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

Chapter 13 Feast of Flesh and Blood

The overwhelming stench of blood and decay, almost tangible, mixed with the lingering scent of incense from a partially burned corpse, slammed into the faces of the four men like an invisible wall, hitting them right in the head.

Mo Fei's stomach churned violently, and a surge of acid rose uncontrollably in his throat. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand, forcibly suppressing the vomit that was about to spill out.

Even a commander as resolute as An Mu had his pupils suddenly contract and his hand gripping his weapon tense up instinctively when he saw the scene before him.

Lan Ce adjusted his glasses, his eyes rapidly scanning the entire scene behind the lenses, trying to use reason and logic to deconstruct this terrifying scene that was beyond the scope of real-world comprehension, but his breathing involuntarily became rapid.

Only Bai Yu's expression remained largely unchanged, as if this hellish feast before him was no different from the hallucinogenic coffee he had seen in the coffee shop earlier. But in his unfathomable eyes, a chilling coldness, even colder than the surrounding eerie green light, was concentrated.

"Ah...what a grand, what a sincere hospitality." Black Words' delighted whisper echoed in his mind, as if admiring a breathtaking masterpiece. "Mortals always depict death and fear as so ugly, yet they don't know that when decay and rebirth combine in the form of a 'wedding banquet,' it is itself a beautiful art. Look at those dishes, my dear Little White Words, each one is a story, the final resting place of a desperate soul. What a delicious creation."

Bai Yu ignored Hei Yan's ramblings and quickly scanned the entire room.

In the courtyard, hundreds of paper figures sat around dozens of round tables. They were incredibly lifelike, ranging from the frail elderly to toddlers, covering all stages of life. They were all dressed in neat, locally distinctive clothing, their faces painted with identical festive smiles. They sat there quietly, each in a different posture—some seemed to be whispering to each other, others raising a glass in toast—but the courtyard was so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat. This extreme contradiction between movement and stillness created an eerie, unsettling atmosphere. They were like a group of revelers whose pause button had been pressed, and Anmu and his three companions were the only outliers who had intruded into this frozen revelry.

Their arrival seemed to elicit no reaction from the paper figure guests. Yet, the four of them simultaneously felt hundreds of invisible gazes cast upon them from all directions, locking them firmly in place. It was a cold, emotionless scrutiny, as if they were appraising offerings about to be placed on the table.

“Captain…we…” Mo Fei’s voice trembled uncontrollably in the telepathic link, “The fourth rule… ‘Enjoy to your heart’…how can we ‘enjoy’ this?!”

His gaze was fixed on the nearest table. In the center of the table was a huge "pagoda" made of some kind of grayish-white flesh, and at the top of the "pagoda" was a fresh heart that was still trembling slightly.

"Stay calm, Mo Fei." An Mu's voice was as steady as a mountain, forcefully calming the team members' emotions. "This is part of the rules. Especially in times like these, we must not lose our composure."

"Calm down?" Mo Fei growled in a low voice, "Captain An, look over there!"

He pointed to a table near the corner of the courtyard. At that table, the missing investigator, Xiao Zhao, was sitting with several other "villagers." In front of him was a bowl of white, rice-like material. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't rice at all, but rather rows of neatly arranged teeth.

“The literal meaning of the rules is clear: ‘Enjoy to your heart’ and ‘Do not waste.’” Lancer’s voice sounded in the link as he forced himself into analytical mode. “This means we must interact with these ‘foods’ in some way. The question is, what is the definition of ‘enjoy’? Does it mean we have to eat it, or… is there another form?”

"No matter what form it takes, I won't touch those damn things!" Mo Fei's attitude was exceptionally firm. "I'd rather fight them to the death!"

"Then trigger the rules and become a pile of rotten flesh like that villager who peeked at the bridal sedan chair, adding some thickness to this blood carpet?" An Mu's voice rang out, interrupting Mo Fei's impulse, "Mo Fei, put away your useless brute courage."

Although An Mu's words were harsh, they acted like a powerful tranquilizer, calming Mo Fei's agitated emotions somewhat. He knew An Mu was right, but he couldn't accept it.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Mo Fei asked unwillingly.

Anmu turned his gaze to Baiyu, who was standing silently to the side.

Bai Yu did not answer immediately. He closed his eyes slightly, pulling himself out of the terrifying scene around him, and his brain started working at high speed like the most sophisticated instrument.

"Hei Yan, what do you think is the purpose of this 'wedding banquet'?" he asked in his mind.

"Purpose? Heh, does art need a purpose?" Hei Yan chuckled lightly, but still slowly offered his insight, "However, if you insist on interpreting it with your shallow mortal logic... this wedding banquet is both a 'display' and a 'fusion.' The hosts place their most precious 'collections' on the table for the guests. And what the guests need to do is express their 'admiration' and 'appreciation' for these works of art. Only in this way can you integrate into this banquet, rather than become the banquet itself."

“Praise and recognition…” Bai Yu chewed on these words, then slowly opened his eyes and turned his gaze back to the paper guests.

He noticed a crucial detail. Although the paper figures were all arranged to appear "seated," the bowls and chopsticks in front of them were neatly set out. So far, they hadn't "eaten" anything from the table. They were simply sitting there, forming part of the banquet.

“They’re not eating; they’re 'observing the ceremony,'” Bai Yu said softly. “The essence of this banquet may not be eating, but a ritual. We, as guests, need to complete this ritual.”

"What ceremony?" Anmu immediately pressed for an answer.

“I’m not sure yet. But the key point of the rule is ‘do not waste.’ If we understand ‘food’ as an offering, then the meaning of ‘waste’ changes. Offerings that are not enjoyed are the greatest waste.” Bai Yu’s thinking became clearer and clearer. “Therefore, we must ‘enjoy’ it. But the object of ‘enjoyment’ is not necessarily ourselves.”

“Not ourselves? You mean…” Lan Ce followed Bai Yu’s gaze.

Bai Yu's gaze fell upon a round table in front of them, with four empty seats. This table was clearly prepared for the four of them, the "living guests." The table was also laden with those horrifying dishes, but in the very center of the table, there was an extra set of clean chopsticks and a bowl, placed in front of an empty seat of honor.

“This is it.” Bai Yu pointed to the empty seat. “In a traditional banquet, this seat is reserved for the most distinguished guest or an ancestor who needs to be honored. We are guests, but we are also newcomers. We need to show our respect to the hosts here, or rather, to this wedding banquet itself.”

"You mean... we're going to serve that invisible ghost food?" Mo Fei's voice was full of absurdity.

“This is the most reasonable deduction at the moment,” Bai Yu said firmly. “The rules only say ‘enjoy’ and ‘don’t waste,’ but don’t specify who should enjoy them. By serving the food to the ‘host,’ we are both expressing our intention to ‘enjoy’ and avoiding ‘wasting’ the offerings. This is the only possible way to break the deadlock.” An Mu stared at Bai Yu, and after a few seconds, he made his decision: “Do as you say. Who will go?”

"I'll go," Bai Yu said without hesitation. "If I make a wrong judgment, I'll take responsibility for the consequences."

After saying that, he didn't give anyone a chance to object, and strode towards the table prepared for them.

An Mu, Mo Fei, and Lan Ce's hearts were in their throats. They watched Bai Yu's retreating figure, lonely and resolute under the eerie gaze of hundreds of paper figures. Every step he took seemed to tread on the edge of life and death.

Bai Yu walked to the table. He didn't sit down immediately, but instead bowed slightly to the empty seat of honor as a sign of respect. This subtle gesture seemed to loosen the stagnant air around them.

Then, he picked up the pair of cold chopsticks on the table that seemed to be made of jade. His gaze swept over the nauseating "dishes" on the table, and finally settled on one of the plates.

He could smell the strong, strange aroma, a mixture of fishy sweetness and spices. Without pausing, he steadily and respectfully placed the piece of "vegetable" into the clean, empty bowl in front of the head of the table.

"Please use it," he said softly, his voice not loud, but it echoed clearly in the deathly silent courtyard.

The moment he put down his chopsticks.

"Click——"

A soft yet synchronized sound came from all directions.

An Mu and his two companions were astonished to see that the hundreds of paper guests in the courtyard all nodded stiffly in their direction at the same moment.

Their smiles remained eerie, but the oppressive sense of scrutiny that almost overwhelmed people receded like a tide at that moment.

Success! Bai Yu's judgment was correct!
Mo Fei and Lan Ce breathed a sigh of relief, almost collapsing from exhaustion, and An Mu's tense shoulders finally relaxed.

Bai Yu bowed slightly to the person in the main seat again, then pulled out a chair and sat down.

An Mu and the other two immediately understood, stepped forward, and followed his example, first bowing to the person in the main seat before taking their seats in turn. The four of them thus became guests of honor at this hellish wedding banquet, along with the paper figures filling the courtyard.

Although the crisis has been temporarily averted, sitting in front of these "dishes" made of unknown flesh and blood is still an extreme ordeal.

“I told you, art needs to be understood.” Hei Yan’s voice carried a hint of approval. “You did well, Xiao Baiyu. You pleased the host of this grand feast with the etiquette of mortals. Now, you are the real ‘guests’.”

However, before Hei Yan could finish speaking, alarm bells rang in Bai Yu's mind. In this place, safety was always temporary. The end of one rule often meant the beginning of another, more dangerous one.

His premonition soon came true. Less than half a minute after they sat down, a "click" sound, like a rusty machine turning, suddenly came from the direction of the main hall of the ancestral hall.

The four of them suddenly looked up towards the direction of the main table. They saw that the groom, who had been hanging his head as if he were fast asleep, was starting to move.

His neck rose inch by inch in an unnatural posture. His movements were slow and mechanical, as if every joint had long been rusted, requiring all his strength to complete this simple action. Finally, his head was fully raised, facing all the "guests" in the courtyard.

Only then did they see the groom's face clearly. It was the face of an exceptionally handsome young man, yet deathly pale. His skin was as smooth as fine porcelain, and his features were as exquisite as a figure in a painting. But his eyes were tightly closed, his long eyelashes casting a bluish shadow beneath his eyelids. His lips were bluish-purple, devoid of any life.

He was clearly... a corpse.

The handsome groom, after "raising" his head, did not open his eyes. His hand, which had been resting on the table and adorned with an antique jade thumb ring, began to slowly rise in the same stiff manner. In his hand was a wine glass filled with some kind of deep red liquid. The liquid was viscous like blood, reflecting an ominous light under the eerie green lamplight.

The groom held up his wine glass, his arm pointing towards Bai Yu and the others. He didn't speak, but a cold, emotionless voice suddenly rang in the minds of all four simultaneously: "Guests from afar, please drink this cup."

The third rule was triggered at this moment.

The groom is hospitable; if he offers you a toast, please be sure to drink it as a sign of respect.

The four men's faces instantly turned even paler than the groom's. They stared at the wine glass, filled with a blood-like liquid, held aloft by the corpse, and felt a chill run from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads, freezing even their souls. They cleverly avoided the temptation to eat. But this time, it was the groom himself who offered the toast. The rules were clearly stated—"Please drink."

They had no way to avoid this drink.

(End of this chapter)