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

Chapter 132 A Flower in a Mirror, a Thorn in Flesh

The sound of the underground river echoed in the hollow, sounding less like liquid and more like countless people whispering.

Bai Yu led the way down the steep slope, his boots making an unpleasant sound as they pounded on the sticky black rocks. The air here was so thick it was almost tangible, each breath carrying a mixture of rust and rotting fruit.

"Mo Fei, watch your flanks, don't get more than three meters away from me," Bai Yu ordered in a low voice, his eyes flashing with rationality in the darkness.

Mo Fei responded heavily, his battle axe not striking immediately, but remaining poised for a strike. He keenly observed the twisted pillars around him; the auxiliary power of his exoskeleton hummed softly, providing him with stable support. He knew the environment here was extremely strange, and any rash charge could lead to the demise of the entire squad.

"Lan Ce, scan the components of the underground river. I have a feeling this thing is moving." Bai Yu stopped in his tracks.

Lance quickly crouched down and plunged the probe into the black liquid on the shore. The waveform on the terminal screen instantly became chaotic, and countless red warning pop-ups appeared on the screen.

“This is not water, Bai Yu.” Lan Ce’s voice was low, tinged with a hint of trembling. “This is liquefied mental entropy. Simply put, it is an entity formed from countless fragmented memories and despair. If you fall into it, your soul will be instantly diluted.”

Lu Yueqi huddled tightly behind Bai Yu, the "ears" of the ghost hat twitching uneasily. She pointed to the flesh tree in the center of the hollow, her voice trembling: "It's laughing... I heard it laughing. It's saying, welcome to the 'real Linjiang'."

"The real Linjiang?" Bai Yu frowned.

Meanwhile, the battle below had reached a fever pitch. Second team leader Zhao Tiezhu wielded his heavy greatsword, each sweep sending up plumes of blood mist. Strangely, the monsters attacking them weren't being eliminated; instead, they seemed drawn to the power emanating from the greatsword, constantly merging and reforming.

“Something’s not right.” Bai Yu stared at Zhao Tiezhu’s movements. “The second team’s fighting style has always been to break through the surface by focusing on a single point. Zhao Tiezhu’s current fighting style is too chaotic. He’s afraid.”

"Old Zhao is afraid? He's known as a man of iron will." Mo Fei was somewhat incredulous, but he restrained his urge to rush over and waited for Bai Yu's judgment.

"Go down and take a look, but maintain formation."

The four moved swiftly along the edge of the underground river. As they drew closer, the full form of the Tree of Flesh and Blood became clearer. The dense "cocoons" on the trunk were not static; they pulsated rhythmically, and human silhouettes were faintly visible within them. These silhouettes gradually deformed as they writhed, limbs elongated, and bones reshaped, as if undergoing some kind of brutal evolution.

“These cocoons… are synchronizing with their heartbeats.” Lanze stared at the data on the terminal. “The entire void is a giant resonant cavity, and the heart is the frequency generator. It’s forcibly altering these people’s biological frequencies, turning them into carriers of nightmares.”

"Help... help..."

A faint cry came from several nearby cocoons.

Mo Fei gripped his battle axe tightly, veins bulging on his arm, but he looked at Bai Yu and asked in a low voice, "Can you save him?"

Bai Yu remained silent for a moment, his Eye of Truth rapidly circulating in his left pupil. In his vision, the humans within those cocoons had lost the flame of their souls, leaving only their shells being filled with evil power.

“That’s bait,” Bai Yu replied calmly. “If you cut it open, the high-pressure corrosive liquid inside will instantly cover an area of ​​ten meters in radius. It’s a trap.”

Mo Fei took a deep breath and forced himself to look away. He knew Bai Yu's judgment was never wrong, and at times like this, pity had to give way to reason.

Finally, they approached the second team's defensive perimeter.

"Old Zhao! Look this way!" Mo Fei growled, but he didn't shout loudly, lest he attract more monsters.

Zhao Tiezhu turned his head abruptly, his once resolute face now covered with black lines, his eyes bloodshot. Seeing Bai Yu and the others, he was first stunned, then burst into wild laughter: "Bai Yu? You've come to the 'victory celebration' too? Look, Linjiang City is saved! We won!"

His words sent a chill down everyone's spine.

In Zhao Tiezhu's view, what he saw around him wasn't a tree of flesh and monsters at all, but rather a bustling commercial street in Linjiang City. Those grotesque monsters might have appeared to him as cheering citizens, and the tree of flesh and monsters as a celebratory monument.

“He’s been tricked.” Bai Yu’s eyes were icy. “It’s a deep-seated mental nightmare illusion. He’s trapped in the memory he craves most.”

"Then what about these monsters that are besieging them?" Lance looked around warily.

“That’s his teammate.” Bai Yu’s words were like a heavy hammer, shattering everyone’s illusions.

Everyone looked closely and saw that the deformed creatures moving around Zhao Tiezhu did indeed have fragments of the Investigation Bureau uniforms on their bodies. They weren't attacking Zhao Tiezhu, but rather trying to stop him from continuing to swing his sword, because every strike Zhao Tiezhu made was hacking at the hollow supporting pillars, attempting to destroy this "real world."

"Old Zhao! Wake up!" Mo Fei couldn't help but step forward, his battle axe held horizontally in front of his chest. "Those are your teammates! Look closely!"

Zhao Tiezhu wouldn't listen at all. He wildly brandished his greatsword: "Citizens, don't be afraid! I've driven away the nightmare! Keep dancing and singing!"

His greatsword slammed into a concrete pillar, sending stone chips flying. The entire underground cavern shook violently, with huge rocks raining down from above.

“He’s destroying himself,” Lan Ce analyzed. “This nightmare is too insidious. It turns the strongest warriors into the culprits of destroying hope. If he destroys these pillars, the entire city center of Linjiang will collapse into this void and become the best fertilizer for that tree.”

"Black Words," Bai Yu called out in his heart.

"Oh dear, what a poorly executed stage play." Hei Yan appeared elegantly in Bai Yu's consciousness, holding the nameless ancient book in his hands. "This level of self-hypnosis actually managed to fool an A-level investigator. It seems that the human mind is far more easily corrupted than rules."

"The anchor point for analyzing this illusion."

“The anchor point is in that heart.” Hei Yan pointed to the beating heart at the top of the tree. “It’s emitting a ‘happiness frequency.’ To wake him up, you’d have to make him feel pain that’s deeper than that, or… something more absolute.”

Bai Yu looked at Lu Yueqi.

"Yueqi, do you remember how it felt on the platform just now?"

Lu Yueqi nodded, her face still pale, but her eyes held a newfound determination.

“I want you to grant Captain Zhao a ‘pardon.’ Not to let him go off duty, but to bring him to his senses,” Bai Yu guided softly. “Tell him that the battle isn’t over yet, and his brothers are still waiting for him.”

Lu Yueqi closed her eyes, her hands clasped tightly to her chest. The grayish-white power within her surged once more, and the glow of the ghost hat softened and became sacred.

"Captain Zhao... wake up..."

A faint but resilient ripple pierced through the chaotic battlefield and entered Zhao Tiezhu's brow.

Zhao Tiezhu abruptly stopped. The crimson in his eyes began to fade, replaced by utter confusion.

"Victory celebration...citizens...my sword..."

He looked down at his hands. There were no flowers, only sticky blood. He looked around again; the "citizens" were groaning in agony, their bodies torn apart by his greatsword, yet they still crawled toward him.

"Er Lengzi? Da Liu?" Zhao Tiezhu's voice trembled violently.

The illusion crumbled like a shattered mirror.

The sheer horror overwhelmed him. He saw himself severing his teammates' limbs, and he saw himself destroying the city's foundations.

"what!!!"

A piercing scream escaped the tough man's lips. He collapsed to his knees by the dark river, his greatsword clattering to the ground, and he succumbed to a complete mental breakdown.

"Now! Mo Fei, take over the defense! Lan Ce, go check on the wounded in the second team and see if they can be saved!" Bai Yu gave the order decisively.

Mo Fei rushed to Zhao Tiezhu's side, activating the full shield of his exoskeleton to block a new wave of monsters falling from the Tree of Flesh. He didn't blame Zhao Tiezhu, but said in a deep voice, "Old Zhao, if you're a man, stand up! The first team of brothers is here to pick you up, don't embarrass yourself here!"

Zhao Tiezhu raised his head, his face covered in tears and blood. He looked at Mo Fei's broad back, then at Bai Yu calmly directing the operation not far away, and the will to die in his eyes was gradually replaced by an overwhelming hatred.

He hated these nightmares, and he hated his own weakness even more.

"Bai Yu...kill me," Zhao Tiezhu said in a hoarse voice. "I have no face to live on."

"Want to die? Wait until you cut this tree down." Bai Yu didn't even glance at him, the Ember Light in his hand already locked onto the heart at the top of the tree. "Go collect the debts of the Second Team yourself. If you commit suicide now, your dead brothers will have truly died in vain."

Zhao Tiezhu shuddered. He slowly stood up and picked up the greatsword, now stained with the blood of his teammates, once more.

“Fine…cut down this tree.” His voice was as cold as ice.

At this moment, the Tree of Flesh and Blood seemed to sense that the illusion had been broken, and the entire tree began to tremble violently. The cocoons hanging on the tree burst open, and countless nightmares of various shapes crawled out. Some were spiders with human faces, and others were fleshy lumps covered with eyeballs. They gathered into a black torrent and surged towards the crowd.

"Lan Ce, report the analysis results!" Bai Yu asked while firing.

"This tree's defenses are growing exponentially!" Lan Ce said rapidly on the terminal. "It's absorbing fragments of memory from the Dark River, arming itself into a 'historical fortress'! Ordinary physical attacks can't even scratch its core!"

"Historical fortress?"

“It’s using the negative memories of Linjiang City’s past few hundred years to build a shield,” Lan Ce gritted his teeth. “Unless we can find an ‘alien object’ that doesn’t belong to Linjiang City’s memories, as the fuse for the attack.”

Bai Yu's eyes flickered slightly.

foreign body.

He himself is the greatest alien. His soul is reconstructed, and his power comes from Black Words, an ancient nightmare that does not belong to this world.

"Mo Fei, Zhao Tiezhu, buy me thirty seconds." Bai Yu put away his gun and loosely gripped his hands.

“No problem!” Mo Fei and Zhao Tiezhu exchanged a glance, and the two of them, one on the left and one on the right, stood guard over the fan-shaped area in front of Bai Yu like two war gods.

Mo Fei's battle axe transformed into a storm of death, instantly shredding any monster that approached. Zhao Tiezhu, however, was even more frenzied. Ignoring his own defenses, each of his sword strikes carried a suicidal intent, cleaving the nightmares that attempted to cross the boundary in two.

"Heiyan, lend me your book." Baiyu muttered to himself.

"Oh? You've finally decided to use that power?" Hei Yan's voice carried a hint of excitement. "That will cause your shattered soul to crack open again. Are you sure you want to go to this extent for these 'insects'?"

“They are not insects, they are my comrades.”

Within Bai Yu's consciousness, an ancient, pitch-black book slowly opened. Countless twisted characters flew out from it, swirling around Bai Yu.

Bai Yu's body began to emit an eerie black light. His eyes became deep and empty, as if connected to the nothingness of another dimension.

"Rule stripping".

With a soft shout from Bai Yu, an invisible force spread from him toward the Tree of Flesh and Blood.

The shield built from historical memory melted away like snowflakes meeting the blazing sun the moment it came into contact with this power. Those mournful cries and distorted images appeared utterly pale and powerless before the rules of Black Words.

"Damn it, is this Bai Yu's true strength?" Zhao Tiezhu glanced back and was terrified by the terrifying aura emanating from him.

"Shut up and focus on killing the enemy!" Although Mo Fei also felt suppressed, he had absolute trust in Bai Yu.

However, just as Bai Yu was about to reach the heart of the matter, a sudden change occurred.

Suddenly, a huge crack appeared in the center of the tree of flesh and blood. A man wearing a white lab coat and gold-rimmed glasses slowly walked out of it.

His attire stood out starkly against the terrifying surroundings, appearing both elegant and eerie.

"Professor Su?!" Lu Yueqi exclaimed in surprise.

The man adjusted his glasses and smiled slightly at the crowd: "Long time no see, Investigator Bai Yu. Welcome to my laboratory."

"Su Jianguo." Bai Yu stopped what she was doing, a hint of seriousness in her eyes.

Su Jianguo was once a senior consultant for the Investigation Bureau and the most famous biopsychologist in Linjiang City. But three years ago, he was wanted for conducting forbidden nightmare experiments and disappeared without a trace.

No one expected that he would hide under the boundary marker and cultivate such a terrifying tree of flesh and blood.

"You call this a laboratory?" Mo Fei glared at him. "Look at these people in their cocoons, are you even human?" "Human?" Su Jianguo chuckled, spreading his arms as if displaying a great work of art. "Humans are too fragile, too easily dominated by fear. I'm just helping them evolve, helping them get rid of those useless emotions, to become a higher form of being. Look how peaceful and happy they are now."

"Your evolution is turning them into monsters?" Bai Yu's voice was terrifyingly cold.

“Monsters are just a process; divinity is the end.” Su Jianguo looked at Bai Yu, his eyes filled with fanaticism. “Bai Yu, you are the most perfect sample I have ever seen. Your soul is broken but not scattered, and a high-level being resides within you… Join me. With your data, this ‘mother tree’ can fully mature, and Linjiang City will become the first ‘eternal city’.”

"Keep dreaming!" Zhao Tiezhu roared, dragging his giant sword as he charged forward.

"Zhao Tiezhu, come back!" Bai Yu shouted urgently.

But it's too late.

Su Jianguo simply waved his hand lightly.

boom!
A tremendous impact sent Zhao Tiezhu flying, crashing heavily into a concrete pillar and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"Rude warrior, your data has been collected. Now you can serve as nourishment for your teammates." Su Jianguo smiled, and countless blood-red tentacles emerged from the shadows beneath his feet, coiling towards Zhao Tiezhu.

"Don't think about it!"

Mo Fei slid forward and swung his battle axe wildly, severing the tentacles.

"Lan Ce, take Yue Qi and the second team and retreat!" Bai Yu took a deep breath. He knew that the real battle had just begun.

Su Jianguo is not a nightmare, but his current state is more dangerous than any nightmare. He has already connected himself to this tree.

"Bai Yu, what are you still hesitating for?" Su Jianguo approached step by step, the surrounding air distorting. "Look at this world, everywhere is fear, everywhere is despair. Are the things you're protecting really worth it?"

Whether it's worth it or not is not up to you to decide.

Bai Yu took a step forward, and the black liquid beneath his feet was instantly evaporated.

"Black words, all liberated."

"Hehe... As you wish."

Behind Bai Yu, the illusory figure of the young man in the black tuxedo solidified completely. He opened his eyes, which were two bottomless vortexes.

“Su Jianguo, your art… is too low-level.” Hei Yan spoke, his voice echoing throughout the hollow, causing the cocoons to shatter.

"What?!" Su Jianguo's expression changed for the first time. He could feel a power far superior to his own awakening.

"True art is destruction."

Hei Yan stretched out her slender finger and gently drew a line in the air.

A black rift appeared in mid-air. There was no light, no sound, only utter nothingness within the rift.

"No! This is impossible! My mother tree is perfect!" Su Jianguo roared madly, directing the entire tree of flesh and blood to press down on Bai Yu.

Countless enormous roots burst forth from the ground, carrying destructive power.

"Mo Fei, take them away! Now!" Bai Yu roared.

"Old White!"

"Go!"

Mo Fei gritted his teeth, knowing that staying here would only distract Bai Yu. He hoisted the unconscious Zhao Tiezhu onto his shoulder, grabbed Lan Ce with his other hand, and shouted to Lu Yueqi, "Sis, stick close to me!"

The four of them quickly retreated back to the passage they had come from.

Behind me, a deafening explosion rang out.

The black void collided with the blood-red tentacles, and the resulting shockwave caused the entire underground cavity to collapse on a large scale.

……

I don’t know how long it took.

Mo Fei and the others finally broke out of the abandoned subway station and returned to the wasteland on the ground.

At this moment, in the distant city center of Linjiang, the black "boundary marker" light screen flickered violently a few times, and a huge crack appeared.

“Bai Yu hasn’t come out yet…” Lu Yueqi stared at the entrance that was still emitting black smoke, tears welling up in her eyes.

"That kid's lucky, he won't die." Although Mo Fei said this, his trembling hands betrayed his inner unease.

Lan Ce was busy giving emergency treatment to the survivors of the second team. Zhao Tiezhu had already woken up; he stared blankly at the sky, his eyes vacant.

"The signal is back!" Lan Ce suddenly shouted.

His terminal received a large amount of information from the outside world.

"This is the headquarters of the Bureau of Investigation. Team One, please respond! Team One, please respond!"

"This is Lan Ce. We are at Linjiang North Station. Requesting backup! Repeat, requesting backup!"

Just then, a white figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the horizon.

He walked very slowly, each step appearing extremely labored. His clothes were tattered, and his skin was covered with fine bloodstains, especially his left eye, which was tightly closed, from which a line of bloody tears flowed.

But in his hand, he carried a beating heart.

That is the core of the Tree of Flesh and Blood.

"Old Bai!" Mo Fei was the first to rush forward and support the swaying Bai Yu.

Bai Yu smiled weakly and handed the heart in her hand to Lan Ce: "Take this... This is evidence of Su Jianguo's crimes... and it's also the key to closing the boundary marker."

"Where is Su Jianguo?" Lan Ce asked anxiously as he took the heart.

“He… became the nourishment he worshipped most.” Bai Yu’s voice trailed off. “Let him stay in that ‘perfect laboratory’ forever.”

After saying that, Bai Yu's head lolled to the side, and she fainted completely in Mo Fei's arms.

"Medical team! Quick! Where is the medical team?!" Mo Fei shouted frantically at the sky.

The roar of helicopters came from afar.

For the first time, a sliver of dawn appeared in the night sky over Linjiang City.

……

three days later.

Special care ward at the headquarters hospital of the Bureau of Investigation.

Bai Yu slowly opened her eyes, and what came into view was a snow-white ceiling. A faint smell of disinfectant filled the air.

"you're awake?"

A gentle voice sounded from beside the bed.

Bai Yu turned her head and saw Lu Yueqi sitting in a chair, peeling an apple. She had changed back into her usual clothes and looked much better, but her eyes held a more mature look.

"How long have I been asleep?" Bai Yu's voice was a little hoarse.

“Three days and three nights.” Lu Yueqi cut the peeled apple into small pieces and held them to his mouth. “Brother Mo Fei and the others are next door. Their injuries weren’t as bad as yours, and they’re all back to normal by now.”

Bai Yu chewed on the apple, savoring its sweet taste, and her tense nerves finally relaxed.

"Is the boundary marker closed?"

"Yes, it's shut down." Lu Yueqi nodded. "Brother Lan Ce successfully reversed the energy flow using the data from that heart. Linjiang City was saved, although it suffered severe damage, most of the citizens were rescued."

"What about the second team?"

Lu Yueqi paused for a moment: "Captain Zhao... he resigned. He said he was going back to his hometown to take care of the families of his fallen teammates. Before he left, he asked me to thank you."

Bai Yu looked at the sunlight outside the window without saying a word.

In this world, it often takes more courage to survive than to die.

“Brother Bai Yu,” Lu Yueqi suddenly called out softly.

"Ok?"

Did Professor Su say something to you at the end?

Bai Yu's eyes flickered slightly.

In that collapsed void, before Hei Yan completely obliterated Su Jianguo, that madman did indeed leave a sentence in his ear.

"This tree is just a bonsai. The real forest has already been planted in your heart."

Bai Yu touched his chest. There, he could feel that Hei Yan's power was more condensed and more...active than before.

"It's nothing, just the ramblings of a dead man," Bai Yu replied calmly.

Just then, the ward door was suddenly pushed open.

"Old Bai! You brat, you're finally awake!" Mo Fei's loud voice made the windows rattle. He was carrying a big bag of barbecue, followed by Lan Ce, who looked helpless. "Look what I brought you! The doctor said you can only drink porridge, but looking at your little body, I still have to make you some hearty dishes!"

"Mo Fei, this is a hospital, keep your voice down!" Lan Ce rolled his eyes at him, annoyed.

Looking at her noisy teammates, Bai Yu's lips curled up slightly.

Although the road ahead is still shrouded in shadow, and that so-called "forest" may erupt at any moment, at least for now, he is not fighting alone.

"Leave me a skewer of lamb, not spicy," Bai Yu said with a smile.

Sunlight streamed into the ward, making it warm and bright.

However, in a corner unnoticed by anyone, deep within the pupil of Bai Yu's left eye, the pitch-black, nameless ancient book quietly turned a new page.

(End of this chapter)