A Family Member Who Had Died Three Years Ago

The moment the big brother saw that so many people didn't believe him,

his temper flared, and he immediately replied, "That's my family! There's no way I could mistake them! Just wait. This time, I'll get closer and take a picture!"

Plenty of people in the comments egged him on.

"666, big bro, you're awesome!"

"What if his family member isn't dead at all, and he made it up for views, then got his 'dead' family member to put on makeup and come out to fool everyone?"

"Why not start a livestream?"

"Yeah, bro, start a livestream. Then you can prove you're not doing this for views."

Egged on by the comments, Hu Xingde—who hadn't planned to show his face—immediately agreed to start a livestream.

"Fine! I'll do it!"

He hopped on his bicycle and pedaled hard toward the Abandoned Bridge.

Hu Xingde had chosen the afternoon. It wasn't close to dusk yet. Although the temperature outside was very low, the sun overhead still gave him a hint of warmth.

He stopped his bicycle, planted one foot on a pedal, and braced the other against the ground.

Then he took out his phone and started the livestream.

As soon as the livestream began, quite a few people who had been waiting joined. The audience quickly swelled by several hundred.

"Why aren't there any cars on this bridge?"

"The fog on the bridge is so thick. I can't see anything."

"Streamer, get closer!"

Hu Xingde looked at the bridge, completely shrouded in White Mist and impossible to see through, and swallowed uneasily.

It's fine. It's broad daylight. Even if there really are ghosts, they won't come out.

It's just ordinary fog. The temperature difference is so large right now, a little fog is normal.

Hu Xingde left his bicycle by the roadside and edged toward the bridge, phone in hand.

"This bridge has been abandoned for years. Anyang Island built several bigger bridges elsewhere, so gradually no one came to this remote one anymore."

"Anyang Island? Oh, that's a famous tourist destination online! I heard there's a completely separate island right in the center of your city. That's so unique."

"They really just abandoned the bridge like that? What a shame. It doesn't look unsafe to me!"

"I think this bridge is in a really remote spot. There aren't many bus stops nearby, or train stations and subway stations. After the other bridges were finished, tourists went to the ones with better transport."

"Is this an outdoor streamer? Are you showing us around Anyang Island?"

"Are you new here? This streamer said earlier that he saw a deceased family member on the bridge. We didn't believe him, so we told him to livestream and prove it."

"You can see your deceased family members? What a joke."

"It's definitely scripted. People these days will do anything for views."

Hu Xingde glanced at the comments and immediately bristled. "I saw them last time, no matter what!"

"Why is the fog so thick here?"

Hu Xingde had acted on impulse. By the time he came to his senses, he was already standing on the bridge with his phone.

The livestream, which had had a good signal, began cutting in and out.

"Is the signal bad? It's so choppy."

"Is the streamer lying? Didn't he say he could see his deceased family member? There's nothing here but fog."

The moment Hu Xingde stepped onto the bridge and was swallowed by the White Mist, the livestream signal abruptly cut out.

From the outside, all anyone could see was Hu Xingde disappearing into the White Mist.

The viewers saw the screen go black, followed by a message saying the streamer had ended the broadcast, and couldn't help cursing.

"Why did he end the broadcast?"

"Could the streamer really have been lying? Did he shut it off when he was about to get caught?"

After waiting a long time and seeing no sign of Hu Xingde going live again, they cursed for a while before leaving.

Seeing this, Shen Yu was certain that something was wrong with that bridge!

"Let them go take a look!"

Shen Yu sent Ji Wu a message, then continued searching for other unusual incidents.

"Ding-dong!"

Ji Wu, who was busy with company business, heard his phone ring. He quickly set down the documents in his hand and picked it up.

"Xu Zhou, we've got a mission."

Xu Zhou, who had been reading nearby, hurried over. "What mission?"

"Investigate the anomaly at the Abandoned Bridge in Fujing District. If the ghost's level is below Green Face, Xu Zhou will handle it. If it's Green Face or higher, Bai Zuo will be responsible."

"Should we notify Brother Bai?"

"You're not yet capable of going on a mission alone. Of course we need to tell him to come with us."

Ji Wu called Bai Zuo.

The first time, he didn't answer. Ji Wu kept his expression unchanged and called again!

He called more than a dozen times in a row, until Bai Zuo impatiently hung up.

Only then did Ji Wu send him the mission details and tell him to get to Fujing District as soon as possible.

No matter how much Bai Zuo acted up normally, Ji Wu wouldn't let him fool around when it came to a mission.

Bai Zuo replied with a punching emoji.

Ji Wu put his phone away, unsurprised. "All right, he knows. Let's head to Fujing District and meet up with him."

Xu Zhou scratched his head. "Is Brother Bai always like that?"

"Good kids shouldn't copy him."

The two hurried to Fujing District by subway. There was little convenient transportation near the Abandoned Bridge, so to get there quickly, they had no choice but to rent a shared electric scooter.

On the way, Xu Zhou couldn't help humming an old song: "I'll hop on my beloved little scooter~ It'll never get stuck in traffic~"

Ji Wu was forced to listen to the off-key singing and endured it in silence. Hold it in. He's still a kid!

Hold it in! Contract Anomalists already had a hard enough time containing ghosts. What was wrong with a kid singing to cheer himself up?

After listening to the off-key song all the way there, they finally reached the Abandoned Bridge.

Xu Zhou looked at the bridge and knew at first glance that something was wrong with it!

A dense aura of the uncanny shrouded the bridge, emanating a powerful sense of foreboding.

"Supervisor Ji, I have a strong feeling that we absolutely must not cross the bridge!"

Ji Wu looked at the White Mist completely enveloping the bridge. From where they stood, they could barely make out anything inside.

Ji Wu noticed a bicycle parked by the roadside.

"So another passerby wandered in there!"

Ji Wu raised his wrist and checked his watch. "What's taking that little rascal so long?"

Xu Zhou had still been studying the White Mist when, all of a sudden, he seemed to see something that terrified him. He took a step forward without realizing it.

Ji Wu quickly noticed that something was wrong. "What is it? What did you see?"

Xu Zhou's eyes widened in terror. He stared at the bridge in disbelief, his expression dazed. "I saw... Mom?"

Ji Wu whipped around and looked at the bridge.

Nothing!

There was nothing there!

Impossible!

He was an Adaptive too. If it were a ghost, there was no way he wouldn't be able to see it!

"Are you sure that was your mom?"

Xu Zhou looked panicked. "How could I mistake her? That was my mom! But she... died three years ago!"

Ever since Bai Zuo had taken Xu Zhou under his wing, Ji Wu had read Xu Zhou's file.

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