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

Chapter 16 The Open Abyss

The moment An Mu received the cold talisman, the air in the entire ancestral hall courtyard seemed to be sucked out.

At the same moment, the smiles on the faces of those hundreds of paper-figure guests visibly twisted into a grotesque, distorted expression. The celebratory curves outlined in vermilion were now torn apart by invisible hands, stretched to inhuman angles, revealing fine, sharp teeth drawn with ink lines. Deep within their empty eye sockets, two eerie green flames, the size of pinheads, ignited, filled with undisguised, nauseating hunger and malice.

"Click...click...click..."

A series of teeth-grinding, rapid sounds, like countless pieces of rotten wood being forcibly snapped, came from all directions. All the paper guest figures began to slowly rise from their seats in an extremely stiff, anatomically disproportionate manner. Their necks twisted, their limbs swayed, and every movement was filled with the eerie feeling of marionettes, all with one target—An Mu, who held the "substitute death talisman."

An invisible, immense mental pressure, powerful enough to crush mountains, pressed in from all directions like the pressure of deep sea water, locking An Mu firmly in place. He felt as if his soul was being gripped by countless cold, corpse-covered hands, desperately trying to drag him into an endless abyss.

"Prepare for battle!" An Mu's voice boomed like thunder in the mental link. He withstood the immense pressure, his legs sinking slightly to steady himself. "My target is the portrait in the main hall! Mo Fei, Lan Ce, fight your way through!"

"I can't wait any longer!!"

Mo Fei's roar was like a volcano erupting from its simmering depths! He could no longer suppress the rage and grief within him, the burning desire for revenge for his comrades. These emotions instantly transformed into the purest fuel, igniting the very blood in his veins. A scorching wave of heat exploded outwards from him, dispersing some of the surrounding putrid air.

"For Xiao Zhao!"

With a deafening roar, his massive body shot out like a cannonball, charging fiercely towards the nearest table of paper figures! The two high-frequency battle axes in his hands hummed under the eerie green light, tracing two deadly silver arcs.

"Pfft——!"

The two paper figures at the front didn't even have time to react before being cleaved in two by the battle axe. However, what spurted from the torn paper figures' bodies wasn't paper scraps, but large streams of filth mixed with black slime and rotting straw! Countless tiny, pitch-black corpse beetles, the size of fingernails, screamed as they poured out of the wounds, like two black waterfalls that instantly covered the ground.

"A bunch of filthy scum!" Mo Fei's eyes showed no fear, only an increasingly intense rage. He stomped his foot hard, the powerful force creating spiderweb-like cracks in the bluestone pavement—this was the power bestowed upon him by his nightmare.

In an instant, scraps of paper and black blood flew together, limbs and rotting flesh blended in one color. Those seemingly fragile paper figures, empowered by resentment, became exceptionally resilient. Their paper skin was like cowhide soaked in corpse oil, impervious to ordinary swords and blades. But before Mo Fei's high-frequency battle axe, infused with all his power and rage, they were as vulnerable as rotten wood.

However, the number of paper figures was simply too great. Fearless and relentless, they surged forward like a black tide, relentlessly attacking Mo Fei, this unyielding rock, from all directions. Their methods of attack were also extremely bizarre; some stretched out disproportionately long arms made of bamboo strips and paper pulp, attempting to wrap around Mo Fei's neck; others opened their drawn mouths, spewing out highly corrosive black saliva.

"Three to Mo Fei's left rear, three o'clock! Watch out for their fingernails, they're covered in corpse poison!" Lan Ce's calm voice rang out in the link. He didn't rush forward, but quickly took out a silver-white spherical device covered with intricate patterns from his tactical backpack.

"'Nightingale' high-frequency acoustic jammer, activate!"

"Om-"

An invisible sound wave instantly spread out. The sound was not a loud noise that humans could hear, but a high-frequency resonance that could directly affect the spirit and the structure of resentment. All the paper figures swept by the sound wave showed a noticeable slowing and confusion in their movements for a moment. Their cores, which were made up of resentment, seemed to have been hit hard, and their ghostly green soul flames dimmed a little.

"Well done, Four-Eyes!" Mo Fei seized the opportunity, roared, and with a backhand swing of his axe, cleaved the three paper figures who were trying to sneak up into a flurry of burning paper scraps.

"Don't call me four-eyed!" Lan Ce retorted calmly while quickly reporting new data, "Captain, there's a gap in the paper doll formation. The optimal route of attack has been marked on the tactical map on your retina! You have an estimated 4.7 seconds to advance!"

An Mu had been waiting for this opportunity. The moment Lan Ce finished speaking, he moved.

His figure shot forward like an arrow, without the slightest unnecessary movement, rushing towards the main hall of the ancestral temple along the narrow passage marked by Lan Ce and cleared by Mo Fei with blood and fire. The "substitute death talisman" in his hand was now scorching hot, as if he were holding a branding iron, and streams of cold, vicious curse power were frantically eroding upwards along his arm.

However, just as he was about to break through the encirclement, another unexpected event occurred!

The paper figures, which seemed to be disturbed by the sound waves, suddenly stopped their attack on Mo Fei. Their twisted heads turned back to An Mu, and they opened their mouths, letting out a silent but soul-shaking shriek!

"Oh no! It's a rule countermeasure! Their target is always you!" Bai Yu's urgent voice rang in An Mu's mind.

With that silent shriek, the blood-red carpet beneath An Mu's feet suddenly "came to life"! Countless pale arms made of viscous blood suddenly stretched out from the carpet, like ghostly hands from hell, grabbing at An Mu's ankles!
Anmu was in mid-air with nowhere to hide!
"Ha...a boring trick."

At this critical moment, Hei Yan's languid and disdainful whisper resounded deep within Bai Yu's consciousness. A cold, elegant, and supremely majestic dark power quietly spread out according to Bai Yu's will.

A barely perceptible crimson glint flashed deep within Bai Yu's pupils. He didn't move, but his gaze pierced through the chaotic battlefield, precisely locking onto the white lanterns hanging under the eaves of the ancestral hall, emitting an eerie green glow.

“These lanterns are the ‘rule nodes’ that control these crimson arms. And what controls these nodes are the higher-level ‘threads’,” Bai Yu said quickly in the mental link. “Hei Yan, absorb them.”

"As you wish, my... artwork," Hei Yan's voice was filled with pleasure.

The next second, An Mu felt a blur before his eyes. The blood-red arms that were about to grab him suddenly went limp as if they had lost all their strength, turning back into a pool of viscous liquid and merging into the carpet. And in mid-air, the white lanterns that served as nodes went out simultaneously without warning.

Without the slightest hesitation, An Mu seized the fleeting opportunity, his toes slamming into the ground, his body accelerating once more, like a cheetah, successfully rushing into the main hall of the ancestral hall!

He was less than ten meters away from the huge portrait of the bride!
"It's now!"

An Mu concentrated all his strength into his right arm, his muscles bulging and veins standing out. He raised the scalding hot "substitute talisman" high, aimed it at the face in the portrait covered by a red veil, and hurled it with all his might!

"I'm giving it back to you!!"

The small wooden talisman traced a black trail with an ominous red glow in mid-air, like a vengeful meteor, striking with unparalleled precision towards the bride's brow in the painting! "Buzz—!"

The moment the talisman touched the image, there was no sound of physical collision. Instead, there was a high-pitched buzzing sound that could pierce eardrums!

The entire blood-red portrait seemed to come alive at that moment!
The dark, blood-red background in the painting began to churn and boil violently, like a pool of boiling blood. The bride in the painting, with her red veil, began to tremble violently, and black cracks spread rapidly from the talisman across the entire painting.

"what--!!!"

A piercing scream, inhuman and filled with endless pain and resentment, suddenly erupted from the mouth of the "bride" stand-in who had been sitting quietly at the head table! She abruptly raised her head, and although her red veil was still on, everyone felt a pure, undisguised malice stabbing fiercely at An Mu like a tangible ice pick.

Her body began to convulse violently and melt. The bright red wedding dress emitted plumes of black smoke as if it had been doused with concentrated sulfuric acid, sticking to and fusing with her flesh and blood. Her figure twisted and stretched continuously, as if something even more terrifying was trying to break free from that human shell.

The curse is being forcibly transferred!

"boom!"

The enormous portrait in the main hall of the ancestral temple could no longer withstand the power of the "Substitute Death Curse" and burst into flames! The flames were not the normal orange-red, but rather a strange, eerie green, like will-o'-the-wisps. The green flames licked the canvas frantically, and the outline of the bride in the painting twisted and struggled in the flames, as if enduring boundless torment in purgatory.

The portrait was burned to ashes in just a few seconds.

However, when the flames died down, what was revealed behind the portrait was not the mottled mud wall that everyone had expected.

It was a vast, unfathomable void that could not be described in any known language.

On the wall, an irregular, enormous hole appeared, as if it had been gnawed out by some colossal beast. The edge of the hole wasn't still; it was slowly, rhythmically writhing, like the breathing wound of some enormous creature. From that hole, there was no light, only pure, all-consuming darkness.

But when the four of them looked intently, their reason and understanding were completely overturned at that moment.

At the end of that darkness, they "saw" it.

It was a sight beyond their comprehension. It was a... city. A colossal city stretching to the horizon, constructed from countless twisted, pale, still slightly pulsating pieces of flesh. Towering buildings were supported by enormous, veined, pale bones; a viscous, dark purple liquid flowed through the streets; and the "windows" of the buildings were constantly opening and closing holes covered in mucus.

Above this flesh-and-blood city, there is no sun, moon, or stars. Instead, there are billions of enormous eyeballs of varying sizes and colors! They float silently above the gray, chaotic sky. Some have vertical pupils like reptiles, some are composed of countless tiny compound eyes, and some don't even have pupils, just a murky milky white.

They stared intently, devoid of any emotion, coldly and condescendingly watching the writhing city below them, and also watching... Bai Yu and the other three tiny, dust-like creatures peering into the "cave."

A chilling "wind," belonging neither to this world nor to any known nightmare, mixed with the smell of ozone and interstellar dust, blew out from the cave entrance and gently brushed against the faces of the four people.

In that instant, they felt as if their souls were being frozen and crushed.

“This…this is…what…” Lan Ce’s voice stammered for the first time. The screen of the detector on his wrist was no longer filled with static, but was a dazzling blood red that represented “unanalyzable”.

Mo Fei had forgotten about the battle; he stared blankly at the cave entrance, his battle axe nearly slipping from his grasp. It was a primal fear, born from the most instinctive instincts of life, a fear of the incomprehensible, higher-dimensional existence...

An Mu's pupils contracted to their maximum size, and his battle-hardened, rock-solid heart was stirred up by a tidal wave at this moment.

All the paper figures and corpse beetles vanished at that moment.

Luoshui Village... this strange tale rooted in folklore and resentment... is not independent at all! It is merely... merely a small "window" projected onto reality from this terrifying "world"! Or rather, an "observation room"!
That so-called "mountain god" is not some rural monster at all! It may be an extension of the will of this flesh-and-blood city, a higher-level being that manipulates them at will!
"Hehe...hehehehe...so that's how it is..."

The black whisper echoed in the white language's mind, but this time, its voice lacked its usual elegance and composure. Instead, it carried an unprecedented mix of excitement, greed, and a hint of... fear that even it itself was unaware of.

“A ‘farm’… a ‘garden’ where people are kept in captivity to observe how ‘fear’ ferments and matures. And that ‘mountain god’ is nothing more than a self-important ‘gardener’. What a… grand scheme. I’m starting to… become interested in the ‘owner’ of this place.”

"Roar--!!!!"

Just as everyone was completely shocked by the scene before them, a roar filled with endless resentment and pain jolted them out of their daze!

She's the "bride's" stand-in!
After the "substitute curse" was transferred to the portrait, she did not disappear. Freed from the curse's constraints, her resentment, suppressed for who knows how long as she had been a "sacrifice," erupted completely at this moment!

Her body had completely melted away, no longer human. Puddles of viscous flesh mixed with fragments of her wedding dress writhed and coalesced on the ground like living mud, eventually forming a three-meter-tall, shapeless entity composed of countless agonizingly distorted human faces and waving pale arms... a collection of resentment!
At its center, a huge face with only a mouth suddenly opened, emitting a sonic shockwave that could tear the air apart!

"Not good! The core of the curse has been destroyed, she's gone out of control!" An Mu made a snap decision, roaring, "Everyone, prepare to meet her...!"

Before he could finish speaking, from within the "mouth of the abyss," a pair of enormous eyeballs, the closest to them and resembling two blood-red moons, slowly, very slowly, began to rotate.

Its gaze fell upon them.

(End of this chapter)