Nightmare Light

Chapter 198 The Good Child's Waiting
Lin Wang certainly didn't intend to actually attack these children, even if they were just ghosts.

However, when Lin Wang said those words, the ghost children in front of him still underwent some kind of "change"—they stopped in their tracks, their faces grim, and looked at Lin Wang.

Then they made way for it—to the center of town.

Lin Wang waved to Dog Brother: "Come on."

The two began to head towards the town center.

[Recyclable material distance: 95 meters.]

"Boss, why do these kids move aside with just one word from you?"

"Kids are always afraid of adults," Lin Wang replied casually.

"But these children are, after all, ghosts..."

“Yes, so they will still try to stop us.” Lin Wang pointed to his side. “They’re here.”

Dog Brother shuddered and turned his head in the direction Lin Wang was pointing. He saw that, at some point, those sinister-looking children had all stood to the left of Lin Wang and Dog Brother.

The little boy, who was at least three meters tall, stood in the center.

One by one, the children around turned around and pounced on the giant boy's body, then merged into his body like soy sauce dripping into water.

The giant boy's body began to writhe and swell, his clothes bursting open, his head and face emerging from beneath them, each face contorted in pain and rage.

Eventually, it transformed into a gigantic, swollen, and twisted monster with countless faces protruding from its body and numerous arms flailing wildly.

"Grandma... what the hell is this thing..." Dog Brother trembled all over, "It's even scarier than that clay Buddha from before..."

"This is the person I can communicate with."

Lin Wang walked towards the monster with a face and head. When he got close enough, the monster waved its arms wildly and let out a roar that sounded like a combination of countless voices, full of friction.

"what!!!"

"I will go back, but not now." Lin Wang raised his hand, and a ball of golden light landed on the monster.

From Dog Brother's perspective, under the pitch-black sky, a tall northerner raises a warm and sacred golden light in his hand.

Golden light enveloped the giant monster, which gradually tamed. Every face on its body calmed down, and some of them once again showed expressions of reminiscence and grievance.

And on the face of the little boy who originally belonged to the top, a complex and human expression was revealed.

A jumbled and blurry memory appeared in Lin Wang's mind.

Countless fragments of memory flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

After seeing enough fragments of memory, Lin Wang gradually pieced them together into a readable memory.

Many years ago.

At that time, this place—Sizhen—was still a normal, prosperous town with a large population.

The people in the town lived in peace and prosperity, worshipping a deity related to "offspring".

Therefore, there are many children in this town, and many outsiders who come here seeking children pray for divine protection and a smooth delivery.

These children are well cared for and educated in this town—they live in a happy world like a fairy tale.

Then, a war broke out between the gods.

From a child's perspective, it's difficult for them to understand what "god war" means. So, Lin Wang only saw some crazy and chaotic fragments and completely incomprehensible pictures.

He saw some adults gathering the children together and telling them to hide, that their mother and the gods would come back to save them.

The adults and children said: Good children should be obedient.

He saw the children hiding in a large house in Sizhen, waiting. But they waited for many days.

Suddenly one day, a figure radiating a warm light appeared before these children.

He gave something to the children and said, “Take this and it will save you. Do not give it to anyone else.”

With the help of this, these children persevered for a long time.

But one day, this thing suddenly lost its power.

After that, most of the children died, leaving only one child.

Then, the child, too, gradually reached the point of dying...

Lin Wang stared at the scene in his memory, remaining silent for a long time.

"This is a collective memory of these children..."

"Boss, what did you say?" Dog Bro didn't understand.

"I know the whole story now," Lin Wang sighed.

He raised his head and looked at the enormous monster in front of him: "You... can rest now."

A timid little boy's voice rang out from the monster's mouth: "We've been waiting for our mother and the gods. When will they come back?"

Immediately afterwards, many voices rang out at the same time: "We miss them so much!"

Lin Wang remained silent for a full ten seconds before finally speaking: "They..."

"They're not coming back, are they?" the little boy's voice said from inside the big monster's mouth.

His voice lowered: "I've waited all these years, I knew it."

The monster wriggled a few times, moved closer to Lin Wang, and crouched down to face him. The little boy stared at Lin Wang with his pale eyes: "For so many years, we've been very obedient...Are we good children?"

“Yes, you… are all good kids.” Lin Wang nodded forcefully.

The monster let out a sigh, wriggled, and gradually began to fall apart.

It disintegrated into a patch of blackish-gray soil—exactly like the soil in a nightmare.

Seeing that the collapse would continue for some time, Lin Wang did not wait any longer, but turned around and continued to move towards the center of the town.

"Let's go. The thing these kids are protecting is probably the same thing I'm looking for."

[Recyclable material distance: 52 meters.]

Just then, a little boy's voice suddenly rang out again from behind the two of them: "No, you can't take it."

(He was actually speaking in ancient language, which is very difficult to understand and pronounce. For ease of understanding, it has been replaced with standard Chu dialect in the following text.)
Lin Wang and Dog Brother turned their heads and saw the upper body of a little boy emerging from the pile of black soil—it looked like the same boy who had been unusually large before, but now he was only the size of an ordinary child.

He only conjured his upper body and said very seriously to Lin Wang and Dog Brother, "You can't take it."

"Why?" Lin Wang asked.

"Don't take it, or something terrible will happen."

Lin Wang shook his head: "I have to take that thing back... I'm sorry."

The little boy, expressionless, his lower body wriggling in the black soil, followed Lin Wang, repeating every few seconds, "Don't take it."

During this process, Lin Wang and Dog Brother finally reached the center of the town and climbed onto the high platform.

(End of this chapter)