Chapter 333: Five Classes of Ghosts

If the message was true, then this hospital wasn't just some illegal clinic. Such heartless behavior was no different from an animal's.

"Stealing children and selling infants just to make a profit?" At first, I hadn't thought too deeply about it. I assumed this hospital's various practices were just for money, but looking at it now, things probably weren't that simple.

Child trafficking was a felony in our country. Establishing a hospital to engage in systematic criminal activity was an even graver offense.

"No wonder a fully equipped Maternity and Children's Health Center would be built in a remote suburb like Qi Village. It was to cover up the filthy trade network operating within. No wonder children went missing and Little Ghosts wandered the premises. The resentment here is just too heavy."

"Um, where are we going now?" The female streamer gripped her satchel with both hands as she followed me out of the Neonatal Disease Screening Center. She glanced at me several times, a hint of fear in her eyes. "We've been together for a while now. What should I call you?"

"My name is Gao Jian."

Hearing my name, the female streamer quietly took a step back, her gaze evasive.

How could I not notice her strange behavior? A quick thought was all it took to guess why. "Are you afraid of me because I look like a certain wanted criminal?"

"No, don't misunderstand! I don't know anything!" Chen Xiaocang hurriedly waved her hands in denial.

I wasn't surprised at all that I'd been recognized. An ordinary person might not have noticed, but Chen Xiaocang was a major streamer with over a hundred thousand viewers. I had shown my face in her broadcast, so it wasn't impossible for her audience to spot me.

My appearance and name both matched. Now that she had lost her phone and her only way to contact the outside world, she was in a state of extreme anxiety.

"If I wanted to do something to you, I would have done it already. Relax, as long as you behave, I absolutely won't hurt you." Only after saying this did I suddenly realize that many villains said something similar before doing something evil.

Noticing Chen Xiaocang's face turn even paler, I shook my head and headed off alone toward the other departments.

After walking a few meters, footsteps echoed behind me. Even though Chen Xiaocang was completely reluctant, a living, breathing human like me was still a bit more reliable than those ghost children.

I searched almost every department on the third floor but found nothing else. As I walked to the emergency stairwell to check other floors, I suddenly noticed what looked like a figure standing quietly in the dim staircase.

I used Chasing Eye to get a clear look. It was a child less than a meter tall.

"I think I've seen you before." Earlier, when I was preparing to escort the female streamer out, I had noticed someone peeking from the third floor. It had to be the same person.

I didn't act rashly this time. I stood exactly where I was, afraid that sudden movements might frighten him. "We came from outside the hospital. We won't hurt you."

The dark silhouette didn't move. In the darkness, I could only see a pair of bright black eyes. Those were definitely not eyes a ghost could possess.

"What's your name? Where are your parents?"

No matter what questions I asked, he wouldn't answer. Like a mute, he just stared fixedly at the same spot, maintaining his posture without the slightest change.

"I'm here to investigate the director's disappearance and uncover the truth. I don't mean any harm." I shuffled my feet and edged a bit closer to the child. He didn't turn and run, which gave me a glimmer of hope.

"Relax." I slowly quickened my pace. When I was only three meters away from the child, he showed obvious signs of unease, so I quickly stopped in my tracks.

Looking closely now that I was nearer, I gradually got a clear view. This child had very delicate features. He sported a boy's short haircut but wore a set of girls' clothes, meticulously dressed up like a doll.

Such an unusual outfit made it impossible for me to guess the child's gender, but I could definitely tell his behavior wasn't normal.

"Is this a little boy or a little girl?" Chen Xiaocang trailed behind me, staring at the child with equal curiosity. She noticed my predicament and walked up beside me. "When dealing with children, you need to get down on their level and treat them as your equals."

Saying that, she crouched down and reached out both hands toward the kid. "Come here to big sister."

"Big sister? The kid's mom probably isn't even as old as you." I scoffed, but knowing I didn't have much experience interacting with children, I mimicked her and crouched down.

Perhaps communicating on an equal eye level made it easier to win the child's approval. The kid's emotions stabilized, but he still stood perfectly still, as if his feet were nailed to the floor.

Although the child in front of me was dressed a bit weirdly, he had a peculiar cuteness to him.

The female streamer shuffled toward the kid while crouching. Not only did the child show no intention of running away, but he actually reached out with both hands.

"His posture looks a bit familiar." The first time I saw him, he had been leaning against the stair railing, half his body protruding over the edge, arms hanging down in a similar motion as if he were hugging something.

"What's the meaning behind this action?" I raised the Underworld Live Show Phone and pointed the camera at the kid. On the screen, right beside the child, another person appeared!

Standing right in front of this child was a girl, altered beyond recognition. Her eyes and nose had been entirely replaced by black holes, and her knotted hair resembled a tuft of dead grass. Her small body radiated endless malice.

This kind of bone-chilling sensation wasn't something an ordinary ghost could produce. Compared to the ghost children I had encountered earlier, this little girl was much more dangerous.

"Although she can't compare to a fierce ghost, she's still much stronger than an ordinary wronged soul." The strength of a ghost wasn't determined by its physical body or age, but judged by its resentment, obsession, and magical power.

Among all the ghosts I had seen across my eight live broadcasts, the Mahayana Fate Ghost unquestionably ranked first. Even with the help of an Upper Vehicle Talisman, I might not be a match for its strength.

Second only to the fate ghost was the evil ghost formed by the incarnation of the Primal Destiny Divine Fiends during my first broadcast at Xinhu High School. It plundered a node of extreme Yin and was composed of baleful aura; its body was so dense it was almost tangible.

The next strongest was the Red-Clothed Fierce Ghost I saw during the Route 14 Spirit Bus broadcast. Tangled in deep resentment, it used a corpse to block the road, single-handedly forcing the spirit bus to a halt.

One level weaker than the Red-Clothed Fierce Ghost were ghosts possessed by the ten evils, as well as the Three-Eyed Ghost Infant that clung relentlessly to Ye Bing.

Aside from those, the remaining wandering ghosts and wild spirits all belonged to the lowest tier. It wasn't that they weren't terrifying, but comparatively speaking, if I divided all the ghosts I had seen into five classes, they could only be considered the weakest level.

The girl appearing in the livestream right now had a strength sitting somewhere between the Red-Clothed Fierce Ghost and the Three-Eyed Ghost Infant. Without using the Great Divine Mantra of the Big Dipper, it would be very difficult for me to subdue her.

"Don't go over there." Grabbing the female streamer's shoulder with one hand, I didn't let her look at the Underworld Live Show Phone's screen, only voicing a warning.

"What are you doing? He's a living, breathing person. Don't scare him," the female streamer protested, both shocked and afraid.

"I won't." Holding the phone, I walked up to the child and examined him closely. This child was indeed a boy, just dressed in girls' clothing.

"I won't hurt either of you. I'm here to save you both!" I enunciated every word, speaking to the little boy in front of me as well as the ghost girl on the screen, who was thrashing about and radiating hostility toward everything.

"Both of you?" The female streamer looked at my serious expression, then glanced at the little boy standing all alone in front of me. She shuddered right where she stood. "You really aren't a normal person..."

"I'll help you both. Now, can you tell me your name?" I asked patiently. The boy's bright eyes looked at me, but he still didn't say a word.

"Are you unable to speak for some reason? Then I'll guess a few names. If I get it right, just nod, okay?" I looked into the boy's eyes and slowed my tone. "Wang Xiusen? Xu Qin? Wang Yulan... Wang Yu?"

When I mentioned the name Wang Yu, the boy reacted as if he were having an epileptic seizure. His legs trembled so violently that he couldn't even stand steady.

"Looks like I guessed right." I reached out, wanting to pick the boy up and check his body, but the ghost girl blocking him was extremely wary of me. Her pitch-black eye sockets aimed at my neck, as if preparing to strangle me to death.

'To approach is to be upright; to be upright is to be true. Embody the Dao to align with the truth, and thoroughly attain the ultimate reality.' I silently recited the Profound Truth Mental Method. Righteous Qi diffused around my body, allowing me to easily pass through the ghost girl and grab the little boy.

"You must be the missing child, right?"