Chapter 334: Haunted by Infant Spirits

I reached out to stroke the boy's hair. It wasn't prickly at all; it felt like a newly hatched chick, fluffy and incredibly soft to the touch.

"I'm here to save you." My fingers were gentle, my movements very slow. Through the Underworld Live Show Phone, I could see the resentful girl spirit right beside me, glaring at me like a tiger stalking prey. If I showed any intention of hurting the boy, she would probably snap my neck on the spot.

"Come here, I'll help you." I slowly wrapped my arms around the little boy's shoulders. Only when his body stopped trembling did I let out a long breath of relief. He hadn't spoken a single word to me, nor had he resisted. At the very least, this proved he accepted who I was and could understand me.

"Can you tell me why you've been hiding in the hospital?" The boy's freedom hadn't been restricted. If he had wanted to leave, he should have had plenty of opportunities.

The boy didn't answer. He just watched me and remained perfectly still, his expression completely blank.

His strange behavior left me in a bit of a bind. I had thought finding him would yield a major breakthrough, but I hadn't expected the kid to act so vacant, like a mute.

'He might just be terribly traumatized,' I reasoned. He had reacted strongly to the name Wang Yu, meaning he was very likely Wang Yu himself. As for why a little boy was wearing girls' clothes, that was something I still couldn't figure out.

Perhaps he had encountered other bizarre things while hiding in the hospital. Asking him wouldn't get me anywhere; I would just have to investigate on my own.

Wang Yu already suffered from autism. Coupled with the psychological counselor's improper treatment methods, his condition had only worsened.

This deterioration wasn't physical, but rather a psychological exclusivity. He had completely sealed himself away in a tiny world, making it incredibly difficult for outsiders to communicate with him.

"Let's go." I took his little hand. A cold chill seeped into my palm. The boy instinctively twitched his fingers, but then stopped struggling.

Looking through the Underworld Live Show Phone, I saw the resentful girl spirit holding his other hand. The living boy and the ghost looked like friends who could never be parted.

'This ghost's resentment is incredibly heavy, yet she clearly depends on the little boy.' I recalled the records I had found earlier in the Comprehensive Training Room. Two children had participated in the fourth phase of psychological correction. 'Could this ghost be the other child in the treatment? Xu Qin?'

Xu Qin's condition was quite severe. It wasn't just a psychological issue; her brain suffered from localized functional defects. To put it plainly, she was born with an intellectual disability.

'Their parents placed so much hope in this hospital, but look at the result: one child's condition only worsened, and the other died, turning into a terrifyingly resentful spirit. I can't even imagine what those so-called doctors actually did to them.'

I led Wang Yu down the stairs. Just as we reached the second floor from the emergency stairwell, Wang Yu suddenly stopped. I looked back and realized the resentful spirit was yanking on his arm. Through the screen of the Underworld Live Show Phone, I could clearly see that the ghost was quite agitated. Her mouth was stretched wide open, practically torn all the way to the base of her ears.

I didn't cultivate the Ghost Dao and couldn't understand ghost speech, but the experience I had accumulated over multiple broadcasts told me: where there's abnormality, there's a monster. For this pair—one living, one dead—to stay hidden in the hospital for so long, they definitely had their own methods.

I decisively let go of Wang Yu's hand to see what the resentful spirit would do.

The moment I released him, the resentful spirit dragged the boy backward, making him stumble back up toward the third floor.

"We can't go to the second floor?" I turned and waved at Chen Xiaocang. "Follow the boy."

Dragged by the resentful spirit, the little boy ducked into a random room to hide. Seeing this, Chen Xiaocang and I quickly ran in after him.

The door wasn't locked. I stood right behind it and muttered, "Why the sudden rush? Is something coming?"

I took off the Brooch, peeked it through the crack in the door, and pulled out the Underworld Live Show Phone to watch.

About ten seconds later, a child's giggling echoed from the emergency stairwell. It was incredibly high-pitched, impossible to tell if it was a boy or a girl. Just hearing it through the door was enough to cover me in goosebumps.

A moment later, water stains materialized out of thin air on the floor tiles outside. Only when they drew closer could I see clearly—they were dripping wet footprints.

The Underworld Live Show Phone could capture things invisible to ordinary people, but it was simply too dark outside. I couldn't even make out a blurry shadow on the screen.

Burning with curiosity and wanting to get to the bottom of this, I gripped a handful of Profound Truth Talismans and quietly turned up the phone's brightness.

The light flashed briefly. In that fleeting second, through the screen, I saw several "children" walking right past the door.

They were thin as rails, their bodies bearing various deformities. How could these be considered human? They were nothing but a pack of humanoid little monsters!

I only took one glance before hurriedly covering the screen. I took several deep breaths, waiting until the childish giggles outside faded away before removing my hand.

With the light exposed again, the Brooch Camera faithfully transmitted what it captured into the room.

My eyes locked onto the screen, and my heart abruptly leaped into my throat. An ugly face was taking up the entire display!

One of the Little Ghosts outside hadn't left. It was currently crouched right next to the Brooch.

'Oh no! I've been spotted!' There was nowhere to run in the hospital room. Rather than leaving it up to fate, it was better to fight it out.

I circulated the Pre-Heaven qi in my dantian, clenched the talismans tight, and threw open the door. "Vanquish demons, slay ten thousand ghosts..."

Before I could finish the incantation, a sinister wind swept past my side. Immediately after, a jaw-dropping scene unfolded on the phone screen.

The resentful girl spirit pounced like a cheetah, biting directly into the Little Ghost's neck and pinning it to the floor.

"Slay the evil!" Seizing the opportunity, I picked out a talisman meant to exorcise filth with a stronger Daoist aura and slapped it onto the Little Ghost's head. The creature barely struggled before being devoured by the girl spirit.

Unlike a Fate Ghost, which would consume its prey completely, the girl spirit only took a bite or two, but it was enough to shatter the Little Ghost's soul entirely.

'This girl is pretty fierce.'

With the Little Ghost dealt with, I took Wang Yu's hand and walked out of the room. The girl didn't try to stop us this time.

'So many Little Ghosts were giggling and rushing toward the same place. Is something summoning them?' I had a Great Divine Mantra of the Big Dipper in my hand, which could instantly obliterate high-level malicious ghosts, but I only had one shot. If I missed, there would be no second chances.

"Let's go take a look." Holding up the Underworld Live Show Phone, I led the way, following the direction the Little Ghosts had taken until we reached the central staircase.

Standing on the third floor and looking down, I saw that the hospital's main doors had been opened. A woman carrying a large sack was pacing the first-floor corridor.

"How did she get in?" Chen Xiaocang nudged my arm and whispered.

I made a shushing gesture. Chen Xiaocang could only see the woman in the hallway; she couldn't see what was surrounding her.

Through the Underworld Live Show Phone, the true scene on the first floor was revealed. The woman, dressed in a long red-and-white dress, was swarmed by a pack of ghost children. The deformed, ugly Little Ghosts tugged at her skirt, pulled her hair, and some even crawled directly onto her body.

The sight was absolutely horrifying. My palms were drenched in sweat.

Wang Yu, who had been completely silent the whole time, also started acting strange when he saw the woman. He kept shaking his head back and forth, seemingly trying to express something.

Covered in Little Ghosts, the madwoman on the first floor laughed idiotically. Her eyes were glazed over as she repeatedly reached into her sack, grabbing something and tossing it to the creatures.

The horde of ghosts scrambled and fought over the items, like a troupe of tamed monkeys.

I activated my Chasing Eye to take a closer look. The items she pulled from the sack were about the size of strawberries, and their colors matched too—some bright red, others a dark, bruised crimson.

'Strawberries? Little Ghosts like eating strawberries?' I watched some of the ghosts snatch the items and shove them straight into their mouths. When they spat them back out, the objects had turned dull and faded.

The frenzy on the first floor lasted for five or six minutes. It wasn't until the woman's sack was completely empty that the Little Ghosts finally scattered, looking reluctant to leave. Only the woman remained, crawling on the floor to meticulously gather up the things the ghosts had eaten and spat out.

"This woman has the hospital keys. She's definitely a key figure." I waved my hand at the female streamer. "Watch the little boy. If I don't come back in a bit, or if things get dangerous, just take him and run."

After saying that, I pressed myself against the wall and made my way down to the first floor. The Little Ghosts had scattered, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye. Occasionally, one or two would scurry past, but they posed little threat to me.

I carefully reached the first floor and casually picked up one of the items spat out by the ghosts. Upon looking closely, I realized they weren't strawberries at all. They were shriveled hearts!