Chapter 93: Tulpa (Phantom person)

 

Another trick by the system!

When Gu Yi first arrived in this world, he noticed that the residential area where his parents lived was called “Huan Dao,” so he naturally assumed that it was the reflection of the “Huan Dao Town” in this surface world.

But the reality was different!

There was another place in this world that was the real “Huan Dao Town,” but the name has been changed.

If it hadn't been for the casual chat with the motel owner, who mentioned the issue of his hometown, Gu Yi would never have realized this.

Gu Yi hailed a taxi and closed his eyes to contemplate.
There were no police tailing him on the way, so he could safely reach Huang Dao Town.

“Where to?”

“Huang Dao Town.”

“It's far away.
If we set off now we'll arrive there in the middle of the night…”

“Five hundred yuan, and I'll cover the tolls on the way.”

“Let's go right away.”

The driver released the handbrake and immediately hit the road.

The journey was silent.

Gu Yi took a short nap in the car, and when he opened his eyes again, he had already arrived at Huang Dao Town.

It was the perfect time, just as the sun was setting.

Gu Yi paid the fare and walked into the small town.

As expected, there was a convenience store at the town's entrance, and the store owner looked exactly like the one from the inner world.

At this moment, the store owner was listening to a comedy show on the radio and laughing silly behind the counter.

Gu Yi put on his eye patch and looked around the town, but there was nothing unusual.

(The Deduction begins!)

(You walk towards the depths of the small town, and as you wander around, you see many unfamiliar faces, but the buildings remain the same.)

(You finally find the old home, but there's now a fence surrounding it.)

(You climb over the fence and enter the yard.)

(You push open the old house's door.)

(There's nothingness before your eyes.)

(You end the Deduction!)

Gu Yi didn't feel nervous; instead, he felt excited.

His talent couldn't continue the deduction, which, in turn, proved that he was in the right place.

Quickly approaching the old house, Gu Yi vaulted over the fence.
He took out his phone and glanced at the countdown timer.
As he pushed open the front door, the timer paused.

“Phew.”

Taking a deep breath, Gu Yi stepped into the old house.

Creak…

Creak…

The house echoed with footsteps, but there was no one in sight.

Gu Yi held his Grandma's lucky pouch tightly in his hand.

“Hehehe…”

Weird laughter echoed continuously throughout the room.

He'd rather hear ghosts cry than hear them laugh.

In this Weird space, Gu Yi had to be extremely careful.

“Be focused!”

Gu Yi closed his eyes and focused his attention.

His strong mental power protected him from the interference of the ghosts, and the faint laughter gradually faded away.

As he ascended the stairs, he heard another set of footsteps.

[If you hear two sets of footsteps when going upstairs, immediately stop and wait until the other set of footsteps disappears before proceeding.]

Gu Yi remembered the rule and stood still on the stairs, motionless.

The footsteps drew closer and grew louder.

He felt suffocated.

Strange ripples appeared before his eyes, and then he felt his heart constricting as if someone was gripping it.

“Damn you!”

Clutching the lucky pouch, Gu Yi swung it towards the ripples.

A golden flash passed by, and a faint smell of burnt air filled the atmosphere.

Grandma's lucky pouch turned into a charred lump, and the invisible ghost let out a cry of agony.

“Ahhhh—”

A gust of Weird wind blew, causing Gu Yi to involuntarily fall back, landing at the staircase landing.

The interior of the old house rapidly aged, covered in dust and cobwebs.
“So, this is the correct use of Grandma's lucky pouch,” Gu Yi thought.

He got up from the ground and ascended the stairs.

The steps were decrepit and could collapse with the slightest misstep.
He leaned on the handrail and walked straight up to the third floor.

Gu Yi kicked the lower right corner of the room's door and successfully opened it.

The attic on the third floor was pitch-black, and the electricity had stopped working.

Gu Yi took out a flashlight.

The floor on the third floor was uneven, and mice had made this place their home.
Surprisingly, they showed no fear when they saw Gu Yi; they simply scurried past him.

Pushing open the room's door, he found the furniture still arranged as it was before.

There was only a thin layer of floating dust on the tables and chairs, with no signs of damage.

However, there was a new item on the big table.

Gu Yi raised his flashlight.

It was an exquisitely crafted clown mask, identical to the makeup of the Dark Moon Circus clowns.
Gu Yi hesitated for a moment before putting on the mask.

“Congratulations on discovering the special plot item [Tulpa's Clown Mask]!”

“Your plot exploration level has increased!”

“Current exploration level: 81%!”

After wearing the clown mask, Gu Yi felt no discomfort, and there was no apparent change in his vision.

“Tulpa…
What is that? I feel like I've heard it somewhere before…”

Gu Yi furrowed his brow, pondering carefully.
His brain spun rapidly, finally finding the explanation of this term in the corner of his memory.

“Tulpa,” pronounced as “tou-pa,” can be translated as “phantom person.”

It is a form of meditation that exercises one's mental abilities, allowing individuals to create an imaginary companion of their own through meditation.

Most children may briefly and immaturely create tulpa playmates.
Those who have experienced psychological trauma are more prone to the brain's protective mechanism generating immature tulpa.

Mature tulpa can engage in real-time conversations with their hosts, manifest imagery body in reality, and even be physically touched.
They possess self-awareness, can exhibit unexpected behaviors, and can later modify their own personas.

Adults need up to two hundred hours of meditation to create their own tulpa companion.
However, if one's mind is not strong enough, the tulpa may easily escape control and influence normal life.

Mature tulpa may vanish, but most of the time, they will be lifelong companions.
It requires strong willpower to rid oneself of a tulpa.

“So, does that mean…
I am actually the ghost in our family of three?”

Gu Yi closed his eyes, attempting to unveil the truth behind the entire dungeon.

His sister was an only child, yet she was betrayed by her biological parents.

Since he didn't actually exist, it was reflected in his sister's diary that he died in a car accident.

Under the hands of her adoptive parents, she suffered various abuses and beatings, likely due to her adoptive mother discovering her special talent – the ability to create something out of nothing.

His sister conversed with the image of him in her mind, urging him to save her.

During this process, he, who didn't exist in reality, gained self-awareness and the potential to affect reality.

His sister placed him in her deepest dream realm – the Huan Dao Town, where the four of them – their parents, him, and his sister – lived happily.

However, their adoptive parents refused to accept the elder brother's presence.

Once the elder brother discovers his sister's real existence, he would naturally try to awaken her, and the power of her dream realm would disappear.

So, how could they make him successfully die?

His sister needed to acknowledge in her consciousness that he had died, only then could he be completely eliminated; otherwise, she would continue to create new versions of him indefinitely.

As a result, the cat and rat couple had no choice but to use her Weird power to kill him!