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

Chapter 55 The Sea of ​​Nothingness and the Shadow of the Tower
come down.

Unlike the feeling of falling from a great height, there is no wind, no sense of weightlessness, only the heaviness and suffocation of the soul being constantly squeezed downwards.

When Lu Yueqi's consciousness completely disappeared into that black ocean, she finally understood what Lin Lan meant by "extreme danger".

This ocean is a "primordial consciousness" formed by the forced crushing and mixing of countless fragmented memories.

Coldness, despair, pain, exhaustion, loneliness...

These negative emotions, like living seaweed, frantically coiled around her from all directions, trying to penetrate every crevice of her soul, drag her to the bottom of the sea, and make her an eternal part of this ocean.

A series of bizarre and distorted images began to play uncontrollably in Bai Yu's mind, accompanying her memories.

She "saw" the gray, silent ruins that could erase all meaning of existence, and felt the ultimate fear that even the soul would be forgotten.

She "saw" a body shattered like a porcelain doll dropped on the ground, being stitched back together piece by piece by a pair of elegant, cold, dark hands using black threads, accompanied by excruciating pain.

She "saw" countless sleepless nights as Bai Yu sat alone by the dormitory window, enduring the relentless, tide-like pain emanating from the depths of her soul...

These floods of painful memories nearly overwhelmed her completely.

Lu Yueqi let out a painful roar from the depths of her consciousness.

She was like the most tenacious diver, inch by inch descending deeper into this unfathomable ocean.

She had no idea how long she had been submerged. Here, the concept of time had lost its meaning.

Just as her will was about to be crushed by the boundless pressure, a voice carrying a hint of laziness and displeasure suddenly rang out from the side and behind her consciousness.

"Let me see... an uninvited visitor."

Lu Yueqi was startled and turned her head with difficulty.

Not far from her, a figure dressed in an exquisite black suit was silently suspended in mid-air. His face bore a striking resemblance to Bai Yu, yet was far more alluring and arrogant. A bottomless void lay within his heart, slowly rotating, like a miniature black hole leading to another universe.

It's black language.

But he was completely different from the "god" who had spoken with absolute power in Anling Mental Hospital. His figure appeared somewhat ethereal and unstable, as if he might dissipate into this dark ocean at any moment.

“You…” Lu Yueqi adopted a defensive posture.

"Shh... little girl, don't be so nervous." Hei Yan extended a slender finger and gently touched his bloodless lips, making a "quiet" gesture. "In this sea of ​​consciousness that belongs to him, any violent emotional fluctuations will only accelerate the 'dissolution' of all of us. You should be glad that this is my 'studio,' and also his 'prison.' Otherwise, with your insignificant spiritual power, you would have been completely assimilated into a meaningless drop of paint the moment you came into contact with this ocean."

His tone was still full of innate arrogance, but Lu Yueqi could hear a deep-seated weakness in his words.

Baiyu's soul is actively rejecting him.

At the very bottom of the subconscious of this white language, the power of black language was also greatly suppressed. The two of them were like chains tightly bound together, falling together into the abyss of "death".

"Where is Bai Yu?" Lu Yueqi ignored his sarcasm and asked the question that concerned her most.

A hint of amusement flashed in Hei Yan's pure black eyes. He stretched out his hand and pointed to the dark bottom of the ocean.

“Look, right there.” He spoke as if introducing a work of art about to be auctioned off. “That hopeless fellow is happily embracing the ‘tranquility’ he’s seeking. I’ve tried to pull him back, but he’s like someone determined to commit suicide; the harder I try, the tighter his damn chains tighten. Tch… what a troublesome ‘collection’.”

Lu Yueqi looked in the direction he pointed.

At the edge of that bottomless darkness, she saw a tiny white light, like a candle flickering in the wind, a light that seemed about to fall and be extinguished at any moment.

That is the core of Bai language consciousness.

Just below the point of light, a much darker and more ominous shadow was slowly writhing.

The silhouette of that shadow was a magnificent tower made up of countless twisted arms and eyes!
The Tower of Ten Thousand Heads!

"See that?" Hei Yan's voice carried a hint of disgust. "That's a disgusting 'fake,' that clumsy 'imitator.' It also sensed that there was a perfect piece of material here that was about to be 'ownerless.' It's trying to steal my 'collection' from my studio with its filthy tentacles! It wants to turn my 'collection' into a new brick in its garbage dump!"

Lu Yueqi's heart skipped a beat, and she instantly understood.

The "Eye of the Vortex" mark on the back of Bai Yu's hand transformed into an unclosable "backdoor" when Bai Yu's willpower reached its lowest point. The will of the Tower of Ten Thousand Heads was relentlessly infiltrating through this backdoor, attempting to drag Bai Yu's soul into its eternal prison of despair!
If the mere dissipation of the soul is death, then being absorbed by the Tower of Ten Thousand Heads is an eternal torment more terrifying than death.

“So, little girl…” Hei Yan slowly turned his head, his pure black eyes looking directly at her for the first time. “Now, do you understand your situation? You’re not here to be a savior. You’re just… perhaps the last pebble that can slightly change the direction of that idiot who’s determined to die before he’s completely dragged into the cesspool…”

"What should I do?" Lu Yueqi's voice showed no sign of backing down.

Hei Yan's lips curled into a playful smile: "It's simple. Go, go to his side. Then use your pathetic, mortal 'noise,' full of entanglements and emotions, to pollute his damned tranquility and wake him up badly. Make him remember that there's a fool waiting for him outside who will cry for him. Make him remember how selfishly 'betray' his so-called 'liberation' is to others."

“Go. Let me see whether your cheap ‘love’ as mortals is more resilient, or whether the eternity offered by that tower is more alluring.”

After speaking, Hei Yan's figure slowly faded away until it merged back into the thick darkness around him, as if it had never existed.

Lu Yueqi stared at the spot where Hei Yan had disappeared for a while. Although he spoke harshly, he had actually pointed out the only path for himself.

Without any further hesitation, she gathered all her willpower and vigorously swung her "limbs," like a fish struggling to swim upstream, heading towards the deepest part of the ocean, towards that faint light that was about to be swallowed by darkness and the shadow of the tower, swimming fearlessly towards it.

The deeper you go, the stronger the malice from the "tower" becomes.

Countless voices, filled with both temptation and curse, began to ring in her ears.

"Give up...this is your final resting place..."

"See him? He's already chosen us... Why bother with all this fuss..."

"Come, climb to the top of the tower... you and him... will be together forever..."

Lu Yueqi stubbornly guarded her mind, ignoring these demonic sounds. Her eyes were fixed only on that faint light that was drawing ever closer.

Finally, she passed through the invisible barrier formed by the tower's shadow and arrived at the very bottom of this sea of ​​nothingness.

She came to the light.

Inside the light was a curled-up white figure. He was like an infant returning to his mother's womb, completely isolating himself from everything outside, immersed in primal tranquility.

"Bai language!"

Lu Yueqi stretched out his semi-transparent hand, made of consciousness, and carefully touched the ball of light that enveloped him.

The moment her fingertips touched the light, a deep-seated sadness and weariness surged into her heart.

"...So tired..."

"...Let's end it like this..."

"...Finally...I can...rest..."

That was the voice deep within Bai Yu's heart.

"Baiyu..."

Lu Yueqi could no longer hold back her tears, which transformed into faintly glowing crystals in this cold sea of ​​consciousness, slowly drifting down.

Any grand principles seem so pale and powerless at this moment.

There was only one thing she could do. She slowly stretched out her arms and gently embraced the faintly glowing core of consciousness from behind with her own soul.

She passed on all the memories and bonds between him without reservation.

She showed him, for the first time, in her dark room, his figure descending like a god, rescuing her from the clutches of evil spirits.

She let him hear his calm yet powerful words in the toy factory: "Don't be afraid, I'm right here beside you."

She made him feel the sense of security that he could still feel through the mirror when he was trapped in the "surface world" while she was in the "inner world" in Anling Mental Hospital—a sense of security that belonged only to him.

"You liar..."

Lu Yueqi gently pressed her cheek against the warm light and spoke slowly and deliberately, her voice trembling with tears.

"You said...you would protect me..."

"You told me... not to be afraid..."

"But now... you've come all the way to a place like this by yourself... Do you know... how scared I am without you..."

"You've saved me so many times... This time... let me save you, okay?"

"Bai Yu...please...come home with me..."

Unadulterated dependence and supplication acted like a key, unlocking a heart that had been tightly shut.

The light enveloping Bai Yu's core consciousness trembled slightly the moment she embraced him.

Immediately afterwards, the light stopped converging inward and began to tentatively and slowly spread outward.

A feeling of guilt and reluctance gently responded to her from the depths of that light.

Just then, the enormous tower shadow looming below seemed to sense that its "prey" was about to be taken away.

A suction force stronger than ever before erupted from the depths of the tower's shadow, transforming into black chains made of malice that tightly bound the glimmer of life that had just begun to ignite, attempting to drag it back into the abyss!

"Don't leave!"

Lu Yueqi let out a defiant shout. She used all her strength to hold onto the ball of light tightly, engaging in a primal tug-of-war with her tiny body against the tower's enormous, god-like shadow.

"He's mine! You're not allowed to take him away!"

……

In the real world, in a medical room.

"Beep, beep, beep! Beep, beep!"

The piercing alarm sounded again throughout the room.

"Doctor! The patient's soul fluctuations are being forcibly pulled by an unknown external force! Our stabilizing fluid... is failing!" a researcher reported in a panic.

"Increase energy output!" Lin Lan's expression was extremely solemn. "Stabilize him! We absolutely must maintain his basic physiological state!"

Meanwhile, Lu Yueqi's body began to tremble violently, and her various physiological indicators began to fluctuate dangerously.

"Captain! Lu Yueqi's mental energy consumption has exceeded the critical value! If this continues, her consciousness will collapse first!" Lan Ce's voice was full of anxiety.

An Mu and Mo Fei stared intently at the two instruments, their fists clenched so tightly their knuckles turned white, but they could do nothing.

At this critical moment.

On the instrument monitoring Bai Yu's vital signs, the electrocardiogram, which had been so faint as to be almost a straight line, suddenly jumped upwards with force!
Then came the second, the third...

That heart, which had given up beating, finally began to function again in the silent tug-of-war of another world, at the girl's desperate cries.

With the heart reviving, the will to live, originating from the very source of life, finally reignited from the deepest part of that desolate sea of ​​souls!

The ball of light, tightly bound by black chains, burst forth with an unprecedentedly dazzling light in an instant!
"Go away!"

A will filled with endless weariness awakens from the center of that light!

The black chains formed by the tower's shadow were broken one by one by Bai Yu's sudden counterattack of willpower!

In the sea of ​​consciousness, the enormous tower shadow let out a resentful roar before slowly sinking into the deeper darkness and receding temporarily.

The crisis is over.

The light that had regained its freedom slowly turned around and gently touched the tearful girl who was still tightly hugging herself.

"Fool……"

A voice filled with remorse and warmth resounded deep within Lu Yueqi's consciousness.

"Thank you... for coming to pick me up and take me home."

……

I do not know how long it has been.

In the soft light, Bai Yu slowly opened his heavy, leaden eyelids.

The familiar ceiling of the medical room came into view.

He is back.

He turned his neck with difficulty and saw An Mu, Mo Fei, and Lan Ce. The three of them were looking exhausted around his bed. Seeing him awake, their joy instantly overwhelmed all their emotions.

"Finally... finally woke up..." Mo Fei's eyes were red and his voice was hoarse.

Bai Yu wanted to say something, but his throat was so dry that he couldn't make a sound.

He slowly raised his right hand, wanting to touch these familiar faces.

However, the moment his gaze fell on the back of his hand, his pupils suddenly contracted.

The "Eye of the Vortex" mark, which had faded to almost invisible, became clearer than before.

Moreover, he could clearly feel a cold gaze locking onto him from an unimaginably distant dimension through this mark.

That gaze seemed to be directed at him—

"I found you."

From this moment on, the investigation of the Tower of Ten Thousand Heads was no longer about them actively seeking clues.

Instead... the tower took the initiative to approach them.

　Thank you for the monthly ticket from Tianxia Youzhi q Lengyue Wushuang!
　　I feel much better, but my cough persists, and I often wake up coughing at night (つ﹏<。).
　　
　
(End of this chapter)