Nightmare
I quietly gazed out the window. The ghost was gone—the malevolent spirit that had inflicted immense harm on me during my childhood. I turned on the light and looked around; this was my childhood room. I remembered everything.
That ghost was just a Wraith, still afraid of sunlight—not powerful. Only later did I understand: it awakened the ghostly part within me, triggering a severe illness.
I got up and looked around, always feeling like something was lurking in the room—under the bed. I found a flashlight in the drawer, immediately crouched down, and crawled beneath the bed. As soon as I switched on the flashlight, I saw a silver talisman affixed to the underside.
It was crafted by Master Zachary Wu. No wonder the ghost couldn’t enter my home even after finding me. My parents and I must still be living in Wisteria Estates. After getting up, I tried to open the door, but the handle felt like cement—completely immovable. In this dream, I was powerless. I tried the window next, but it wouldn’t budge either.
The sound of heavy rain outside came through clearly. I swallowed, a peculiar chill seeping through the room—Ghost Aura. The Wraith had already invaded. I scanned the room, not knowing where it was hiding.
Ever since that ghost found me, I’ve been plagued by nightmares—so many that I still remember them. Though the spirit couldn’t harm me inside the house, it managed to torment me by attaching things to me, using dreams as its conduit.
But things are different now. In this nightmare, if I let it devour me, I’m finished.
My only hope was the silver talisman beneath the bed. I steadied my breath, eyes sharp, watching every shadow.
A crackling sound echoed—the dim incandescent bulb above flickered, casting shifting shadows. The room was suffused with an eerie aura. I could sense Ghost Aura drifting in the air. I couldn’t see it, but I could feel it—so thin, so chilling, it was unmistakable.
With a snap, the light went out. I instantly switched on my flashlight, and for a split second, a rotting, grinning face appeared right in front of me. I felt no panic at all. The face vanished just as quickly, the light flickered back on, and something brushed the back of my head. I exhaled in relief.
It seemed that thanks to this silver talisman, the ghost couldn’t harm me directly. All it could do was mess with my senses, conjuring endless terrifying hallucinations. At that moment, I felt an itch on the soles of my feet. I looked down—maggots were crawling all over them. Still, I remained perfectly still, eyes sweeping the room.
Soon, the hallucination faded. Then I noticed my blanket bulging upward, as if someone was lying underneath. It moved, shifting. The ghost was trying to scare me to death.
I sneered, wordlessly moving to sit at my desk, resting my chin on one hand as I stared at the writhing blanket. I was long past the point of being frightened by tricks like these.
After a while, all the strange phenomena in the room vanished. With a click, the door opened and my father walked in.
"Qingyuan, are you scared? It’s late, go to sleep."
I grunted in response. My father came closer. I was about to crawl under the blanket, but suddenly I turned my head to look at him. His face was ashen.
In that instant, I remembered: in this nightmare, I ended up strangling my father to death. He was the Wraith in disguise. The living room was pitch black. I stood by the bed, searching for a way out. The Wraith couldn’t harm me directly, but it could use others in the house to get to me.
I deliberately let go of the flashlight in my hand. It hit the floor and rolled under the bed. I bent down immediately. My father stooped too, pressing down hard on my back. I reached out, trying to grab the silver talisman. Suddenly, the ghost under the bed leered at me, mouth gaping, lunging at my hand to bite.
I glared back, sneering. Sure enough, it was just an illusion—my hand passed right through the ghost’s head. I grabbed the silver talisman and tore it off. Two hands, like iron clamps, seized my waist and yanked me away. Just as I turned around, those hands shot for my throat. My father’s face twisted into the ghost’s visage, grinning viciously as he leaned in.
The patch of rotting flesh on my cheek was crawling with maggots, dropping onto my face one after another. Desperate, I pressed my hands against my skin and slammed the silver talisman toward the Wraith before me. But in an instant, the talisman vanished, reappearing beneath the bed where it had started. I couldn’t change the dream—I realized that immediately.
I was suffocating, gasping for breath. I had to do something, or I really would be strangled to death.
Suddenly, I raised one hand. The enormous Purple Wish Balloon appeared. In a flash, it burst open, light exploding everywhere, and the world around me shattered into fragments and disappeared. Panting heavily, I hurried to stow away the now-shrunken balloon. To fight the nightmare, I’d used the balloon—and its power had diminished significantly.
The clicking sound echoed. Just as I caught my breath, I fell into another dream—an apartment building. I stared wide-eyed at my own body, at my school uniform, then at my chest—sophomore year.
Noisy voices drifted in, people coming and going through the courtyard. I let out a sigh of relief and stood up.
"Xiao Zhang, remember to pay the water bill. They’ve already reminded you."
I saw the landlord, his face puzzled as he looked at me. I couldn’t recall what kind of dream this was—it had been so long. Even the most vivid dreams fade, because in the dream world, ghosts devour nightmares, while good dreams are absorbed by the dreamer.
I opened the door to Room 410 and swallowed hard, but then my eyes widened in shock.
"What’s going on?"
I remembered I only rented this apartment after graduating from college, but now I was a sophomore. Inside, I checked a few things and saw my sophomore textbooks. It really was that time.
Unable to tell if this was a good dream or a nightmare, I couldn’t wait any longer. I left the room, planning to leave the building, but just as I tried to step out of the courtyard, I was blocked.
I checked the time—just past eight. People streamed in and out of the building, but I was the only one unable to leave. Several kids played in the courtyard.
Suddenly, my eyes widened—I saw Tina Yu.
She was the woman who’d died tragically in this building. Her face was scarred, her expression haggard. Alone, she sat at the stone table outside the small pavilion, her demeanor desolate.
In my memory, I shouldn’t have had any contact with Tina Yu before her death.
Tina Yu was sold out by a scumbag. Loan sharks came knocking, forcing her to sell herself to pay off debts, even assaulting her. When she resisted, they murdered her and dumped her body in the forest.
I knew the whole story. Later, she got her revenge—with my help.
I walked over slowly.
"Miss Yu, your face—what happened?"
Tina Yu looked up, her eyes filled with sorrow. She shook her head, no longer cold and indifferent as she’d become after death.
Now I noticed the people passing by were all whispering about Yu Xiaoting. I didn’t know what was going on, so I found someone and asked.
"Kid, you’d better stay out of it. The loan sharks came again yesterday—said if she didn’t pay by tomorrow, they’d take her away, maybe even go after her parents. Poor girl, but there’s nothing we can do."
While I was still confused, I saw Yu Xiaoting suddenly dash toward the rooftop, frantic. I hurried after her.
Yu Xiaoting stood at the edge of the rooftop, looking ready to jump. Her eyes brimmed with despair. I watched silently, unable to understand why I was connected to her.
I searched my memory, thinking hard. Slowly, something came back to me. Yu Xiaoting never jumped. As she passed me, her eyes softened with emotion.
I rushed back downstairs. It came to me—in sophomore year, I was close with Wu Xiaoli. We were planning to rent together in this building, but something stopped us.
It was the haunting. I clearly remember Wu Xiaoli telling me, when I mentioned renting here, that the place was haunted. She said a girl, forced by loan sharks, was dragged away, and none of the residents tried to stop it. The girl never came back—she died, her soul restless.
That night, I dreamed I was chased by ghosts in the building. Nervous, I watched the courtyard below. Suddenly, everything changed—it was daytime. A white, unmarked van was parked outside. I heard crying and shouting from the lower floor. I remembered Yu Xiaoting lived on the top floor.
As soon as I got downstairs, I saw the loan sharks yanking Yu Xiaoting by the hair, dragging her out of her home. She screamed, but as neighbors came out, they were so frightened they retreated inside.
After a brutal beating, Yu Xiaoting fell silent and was dragged downstairs. She looked to me for help, her eyes filled with hopelessness.
"You bastards, don’t go too far!"
I roared and rushed at them, but it was useless. After a savage beating, I lay on the ground, helpless, as Yu Xiaoting was taken away.
The residents started discussing, some suggesting calling the police, but most backed down—afraid those people would retaliate if they found out.