Chapter 23

Why is there crying in the middle of the night?

The sound seemed very close, like it was right next to his ear, softly entering his mind. At first, Shi Yu thought maybe he was feeling sick or dizzy. Otherwise, how could he hear such a strange sound?

Sure enough, when he opened his eyes, the crying stopped, like it was just his imagination. Shi Yu took off his earplugs and turned his head to listen carefully but heard nothing.

Strange.

He couldn’t figure it out, but he was too sleepy to think about it anymore. Sleepiness came over him in waves, making it hard to even think. Opening his eyes again to check was already his body’s natural alertness.

Finally, when he closed his eyes again, his whole body felt dizzy. One moment he was thinking, “That sound was weird, I should stay awake and be careful.” The next moment, he completely lost consciousness and didn’t even hear the thunder outside.

The next morning, after a night of rain, the fresh smell of wet earth and rain came in through the curtains. Shi Yu opened his eyes and stared for a couple of seconds, thinking maybe last night’s thoughts were just a dream.

—Did he really hear someone crying when he was half asleep?

That seemed impossible. If someone was really crying in the middle of the night, it definitely wasn’t a human. How could he have slept peacefully until now?

So it must have been a trick of his mind. He rubbed his tired forehead, leaned back on the bed to rest, and only got up close to noon to open the door and go out.

Little Mimosa had already prepared breakfast in the living room.

Today it was bread and jam!

Shi Yu sighed and forced a small praise but had no appetite. He went to the living room, poured a glass of water, and drank it.

Then the little Mimosa suddenly seemed to remember something. It peeked out the window, then quickly ran back. Its soft leaves gently tugged at him like it wanted to say something.

Shi Yu was surprised. “What’s wrong?”

The little Mimosa tried to show him again, and Shi Yu slowly understood:

“You mean, someone from the Ability Association is here?”

Shi Yu raised his eyes, a little surprised he could understand what the little plant was trying to say. It only shook twice in his hand, but somehow he just got the meaning — like learning a language without a teacher.

He thought about the strange “men’s high-heeled shoe” that had died yesterday, wondering if it had anything to do with this.

The thought flashed quickly through his mind, then he focused on what the little Mimosa said.

Why did the Ability Association come here?

He walked to the window and pulled back the curtains.

Shi Yu’s apartment was in the center of Orange Blossom Road. From the 19th floor, the view was very wide. As soon as he opened the curtain, he saw familiar cars outside — they really were from the Ability Association.

He recognized them just by the license plates.

Two or three cars were parked near Orange Blossom Road. Shi Yu was a little confused: Was something serious happening?

Zhao Wen had already arrived early in the morning, around 5 a.m., carrying a detector, checking every place one by one. But after checking several intersections, the detector showed nothing.

He looked down to adjust the device and checked the rough area given by the association.

“What’s going on? There’s nothing here.”

“Yesterday, the energy spikes were supposed to be in this direction.”

Normally, if there were strange creatures around, there would be traces. The stronger the creature, the clearer the signal. With the level of energy they saw yesterday, they should sense it anywhere on Orange Blossom Road.

But until now, they still hadn’t found where the creature appeared last.

While Zhao Wen was frustrated, Han Chuyi, who had been gone for days and just returned, put down his phone and looked up from the car door.

“How far have you checked?”

Zhao Wen: “Almost in the middle.”

“The place called Xinmei Garden?”

Xinmei Garden… that’s Shi Yu’s neighborhood.

Han Chuyi snapped out of his thoughts, frowned, and said, “Give me the detector.”

“What?” Zhao Wen was confused.

Han Chuyi raised an eyebrow: “What, don’t want to rest? I’ll check the front area, you guys take a break.”

Zhao Wen thought: …Really?

It’s not that he didn’t trust Han Chuyi, but this rich young master usually didn’t like helping others. Suddenly acting like this made Zhao Wen suspicious if he had other reasons.

Also, if he remembered correctly, the neighborhood ahead should be… Mr. Shi’s home?

Could this rich young master be planning something?

A few days ago, at the meeting, Han Chuyi had accidentally revealed something that shocked the Ability Association. Mr. Sang said he fell in love with Shi Yu at first sight. For the rich young master who secretly liked Mr. Sang, this was like the world breaking apart.

Zhao Wen glanced secretly, wondering if Han Chuyi, who disappeared for days, was up to something today.

“Han,”

“You know we can’t hurt normal people,” Zhao Wen seriously reminded him.

Han Chuyi paused, looked him up and down, and said, “When did I say I’m going to hurt a normal person?”

Shi Yu was so weak he could get carsick just by sitting. Han Chuyi wouldn’t dare touch him.

Han Chuyi chuckled and held his phone tightly. Honestly, even he didn’t understand his own feelings, just thought he wanted to visit Shi Yu.

After taking the detector, Han Chuyi turned and left the team.

Zhao Wen looked at him suspiciously, then sent a message to the Ability Association headquarters to report.

At the Ability Association:

After washing his face and drying his hands, Shen Yan saw Zhao Wen’s message.

“Han the rich young master went to find Mr. Shi.”

“What should we do, Doctor Shen? Should I follow him?”

Zhao Wen hesitated before sending the message, worried Han Chuyi might get into trouble alone. Shi Yu didn’t look healthy; he’d even been to the hospital recently.

Han Chuyi went to find Shi Yu?

Shen Yan lowered his eyes, thought for a moment, then replied, “No need.”

“He knows his limits.”

“Okay, that’s fine.”

Zhao Wen relaxed and put away his phone.

Standing by the mirror, Shen Yan’s thoughts went back to the meeting room scene. Han Chuyi gently said he liked Shi Yu. Sang Huaiyu wouldn’t lie about that, so maybe Han really went to find Shi Yu during those days he disappeared.

Shen Yan felt his forehead twitch. After many scattered thoughts, he subconsciously looked at his phone.

Shi Yu was still thinking about what was going on. Looking out the window, he saw someone approaching.

Hmm?

Was that Han Chuyi?

Wait, why was he coming here?

Shi Yu froze for a moment and frowned when Han Chuyi entered the neighborhood.

They looked at each other from different floors. Han Chuyi couldn’t see Shi Yu’s expression clearly, but he licked his lips and waved his arm.

He hadn’t expected Shi Yu to be standing at the balcony window. Han Chuyi had just looked up at the floors instinctively, and suddenly their eyes met.

Han Chuyi hadn’t planned how to meet Shi Yu yet.

Damn.

Though he looked sunny and handsome on the outside, inside he cursed.

How did this happen?

Whatever, he’d just go up and talk.

Shi Yu watched as Han Chuyi’s expression changed after seeing him. Not pretending anymore, he started walking into the building.

Shi Yu slowly realized Han Chuyi was here to see him. Then he suddenly remembered something very important.

His trash bin still had pieces of the strange men’s high-heeled shoe!

In a flash, Shi Yu didn’t want the Ability Association to find out about this. He couldn’t explain how the strange shoe pieces ended up there.

Suddenly awakening a special ability sounded weird.

Besides, the Ability Association was not very peaceful either. The evil god was often called to help there.

If Han Chuyi knew, Sang Huaiyu would definitely know too. Shi Yu didn’t want to show his special ability in front of the ultimate big boss. Just thinking about the last time Han Chuyi brought a message for him made him shiver.

Seeing Han Chuyi already entering the building, Shi Yu checked the time and went to the bathroom to try to destroy the evidence himself.

But when he got there, he was surprised. The red shoe pieces that had been safely in the trash were… gone?

He saw the strange remains clearly before sleeping last night. Now, the trash bin was empty.

Shi Yu blinked in confusion, wondering if his memory was wrong.

Or did he see it incorrectly?

But before he could think more, the doorbell rang suddenly, pulling him back.

Han Chuyi stood at the peephole, squinting. Seeing Shi Yu didn’t open the door, he pressed again like a impatient ghost.

Shi Yu thought: …Annoying!

Is this guy crazy?

Suppressing his confusion in the bathroom, Shi Yu reluctantly left and looked for the little Mimosa plant, but it had already gone dormant and merged with the pot, nowhere to be found. He then opened the door across.

“Anything you need?”

Because of Han Chuyi’s pushing, Shi Yu sounded grumpy.

He thought after deleting Han Chuyi last time, they wouldn’t meet again. Who knew why he came today?

Han Chuyi was surprised to see Shi Yu so fierce.

His brow furrowed, but he smiled bitterly,

“Can’t I come find you if there’s nothing wrong?”

Han Chuyi had prepared to explain he was just working and passing by but forgot as soon as he opened his mouth, so he didn’t explain.

Shi Yu was confused, looking at him strangely.

Is this guy crazy?

Wait, he opened the door without looking through the peephole. Are you sure that’s Han Chuyi?

Even with a mask, his face changed a lot. Han Chuyi noticed Shi Yu’s suspicious look and raised his eyebrow: “You’re pretty alert.”

He paused, then saw Shi Yu didn’t want to let him in.

“Won’t invite me in?”

Han Chuyi was already at the door, and with that tone, Shi Yu worried refusing would make Han suspicious, so he stepped aside to let him in.

Han Chuyi looked at Shi Yu’s face.

“By the way, why did you delete me as a friend that day?”

Unlike what Zhao Wen expected, the meeting wasn’t a battle between rivals. Han Chuyi was full of anger but didn’t attack Shi Yu. Now he thought Sang’s words might have been a joke.

Love at first sight? No way.

Shi Yu didn’t look like someone to inspire love at first sight. Unless Shi Yu had taken off his mask inside the Ability Association.

That pure, attractive face…

Han Chuyi paused, then frowned. “Did you take off your mask in front of Sang that day?”

Shi Yu: …What kind of question is that?

Though confused, he said, “No. I just had a checkup and left after Sang left.”

Why did Han ask that?

Han Chuyi cleared his throat and pulled out his phone: “Come on, add me again.”

“I won’t mind that you deleted me last time.”

Shi Yu was speechless. “So you came just for that?”

Just to re-add a friend and ask why he deleted him?

Not quite.

Han Chuyi looked at him: “I was just passing by. There was some strange activity last night where you live, so I came to check and re-added you. In case you need to contact the Ability Association, you’re still under my area.”

“Hurry up.”

Shi Yu didn’t want to add him again, but his ears twitched at the news.

So annoying.

Weighing the risk of being found by the evil god, Shi Yu finally agreed.

Fine, he would add him first and delete him later after getting the info.

After re-adding, Han Chuyi’s face looked happier.

“You should have added me earlier, made me wait so long.”

Han Chuyi laughed lightly but didn’t realize that just being re-added made him happier than hearing Sang liked Shi Yu.

He sat on the sofa and was about to say more when messages started buzzing nonstop.

Outside, Zhao Wen sent a message to hurry Han Chu Yi:

“Brother Han, are you done checking? There are still a few streets left.”

They wanted to finish work by the afternoon, but three intersections were not checked yet.

Han Chu Yi looked at the time and said, “Why rush? I’m almost done.”

“The rest of the intersections, I’ll check. You just focus on your part.”

He frowned and replied quietly, not noticing that Shi Yu next to him saw the whole conversation clearly because of the angle.

Hmm, “checking” — it must be about what happened last night. But the “men’s high heels” pieces were already gone. Could they still find anything?

Shi Yu glanced at the device in Han Chu Yi’s hand.

The device had been silent since they came in. Shi Yu had seen people from the Psychic Association use this device before. If it detected strange, bad energy, it would alert automatically. But now, it worked like normal. Shi Yu relaxed a little.

Han Chu Yi wanted to wait a bit longer, but the Psychic Association’s team was urging him, so he stood up.

“Okay, I’m leaving first.”

“Message me if anything happens.”

“Oh, right.”

When he reached the door, he stopped and reminded, “It’s not safe outside recently. Try to go out less.”

Who knew when that cursed SSS-level weird thing might show up again?

Shi Yu was surprised he reminded him but nodded.

“Got it, thanks.”

After Han Chu Yi frowned, turned, and took the elevator down, Shi Yu closed the door. He thought this guy was a bit arrogant but maybe not as annoying as he first thought.

But the most important thing now was still the “men’s high heels.”

He looked at the bathroom again:

So, where is it?

Did it really just disappear for no reason?

There were so many strange events around him.

Shi Yu stared at the trash can for a long time, then gave up without results. He didn’t notice his lower belly twitching slightly as if feeling nervous…

After Han Chu Yi finished giving orders, he left the community.

The detector was very quiet all the way — obviously no strange energy left at this intersection. Just as he was about to check another intersection Zhao Wen mentioned, he saw a familiar small delivery vehicle carrying medical robots.

This was the robot company’s special transport car, and usually, robots only come when someone orders one.

Han Chu Yi looked back, feeling strange.

Who in their right mind would order such a silly robot?

He laughed, took a quick photo, and was about to post it on social media when he saw Shi Yu’s new profile picture pop up. He sent the photo directly to Shi Yu.

“Guess what I saw when I came downstairs?”

Shi Yu: “What?”

Next, Han Chu Yi sent a screenshot.

“LOL.”

“Someone really ordered a medical robot, and it’s near your community.”

“There hasn’t been this dumb a person on the weird forums for years.”

Shi Yu had a bad feeling, especially when Han Chu Yi said “medical robot.” He opened the photo.

Great, that’s his robot.

“Weird forums,” “dumb person” — Shi Yu laughed at Han Chu Yi’s mockery.

He wanted to tell Han Chu Yi the silly person was him, but he held back and blocked him instead. The idea that Han Chu Yi wasn’t annoying was definitely a mistake.

Shi Yu thought there was a 50% chance the robot would be helpful, but after this, he doubted if ordering it was right.

Does anyone even use this thing?

Well, he already paid and waited two days, so he might as well try it.

Shi Yu lay on the sofa, waited for the robot delivery, took a deep breath, and opened the box.

A cute white robot about the size of a desk appeared. It looked very polite. When its little eyes lit up, it woke up immediately.

Shi Yu felt a little embarrassed for letting the robot check him, but the robot was very responsible.

“Do you feel unwell anywhere?”

“You can press the buttons below to tell me.”

Shi Yu paused, thought about his symptoms, and entered them all.

The robot scanned and asked him to stand in the measuring area.

“Okay, the robot knows. Please wait 15 minutes for the test.”

Shi Yu felt the strange scanning light on his body, curious about this different way of testing.

Especially when he realized the robot was doing a full-body scan, a small hope rose.

It might not be as good as a human doctor, but it should be okay as a testing machine. Isn’t that how hospital machines work?

Comforting himself, after about ten minutes, the test finished.

The medical robot connected to the network but kept personal info private. Shi Yu chose not to upload the data and asked for a report.

But then the robot seemed to freeze, like it had trouble making the report.

Shi Yu: …?

Bad internet?

He tapped the robot’s head. The screen flickered strangely. Shi Yu’s face twisted.

Wait, did he really order a dumb robot?

After struggling, the robot finally finished the report.

Shi Yu opened it nervously, thinking he might have a serious disease.

But it said: “Diagnosis: Patient is pregnant. Pregnancy stage unknown.”

“Advice: Relax, don’t worry, if feeling unwell, go to the maternal hospital immediately.”

What?

The room was silent. Shi Yu thought he was seeing things, looked again.

The report clearly said: “[Preliminary diagnosis: Pregnant, early stage, nutrition insufficient, needs energy.]”

He, a human male, was diagnosed pregnant?

Shi Yu’s feelings were complicated. After a moment of silence, he understood why many called the robot dumb.

Diagnosing a man as pregnant? If this robot isn’t dumb, then who is?

Shi Yu didn’t know if the robot even checked before making the report. Looking at it, he laughed angrily.

Okay, turn you off.

He put the robot to sleep, threw the report aside, and gave it a bad review.

The search on Orange Blossom Road was unsuccessful. The Psychic Association had checked almost every place, but the detector still showed nothing.

Zhao Wen had no choice but to call headquarters to ask what to do next.

“Hello?”

“Dr. Shen, our team has searched once, still nothing.” He paused, trying a guess: “Could the high-level strange being be dead?”

Only a dead strange being would leave no traces.

This morning, they ruled out the strange being’s death quickly because it could be an SSS-level being — how could it just die suddenly?

But now Zhao Wen had to consider the possibility.

Dr. Shen rubbed his forehead, looked at last night’s fluctuation chart… If it died, it could explain the current situation.

But what could kill an SSS-level being instantly without a fight?

Maybe it was eaten by a similar being?

Most human psychics were registered with the Psychic Association, and last night, no psychics appeared near Orange Blossom Road.

Dr. Shen thought for a while and wrote a note: “Since nothing was found, come back. Remember to bring your equipment.”

“Okay,” Zhao Wen nodded, then heard Dr. Shen ask, “How’s Han Chu Yi?”

Uh, Brother Han?

He looked at Han Chu Yi, who was sitting by the car, staring at his phone.

He seemed fine… or maybe he didn’t meet Shi Yu.

Because it didn’t look like he argued with anyone.

Dr. Shen hesitated but didn’t question Zhao Wen. If Han Chu Yi caused trouble, they would find out later, after Shi Yu’s livestream started.

He said a few words and hung up.

Han Chu Yi ignored Zhao Wen’s calls, packed the equipment, and got in the car.

“What’s wrong? Not leaving?”

“Let’s go.” Zhao Wen hung up and sat in the driver’s seat, thinking luckily the young master wasn’t angry. But if he was right, Han Chu Yi seemed to be in a better mood now than before.

Strange.

Han Chu Yi was indeed in a good mood. Even though Brother Sang was not around these days, meeting Shi Yu today made him feel better. The anger in his heart calmed down.

Sitting in the car, bored, he checked the message he sent earlier. No reply.

He clicked Shi Yu’s livestream page, wanting to see if he was streaming.

The last time he found the other person’s live stream, he hadn’t watched it yet, so he didn’t know what kind of style the streamer had.

Han Chuyi put on his headphones and leaned back. After a short while, he saw the live stream icon light up.

A familiar voice appeared on the screen. Shi Yu greeted everyone softly.

Maybe because he wasn’t looking at a real person face-to-face, Han Chuyi’s ears felt itchy. He wasn’t used to hearing Shiyu speak like this.

This guy didn’t seem this polite when he was talking to him in person.

When they met, he seemed pretty fierce, which didn’t match his gentle cat-like eyes at all. Han Chuyi smiled a little and clicked “follow.” His account was old and well-known on the gaming and streaming platform, but he usually didn’t interact with anyone. He mostly played single-player games alone.

He ignored the reactions in Shi Yu’s live stream. Then he opened the rewards list to give a big tip to the top supporter. But when he opened it, Han Chuyi was surprised to see an unfamiliar small account.

Who is this? Why do they have a secret account to watch the stream and tip? Is it some shady person? He thought. His curiosity sparked after spending so much time at the computer, so he started checking the account on his phone and connected it to his computer.

Zhao Wen, the driver, didn’t know what Han Chuyi was doing but didn’t say anything when he saw Han Chuyi open his computer.

But the next moment, Han Chuyi suddenly frowned and cursed loudly.

“Damn!”

He was curious, so he checked the small account, but it really was a problem.

The small account’s location showed it was near the Supernatural Powers Association — and it belonged to someone Han Chuyi knew.

— Shen Yan.

That guy was pretending to be innocent but secretly watching Shiyu’s stream with a fake account!

Han Chuyi’s face darkened. He closed his computer and looked toward the Supernatural Powers Association.

When the famous game master account joined the stream, Shiyu was a bit stunned. The master didn’t say anything, but suddenly tipped dozens of yachts, pushing down the previous top tipper. Then the master mysteriously left.

Shiyu was confused. What was the master’s purpose? Just tip and leave?

Because the sudden appearance and quick exit, Shiyu’s thank-you words got stuck, so he stopped.

“Don’t worry, Yubao. This ‘card god’ probably just liked you and tipped casually.”

“The card god usually doesn’t watch daily streams and only appears in the game section. Tipping and leaving is normal.”

Shiyu thought: …But if they don’t watch the stream, why tip so much?

Also, the name “card god” sounded familiar. In the original story, Shiyu didn’t know much about Han Chuyi’s game account, so he didn’t realize this was Han Chuyi’s gaming ID. He thought the other person was just a normal fan.

The chat was buzzing with guesses.

Inside the Supernatural Powers Association:

Shen Yan knew about Han Chuyi’s account. When Han suddenly appeared tipping yachts, Shen frowned and realized Han recognized him.

Sure enough, after Shen left the stream, Han came in through the entrance without reporting and threw down his bag.

Shen looked at him, and Han sneered:

“Stop pretending. If I hadn’t checked today, I wouldn’t know Dr. Shen secretly had a fake account.”

Shen, the hypocrite, had been following Shiyu for a long time secretly but showed no sign of it.

And he tipped so much money. Who knows what his real purpose was?

Han looked at the calm and polite doctor and felt sarcastic.

Shen glanced back: “I don’t have to tell you.”

He didn’t like Han either and didn’t want to be polite. Even if Shi Yu’s voice helped him sleep better, he didn’t want to explain more.

Fine.

No need to tell him, right? Han sneered, thinking Shen was a fake saint — liking Sang Ge but secretly following the streamer. Han knew he wasn’t wrong.

Han wanted to say more, but Shen ignored him and said coldly: “If you want me to tell Shi Yu that the account is mine, I will. But then you might lose your own account.”

“Isn’t he more angry with you anyway?”

Even though Han looked happy when he came back, Shen didn’t think Shi Yu had made peace with him. With Han’s bad temper, he wouldn’t talk nicely.

One sentence shut Han up. Though annoyed, he could only swallow his anger.

Not far away, Fu Nanyao finished treatment and saw the bag on the floor. He ignored it and just glanced at Shen.

Shen picked up the bag and put it on a chair.

“Captain, don’t worry. It’s nothing.”

“I just said a few too many words.”

Fu Nanyao never cared much about their personal issues, so he just nodded lightly and looked away.

Meanwhile, Shi Yu, still confused, got another big tip. Maybe because he had been tipped twice recently, he wasn’t so nervous this time.

Well, whether it was a mistake or not, he thought he’d keep the money for now. If it was a mistake, he could return it later.

He shook his head and didn’t think much about it.

After some chatter in the chat, people noticed a new decoration in Shi Yu’s room.

“Huh, I don’t remember seeing this in Yubao’s room before.”

“What’s that? Did he just get it today?”

Hmm? What are the fans talking about?

Shi Yu was curious, looked at screenshots in the chat, and explained:

“This box? It’s a medical little robot I just reserved today. I plan to return it tomorrow. No place in the living room, so I put it here for now.”

“Oh?”

“Is it a robot to check Yubao’s stomach pain? How was it?” fans asked with concern.

Shi Yu saw messages like: “It’s my first time seeing a medical robot for diagnosis. Is it accurate?”

Since Shi Yu hadn’t done a food broadcast recently, everyone knew his stomach was hurting. Hearing about the medical robot made them curious.

Shi Yu’s expression was hard to describe. He didn’t know what to say. If it was a normal diagnosis, he could explain to the fans, but the robot diagnosed his stomach pain as—pregnancy.

And an unknown stage of pregnancy.

How could he say that?

He forced a smile and said vaguely:

“Maybe I used it wrong, so the result isn’t very accurate.” Because the info was too shocking, he couldn’t tell fans the truth. He just cleared his throat and said, “Anyway, if you have serious illness, I don’t recommend using medical robots.”

Though the robot had good service attitude, its ability still needed improvement. Shi Yu even planned to give feedback to the maker.

The chat went quiet for a moment. Seeing the streamer not wanting to talk about it, fans got more curious.

But Shi Yu didn’t say anything else. They could only guess what the robot really diagnosed that made Shi Yu act this way.

As far as they knew, the streamer never said “totally don’t recommend” anything before.

Something was definitely wrong!

A few minutes later, Shi Yu twitched his eyelid. Looking at the wild guesses in chat, he found even the craziest guesses weren’t as strange as the robot’s diagnosis.

Was this reasonable?

He pressed his lips, thinking the medical robot was too advanced. If one day it told him he wasn’t human, he wouldn’t be surprised.

He shook his head and poured a glass of water. Just as he moved, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his stomach.

It was mild at first, just a small sting, but after a few minutes, the pain came again.

Shi Yu held his belly, feeling a faint, warm, spreading pain. He frowned slightly and felt like vomiting.

What’s going on?

He covered his throat, struggling to hold back the nausea. Then he heard a voice in his ear.

Did he imagine it?

He lowered his sweat-wet eyelids, confused. Though he wore headphones, he seemed to hear the strange baby crying from last night again.

A clear baby’s cry sounded in the headphones.

Shi Yu instinctively looked at the chat, but no one else seemed to hear it. They were still chatting loudly about the medical robot.

— Only he heard it.

Shi Yu took off his headphones, feeling this was familiar. He seemed to have heard the baby cry last night too. His sleepy memory was blurry, but now the cry was very clear.

Once could be a hallucination, twice couldn’t be.

Something was definitely wrong.

Shi Yu’s face darkened. He looked at his belly a moment, then stood up.

After typing to tell fans he was taking a break, Shi Yu went to the bathroom. He locked the door, trying to endure the pain.

In the quiet room, he heard the cry again.

This time the sound was clearer.

The baby’s voice changed tone as it cried, making a strange “wah wah” sound.

Shi Yu touched his arm, feeling chilled by the sound. He frowned and gathered courage: “Hello?”

The strange “wah wah” sound stopped for a moment, then came back even sharper. At the same time, a kind of laughing sound suddenly appeared close to his ear. It made his scalp tingle and gave him goosebumps.

Shi Yu felt like he was frozen.

That sound…

Out of all the creepy things, he was most afraid of child-like sounds. The sharp and high-pitched cries or laughs always made him feel cold all over. When he was a kid, the only thing that scared him in ghost stories was this kind of sound.

Now, the sound near his ear was like a mix of crying and laughing, and it was very close.

Shi Yu didn’t know what this thing was or why it was bothering him. When he heard the “wah wah” sound, he wanted to deal with it like he would deal with “men’s high heels” — meaning he wanted to fight or get rid of this strange child-like spirit nearby.

But just when he thought that, he froze again.

Because he felt his belly move.

This movement was different from the weak pain before. This time it was very clear, like… something was inside.

That was really scary!

Shi Yu stayed still for a long time, then took a deep breath and lifted his sweatshirt to show his flat belly.

Just like a few days ago when he took a shower, the thin muscles he used to feel were gone. His pale, warm skin was flat and soft.

As his heart beat faster and faster, he looked down at his belly.

When the strange sharp sound — that was hard to tell if it was crying or laughing — came again, he saw his belly slowly… puffing out a little.

“Damn!!!”