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

Chapter 22 Tears in the Well

"Father, Mother, look! I rescued a stranger!" Xiaoxi looked up, showing off her treasure by holding her father's cold hand, and pointed to Baiyu inside the house with her other hand. "His name is Baiyu. He was floating on the water and almost drowned, but I saved him."

The middle-aged man—Xiaoxi's father—slowly lowered his head, glanced at his daughter with his pure black eyes, then stiffly raised his hand and very slowly stroked Xiaoxi's head. His movements contained no trace of affection or tenderness, only a programmed precision.

Then, he and the woman beside him walked stiffly into the house. As they entered, a chilling atmosphere, mixed with the fishy smell of rain and some unknown stench of decay, swept through the entire house like a tangible wave, suppressing the tiny flame of the oil lamp, making it flicker and almost extinguish it.

"Outsider..."

The man spoke. His voice was hoarse and viscous, like rotten wood rubbing against each other after being soaked in water, each word seeming to be squeezed out from the depths of his long-rotten throat.

His pure black eyes were fixed on Bai Yu, and the stiff smile on his lips seemed to widen slightly. It wasn't a welcome, nor was it friendly; rather, it was the look of a butcher scrutinizing a lamb about to be placed on the sacrificial altar.

Bai Yu's muscles tensed instantly. The weakness emanating from the depths of his soul intertwined with the deadly threat from the outside world, making it almost impossible for him to stand. He knew his current state; he couldn't even run away, let alone fight back. The only thing he could rely on was his own mind, and... the seemingly harmless yet strangely eerie little girl beside him.

“Yes, yes,” Xiaoxi said, completely oblivious to her parents’ strange behavior, or rather, she had long since become accustomed to it. She took her mother’s hand and chattered, “Brother Baiyu is such a nice person, he even complimented my name. Mother, what are we having for dinner tonight? Brother Baiyu must be starving.”

The girl from the stream looked Bai Yu up and down with her pure black eyes, then slowly turned her head and said in a hoarse voice just like the man's, "Eat...rain...fresh..."

After saying that, she let go of Xiaoxi's hand. Like two machines programmed with a set routine, she and the man turned and walked into the kitchen in the inner room.

Bai Yu's heart sank suddenly.

Rainy?

The mere mention of the name sent a chill down his spine. Remembering what Xiaoxi had said about rain eating people, he was almost certain that this so-called "rain delicacy" was definitely not a normal food.

"Brother Baiyu, don't be afraid. My father and mother are just not very talkative, but they're not bad." Xiaoxi seemed to notice Baiyu's nervousness, ran over and tugged at his sleeve, and whispered to comfort him, "Rainy delicacies are delicious. They're only available on rainy days. They're so smooth and tender. You'll definitely like them."

Looking into Xiaoxi's pure and innocent eyes, Bai Yu's vigilance not only didn't ease, but actually rose to its highest level. A child who could remain unharmed in such an environment, even becoming accustomed to her parents' strange behavior, and finding that terrifying food "delicious"—her very existence was a huge mystery.

He calmly sat back down on the bench, rapidly considering his options. A direct confrontation would lead to certain death, and escape was out of the question. His only recourse now was to play the role of a weak and harmless guest, observe the situation, and seek an opportunity to break the deadlock.

Soon, the woman came out of the kitchen. She was carrying a rough black earthenware bowl, which she slammed heavily onto the small square table in the center of the room.

"Dinner is served..."

The man also came out of the kitchen, carrying three sets of bowls and chopsticks, all made of the same heavy black pottery. He set the bowls and chopsticks down, then sat stiffly on either side of the table with the woman, their two pure black eyes once again fixed on Bai Yu.

It was a silent invitation, but also an order that could not be refused.

"Brother Baiyu, come quick!" Xiaoxi had already climbed onto her little stool and was clapping her hands excitedly.

Bai Yu took a deep breath, suppressing the nausea surging in his heart, and slowly walked to the table and sat down. When his gaze fell on the so-called "Rain Fresh", even his heart, which had long been tempered by countless horrific scenes, still involuntarily clenched violently.

The black earthenware basin was half-filled with a murky, viscous liquid, its surface a bluish-black, resembling the filthiest stagnant water from a sewer. Soaking in this viscous liquid were a dozen or so snow-white, worm-like creatures. They were about the length of a finger, eyeless, finless, possessing only a round mouthpart that opened and closed. Their bodies writhed slowly in the viscous liquid, intertwined with each other, appearing almost alive.

A strange odor, a mixture of the fishy smell of rainwater and the faint scent of rotting flesh, emanated from the basin, assaulting Bai Yu's sense of smell and making him almost vomit.

This is... Yu Xian.

"eat……"

The man stared at Bai Yu with his pure black eyes and slowly uttered a single word. He picked up a white worm that was still slightly wriggling with his chopsticks, expressionlessly put it into his stiff mouth, and swallowed it directly.

The woman did the same thing.

Meanwhile, Xiaoxi was eating with great relish. She didn't even need chopsticks; she just grabbed a piece with her little hand and stuffed it into her mouth like candy, a satisfied smile on her face.

"Brother Baiyu, why aren't you eating? It won't taste good if it gets cold," Xiaoxi said indistinctly, with a trace of bluish-black saliva still stuck to the corner of her mouth.

Three pairs of eyes simultaneously focused on Bai Yu.

The invisible pressure almost froze the air. Bai Yu stood at a crossroads. To eat, or not to eat. Each choice could lead to drastically different outcomes.

If he eats it, he will likely be completely assimilated like those villagers, turning into a walking corpse.

But refusing to eat would be a blatant defiance of the host's "hospitality," and in this strange place that values ​​"rules" and "etiquette," the consequences could be equally fatal.

His brain raced in a fraction of a second. He noticed that although Xiaoxi was urging him on, there was no malice in her eyes, only a simple joy of sharing food. Her parents, though their eyes were cold, didn't seem to be about to lash out; they were simply waiting, waiting for him to make his choice.

The breakthrough might lie in Xiaoxi.

A pale and weak smile appeared on Bai Yu's face. He didn't look at the bowl of nauseating food, but instead turned his gaze to Xiao Xi, saying in a gentle, apologetic tone, "I'm sorry, Xiao Xi. It's not that I don't want to eat, it's just... I'm from out of town, and I've always had a weak stomach. I can't get used to food from outside my hometown. If I eat it... my stomach will hurt so badly I'll writhe in pain."

As he spoke, he conveniently clutched his stomach, furrowing his brow and feigning pain. His acting wasn't particularly refined, but in this eerie atmosphere, this sudden display of weakness felt strangely real.

"Oh? Will it hurt your stomach?" Xiaoxi took it seriously. She immediately stopped stuffing Yu Xian into her mouth, a worried look on her face. "Then...you can't eat that!"

She immediately turned around and shouted at her parents, who stood there like statues, "Father! Mother! Brother Baiyu can't eat our Yuxian! It will give him a stomachache! If he doesn't want to eat it, then so be it!"

The man and woman's pure black eyes remained fixed on Bai Yu, seemingly trying to discern the truthfulness of his words. A long silence, lasting over ten seconds, filled the room.

Finally, the man's stiff lips seemed to twitch, and he slowly uttered two words: "No...eat...hungry..."

The crisis seemed to have temporarily subsided. Bai Yu breathed a long sigh of relief, his back soaked with cold sweat. He had gambled correctly. In this family, Xiaoxi's existence seemed to be a kind of "privilege," and her wishes could, to some extent, influence or even change her parents' "rules."

This bizarre dinner ended slowly amidst the horrifying scene of Bai Yu not drinking a drop of water, while Xiao Xi and his family of three shared a bowl of wriggling worms.

After the meal, the woman expressionlessly cleared away the dishes. The man pointed towards the second floor and said to Bai Yu, "Guest...room...to sleep..."

"Brother Baiyu, I'll take you there!" Xiaoxi volunteered, taking Baiyu's hand and walking towards the creaking wooden stairs.

Bai Yu was being pulled along by her, and before going upstairs, he subconsciously glanced back. He saw that Xiao Xi's parents hadn't gone back to their room, but were still sitting stiffly in the main room.

Those two pairs of pure black eyes, like two bottomless whirlpools in the dim light of the oil lamp, were still... staring intently at his back.

The guest room on the second floor was very small, containing only a wooden bed and a desk with a missing leg. The air was filled with a strong musty smell, as if the room hadn't been ventilated for a long time.

"Brother Baiyu, you can sleep here tonight. The blankets are clean." Xiaoxi helped him make the bed, then, as if remembering something, she ran to him, stood on tiptoe, and whispered in a very mysterious tone, "Remember, no matter what noise you hear at night, don't go out. Especially... when it thunders."

After saying that, she waved to Bai Yu, skipped away from the room, and closed the door behind her.

Bai Yu stood in the dark room, Xiao Xi's last words echoing in his mind like a warning bell.

He didn't go to bed immediately, but instead carefully inspected the small room.

Other "outsiders" may have lived here before, and their fates are self-evident.

His gaze was quickly drawn to the broken desk leaning against the corner of the wall. In the dim light of the flashlight, he could see tiny characters that seemed to have been carved into the dusty surface with some kind of sharp tool.

He immediately knelt down and carefully wiped away the dust with his sleeve. Lines of handwriting filled with despair, fear, and madness, like last words from another world, appeared before his eyes.

"...It's the ninth day, and it's still raining. I can't get out. This village is a living hell."

"...They're not people! They're shells! Empty shells filled with rainwater! The stream...that girl...she's not one either...she kept smiling at me, but there was no light in her eyes..."

"...Water! I found it! The well water! I secretly drank a mouthful of water from the well in the backyard, and my headache is gone! I can think again! The rain outside is poison, but the well water is medicine! Why? Why is this happening?!"

Upon seeing this, Bai Yu's breath hitched!
Sure enough! His guess was correct! Well water was the antidote!
He couldn't wait to continue reading.

"...I overheard the village elders talking in their sleep...They kept murmuring a name...'The Drowning Saintess'...They said the village wasn't always called Drowning Village, but 'Saintess Village.' Long ago, a saintess lived in the village; her tears could purify everything, and her tears were the source of this ancient well..."

"...Mountain God! It's all that damned mountain god's fault! It brought the plague, it brought the endless rain! It polluted the saintess's village! It's jealous! It hates that pure power! It wants to drown the saintess's tears with its own 'rain'!"

“…I understand! I understand everything! ‘Drowning in water’…does not refer to a flood, but to the ‘Drowning Saintess’ who threw herself into the well, turning her life and tears into well water to protect this village!”

"...I want to go to that well, I want to drink all the water! I'm sure I can get out! I..."

The writing abruptly ends here.

The last "I" character was carved extremely deep, almost piercing through the wooden board, and at the end of the stroke was a long scratch filled with despair.

Bai Yu stood silently in place, but his heart was filled with turbulent emotions.

The mysteries were all connected at this moment.

The truth about Luoshui Village, the secret of rainwater and well water, and the true origin of this tragedy... everything points to the long-forgotten "Luoshui Saintess" and the mountain god hiding behind the scenes!

He now had a clear goal—to find that ancient well! It was his only hope of healing his soul and leaving this hellish place!

"Boom——!!!"

Just then, a thunderclap suddenly sounded outside the window, the sound as deep and muffled as if it came from the depths of the earth.

Bai Yu's heart skipped a beat. He remembered Xiao Xi's warning: "Never go out when it thunders."

He immediately turned off his flashlight, quietly went to the window, and cautiously peered out through the crack in the window.

He saw that, amidst the torrential thunder and rain, Xiaoxi's parents, those two lifeless shells, were slowly walking out of the house and into the center of the courtyard.

They didn't have umbrellas.

They stood there in the cursed rain, slowly raising their heads, opening their arms, and revealing an almost pious smile on their faces.

They were "bathing" in this "man-eating" rain.

As the rain washed over them, an even deeper darkness seemed to slowly flow into their already dark eye sockets.

Bai Yu held his breath, completely concealing his body in the darkness.

He knew this night had only just begun. And he had to find his way out of this prison and to the well of redemption, under the watchful eyes of these "monsters."

He glanced at the last line of desperate words on the table, but his eyes became incredibly firm.

"I will walk the path you couldn't walk in your place." He silently made this vow to the unknown senior in his heart.

(End of this chapter)