Chapter 238: Midnight

When people close their eyes, they feel their senses shut off, losing a degree of control over their surroundings. This triggers a natural instinct to tense up and prepare for sudden danger—a basic human survival reflex.

Covering my eyes with my sleeve, I followed the Fate Ghost, walking forward step by step.

Taking Half-Immortal Liu's advice, I decided to trust the Fate Ghost just this once, placing my life and death in its hands.

Bizarre cries and strange laughter echoed in my ears. My heart raced, my breathing grew shallow, and my muscles pulled taut. Several times, unable to bear the strain, I nearly tore off my makeshift blindfold. A person feels exceptionally powerless in the dark, where the slightest sound or movement can strike fear into the heart.

I didn't know if the Fate Ghost was leading me into the abyss, nor did I know what was standing on either side of me now. I could only follow the pull on my arm and keep moving forward. I couldn't open my eyes, and I couldn't turn back.

With my eyes closed, time seemed to slow down. I felt like I had been walking for ages, like a wandering spirit drifting along the Yellow Springs, doomed to keep walking like this forever.

"Fate Ghost..."

In the darkness, the sound of my own heartbeat became incredibly clear, pounding like a chaotic drumbeat. My body grew increasingly stiff. It felt like something heavy was pressing down on me, or like countless invisible hands were tearing at my soul, trying to drag me elsewhere.

"Tap, tap, tap."

The sound of footsteps never stopped, right up until the pull on my arm slowly weakened and finally vanished completely.

"Fate Ghost?"

Receiving no response, I lost my guide and stood frozen in place.

"Fate Ghost?" I called out again, my tone urgent, but there was still no answer.

The fear of the unknown in the dark was like a rising tide, slowly submerging my body.

Raising my hand, I gripped the sleeve covering my eyes.

I hesitated. I was afraid that the moment I opened my eyes, I would find myself surrounded by a horde of ghosts, and equally afraid of seeing the Fate Ghost baring its fangs and claws at me in a hostile display. Terrifying images flashed through my mind.

My fingertips dug into the torn sleeve, slowly applying pressure. I couldn't hide forever; I had to face it eventually.

I yanked the sleeve away. Specks of light appeared in my vision, radiating from the screen of the Underworld Live Show Phone.

A wallpapered wall stood in front of me. I was right at the exit of the maze, my foot resting on a small indentation. It was the very mark I had smashed out with my iron pliers before entering out of fear of getting lost.

"I made it out!" All my fear transformed into excitement and relief. Slowly, however, a trace of doubt surfaced in my mind. 'Where is the Fate Ghost?'

I subconsciously turned around. A frail, emaciated young man stood a single step behind me.

That single step perfectly separated the inside of the maze from the outside.

This was my first time seeing the Fate Ghost's face. It was a handsome young man about the same height as me, its body almost completely transparent. The long black hair that usually wrapped around it was now fanning out entirely behind its head, twisting around every single mirror. The strands looked like dark cracks carved into the glass, tangling directly with those terrifying, hideous Mirror Ghosts!

The sight left me deeply shaken. The black hair had crawled across almost the entire Magic Mirror Maze, binding all of the yin souls inside.

'By itself? It's fighting the yin souls of the entire maze using only its own strength?' The spectral entities inside the Magic Mirror Maze still wanted to escape, but they were bound tight by the Fate Ghost. Both sides were locked in a tug-of-war far more severe than a battle of life and death, because the losing side would have their souls scattered—losing even the right to exist as ghosts.

"H-how do I help you?" Watching this unfold, I felt an inexplicable wave of self-blame, guilty over my earlier suspicions. "Half-Immortal Liu, how do I help it break free?"

Looking at the livestream room, I saw the Fate Ghost's situation was far from optimistic. Although an individual yin soul was incredibly weak, there were simply too many of them inside the maze.

Half-immortal Liu from Qingcheng Mountain: "You can't help it. Since it chose to follow you, this is its destined calamity. If it pushes through, it steps into the ghost gates; if it falls, its ashes scatter and its soul extinguishes. Your fate is far too winding. Anyone who wishes to intervene and change it—whether they follow the Buddhist, demonic, Ghost Dao, or Daoist paths—must face the tribulation themselves."

"That's different from what you said earlier. Didn't you say that as long as I closed my eyes, the yin souls wouldn't attack me?"

"Indeed, they didn't attack you. All the pressure was shouldered by the Fate Ghost. This spectral entity of yours is quite interesting. But don't blame yourself too much, as this isn't necessarily a bad thing for it. Cultivating the ghost path is a hundred times harder than cultivating the Dao. Its realm has risen too quickly, making its foundation inevitably unstable. Encountering this tribulation is the perfect chance to temper itself. If it survives, achieving great mastery of its ghost body will be just around the corner."

"What do I have to do to help it?"

"Manipulating yin souls requires a Soul Bewitching Doll. If you truly can't rest easy, simply destroying the spiritual medium will lighten its burden."

"The second floor of the Haunted House is completely filled with cloth dolls. Fine, I'll burn that place to the ground today!" I looked down at my phone. The Fate Ghost had spread its black hair throughout the maze to take the shortest route, navigating much faster than I had while exploring with the map. Right now, there was a little over a minute left until midnight. However, I no longer cared about the Underworld Live Show's task. Helping the Fate Ghost break free was the only thing I wanted to do.

"Wait right here. I will definitely help you break free!"

This time, I had been forced into a dead end by a living person, yet I had managed to escape because a ghost risked its life to save me. This tremendous irony shifted some deep-rooted beliefs in my heart.

Who said wronged souls only committed evil? Who said malicious ghosts were bound to harm people? This ghost of mine looked terrifying and exuded a wicked aura, yet it was a thousand times better than those well-dressed, seemingly kind living people hiding behind hypocritical masks.

Taking one last deep look at the Fate Ghost—which was struggling to hold on as its figure grew increasingly illusory and transparent—I gritted my teeth, turned around, and charged out of the Magic Mirror Maze, sprinting wildly toward the Haunted House.

The late-night Amusement Park had long since emptied of tourists. The cheerful voices and laughter had settled, leaving behind a deathly silence and an unshakable desolation.

The entertainment facilities resembled silent beasts, staring at me as I ran down the middle of the street. They were probably also wondering whether this fast-moving shadow was a man or a ghost.

I made a beeline for the Haunted House, but as unpredictable winds and clouds gather in the sky, unexpected misfortunes strike without warning. I hadn't run far when a figure suddenly jumped out from a nearby corner.

He wore extremely tattered clothes and went completely barefoot, looking absolutely deranged.

"Get out of the way!" I pulled out my iron pliers directly, a fierce look crossing my face.

"Hurry up and leave, hurry up and leave!" The person before me was the exact same old beggar I had met before entering the Amusement Park. He had taken my money and even urged me to leave back then.

Now, long after the park had closed, he had suddenly popped out, continuously muttering the same sentence over and over. No matter how I looked at it, the scene felt incredibly bizarre.

"Move aside!" Although I was in a rush, I wasn't about to raise my hand against an old man. But who knew my tolerance would only encourage this beggar to push his luck? He scurried over and grabbed my arm.

"Hurry up and leave, hurry up and leave!"

The old man's grip was surprisingly strong. I actually failed to break free immediately, and he dragged me toward the rest area off to the side.

"Where are you trying to drag me? This isn't even the direction of the Amusement Park gates!" Just as I was considering whether to use force, my gaze swept past and suddenly caught sight of the broadcasting building behind the rest area.

Of course, the building itself didn't matter. What mattered was that on the steps outside the small building, a woman with a bleeding arm was leaning against the wall, walking with grueling difficulty.

Her casual clothes were stained with blood. Her facial features were soft, yet a certain unyielding strength was hidden beneath her pallor.

"Tie Ningxiang?!"

I froze in place, letting the beggar tug at me. The look in my eyes was incredibly complex, swirling with hesitation, suspicion, and confusion.

Tie Ningxiang spotted me from the steps. In the pitch-black Amusement Park, her eyes were still as bright as ever. She opened her mouth, seemingly putting every ounce of her strength into her voice: "Gao Jian! Hurry up and save Yi Yi!"

Her voice carried far into the distance. At that exact same moment, the midnight bells of the Amusement Park's Clock Tower began to chime.

Twelve heavy, muffled tolls drifted through the Amusement Park. A strange, eerie quality seemed to seep into the air. The time belonging to the living had ended; next up was the carnival of the dead.

When the final bell toll ceased, the Ferris Wheel towering high in the northern part of the Amusement Park began to turn. It rotated just like it did during the day, only without any lights adorning it. It looked gloomy and terrifying, resembling a giant monster slowly waking from its slumber.

I threw off the old beggar's hand, tightened my grip on the iron pliers, and walked toward Tie Ningxiang. "Are you okay? What happened to Yi Yi?"

Stopping a few meters away from Tie Ningxiang, I observed her cautiously, scanning her from head to toe. This woman was exactly the same as I remembered her—possessing a soul-stirring beauty, appearing completely unchanged.