Frightening Joke: Above the Mist
Chapter 181: Terrified

Chapter 181: Chapter 181: Terrified

Bai Yanliang put away his phone.

Realizing that the safe period in the control room was nearly over, he had just left the fifth floor and was preparing to go to the first basement when he saw Qi Nian being chased by a fierce ghost on the third floor.

She got lucky, the fierce ghost was some distance away from her, giving her room to escape, otherwise, Bai Yanliang wouldn’t have been able to help.

He hid in the shadows and quickly sent her a text message. Whether she believed it or not was up to her.

After doing all this, Bai Yanliang contentedly slipped to the first basement.

There were less than twenty minutes left until the hour ended, and this fierce ghost had just come up from the lower level. The safest place now was the first basement.

"Good luck."

Bai Yanliang looked up at the floors above and whispered.

...

The fact that there was really a slide between the floors on the fourth floor undoubtedly made Qi Nian overjoyed.

However, she dared not relax.

Climbing out of the slide, she immediately continued to flee.

She needed to get to the first basement!

Although Qi Nian was very scared, her mind remained clear. She saw firsthand on the first floor that the fierce ghost had come up from the first basement, which was enough to indicate that the first basement had just been searched, and its safety should be very high now.

It had to be said, Qi Nian’s idea was correct.

Unfortunately, reality wouldn’t be that smooth. She hadn’t had time to leave the second floor when she immediately heard a rustling sound from the slide pipe.

Qi Nian’s eyes widened suddenly; it found her!

It actually followed her down!

No, it’s too late to escape to the first basement now!

The footsteps couldn’t be concealed, it would chase her again, falling into a deadly cycle once more!

She had to hide... and the only place to hide was on the second floor.

Qi Nian desperately thought of a safe place, and suddenly, her eyes lit up.

That place is... the vent!

This place could work!

Qi Nian didn’t hesitate to crawl into the vent in the corner. This opening was extremely narrow, only she and Yang Mowan, females with a more petite build, could barely squeeze in.

This was definitely a good place!

Judging by the size ratio of the fierce ghost’s lower body she just saw, even if the ghost knew she was inside, it simply couldn’t get in!

Surviving a disaster often leaves one mentally exhausted and prone to slackening, but Qi Nian persisted in crawling deeper into the ventilation duct.

Because the ventilation duct was extremely dark, Qi Nian took out her phone and brightened the screen a bit for illumination.

At the same time, Qi Nian glanced at the time.

00:46

Fourteen minutes left to the agreed time to exchange "ghost".

What would happen then?

Would the ghost disappear?

Everything was unknown.

Qi Nian just wanted to survive at this moment.

At this point, as she kept crawling deeper into the ventilation duct, she suddenly stopped.

"Ding-a-ling——ding-a-ling——ding-a-ling——"

The continuous sound came from behind her!

It actually managed to get in!

Qi Nian’s face turned pale, almost despairing!

The duct was so narrow that she couldn’t even turn around; she could only desperately crawl forward!

Fortunately, the persistent bell sound behind wasn’t very fast. She still had a chance!

Qi Nian frantically crawled forward. The inside of the duct was damp and dirty, filled with cobwebs, and had a foul smell. Soon, filth clung all over Qi Nian, and her hair was also tangled in cobwebs, with little spiders continuously crawling on her face and body.

But Qi Nian dared not stop for a moment. At this moment, only two thoughts filled her mind: first, to crawl to another exit of the ventilation duct and escape quickly.

Second, to hold on for ten minutes, to last until the hour ended!

Both of these required her to continually push her physical limits.

However, what made Qi Nian despair.

Not only did she fail to find an exit, but the ventilation duct also showed signs of getting even narrower.

It was already very small, and if it continued to shrink... she wouldn’t be able to move another inch!

At that point, getting stuck in the ventilation duct, unable to move, she would become a lamb waiting to be slaughtered!

Having no choice, as she crawled forward, she turned her body sideways, moving little by little.

Her arms and flesh were constantly being pressed by the narrow duct walls, each movement caused a painful squeeze.

What was more terrifying was the steady ringing from behind...

"Ding-a-ling——ding-a-ling——"

Though it wasn’t fast, whenever Qi Nian thought about the fact that besides herself, there was a terrifying fierce ghost in the ventilation duct, she couldn’t help but have her scalp tingle.

Qi Nian bit her lip tightly; although her heart was pounding violently due to fear, she didn’t give up!

She kept crawling forward, every inch of movement brought her closer to survival.

Finally!

Maybe it’s true that heaven never seals off all exits!

Right then, the duct in front of Qi Nian suddenly split into... three paths!

Qi Nian was initially glad, then surprised.

Three paths...

Which one led to an exit?

Always calm, at this moment she felt somewhat directionless; this was a life-and-death decision!

The constant ringing behind her was like a death-knell, pounding her heart relentlessly.

"Calm... stay calm..."

"Carefully recall the structure of this building... I crawled in from the ventilation opening in the southwest corner of the second floor, following the normal design, another vent opening is most likely set on the opposite northeast corner..."

"Of these three paths, the one leaning towards the northeast is... this one!"

Qi Nian turned her head to look at the path on the far right, no longer hesitating, and immediately crawled in!

Suddenly, she stopped, turned on her phone’s light.

These forked paths were also useful for another purpose, which was to confuse the fierce ghost!

Qi Nian roughly estimated the ghost’s moving speed, set an alarm to go off in thirty seconds, and then threw her phone into the far-left ventilation path!

If the fierce ghost could be drawn to another path by the sudden ringing of the alarm, her chances of survival would greatly increase!

May it be successful...!

Qi Nian took a deep breath and continued to slowly crawl forward.

...

00:57

Only three minutes left.

Bai Yanliang hid under a fruit stand on the first basement floor, watching the time on his phone.

Then, he put away his phone and looked at the tragic corpse beside him.

Yuan Jie was dead.

His eyes were wide open, nearly bulging out of their sockets, his face was ashen.

His lower body was soaked, giving off a pungent smell.

He was scared to death.

Not even an hour had passed, and someone was already dead, which meant that in the original six-hour span, each person’s time as "ghost" was indirectly extended.

This was Bai Yanliang’s optimistic guess.

If Yuan Jie’s time was redistributed among others’ time as "ghost", that would already be a good scenario.

Bai Yanliang worried that... the void left by Yuan Jie’s death would be filled by a real fierce ghost...

They must find the hidden path to survival for this mission quickly...

"Hide and seek... playing hide and seek..."

Bai Yanliang sat beside the deceased Yuan Jie, frowning slightly.