out. We can't afford to dawdle.]

[You can ask me some questions to test my identity, but be quick.]

[Because the Snake God is about to go berserk.]

"What?!" Zhang Yangxu's nerves immediately went taut. He hurriedly typed back: [What do you mean? The Snake God is going berserk again?]

The other person was silent for about two minutes before a new message finally arrived:

[Let's confirm each other's identities first.]

[You suspect I'm a ghost pretending to be Gu Yunqing, but haven't I got just as much reason to suspect you?]

Zhang Yangxu didn't waste any more time. He quickly typed up several questions and sent them to the other person.

Based on his earlier experience talking to the ghost pretending to be Xie Sining, Zhang Yangxu made sure each question met one condition: "I think Gu Yunqing should know the answer, but I don't know it myself." When answering questions like these, the ghost disguised as Xie Sining had gotten stuck like a computer program with a bug.

So Zhang Yangxu asked several questions about clinical medicine, while Gu Yunqing sent him several questions about real estate.

They both answered quickly.

Since he didn't know the field, Zhang Yangxu couldn't tell whether Gu Yunqing's answers were correct. But the fact that he'd answered so fluently was proof enough of his identity.

"He should really be Gu Yunqing." Zhang Yangxu breathed a sigh of relief and messaged him: [What do you mean by the Snake God going berserk? Tell me exactly what happened.]

Gu Yunqing: [Let's talk in person.]

Zhang Yangxu: [Fine. Where are you?]

Gu Yunqing: [Outside the wall of the He Family Mansion. Walk a little farther ahead, open the door, and you'll see me.]

So close? Zhang Yangxu was puzzled. If Gu Yunqing was nearby, why had he used the cumbersome methods of calling and texting to talk to him? Meeting face-to-face would obviously be more convenient.

But then he reconsidered. That was true. Just as Gu Yunqing had said, Zhang Yangxu suspected he was a ghost—but wasn't Gu Yunqing just as suspicious of him?

With that thought, Zhang Yangxu softened his steps and cautiously followed the wall to the side gate of the He Family Mansion. He tentatively knocked on the door three times.

Knock, knock, knock—

Three knocks came from outside in response.

Zhang Yangxu relaxed and opened the door. A young man stood there, his clothes soaked through, holding a phone that was just as waterlogged.

"Director Zhang, it's good to see you again," Gu Yunqing said with a smile.