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

Chapter 41 The Anchor of the Spirit
As Bai Yu's body slowly slumped down in front of the mural, which was filled with an eerie beauty, the air in the entire activity room seemed to be sucked out in an instant.

Time seemed to be stretched out indefinitely.

"Bai language!"

Two cries filled with horror and despair rang out simultaneously, one from An Mu and the other from Lu Yueqi.

An Mu's face, usually as resolute as a rock, showed uncontrollable panic and worry. He rushed forward, trying to support Bai Yu's collapsing body, but a cold and powerful mental barrier spread from the mural, violently repelling him.

Lu Yueqi felt as if her heart had been gripped tightly by a cold, large hand, and her breath caught in her throat for a moment. She watched helplessly as the figure who had repeatedly saved her from danger now stood there, eyes vacant, lifeless, swallowed by the shadow of the painting. A wave of immense fear and helplessness overwhelmed her.

"What are you all standing there for! Save them!" Mo Fei was the first to come to his senses, and his roar shattered the deathly silence like a thunderclap.

Ignoring the stationary monsters, he charged towards the invisible barrier like a mad bull, brandishing a battle axe crackling with electricity.

"Break it for me!"

"boom!"

The battle axe slammed into the barrier with tremendous force, unleashing a dazzling burst of energy.

However, the barrier only rippled violently like water before absorbing all of his violent power.

Mo Fei himself was thrown backward by a huge recoil force, and his hands went numb.

“It’s no use, Mo Fei!” Lan Ce’s voice was filled with anxiety and helplessness. “This isn’t a physical barrier! Bai Yu’s vital signs are stable, but… his brainwaves and mental signals… have completely disappeared! He… he’s completely disappeared from this world! He… he was ‘swallowed’ by that painting!”

"What do you mean by 'swallowed'?" Mo Fei grabbed Lan Ce's shoulder, his eyes bloodshot. "Speak like a human! What happened to Lao Bai?"

"Let go, Mo Fei! Calm down!" An Mu forcibly separated the two. Although his heart was also in turmoil, as the captain, he had to be the last one standing. He looked at Bai Yu, who had collapsed not far behind the barrier, and forced himself to calm down, his mind racing.

"Lan Ce, continue."

Lan Ce adjusted his glasses, which had almost been knocked off by Mo Fei, and said urgently, "Based on Ruan Bo's notes and our current situation, this mural is the core of the entire mental hospital's nightmare; it's the entrance to an independent 'spiritual world'! Bai Yu just now likely used his own spirit as a 'key' to forcibly open this door! He is now... his consciousness is trapped in that world composed of Wen Maoran's will and the fragmented memories of hundreds of patients!"

"Then what do we do? Are we just going to watch this happen?" Mo Fei's voice was filled with despair.

“Physical destruction is ineffective; the energy impact will be absorbed.” Lan Ce’s face was extremely grim. “The only result of forcibly breaking in is that our consciousness will also be instantly sucked in and assimilated by that chaotic ‘information soup.’ We might not even last three seconds.”

Completely at a loss...

The four words weighed heavily on everyone's hearts like a huge lead weight.

They are the most elite team in the Nightmare Investigation Bureau. They have faced deadly ghost marriages, confronted mountain gods descending from higher dimensions, and encountered all sorts of difficulties...

But now, facing a fallen comrade, he can't even reach out a hand.

This feeling of powerlessness is more despairing than any powerful enemy.

In the midst of this suffocating silence, a voice, though still trembling slightly, rang out with exceptional clarity and determination.

"Let me go."

Everyone turned around abruptly, looking incredulously at the source of the sound.

It's Lu Yueqi.

The girl's face was as pale as paper, and her body was still trembling slightly from fear and tension, but a flame like never before burned in her bright eyes.

"Let me in, bring him back." She repeated it again, this time without the tremor in her voice, only with determination and resolve.

"Are you crazy?" Mo Fei was the first to shout, his reaction even more intense than before. "Do you know what you're saying? Lan Ce just said that going in is suicide! Bai Yu has already... We can't let you get hurt too!"

"I'm not going to my death." Lu Yueqi met Mo Fei's almost murderous gaze without flinching. "Have you ever thought about why Bai Yu chose to use his own spirit to open this door? Because he knew... he knew it was the only way. And me... I might be the only one who can go in."

She took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind, and applied the logical analysis skills that Bai Yu had taught her at this moment.

"First, my 'Deep Frost' power is essentially pure spiritual power. Back in the toy factory, Bai Yu taught me that my power can 'empathize' with these spiritual entities, rather than simply fighting against them. This might give me a buffer in that world, preventing me from being immediately assimilated."

“Second,” she glanced at the faint mark on the back of her hand, “I was marked by the Tower of Ten Thousand Heads, just like Bai Yu. Ruan Bo’s notes say that the nightmares here and the power of the Tower are of the same origin. This ‘same origin’ characteristic may be a ‘beacon’ for me to track Bai Yu down inside.”

“Third…” Lu Yueqi’s gaze slowly swept over An Mu, Mo Fei, and Lan Ce, “Bai Yu saved me twice. Once at my home, and once at the toy factory. Without him, I would have died long ago. Now, it’s my turn to save him. Moreover, the root of this matter is the diary left behind by my grandfather. I can’t… I can’t hide behind all of you anymore.” Her words left Mo Fei, who had originally wanted to refute, speechless for a moment.

“No.” An Mu’s voice was firm and unwavering, leaving no room for negotiation. “Lu Yueqi, I admit you have your reasons. But all of this is based on ‘maybe’ and ‘possibility.’ I can’t gamble your life on such a slim possibility. As the captain, my primary responsibility is to ensure the safety of all of you. That’s an order.”

"Captain!" Lu Yueqi cried out anxiously, her voice trembling with tears. "Every second Bai Yu stays inside increases the risk of being swallowed up! We don't have time to hesitate! Think about it, if any one of us were to fall inside today, what would Bai Yu do? He would rush in without hesitation, wouldn't he? We can't let him fight alone in there!"

These words struck An Mu and Mo Fei like a heavy hammer blow.

Yes, if it were Bai Yu... he would definitely do that.

Everyone was caught in a painful struggle.

“Captain,” Lan Ce, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up. He pushed up his glasses, his gaze behind the lenses incredibly complex. “From a purely data-driven perspective, Lu Yueqi’s plan has a success rate of less than 3.7%. But… it’s also our only plan at the moment.”

He pulled up a copy of Ruan Bo's notes and projected it into the air: "Ruan Bo mentioned in his notes that the core of this spiritual world is 'information soup,' which violently overwrites and assimilates unfamiliar 'information,' such as our memories. However, Lu Yueqi's spiritual power possesses the attributes of 'empathy' and 'tranquility,' which may be judged as a 'low-threat' or 'compatible' target at the information level, thus slowing down the assimilation process. Moreover…"

Lan Ce looked at Lu Yueqi and analyzed, "Her mental anchor is simpler than any of ours; it's merely her 'trust' and 'dependence' on Bai Yu. In a world where only emotions and memories remain, this most primal anchor is perhaps... the most solid."

Everyone fell silent.

An Mu closed his eyes, his resolute face revealing deep exhaustion and struggle.

Lan Ce's words have theoretically provided the final cornerstone for Lu Yueqi's actions.

He slowly opened his eyes, his gaze regaining the sharpness and decisiveness befitting a commander.

“Okay.” He practically spat out the word. “I approve your action. However, you must adhere to the highest security protocols I have established.”

He looked at Lan Ce: "Lan Ce, use Ruan Bo's notes as a 'beacon' to build a one-way mental link. We don't need to communicate with Lu Yueqi, but we must be able to monitor her vital signs and mental pollution index at any time. The other end of the link is tied to me! Once the index exceeds the threshold, or I issue a retreat order, you must use the highest authority to forcibly sever the link and pull her consciousness back! Regardless of whether she agrees or not!"

"Understood!" Lan Ce immediately began to operate.

An Mu then looked at Mo Fei: "Mo Fei, put your emotions aside. From now on, you and I are Lu Yueqi and Bai Yu's last line of defense. We will stay here and not leave for a moment! We must ensure that nothing can get out of this door and nothing can get in from the outside to interfere!"

Mo Fei nodded heavily. He wiped his face, suppressing all his sadness and anger, and transformed back into the unbreakable shield of the team.

“Lu Yueqi,” An Mu looked at her one last time, his tone more serious than ever before, “I’m giving you twenty minutes. After twenty minutes, whether you find Bai Yu or not, you must find a way to escape. This is a death order. Remember, your mission is to search, not to fight. Find him, wake him up, and bring him back. If he cannot be woken up…”

An Mu paused and hesitated, his voice trembling slightly, as if he were making a great decision.

"Then...then give up...come back on your own. Do you understand?"

"I understand!" Lu Yueqi nodded vigorously, her eyes were a little moist, but she held back her tears.

Soon, Lan Ce finished his preparations. He attached a tiny patch sensor to Lu Yueqi's temple, with the other end connected to a thread that emitted a faint energy glow. The end of the thread was connected to a monitoring device on An Mu's wrist.

"The mental link has been established. Good luck, Lu Yueqi." Lan Ce's voice carried a hint of admiration.

Lu Yueqi took a deep breath and walked to the huge mural.

She turned around and took one last look at her teammates.

An Mu's steady gaze, Mo Fei's worried eyes, Lan Ce's encouraging nod... all of these will be the strength that supports her as she moves forward in this unknown darkness.

Without further hesitation, she turned around resolutely and pressed her still slightly cool hand firmly against the center of the mural—the huge and empty vortex.

The moment her palm touched the mural.

hum-

An irresistible, immense suction force came from within.

The world before my eyes, the figures of my teammates, everything in the activity room began to distort, spin, and fade violently, as if paint had been thrown into water…

In the end, it turned into a bottomless darkness.

She fell into this abyss made of memories.

(End of this chapter)