Chapter Seventy: The Ghost of Childbirth
Even from a distance, Xiao Xiao recognized that the girl wearing a black-and-white checkered knitted beret and a white tasselled scarf was Su Youjin.
Without overthinking, Xiao Xiao immediately quickened his pace, half-walking and half-running to where Su Youjin stood.
"I'm sorry, I'm late."
"Huh? No, it's not half-past ten yet."
Uh, Xiao Xiao found himself somewhat at a loss for words. He truly wasn't very skilled at interacting with girls, especially a girl with such a unique personality.
Xiao Xiao remained silent for a moment, then casually changed the subject as if nothing had happened.
"So, where are we going to eat next?"
"Du Yi Wu Er."
……
Xiao Xiao had accidentally heard girls in his class mention this restaurant before; it seemed to be a very popular establishment among young women.
From the girls' conversation, Xiao Xiao learned that Du Yi Wu Er was a newly opened private-kitchen restaurant serving authentic and delicious Chaoshan cuisine, and that the owner was very stylish.
Knowing that Su Youjin was treating him to a meal at this restaurant today, Xiao Xiao suddenly recalled something else the girls in his class had mentioned: winter was the prime season to go there for medicinal herbal stews.
It seemed that those medicinal herbal soup pots required at least three hours of advance reservation just to get a taste.
……
Xiao Xiao and Su Youjin walked side by side on the street.
The eared rat was perched on Su Youjin's shoulder, while the feifei followed closely at Xiao Xiao's heels.
Xiao Xiao glanced at Su Youjin; her expression was completely normal. Could she not see the feifei?
The eared rat had noticed the feifei right from the start, even getting up to stare fixedly at it for a long time before finally lying back down without any further action.
Because it was her first time treating a young man to a meal, Su Youjin's mind was slightly in a flurry, causing her to miss the eared rat's unusual behavior.
Her gaze was fixed straight ahead, her amber pupils as clear as water. Seemingly as calm as ever, they lacked a certain liveliness, clearly indicating that Su Youjin was lost in thought.
Yet from Xiao Xiao's perspective, Su Youjin showed not even a flicker of a change in her eyes at that moment. This made it difficult for Xiao Xiao to figure out whether she actually saw the feifei and simply didn't care, or if she couldn't see the feifei at all.
However, the feifei's behavior somewhat exceeded Xiao Xiao's expectations.
Instead of acting like the clumsy, goofy character it usually displayed in front of him, it wore a completely aloof expression, bringing out its natural haughty and cold attributes to the fullest.
Aside from glancing at Su Youjin and the eared rat when they first met, the feifei subsequently acted as if neither the human nor the spirit existed at all.
……
Xiao Xiao glanced down at the feifei with some curiosity, only to be met with an expression of utter docility. It even rubbed affectionately against his foot like a spoiled pet, causing his gaze to flicker slightly.
Never mind; it was quite normal for a spirit to have some temperament, as long as it didn't harm the people around him.
……
Just as they were about to reach their destination, they noticed a crowd gathered ahead, bustling with noise and excitement.
Since the crowd was right in front of the restaurant they were heading to, Xiao Xiao and Su Youjin exchanged a glance and walked over anyway.
The crowd was packed three layers deep. Xiao Xiao casually asked someone on the outer edge what had happened.
The person Xiao Xiao approached was a bespectacled young man who initially looked somewhat impatient, but upon seeing Su Youjin standing beside Xiao Xiao, he instantly became extremely enthusiastic and recounted the whole story.
Such an obvious change in attitude was so blatant that trying to ignore it would be an insult to one's own intelligence!
Xiao Xiao's lips twitched slightly. Su Youjin still maintained her aloof expression, whether out of indifference or simply being used to it was hard to tell.
Still, Xiao Xiao finally found out what had happened ahead.
It turned out that a pregnant woman was apparently about to go into labor; she had been suddenly struck by severe abdominal pain and had collapsed on the ground, completely unable to get up.
"I mean, with a belly that big, why go out all alone? Look at this—" The bespectacled man spoke fluently, complaints naturally slipping from his mouth, before suddenly realizing a beauty was standing right beside him. He abruptly and stiffly changed his tone, "Well, it's also the husband's fault. How could he let his heavily pregnant wife go out alone? He should be accompanying her the whole way, right? How utterly irresponsible..."
……
"Wuwu~ Wuwu~"
A piercing wail came from afar—the sound of an ambulance siren.
The tightly packed crowd began to slowly disperse, and through the loose gaps, the pregnant woman could be seen lying on the ground, groaning in agony.
It wasn't that people were truly so indifferent and unwilling to help the pregnant woman up; rather, because of the excruciating pain in her abdomen, the woman was thrashing violently. It was quite difficult for bystanders to approach without risking injury to her, leaving the large crowd with no other choice than to call an ambulance and watch helplessly.
Fortunately, there was a hospital not far from here, so the ambulance arrived quickly. The pregnant woman would probably be fine... right?
……
As the crowd finally parted, Xiao Xiao looked up and immediately spotted the spirit floating right above the pregnant woman's... belly?!
The tiny spirit was only about the size of an adult's palm, with short limbs, wearing a light green top and a yellow skirt, dancing briskly above the pregnant woman's stomach.
"Gegge~"
Though it had the delicate and tender frame of a child, the sound it emitted was as raspy and hoarse as that of an old crone.
Its mouth was split wide, reaching almost to its ears.
Yellowed teeth made one's stomach turn.
Yet the smile on its face still retained a bit of childish innocence mixed with cruelty.
……
At a single thought from Xiao Xiao, the information regarding the spirit before him flooded into his mind.
A birth ghost: a spirit wearing a light green top and a bright yellow skirt with a short stature, frequently appearing in delivery rooms to cause women to die in difficult labor.
Although Xiao Xiao didn't know why a spirit that should have appeared in a delivery room was here, it was clearly not a good sign.
The pregnant woman's condition was extremely dangerous!
……
By this time, the pregnant woman had already been loaded onto the ambulance, and the medical staff quickly boarded and closed the doors.
"Wuwu~"
The ambulance wailed its siren and sped away.
……
"I'm sorry, Su Youjin, I suddenly have an urgent matter to attend to and need to leave. I'm truly sorry." Without even waiting to see Su Youjin's expression, Xiao Xiao turned and hastily hailed a taxi to leave.
Consequently, he missed the trace of a crack in Su Youjin's expression, her slightly parted pink lips as if she wanted to say something, and the utter astonishment on the face of the bespectacled man nearby. "What the holy hell! He... he just left just like that?! What about such a huge beauty?! He's just ignoring her?!"
……
Along the way, Xiao Xiao looked calm on the surface, but inside he was burning with anxiety, his mind filled entirely with the phrase "causes women to die in difficult labor."
That pregnant woman earlier was clearly about to give birth. He could vividly see the birth ghost's expression of intense excitement and impatience, with malicious black demonic energy lingering around the pregnant woman's belly, covetous and peering, its fingers with pitch-black, sharp nails caressing the woman's swollen stomach with a mixture of naive joy and morbid intoxication, its eyes and brows overflowing with ill intent.
The birth ghost! The birth ghost!
Xiao Xiao's palms resting on his knees were clenched into fists, his body tense, his back slightly arched forward as the scenery outside the window rapidly retreated. Sensing the heavy, condensed aura radiating from Xiao Xiao, the driver uncle seemed to realize something and slammed hard on the accelerator. When they finally arrived at the hospital entrance, Xiao Xiao saw that the pregnant woman had just been wheeled down from the ambulance.
Xiao Xiao was somewhat surprised, ultimately revealing a faint smile as he handed the fare to the driver. "Driver, thank you."
"No worries, go on." The driver took the money, waved his hand generously, wearing an expression of complete understanding.
Xiao Xiao didn't offer any explanation, even though he knew the driver had completely misunderstood.