The Drowned Baby

At 9:27 PM on March 25, 2006, on a small hill in Jinxi County, Tianfu City.

A man in a black trench coat knelt before two headstones, his tears falling one by one onto his legs. Besides these two headstones, the small hill was dotted with many other graves.

The man had been kneeling there for an unknown amount of time, his body completely still. Just then, on a grave not far from him, a skeletal hand stretched out. Slowly, the rest of the body emerged from the grave. An old woman in a white burial shroud, with white hair, stood before her own grave.

Much of the old woman's body was decaying, covered in earthworms and maggots. Her white eyeballs stared blankly at the man in black kneeling not far from her.

She walked towards the man in black, each step agonizingly slow. A large portion of her legs had rotted away, exposing blackened bone. It seemed her body could no longer support her.

The man kneeling there appeared completely oblivious to the changes beside him, his eyes fixed on the two headstones, tears falling ceaselessly.

The old woman in the burial shroud had reached the man's back. Suddenly, a tiny pupil appeared between her two entirely white eyeballs, staring at the man before her.

The old woman extended two pale, decaying hands, moving with extreme speed towards the man's neck. Something unexpected happened. Three mouths suddenly opened on the man's neck. The old woman, unable to retract her hands in time, thrust them directly into the mouths and had them bitten off.

A trace of fear appeared on the old woman's pale face. She tried to retreat, but time seemed to freeze. The old woman in the burial shroud stood motionless, then her body slowly turned into white powder and flowed into the mouths on the man's neck.

The man stopped crying and stood up. The mouths on his neck vanished. After a final look at the two headstones before him, he kissed them lightly and turned to leave.

Four hours earlier, in a classroom at Yufang Middle School, Jinxi County.

"Brother Chen, tomorrow's Friday, wanna go do something in the afternoon?" a short, chubby boy sitting backward on his chair said to a man with oval, rimless glasses sitting opposite him.

Brother Chen, whose real name was Zhang Chen, was a student in Class 3, Grade 2 at Yufang Middle School. Zhang Chen, 14 years old, was of decent height, nearly 1.75 meters tall, with fair skin. However, his slightly protruding belly and messy hairstyle kept the girls around him at a distance.

"Tan Fei, your mom just caught you last time. We heard your pig-like screams from outside the internet cafe. Are you itching for trouble again this week?" Zhang Chen teased.

This Fatty Tan, whose full name was Tan Yaoguang, had a name that sounded upright and grand, but he was actually a sinister and wicked little fatty.

"My mom's working overtime tomorrow, and my dad doesn't care about me, so you don't have to worry about my butt at all."

Fatty Tan didn't seem bothered and continued excitedly, as if he were about to stand up and show Zhang Chen his behind. Even Wang Ban Hua, the class beauty and top student, shifted her chair further away.

Zhang Chen glanced at Wang Ban Hua's disgusted expression. Although he knew he might not be able to reach her, he didn't want to leave a bad impression. He sighed, lamenting his misfortune of being stuck with Fatty Tan.

"Brother Chen, I've notified Er Wa. Look, he can barely hold it in and has already entered a meditative state."

Sitting not far to their left and behind them was Er Wa, whom Tan Fei had mentioned. He had a neat crew cut and a large, square face. Below his large nose, instead of a mouth, there was a large black mole. Currently, Er Wa's eyes were vacant as he stared ahead, his right hand seemingly touching an imaginary mouse, moving it slowly.

Er Wa's real name was Hu Dazhi. Even his close friends Zhang Chen and Tan Fei didn't know how he got the nickname Er Wa. He had been called that since he started middle school, and possibly even elementary school. Everyone just followed suit without question.

Zhang Chen shook his head but couldn't help but chuckle.

At that moment, Zhang Chen saw Er Wa's eyes suddenly regain focus, and his hand began to pick up a pen, preparing to write something. Zhang Chen looked at his electronic watch, "18:25." He immediately understood what was happening, turned around, sat up straight, and began searching for a pen on his desk.

"Creak." The door opened, and the crisp sound of high heels echoed through the classroom. All the students were already sitting up straight, their left arms resting on their desks, their right hands writing something. Even Fatty Tan instantly twisted his chubby body and transformed into a pseudo-top student. Only Zhang Chen was still searching his desk for the single one-yuan ballpoint pen, occasionally looking under the desk.

"Zhang Chen!!" a loud shout made Zhang Chen sit up straighter.

Zhang Chen looked at the person standing at the classroom door. She was wearing black high heels that were at least 10 centimeters high, yet her total height was barely one meter sixty. Her medium-length hair was permed into curls, and she held the epic artifact, "New Target English." Zhang Chen knew he was doomed.

"Damn it! Today's Thursday, it's the evening study session with our homeroom teacher, Lu Ba. Please, please, don't make me stay. Just scold me now, just scold me now." Zhang Chen's thoughts churned like a raging river.

"Everyone is studying diligently, and you're still trying to fool me. Before I even reached the classroom, I heard someone making noise. I really can't do anything about it. To avoid delaying everyone else's reading time, come to my office after evening study!"

"Sigh, I'll be going home half an hour later again tonight. This darn woman, instead of spending time with her husband, she insists on spending time with me. Be careful her husband runs off with someone else." Zhang Chen immediately started complaining.

"Zhang Chen, what are you muttering about? Go back to reading!" the homeroom teacher glared at Zhang Chen menacingly.

"What's your name?" "My name is Shan Meimei."

Two minutes before 9 o'clock, the end of evening study, the entire classroom felt restless. However, due to the presence of the homeroom teacher, everyone suppressed their emotions.

At this moment, Zhang Chen felt someone touching his calf. He knew someone was looking for him, so he lowered his right hand. When he brought it up, there was a small slip of paper. He opened it and read:

"Brother Chen, the brothers won't be accompanying you tonight. Being called by Lu Ba means at least half an hour. We have important matters tomorrow afternoon, so Er Wa and I are heading back. Brother Chen, take care of yourself!"

"Ring~~~~~" Just as Zhang Chen finished reading Tan Fei's note, the bell for the end of evening study rang. He quickly crumpled the note into a ball and stuffed it into his drawer. Then, looking at the lewd Tan Fei and the daydreaming Er Wa who had already reached the classroom door, he could only shake his head. Glancing at Lu Ba's stare, Zhang Chen immediately stood up from his seat and dejectedly followed Lu Ba out of the classroom.

Half an hour of scolding plus half an hour of lecturing dragged the time to 10 o'clock.

Zhang Chen put on a show of being very receptive and bid farewell to Lu Ba. Seeing his sincere demeanor and the late hour, Lu Ba actually offered to drive him home. Zhang Chen vehemently refused. He walked out of the teaching building.

At 10 o'clock, Yufang Middle School, excluding the boarding students and the gatekeeper, likely only had Zhang Chen and the homeroom teacher. The quiet school made Zhang Chen feel a little scared. While retrieving his bicycle, he muttered to himself, "This is too terrifying. Please don't let a female ghost in white clothes appear. I should have watched fewer horror movies."

Zhang Chen got on his bicycle and immediately rode out of Yufang Middle School.

"Since I don't have to escort those two lunatics home today, I'll take the shortcut. If I go back late, I'll have to explain to my parents," Zhang Chen thought. He changed his original route, which was supposed to go through the main road, to follow the Jinxi River home.

There were not many pedestrians on the road, so he naturally sped up his pedaling. In less than 10 minutes, he arrived at a small bridge.

Zhang Chen's heart suddenly tensed, and he slowed down his bike. Some information surfaced in his mind.

"After being with Tan Fei and Er Wa, I haven't crossed this bridge at night for almost half a year. I heard from classmates that about six months ago, a woman jumped into the river here to commit suicide, and a man who went to save her drowned with her. How could I forget this after being brainwashed by Lu Ba today? I can't turn back now." Zhang Chen mumbled, slowly riding his bike.

This bridge was named Jinshui Bridge, named after the river. The bridge was only about 10 meters long. Zhang Chen rode his bike slowly and was nearing the middle of the bridge.

Suddenly, Zhang Chen, whose nerves were highly strung, caught sight of something in his peripheral vision. A man in a black trench coat was standing outside the bridge railing on the opposite side. Because the streetlight on the bridge was broken and the man was dressed entirely in black, Zhang Chen would not have noticed him if he hadn't looked very carefully. Zhang Chen was shocked and stopped his bike.

"Oh my god! Is this guy the one who tried to save the suicidal woman? Unwilling to rest, his vengeful spirit lingers, wanting to drag someone else down with him? Damn it, why did I stop? I should be getting out of here quickly."

Although his legs were trembling, he managed to pedal his bicycle with determination, quickly descended the bridge, and rode for nearly 100 meters before stopping, panting. Zhang Chen naturally looked back and vaguely saw the man in the black trench coat still standing there.

"Wait, there are no ghosts in the world, right? Maybe that guy is genuinely contemplating jumping into the river. Should I go back and check?"

Zhang Chen was truly conflicted, but in the end, he chose to turn back.

"Forget it. Mom always said saving a life is like… something something gourd. Besides, there's a reason for coming home this late."

As Zhang Chen thought this, he turned his bike around and slowly rode onto the bridge. The journey along the way made Zhang Chen's already agitated mood tense up again. It was already very late, and with no one in sight and the bridge's notorious reputation, plus the man in black standing motionlessly outside the railing, Zhang Chen swallowed hard. He cleared his throat and, in standard Mandarin, slowly spoke to the man.

"Sir, excuse me..."

Before Zhang Chen could even say four words, the man moved. He suddenly turned his head, startling Zhang Chen so much that cold sweat broke out. Fortunately, the man's face showed no abnormalities when he turned around.

The man had large eyes, thick, straight eyebrows, a nose of average size, and a well-defined face. He was actually quite handsome, and looked to be around 30 years old.

After staring at Zhang Chen, the man's eyebrows furrowed slightly. Zhang Chen didn't dare to speak either. Being stared at like that, cold sweat trickled down Zhang Chen's back.

"Little fellow, there's something unclean in your house." The man stared at Zhang Chen for half a minute before saying something utterly baffling.

Seeing the man speak, Zhang Chen's fear lessened a bit, so he replied, "Sir, I just wanted to say it's very dangerous for you to stand there so late. If there's something you need to say, you can come down."

"Haha, what's so difficult to say? Really, what's so difficult to say? Young man, you should hurry home and go to a temple as soon as possible."

The man said another nonsensical thing. Zhang Chen thought he was crazy and was about to say something when he saw the man spread his arms and leap into the Jinxi River.

"Holy crap, I even ran into a lunatic! If you're going to jump, at least explain yourself first! Just because you're handsome doesn't mean you can do whatever you want!" Zhang Chen grumbled incessantly. He then pulled out a tiny Nokia, intending to dial 110, but after fumbling with it for a long time, the phone remained black.

"Ah! The battery died at a time like this. Forget it. I learned to swim in first grade, so it wasn't for nothing. If I save this crazy guy, maybe I'll even get 50 extra points on the high school entrance exam! Just thinking about it feels great." After Zhang Chen finished thinking, he took off his clothes and shoes, stood outside the bridge railing, and looked at the river. Surprisingly, there wasn't a ripple, which didn't look like someone had just jumped in.

Zhang Chen didn't overthink it and leaped in, falling into the water with a splash. It was spring, and the river water was likely around 16 degrees Celsius. As soon as Zhang Chen hit the water, a chill washed over him. Then, without any warm-up, Zhang Chen's right leg cramped.

"Gurgle, gurgle..." Zhang Chen could no longer control his balance in the water.

"Damn it! I came to save someone, but I can't even save myself." Zhang Chen's right leg felt as heavy as lead, and his whole body began to sink.

10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds...

Large amounts of water entered Zhang Chen's lungs. Gradually, Zhang Chen's vision grew darker. The tearing pain from the water entering his lungs was no longer felt. Darkness descended.

In the darkness, Zhang Chen saw the man in black, whom he had come to save, standing before him. He couldn't move, couldn't even speak. The man in black suddenly thrust his right hand into Zhang Chen's chest. Blood splattered everywhere, but there was no pain. Then, Zhang Chen saw his own bloody, still-beating heart being held in the man's hand.

Zhang Chen stared intently at his heart, unable to believe what was happening before him. Then, the man used his left hand to reach into his own chest and pull out something. It wasn't a heart; it was a black, round bead. He then placed the bead into Zhang Chen's chest cavity.

"Ah~~~~" Zhang Chen suddenly sat up, as if he had just returned from the gates of hell. He felt himself all over with his hands, finding nothing wrong. His clothes and pants weren't even wet.

"What the heck, that man in black must have been a ghost. But he didn't harm me. Should I consider myself lucky or unlucky?" Zhang Chen thought, then slowly picked up his bike and rode home.

What Zhang Chen didn't realize was that he no longer felt any fear at all.