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

Chapter 124 The Throat of the Mountain City

The blood-red mist seemed to have a life of its own, clinging thickly to the broken walls and ruins of the inn.

Bai Yu's figure left a trail of afterimages on the ruins of the red sedan chair. He did not chase after the vanished old man, but instead used the rebound force of the tiles to dash towards the basement in the backyard like an arrow.

"Mo Fei, Lan Ce, guard the exit!"

His voice boomed in his mind, reaching every teammate through the special mental link created by the Investigation Bureau.

"Roger that, Lao Bai, be careful, the ground in the backyard is being hardened!" Mo Fei's voice was steady and powerful, no longer his usual playful tone. He gripped the high-frequency battle axe tightly with both hands, and the blue arcs of electricity on the axe blade tore a vacuum zone in the red mist.

Bai Yu smashed the wooden door to the basement, and what came into view was a glaring dark red.

Lu Yueqi was not abducted; she was still lying in the center of the defensive perimeter set up by Lan Ce. But at this moment, her body was suspended in mid-air, and dark red lines spread out from the "divine red dot" on her wrist, connecting to the four walls of the basement.

Those originally hard stone bricks now seemed to be breathing, their surfaces covered with dense, vein-like protrusions.

"Heiyan, what is this?" Baiyu asked anxiously in her mind.

"Tsk tsk, what a grand scheme." Hei Yan's figure loomed over Bai Yu's shoulder, and he reached out and grabbed at the air, seemingly sensing the fluctuations in the air. "This is not kidnapping at all, this is 'synchronization.' They are using this little girl as a tuning fork, using the residual divinity within her to manipulate the frequency of the entire mountain."

"Speak like a human." Bai Yu held the "Ember" horizontally in front of his chest, warily watching the writhing walls around him.

“Simply put, this mountain city has come to life.” Hei Yan pointed to the veins on the wall. “The entire mountain is a giant living organism, and these buildings are its scales. Now, it’s going to speak.”

Just then, Lu Yueqi let out a painful murmur.

"Help me... Brother Bai... It's so noisy..."

Bai Yu's eyes turned cold as he saw the red lines connecting Lu Yueqi draining her life force. Without hesitation, he drew a dark arc with his longsword, instantly severing the blood-red connections.

boom!
Having lost contact, Lu Yueqi fell into Bai Yu's arms. The surrounding walls emitted a muffled rumble, as if some giant beast had been interrupted from its meal.

"Get out of here! This place is about to collapse!"

Bai Yu carried Lu Yueqi out of the basement. As soon as they landed on the lawn in the backyard, the soil under their feet suddenly hardened like iron and even showed a bluish-gray luster similar to granite.

"Old Bai, come here quickly!" Mo Fei shouted at the entrance of the inn's lobby.

Captain Anmu had now unleashed the "Iron Wall Royal Authority," creating a pale golden hemispherical shield that enveloped everyone. The crimson monkeys that burst forth from the mist collided with the shield and instantly turned into a bloody mist.

“Something’s not right.” An Mu looked at Lu Yueqi in Bai Yu’s arms, his brows furrowed. “Lan Ce, the monitoring data.”

Lan Ce's fingers flew across the tablet, his face growing increasingly grim: "Captain, the entire rules field of Fog Ridge City is undergoing a fundamental change. The original 'Nightmare' fluctuations have disappeared, replaced by an extremely high-frequency mechanical vibration. The entire city's material structure is 'lithifying,' and if we can't leave here within half an hour, we'll turn to stone too."

“Not only that,” Bai Yu added, “I just discovered down below that these structures are evolving into some kind of organ. If I’m not mistaken, Mist Ridge City is the throat of that so-called 'Mountain God'.”

"Throat?" Mo Fei curled his lip, swinging his battle axe in a circle in front of him. "So we're in someone's throat right now?"

“That’s one way to understand it.” Bai Yu looked out the window. In the thick, blood-red fog, the monotonous drumbeats had disappeared, replaced by a soft, dense whisper.

The voice sounded like thousands of people murmuring at the same time, layer upon layer, making it impossible to hear the content, but one could feel a despair that went deep into one's bones.

"Everyone, put on your silence headphones," An Mu decisively ordered.

Everyone quickly put on special protective gear. These headphones can filter out most mental interference.

"Mo Fei will lead the way, Lan Ce will provide data guidance in the center, Bai Yu will be responsible for flank protection and Lu Yueqi. I'll cover the rear." An Mu assigned tasks, "Our target is the altar in the city center. According to Lan Ce's analysis, that's the source of the tremors and the only way out."

"understand!"

The group rushed out of the inn and stepped onto the streets of Fog Ridge City.

The streets had completely changed. The original bluestone pavement had bulged, forming folds resembling an esophagus. The stilted houses on both sides were leaning precariously, and a viscous black liquid was leaking from their windows.

"Help me... Is anyone there...?"

A crisp sound came from the alley ahead.

Mo Fei paused, his battle axe sinking slightly. He didn't rush forward rashly, but instead looked at Lan Ce.

Lance glanced at the detector and shook his head: "No life signals, only echoes."

Bai Yu narrowed his eyes, his gaze piercing through the red mist. He saw a figure standing at the alley entrance, a young man who looked to be only in his early twenties, dressed in local clothing. He stood there motionless, his mouth agape, but without a tongue; deep in his throat was a dark, empty void.

"Help me... Is anyone there...?"

The voice came from that hollow, its tone and emotion flawless, but combined with the stiff body, it seemed extremely eerie.

“These are ‘Hollow Echoers’,” Black Words warned White Words in his mind. “They were sacrifices devoured by the mountain city, their souls drained, leaving only a shell that can echo voices. Be careful, they can do more than just talk.”

As if to confirm Hei Yan's words, the young man suddenly moved.

His body emitted a sickening cracking sound, his skin rapidly turning gray and hardening, eventually transforming into a grayish-white stone sculpture. He leaped suddenly with astonishing speed, his five fingers spreading out, and half-foot-long stone blades sprouted from their tips.

"court death!"

Mo Fei snorted coldly, squatted down slightly, and drew a perfect arc from bottom to top with his battle axe.

"Gravity strike!"

boom!
The battle axe struck the stone figure precisely in the chest. With a muffled thud, the stone figure didn't shatter like ordinary stones; instead, it was sent flying by a tremendous force, crashing into a nearby building.

However, before everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, hundreds and thousands of identical figures emerged from the alleyways, rooftops, and even the folds of the ground.

They came in all shapes and sizes: some were old, some were strong, and some were even mutilated bodies wearing Bureau of Investigation uniforms.

The scariest thing is that they started speaking at the same time.

"Mo Fei, come here quickly!"

"Old Bai, are you injured?"

"Captain, save me..."

Countless familiar voices surged in from all directions—the voices of their teammates!

Even the pauses in their speech and the rhythm of their breathing were exactly the same.

"Damn it, they can steal our sound frequencies!" Lancer yelled, his tablet sparking from overload. "These sounds have strong psychological suggestion effects, and the silence headphones can't block them anymore!"

"Shut up and stay highly focused!" An Mu's voice boomed directly into everyone's minds through the mental link.

Bai Yu felt a chill run straight to the top of his head. He could feel those voices trying to bypass his defenses and touch the cracks deep within his soul.

Hei Yan let out a cold snort in his sea of consciousness, and a pure dark aura instantly covered Bai Yu's consciousness space, shutting out all the noisy sounds.

"You think you can outmaneuver my partner with such petty tricks?" Hei Yan said arrogantly. "Bai Yu, don't get entangled with them. These things can't be killed off. As long as Shancheng's throat keeps trembling, they can endlessly reassemble themselves."

"Mo Fei, clear the way! Don't stop!" Bai Yu shouted.

Mo Fei took a deep breath, his eyes turning bloodshot. He wasn't swayed by those imitating his voice; instead, it fueled the anger within him.

"Get the hell out of my way!!!"

He gripped the battle axe with both hands, spun around, and transformed into a blue storm.

"Whirlwind Slash - Armor Piercing!"

Rumble!
Blue arcs of electricity flew alongside stone chips. Mo Fei forcefully tore a bloody path through the dense mass of stone figures.

Anmu followed closely behind, his pale golden shield expanding continuously, repelling the stone golems that tried to approach.

Bai Yu, carrying Lu Yueqi, moved with lightning speed, weaving through the gaps between the stone figures. Whenever a stone figure attempted to attack, the "Ember" in his hand would precisely pierce the hole in its throat.

That is their core.

Each time it was pierced, the stone figure would let out a shrill wail and then turn into a pool of gray powder.

"The sense of accomplishment is not bad," Hei Yan commented. "With each kill, the divine fragments within you are absorbing the 'echoing energy' they emit. Although it's not much, the quantity is large."

Bai Yu did indeed feel that, as the killing continued, a surge of new power welled up in his previously exhausted body. The divine fragment was slightly warm at his heart, seemingly urging him to devour more.

But this feeling made him wary.

"This power... is too ominous."

“Power itself is neither good nor evil; it depends on how you use it,” Hei Yan said nonchalantly. “The altar is just ahead. Be careful; the rules there have been completely distorted.”

After walking through the last wrinkled street, the view suddenly opened up before them.

At the heart of Fog Ridge City, there was once a spacious bluestone plaza. But now, a huge, translucent, fleshy tumor has risen from the center of the plaza.

The sarcoma was as tall as a ten-story building, and its surface was covered with purple blood vessels that were pulsating rhythmically.

At the top of the tumor, the vanished old man knelt devoutly. His ceremonial robes had become one with the tumor, and countless tentacles pierced his body, turning him into a living "megaphone."

"You guys... are finally here..."

The old man raised his head; his eyes had disappeared, replaced by two blood holes spewing red mist.

His voice was no longer aged, but filled with a kind of sacred yet eerie majesty.

"The mountain god needs witnesses...to witness this great...rebirth."

"Nirvana my foot!"

Mo Fei roared and leaped into the air, his battle axe cleaving with the force of splitting mountains and shattering rocks as he fiercely cleaved towards the huge tumor.

"Break it for me!"

However, just as the tomahawk was about to touch the tumor...

An invisible sound wave erupted from inside the tumor.

Om-! ! !
The sound wasn't loud; it was even somewhat muffled. But Mo Fei was struck as if by lightning. He froze in mid-air, then, as if hit by an invisible hammer, he screamed and flew back.

An Mu reacted quickly and caught Mo Fei, only to find that Mo Fei's ears were bleeding and the battle axe in his hand had developed fine cracks.

“This is ‘absolute resonance’.” Lan Ce looked at the instrument in his hand, his voice trembling. “It can instantly adjust its vibration frequency according to the target’s material structure, dismantling all defenses from the inside. Captain, our weapons can’t hold up!”

Bai Yu put Lu Yueqi down and handed her over to Lan Ce for protection.

He took two steps forward, looked at the huge tumor, and a resolute look flashed in his eyes.

"Captain, Mo Fei, protect Yue Qi."

"Old Bai, what are you doing?" Mo Fei struggled to his feet, coughing up blood. "That thing is really weird, don't fight it head-on!"

"I'm not going to fight head-on," Bai Yu said softly, unbuttoning his collar to reveal the faintly glowing mark on his chest.

“It wants my ‘seed,’ and I want its ‘core.’”

Black Words let out a wild laugh in White Words' mind: "Haha! That's more like it! Since it wants to resonate, then let's give it a... symphony of death!"

Bai Yu closed her eyes and slowly spread her hands out.

"Black Words - Complete Liberation: The Final Dress!"

boom!
The pitch-black flames ignited again on his body, transforming into the trench coat flowing with mysterious runes.

But this time, the trench coat also had a layer of dark gold sheen.

That is the power of a fragment of divinity.

Bai Yu's figure vanished instantly, reappearing directly in front of the tumor. "Absolute Resonance?"

A cold smile curved Bai Yu's lips.

"Then let's see whose frequency... is closer to death."

He did not draw his sword.

Instead, he stretched out his right hand, spread his five fingers, and pressed it directly onto the throbbing tumor.

"Swallow!"

In an instant, a terrifying suction force erupted from Bai Yu's palm.

The tumor, which had been shaking violently, suddenly stopped for a moment.

The old man let out a piercing scream: "No! This is impossible! You're just a mortal! How dare you..."

"mortal?"

Black words echoed in the void, carrying endless mockery.

“He is the partner I, Hei Yan, chose. In this world, no one but me can devour him.”

Black flames surged along Bai Yu's arm, frantically pouring into the tumor.

The tumor began to twist and shrink violently. The originally purple blood vessels withered rapidly under the scorching heat of the black flames.

The entire city of Fog Ridge echoed with mournful cries.

The stone figures, like soulless marionettes, collapsed to the ground and turned back into gray powder.

"Go, Lao Bai!" Mo Fei waved his fist. Although no sound could be heard, his excitement could be felt from a distance.

Anmu and Lance also breathed a sigh of relief.

However, Bai Yu's face grew paler and paler.

He sensed that inside the tumor was not some mountain god, but a huge, hollow "stomach".

This stomach connects to a deeper, more terrifying space.

"Baiyu, stop!" Heiyan's voice suddenly became urgent. "Something's wrong! This tumor is just bait! It's reversing course and anchoring you to your location!"

Bai Yu wanted to stop, but found that her right hand had become fused with the tumor and could not be pulled out at all.

A cold, decaying aura crept up his arm and into his soul.

"Hehehe..."

The old man's distorted face loomed close to Bai Yu's. His body was completely withered, but his eyes revealed a kind of wild joy at his successful scheme.

"The mountain god...is not here..."

"It's...in your shadow..."

Bai Yu's pupils suddenly contracted.

He suddenly lowered his head.

Under the blood-red lights of the square, his shadow seemed to lift off the ground and slowly rise to his feet.

The shape of that shadow was exactly the same as Bai Yu's.

But in its hand, it holds an "ember" made of pure darkness.

"Shadow Assassin?" Lan Ce exclaimed.

“No, that’s ‘Self-Echo’.” Anmu’s face was ashen. “It used resonance to replicate all of Baiyu’s abilities and memories. That’s another Baiyu!”

Without uttering a single word, the shadowy figure flashed, its black blade aimed directly at Bai Yu's heart.

"Old Bai, get out of the way!" Mo Fei's eyes were bloodshot.

However, Bai Yu's right hand was stuck to the tumor and he couldn't move it at all.

The black knife was about to pierce his body.

At this critical moment.

Lu Yueqi, who had been unconscious, suddenly opened her eyes.

Her eyes were no longer clear black pupils, but had become a dazzling galaxy.

"Don't...touch him."

Lu Yueqi's voice was soft, yet it carried an air of supreme authority.

She extended a finger and gently touched the shadowy figure.

hum!
The once unstoppable shadow, Bai Yu, suddenly shattered, transforming into countless black butterflies that vanished into the air.

Immediately afterwards, Lu Yueqi's figure flickered, and she appeared beside Bai Yu like a ghost.

She grabbed Bai Yu's right hand, which was being sucked in, and pulled hard.

puff!

Bai Yu was completely free of the tumor.

After losing its target, the huge tumor let out a resentful roar, then quickly dried up and withered, turning into a pool of foul-smelling black water.

The old man also disappeared from this world along with the tumor.

"Huh...huh..."

Bai Yu collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.

He looked at Lu Yueqi beside him with a complicated expression.

"Yueqi, you..."

The starry sky in Lu Yueqi's eyes quickly faded, and she returned to being that timid and weak girl.

Her body went limp, and she fainted again in Bai Yu's arms.

"What was that just now..." Mo Fei rushed up, looking completely bewildered.

“Divinity erupted.” Lan Ce looked at the instrument in his hand, the pointers on it had completely exceeded the limit. “The nightmare within Lu Yueqi… has awakened.”

"And the level is ridiculously high."

An Mu walked over, looked at the devastated square, and said in a deep voice, "The crisis in Mist Ridge City has been temporarily resolved, but the real trouble has just begun."

"Lanze, contact headquarters. Request reinforcements and allocate the highest-level mental containment facilities."

“Bai Yu.” An Mu looked at Bai Yu, a hint of worry in his eyes, “Lu Yueqi’s situation has probably exceeded our management authority.”

Bai Yu held the girl in his arms tightly without saying a word.

He felt that the red dot on Lu Yueqi's wrist had now transformed into a blooming spider lily, delicate and beautiful.

Hei Yan, surprisingly, remained silent for a long time within his sea of consciousness.

"Bai language".

"what happened?"

"Stay away from this little girl." Hei Yan's voice carried a hint of fear he had never felt before.

"What she just used... wasn't the power of Nightmare."

“That is… the afterglow of the ‘old days’.”

Bai Yu's heart skipped a beat.

Old days?

That legendary forbidden realm, where all evil spirits were born, yet banished in ancient times?

The blood-red fog gradually dissipated.

Fog Ridge City has revealed its true form once again.

The once quaint mountain town has now become a ghost town. Countless gray stone statues lie haphazardly in the streets, maintaining postures of pleading for help, fleeing, or even embracing each other, appearing particularly desolate under the moonlight.

A gust of wind blew.

The whole city echoed with faint, lingering sounds.

"help me……"

Is anyone there...?

Bai Yu raised his head and looked at the distant mountains.

In that deep darkness, there seemed to be a pair of enormous eyes, coldly watching this place.

"The mountain god... is not dead yet."

Bai Yu murmured softly.

He knew this was just the beginning.

The secrets of Fog Ridge City are far deeper than they imagined.

Lu Yueqi may be the key to unlocking that ultimate secret.

……