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

Chapter 155 Under the Red Moon
The glass curtain wall at the top of the Black Tower was shaking violently, and the dark red sky looked like a curtain soaked in blood, pressing heavily over Linjiang City.

Bai Yu stood before the conference table, the light emanating from the silver bead in his hand clashing violently with the red light outside the window, creating visible ripples in the air. He could feel that the once stable reality was becoming distorted and unstable, like a melting candle.

"Zero" remained leaning against the doorframe, his one black and one white eye filled with mockery. He seemed completely unconcerned about the team members around him who were eyeing him menacingly, simply swirling his wine glass as if the impending apocalypse was merely a fine vintage wine in his cup.

"Is this your choice, Bai Yu?"

Zero's voice was soft, yet it pierced through the thunderous roar outside the window and resounded directly in Bai Yu's mind.

Bai Yu did not answer. He turned his head and looked at Lan Ce, who was supporting An Mu, and Mo Fei, who had already held his battle axe horizontally in front of his chest.

"Mo Fei, put away your weapons. Lan Ce, of all the vehicles available in the inspection department, we need a heavily armored off-road vehicle, preferably one with electromagnetic shielding."

Bai Yu issued his first order upon returning. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable sense of security.

Mo Fei paused for a moment. He glanced at Zero, his eyes still filled with wariness, but he obediently retracted the high-frequency light blade. He knew that Bai Yu was no longer the "fragile object" he needed to protect at all times. The power of the rules emanating from Bai Yu, subtly suppressing the entire Black Tower, felt both unfamiliar and reliable to him.

"Old Bai, the headquarters garage is on the third basement level, where there are several 'Dragon Scale' series armored vehicles that haven't been issued yet. But I need five minutes to bypass the access that was just locked."

Lance pushed up his glasses, his fingers flying across the microcomputer. Even in this apocalyptic moment, his breathing remained steady, with only the fine beads of sweat on his fingertips betraying his tension.

"It won't take five minutes."

Bai Yu walked towards the elevator, her silver eyes sweeping across the conference room.

"Here, permissions have become meaningless."

He stretched out his right hand and made a grabbing motion in the air.

hum-

With a dull metallic roar, the entire black tower's electrical system instantly rebooted. The previously red alarm lights all went out, replaced by a solid white light signifying highest authority.

"Permission Reset: Enabled for all systems".

Bai Yu said calmly.

The elevator doors slid open silently. Bai Yu stepped in first, followed closely by An Mu, who was being supported by Lan Ce. Mo Fei brought up the rear, taking one last look at the man named "Zero" before entering the elevator.

The man raised his glass to him, and then his figure vanished without a trace before everyone's eyes, like smoke blown away by the wind.

"Is that guy... a human or a ghost?"

Mo Fei frowned and muttered something under his breath.

"He is neither human nor ghost."

Bai Yu stood at the front of the elevator, watching the floor numbers drop down.

"He is the embodiment of some kind of observer. We will see him again later."

The elevator descended rapidly, but the commotion outside grew increasingly louder. The entire black tower seemed like a small boat swaying in a storm, with sharp metallic scraping sounds coming from all directions. It was the nightmare lurking in the shadows trying to tear open the black tower's physical shell.

"Captain An, can you still hold on?"

Bai Yu turned to look at An Mu.

An Mu's resolute face was covered with fine beads of sweat, but he still kept his back straight. He waved his hand to indicate that he was alright.

"Don't worry, although 'Iron Wall Royal Authority' is very taxing, my dignity as captain will keep me from collapsing. Bai Yu, you just said... that place is where you were born?"

An Mu's eyes revealed a complex emotion.

Bai Yu was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"The coordinates Zero gave me point to the 'Longevity Sanatorium' in the western suburbs. It was sealed off thirty years ago due to an accident. If my background is really related to that place, then everything Shen Qing and Lin Huai-ren have done is probably just a secondary development based on that place."

"Longevity Sanatorium..."

Lan Ce suddenly spoke, his tone tinged with doubt.

“I’ve seen this name in the bureau’s top-secret archives. The files there are marked ‘not to be looked at,’ and there aren’t even any electronic backups. If that really is the ‘original dream,’ then what we’re facing this time is probably something far beyond deep-seated mental nightmares.”

Ding.

The elevator takes you to the third basement level.

As the door opened, a strong smell of engine oil and a cold metallic scent wafted out.

This is the Bureau of Investigation's core equipment depot. Dozens of heavy armored vehicles, painted in matte black, are neatly lined up under motion-sensor lights.

"Mo Fei, go to the third car on the left, that's the 'Dragon Scale-07,' the chassis has been reinforced. Lan Ce, get in and start the navigation. I'll lead the way."

As Bai Yu stepped out of the elevator, the motion-sensor lights beneath his feet would illuminate in advance with each step, as if the entire building was welcoming its new owner.

Mo Fei strode towards the armored vehicle, his burly body displaying astonishing explosive power at that moment. He flung open the heavy door, jumped into the driver's seat, and skillfully flipped through various switches.

"Hey, the engine of this big guy is really awesome!"

Mo Fei patted the steering wheel, and with a deep roar, the armored vehicle's engine ignited instantly.

Lan Ce helped An Mu into the back seat. Bai Yu stood in front of the huge gate leading from the garage to the outside.

Outside the gate, the sickening scratching sounds could already be heard.

"Are you ready?"

Bai Yu looked back.

"Ready to go at any time!" Mo Fei shouted in response.

Bai Yu turned his head, and a sudden burst of silver light flashed in his eyes.

"Rules rewritten: Beyond this gate, all things retreat!"

boom--

The massive alloy gate shattered in an instant, but the fragments did not fly inwards. Instead, they were pushed away by an invisible force and shot wildly outwards.

Before the dozens of "shallow figurative nightmares" guarding the door could even roar, they were churned into black smoke by these alloy fragments.

"go!"

Bai Yu nimbly jumped into the passenger seat of the armored vehicle.

Mo Fei slammed on the gas pedal, and the armored vehicle, weighing over ten tons, roared out of the underground garage like a mad black rhinoceros, crashing directly into that dark red apocalypse.

The outside world has gone completely mad.

The once bustling streets of Linjiang City are now shrouded in an eerie, semi-transparent red mist. The streetlights flicker and crackle with electrical activity. The once smooth asphalt road is riddled with huge cracks, from which dark red liquid gushes out, emitting a nauseating, burnt smell.

"Oh my god..."

Lan Ce looked out the window and couldn't help but let out a soft gasp.

The tall buildings along the roadside were undergoing a terrifying transformation. The once straight reinforced concrete walls were now writhing and twitching like flesh and blood. The windows had turned into enormous, pupil-less eyes, staring intently at the armored vehicles speeding past on the street.

"Don't look at those eyes!"

Bai Yu shouted sternly.

“That’s visual pollution caused by ‘rule distortion.’ Once a cognitive connection is established, your mind is assimilated into the architecture.”

Lance immediately looked away and forced himself to stare at the coordinates on the screen.

"Old Bai, there's a massive energy blockage 500 meters ahead! It's a domain formed by a Nightmare of the 'Rules of the Strange' type!"

Bai Yu looked through the windshield.

At the intersection ahead, all the traffic lights were flashing red lights frantically. In the middle of the street, a figure wearing an old-fashioned raincoat was bending over, mechanically trimming the roadside green belt with a huge pair of scissors in his hand.

But that wasn't a green belt at all; it was a few ordinary citizens whose bodies had been twisted into the shape of plants.

“That’s a ‘gardener’.”

Anmu leaned back in his seat, his voice a little hoarse.

"I've heard the rumors. It's one of the most troublesome of the rule-based nightmares. Once it classifies you as a 'weed,' no matter how strong your defense is, it will cut you down."

"Mo Fei, don't slow down, just charge straight through."

Bai Yu's tone was as calm as if he were instructing people on what to have for dinner.

"But Old Bai, that guy's scissors..."

"Believe me."

Bai Yu stretched out his right hand, and the silver bead slowly spun at his fingertips.

"Rule Analysis: The Gardener's Pruning Logic"

"Logical flaw discovered: the definition of weeds is based on 'not aesthetically pleasing.' So, what if the world itself is not aesthetically pleasing?"

A cold smile curved at the corners of Bai Yu's lips.

"Rule rewriting: aesthetic reconstruction. In this field, only we are the 'flowers,' and the rest are the 'wasteland.'"

When the armored vehicle rushed up to the "gardener," the figure who had been bending down to prune suddenly froze.

It slowly raised its head, revealing a faceless face, only countless tiny slits. It raised its rusty giant shears and slashed down at the armored vehicle.

creak-

A piercing metallic scraping sound rang out.

But the expected cutting did not occur.

Instead, the giant scissors shattered like fragile paper the moment they touched the armored vehicle's outer shell.

The "gardener" let out a shrill scream, and its body began to wither and turn black rapidly, eventually turning into a pool of foul-smelling black water that seeped into the cracks in the ground.

The armored vehicle crossed the intersection unscathed.

Mo Fei let out a long sigh of relief, his fingers trembling slightly with excitement as he gripped the steering wheel.

"Old Bai, your current power... it's like you've been given a cheat code."

"This is not a cheat code, Mo Fei."

Bai Yu looked out the window at the ever-collapsed reality, her eyes devoid of any joy.

“This is overdrawing my resources. Every time I invoke the rules, reality rejects me more. If I can’t resolve the issue within three days, without the Nightmare taking action, the world will automatically erase me, this ‘illegal program,’.”

The atmosphere inside the car became heavy again.

Lan Ce quickly adjusted the navigation.

"Old Bai, we've entered the western suburbs. The coordinates show we're in the valley three kilometers ahead."

"But the fog there was too thick, and the radar was completely ineffective. I could only navigate by visual means."

Bai Yu nodded.

"Mo Fei, turn off the headlights. Lan Ce, activate the sonic detector. Captain An, prepare your 'Royal Authority'. The road ahead may not be visible to the naked eye."

The armored vehicle turned off all its lights and, like a giant beast lurking in the darkness, silently drove into the thick fog.

The mist here has a pale pink hue, and when inhaled, it has a sticky, sweet taste.

Bai Yu could sense that the surrounding rules had completely fallen into chaos.

Time seems to lose its meaning here. One second it's the dead of night, the next the midday sun is shining through the car window. A former abandoned factory by the roadside is transformed into a meadow full of flowers, only to quickly rot into a muddy swamp.

"Everyone, stay calm."

An Mu said in a deep voice.

Although he couldn't expand his domain over a large area, a faint golden ripple always surrounded the car, keeping out the illusions that tried to infiltrate.

"Lan Ce, how far are we from our target?"

"The coordinates are right...right beneath our feet!"

Lanze's voice suddenly turned shrill.

"what?"

Mo Fei slammed on the brakes.

The armored vehicle slid forward a few meters due to inertia and finally came to a stop in a vacant wasteland.

Bai Yu pushed open the car door and got out.

The scene before him made his pupils shrink suddenly.

There are no sanatoriums or valleys here.

There is only one huge, bottomless sinkhole.

The edges of the sinkhole are unusually smooth, as if a piece of the earth had been scooped away by some giant spoon.

In the center of the sinkhole, a dilapidated stilted house is suspended, bound by countless chains.

The stilted house was very old-fashioned, with most of the red paint peeling off, revealing the blackened wood grain underneath.

Jingle Bell--

A clear, crisp bell sound came from the stilted house.

In this desolate wilderness, the sound of the bell seemed unusually abrupt, yet carried a strange allure.

"That's it."

Bai Yu stared at the stilted house, the "original rule" within him was vibrating wildly, as if sensing some kind of call from the same source.

"The place where I was born... is in that building."

"Old Bai, look at those chains."

Mo Fei also got out of the car. He squinted and pointed to the heavy iron chains wrapped around the stilted houses.

The chains did not rise from the bottom of the pit, but extended from the void. Each link of the chain was covered with dense, constantly writhing incantations.

That's a 'causal lock'.

Lan Ce held the detector, his face extremely grim.

“These chains are not meant to trap the building, but to ‘strip’ it out of the real world. If we want to get there, we must first sever these causal ties.”

"But my current algorithm can't analyze this level of causality at all. It's beyond the limits of human logic."

Bai Yu didn't say anything; he walked straight to the edge of the sinkhole.

His right eye turned a deep silver again.

"Black talk".

Bai Yu called out softly in her heart.

"Yes, Yu'er."

That elegant, seductive voice carried a hint of excitement.

"Finally back here. You know what? The air here is filled with that man's scent... that nauseating, self-righteous maternal love."

"Shut up."

Bai Yu replied coldly.

He stretched out his right hand, and the silver bead burst forth with dazzling light in his palm.

"Rule Analysis: Causal Separation"

"Judgment: This place is an illusion; only the will is real."

Bai Yu turned her head and looked at An Mu and the other two.

"Captain, you might not be able to get through the rest of the road."

"What nonsense!"

Mo Fei strode forward and grabbed Bai Yu's shoulder.

"We agreed to live and die together. You think you can be a hero all by yourself? No way!"

An Mu also came over. Although his face was pale, his eyes were unusually firm.

"Bai Yu, are you the captain or am I? The rules of the team have never been to abandon a teammate."

Bai Yu looked at them, a touch of warmth flowing through her cold heart.

But he knew that the danger ahead went beyond a physical confrontation.

"listen to me."

The Bai language's voice became unusually gentle.

“What’s hidden in that building will attack everyone’s fears. You’re staying here to give me a way out. If I get lost inside, I need you to physically destroy these chains from the outside so I can find my ‘anchor’ in reality.”

Lan Ce adjusted his glasses and nodded.

“Old Bai is right. The causal lock needs to be broken by forces from both inside and outside. If we stay outside, we can indeed play a greater role.” He took out three small sensors from his bag and handed them to Mo Fei and An Mu respectively.

"This is the 'Heartbeat Resonance Device.' As long as the three of us keep the same rhythm, we can resist the erosion of the void to a certain extent. Mo Fei, this time you have to follow my command, not a second off."

Although Mo Fei was somewhat unwilling, he knew what was important and what was urgent. He nodded heavily and gripped his battle axe tightly.

An Mu patted Bai Yu on the shoulder.

“Go. We’ll wait outside. As long as we’re alive, you’ll always find your way home.”

Bai Yu gripped An Mu's hand tightly, then turned around and leaped away.

He did not fall into the abyss.

Beneath his feet, a staircase made of silver light appeared out of thin air, extending all the way to the floating stilt house.

Bai Yu walked step by step on the light staircase.

The sound of the wind and thunder disappeared.

All that remained was the clear sound of the bell.

Jingle Bell--

Jingle Bell--

As Bai Yu stepped onto the decaying wooden corridor of the stilted house, the entire building suddenly trembled violently.

The originally tightly closed red-lacquered gate slowly opened inwards.

A faint scent of sandalwood wafted out from under the door.

Bai Yu walked through the gate.

The furnishings inside were extremely simple: an old wooden table and a few bamboo chairs.

In the very center of the room, there was an ancient cradle.

The cradle was swaying rhythmically without anyone rocking it.

Bai Yu walked to the cradle.

His breathing became rapid, and his heartbeat could be clearly heard in the silent room.

There was no baby in the cradle.

There was only a neatly folded swaddle blanket and a letter that had turned yellow.

Bai Yu reached out with trembling hands and picked up the letter.

There were only four words on the envelope:

"To Yu'er, my dear."

The handwriting was exactly the same as that of Bai Yu's father, Bai Jianguo.

Bai Yu opened the envelope.

"Yu'er, when you see this letter, it means you have made your choice."

"I'm sorry for bringing you into this world, but I couldn't give you an ordinary life."

“You must be blaming me, blaming me for using you as an experimental subject, blaming me for orchestrating all of this.”

"But you must know that you are not a monster created by Shen Qing. You are the miracle that your mother and I 'praised' for back with all our love in that deepest dream."

"Your birth is for an end. To end this false world built from countless nightmares."

"In the basement of that building, there is a last door. Behind that door is what your mother has always been protecting."

"Go, Yu'er. Go see her. Go and reclaim your true name."

The letter paper turned into specks of fluorescent light and disappeared in Bai Yu's hands.

Bai Yu stood still, not moving for a long time.

Tears streamed silently down his cheeks.

For so many years, he had believed himself to be a cursed, abandoned tool.

Unexpectedly, he turned out to be a miracle that came about through some kind of "prayer".

“Yu’er…”

Hei Yan's voice became unusually gentle, even carrying a hint of unprecedented awe.

“I felt it too. Down there… there was a very pure, very warm power. It was a ‘reality’ that even nightmares couldn’t touch.”

Bai Yu wiped away her tears, her eyes turning cold again.

He walked towards the shadows in the corner of the room.

There is a wooden staircase leading underground.

The staircase is long and deep.

Bai Yu continued to walk step by step.

As you go deeper, the sandalwood scent becomes stronger.

When he reached the end of the stairs, a huge, white stone door appeared before him.

The stone gate has no patterns, only two grooves.

Its shape is exactly the same as Bai Yu's eyes.

Bai Yu stepped forward and pressed his face against the stone door.

Click.

A crisp click of the mechanism rang out.

The stone gate slowly opened.

A soft white light shone from behind the door, enveloping Bai Yu completely.

Bai Yu walked through the door.

What he saw was neither a laboratory nor a dungeon.

Instead, it was an endless grassland covered with small white flowers.

At the edge of the grassland stood a woman in a long white dress.

She was facing away from Bai Yu, holding a wooden spoon in her hand, gently stirring it in the air, as if she were weaving something.

"You came."

The woman turned around.

Her appearance was seven-tenths similar to Bai Yu's, and her eyes were as gentle as an autumn pool.

"my child."

Bai Yu was stunned.

"Mother?"

The woman smiled slightly, reached out her hand, and pointed to Bai Yu's chest.

“You’ve returned with it. With that ‘anchor’ that can reshape the world.”

"But you must know that once the reshaping begins, everything you have now, including your companions, your memories, and even your existence, will be erased and you will start over."

"Do you want to?"

Bai Yu turned around and looked towards the door.

He seemed to pierce through layers of void and see Mo Fei, An Mu, and Lan Ce guarding the edge of the sinkhole.

We witnessed their unwavering resolve to cling to the causal lock even as they were corrupted by the void.

"If, after being rebuilt, they can live in a world without nightmares..."

Bai Yu turned her head and looked at her mother, her eyes revealing an unprecedented calm.

"I am willing."

The tenderness in her mother's eyes was even greater.

"Good boy. Now, give me your hand."

Bai Yu reached out and grasped her mother's hand, which was both icy cold and unusually warm.

The moment their hands touched.

The entire stilted building, the entire sinkhole, and even the entire city of Linjiang were enveloped in an absolute white light.

……

Meanwhile, at the edge of the sinkhole.

"Old Bai!!"

Mo Fei let out a shrill roar.

He saw the stilted house rapidly dissolve in the white light.

The causal chains that bound the stilted houses all snapped in an instant.

"Hold on! Mo Fei!"

An Mu pressed down hard on Mo Fei's shoulder, his eyes bleeding from exhaustion.

"Lan Ce! Calculate the coordinates! We need to bring Lao Bai back!"

"No! The coordinates have disappeared!"

Lance frantically typed on the keyboard, tears blurring his vision.

"The entire real world is rebooting! We are being erased!"

"No...I don't believe it!"

Mo Fei raised his battle axe and swung it wildly at the white light.

"Bai Yu! Come back here! You promised to drink together!"

However, the white light grew brighter and brighter, gradually engulfing everything.

Mo Fei's voice disappeared.

Anmu's figure disappeared.

Lanze's computer also vanished into nothingness.

The whole world fell into dead silence.

……

I do not know how long it has been.

Sunlight streamed through the bright window and fell on Bai Yu's face.

Bai Yu suddenly opened her eyes and sat up in bed.

He was panting heavily, his whole body drenched in cold sweat.

"Are you dreaming?"

Bai Yu wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked around in confusion.

This is a cozy little bedroom. Several anime posters are pasted on the wall, and unfinished textbooks are on the table.

Outside the window, the clear chirping of birds and the noisy voices of people could be heard.

Bai Yu got out of bed and opened the window.

Blue sky and white clouds, the streets are bustling with traffic.

There was no red sky, no distorted buildings, and no grotesque nightmares.

"Xiaoyu, come out and eat! You'll be late if you're late!"

A gentle voice came from outside the door.

Bai Yu was stunned.

He stepped out of the room and saw a woman wearing an apron busy in the kitchen.

That was the woman he had seen in his dream.

his mother.

At the dining table, a man in a suit who was reading a newspaper looked up and smiled slightly at him.

"What's wrong? Still not awake?"

That was his father, Bai Jianguo.

Bai Yu stood there, her eyes instantly reddening.

"Dad...Mom..."

"Why is this child crying?"

His mother came over and affectionately ruffled his hair.

"Go wash your face quickly. Today is the day you register at Linjiang No.1 Middle School, so don't be late."

Bai Yu nodded mechanically and went into the restroom.

He looked at himself in the mirror.

Her complexion was rosy and her eyes were clear.

There were no silver eyes, nor that nightmare called Black Words.

Is it really... over?

Bai Yu muttered to himself.

He stepped out of his house and onto the sunlit street.

Just as he was crossing an intersection, a familiar black SUV suddenly stopped in front of him.

The windows are down.

A burly man with a buzz cut poked his head out and grinned at him.

"Hey bro, how do I get to No. 1 Middle School?"

Bai Yu looked at that familiar face, and her heart skipped a beat.

"Mo Fei?"

The burly man paused for a moment, then scratched his head in confusion.

"Huh? How do you know my name? Have we met before?"

In the passenger seat, a boy wearing black-rimmed glasses, who was playing on a tablet, looked up and glanced at Bai Yu.

"Mo Fei, stop hitting on people, we're going to be late."

"Lan Ce, you're just too rigid."

Mo Fei muttered something, then waved to Bai Yu.

"Thanks, bro!"

The SUV roared away into the distance.

Bai Yu stood there, watching the car disappear around the street corner.

A relieved smile appeared on his lips.

Although they no longer remember each other.

Although that thrilling past has vanished into nothingness.

But in this world without nightmares, they are still writing new chapters in their lives in their own way.

Bai Yu raised her head and looked up at the azure sky.

Deep within the clouds, he seemed to see a faint silver light.

(End of this chapter)