Global Ghost Stories: I'm Investigating Ghosts in My Nightmare!

Chapter 111 Refusal of Rest
"yes……"

Bai Yu slowly raised her lowered eyelids, and her pupils, which had been somewhat unfocused due to the mental pressure, now refocused with a sharp, needle-like light in the dark passage.

"If I give up regret, then everything I have experienced and everything I have carried will become meaningless."

His voice wasn't loud, but on this deathly silent "Path of Regret," where even the dust seemed to fall audibly, it was like a resounding bell, causing the countless phantoms of the dead within the amber walls on either side to tremble.

"That regret is not my weakness."

Bai Yu slowly straightened his spine. His knees, which had been bent by an invisible force, emitted a tooth-grinding sound of bones grinding together. But he was like a towering peak rising from the ground, resisting the oppressive force of the rules emanating from the entire space without yielding an inch.

"It is proof of my existence."

"It is my motivation to keep going."

"It is a part of me!"

boom--!
As Bai Yu's final low growl faded, the once parched and cracked ocean deep within his soul seemed to be infused with scalding magma. It wasn't a gift from the outside, but rather a manifestation of the awakening and eruption of his self-awareness.

Hei Yan's elegant yet wicked laughter echoed in his mind, tinged with a satisfied arrogance: "That's right, my dear Xiao Baiyu. Remember this feeling: pain is nourishment, regret is firewood. Only by burning them can you light your own torch in this void of darkness!"

"Give it to me...break it!"

Bai Yu suddenly took a step forward.

This step felt as if it had shattered some invisible shackle.

Click——click——

Countless fine cracks suddenly appeared on the walls made of translucent amber material surrounding them. The distorted figures sealed within, silently wailing at Bai Yu and trying to blackmail him with their emotions—the faces of his parents who died tragically, the desperate eyes of his teammates, the weeping face of Lu Yueqi—all froze at that moment.

Like shoddy actors whose tricks have been exposed, the sadness and despair on their faces froze instantly, and then, as the wall collapsed, they turned into gray dust that filled the sky.

The immense pressure that had been trying to crush Bai Yu's soul vanished in an instant.

The tall, blurry figure of the "guide" standing at the end of the passage visibly swayed. The light on his faceless mask, which only had two orbs of eerie blue light, flickered violently, as if he couldn't comprehend what was happening before him.

“...You...rejected...Anning…”

The guide's voice was still old and hoarse, but now it trembled with a hint of exasperation.

"...You chose...pain...you chose...a...endless...path of thorns..."

“Peace?” Bai Yu looked at him coldly, a mocking smile on her lips that was exactly the same as Hei Yan’s. “That kind of peace is gained through forgetting and self-deception. It’s called numbness. And I don’t need it.”

He stepped forward again, and this time, nothing could stop him.

He approached the guide step by step, and the aura emanating from him actually suppressed the rules of this strange space. It was a pure sharpness forged by absolute reason and unwavering belief, which even made the cold aura of the "Yellow Springs" retreat.

“...Heretic...You are...a heretic…”

The bronze lantern in the guide's hand shook violently, and the ever-burning, eerie blue flame began to dim, as if it had encountered a natural enemy. He kept retreating, seemingly trying to escape Bai Yu, this terrifying "variable."

"Step aside."

Bai only said two words.

Simple, direct, and unquestionable.

He didn't attack; the sheer force of his will caused the Guide's body, composed of shadows and rules, to begin to crumble.

"...You...you will...regret it..."

The guide let out a final, mournful curse, and then his body crumbled and dissipated like sand scattered by the wind.

As the last glimmer of blue light faded, a black card drifted down from mid-air.

Bai Yu reached out and caught it.

That was his train ticket.

The inscription on the back, originally reading "Next Stop: The Path to the Underworld," is undergoing a bizarre transformation. The crimson ink writhes and recombines like a living thing, eventually forming a new and even more unsettling line of text.

Next stop: The Wasteland of No Return

“The Wasteland of No Return…” Bai Yu murmured the name, his eyes narrowing slightly. “It seems this journey will be longer than I imagined.”

“It’s more interesting when it’s long, isn’t it?” Hei Yan’s voice rang in his mind, with a hint of lazy comfort. “If you could see the whole thing at a glance, this show would be too boring. Let’s go, let me see what kind of crude tricks this so-called ‘Yellow Springs’ is hiding.”

Bai Yu put away the ticket, looked past the spot where the guide had disappeared, and gazed at the end of the passage.

There, the once impenetrable darkness was slowly receding, revealing a dilapidated iron gate. Behind the gate lay a vast, gray world, seemingly shrouded in perpetual mist.

He pushed open the iron gate, making a teeth-grinding creaking sound.

The moment I stepped out of the passage, my vision opened up, but what followed was an atmosphere that was even more desolate and lifeless than before.

This is not the legendary paradise where the red spider lily blooms, but more like a junkyard abandoned by the world.

The sky remained that oppressive purplish-black, devoid of sun, moon, and stars, with only a few pale, scar-like cracks stretching across the horizon, occasionally letting out wisps of gray mist.

The ground was black permafrost, as hard as iron, scattered with dead trees and huge rocks. But even more striking among these natural features were the ruins, riddled with man-made traces.

The broken railway tracks snaked into the distance like a dead snake, an old-fashioned platform half-buried in the ground, collapsed signal light poles, and even several rusted carriages overturned by the roadside...

This place looks like a huge, abandoned railway hub, or the ruins of some kind of massive disaster.

"This is... the Wasteland of No Return?"

Bai Yu looked around, a strange sense of familiarity rising in his heart. This style was in line with the previous "Kisaragi Station," full of the gloomy, damp, and forgotten horror aesthetics of Japanese urban legends.

"Be careful." Hei Yan suddenly spoke up, his tone less playful and more serious. "There's not only the suppression of rules here, but also... the flavor of 'diners'."

"A diner?"

Just as Bai Yu was wondering about this, a soft, rustling sound, like a mouse gnawing on a bone, drifted into his ears on the cold wind.

Click... Click...

The sound came from behind an abandoned train carriage not far away.

Bai Yu immediately lowered his body and, using a boulder as cover, silently approached.

As he walked around the carriage, the sight before him made his pupils shrink slightly.

In the shadows crouched a humanoid monster.

It has a human torso, but its limbs are abnormally long and thin, and its skin is a sickly grayish-white, covered with black spots and pustules. Its head has no eyes or nose, only a huge vertical mouth that takes up half of its face, filled with densely packed, sharp, fine teeth.

At this moment, the monster was lying on a blurry humanoid ball of light, frantically devouring it.

That ball of light... is a soul.

A broken soul, lost here, devoid of self-awareness, left only with instincts.

As the monster devoured it, the orb of light emitted a faint, silent scream. The light grew dimmer and dimmer until it finally went out completely, turning into a wisp of smoke and dissipating into the air.

“Scavengers,” Hei Yan coldly defined them, “or call them ‘Memory Eaters.’ They specialize in cleaning up the remnants of souls that have been lost in this space for too long and have lost their value. They feed on memories and emotions; though primitive, they have good teeth.”

Seemingly sensing the presence of a living being, the monster abruptly stopped eating.

It slowly turned its head, and on its featureless face, a huge vertical mouth opened slightly, and a long, scarlet tongue darted out, greedily capturing the "fresh" scent emanating from the white language in the air.

"hiss--!"

The monster let out a piercing screech, and pounced on Bai Yu like a spider, its four limbs on the ground!

Extremely fast!

In the blink of an eye, it had already covered a distance of more than ten meters, and its huge mouth full of sharp teeth was heading straight for Bai Yu's throat!
Bai Yu's eyes sharpened.

Although his power was suppressed, his physical attributes and combat experience remained.

Turn sideways and slide.

He narrowly avoided the monster's attack, and at the same time, his right hand instinctively reached for his waist—where he usually wore his tactical knife.

I felt empty.

He was dressed in ordinary casual clothes and had no weapons.

"cut."

Bai Yu cursed under his breath and kicked the monster in the side.

boom!
The sensation was like kicking a piece of hard, frozen flesh. The monster was sent flying, rolling several times on the ground, but quickly got up unharmed. Instead, it became even more ferocious and pounced again.

This time, it was faster and its attack was more ferocious.

"Fool." Hei Yan's voice carried a hint of disappointment. "This is a world of consciousness and rules; physical attacks are negligible. Use your will! Use the methods I've taught you!"

"What do I do?" Bai Yu asked in his mind as he dodged the monster's claws in a disheveled manner.

"Imagine it as your prey. Imagine your will is stronger than its, more greedy, more...hungry!" Black Words' voice was full of seduction. "It is a 'diner'? No, before my host, it is only fit to be 'food'!"

Bai Yu's heart skipped a beat.

hunger……

He recalled the feeling he had when he used the power of "Void" in "Happy Paradise"—that domineering power that devoured and erased everything.

Although the power of "nothingness" is currently suppressed and cannot be released externally, he can internalize this concept and attach it to his attacks!
The monster pounced again, its sharp claws tearing through the air, aiming straight for Bai Yu's heart.

This time, Bai Yu did not dodge.

He stood still, his eyes fixed on the monster's movements. He took a deep breath and frantically compressed and concentrated the thoughts of "nothingness" and "devouring" in his mind onto his right hand.

His right hand instantly turned as black as ink, as if he were wearing a glove woven from shadows, radiating a chilling aura.

"die!"

Just as the claws were about to touch his chest, Bai Yu suddenly reached out his right hand and, with incredible precision, grabbed the edge of the monster's vertical mouth!
"hiss?!"

The monster let out a terrified scream. It sensed an aura of a predator far more terrifying and advanced than itself, rushing wildly into its body through that hand!

That wasn't physical force; it was a conceptual crushing defeat!

“给me… … “Go down!”

Bai Yu let out a low roar and suddenly exerted force with his right hand, slamming the monster hard onto the ground!
Zizzi——!
The moment the monster's body touched Bai Yu's right hand, it was like ice and snow meeting a hot iron, emitting puffs of black smoke and letting out a shrill scream. Its tough flesh was rapidly melting and disintegrating, turning into streams of pure energy that flowed back into Bai Yu's body through his arm.

That feeling... was like a thirsty traveler finally drinking sweet rain.

Bai Yu felt that his originally parched sea of ​​soul was actually rippled by the infusion of this energy. The suppressed power loosened a crack.

In just a few seconds, the ferocious "Memory Eater" was reduced to a pool of black ash by Bai Yu's hands and disappeared completely.

Bai Yu slowly stood up, looking at her right hand that was gradually returning to normal, a strange light flashing in her eyes.

"Is this... how you fight in this world?"

“Not bad, you learn very quickly,” Hei Yan praised. “Here, willpower is power, and concepts are weapons. The more you believe you can devour it, the more likely you are to succeed. Of course, the prerequisite is that your soul essence must be higher than the other party’s. And as my host, your status in this dilapidated place is that of a king.”

Bai Yu clenched his fist, feeling the faint but real increase in power within his body. This instant feedback, like leveling up in a game, eased his previously heavy mood somewhat. Now that there was a way to restore his power, this desperate situation was no longer a dead end.

"Just keep walking."

Bai Yu straightened his disheveled collar and cast his gaze into the depths of the wasteland.

There, a broken railway track can be vaguely seen, leading to the deepest part of the mist.

The journey that followed was not peaceful.

This "no-return wasteland" is like a huge hunting ground, teeming with all sorts of monsters transformed from obsessions and remnants of souls.

There are "Jorōgumo" who has the upper body of a beautiful woman and the lower body of a centipede, and specializes in using illusions to confuse passersby; there are "Shadow Demons" who hide under abandoned streetlights and attack whenever their shadows overlap; and there are "Rattlebirds" that fly in flocks like crows, circling in the air and making piercing noises to disturb the mind.

But for Bai Yu, who has already mastered the art of "devouring," these monsters are no longer a threat, but rather walking "supplies."

He marched forward, fighting and killing his way through.

In each battle, his movements became more concise, and his use of power more skillful. He was no longer passively defensive, but actively offensive. The black void power in his hands was unpredictable, sometimes transforming into a sharp blade to sever enemy heads, sometimes into a shield to block attacks, and sometimes into a vortex to devour everything.

His soul power recovered rapidly through constant battles, and although it was still far from his peak, it was enough to deal with most crises.

During this long period of killing and progress, he also discovered some strange things.

He found a notebook that was half burned under a collapsed signal tower.

The notebook was made of a special material, seemingly waterproof and fireproof. He opened it and looked inside; although the handwriting was messy, it was still legible as Chinese.

"...The third day. The fog here is getting thicker and thicker. The compass is completely malfunctioning. I saw that thing...that huge door...it's breathing..."

"...The fifth day. I shouldn't have eaten those fruits. My memory is fading. I'm almost forgetting my daughter's name...Xiaoyu...Xiaoyu..."

"...The seventh day. I must write this down. That man...that man in the white coat...he went deeper into the area. He seemed to know the way. He was holding that...glowing thing..."

Upon seeing this, Bai Yu's fingers tightened suddenly.

A man in a white coat... something glowing...

Lu Yuanshan!
This is definitely a clue about Lu Yuanshan!

That "glowing thing" is very likely another "sexandrite", or a similar "key"!
"It seems I've found the right direction."

Bai Yu carefully put the notebook away, her eyes shining even brighter.

Lu Yuanshan had not only been here before, but was also venturing deeper into the area. This meant that as long as one followed this path, one would surely find him, or find the "Gate of the Rift".

He quickened his pace.

As you go deeper, the surrounding scenery begins to change.

The ruins grew increasingly dense, and the architectural styles became increasingly bizarre. Some resembled ancient temples, others futuristic factories, and still others were nests entirely constructed of twisted flesh and machinery. These buildings from different eras and styles were piled together haphazardly, forming a vast, labyrinthine urban ruin.

In the center of the ruins, a towering black spire can be vaguely seen, its top shimmering with an eerie red light, like a giant eye overlooking the entire wasteland.

That should be the core of this area.

Just as Bai Yu was about to enter the city ruins, a melodious yet sorrowful flute melody suddenly came from the mist ahead.

The flute's mournful melody, like weeping and lamenting, possessed a soul-piercing magic that compelled people to stop and immerse themselves in its sorrow.

Bai Yu paused, looking ahead warily.

The fog lifted, revealing the true face of the obstacle blocking the way.

It wasn't some hideous monster.

Instead, he was a boy dressed in a plain white theatrical costume, with exquisite makeup on his face, who looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old.

He sat on a broken stone tablet, holding a jade flute horizontally in his hand, and was playing it with his eyes closed.

Dozens of translucent ghosts surrounded him. These ghosts were not aggressive; they simply floated quietly around the boy, their faces showing a blissful and peaceful expression, as if listening to celestial music.

As the flute music rose and fell, the figures of these ghosts grew fainter and fainter, eventually turning into specks of light and dissipating into the air.

He was...performing a ritual for the deceased?
A flicker of surprise crossed Bai Yu's mind. In this world filled with devouring and slaughter, how could anyone actually do such a thing?

The song is over.

The boy slowly put down the jade flute and opened his eyes.

Those were eyes so pure they contained not a trace of impurity, yet so profound they seemed to have seen through the vicissitudes of life.

He looked at Bai Yu and gave her a gentle smile.

Are you lost too, traveler from afar?

His voice was clear and pleasant, and he spoke standard Chinese.

Bai Yu remained vigilant; in this godforsaken place, the more harmless something seemed, the more dangerous it often was.

"Who are you?" Bai Yu asked coldly.

"Me?" The boy tilted his head, seemingly pondering the question. "I've long forgotten my name. The souls here all call me 'The Undertaker.' I'm just... a gravedigger who doesn't want to watch everyone turn into monsters."

Funeral procession.

Bai Yu's gaze swept over the dissipating fluorescent lights around him, and he began to believe it more.

"Do you know where this road leads?" Bai Yu pointed to the black spire in front of them.

The boy followed his finger, and the gentleness in his eyes vanished instantly, replaced by deep apprehension and fear.

“That’s the ‘Wangchuan Station’,” the boy said softly. “All the souls lost in this wasteland will eventually be drawn there. But… there is no salvation there, only eternal enslavement.”

“Wangchuan Station…” Bai Yu’s heart stirred. This name was vaguely related to the destination on the timetable. “I’m going there.”

"Go there?" The boy looked at him in surprise. "Why? That's a forbidden zone for the living. Guardians there are the 'Facestealers.' They'll peel off your face, steal your identity, and turn you into a mask on their shelf."

“The Face-Stealer…” Bai Yu recalled the “Shadow Ghost” and “Ticket Inspector” he had encountered before. It seemed that the monsters in this world liked to play with identities and their sense of presence.

“I have a reason to go there,” Bai Yu said firmly. “I’m looking for a person, or a door.”

The boy was silent for a moment, then looked Bai Yu over again, as if he saw some unusual quality in him.

“You… smell of a ‘key’,” the boy suddenly said. “It’s faint, but I can smell it. It’s… the smell of hope.”

He stood up and dusted himself off.

“Since you insist on going, I won’t stop you. However, the road ahead is blocked by the ‘bewitching fog.’ Without guidance, you’ll be going around in circles forever.”

The boy took a small paper lantern from his pocket and handed it to Bai Yu.

A white flame burned inside the lantern, emitting a warm glow.

“Take this. This is a ‘soul-guiding lamp’ lit with the last bit of goodness left behind by those purified souls. It can help you illuminate the true path and dispel the fog.”

Bai Yu took the lantern; its warmth brought a sliver of feeling back to his cold fingers.

"Why are you helping me?" Bai Yu asked.

The boy smiled and picked up the jade flute again.

"Because I also want to see... at the end of this desolate wasteland, whether there really is... an exit."

After saying that, he ignored Bai Yu and started playing the mournful flute again.

The melodious sound of the flute accompanied Bai Yu's footsteps as he walked further and further away.

With the guidance of the Soul-Guiding Lamp, the path ahead indeed became clear. The thick, wall-like mist dissipated under the white light, revealing a road leading straight to the black spire.

Bai Yu sped up.

About half an hour later, he finally arrived at the center of the huge city ruins.

A magnificent yet eerie train station stood before him.

The station, constructed entirely of black metal and white bone, resembles a colossal beast with its mouth wide open. Above the station hangs a huge plaque with three large characters written in blood-stained script—

【Wangchuan Station】

There were no guards at the entrance to the station.

There was only a solitary figure, standing quietly with its back to him.

The figure was wearing a worn-out white research coat. Although he was somewhat hunched over, he exuded a calm and steady aura, like a mountain.

Bai Yu suddenly stopped in her tracks.

His heart pounded violently in his chest, and his breathing became rapid.

That dress...that figure...

It was exactly the same as the one he saw in the file photo!
"Senior Lu...?"

Bai Yu tentatively called out, her voice somewhat hoarse.

The figure trembled slightly.

Then, he slowly turned around.

The moment Bai Yu saw that face clearly, he felt a chill run from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.

That was indeed Lu Yuanshan's face.

Refined, weathered, and wearing gold-rimmed glasses.

but……

He has no eyes on his face.

In the eye sockets, there were only two bottomless black holes, from which black mucus flowed continuously.

His mouth was tightly sewn shut with rough stitches, forming a bizarre cross.

He looked at Bai Yu, or rather, he "stared" at Bai Yu with those two black holes.

Then, a strange voice, seemingly from the depths of hell and composed of countless overlapping voices, exploded directly in Bai Yu's mind.

"...You...are you also going to...hand over...your...face?..."

Before he finished speaking, the face of "Lu Yuanshan" suddenly split open from the middle, rolling outwards like flower petals to reveal a faceless face that was completely made of mirrors and as smooth as new!
Bai Yu's astonished expression was clearly reflected in the mirror.

The next second, the mirror-like face let out a sharp, maniacal laugh and pounced on Bai Yu!

This is not Lu Yuanshan!

This is... the Facebreaker!
Bai Yu's eyes flashed, and he instantly pulled the Soul-Guiding Lamp into his pocket. The dark power of nothingness wrapped around his right hand again, and he slammed it fiercely towards the terrifying monster!

The battle is about to break out!
(End of this chapter)