Nightmare Light

Chapter 212 Ghost Child
That fleeting figure instantly put Lin Wang and Liu Azhe on edge.

“Linlinlinwang…did you see that?” Liu Azhe pointed to the spot where the firelight had disappeared, trembling. “There was something there just now…”

"I saw it, there was a figure." Lin Wang was much calmer.

"I've heard that in some remote places, there's a terrifying monster called the 'Nightmare Sprite'... It eats people's nightmares! It's so scary!" Liu Azhe was still trembling. "Do you think that thing just now might have been a Nightmare Sprite?"

“First of all, I’ve heard the same story you heard. It was the one Dean Shen told me back then… I believe you have too.” Lin Wang said expressionlessly as he continued walking toward the figure. “Secondly, if there really is something called a ‘Nightmare Sprite,’ then we shouldn’t be afraid of it.”

"Huh? Why?"

"If there were some kind of little elf that could eat all of humanity's nightmares, wouldn't all that's left for us be beautiful dreams?"

Liu Azhe was taken aback at first, then exclaimed, "That's just sophistry!"

In any case, after Lin Wang's explanation, Liu Azhe's fear lessened considerably. The two quickened their pace and soon reached the burning iron sheet.

Lin Wang picked up the piece of iron from the ground, straightened up, looked around, and gradually frowned: "...Something's not right, something's strange."

Liu Azhe didn't understand: "What's strange?"

Lin Wang raised his hand and summoned a large ball of bright white flame, instantly illuminating the surroundings: "See for yourself."

Liu Azhe glanced around and exclaimed in surprise, "Ah! How... how could this be?"

She trembled involuntarily again: "Lin...Lin Wang! So that thing just now...could it be, could it really be..."

Under the white light, it was clear that this area was the end of the passage.

There were walls on three sides, with no passage or door, so it didn't make any sense unless the figure came out of the wall.

"Whatever that thing is, it can't possibly be your Nightmare Sprite." Lin Wang's expression gradually became serious. On his right wrist, the bracelet began to writhe like a snake, while the flames gradually turned cold.

At that moment, a figure burst out from the wall and rushed straight towards the opposite wall.

Lin Wang raised his hand, and with a crack, white flames exploded beneath the figure's feet. The extreme cold instantly froze the entire space. Caught off guard, the figure stepped onto the ice and crashed solidly into the "ice wall" opposite, falling backward and landing on the ground.

"TA" paused for a moment, then screamed, and then burst into tears.

It was only then that A-Zhe realized that the person sitting on the ground crying was a little girl of about five or six years old, wearing a light blue floral dress, and she looked somewhat familiar.

"What...what's going on?" Liu Azhe was stunned. "Why did she appear out of thin air? Why can you..."

"The reason she appeared out of nowhere is because she is..." Lin Wang frowned, pondered for a long time, and came up with a seemingly plausible answer, "...a being that is very close to a 'ghost'."

"Huh?! A ghost? Isn't that even scarier than a nightmare sprite?!"

"What's so scary about ghosts?" Lin Wang asked, puzzled. "Weren't ghosts all once living people?"

"Now that you say that, I feel even more scared!"

“First of all, since she was once a living person, it means she is comprehensible, so there’s nothing to be afraid of.” Lin Wang walked towards the little girl who was crying loudly. “Secondly, there’s even less to be afraid of with this child, because…”

He suddenly growled at the child in a low voice, "Don't cry! Or I'll eat you up!"

The child shuddered, shrinking back in fear, "Don't eat me! I won't cry..." Then she started to grimace again, on the verge of tears. "Little Fruit? You...you weren't with Dean Shen?" Liu Azhe exclaimed in surprise, "When we left just now, this child was perfectly fine with Dean Shen...how could she have turned into a ghost in such a short time? Could it be that those children up there..."

At this point, she suddenly glared at Lin Wang: "You're being mean to our child again!"

"..." Lin Wang shook his head and pulled the little girl up from the ground. "The reason she became like this means that those children before... I think I understand now."

He pointed upwards: "Those children up there, I mean, the sick ones."

"The reason they became like that... is because their souls were extracted, and then something else, such as some kind of dark, evil energy, filled the part of them that should have been their souls."

"That's why they 'still look alive' but become sinister and aggressive."

A-Zhe opened her mouth, finding it hard to accept Lin Wang's words for a moment, but after thinking about it carefully, she felt that this was the most logical analysis at present.

She asked Lin Wang, "What you said makes sense, but the problem is... where will the souls of these children go?"

Lin Wang shook his head: "I don't know yet, but..."

Lin Wang squatted down and asked the child, "Little Guozi, where were you going?"

Little Fruit looked confused and pointed towards the wall: "I don't know either... There's been a voice in my head telling me to come this way and say something..."

Lin Wang didn't urge him and waited patiently for a while.

A few seconds later, Xiaoguozi pointed in that direction and said, "That voice said, 'Come over here to play! There are good friends here, and we can play hide-and-seek!'"

"Hide and seek?" Lin Wang frowned and repeated the words.

But with so few clues, he couldn't immediately decipher the deeper meaning behind those words.

He shook his head and pointed towards the wall, "Are you sure it's this way?"

After the latter nodded in confirmation, Lin Wang walked to the wall, looked at the wall in front of him, narrowed his eyes slightly, and showed a thoughtful expression.

A Zhe behind him suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Hey! Lin Wang, what are you doing? You wouldn't be thinking of..."

Before she could finish speaking, she saw Lin Wang standing by the wall, raising his arm towards it.

"Hey! Lin Wang, calm down! I know you've always been reckless since you were little, and all of you northerners are reckless, but this place is so ancient! Who knows what the result will be if you throw that punch!"

Then she saw Lin Wang slap his hand against the wall.

"Aaaaaah, holy crap, Lin Wang, you really did it! When are you going to change... change... this reckless personality of yours?"

Before she could finish speaking, she saw Lin Wang press his hand against the wall. After a few seconds of white flames, he pulled his hand away from the wall.

Then, he kept the white flame in his hand at a distance of more than a foot.

Lin Wang turned his head and looked at Liu Azhe with a puzzled expression: "What? I just wanted to check the thickness of this wall, what are you thinking?"

"……nothing."

(End of this chapter)