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

Chapter 26 The Labyrinth of Love and Hate
The soft halo formed by Awan's holy obsession, like a moving full moon, forcibly tore open a path to hope in this dark mountain forest soaked in curse.

Bai Yu walked at the forefront, the white wooden ladle in his hand forming the core of this "moon." Warm and pure power flowed continuously from his palm into his limbs and bones, gently smoothing the hideous cracks left deep within his soul by the backlash. This power carried a woman's deepest love and most sorrowful expectations, allowing Bai Yu to always maintain a peaceful haven in his heart amidst the endless malice around him.

However, Anning was confined to this three-meter-wide passage.

Beyond the halo lies a completely different hellish scene.

The churning crimson fog, like a living entity, repeatedly crashed against the thin barrier of light, each impact creating a silent ripple.

In the mist, the twisted, ghostly trees seemed to awaken, their branches transforming into sharp claws that scraped across the light barrier with a piercing screeching sound.

Faces distorted by agony appeared and disappeared in the mist, their silent roars and their most malevolent gazes fixed on the four people in the passage, as if they wanted to devour them alive.

"What the hell is all this?!" Mo Fei clenched his fists, veins bulging on his arms. He could clearly hear the whispers from hell, drilling into his mind, telling of the pain of betrayal, the fear of being buried alive, and the resentment of never being able to escape. These voices were like poisoned steel needles, constantly stimulating his nerves.

"Focus your mind, Mo Fei!" An Mu's deep and powerful voice rang in his ears. "Don't let them affect you; these are all mental attacks. Guard your own consciousness."

"Understood!" Mo Fei took a deep breath, forcing himself to stop looking at and listening to the scenery outside the light barrier, focusing all his attention on the path beneath his feet and Bai Yu's back in front of him. That slender figure gave him an immense sense of security.

Lance pushed up his glasses, the lenses reflecting the bizarre and fantastical scene around him.

His voice sounded unusually calm in the telepathic link: "The energy fields are engaged in a high-intensity confrontation. The 'sacred relic' in Bai Yu's hands is constructing a miniature independent domain based on the rules of 'purification' and 'protection'. Outside the domain are the original macro-rules of this space, based on 'resentment' and 'curse'. The two rules are colliding fiercely, and we are now like walking in the eye of a storm."

"Baiyu, can you still hold on?" Anmu's gaze fell on Baiyu's slightly pale profile.

Bai Yu nodded, fine beads of sweat already forming on his forehead.

Maintaining this safe passage was also a huge drain on him. He not only had to expend his strength, but also had to use his willpower to "believe" that Awan's love was enough to withstand everything. This was a battle of beliefs, which was even more grueling than simply expending physical strength.

Bai Yu gripped the wooden ladle in his hand even tighter. He could sense that Awan's power was not inexhaustible; it was like a handful of water destined to spill, and every second it lasted longer, more of it would be lost.

They must hurry.

The winding mountain road stretched out beneath their feet, seemingly without end. After walking for an unknown amount of time, a huge, pitch-black silhouette finally appeared in the blood mist ahead.

It was the entrance to a cave, or rather, a gaping maw opened wide in extreme agony. Stalactites hanging from the edge of the opening resembled interlocking fangs, and a stench of rotting flesh, damp soil, and ancient resentment gushed out, almost staining the sacred aura emanating from the wooden ladle with a foul hue.

"This is it." An Mu's voice was extremely solemn. "Sacrifice Cave. Everyone, prepare to enter the highest alert state."

The four stopped at the cave entrance, forming a temporary defensive circle. The light from the wooden ladle in Bai Yu's hand seemed to be suppressed here, becoming somewhat flickering.

"Judging from the energy reaction, the concentration of the curse inside the cave is more than ten times that outside," Lanze quickly reported. "We are about to enter the core area of ​​this space."

An Mu looked around at his team members, his gaze finally settling on Bai Yu: "Bai Yu, the road ahead will be even more difficult, and your mental pressure will increase exponentially. Remember, no matter what you see or hear, you must believe in the pure conviction you carry. That will be our most important weapon."

“I understand.” Bai Yu nodded solemnly.

He took a deep breath and was the first to step into that bottomless darkness.

The moment they entered the cave, everyone felt a dramatic change in their surroundings. It was as if they had passed through a thick, cold membrane and entered a completely different space.

Instead of the jagged cliffs I had imagined, there was a long and winding corridor. The walls, floor, and even the ceiling of the corridor had a strange, fleshy texture, covered with vein-like patterns that pulsated slightly, like the esophagus of a giant beast.

What's even more chilling is the scene of flesh flowing across these walls like a movie.

"What...what is that?" Mo Fei's voice was a little hoarse.

They witnessed scenes from a century ago. Under the moonlight, the young peddler Lin Sheng shyly inserted a simple wooden hairpin into the hair of the young girl A Wan. A Wan turned her head and smiled, her beauty captivating.

What should have been a beautiful scene suddenly became incredibly distorted in the next second, filled with mockery and contempt. The villagers behind her also put on disdainful faces, pointing and whispering about Lin Sheng.

"Uh--"

Bai Yu's body swayed violently, and her face instantly turned ashen.

"Bai Yu!" An Mu rushed forward to support him.

A sharp, piercing pain shot through his soul, stabbing him deeply where Ah Wan's memories resided. This was no mere illusion; it was a form of spiritual pollution from a higher level!
That "mountain god" is using Lin Sheng's most painful memories to deny and desecrate A Wan's love from the root!

It is telling Baiyu: Look, everything you believe is a lie, and this love was built on deception and mockery from the very beginning!

The images on the wall continued to flow. They saw Lin Sheng and A Wan playing by the stream. The next second, the clear water turned into filthy blood, and A Wan pushed Lin Sheng into it. On the bank, there was a scene of her embracing another man. They saw Lin Sheng promise to marry A Wan in a grand and glorious ceremony, and then the scene changed to A Wan wearing a wedding dress and throwing herself into the arms of another wealthy young man, leaving Lin Sheng with a cold, distant back view.

Every sweet moment was twisted into a vicious betrayal.

"Bastard! How dare you defile someone else's feelings like that!" Mo Fei roared, slamming his fist into the writhing flesh.

However, his fist sank deep into what felt like cotton. Instead of breaking, the fleshy walls began to writhe like living things, with countless tiny buds of flesh sprouting from the wound, trying to wrap around his arm.

"Don't touch them!" Lan Ce shouted urgently. "These are products of spiritual manifestation; physical attacks are ineffective, and be careful not to be assimilated by them!"

An Mu immediately pulled Mo Fei back, and at the same time ordered everyone: "Close your eyes! Focus your mind and block out visual information! Bai Yu, stay calm! Don't be fooled by it, trust your own judgment!"

Bai Yu collapsed to his knees in agony, clutching his head tightly with both hands. The tainted memories flooded his mind like a tidal wave, clashing violently with Awan's pure and unwavering resolve. He felt as if his soul was being torn apart by these two diametrically opposed forces.

"No...that's not it..." he muttered to himself, his jaw clenched, more blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. "What I saw...wasn't like that..."

He remembered the gentle woman who still lit a lamp for him in the endless darkness. He remembered her shyness and sweetness when she expressed her love, her resoluteness and sorrow when she faced death, and her selfless wish that her lover could forget his hatred and find peace when she turned into a wooden ladle.

That feeling was so pure and unadulterated that it could never be faked!

"Fake...you are all fake!" Bai Yu suddenly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, and roared.

He gave up resisting the encroaching images, instead forcing himself to open his eyes wide and focus all his attention on the wooden ladle in his hand. He no longer looked at those filthy illusions, but poured all his will and faith into his "belief" in that pure love.

"I believe her!"

hum-

With a soft hum, the wooden ladle in Bai Yu's hand burst forth with an unprecedentedly dazzling light. That light was no longer the gentle moonlight, but had transformed into a radiant gold, as dazzling as the sun!

Golden light swept across the entire corridor like a tidal wave. The writhing fleshy walls, illuminated by the golden light, hissed and emitted puffs of black smoke as if doused with concentrated sulfuric acid. The distorted images on the walls were instantly purified in the pure light. In the end, the walls of the entire corridor returned to their cold, hard rock texture.

"Indeed, it is the ultimate hope..." Hei Yan sighed silently, withdrawing the power that was about to spread out and forcibly take over Bai Yu's body.

"Huff...huff..." Bai Yu gasped for breath, his body swaying precariously, but his eyes became incredibly clear and determined. "Well done, Lao Bai!" Mo Fei patted him on the shoulder excitedly.

An Mu, supporting Bai Yu, said in a deep voice, "Conserve your energy, let's continue."

Passing through the restored corridor, they entered a much larger underground cavern. An overwhelming atmosphere of sorrow enveloped them, casting a shadow over everyone's hearts.

A river appeared before them.

An underground river, composed of a black liquid exuding an aura of decay and sorrow, flows extremely slowly, with black bubbles rising to the surface from time to time. Each time a bubble reaches its peak, it bursts silently. In the instant the bubble bursts, the faces of villagers, contorted with despair and pain, flash by, followed by a faint sigh filled with endless grief.

"Is this... the tears and despair of all the villagers over the past hundred years?" Bai Yu looked at the river, a great sorrow welling up in his heart.

“That’s one way to understand it.” Lan Ce’s expression was also unusually solemn. “This is a pure collection of negative spiritual energy, which we will call the ‘River of Sorrow’ for now. Its energy density is extremely high. Any spiritual entity that falls into it will be instantly assimilated and then swallowed up by endless despair, sinking into eternal damnation.”

The river wasn't wide, only about ten meters, but it now seemed like an insurmountable chasm, blocking the way forward. The despair contained within the river was so pure that even the air felt heavy, each breath like inhaling icy sorrow.

"Looks like we'll have to rely on you again." An Mu looked at Bai Yu.

Bai Yu nodded and walked to the riverbank. He could sense that this river was different from the memory corridor he had just encountered. The corridor was an active, malicious attack, while this river was a passive, silent sorrow. It wouldn't attack you proactively, but once you touched it, you would be overwhelmed by the immense despair it represented.

He slowly squatted down and gently extended the white wooden ladle in his hand towards the dark river surface.

A strange scene unfolded when the sacred wooden ladle touched the viscous black liquid.

There was no violent energy conflict, nor any struggle between purification and being purified. The gentle light, formed from Awan's obsession, spread gently yet firmly across the black river surface, like a speck of ink falling into water. Wherever the light touched, the pitch-black liquid did not disappear; instead, a layer of transparent crystals radiating a soft glow condensed on its surface.

The crystals continued to extend outwards, eventually erecting a crystal bridge of light and hope over the black river of weeping.

The bridge was crystal clear, revealing the same dark despair beneath, a sea of ​​faces contorted in agony. Awan's power did not choose to dispel or destroy this suffering, but instead chose to use herself as a foundation to bear it, carving a path to the future upon this endless sorrow.

"Let's go." Bai Yu stood up and was the first to step onto the crystal bridge.

The four walked cautiously across the Bridge of Light. The bridge beneath their feet was sturdy and warm, but the scene below was still chilling. Countless desperate faces rose from the black river, their empty eyes staring at the survivors on the bridge. Invisible arms reached out from the river, seemingly trying to grab them and drag them into this eternal sorrow.

The countless suppressed sobs around them became clearer, converging into a massive wave of sound that assaulted everyone's mental defenses. There was no resentment in those sounds, only endless regret and pleading.

"Let us...out..."

“It hurts so much…”

"Why...why are you doing this to us..."

Everyone had to concentrate all their willpower on maintaining a steady pace, keeping their eyes straight ahead and their minds focused, walking step by step toward the other side. This short distance of only a dozen meters felt like an eternity.

As the last team member stepped onto solid ground on the opposite bank, the crystal bridge behind them vanished into specks of light. The River of Sorrow continued to flow slowly, as if nothing had ever happened.

After crossing the river of sorrow, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

They arrived at an enormous underground cavern. The ceiling was so high that they couldn't see the top, and only countless huge stalactites could be seen hanging down like swords. The entire cavern walls were pulsating slightly, like a giant, beating heart.

In the very center of the cave sat an evil altar haphazardly constructed from countless white bones and black crystals that shimmered with an ominous light.

The altar was far larger than they had imagined; it resembled a small mountain, exuding a nauseating stench of blood and an aura of curses. Countless thick, black roots spread from all sides of the cave, eventually converging at the top of the altar. There, was the endpoint of all the malice and resentment in the entire space.

"We've found... the core of the space." Lan Ce's voice trembled slightly.

The four men's gazes were fixed on the top of the altar. There, instead of the horrific corpse dressed in a groom's red robe that they had expected, was a gigantic cocoon of flesh and blood, black mud, and resentment, more than five meters in diameter.

The surface of the fleshy cocoon was covered with distorted human faces and constantly waving translucent arms. Like an evil heart, it pulsated rhythmically in sync with the entire cavern. Each pulsation intensified the surrounding aura of curse.

“Lin Sheng is inside.” Bai Yu gripped the wooden ladle tightly. He could feel the overwhelming resentment emanating from within this fleshy cocoon. “He is undergoing his final fusion with the resentment of the entire village.”

"We can't wait any longer." An Mu decisively ordered, "Bai Yu, use A Wan's obsession to try and awaken his humanity! Mo Fei, Lan Ce, we'll cover Bai Yu!"

"Yes!"

Bai Yu took a deep breath, holding the wooden ladle, and walked step by step toward the bone altar. As he approached, the wooden ladle in his hand shone brightly, and that holy power transformed into a pillar of light, shooting straight toward the flesh cocoon.

However, at that moment, a voice that was not human at all suddenly echoed throughout the cave.

The voice was neither male nor female, neither old nor young; it seemed to be composed of countless superimposed voices, or perhaps an ancient murmur from the very beginning of the universe. It was vast, cold, and filled with a profound contempt for all things in the world.

"Awaken him? What a ridiculous and naive idea... a tiny insect."

The voice did not travel through the air, but resounded directly deep within their souls, carrying an unquestionable majesty.

"His pathetic soul, along with his shallow resentment, has long been consumed by me. They were fine firewood, successfully igniting the fire of this feast. But..."

"He was never the star of the show!"

The moment the words left his mouth, the enormous cocoon at the top of the altar abruptly stopped throbbing!
Click... click...

A crisp cracking sound rang out, and huge cracks rapidly spread across the surface of the flesh cocoon. The next second, the entire flesh cocoon exploded!

What appeared from it was not Lin Sheng at all, but a monster that had completely exceeded the scope of human understanding and had merged with Lin Sheng!

Lin Sheng's body remained its core, the tattered groom's red robe still on his body, appearing incredibly eerie and ironic. However, his body had completely changed. Countless enormous black roots, like the spines of a mountain range, lashed out wildly from his back, chest, and limbs, stretching menacingly towards the sky. The surface of these roots was covered with hundreds of enormous eyeballs that slowly opened, and gaping maws dripping with black saliva.

His feet became one with the bone altar, the black roots taking hold deep within the altar and spreading to the walls of the entire cave. Now he was the mountain, and the mountain was him.

He slowly raised his head, and the face that could still vaguely make out Lin Sheng's outline had become as stiff as a stone sculpture. The flames burning in his eyes were no longer those of resentment, but rather a void that seemed to devour all light.

"Mountain God!"
This primordial nightmare, which had been entrenched in this place for a hundred years, finally completed its descent after draining Lin Sheng of his last bit of value, using his body as a vessel and the despair of the entire village as a sacrifice!

The four-person team stood frozen in place, a chill and fear originating from the deepest recesses of their being engulfing them. They were no longer facing a pitiful vengeful spirit driven by resentment, but a natural disaster roaming the world, the embodiment of the world's oldest fear itself.

On the altar, the terrifying entity turned its countless eyes toward them simultaneously, and its ancient and majestic voice resounded once more in their hearts, delivering its final judgment.

"Now, you insects, use your despair to celebrate my rebirth!"

(End of this chapter)