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

Chapter 167 The Guardian

The sound of the wind in my ears was like the wailing of ten thousand vengeful ghosts at the same time.

Bai Yu plummeted rapidly into the darkness. Instead of cold alloy walls, she was surrounded by countless intertwined, writhing red roots. These roots were astonishingly thick, covered in a layer of viscous blood plasma, and emitted a strong, rotten floral scent.

“My friend, the taste here is getting more and more enticing.” Hei Yan’s voice echoed in Bai Yu’s mind, with a morbid excitement. “That old guy sealed in the Forbidden Vault seems to be eager to open his ‘wedding gift’.”

Bai Yu ignored Hei Yan's teasing. He gripped the red umbrella tightly, the deep purple light in his right eye particularly glaring in the darkness. He could sense that the space below was undergoing a violent collapse and reorganization. The Forbidden Vault was originally a place used by the Investigation Bureau to store those indestructible and extremely dangerous Nightmare fragments, but now it had become a huge, distorted breeding ground for rules.

"Rule Analysis: Gravity Correction".

Bai Yu let out a low shout, and the black runes on his left hand suddenly lit up. His body, which had been falling rapidly, paused strangely in mid-air, and then, like a light feather, slowly landed on a dark red ground.

This is the lowest level of the forbidden library.

The ground beneath his feet was no longer hard, but a translucent, keratin-like substance. Through this substance, Bai Yu could see countless red threads intertwining and repeating beneath, like the blood vessels of some enormous creature.

Ahead, a magnificent yet eerie building loomed in the red mist. It was a hall entirely constructed of white bones and red silk, its ancient style exuding a suffocating sense of majesty.

“This is the third sacrificial site,” Bai Yu murmured to himself.

He folded his red umbrella, and with each step he took, a blood-red ripple spread across the ground.

Meanwhile, inside the power supply room on the ground.

Mo Fei placed the unconscious An Mu in the safest corner, where several elite investigators with guns stood guard. Mo Fei did not stay by An Mu's side, but stood behind the door of the power room, two high-frequency battle axes crossed in front of his chest, his eyes as cold as knives.

"Lan Ce, how's the progress?" Mo Fei asked without turning his head.

"Trying to take over the backup defense matrix." Lan Ce's forehead was covered in sweat, his fingers almost leaving afterimages on the virtual keyboard. "The Red Ribbon Rules are invading the physical layer circuitry. I must force the 'Daylight' protocol to start before they burn out the motherboard. Mo Fei, you must guard the gate. Not even a single red thread the size of a hair can be allowed in!"

"Don't worry, as long as I'm not dead, this place is absolutely safe." Mo Fei's voice was steady and powerful.

Just then, a dense crawling sound came from the end of the corridor. Countless puppets wrapped in red silk were surging towards the power room like a tide, climbing up the walls and ceiling.

"coming."

Mo Fei took a deep breath, leaning slightly forward, his muscles taut to their limit beneath his uniform. He didn't rush out blindly, but instead calculated the distance to his opponent. The instant the foremost puppet stepped within five meters of the gate, Mo Fei moved.

"High-frequency liberation, power 30%!"

The two battle axes were swung out with a bang, but instead of creating a huge explosion, they emitted a low hum. Two visible ripples of air swept out, and the puppets in the front row were instantly shattered by the internal control threads, collapsing to the ground in unison.

Mo Fei's movements were highly methodical. He took advantage of the narrowness of the gate, facing only three enemies at a time. The battle axe seemed to come alive in his hands, cleaving and slashing precisely at each red ribbon that tried to bypass him.

"Old Bai is fighting desperately down there, so we brothers absolutely cannot let him slack off in the rear." Mo Fei said in a low voice in the channel while fighting, both to remind Lan Ce and to encourage himself.

Deep within the forbidden storehouse.

Bai Yu had already arrived at the gate of the Hall of Bones.

Two towering statues stood guard at the entrance. They wore the uniforms of ancient vault keepers, but their heads had been replaced with massive bronze padlocks. The statues held heavy spears in their hands, the tips of which gleamed with a dark red light.

Stop.

One of the statues emitted a dull sound, a sound that seemed not to travel through the air, but rather exploded directly into the depths of Bai Yu's soul.

"A forbidden place, where the living stray, and the dead rest in peace."

Bai Yu stopped in his tracks, his right eye slightly narrowed: "I'm here to find someone."

“The person you are looking for is not here, only the ceremony that is about to be completed.” The spear of another statue suddenly blocked Bai Yu’s path. “You have the aura of a ‘bride’ on you, but your soul is too dirty. The black shadow is corroding the purity of this place.”

"Purity?" Bai Yu sneered. "Treating living people as sacrifices and turning headquarters into a graveyard, is this what you call purity?"

"All things within the rules are just."

Without another word, the two statues unleashed their spears, which whistled through the air, and thrust them toward Bai Yu in a cross shape.

These two statues are not ordinary nightmares; they are the manifestation of the rules of the Forbidden Treasury. Each spear thrust carries a logical judgment of "guaranteed hit" and "armor penetration."

Bai Yu did not take the spear head-on. He swayed, his entire body becoming a blur, narrowly avoiding the spear's thrust.

“Analyze the core logic of black words.”

“Ugh, this kind of outdated defense logic is so boring.” Hei Yan yawned. “The one on the left is the ‘lock,’ and the one on the right is the ‘key.’ They share a life bar. As long as you can hit their bronze locks at the same time, this logic will break down.”

"understood."

Bai Yu did a somersault in the air, and the red umbrella opened again.

"Red Silk Domain, unfold!"

This was the power he had just extracted from Shen Ling. Although it was still quite raw, with the blessing of Hei Yan, it instantly formed a small field of rules around him.

Countless tiny red threads emerged from Baiyu's shadow and wrapped around the ankles of the two statues in reverse.

The statue's movement suddenly froze.

"Now!"

Bai Yu's left hand was loosely clenched, and two long needles made of pure spiritual power condensed at his fingertips.

"go with!"

Two long needles were precisely inserted into the keyhole on the statue's head.

"Click—"

A crisp click of a lock being opened rang out. Instantly, the two enormous statues lost all their power, turning into a pile of bronze fragments and withered bones.

Bai Yu withdrew his hand, his face paling even more. Continuously using such high-level rule analysis had put immense pressure on the cracks in his soul. He could sense that Hei Yan's power was stirring, attempting to mend those cracks.

"Don't rush, it's not time yet," Bai Yu warned the demon within her in a low voice.

He pushed open the door of the Hall of Bones.

Inside the auditorium, the lights were blazing. Countless lamps made of human oil hung in the air, emitting a pale, eerie glow.

At the very front of the auditorium, Lu Yueqi was kneeling before a huge red altar with her back to him.

Her wedding dress had turned completely dark purple, and countless red roots emerged from under the altar, disappearing into her back, as if infusing her with some ancient and evil will.

"Yueqi," Bai Yu called softly.

Lu Yueqi's body trembled slightly, and she slowly turned her head.

That once lovely face was now covered with fine red runes. Her eyes had lost their pupils, leaving only two endless seas of blood churning within them.

"Bai Yu...you've come."

Her voices overlapped, carrying a heartbreaking sorrow and a godlike indifference.

"Look... they're welcoming us."

Lu Yueqi stretched out her hand and pointed behind the altar.

There, a gigantic skeleton, as tall as a three-story building, was suspended in mid-air by countless red ribbons. The skeleton was draped in a tattered, enormous red wedding gown, and eerie green flames burned in its empty eye sockets.

"Is this the true form of the 'Mountain God'?" Bai Yu gripped the red umbrella tightly.

“No… this is just its ‘empty shell’.” Lu Yueqi stood up, and the red silk beneath her feet automatically paved a path for her. “It needs a soul to fill this empty shell, and it also needs a ‘catalyst’ to connect reality and the abyss. I am that soul, and you… are that catalyst.”

"It wants to use me to swallow up Hei Yan as well?" Bai Yu instantly saw through the other party's intention.

“Black Words… what delicious nourishment they are.” Lu Yueqi (Mountain God) let out a low laugh. “Ancient works of art should belong to a greater god. White Words, give up the resistance. Become a part of me, and you will see the truth of this world.”

“The truth?” Bai Yu stepped forward step by step, his eyes firm. “The only truth I see is that you hurt my companions and corrupted my friends.”

"Stubborn to the end."

Lu Yueqi waved her hand.

From the shadows on both sides of the auditorium, countless figures dressed in ancient theatrical costumes emerged. They had no faces, only blank sheets of paper.

“These are the echoes left behind by the ‘brides’ who were sacrificed throughout the ages.” Lu Yueqi’s voice turned cold. “Since you are unwilling to cooperate, then let them teach you what ‘rules’ are.”

Dozens of faceless brides simultaneously let out shrill screams, their speed outrageous, leaving trails of red afterimages in the air.

Bai Yu took a deep breath. He knew that the upcoming battle would be the most difficult one he had faced since his return.

"Mo Fei, Lan Ce, I'm about to begin the final analysis," Bai Yu whispered in the channel. "Hold the rear for me."

"Go ahead and do it, Lao Bai!" Mo Fei's voice came with a heavy thud. "Leave the rear to us!"

Inside the power supply room, Mo Fei had entered a berserk state. His uniform was soaked with sweat, but the battle axes in his hands remained as steady as mountains.

A green light finally appeared on Lance's screen.

"Countdown to the 'Daylight' Protocol launch: 10, 9, 8..."

"Bai Yu, catch this!" Lan Ce shouted, forcibly transmitting an encrypted high-frequency audio signal to the bottom of the Forbidden Library through the headquarters' emergency broadcast system. It was Lu Yueqi's favorite background music during her live streams, and also her most profound memory anchor in her subconscious.

Forbidden storage.

Suddenly, melodious and cheerful music filled the gloomy auditorium.

The faceless brides rushing towards Baiyu paused in unison at the sound of the music.

Lu Yueqi's body stiffened abruptly. A ripple appeared in the sea of ​​blood in her eyes, and a sliver of clarity miraculously emerged.

"Bai...yu..."

"Now!"

Bai Yu seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Instead of attacking the brides, he charged directly at Lu Yueqi.

He suddenly pulled the seemingly ordinary wooden ladle from his pocket with his left hand.

That was a "sacred relic" left behind by Awan, containing the purest protective power that transcends life and death.

"Ah Wan, please help me!"

Bai Yu poured all his spiritual energy into the wooden ladle.

The wooden ladle emitted a soft and warm white light, a light that seemed so out of place yet so resilient in the blood-red hall.

Wherever the white light passed, the red silks retreated, and the twisted roots withered as if they had encountered a raging fire.

Bai Yu rushed to Lu Yueqi and grabbed her hand.

"go home with me."

The white light from the wooden ladle surged wildly into Lu Yueqi's body along Bai Yu's hand.

"what--!"

Lu Yueqi let out a painful scream as the will of the mountain god within her was being forcibly stripped away by this pure protective power.

The enormous skeleton behind the altar sensed the threat and let out a deafening roar. A huge bone hand, carrying the power to shatter space, slammed down on Bai Yu's head.

"Mo Fei!" Bai Yu shouted.

"coming!"

Although Mo Fei was not present, the "Daytime" protocol initiated by Lan Ce finally erupted at this moment.

The entire headquarters building suddenly trembled, and countless blinding white beams of light shot out from the cracks in the ceiling, following the rule-based passage that Bai Yu had previously opened up, and directly descended upon the Forbidden Library.

These intense lights are the culmination of the Bureau of Investigation's highest technology, specifically designed to target the energy frequencies of the Nightmare.

The enormous bone hand melted away in the intense light, making a sizzling sound.

Bai Yu seized the opportunity to hug Lu Yueqi and retreated rapidly.

"It's not over yet!"

The mountain god's will did not disappear; it abandoned the skeleton and transformed into a condensed red light that shot straight towards Bai Yu's brow.

It spotted the crack in Baiyu's soul.

"Since the carrier is broken, let's replace it with a more powerful one!"

The speed of the red light is beyond logic.

Bai Yu had no time to dodge.

Just as the red light was about to pierce Bai Yu's brow, Hei Yan's voice rang in his mind, carrying an unprecedented chill.

"Trying to steal from my turf? You're not worthy, you vermin!"

A pitch-black hand suddenly emerged from Bai Yu's chest.

This hand is slender and elegant, yet it carries a kind of oppressive power that makes everything tremble.

It accurately captured that red light.

"Click".

A crisp cracking sound.

The red light representing the will of the mountain god was shattered by this black hand as if it were glass.

"Included".

Hei Yan uttered two words in a low voice.

The nameless ancient book phantom behind Bai Yu suddenly closed, and all the red mist, the wedding hall, and the bride's lingering echoes seemed to be sucked into the ancient book as if by a vacuum cleaner.

[Title: The Shadow of the Mountain God (Complete)]
[Parsing progress: 100%]
[Gained Ability: Rule Reshaping. Can alter physical constants within a radius of 100 meters for a short period.]
[Soul Rift Repair Progress: 5%]
With the recording completed, the entire Forbidden Library returned to a deathly silence.

As the red mist dissipated, the originally cold alloy walls were revealed.

Bai Yu, holding Lu Yueqi, collapsed to his knees, utterly exhausted. He gasped for breath, the runes on his left hand gradually fading, but a wave of weariness washed over him from the depths of his soul.

Lu Yueqi had taken off her wedding dress and returned to her original hospital gown. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was steady, as if she were asleep.

"Old Bai! Old Bai! Please respond if you hear me!" Mo Fei's voice screamed wildly in the channel.

Bai Yu pressed the communicator with trembling hands, a weak smile appearing on her lips.

"Mission accomplished... Pick us up."

……

Half an hour later.

The red fog over the headquarters building has completely dissipated.

Although the building was severely damaged and showed signs of battle everywhere, the oppressive and desperate atmosphere had disappeared.

The surviving investigators are cleaning up the scene. The bodies of Shen Ling and the others have been properly disposed of. Although the cost was heavy, Linjiang City has been saved.

On the horizon, a wisp of white, like the belly of a fish, quietly appeared.

Bai Yu sat on the rooftop of the medical department, holding the old red umbrella in her hand.

Mo Fei and Lan Ce walked over and sat down next to him. Mo Fei handed him a bottle of water, patted him on the shoulder, and said nothing.

Lan Ce looked at the sunrise in the distance and pushed up his glasses: "Bai Yu, when Hei Yan made his move just now... I detected a very ancient fluctuation. That fluctuation does not belong to any known Nightmare category."

Bai Yu took a sip of water and looked at her palm: "I know. It's getting more and more restless."

“No matter what it is,” Mo Fei said seriously, looking at Bai Yu. “If it dares to cause trouble, I will not be polite with these two battle axes. Even if it is something inside you.”

Bai Yu smiled and said, "Thanks, Mo Fei."

"By the way, how is Lu Yueqi?"

"She's awake and physically fine, but I forcibly erased that part of her memory." Bai Yu sighed. "Let her be an ordinary streamer; that's the best ending for her."

“Being ordinary is also a kind of happiness,” Lan Ce sighed.

Just as the three were enjoying this rare moment of peace, Captain Anmu's voice rang out behind them.

An Mu was wrapped in thick bandages, his face was still pale, but his eyes had regained their former sharpness.

"Guys, it's not time to rest yet."

An Mu held an encrypted document in his hand, his expression unusually solemn.

"We just received news from headquarters. The 'Mountain God' incident in Linjiang City was just a cover. There are twelve similar 'sacrificial altars' that have been activated simultaneously worldwide."

Bai Yu stood up, her eyes turning cold again.

What is their purpose?

Anmu took a deep breath and pointed to a red mark on the document.

"They are searching for the 'original nightmare.' And the first name on that list..."

Anmu looked at Baiyu, hesitating to speak.

Bai Yu's heart sank.

He felt the runes on his left hand getting slightly warm again.

It wasn't because of danger, but rather a feeling... akin to "coming home".

(End of this chapter)