Phone

Chapter 37: Phone

At Yang Yiyi's urging, Bai Yanliang quickly got himself ready.

She seemed even more impatient than he was, eager to head to the affiliated hospital right away.

But Bai Yanliang took Yanren's bank card and went to the bank first. Yang Yiyi followed reluctantly.

Fortunately, even though ten years had passed, ATMs hadn't changed much. As for the PIN, he entered his and Yanren's birthdays: 506603. The system immediately confirmed it was correct.

As expected, Yanren had put his own birthday first.

When he saw the balance, Bai Yanliang was a little surprised. Unless he'd misread it, there were three hundred thousand yuan in the account.

Three hundred thousand yuan ten years ago wasn't a fortune, but it wasn't a small amount either.

Still, the two brothers hadn't lived very comfortably back then.

Bai Yanliang thought it over for a moment, then withdrew ten thousand.

A thick wad of cash stood out in his hand, but Yang Yiyi didn't seem to realize it, and neither did Bai Yanliang.

"Hurry up, hurry up! There's a phone shop right over there!"

As soon as he'd withdrawn the money, Yang Yiyi grabbed his sleeve and pulled him along. Bai Yanliang smiled and followed helplessly.

Although he'd kept up with the changes in society over the past ten years, there were still things he'd fallen out of touch with.

For example... the life-size advertisement standing outside the phone shop.

Bai Yanliang stopped and stared quietly at the human-shaped display.

Seeing him dazed beside the advertisement, Yang Yiyi followed his gaze and immediately understood. She asked curiously, "Are you a fan of Feng Yiru too?"

"Feng Yiru?"

Bai Yanliang furrowed his brow and carefully recalled the names he'd seen in Mist Gathering. There hadn't been anyone called Feng Yiru. He was certain his memory was right; if necessary, he could even recite the names of all forty-nine people. But... there had indeed been a woman in Mist Gathering who looked exactly like Feng Yiru.

"Hehe... Speaking of which, Feng Yiru is coming to Ye City tomorrow for an event! I have to go see her!" Yang Yiyi was clearly a fan of the actress. Her eyes lit up as she spoke.

Her words gave Bai Yanliang something to think about. Zhou Li had mentioned this too, so Feng Yiru was probably her stage name.

Bai Yanliang studied her appearance. Feng Yiru looked to be in her twenties, with long hair tied in a ponytail that gave her a lively air. She had a delicate oval face, wore little makeup, and had fine eyelashes, eyes as captivating as the stars, and lips curved in a faint smile. Her expression was gentle.

She was the kind of woman people liked at first sight.

Bai Yanliang quickly came to that conclusion.

Yang Yiyi was still chattering about Feng Yiru's achievements when Bai Yanliang had already gone inside.

"I'd like to buy a phone. The sturdiest, most reliable one you have, with the longest battery life."

The saleswoman was taken aback by his request and instinctively glanced at him.

Bai Yanliang smiled at her.

It had to be said that Bai Yanliang had the sort of looks women found appealing. To men, though, he seemed a little too gentle, not particularly masculine.

But when he actually fought, he never showed the slightest mercy.

"Y-yes, sir! Please wait a moment..."

His smile left the saleswoman flustered, and her cheeks turned red.

Yang Yiyi glared at Bai Yanliang. "Hey! Don't go smiling at people like that!"

"Why?" Bai Yanliang was genuinely puzzled this time. Wasn't that just basic politeness?

"First, it looks stupid! Second, people will think you're interested in them, got it?"

"Why are you going around warming everyone up? You're not a radiator."

"..."

Bai Yanliang was left speechless. Then he suddenly realized that he wasn't in a psychiatric hospital anymore... In today's society, it was normal to be a little colder and keep a more obvious distance from people.

"I understand."

Bai Yanliang nodded seriously.

Yang Yiyi raised her chin proudly, feeling that she'd rescued a man who was turning into a flirt.

It made no sense, since Bai Yanliang had never even been in a relationship, and besides... he wasn't in any position to think about things like that now.

The saleswoman soon brought over a phone. It was black all over and basically met Bai Yanliang's requirements.

He counted out a thick wad of cash, paid for it outright, and even got a SIM card while he was at it.

Yang Yiyi snatched the phone and saved her and Yang Wanlong's numbers in it.

After she handed it back, Bai Yanliang, under Yang Yiyi's bemused gaze, poked at the touchscreen one finger at a time and entered a string of numbers.

A group chat with thirty-six people appeared in a social media app.

Bai Yanliang tapped to join and entered his own name as the verification message.

His request was approved almost immediately, and the group's membership rose to thirty-seven.

Bai Yanliang thought about it briefly. It seemed that twelve people had died in the last Mist Gathering.

The dead had clearly been removed. Otherwise... there might have been hundreds of gray avatars here, forever unable to come online.

When Bai Yanliang joined, the others were in the middle of a conversation.

"So that's what happened. No wonder your casualties were so severe..."

"Su Qian, don't blame yourself too much. Who could have guessed the curse would begin before you'd even entered the Past World?"

"This is a warning to all of us. Once your name turns red, you have to watch what you say and do. The task has already begun..."

As Bai Yanliang read the messages as they appeared, he understood what they were discussing.

Everyone was piecing together what had happened to Yu Hanzhou's group.

The curse had begun the moment their names turned red. Bai Yanliang clearly remembered someone from the Polytechnic Affiliated Hospital calling Yu Hanzhou's name at the time. Yu Hanzhou hadn't turned around, but the others had looked back at her.

"That's terrifying... I keep thinking... if it were me... I might have turned around too."

After that message was sent, the group fell silent for a moment, until someone else spoke up.

"Qi Nian, you did great." The person who sent those five simple characters had a plain-looking man as their avatar, but the name beside it was Li Mu.

"Yeah! Qi Nian was amazing! Wasn't this the first time we've solved a survival task involving a vengeful ghost?!"

"Exactly. I never thought an inescapable ghost could be eliminated."

"I think... it was the rules. The rules of Mist Gathering. Whether it's us or the ghosts, we have no choice but to follow them."

"We weren't the ones who eliminated it. The rules did. We're still ordinary people. We don't have any superpowers."

"..."

Messages kept appearing now and then. Bai Yanliang skimmed through them quickly without saying a word.

Then a friend request appeared.

The verification message contained just three simple characters.

Feng Xiuxue.