Frightening Joke: Above the Mist

By the river bank, Bai Yanliang was following Xu Zhifei, walking towards Ghost Head Mountain.

Just recently, Xu Zhifei had fully understood those words himself.

Bai Yanren was the first lifeform in the Fog Realm to possess self-awareness, and the reason for his birth was because Meng Zhen, unwilling to be lonely after accidentally falling into the Fog Realm, sealed part of her memories into the unconscious "residue".

The strange thing was, for the residue, human memories were like a key. Bai Yanren, who obtained part of Meng Zhen's memories, first broke through the limits of lifespan—it no longer lived a brief and fleeting life.

Then, as Meng Zhen talked to him day after day, Bai Yanren's self-awareness gradually became complete.

"Later, Zhou Tian projected his consciousness into the Fog Realm and informed Meng Zhen to eliminate Bai Yanren, because Bai Yanren was a monster who shouldn't exist in either the Fog Realm or the Mortal World, he was an accident."

As Xu Zhifei walked, he spoke slowly.

"Zhou Tian's research on them was thorough; although the name residue originated from Bai Yanren, perhaps even Bai Yanren himself didn't understand it better than Zhou Tian."

"The residue of the Fog Realm is the fruit that the Mother Tree condenses from the negative emotions overflowing from humans."

"For example... they are like cotton candy, just without the stick. The sugar threads form and then scatter swiftly, disappearing after a short while."

"But the emergence of self-awareness means that the cotton candy has a stick to wrap around, allowing it to quickly condense and form, not dispersing like the sugar threads."

"Therefore, Zhou Tian believed that the way to eliminate Bai Yanren was to pull out that stick again. However, that is the most ideal method. According to him, as long as they could tamper with Bai Yanren's self-awareness, he would revert to the state of a residue, unable to grow any further."

"The first step is to retrieve the part of Meng Zhen's memory that Bai Yanren absorbed into himself."

At this point, the two of them had reached Ghost Head Mountain.

This mountain, standing in the center of the city, was extremely eerie. Amidst waist-high weeds, there was only a small path tinged with a bloody hue by the scarlet sky, winding up to the mountaintop.

Occasionally, mysterious hints of color peeked through the grass leaves, shimmering with the colors of the sky due to the dew on the grass.

Bai Yanliang and Xu Zhifei walked slowly, progressing along the winding mountain path. This path... seemed longer than they had imagined, with the reflection of the giant tree in the sky drawing closer, but neither Bai Yanliang nor Xu Zhifei appeared to be in a hurry.

"This is the place where Zhou Tian projected his consciousness into the Fog Realm."

Xu Zhifei slowed his steps. The surroundings were deathly silent, with no sounds of insects or birds, and the tall trees stood loosely around, laboriously holding up their crowns. Under the scarlet sky and the shadow of the massive Mother Tree, the colors of black and red seemed about to overflow.

"The first step of the plan was executed smoothly. Bai Yanren, who had just formed self-awareness, had no intention of defending against his mother. He allowed Meng Zhen to take away that part of the memory. In truth, he no longer needed that part of the memory; his consciousness already existed, the door had been opened, and whether the key was still there was irrelevant."

Bai Yanliang and Xu Zhifei eventually climbed to the top of the mountain.

Ghost Head Mountain...

An inexplicable fear spontaneously surfaced from the depths of the heart.

Bai Yanliang felt this unfamiliar emotion from his heart and couldn't help but look around.

The wind had somehow turned wild, with black-red leaden clouds slowly and turbulently piling up, like waves surging across the sky.

The abandoned building on Ghost Head Mountain formed a stark boundary with the ominous sky. The sky over Ye City seemed like it was about to crush this fragile world, with its severely disproportionate "composition" creating a spine-chilling oppressive atmosphere over Ye City.

"After the first step was completed, the second step was to pull away that stick..." she looked at Bai Yanliang, "However, Meng Zhen failed."

"In the end, she was just a human. She didn't know how to remove or disperse an already formed self-awareness."

Xu Zhifei's voice was very soft, but sudden images flashed sharply through Bai Yanliang's mind.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

"But you... are really terrifying..."

"I'm sorry..."

That woman... Was it Meng Zhen?

Yes...

It was Meng Zhen.

But why did I have fragments of those events from back then?

"Did you see it?" Xu Zhifei asked.

Bai Yanliang clutched his head, not answering.

The strong wind tousled his hair, but at this moment, his mind was even more chaotic.

Yet Xu Zhifei didn't stop for a moment.

"Meng Zhen tried to kill the consciousness known as Bai Yanren, but she failed; she was just a human and couldn't accomplish such a thing."

"And this failed attempt also made Bai Yanren, who originally had no guard against Meng Zhen, realize that this woman who gave him real life seemed to want to kill him."

"And so..." Xu Zhifei deeply glanced at Bai Yanliang.

"Bai Yanren split his hard-earned self-awareness into two using the abilities of the Fog Realm lifeforms."

"The other him that was separated was a deliberate backup he left behind. That backup had no emotions, only reason."

Bai Yanliang painfully clutched his head; he remembered...

He remembered everything.

He was Bai Yanren...

No...

He was Bai Yanliang!

No...

He was a Fog Realm lifeform.

The first being in the Fog Realm to develop self-awareness.

What happens next, Bai Yanliang already remembered everything, without Xu Zhifei needing to say more.

But Xu Zhifei slowly continued:

"Meng Zhen successfully took the memory the first time, but in the second attempt to seize the consciousness, she failed, making Bai Yanren cautious and splitting his consciousness into two, creating an almost blank backup. At this point, after listening to Zhou Tian, Meng Zhen began the third operation."

"Since self-awareness cannot be taken away, then... disrupt his self-recognition, like sticking another stick into the cotton candy. Though the cotton candy can still form, holding it unsteadily in hand makes the other stick tear the entire cotton candy apart."

"And the best way to disrupt someone's self-recognition is to recreate another him."

"Which means having two Bai Yanrens existing in one body."

Bai Yanliang understood everything...

No wonder, in the key space under the Moon Sea, there was still a brother, and that brother was the one in Bai Yanliang's memories.

It turned out... the brother was locked there by another "brother".

"As for me..."

Xu Zhifei's voice abruptly halted, and for the first time, her gaze showed a clear emotional fluctuation.

"You've thought so long ago, haven't you... You thought... that I am very similar to you."

Bai Yanliang suddenly realized something.

Indeed, Xu Zhifei laughed for the first time.

The fierce wind blew her long dress and black hair, her voice floating in the wind: "I am the second... Created by Zhou Tian and Meng Zhen, the residue that stored her memories."