Died Three Years Ago

That elder brother saw so many people didn't believe him.

His temper flared, and he immediately shot back: "That's my family! I couldn't have been mistaken! You wait, this time I'll get closer and take a photo!"

Below, a bunch of people were egging him on.

"666, bro's a beast!"

"What if this guy's family member didn't actually die, and he made it up for views, then had his 'deceased' family member put on makeup to fool people?"

"Why not start a livestream?"

"Right, bro, start a livestream, that'll prove you're not just chasing clout."

Hu Xingde, spurred on by these comments—someone who originally didn't plan to show his face—immediately agreed to the livestream request.

"Fine! I'll do it!"

He hopped on his bicycle and pedaled hard toward that abandoned bridge.

Hu Xingde chose the afternoon, not yet close to dusk. Though it was cold outside, the sun in the sky still brought him a trace of warmth.

He stopped the bike, one foot on the pedal, the other bracing the ground.

He pulled out his phone and opened the livestream.

As soon as the stream started, quite a few waiting viewers poured in, and the audience count jumped by several hundred in no time.

"Why isn't there a single car on this bridge?"

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

"Streamer, get closer!"

Hu Xingde looked at the bridge completely shrouded in White Mist, its interior invisible, and swallowed uncomfortably.

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

It's just ordinary fog. With such a big temperature difference, a bit of fog is normal.

Hu Xingde parked his bike by the roadside, phone in hand, and dawdled his way closer to the bridge.

"This bridge has been abandoned for years. Because Anyang Island built several larger bridges elsewhere, this remote one gradually fell out of use."

"Anyang Island? That's a famous tourist spot online! I heard there's a completely independent island in the middle of your city—super unique."

"This bridge just got abandoned? Kind of a shame. It doesn't look dangerous to me!"

"I remember it's because the bridge is in a really inconvenient spot, with few bus stops, train stations, or subway stations nearby. After the other bridges were finished, tourists all went to those with better transport."

"Is this an outdoor streamer? Taking us on a tour of Anyang Island?"

"This must be a new viewer? The streamer said earlier he saw his deceased relative on the bridge. We didn't believe him, so he started the stream to prove it."

"Saw a deceased relative? Hilarious, right?"

"Definitely scripted. People these days will do anything for views."

Hu Xingde glanced at the comments and immediately bristled: "I'm telling you, I saw it last time!"

"Why is the fog so thick here?"

Hu Xingde acted on impulse. By the time he realized it, he was already on the bridge, phone in hand.

The livestream, which had been running smoothly, started cutting in and out.

"Bad signal? It's so laggy."

"Streamer's lying, right? Didn't he say he could see his deceased relative? There's nothing here but fog."

Hu Xingde stepped onto the bridge. The moment he was enveloped by the White Mist, the livestream signal suddenly cut out.

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

The viewers saw the stream go black, followed by a notification that the streamer had gone offline, and they erupted in curses.

"Why'd he go offline?"

"Was the streamer really lying? Did he shut it down because he was about to be exposed?"

After waiting a long time with no sign of Hu Xingde returning to stream, they cursed a bit more and then left.

Seeing this, Shen Yu could be certain—there was something wrong with that bridge!

"Let them go check it out."

Shen Yu sent a message to Ji Wu and continued searching for other anomalous incidents.

"Ding-dong!"

Ji Wu, busy with company affairs, heard his phone ring, quickly put down the documents in his hand, and picked it up for a look.

"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 eerie's rank is below Green Face, it's Xu Zhou's to handle. If it's Green Face or above, it goes to Bai Zuo."

"Do we need to notify Brother Bai?"

"You're not yet capable of handling missions alone, so of course I have to notify him to come along."

Ji Wu dialed Bai Zuo's number.

The first call went unanswered. Ji Wu's expression didn't change as he kept dialing!

He called over a dozen times in a row, until the other party hung up in annoyance.

Only then did Ji Wu send the mission details over, informing Bai Zuo to meet them at Fujing District as soon as possible.

No matter how much Bai Zuo usually acted up, Ji Wu wouldn't let him have his way when it came to mission-related matters.

Bai Zuo replied with a punching emoji.

Ji Wu put away his phone as if this were nothing new. "Alright, he knows. Let's head to Fujing District to meet up with him."

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

"Good kids don't follow his example."

The two hurriedly took the subway to Fujing District. Near the Abandoned Bridge, there was no convenient transportation, so to get there as fast as possible, they had to scan and rent a Shared E-Scooter.

Along the way, Xu Zhou couldn't help humming an old song: "Riding my beloved little scooter~ it never gets stuck in traffic~"

Ji Wu, forced to endure a full earful of the off-key singing, silently held back. Hold it together, he's still a kid!

Hold it together! Contract Anomalists already have a tough job containing anomalies—what's wrong with a kid being in a good mood and wanting to sing?

After listening to the out-of-tune singing the whole way, they finally arrived at the Abandoned Bridge.

Xu Zhou looked at the Abandoned Bridge. The first thing he noticed confirmed that something was wrong with it!

A dense aura of strangeness shrouded the bridge, exuding a powerful sense of ill omen.

"Supervisor Ji, I have a strong feeling—we absolutely cannot cross this bridge!"

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

Ji Wu noticed a bicycle parked by the roadside.

"Some passerby wandered in too!"

Ji Wu raised his hand to check the time on his watch. "Where the hell is that little brat?"

Xu Zhou had been observing the White Mist when suddenly, as if he saw something utterly terrifying, he involuntarily took a step forward.

Ji Wu quickly noticed something was off. "What's wrong? What did you see?"

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

Ji Wu whipped his head around to look at the bridge.

Nothing!

There was nothing!

Impossible!

He was an Adaptive too—if it were an anomaly, he wouldn't be unable to see it!

"Are you sure that was your mother?"

Xu Zhou's expression was panicked. "How could I mistake that? That's my mom! But she... died three years ago!"

Ever since Bai Zuo took over Xu Zhou, Ji Wu had already reviewed Xu Zhou's file.