"We must not only think about what clues the story has given us, but also consider things from Yin Xiaowei's perspective—what is it that she wants most?"
According to the story's explanation, spirits linger in the real world because of unresolved wishes that turn into resentment. If Yin Xiong's resentment stemmed from despair at the world, then Yin Xiaowei's resentment was clearly depicted in that sketchbook. A little girl's wishes are never too complicated; perhaps she just wanted her father to fulfill the promise he once made.
The hint they had been tirelessly searching for was hidden on one page of the sketchbook—the page with the lighthouse painted on it. A blue ocean, a white lighthouse, a scene like a dream.
Yin Xiaowei loved to draw, using pictures to depict the dreams in her heart. The lighthouse wasn't just in her illustrated diary; Chen Mo remembered that Zhang Yiming had also mentioned seeing a little girl in the cursed game who insisted on going to the lighthouse. An unfulfilled wish might become resentment after death, drawing the little girl's soul!
"In this city, is there any place related to a lighthouse?"
"A lighthouse?"
"The one painted in the illustrated diary, the one Yin Xiong promised to take her to see!"
"No way, there actually is..."
Though half-doubting Chen Mo's explanation, after searching with "lighthouse" as the keyword, they indeed found a place called Lighthouse Park not far away. It was less than a two-hour drive from their current location and was also a park near the coast.
"Notify Lin Tianheng. Let's... go to this Lighthouse Park together!"
"Is it really here, Chen Mo? Are you sure?"
Sure? Chen Mo smiled bitterly. Who could be one hundred percent certain of their judgment? But after repeated consideration, this was the best conclusion he could draw.
The final image in the diary—the lighthouse by the sea... Would Yin Xiaowei be there?
It was already night. The three sat in the car, watching the scenery outside blur past as they sped along. These two hours were also an agonizing journey for the participants, as they didn't know if they would encounter another supernatural attack along the way.
Time ticked by amidst anxiety. Though Chen Mo checked his phone several times, the cursed game gave no new prompts.
"We're almost there..."
As Lin Tianheng murmured, a long tunnel suddenly appeared ahead, like a monster with its mouth wide open, waiting for them to walk into the trap. What made them even more uneasy was that the lights inside the tunnel were red, and there wasn't a single other car in sight.
Dai Minghan's face subtly changed. "Inside here..."
Without needing his warning, seeing this sight made everyone's hearts tighten. But as before, the driver of the taxi seemed oblivious to all the anomalies and, in the blink of an eye, drove straight into the tunnel.
The winding tunnel felt endlessly long. The blood-red light kept flooding into the car. Just then, a white figure appeared ahead, standing silently by the roadside, staring at them.
It was a ghost!
A woman's ghost!
Needless to say, this woman must be the vengeful spirit of the ex-wife killed by Yin Xiong. But to Chen Mo's surprise, the ghost just stood quietly by the tunnel, watching the car pass, without turning into black mist to attack.
Why didn't she attack us...
The speeding car zoomed past the ghostly figure. Chen Mo turned to look in the rearview mirror. The pale white figure floated silently in the air, as if waiting for something or hoping for something.
Strangely enough, after the woman's ghost appeared, the seemingly endless tunnel, like a ghostly maze, suddenly showed a glimmer of light, and an exit eerily reappeared.
Could it be that the female ghost let us go? At that moment, Chen Mo felt deeply puzzled. In the stories, vengeful spirits were always emotionless, cold, and ruthless, using every means to cruelly kill the participants. But this ghost could have trapped the car in the tunnel with a ghostly maze, yet she ultimately dispelled the illusion and didn't attack after appearing.
Could she also sense that we were searching for Yin Xiaowei's soul?
In an instant, the speeding car burst out of the tunnel. But to the participants' shock, after passing through the tunnel to the other side, the world before them had drastically changed, becoming like the "Otherworld" from Silent Hill.
Under the dark sky, a torrent of blood rain poured down. There were no buildings on either side of the road, only rusty barbed wire fences one after another, hung with shredded flesh. A pungent, stench-filled odor hit their faces.
"This... this is..."
Such a terrifying sight was enough to make one's scalp tingle. At some point, the car they were in had stopped. Blood gushed from the driver's twisting neck, and as soon as he opened his mouth, his head rolled onto the seat.
"Ah!"
Dai Minghan was startled, quickly pulled open the door, and jumped out. At the same time, Lin Tianheng covered his nose and crawled out of the back seat.
"Damn it, is this really the real world?"
Chen Mo didn't respond. He walked a few steps forward alone. Beside the road, a blood-red path appeared, leading to a fork. On a rusty, mottled signpost, a white arrow was painted, along with some twisted words.
Lighthouse Park.
This was it!
This terrifying road led to Lighthouse Park!
"Let's go. This is the story's final test for us."
With that, Chen Mo pulled out a flashlight from his pocket, gently wiped the lens, and aimed it ahead. If any ghostly figure appeared, he would press the switch as fast as possible to repel the supernatural attack!
The overgrown path was almost impossible to walk on, and the constant blood rain from the sky made the ground muddy, adding to the terrifying atmosphere of this Otherworld. But it was just the atmosphere—there were no ghost attacks along the way!
After walking along the path for a while and crossing a desolate, weed-covered slope, Lin Tianheng, who was in the lead, let out a soft "Ah" and suddenly pointed somewhere.
"Look!"
Following the direction of his finger, not far ahead, a black coastline appeared. A white lighthouse stood quietly by the shore, its beam of light like a star in the darkness, piercing through the blood rain to shine on the black sea.
Seeing this scene, for some reason, Chen Mo's heart pounded uncontrollably in his chest. Here, by this seaside lighthouse, would it be where the story ended, or where they met their doom?!