Nightmare (8) - Lingyu

This was no mere bluff or test; Yu Xing clearly felt a chilling wind envelop him as the red phantom approached.

At the same time, a stiffness descended from above, making his body difficult to move, as if he could only watch helplessly as the illusory figure approached him.

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Yu Xing's fingers twitched, his back straightened, the dagger reflecting a dark red light, the blue mist stirring restlessly.

"It's alright, wait a minute," he said in a voice only he could hear.

The dagger fell silent for a moment, and in that quiet, unnoticed movement, the red phantom's arm, wrapped in a blood-red sleeve, touched him.

Cold.

A bone-chilling cold.

Instantly, a chilling aura capable of freezing a person enveloped him. Yu Xing's pupils dilated slightly as he watched the illusory figure melt into his body like a bubble upon touching him.

"I'm dead!"

"Can't you just leave me alone?"

"What exactly do you want?!"

"..."

The woman's screams exploded in his ears, like a replay of a scene from a past timeline.

The curses and muttered sobs came crashing down like a mental pollution attack, making Yu Xing's temples throb with pain.

He had no idea who the woman was cursing; her voice was so genuine and heartfelt that he felt like a wronged bystander.

He could feel another consciousness vying for control of his body. His mind gradually became empty and adrift, and his gaze gradually rose, as if his consciousness had left his body in a coffin.

This invading consciousness continuously destroyed the original will. Yu Xing tried to avoid it, but was quickly driven to the sidelines and had control of the body.

Along with the frantic babbling came a barely audible sigh.

"Sorry..."

After saying that, his hand involuntarily rose up and grabbed forward twice.

Then, with stiff and uncoordinated steps, he walked towards Zhou Xue's bed.

From the live stream footage, it appears that after Yu Xing merged with the phantom, he suddenly stood there blankly, the color in his eyes occasionally shifting between blood red and ink black, until finally his eyes filled with blood red, and he walked towards the target he was tasked with protecting, exuding a ghostly aura.

[Possession?]

[Right, that shadow was initially attached to the paper figure, but now that someone is delivering it, it's attached to the person.]

[What about Xing's offerings? Doesn't he have any defensive offerings?]

[Where can I find all the offerings for newlyweds?]

Is he still alive?

[He's definitely alive. The live stream is still going strong. Even the worst deducer wouldn't be completely helpless if they were to participate in the Death Parallel Line, let alone someone who's anything but bad.]

[The scariest thing is what the ghost is planning! It's one thing for him to be reckless, but if the mission objective dies, their entire team is doomed.]

[Just watch, I think Xing did it on purpose.]

The soles of my shoes, which were originally clean, quickly became dirty after walking around this room filled with blood and flesh.

With each step, a bloody shoe print was left in the same spot, like a countdown to death, approaching Zhou Xue, who was fast asleep on the bed, step by step.

Everything before Yu Xing's eyes was shrouded in a thin layer of blood, as if seen through a veil.

The Black Shadow still swayed by the bedside lamp, staring intently at him as he approached.

He walked in step by step, finally stepping over the paper figure lying on the ground, and arrived at the bedside.

The cold fingertips of his left hand touched Zhou Xue's neck, the chill making her shiver unconsciously, her brows furrowing even more tightly.

She was wearing a common style of white pajamas, with round buttons on the top.

Under the watchful eyes of countless unseen eyes, Yu Xing bent down and unbuttoned the top button of Zhou Xue's collar with one hand.

A small patch of fair skin was exposed, making the other color stand out even more.

[Hey, hey, hey, how did things get to this point?]

[Let go, come at me!]

[... Zhou Xue has something on her neck]

A thin red string peeked out from under the collar. Yu Xing hooked her index finger on the string and gently pulled out what was hanging inside.

From beginning to end, his bloodshot eyes never glanced anywhere else, but remained fixed on the rope, revealing a powerful obsession.

What was pulled out was a piece of white jade.

The white jade doesn't quite resemble the style used for a necklace. It's quite large, perfectly round, and carved with various intricate patterns. It looks more like a jade coin than a pendant.

There was nowhere to thread the red string, so a gold-plated iron wire was wrapped tightly around the outside of the jade to secure it, and then the red string was threaded through the wire.

"Is this the jade she mentioned... It does look quite suspicious." Yu Xing murmured, causing his hand to pause and the Black Shadow watching nearby to freeze for a moment.

Then, as if sensing a crisis, his fingers quickly gripped the jade disc, and the burning heat immediately traveled through Yu Xing's skin into her body, making her internal organs and limbs feel as if they were on fire.

Especially the heart; every beat feels like jumping into a fire.

It's burning fiercely.

It hurts terribly.

In this situation, his hand trembled, and every now and then a wisp of red light would tremble out as if leaving his body. Clearly, holding this jade would not only bring burning pain, but also seemed to bring another kind of torment to the Female Ghost's soul.

Shaking and shaking, unable to exert any force on the jade, Yu Xing tossed it back like a hot potato. The jade, guided by the red string, returned safely to Zhou Xue.

He raised an eyebrow slightly, a vivid expression that looked quite incongruous against his blood-red pupils, and there was even a hint of amusement in his tone. "So weak? Then I'm not playing with you anymore."

"Why can you still talk?" A female voice echoed in his mind, still a single sentence, chaotic and reverberating, giving him a headache.

"I clearly controlled your body!"

Yu Xing didn't care about this fuss at all. "So what if I controlled it? I gave you my hands and legs, can't I even keep a mouth?"

Female voice. "..."

"But if I take over your body, your soul will be scattered!"

Speaking a few clear and complete sentences seemed to be the limit of her voice; she gasped for breath in pain, her words becoming somewhat indistinct. "Why can't I do it...?"

"Can't you do anything? Use me to smash this jade?"

Yu Xing saw it as soon as he came in: the Female Ghost had possessed the paper figure earlier, intending to use the paper figure's hand to retrieve the jade from Zhou Xue and then smash it.

Unfortunately, possessing a paper doll, something that can't move, is probably too difficult. After finally managing to transform the paper doll's legs, before he could even transform its hands, Yu Xing came in.

Suddenly, a living person appeared, practically a tool delivered to their doorstep. So the Female Ghost abandoned the paper figure and possessed Yu Xing's body.

Yu Xing deliberately shrank to the side, making the Female Ghost mistakenly believe that his soul had disappeared, so that she could confidently and immediately do what she wanted to do.

This time, he managed to touch the jade, but he still couldn't resist the burning sensation emanating from it, a sensation that had a powerful restraining effect on ghosts. He held the jade in his hand, but couldn't bring himself to smash it.

"If you can't do it yourself, ask someone else for help." The red in Yu Xing's eyes faded like a tide, replaced by a fierce, overwhelming darkness that filled her pupils. "But... you have to ask for help properly, not by sneak attack, not open attack."

The red figure struggled to its feet, and wave after wave of mental attacks surged toward Yu Xing. He clicked his tongue and released the mental energy he had been suppressing.

Unseen by the viewers in the live stream, blackness spread within Yu Xing's body, its terrifying aura undisguised. The red hue began to tremble, then fled frantically as if it had encountered a predator.

As a monster who had spent an unknown amount of time inside a glass vessel, his mental strength was no less than that of these vengeful ghosts, and he was extremely fierce. Therefore, if he hadn't given in, the Female Ghost's already weak soul wouldn't have been able to squeeze into his body.

The Female Ghost was speechless, waves of weakness washing over her. She couldn't even maintain her possession. In a flash, a red light appeared, and she was forced out of Yu Xing's body amidst the ease with which his terrifying soul moved.

The Female Ghost wore a red wedding dress, the color of which was even more transparent than when she emerged from the paper figure.

She floated silently in the air, gazing at Yu Xing, a living person, with a complex expression. Thanks to this static state, the audience was finally able to see her clearly.

Her pale face, her eyes and lips were tinged with the same crimson as her wedding dress, and two lines of bloody tears flowed from her eyes. Her black hair was disheveled but stubbornly tied up, with only a few stray strands falling across her forehead.

The Ghost Bride, Liu Xue.

Yu Xing had met her before.

On the portrait.

He smiled, and seeing the ghost bride's sudden change in expression, he carefully picked up the jade through her nightgown. The ghost bride opened her mouth and uttered a muffled syllable. "Smash..."

"You want me to smash it? With the attitude you just displayed?" Yu Xing licked his lips. He noticed that when a human hand picked up the jade, there was no burning sensation. Perhaps, this was a setting where ghosts couldn't break the jade, only humans could.

He flipped the jade over with interest, casually examining it. "But considering your first reaction was to apologize, there's still room for negotiation. How about this, you sue..."

"..."

His voice trailed off, and he never managed to say, "Tell me why you smashed it."

Because the back of this jade lacks the winding patterns of the front; apart from the edge patterns, only the elegant and graceful character in the center stands out in Yu Xing's eyes.

The word "".

Ling!?

Before Yu Xing could even wipe the lazy smile from his lips, he stared at the word for a long time, his eyes glazed over, which made the Female Ghost anxious, circling around him several times.

The word "Ling" is not often seen on jade. It means opera actor. Going further, "Lingguan" and "Linglun" also mean music official.

The term "Lingren" also originates from this meaning.

Therefore, it cannot be a coincidence.

The gift for the special guest... it's still nowhere to be seen.

From this point on, Yu Xing was completely certain that the so-called special guest must be related to the Lingren.

After he killed Han Xinyi, did the other party finally decide not to sit idly by and wait for their fate...?

"Please... smash it..." The Female Ghost suddenly loomed close to his face, a cold wind brushing against his cheek, bringing him back to his senses.

"Ah, sorry..." Yu Xing looked up, took two steps back to get away from the grotesque face that was enough to give anyone nightmares, and her smile remained unchanged. "It seems I can't do anything to this jade today. I need to investigate some things to determine whether you're worth my help."

Ignoring the Female Ghost's somewhat resentful expression, he casually stuffed the jade into Zhou Xue's collar, then made sure to fasten the top button.

The Female Ghost was in a panic, but Yu Xing was determined to go to the cemetery with Zhao Ruru and Zhou Xue the next day to see the grandmother named Liang Erni, so he couldn't touch the jade now, lest his plan fall through.

The jade was passed down to Zhou Xue from Grandma Liang. Even if the Lingren did change some plot points with the system's permission, it was still at least a matter of contact between Grandma Liang's generation and the Lingren. Any "surprise" or "gift" left by the Lingren must be related to Grandma Liang.

Even

Yu Xing couldn't help but wonder if the events and figures involved in this live-streamed simulation were a reflection of the real world.

If that's really the case... he might be able to use this opportunity to uncover some genuine information about the Lingren's past!

Just as the Female Ghost and the Black Shadow seemed somewhat anxious, the Female Ghost suddenly screamed and looked at Zhou Xue with terrified eyes.

Yu Xing felt a sudden blur in the surrounding space, and the Female Ghost vanished without a trace, while Zhou Xue's pale face was covered with a blush.

"Looks like I was in a dream... Was I suddenly summoned back? What did Brother Jiu do?" He looked around. The mess was rapidly dissipating as the Female Ghost disappeared. The blood, flesh, scratches, and craters on the ground and ceiling were melting away like snow, leaving no trace.

All that remained in the room was the black mist covering the walls, the tall, Black Shadow standing in place, and a faint lingering smell of blood in the air.

Yu Xing looked at it. "Young Master?"

The Black Shadow did not respond.

It appeared to be in even worse condition than the Female Ghost Liu Xue. At least the Female Ghost could make movements, while it resembled a model trapped under a light source, unable to do anything except for tiny movements.

"Liu Xue is already back in her dream. Judging from her state, she won't be coming out today, right? You should leave too; there's no point in wasting time." After Yu Xing finished speaking, she kindly turned off the bedside lamp, plunging the room into complete darkness, and the shadows disappeared.

The black mist on the wall dissipated silently, and Yu Xing thus deduced the types of abilities of the two ghosts.

Liu Xue can possess other beings; the flesh and blood environment seems to be a barrier she possesses herself.

The Black Shadow figure can lock the room.

The streetlights outside shone through the glass, and the whole ordeal ended so abruptly.

Yu Xing returned to Zhao Ruru's room and briefly recounted the entire story to Zhao Ruru, making up other excuses for anything that needed to be omitted.

Only then did the comments section start flooding with the topic.

[How come he seems so arrogant? How did he manage to gain control whenever he wanted after being possessed?]

That line, "Can't I even leave a comment?" cracked me up.

[No, I'm serious. For a newcomer like me, isn't that a bit abnormal?]

[Could any expert predict and analyze what level of skill Yuki possesses?]

Normally, if you ask this question, the Research Institute and viewers will kindly offer their analysis. But now, Ren Yi also in the live stream, yet he remains silent.

Two minutes later, he finally reappeared as if he had come back from the dead and returned to the other audience members.

[Ren Yi: It's impossible to analyze; we can't determine how much strength Xing is hiding.]