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

Chapter 70 The Theater of Dreams

Qin Yixuan's alluring phoenix eyes stared unblinkingly at the two men before her. Her gaze was like a net woven from the finest spider silk, sticky and captivating, as if trying to firmly bind their souls to her sight.

Bai Yu did not answer immediately.

He simply gazed silently at the woman before him. He could clearly sense an aura emanating from her almost unreal, perfect body—an aura remarkably similar to, yet distinct from, that of the "Tower of Ten Thousand Heads."

If the will of "Tower" is a "pollution" full of aggression and possessiveness, then the woman before him is a kind of restrained and exquisite "seduction".

She won't use a brutal approach to forcibly distort your perception. Instead, she will act like a skilled dream weaver, weaving a "dream of bliss" that you yearn for deepest in your heart. Once you are completely immersed in it and have given up all resistance, she will silently absorb your soul along with all your memories and emotions, making them a part of her "blissful world."

She is the most beautiful carnivorous flower, using the most fragrant scent and the most tempting nectar to lure lost travelers, making them willingly become her nourishment.

"Your kitchen?" Hei Yan's lips curled into a playful smile, his pure black eyes sparkling with the curiosity and discernment of an artist. "I'd be very interested in taking a look. After all, the kind of filth and chaos a chef who can cook such an aesthetically pleasing dish must have in his workspace is something I'd like to 'appreciate'."

His words were filled with undisguised contempt and sarcasm.

Qin Yixuan showed no anger upon hearing this. Her alluring eyes merely swept lightly across Hei Yan's handsome yet wicked face before returning to Bai Yu. Clearly, in her diet, Bai Yu, this "composite ingredient" possessing a unique soul and the mark of the "Tower," was far more appealing than Hei Yan, this powerful but overly pure "ancient nightmare."

“This gentleman is quite the joker.” She covered her mouth and chuckled, her laughter as clear and melodious as a silver bell. “Our hotel kitchen is the cleanest place in the whole city. Because the ingredients we use are the freshest ‘souls’. And what we cook is not just ordinary food, but something that allows every guest to taste the flavor of happiness… a ‘dream’.”

As she spoke, she walked gracefully towards Bai Yu.

An intoxicating fragrance instantly enveloped Bai Yu. It was an alluring scent originating from her very soul.

“Mr. Bai,” she leaned down slightly, her eyes, like black holes that could suck one in, staring intently into Bai Yu’s eyes. She spoke in an intimate tone, almost like a lover’s whisper, “I can feel that your soul is full of stories. There is brokenness, struggle, protection, and… a longing that you yourself have not yet realized.”

Her fingertips lightly traced Bai Yu's hand, revealing the "Eye of the Vortex" mark.

“Tell me, what do you want?” Her voice was full of magic. “Do you want your broken soul to be whole again? Or do you want those you cherish to be free from danger forever? Or do you want to completely forget the painful past and find eternal peace in this paradise?”

"If you are willing to become my 'honored guest' and share your unique story with me, then I will grant you any wish from the deepest part of your heart."

That was her real purpose.

She took a liking to Bai Yu, to his complex soul torn apart by countless forces. She wanted to make him her most perfect possession.

Bai Yu's eyes remained completely still. He simply gazed silently at the breathtakingly beautiful face before him, and slowly opened his mouth, his voice as flat as a taut steel wire.

"I have no interest in dreaming."

"I've come here to ask you about something."

Qin Yixuan's eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in her alluring phoenix eyes. She clearly hadn't expected the man before her to remain so calm.

"Oh? Asking about something?" Her controlling smile returned. "Mr. Bai, you seem to have missed your point. Here, I'm the one asking the questions. But... considering how special you are, I don't mind satisfying your curiosity first. So, what do you want to know?"

"The Tower of Ten Thousand Heads".

Bai Yu uttered these four words slowly and deliberately.

The moment those four words were uttered, the air in the entire room seemed to freeze instantly.

For the first time, the languid and alluring smile on Qin Yixuan's face vanished completely. Her pupils contracted involuntarily, and for the first time, shock and a deeply hidden fear were revealed in her beautiful eyes.

"How do you know this name?" Her voice was no longer gentle, but carried a hint of cold sharpness.

"It seems you know quite a bit." Bai Yu looked at her reaction and already had the answer in his heart.

"Hehehe..." Qin Yixuan suddenly laughed again, her laughter more alluring and dangerous than ever before. "Interesting... really interesting. I originally thought you were just a delicious 'ingredient' that happened to have been tainted with a special aura, but I never expected you to be a 'messenger' who took the initiative to come to my door."

She slowly straightened up, creating some distance between herself and Bai Yu. A calculating glint flashed in her eyes, which had regained their languid smile.

“Alright. Since you’re so interested in the ‘Tower of Ten Thousand Heads,’ let’s play a game.” She snapped her fingers gracefully.

With that snap of the fingers, the entire luxurious presidential suite began to melt violently, like paint being thrown into water.

The enormous crystal chandelier transformed into a huge crescent moon radiating a pale white light. The ornate European-style palatial furniture became rows of cold, orderly audience seats. And the soft Persian carpet beneath their feet became a vast stage covered with a dark red velvet curtain.

In just a few seconds, they had been moved from a luxurious hotel suite to a huge opera house filled with classical charm.

"This is our hotel's 'Dream Theater'." Qin Yixuan's voice came from all directions, carrying an ethereal echo. "Here, all the guests' 'dreams' will be performed in the form of drama. And now, it's your turn, Mr. Bai."

Her figure slowly appeared in the VIP box at the very center of the second floor of the theater, draped in golden curtains. Like a queen high above, she looked down down at Bai Yu and Hei Yan on the stage.

"The rules of the game are simple." Her voice carried an undeniable air of authority. "Next, I will perform three 'dramas' for you. Each of these three dramas is adapted from the most memorable moments in your memory. At the end of each drama, I will provide you with a 'choice'—a 'choice' that allows you to make amends and achieve a perfect ending."

"If you can successfully resist the three temptations I have prepared for you and hold on to your ridiculous 'self,' then I will answer all your questions about the 'tower.'"

“But… if you accept the ‘perfect ending’ I offer you in any scene of the drama, then…”

A smile full of greed and desire appeared on her face.

"...Your soul, all your memories, will remain forever in this theater, becoming my most perfect collection, performing your wonderful 'life' for me again and again."

"Now, are you ready, my dear 'leading man'?"

Bai Yu's eyes showed no fear. He had no right to refuse. From the moment he stepped into this hotel, he was already on the chessboard.

He glanced at Hei Yan beside him, who had been observing his surroundings with interest like an outsider the whole time, and slowly nodded.

"let's start."

"Very good." Qin Yixuan smiled with satisfaction.

She clapped her hands gently.

"So, Act One—'The Silent Ruins'—is now in session."

As soon as she finished speaking, all the lights in the huge opera house went out completely in an instant.

Immediately afterwards, the heavy, dark red velvet curtain on the stage slowly opened to both sides with a creaking sound.

Behind the curtain was no longer the backstage area of ​​the stage, but a gray expanse that could not be described by any color.

A terrifying aura, filled with the concepts of "nothingness" and "forgetting," swept over us from that gray expanse!

Bai Yu's pupils suddenly contracted.

This was a scene he would never forget. It was the primordial nightmare that he and his teammates had faced, which had almost completely wiped out their entire team—the Ruins of Eternal Silence.

The scene before him was exactly the same as the battle he remembered.

Captain Anmu's imposing "Iron Wall Royal Authority" domain is being gradually eroded by that gray "nothingness".

Mo Fei's two indestructible high-frequency battle axes had become like two ordinary wooden sticks, and no matter how he swung them, he could not cause any damage to the gray area.

Lance's tactical tablet had long since become a pile of meaningless scrap metal. He was kneeling on the ground, clutching his head in pain, as the knowledge and data he was so proud of were being forcibly stripped from his mind by the force of "forgetting".

Under the encroaching grayness, the outlines of their bodies became increasingly blurred, as if they might disappear from the world at any moment, like a pencil drawing erased by an eraser.

Desperate situation.

An absolute dead end with no way out.

Bai Yu could clearly feel that the deep-seated helplessness and despair he had felt at that moment years ago was once again overwhelming him.

"Do you see that, Mr. Bai?" Qin Yixuan's seductive voice, like the whisper of a devil, rang in his ears. "This is your regretful past. A tragedy destined to be won at the cost of your 'shattering'."

"But now, I will give you a chance to choose again."

As she spoke, at the edge of that gray "Silent Ruins," a gate constructed of pure white light slowly emerged.

Inside the door, warm sunlight streamed in, revealing the familiar scene of the Bureau of Investigation headquarters.

"See that? That's a door leading to a 'perfect ending.'" Qin Yixuan's voice was full of seduction. "As long as you take your companions and walk out of that door now, this tragedy that was supposed to happen will never happen again. You will no longer have your soul shattered because of this, and your companions will no longer be in danger. You will all return to headquarters safely to enjoy a victory celebration for heroes."

"All you need to do is forget everything that happened here, forget this battle that was supposed to cause you pain."

"Come on, make your choice, Mr. Bai. Do you choose the 'truth' filled with pain and heartbreak, or the 'perfection' I've prepared for you, without a single flaw?"

On the stage, the phantoms of his teammates, who were being swallowed by "nothingness," seemed to sense something and turned around in unison, looking at him with eyes full of expectation and pleading.

"Bai Yu! Quick! Take us away!" Mo Fei's phantom roared in anguish.

"Baiyu! This is our... only chance!" Anmu's phantom reached out his hand to him with difficulty.

An immense emotional pressure surged towards Bai Yu like a tidal wave.

He looked at the "gate of life" radiating warm light before him, and then at his "comrades" struggling in pain. For the first time, his heart was violently shaken.

If... if I could really do it all over again...

Just as his will was about to be consumed by the temptation of that "perfection".

A light laugh filled with disdain and mockery rang out beside him.

It's black language.

He had somehow walked up to Bai Yu's side, his eyes filled with disdain for the clumsy drama unfolding before him.

“What a disgusting ‘aesthetics’.” He shook his head and said softly in a voice only Bai could hear, “Does she think that something embellished with this cheap ‘happiness’ and ‘completeness’ can be called ‘perfect’?”

"She doesn't understand at all."

“True art is never great because of its perfection. On the contrary, it is precisely because of those irreparable ‘breaks’ and those ‘truths’ filled with regret and resentment that it is given a vitality that can transcend time and space.”

He slowly turned his head, his pure black eyes now like two desolate stars, quietly gazing into Bai Yu's eyes.

"Bai Yu, you are who you are not because of how strong you are, nor because of how resilient you are."

"But because..."

"...Your unique beauty is the hope born from despair and nothingness."

Black words struck like a thunderbolt, shattering the fog of temptation that had clouded Bai Yu's mind.

yes……

If I accept this "perfection," if I choose to forget that "breakage."

So, what am I now?
A coward who has never experienced death and rebirth? A lucky person who has never felt the pain of his soul being torn apart?

No.

That will no longer be me.

Bai Yu's eyes regained their clarity and resolve, as if they were made of ice that had stood for millennia.

He slowly raised his head, meeting the pair of alluring eyes filled with anticipation in the VIP box on the second floor.

Then, in a calm but firm voice, he said clearly, "I'm sorry. Compared to your false 'perfection'..."

He reached out and gently stroked his chest, as if touching his heart, which was no longer whole.

"...I prefer...the way I look now."

As he finished speaking, a powerful will to affirm his "self" erupted!
"Crack——!"

The entire "dream theater" constructed by Qin Yixuan suddenly let out a mournful cry of being overwhelmed!

On the stage, the gray "Silent Ruins" shattered like a giant pane of glass! The phantoms of the teammates struggling in pain slowly dissipated into the air.

In the VIP box on the second floor, Qin Yixuan's confident and controlling smile froze slightly.

An uncontrollable shock and admiration flashed in her charming phoenix eyes.

"interesting……"

Her voice echoed slowly in this collapsing dream.

“...What an interesting ‘guest’.”

(End of this chapter)