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

Chapter 160: The Finale
The wind on the terrace vanished completely at that moment.

It's not that the wind has stopped, but rather that the air itself has lost the right to flow under the suppression of the "final rule".

The crack in the blood moon, like a cold, emotionless eye, coldly surveyed this absurd sanatorium. The black substance overflowing from the crack was not mist, but a substance called "nothingness." Wherever it passed, whether it was the solid concrete fence or the abandoned iron water tank, everything vanished instantly, leaving not even a speck of dust.

"Mo Fei, adjust the frequency to 3.4 Hz, don't pull it forcefully!"

Lance's voice came through the headset; although it trembled slightly, his commands remained precise.

Mo Fei knelt behind An Mu, his combat uniform riddled with holes from the black mist corroding his arms. The black tentacles, like living parasites, were burrowing into his skin through his fingers. But he did not back down; his eyes held an unprecedented composure.

He didn't swing the high-frequency battle axe in his hand, but instead pressed the axe head tightly against the main tentacle connecting Anmu's spine.

hum-

The tomahawk began to vibrate at a very low speed with an extremely small amplitude. This vibration was not intended to destroy the physical structure, but rather to simulate a kind of "repulsion logic".

"I know... this thing feeds on 'connections'."

Mo Fei gritted his teeth, the veins on his forehead throbbing like earthworms.

"It wants to connect the captain to this sphere... then I'll create an 'incompatible' breakpoint for it!"

As Mo Fei moved, a strange ripple appeared on the main tentacle. The tentacle seemed to sense discomfort and began to writhe violently, its suckers leaving several deep, bone-revealing gashes on An Mu's back.

"Lan Ce, now's the time!"

Mo Fei roared.

Not far away, Lan Ce's hands flew across the virtual keyboard floating in the air. The three "Nightingale" high-frequency jammers were already operating at overload, forming a pale blue, semi-transparent shield around An Mu.

"The remaining energy of 'Iron Wall Monarchy' has been fully connected... The logic isolation field has been activated!"

Countless green codes flashed rapidly across Lance's glasses.

"Bai Yu, you only have three seconds! After three seconds, the isolation area will be directly erased by the 'Termination Rule'!"

Bai Yu moved.

His figure transformed into a silver streak of light at that moment.

He ignored the terrifying black sphere above his head, and he didn't look at the eerie bride in red. His eyes were fixed only on the rusty scalpel and the constantly pulsating logical connection point on Anmu's back.

"Hei Yan, rein in your greed."

Bai Yu said coldly to himself.

"It's not time yet."

"Hehe, Bai Yu, you're always so boring. But... the 'healing' rules within this knife are indeed an interesting little thing."

Hei Yan's voice echoed in Bai Yu's mind, carrying a hint of elegant mockery.

The scalpel in Bai Yu's hand, enveloped in silver light, began to peel away its surface rust, revealing a crystal-clear blade inside.

This strike was not a slash.

It is a precise "stitching".

Bai Yu's figure instantly appeared behind An Mu, and the scalpel drew an arc, directly piercing into the crack where the tentacle met An Mu's skin.

"Rule Explanation: Life Extension."

Bai Yu's right eye was instantly filled with silver light, and even a trace of blood seeped from the corner of her eye.

In his vision, Anmu's vitality was pouring into the black sphere like a flood bursting its banks. And the role of this scalpel was to forcibly build a "sluice gate" in this flood.

puff.

There was no violent explosion, only a slight sound.

It's like cutting a taut string.

The main tentacle connecting Anmu trembled violently, then withered and turned black as if it had lost its life force, finally turning into a pool of foul-smelling liquid.

"withdraw!"

Bai Yu grabbed An Mu's shoulder with her backhand and shoved him backward forcefully.

With perfect coordination, Mo Fei reached out his giant hand and steadily caught the exhausted An Mu. Then, like a bull, he pushed against the remnants of the isolation field that Lan Ce had erected and frantically retreated to the edge of the terrace.

boom!
Almost the instant they retreated, a black beam of light descended from the Blood Moon Crack, piercing directly through the spot where they had just stood.

That space simply vanished.

A large hole was carved out of the terrace, revealing the dark building structure below.

"Huh...huh..."

Mo Fei leaned An Mu against the water tank, panting heavily. His hands were a bloody mess, and you could even see the finger bones underneath, but he just tore off a strip of cloth and wrapped it around them, his eyes still fixed on the front.

"Captain, wake up!"

An Mu slowly opened his eyes, his once dignified gaze now appearing somewhat unfocused.

"Bai Yu... Mo Fei... Lan Ce..."

He managed to utter a few words, his voice terribly hoarse.

“You…shouldn’t have come in. The ‘end’ here…is irreversible.”

"Nothing is irreversible."

Bai Yu stood in front of the three people, his scalpel pointing diagonally at the ground.

His gaze passed over the shrinking black sphere and finally landed on the red-clad bride who had been standing quietly.

The bride moved.

She held up the red oil-paper umbrella, her toes about three inches off the ground, and slowly floated towards them.

As she approached, the dilapidated scene on the terrace began to change.

On the black, scorched earth, pale white paper flowers bloomed.

In the rotting air, the faint sound of suona horns, both festive and eerie, could be heard.

"Red makeup... the ceremony is complete..."

A clear and repetitive voice resounded directly in everyone's mental world.

"Lan Ce, analyze her rules!"

Bai Yu said in a deep voice.

Lance was covered in sweat; his tablet had shattered in the impact, but he pulled out a spare handheld detector from his pocket.

"No...her energy fluctuations are completely outside the known categories!"

Lan Ce's voice carried a hint of fear.

“Bai Yu, she is not a nightmare… she is like a vessel for a ‘ritual’! The space around her is being forcibly transformed into a ‘chapel.’ In this hall, all physical laws have been replaced by ‘marriage rules’!”

"Marriage rules?"

Mo Fei gripped his battle axe and stood in front of An Mu.

"What do you mean? Who does she want to marry?"

"It's not that simple."

Bai Yu stared intently at the paper flowers spreading beneath her feet.

“In some evil rituals in ancient times, ‘wedding’ often represented ‘sacrifice’. The groom was the offering, the bride was the guide, and the ‘mountain god’... was the witness of the wedding.”

The bride stopped five steps away from Bai Yu.

She tilted her head slightly, and in the shadows beneath the veil, it seemed as if a pair of eyes were scrutinizing Bai Yu.

"You...you smell like him."

The bride spoke again, and this time, her voice carried a hint of doubt and... nostalgia.

Bai Yu sensed that Hei Yan within her body had suddenly fallen into an eerie silence.

That silence wasn't repression, but rather a kind of scrutiny similar to that after a reunion with an old friend.

"Bai Yu, give her the knife."

Hei Yan's voice suddenly became unusually serious.

"what?"

Bai Yu was taken aback.

"Give her that scalpel."

Hei Yan repeated himself.

“This is the bargaining chip. Believe me, if you don’t give it to her, we will all be wiped out by the ‘Termination Rule’ within ten seconds. That red bride is the only one who can communicate with the ‘Mountain God’ in this ceremony.”

Bai Yu did not hesitate.

He knew very well that although Hei Yan had a twisted personality, he never failed when it came to matters of survival.

With a flick of his wrist, he threw the gleaming silver scalpel at the bride in red.

Upon seeing this, Mo Fei's pupils contracted.

"Old Bai! Are you crazy? That's our only means of restraint!"

"Shut up, Mo Fei. Listen to me."

Bai Yu did not turn around; his gaze remained fixed on the bride.

The bride reached out her pale, jade-like hand and steadily caught the scalpel.

The moment her fingertips touched the handle of the scalpel, the silver light on the blade was instantly stained a blinding blood red.

The bride let out a soft laugh.

The laughter was filled with mockery, yet tinged with a hint of desolation.

"Cure...?"

She murmured to herself, then suddenly plunged the scalpel into her chest.

"Watch out!" Lan Ce exclaimed.

However, the expected splatter of blood did not occur.

Instead, countless golden threads emerged from the wound on the bride's chest.

These threads spread rapidly, intertwining with the black "nothingness" hanging from the sky.

The rules of destruction that were originally meant to destroy everything began to slow down after coming into contact with these golden threads, and were even forcibly guided towards the void outside the terrace.

"She's... modifying the goals of the ritual?"

Bai Yu keenly noticed the change.

"She shifted the target of her 'sacrifice' from us to herself!"

The black sphere in the sky seemed to be enraged.

It contracted violently, then suddenly burst forth with a black ripple that covered the entire terrace.

"Mo Fei! Defend!"

He shouted in Bai language.

Mo Fei roared, crossed his two axes, and squeezed all the Nightmare Power in his body to the limit.

"Iron Wall... Immovable as a mountain!"

A thick, metallic gray barrier instantly enveloped the four of them.

boom!
The black ripples crashed against the barrier, producing a deafening roar.

Mo Fei's legs sank directly into the terrace floor, blood flowing from his seven orifices, but he held on tightly to the axe handle, not retreating an inch.

Lanze wasn't idle either; he threw out all the chaff and flares at once, trying to disrupt the energy structure of the ripples.

Bai Yu closed his eyes at that moment.

"Black Words, lend me your power. I want to see through the core of that sphere."

"As you wish, my... contractor."

Bai Yu's consciousness instantly soared.

He saw a blurry shadow sitting in the center of that black sphere.

The shadow looked exactly like Bai Yu, but its entire body was made up of black, withered branches.

That was the projection of the "Mountain God" in this world, and also Bai Yu's "fate" that was predetermined thirty years ago.

"It turns out, I was the real 'groom' all along."

Bai Yu chuckled to herself inwardly.

He opened his eyes, and the silver light in his right eye had turned into an almost transparent nothingness.

He looked at the bride in red.

The bride was now almost completely wrapped in golden threads, and her body was gradually becoming transparent.

"Ah Wan... is that you?"

Bai Yu asked softly.

The bride did not answer, but the red umbrella in her hand suddenly flew out and spun towards Bai Yu.

"Take it...and go..."

The red umbrella landed in Bai Yu's hand, and a warm and pure energy instantly flowed through his entire body, repairing his damaged soul.

"Go? Where to?"

Bai Yu gripped the red umbrella tightly, a fierce glint in her eyes.

"Mo Fei, Lan Ce, lead the captain! Follow the direction indicated by the red umbrella, there's a passage there!"

"What about you?"

Mo Fei asked while coughing up blood.

"I'm going to kill that 'wedding officiant'."

After Bai Yu finished speaking, he leaped forward and charged directly towards the black sphere.

"Old White!"

Mo Fei tried to rush over, but Lan Ce held him back tightly.

"Listen to him! The passage opened by the red umbrella can only last for thirty seconds! Let's go!"

Although Lan Ce's eyes were red, he remained absolutely rational. He carried the weakened An Mu on his back and pushed Mo Fei toward a crack indicated by the light of the red umbrella.

The moment the three disappeared into the crack, Bai Yu had already rushed to the front of the black sphere.

He did not use any weapons.

He simply reached out and gently pressed his hand on the surface of the sphere.

"You said the mountain god is thirsty."

Bai Yu's voice sounded exceptionally clear amidst the raging energy storm.

"Then I'll give you... what you desire most."

Deep within Baiyu's soul, Heiyan let out an excited roar.

"Rule Analysis: Void Sharing!"

Bai Yu actually opened his soul defense on his own initiative, pouring all of Hei Yan's heavy memories about "existence," accumulated over thousands of years, into the black sphere.

That was a loneliness deeper than "the end," and a despair greater than "nothingness."

The black sphere suddenly paused.

Then, it began to swell and twist violently, emitting a series of piercing wails.

It's like a thirsty person suddenly being filled with the bitter seawater of an entire ocean.

It held up.

Goodbye, Father.

Bai Yu looked at the shadow in the center of the sphere that looked exactly like himself and said calmly.

boom--!
The entire top floor of the sanatorium shattered completely at that moment.

A terrifying energy surge swept across an area of ​​several kilometers.

When everything returned to calm, the top floor was gone, leaving only ruins.

The cracks in the blood moon slowly closed, and the black mist dissipated into the night.

……

On the wasteland outside the sanatorium.

Mo Fei, Lan Ce, and An Mu tumbled awkwardly into the grass.

"Where's Lao Bai?"

Ignoring his hand injury, Mo Fei rushed frantically toward the main building, which was already half collapsed.

"Bai language!"

His piercing screams echoed through the night sky.

Lan Ce slumped to the ground, staring at the detector in his hand that had been completely extinguished, without uttering a word.

Anmu leaned against the tree trunk, closed his eyes, and two lines of clear tears slid down his resolute face.

Just then, a figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the ruins.

His clothes were tattered, his face was so pale it was almost transparent, his right eye was tightly closed, but his left eye shone with an unprecedented clarity.

He was still holding that red oil-paper umbrella in his hand.

"What are you yelling for? I'm not dead yet."

Bai Yu's voice was somewhat weak, but it carried a rare hint of laughter.

Mo Fei was stunned.

Immediately, he shouted and rushed over to hug Bai Yu tightly.

"You lunatic! If you die, I'll tear this lousy place down!"

"Let go... Mo Fei... you're strangling me to death..."

Bai Yu patted his back helplessly.

Lan Ce also came over. He pushed up his broken glasses and carefully examined Bai Yu.

"You... erased that rule?"

"No."

Bai Yu looked at the red umbrella in her hand.

"I just made a deal with it."

"It's full for now, but it will come back sooner or later."

Bai Yu looked towards the city in the distance.

The lights of Linjiang City still shone brightly, unaware that just a few hours earlier, they had almost lost the world.

"Come on, go home."

An Mu stood up with Lan Ce's help.

"This mission... everyone survived."

The four figures gradually disappeared into the distance under the moonlight.

(End of this chapter)