Lost in the Mist

Gu Yunqing?

Wasn't he dead?

Who had gotten hold of his phone?

Was the person on the other end of the line human or a ghost?

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

Outside the wall, the sound of footsteps grew increasingly dense.

Zhang Yangxu had already learned a bit about this large residence bearing the "He Manor" plaque. It was home to a wealthy family, and the estate employed a significant number of servants and maids. Every time the Old Man went out, he was surrounded by an entourage, and he returned with a large crowd as well.

Listening to the crowd's footsteps heading toward the main entrance, Zhang Yangxu gripped his phone and walked along the wall toward the side gate. He wasn't the type to keep hitting a brick wall until he broke his head; since he couldn't find Ye Miaozhu, he would stop looking. Even if this impulsive woman were willing to cooperate with him, the drawbacks would likely outweigh the benefits.

He hadn't walked more than a few steps when his phone vibrated again.

This time, the vibration was short and sharp. It wasn't a ringtone, but a notification for a new message. Zhang Yangxu unlocked the screen and looked down to see that he had just received a new text message.

Sender: [Gu Yunqing]

Message content: [Do you really think I'm dead?]

Immediately following that, another new message was sent over:

[You've been played by Ning Zhe.]

"Gu Yunqing isn't dead?"

"I've been played by Ning Zhe?"

Looking at the content of the two messages on his phone screen, Zhang Yangxu's expression turned grim.

Given that there was a "ghost" wandering inside He Family Village capable of stealing identities and disguising itself as a living person, Zhang Yangxu naturally wouldn't easily believe the one-sided claims of these two short messages. He maintained a high level of vigilance.

But while remaining wary of the "Gu Yunqing" on the other end of the line—whoever or whatever he might be—Zhang Yangxu also tried to recall his interactions with Ning Zhe and the others.

"These two messages are indeed suspicious, but isn't Ning Zhe suspicious as well? At the very least, I have never actually seen Gu Yunqing's corpse. All the talk about Gu Yunqing being dead, that he died by the river just like Xie Sining... I have never seen any of that with my own eyes."

Once the seed of doubt was planted, it immediately began to take root and sprout.

Zhang Yangxu held his phone in one hand and trailed his other hand along the wall as he walked forward, reviewing the entire history of his exchanges with Ning Zhe and the others.

"Ning Zhe is not a person to be trusted. He is suspected of killing Lin Zhiyuan and hiding his body. Even if I try to interpret his character in the best possible light and assume he didn't kill Lin Zhiyuan, Ning Zhe is at the very least a madman with no reverence for human life. He would use other people's deaths without bottom-line constraints to achieve his own goals. He is a lunatic."

Moreover, he was a lunatic with terrifyingly high intelligence.

"Feng Yushu, I know a bit about this woman too. Raised in the inner chambers as a young girl and pampered by her husband after marriage, she has never suffered any hardships. Having lived in luxury for years, she is like a canary that has never left its cage, easily yielding to genuine violence. Therefore, Feng Yushu's words cannot be trusted either. This woman has long since been tamed by Ning Zhe to the point of absolute obedience, to the extent that she doesn't even realize Ning Zhe's subtle, gradual conditioning—it's like he's training a dog."

If neither Ning Zhe nor Feng Yushu could be trusted, what about Ye Miaozhu?

The intense emotions Ye Miaozhu displayed regarding Gu Yunqing's death didn't seem like an act. Such agitation would be perfectly genuine if shown upon the passing of a loved one, but the problem was...

"Was the relationship between Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu really that close? Close enough that Ye Miaozhu would become self-destructive over his death?"

Zhang Yangxu couldn't be sure, as they were all just strangers who had met by chance. Based on the information he had, Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu were merely classmates from the same medical school who had traveled to the countryside together to gain internship credentials.

They might have been lovers or something else, but if they were only lovers or even just classmates, Ye Miaozhu's previous extreme emotions seemed a bit "over-the-top," like a pampered dandy crying and screaming for an emergency room at a top-tier hospital just because he had scraped his skin.

So...

"Trust Ye Miaozhu? Or trust this 'Gu Yunqing'?"

Zhang Yangxu hesitated.

He was clearly aware that the person on the other end of the phone was very likely the Evil Ghost skilled at wearing human skin to lure others to their deaths, or perhaps it was simply Ning Zhe holding Gu Yunqing's phone and setting a trap for him. But he couldn't deny that while the possibility of the person being the real Gu Yunqing was slim, it was definitely not zero.

At this moment, the phone in his hand vibrated again, and a new message was sent:

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

[Your concern is not unreasonable, but time is tight now, and we can't afford to dawdle any longer.]

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

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

"What?!" Zhang Yangxu's nerves tightened instantly. He hurriedly typed a reply, asking: [What do you mean? The Snake God is going to go mad again?]

The other party was silent for about two minutes before a new message finally came through:

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

[You suspect I'm a ghost disguised as Gu Yunqing, but how do I know you aren't one?]

Zhang Yangxu didn't delay any longer and quickly edited a few questions to send over.

Based on his previous experience interacting with the ghost disguised as Xie Sining, the questions Zhang Yangxu sent were all ones where "I believe Gu Yunqing should know the answer, but I don't know the content myself." When answering such questions, the ghost disguised as Xie Sining had experienced something like a computer program freezing due to a bug.

Thus, Zhang Yangxu asked several professional questions regarding clinical medicine, while Gu Yunqing sent back several professional questions regarding the real estate sector.

Both sides provided answers quickly.

Although Zhang Yangxu couldn't judge whether Gu Yunqing's answers were correct due to the difference in expertise, the fluency of the answers themselves was enough to prove the other party's identity.

"He should be the real Gu Yunqing." Zhang Yangxu let out a sigh of relief and sent a message: [What do you mean by the Snake God going mad? Tell me exactly what's going on.]

Gu Yunqing: [Let's talk when we meet.]

Zhang Yangxu: [Fine, where are you?]

Gu Yunqing: [Outside the Courtyard Wall of the He Family Mansion. Keep walking forward a bit further, and you'll see me once you open the gate.]

So close? Zhang Yangxu felt a sudden sense of doubt. Since the distance was so short, why would Gu Yunqing use such cumbersome methods as phone calls and text messages to communicate with him? Meeting in person would clearly have been more convenient.

But on second thought, it made sense. Just as Gu Yunqing had said, if he suspected that Gu Yunqing was a Ghost, why wouldn't the other man feel the same way about him?

Thinking of this, Zhang Yangxu lightened his footsteps and carefully walked along the wall to the Side Gate of the He Family Mansion, tentatively knocking on the door three times.

Knock, knock, knock—

Three knocks came from the other side of the door in response.

Zhang Yangxu let out a sigh of relief and opened the door, only to see a Young Man with his clothes soaked through standing before him, holding a phone that had also been drenched in water.

"Director Zhang, I'm very glad to see you again," Gu Yunqing said with a smile.