Leaving the hometown where he had lived for seventeen years and heading to live in a completely unfamiliar international metropolis, it would be a lie to say he wasn’t nervous.
Ye Sheng looked at his faded black T-shirt, jeans, and slightly worn-out sneakers, letting out a long sigh.
He thought self-mockingly that Huang Yiyue’s worries weren’t entirely unfounded. If he barged into the Xie family’s home looking this shabby and out of place, it would only embarrass her.
But he had hands and feet to support himself, eating and using what he earned. He never intended to seek her out in the first place.
Ye Sheng opened his phone and, unsurprisingly, saw that after being blocked twice, Huang Yiyue had switched to a third number to harass him. After emotional appeals, temptations, and playing the victim card all failed, Huang Yiyue finally came up with a dirty trick.
She brought up Ye Sheng’s grandmother.
[Shengsheng, do you still remember your grandmother?]
Ye Sheng instantly sat up straight, his expression turning grave and icy.
Huang Yiyue’s message came through.
[Shengsheng, when your grandmother was critically ill, I brought her to Huai City for treatment. There’s something I didn’t tell you—your grandmother left something for you before she died.]
[Come here, and I’ll give it to you.]
Huang! Yi! Yue!
Ye Sheng nearly crushed his phone, his eyes burning with deep-seated fury in the darkness.
He knew Huang Yiyue was a cold-blooded, selfish woman, but he never imagined she could be this malicious, even using his deceased grandmother as leverage against him.
Ye Sheng’s chest heaved violently. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and reopened them, forcing himself to calm down.
[Tell me first what it is.]
Huang Yiyue immediately sent a photo. It was a simple, deep purple square box with a shell-shaped lock.
[I haven’t opened this box either. Your grandmother said the key is in your hands.]
In the darkness, Ye Sheng gritted his teeth until they ached, typing quickly.
[I’ll arrive at Huai City Railway Station at 5 p.m. on the 27th.]
On the other end, Huang Yiyue clearly breathed a sigh of relief, her tone softening.
[Alright. I’ll send the butler to pick you up then.]
[Shengsheng, Mom doesn’t want to force you like this either.]
[Mom just wants to see you, keep you by my side, and treat you better.]
Ignoring her insincerity, Ye Sheng tossed his phone casually onto the pillow.
Threatened by Huang Yiyue, Ye Sheng’s emotions were in turmoil, making sleep impossible. His mind was filled with memories of his grandmother’s kind and gentle eyes from his childhood, which steadied his anger like towering mountains and flowing rivers. Tossing and turning until 2 a.m., he finally drifted into a hazy sleep.
Even in his dreams, Ye Sheng wished he could tear Huang Yiyue apart. Burdened by too many worries, he felt suffocated in the middle of the night, almost unable to breathe.
At first, he thought it was just psychological.
But as his breathing grew increasingly labored, depriving his brain of oxygen and draining the strength from his body, Ye Sheng jolted awake from his dream, realizing something was wrong.
Someone was pressing down on him.
Heavily.
This person weighed at least two hundred pounds—it wasn’t Ning Weichen or Li Jianyang. Their entire body carried a damp, toilet-like odor, as if a corpse had been soaked in water for a long time.
Ye Sheng was no stranger to sleep paralysis. Suppressing his fear, he tried to remain calm.
If he wasn’t mistaken, it was likely the woman named Xiao Fang who had died in this train carriage.
The female ghost lay quietly on him for a while. Seeing no reaction, she slowly moved away. The heavy sense of suffocation and icy coldness receded like a tide, but Ye Sheng still didn’t open his eyes. Because he knew the female ghost hadn’t left. She was silently crouched on the floor, guarding his bedside, her curious and innocent gaze fixed on his tightly shut eyes.
The train rumbled through the mountains, the cold moonlight outlining a bloody, dark silhouette.
The next second, a faint infant’s cry suddenly echoed through the carriage. Ye Sheng froze—Li Jianyang’s daughter had woken up?!
The baby’s crying clearly attracted the female ghost more. She let out a soft snort, no longer guarding Ye Sheng, and instead dragged her heavy body toward Li Jianyang’s bunk.
Ye Sheng held his breath and opened his eyes, pulling a yellow talisman from under his pillow. The old man, fearing his yin-yang eyes might cause trouble, had left him a pile of miscellaneous items before departing. The yellow talisman was among them. Ye Sheng’s blood could harm ghosts, but he had never encountered a vengeful spirit with such heavy resentment before, so he wasn’t entirely confident.
Propping himself up with one hand, he held his breath and looked toward Li Jianyang.
The enormous vengeful ghost stood motionless beside the infant girl. As she approached, the baby stopped crying and began babbling, making sounds that resembled speech.
Ye Sheng recalled the news report—Xiao Fang had been pregnant before her death. Was Xiao Fang thinking of her own child now, her maternal instincts softening her heart?
The infant girl let out a soft, milky laugh and reached out toward Xiao Fang, her arms as thin and frail as dried twigs.
Xiao Fang stared at her strangely, bending down. Her face was swollen like a wrinkled steamed bun, her pupils contracted to pinpoints, leaving only the whites of her eyes and bloodshot veins visible at first glance. She gazed at the infant girl for a long while before finally cracking her lips into a horrifying smile.
Xiao Fang reached out, picked up the infant girl, and her steps became incredibly light and cheerful. She even hummed a cheerful tune as she walked toward the toilet at the end of the carriage.
As Xiao Fang turned around, Ye Sheng caught a glimpse of her attire in the light.
A green floral-patterned blouse, black trousers, and two long braids hanging down to her chest—a simple, plain style from that era. Now, her blouse was soaked and darkened with blood. Her bloated body made the clothes appear too small, the hem of her blouse riding up to reveal her blood-drenched belly.
Xiao Fang cradled the infant girl, humming a sweet yet chilling tune.
Ye Sheng shuddered with disgust.
The toilet door at the end of Carriage 44 was open. The woman had drifted in lightly and was now drifting back with her prize just as lightly.
Li Jianyang was still asleep.
Ye Sheng had no intention of waking him. In such a situation, an ordinary person would only cause more trouble.
He carefully rose from his bed, his eyes fixed warily on the door. He couldn’t gauge the female ghost’s true nature and dared not act rashly. Ye Sheng pulled out his phone and tapped on the first app in his shortcuts.
Just as the female ghost closed the toilet door, he snapped a photo of her retreating figure.
Thud. The toilet door closed.
Ye Sheng’s palms were drenched in sweat. He steadied his breathing and tremblingly clicked to upload the image.
It was a very simple app, its icon a blood-red eye, named “search.” It had only two functions: taking photos and uploading them.
The old man had installed it for him before leaving.
The old man had said that if he ever encountered evil spirits or ghost monsters in the city, he shouldn’t act recklessly. He should first use the app to scan them. If the level exceeded C, he should run immediately. If even “search” couldn’t scan it, then he should accept his fate and prepare to die.Ye Sheng had once used it to sweep away ghosts by the graveside at Yin Mountain. Normally, the rank of a deceased ghost was F. This time, however, the eye on the app spun briefly before quickly displaying a document-like text.
【Category: Story King】
【Aberration Name: Corpse-Stitcher】
【Aberration Rank: C】
【Overview: Xiao Fang’s ancestors were all corpse-stitchers, specializing in sewing up corpses for burial. Only Xiao Fang was the exception—she picked up needle and thread and became an embroiderer for life. Embroiderer Xiao Fang died in a train carriage, her belly hollowed out and her child taken. After death, Xiao Fang still became a corpse-stitchers】
C-Class?
Corpse-stitchers?
Ye Sheng froze, standing motionless in place. Though it was June in summer, the temperature on the train was relatively low. Ye Sheng had worn a long-sleeved jacket to sleep at night, and he hid his dagger inside his sleeve.
Just as Ye Sheng hesitated about what to do next, he heard the footsteps of two people approaching Carriage 44.
Ye Sheng’s eyesight was 5.3, and his hearing was equally exceptional.
Even though the two deliberately lowered their voices, he could still hear what they were discussing.
“Are you sure they’re in Carriage 44? What idiot would choose this damn place? No one dares to stay in the nearby carriages, and even we avoided this unlucky spot when we used to rob people.”
“There’s no mistake. Those two kids probably went for the cheap tickets. Hmph. I’m going to teach those two brats who don’t know what’s good for them a lesson tonight!”
“Did you bring the stuff?”
“Yeah, yeah, knives and clubs, all ready. Hey, that kid in black I spotted on the first day looks damn fine. Let me have my fun before we take care of business!”
“Really that good?”
“Absolutely! After I’m done with this kid, I’ve already decided where to cut—I’m gonna chop off his dick, hahaha!”
Ye Sheng gripped his phone, closed the app, and suppressed the violent urge to kill these two perverts.
The restroom had been occupied by Xiao Fang for years. He couldn’t be the first to enter—he needed someone to test the waters for him.
After thinking for a moment, Ye Sheng lay back down and pretended to be asleep. He silently counted, One, two, three.
A cold blade pressed against his throat. Immediately afterward, a lecherous voice sounded beside his ear.
“Kid, remember me?”
“You…” Ye Sheng jolted awake abruptly, his pupils contracting as he stared at the two men under the moonlight.
Inside the carriage stood two men—one frail and wearing black-framed glasses, the other burly with a deep scar on his face.
The bespectacled man’s eyes were full of glee as he threatened viciously, “Don’t speak! If you dare make a sound, I’ll kill you and then everyone else in this carriage!”
Ye Sheng trembled, pursed his lips, and didn’t dare utter a word.
The bespectacled man was very pleased. His eyes darted around as he coaxed with a smile, “But if you serve me well tonight, I’ll let you go. How about that?”
He admired Ye Sheng’s pale face, feigning composure, and itched to touch it. Unexpectedly, his arm was caught by Ye Sheng mid-air. Even through the clothes, he could feel the kid’s strength. The bespectacled man nearly cried out but held back to save face, pressing the knife tightly against Ye Sheng’s neck as he snarled, “Let go of me! You little bastard! You looking to die?”
Ye Sheng was no actor. He could only hide his expressionless face in the darkness, his voice very low. “Not here.”
The bespectacled man: “What do you mean, not here?” Ye Sheng said, “To the bathroom. I don’t like it here.”
The bespectacled man’s eyes lit up with delight. “The bathroom? The bathroom’s good—there’s even a mirror there. So you’re into that kind of thing? Didn’t expect you to be so adventurous!”
Ye Sheng took a deep breath, still keeping his head down, and whispered, “No, don’t wake the others.”
“Let’s go, let’s go.”
With the dagger pressed against Ye Sheng’s neck, the bespectacled man forced him toward the bathroom. Still wary of Ye Sheng’s strength, he didn’t dare make any more inappropriate moves.
When the three of them reached the bathroom door, Ye Sheng looked down at the dark blood seeping eerily from the crack and asked, “Are you both coming in?”
The burly, scarred man looked at him as if he’d discovered a new world. “Wow, kid, going big on your first try? Want a threesome?”
Ye Sheng: “…”
Are these two perverts asking to die?!
He took a deep breath and said, “Open the door.”
Without hesitation, the bespectacled man pushed the bathroom door open, leering, “Kid, we’ll make sure you have a night to remember.”
But before the word “night” had fully left his lips, Ye Sheng had already snapped his wrist, deftly taken the fruit knife, and kicked him inside.
Bespectacled man: “Ugh!”
The burly man beside him had yet to react when Ye Sheng stepped back and pressed the knife against his back, his voice icy. “Get in.”
Burly man: “Ugh!!”
Inside the half-open door, a dim red light glowed. Xiao Fang stood before the mirror, threading a needle. The sudden intrusion of the two men interrupted her humming, and she let out a sharp scream.
Ye Sheng quickly closed the door. At the last moment, the baby girl sitting on the sink seemed to glance at him. Her clear, innocent black-and-white eyes, shifting with the light, radiated a chilling, soul-piercing coldness.
Ye Sheng froze, but with time pressing, he didn’t dwell on it. He wanted to conduct an experiment to see if Xiao Fang was truly a vengeful spirit.
Although many supernatural incidents had occurred in Carriage 44, Ye Sheng had noticed one thing: no one had ever died here.
And Xiao Fang… The online comments he’d read all discussed strange sounds and smells from the carriage’s bathroom at night, but no one had ever experienced sleep paralysis or seen anything unclean.
This suggested Xiao Fang rarely appeared. Yet tonight, she had emerged.
Everything about it was strange.
The blood-red mist inside the restroom muffled the sounds, making the chaos within only faintly audible to someone standing directly outside the door.
Xiao Fang’s voice was shrill, and the baby girl, frightened, began to cry. The wailing was accompanied by a loud commotion, followed by the two men’s heart-wrenching screams piercing the night.
Had Xiao Fang killed someone?!
Ye Sheng feared that if he delayed too long, Li Jianyang’s daughter might be in danger.
Just as his right hand gripped the bathroom doorknob, intending to enter, another hand suddenly covered his.
A tall, slender shadow enveloped him as someone leaned close to his ear, their voice flowing like water in the night, saying, “Don’t open the door.”
Ye Sheng froze. Before shock could fully set in, his body reacted instinctively—his elbow struck the person’s abdomen hard. The person didn’t dodge, taking the blow with a muffled grunt, but their hand remained steady, almost interlocking with Ye Sheng’s fingers, firmly preventing him from opening the door.
Then Ye Sheng heard a somewhat aggrieved and sad voice mutter, “I wanted to help you. If you don’t appreciate it, fine, but why hit me?”
Ye Sheng looked up in astonishment, his fierce eyes stunningly beautiful in the unsettling crimson glow. Meanwhile, Ning Weichen blinked his peach blossom eyes that seemed to shimmer with moisture, one hand pressed against his stomach, looking pitifully at him.
Perhaps beautiful people really did have an unexpectedly devastating effect when they looked aggrieved—especially someone as striking as Ning Weichen.
Ye Sheng growled, “What are you doing?”
Ning Weichen looked even more aggrieved, staring at him in disbelief. “You punched me, but instead of asking whether I’m hurt, the first thing you ask is what I’m doing?”
Ye Sheng: “…”
Ning Weichen blinked rapidly, as if trying to clear the involuntary tears from his eyes. He steadied himself, suppressing his distress as he whispered, “Ye Sheng, don’t open the door. Li Jianyang’s daughter will be fine, and someone will come to handle this soon.”
Ye Sheng frowned. “What do you know?”
Ning Weichen’s fingers gradually intertwined with his, firm and unyielding, yet his voice remained soft. “Come with me first.”
The screams from the restroom continued.
In his momentary daze, Ye Sheng was already led away by Ning Weichen.
When they returned to their bunks, Ning Weichen still had one hand pressed against his stomach. His face was pale, and the pain had brought a reddish haze to his eyes. Yet he remembered Ye Sheng’s two commands—no acting cute, no saying overly sentimental things—and restrained himself, his voice trembling slightly as he said,
“While talking with Li Jianyang, I noticed something strange about him. I told him I could provide his daughter with world-class medical assistance, but he refused. When I asked about his daughter’s symptoms, he was evasive. Later, I realized he couldn’t answer a single question about the baby—her birth date, her name, or her mother. Li Jianyang isn’t that baby’s father at all.”
Ye Sheng froze. “Is he a human trafficker? Kidnapping people?”
Ning Weichen shook his head.
“No, it’s more than just kidnapping. When Li Jianyang left, I secretly took a photo of his daughter and sent it to my private doctor, Andrew. Andrew said the baby looked unusual and asked me to unwrap the swaddling. When I did, I found a wound on the baby’s stomach that looked like a cesarean incision, and it was still bleeding.” At this point, he weakly leaned against Ye Sheng’s shoulder and whispered, “Let me lean on you for a moment.”
“…” Ye Sheng’s body stiffened, and he instinctively wanted to push him away. But remembering he was the one who caused this, he silently endured it.
At the same time, Ye Sheng wondered in confusion: Are these pampered young masters from the city made of paper? Did one punch from me cause internal bleeding?
Ning Weichen continued, “Andrew said there’s a medical condition called a parasitic twin, also known as fetus-in-fetu. It happens when one twin absorbs the other in the womb. That baby is a case of that—a fetus should have been removed from her stomach. Andrew also said the baby is very strange; the soul inside her doesn’t seem like a child’s at all. It’s abnormally dangerous. He told me to stay away from them for now. He’s already contacted the Bureau of the Unnatural to handle this. We should stay quiet in the car and not act rashly.”
Ye Sheng caught the key term. “Bureau of the Unnatural?”
Ning Weichen: “Yes, the state has a specialized agency to deal with such matters.” He smiled faintly and said, “Don’t worry. Given my status, the Bureau of the Unnatural will send at least an A-Class Executor this time. We’ll be fine.”
Ye Sheng: “…”
He hadn’t even reached the big city yet, having just emerged from the mountains, and already he was experiencing the world’s dangers and unfathomable depths.
“So what’s the deal with Xiao Fang?”
Ning Weichen said, “Carriage 44 of Yin Mountain has long been on record with the Bureau of the Unnatural. The monsters inside have never committed any evil, so they’ve never been dealt with.” After a pause, Ning Weichen added, “Under normal circumstances, Xiao Fang wouldn’t harm people.”
Ye Sheng fell silent, beginning to recall the interaction between Xiao Fang and that infant girl.
Perhaps he had misunderstood something.
Xiao Fang might have been summoned by that infant girl in the first place.
Ye Sheng suddenly felt a chill. He glanced once more at the toilet at the end of the carriage. What was happening inside now, he had no idea, nor was it something his current abilities could allow him to pry into.
But… this was fine. After all, he just wanted to pass the civil service exam and return to develop Yin Mountain. He had no interest in these messy affairs.
Ye Sheng withdrew his gaze and asked, “When did you find out about all this?”
Ning Weichen explained, “Andrew only replied to my message right before I went to sleep, and you were already asleep by then. I planned to warn you tomorrow. I didn’t expect something like this to happen tonight.”
Ye Sheng’s feelings were incredibly complicated.
Ning Weichen sat up straight and said cautiously, “Ye Sheng, I’m injured. Can I sleep with you tonight? Don’t worry, I’ll keep my distance.”
Ye Sheng: “…”
He really wanted to refuse, but Ning Weichen had indeed helped him, and it was he himself who had caused the injury.
Finally, Ye Sheng asked, “Ning Weichen…are you really in that much pain?”
Ning Weichen fell silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed softly in the darkness, his eyes shimmering and the corners of his lips curling up. “To be honest, it was really painful, but now that you’ve asked, it doesn’t hurt anymore.” He thought for a moment and added, “This shouldn’t count as breaking the rules, right? I’m just expressing my feelings sincerely. You can’t expect me to be a liar.”
Ning Weichen tilted his head, his affectionate eyes seeming to hold deep tenderness for everyone as he spoke with a smile and a hint of confusion, “How strange, Ye Sheng. How is it that I’ve grown to like you so much after only knowing you for a few days?”
Ye Sheng: “…”
Perhaps Ye Sheng’s cold, unyielding demeanor was too much of a buzzkill.
Ning Weichen chuckled softly and didn’t say anything more, as if afraid Ye Sheng would change his mind. He quickly lay down on the bed, patted the empty space beside him, and said eagerly, “Stop overthinking it and get some sleep.”
Ye Sheng let out a quiet sigh inwardly.
He knew Ning Weichen wasn’t gay.
Even though this guy acted coquettishly toward him and kept saying he liked him, Ye Sheng just knew—Ning Weichen didn’t actually like him as much as he pretended to.
It was this realization that made him slowly climb into bed. He didn’t want to face Ning Weichen, so he turned on his side, looking up at Li Jianyang, who was still sound asleep diagonally above him.
Only when Ning Weichen’s breathing beside him had steadied did Ye Sheng take out his phone, open search, and take a photo in the direction of Li Jianyang. He aimed at the space under the bed, where the bag full of “local specialties” was.
He was just testing it out, but unexpectedly, search actually produced a result—
【Category: Story King】
【Aberration Name: Fetus Girl (Incomplete)】
【Aberration Rank: A-Class】
【Overview: ???】
