Chapter Seventy-Seven: A Family

This drone was equipped with a pinhole camera—I’d known that for a while now. I couldn’t fathom why Bai Rushuang enjoyed operating such devices, but soon enough she had the drone hovering outside the hotel window, its camera pointed directly into the room.

I hurried to the car and slipped into the passenger seat, my gaze fixed on the video feed from her dashboard display.

The image on the screen was perfectly aligned inside the room, and the scene with Da Di and Wang Fan appeared crystal clear before my eyes. At that moment, Da Di and Wang Fan were locked in a passionate embrace. Watching this, I couldn’t help but feel awkward. To my surprise, Bai Rushuang showed not the slightest discomfort; instead, she watched the video with rapt attention, her eyes unblinking.

Taking a deep breath, I wondered if Bai Rushuang truly had a penchant for spying on others’ privacy with drones. Her curiosity was reminiscent of Columbus discovering the New World.

“Is it that entertaining?” I ventured, unable to let Bai Rushuang continue her peeping, especially since the video featured my own friends. Should their intimacy escalate, not only would I be mortified, but I doubted Bai Rushuang would remain so unfazed.

“Is this how you all express affection?” Bai Rushuang’s sudden question bewildered me, prompting me to ask what she meant.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she replied hurriedly. “If two snakes entwined like this, they wouldn’t be expressing love—they’d be trying to kill each other.”

Her words left me even more puzzled, but after a moment’s thought, I realized she’d spotted something amiss in the video. She likened Wang Fan to a venomous snake, insinuating she meant to kill Da Di.

Bai Rushuang’s expression grew serious then. She asked if those two were my friends.

I quickly affirmed and then asked if there was really a ghost in that room.

She answered decisively, “Yes.” Her face grew solemn as she warned that something terrifying might happen soon. “But don’t worry. I’m here, and I’ll protect you. Just be mentally prepared.”

Feigning fear, I agreed, “Alright, but you mustn’t abandon me.”

Bai Rushuang popped another handful of popcorn into her mouth. “You’re not in much danger. Just stay in the car. I’ll go in and rescue your friends!”

Stunned for a moment, I asked, “Isn’t there a haunting in that room? Can you handle it alone?”

“You don’t believe me?” A trace of displeasure crossed her delicate features. “To tell you the truth, I’ve been watching that little ghost for nearly half a month. I was always worried something might happen—and sure enough, today it did.”

I asked, “If you’ve been monitoring it so long, why not just deal with it directly? Are you afraid you can’t handle it?”

Bai Rushuang shook her head. “Of course I can handle the little ghost.” Her innocent eyes widened as she explained, “It hadn’t hurt anyone yet. Why destroy it?”

Rendered speechless, I asked, “So you have to wait until it harms someone? If my friends hadn’t checked into that room today, would you have kept watching?”

Bai Rushuang paused for a few seconds, then smacked her forehead several times. “That’s right. If your friends hadn’t come today, I’d have to keep monitoring that little ghost every day.” She patted her chest in relief. “Luckily your friends arrived. That explains why I’ve felt so bored these past days!”

Dizzy from Bai Rushuang’s logic, I wondered if she might have some mental issues—a pity for such a pretty face.

Just then, the video feed flickered with something strange. Da Di and Wang Fan, previously locked in a passionate embrace, suddenly shifted. As Da Di prepared to take things further, he froze as if seeing something horrifying. In a frenzy, he shoved Wang Fan away and began retreating, panic-stricken.

Bai Rushuang’s drone camera was state-of-the-art, equipped with both video and audio recording, though the distance made the sound faint. I could barely make out Da Di’s terrified voice: “What—what are you holding in your arms?”

I glanced at Wang Fan, and saw she was cradling a corpse—a decayed, maggot-ridden fetus. With astonishing gentleness, she stroked its head, grinning at Da Di. “This child… This is our child!”

A blood-curdling scream erupted from Da Di, and at the same time, I saw above their heads, on the ceiling, a naked ghostly infant—no bigger than two adult palms—clinging to the plaster like a bat, staring down at Da Di and Wang Fan and emitting a chilling, shrill cry.

Startled, I instinctively flung open the car door and rushed toward the hotel, only to be grabbed by Bai Rushuang.

She demanded, “Where are you going?”

“Beautiful, my brother’s about to be killed! Where else would I go? I have to save him!”

Bai Rushuang yanked me back into the car, frowning. “What can an ordinary person like you do? Stay here. I’ll save your brother.”

With that, Bai Rushuang pulled from the car a translucent white whip, engraved all over with strange runes, and stepped out.

The sight of her whip sent a tremor through me. Now that I was part of the supernatural world, I was sensitive to certain magical artifacts, and the moment Bai Rushuang drew her whip, I felt a heart-palpitating aura. I was almost certain it was no ordinary weapon.

Curiosity about Bai Rushuang’s identity surged within me; her background was surely extraordinary.

Bai Rushuang dashed into the hotel, and I followed without hesitation. She was stopped at the entrance by the hotel owner and nearly lashed him with her whip, but I intervened, telling her to go ahead and leave the owner to me.

She nodded, shoving the owner aside with such force he staggered back several steps, then strode upstairs. I quickly steadied the owner, assuring him, “Don’t be angry, she’s just impulsive.”

Recognizing me, the owner asked what I was up to this time, rolling up his sleeves as if ready for a fight.

I pulled three hundred yuan from my bag and slapped it onto the counter. “Brother, help me out. The two who just went in—the woman’s the mistress, and the real girlfriend found out. Don’t worry, they’ll just make a scene, not wreck your hotel.”

I handed over another five hundred as compensation for any damage. The owner finally calmed down, sighing, “Young people these days are even wilder than we were!”

I rushed upstairs toward Da Di’s room, only to be confronted by a terrifying scene.

Da Di sat on the bed as if soul-stricken, his face vacant and unmoving, cradling the corpse, which smiled at him in a way that sent chills down my spine.

Thick black mists enveloped them both, and their foreheads glowed with an ominous blackness—just a trace more and their spiritual gates would be sealed shut!

Meanwhile, the ghost infant that had been clinging to the ceiling now leaped down at an astonishing speed, standing before Da Di and Wang Fan with a sinister grin, its laughter sending shivers through me.

Wang Fan’s expression became feverishly excited, her sharp, piercing voice echoing through the room: “Family! We are a family!”