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

Chapter 165 Old Street Scenes
The old street in Linjiang City is usually a vibrant place, bustling with life. Shops selling antiques and local delicacies line both sides of the cobblestone street, and the air is always damp due to its proximity to the river. But at this moment, when Bai Yu and his companions' black SUV stopped at the entrance of the old street, they were met with utter silence.

The streetlights had gone out sometime ago, and the entire street was shrouded in a thick, sticky fog. A faint musty smell permeated the fog, along with a lingering, almost rotten flower-like fragrance. Bai Yu recognized this smell; he had smelled it in Lu Yueqi's hospital room as well.

"Old Bai, something's not right here." Mo Fei pushed open the car door and jumped out. He didn't rush in as usual, but stood by the car with his hands hanging naturally at his sides, ready to pull out the tomahawk on his back at any moment. His eyes were sharp, like a sophisticated radar, scanning every shadow in the thick fog.

Lanze also got out of the car, holding a modified "Rule Fluctuation Detector". On the detector's screen, red waves were pulsating violently, emitting a piercing alarm.

“Spatial curvature anomaly.” Lan Ce’s voice was cold, revealing an absolute rationality. “We haven’t even entered the street yet, and we’ve already been pulled to the edge of ‘Ruins of Return.’ The logic of this street is currently closed. If we don’t find the sacrificial site, we might be stuck inside for the rest of our lives.”

Bai Yu was the last to get off the car. He opened the red umbrella, put his left hand in the pocket of his trench coat, and gently stroked the cold rune with his fingertips.

"Let's go," Bai Yu said softly.

The three walked side by side into the old street. The cobblestone path echoed dully under their feet, as if the road were hollow. The wooden pavilions on both sides had their doors and windows tightly shut, but behind those broken paper windows, Bai Yu could feel countless cold, sinister gazes watching them.

Every ten steps, a pale white lantern appears by the roadside. There are no candles inside, but it flickers with a ghastly green light. These lanterns are hung neatly, stretching all the way to the ancient stage at the end of the old street.

"Ee-ya-"

A mournful, melodious singing suddenly came from the depths of the thick fog. The sound seemed to come from near and far, like someone whispering in your ear, or like it was emerging from the depths of the earth. Immediately afterward, the plaintive sound of an erhu began, the melody extremely strange, each string plucking sound like a dull knife cutting into flesh.

"What kind of opera is this?" Mo Fei frowned. Although he didn't listen to opera, he could still sense the murderous intent emanating from the music.

“The Palace of Eternal Life.” Lan Ce quickly compared the data with the database. “But the melody has been changed. This is a ‘Netherworld Melody,’ which was sung specifically for the dead in ancient times. In Baiyu, the sacrificial altar is on the stage in front, and the energy reaction there has already exceeded the limit.”

Bai Yu quickened his pace. As they ventured deeper, the surrounding scenery became increasingly absurd. Bright red blood began to seep from the cracks in the once-closed shop doors. Paper effigies appeared by the roadside, dressed in brightly colored funeral clothes, their faces painted with stiff smiles, swaying slightly to the rhythm of the erhu.

"Ignore these small fry," Bai Yu whispered a reminder.

Finally, they arrived at the ancient stage.

This stage is over a hundred years old, with its upturned eaves and corners appearing particularly menacing in the eerie green firelight. Above the stage hangs a horizontal plaque with the four large characters "Life and Death on the Same Stage".

On the stage, several figures dressed in elaborate costumes stood with their backs to them. Their movements were stiff, and each turn was accompanied by the creaking sound of bones grinding together.

As the erhu music reached a climax, the figures suddenly turned around.

Even Mo Fei, who was used to seeing big scenes, couldn't help but gasp.

There was nothing on the necks of those figures.

There was no head, only broken cervical vertebrae exposed to the air, wrapped with dense red threads. These threads extended upwards, disappearing into the dark top of the stage, as if an invisible hand was manipulating them from above.

“It really is a ‘headless opera troupe’.” Lan Ce stared intently at the screen. “These performers aren’t nightmares; they’re ‘human puppets.’ The true core of the ritual is in the hands of the manipulator atop the stage. Mo Fei, prepare to break through!”

"Wait a minute." Bai Yu raised her hand to stop Mo Fei.

The headless performers on the stage did not attack; instead, they formed a circle and began a bizarre dance. As they moved, the surrounding red silk began to grow wildly, like venomous snakes, blocking all escape routes.

“They are weaving a web.” Bai Yu’s right eye flickered slightly. “It’s a law of cause and effect. Once we are entangled in the red silk, our souls will be forcibly defined as ‘players in the play.’ At that time, the manipulator only needs to cut the threads, and our heads will fall off.”

"What should we do? We can't just sit here and get woven in, can we?" Mo Fei gripped the axe handle tightly. His breathing was steady, and although the situation was urgent, he was not flustered at all.

"Lan Ce, disrupt their rhythm," Bai Yu calmly ordered. "Mo Fei, you're in charge of clearing away the red silk around us and preventing them from getting close. I'm going up on the stage to find that 'matchmaker'."

"Are you going up alone?" Mo Fei asked, somewhat worried.

"Trust me." Bai Yu patted Mo Fei on the shoulder. "Hei Yan can't wait to see the show."

Lan Ce quickly pulled out several small black balls from his backpack; these were his specially made "frequency jamming balls." He precisely calculated the peaks of the erhu's sound and then threw the balls around the stage.

"Boom! Boom!"

Several muffled popping sounds rang out as the jamming grenades released high-frequency sound waves. The previously smooth erhu music instantly became fragmented and chaotic. The headless performer on the stage abruptly stopped moving, his body began to tremble violently, as if he had lost his balance.

"Now!"

Mo Fei let out a low shout, and two high-frequency battle axes were instantly drawn. He did not blindly rush towards the stage, but instead protected Lan Ce, the battle axes drawing two dazzling arcs in the air.

"Snap! Snap!"

The red silk that was trying to be joined together was precisely severed by Mo Fei. The high temperature from the high-frequency blade charred the silk directly, emitting a burnt smell. Mo Fei's movements were extremely fast and steady; each axe strike was perfectly timed, protecting his teammates without wasting any energy.

Taking advantage of the opening, Bai Yu moved with lightning speed and leaped directly onto the stage.

The moment he landed, he felt an overwhelming wave of malice wash over him. The wooden planks beneath his feet became soft and yielding, like stepping on rotting corpses.

"Ee-ya-"

That mournful singing voice rang out again, this time exploding directly in Bai Yu's mind.

"It's noisy."

Bai Yu's right eye instantly turned deep purple. Hei Yan's power surged within him, forcefully negating this mental attack. He swung his left hand sharply, and five slender red threads shot out from his fingertips—the "Red Silk Mimicry" he had just deciphered.

The silk threads intertwined in the air, precisely wrapping around the waist of one of the headless performers.

"Get down here!"

Bai Yu pulled hard, and the actor was thrown off the stage.

Just then, a thick red silk ribbon suddenly hung down from the top of the stage. A round object was tied to the end of the ribbon, pointing directly at Bai Yu's face.

That was a head.

A woman's head, adorned with elaborate makeup, eyes tightly closed, lips slightly parted, singing a mournful tune.

"Groom...you're so late..."

His head suddenly opened its eyes, revealing two burning, blood-red flames.

“Black Words, analyze it,” Bai Yu said coldly in his heart.

"As you wish."

Bai Yu's vision instantly shifted. He no longer saw a head and silk, but a complex geometric shape composed of countless logical lines. At the center of the geometric shape, there was a constantly flashing black dot.

"That is the singularity."

Bai Yu ignored the head's screams. He opened his red umbrella, and the dark light on its surface surged, forming a semi-transparent barrier that blocked the fine threads shooting in from all directions.

The black runes on his left hand began to heat up, and an extremely ancient power flowed down his arm and into the red umbrella.

"Rule Analysis: Disconnection!"

Bai Yu suddenly thrust the red umbrella in her hand forward.

The tip of the umbrella didn't touch the head, but instead pierced into a point in the void.

"collapse--"

A crisp sound, like a snapping string, echoed through the old street.

The headless performer, who had been dancing wildly on the stage, suddenly collapsed to the ground, turning into a pile of rotting wood and rags. The hanging head let out a shrill scream, then dissipated into a cloud of blood mist. A dull thud echoed from the top of the stage as it fell to the ground.

A withered figure dressed in a black shroud rolled out of the shadows. He was headless and clutched a specially made pair of scissors tightly in his hand, the scissors wrapped with countless broken red threads.

"This is the core of the sacrificial altar?" Mo Fei jumped onto the stage with his battle axe, looked at the withered figure on the ground, and curled his lip in disdain.

"It's not over yet." Lan Ce's voice came from below the stage. He remained highly vigilant; the ripples on the detector did not disappear, but instead became even more eerie.

The withered figure on the ground suddenly began to convulse violently. A new head actually grew from his broken neck.

The head's features were extremely blurry, as if it had been sculpted from cheap clay. It stared at Bai Yu and let out a hoarse laugh.

"Bai Yu... do you think... this will stop God?"

“God?” Bai Yu walked up to him, looking down at him. “In my eyes, you are just a bunch of parasites hiding in the shadows eating leftovers.”

Bai Yu slammed his left hand down on the other person's head.

"Included".

A black, ancient book-like phantom appeared behind Bai Yu. The pages flipped wildly, finally settling on a completely new page.

[Title: The Matchmaker (Echoes)]
[Rule Level: Deep Psychic/Rule Distortion]
[Core Logic: Causal Manipulation, Puppet Reshaping, Identity Definition]
[Parsing progress: 8%]
[Gained Ability: Spiritual Threads. Able to create threads invisible to the naked eye, used for detecting and micro-controlling inanimate objects.]
As the recording was completed, the withered figure quickly shrank, weathered, and finally turned into a pool of black ash.

One by one, the pale green lanterns around us went out. The thick fog began to dissipate, and the old street revealed its original appearance once more.

"The second sacrificial altar has been removed." Bai Yu breathed a sigh of relief. He felt the crack deep in his soul widen a little more, but the power that Hei Yan was feeding back was also more powerful.

"Old Bai, are you alright?" Mo Fei walked over and supported the slightly swaying Bai Yu. His movements were steady, and his eyes were full of absolute trust in his comrade.

"It's nothing." Bai Yu waved his hand. "Lan Ce, analyze what that puppet said just now."

Lan Ce stepped onto the stage, adjusting his glasses: "'Groom,' 'key,' 'invitation.' These words kept repeating. Bai Yu, I feel the 'mountain god' doesn't intend to kill you directly; it seems to be conducting some kind of... 'marriage proposal' ceremony?"

"A marriage proposal?" Mo Fei's eyes widened. "Looking for Lao Bai as a son-in-law? And that 'mountain god' is a woman?"

“It’s just a metaphor.” Lan Ce rolled his eyes at Mo Fei. “In ancient folk legends, ‘marriage proposal’ often means the fusion and devouring of souls. The ‘mountain god’ needs a perfect vessel to descend into reality, and Bai Yu is the ‘groom’ it has chosen.”

Bai Yu silently stared at his left hand. The black rune was still pulsating slightly, as if mocking his efforts.

“There are still three sacrifice slots left,” Bai Yu said softly. “Since it wants to play, we’ll play along to the end. Lan Ce, where’s the next sacrifice slot?”

Lan Ce looked down at the detector, his expression suddenly becoming somewhat strange.

"What's wrong?" Captain Anmu's voice came through the communicator. He had been monitoring the three of them from headquarters.

"Captain, the signal for the third sacrificial altar... is right above our headquarters." Lan Ce's voice trembled slightly.

"What?!" Mo Fei's expression changed drastically. "Those vultures are still at headquarters! If something happens there..."

“It’s not just the Supervision Department.” Bai Yu’s eyes turned icy instantly. “Lu Yueqi is there too.”

"Damn it!" An Mu slammed his fist on the table through the communicator. "Come back immediately! The defense system around headquarters is failing! I can smell it... it's the scent of 'Bloody Wedding Gown'!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Bai Yu and his two companions rushed toward the SUV parked at the street corner.

……

Linjiang City, headquarters of the Investigation Bureau.

At this moment, the headquarters was shrouded in a thin layer of red mist.

The investigators, who were originally busy, now stood frozen in place like soulless puppets.

Shen Ling, the section chief of the Supervision Department, stood in the corridor. His face was ashen, and he gripped the scales badge tightly in his hand.

Lu Yueqi was slowly walking towards him.

She wore that bright red wedding dress, and with each step she took, lotus flowers bloomed, each one made of fresh blood.

"Director Shen...would you like to see my 'key'?"

Lu Yueqi's voice became extremely ethereal, possessing an irresistible magic.

Shen Ling tried to back away, but found that her feet were tightly bound by the red silk on the ground.

"How...how did you get out?" Shen Ling shouted in terror.

“It was my ‘groom’… who brought me out.”

Lu Yueqi smiled slightly, extended her pale finger, and gently touched Shen Ling's brow.

"Pfft-"

Shen Ling's head exploded instantly, like a ripe watermelon.

But he did not fall.

A red thread emerged from his neck cavity and quickly wove into a new, blurry head.

Shen Ling turned around, looked at the surveillance camera, and revealed a strange smile.

"Bai Yu... I'll wait for you to come back... so we can get married."

……

The SUV sped wildly through the streets late at night.

Bai Yu sat in the passenger seat, the red umbrella in her hand trembling slightly.

"Hei Yan, you knew all along, didn't you?" Bai Yu asked coldly in her heart.

"Heh... my friend, art always requires some twists and turns and sacrifices." Hei Yan's voice was full of anticipation. "Don't you think that holding a bloody wedding in the fortress you trust most is a very romantic thing?"

Bai Yu did not answer. He just stared intently ahead.

He felt the black runes on his left hand pulsating faster.

That wasn't fear, that was... excitement.

A kind of demonic excitement, an eagerness to tear everything apart.

"Mo Fei, drive faster."

"understand!"

The SUV roared and smashed through the fog ahead, heading straight for the Bureau of Investigation headquarters.

(End of this chapter)