t's wrong""My mom is sick, sorry, wait until Old Zhong wakes up and tell him I'm apologizing, I need to leave first!" Xiao Yu's expression was anxious as he stood up and said this to Zhong Jianguo bef...Chapter 143: Childhood Anhedonia Syndrome (Part 2)

The child's father then came out and, upon seeing Xiao Yu, hurriedly asked, "Doctor, is this the place"

"Yes," Xiao Yu nodded.

The mother of the child said to the young man, “The doctor said we should follow the same path as last night when we went home!”

Mounted on a three-wheeled vehicle and driven by the young man, they followed the route that brought them back home the previous night. Xiao Yu kept his Yin-Yang eyes open throughout this journey but did not notice anything out of the ordinary.

"The car can't go any further; let’s get off and walk," the young man said after bringing Xiao Yu to a narrow alley where only two people could pass side by side, turning back to tell Xiao Yu.

After getting off the three-wheeled vehicle, Xiao Yu saw before him this small alley. The alley was flooded with sewage emitting a foul odor. On both sides of the alley were tents set up with wooden sticks and canvas cloth. In the distance, several dilapidated blue-brick houses stood precariously as if they could collapse at any moment.

The child's father led the way while Xiao Yu carried his medical bag following behind him. At the end of the alley stood a towering garbage mountain. Every time the wind blew through, it brought along a nauseating stench. However, the people here seemed to have grown accustomed to such living conditions; even as Xiao Yu passed by some tents, he saw families eating inside.

Xiao Yu had lived in Deep Sea for nearly five years and never knew that there were places like this within the city. The state of life these people led deeply shocked him.

Inside most of the tents, a wooden board was propped up as a makeshift bed, while plastic bottles and cardboard boxes filled every corner except for a narrow path leading to the bed inside.

Whenever Xiao Yu walked past a tent, the people inside stared at him with vacant eyes, seemingly numb to everything outside their world.

"The truck is coming! The truck is coming…" Suddenly, a voice from afar echoed over a loudspeaker.

The previously listless and lifeless individuals in the tents immediately surged out like wolves after weeks without food, rushing towards deeper within the alley. Xiao Yu dodged the surging crowd; fortunately, he quickly slipped into an adjacent tent to avoid getting hit by the running masses.

Both parents of the child also hid inside the same tent as Xiao Yu. The mother of the boy, seeing this frantic rush, her eyes gleamed with excitement, apparently wanting to join in the race but then realized she was there to look after her son and her excited gaze dimmed down.

As Xiao Yu watched the frantic crowd running about, he couldn't help but ask, "Where are they all going"

"The people here survive by scavenging. A truck just arrived to deliver garbage for them to collect," the boy's father explained.

The alley fell into an eerie silence once everyone had left.

Leading Xiao Yu further down the alley, the boy’s father stopped in front of a blue-brick and mud-brick house. The door was wide open.

The boy's father ushered Xiao Yu inside. As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, Xiao Yu felt as though the sky had darkened. It turned out that wooden frames and canvas were used to cover the entire yard, making it pitch black without any light whatsoever. Even within this roughly 60-70 square meter space, several makeshift tents had been set up.

The tents were empty. Xiao Yu kept his yin-yang eyes open as he carefully examined the courtyard.

He suspected that the child might have a rare condition known as "soul loss in children," which is seldom seen today because there are fewer places that harbor filth and evil energy. Originally, Xiao Yu was just skeptical but seeing this environment made him certain of his suspicion.

In such filthy environments, yin煞energy tends to gather at night. When it reaches a certain level, people may experience hallucinations. These aren't particularly harmful to adults, but they can be very detrimental to children, especially those under one year old who are sleeping.

When awake, a child's consciousness is stronger and the yin煞energy isn’t strong enough to affect them. However, once asleep, their weakened state allows this energy to enter their mind and become whatever they find most interesting.

Infants under one year old generally can't walk but are instinctively drawn towards what interests them most, leading their souls to follow these things outside of their bodies.

Xiao Yu walked around the courtyard when he suddenly noticed a baby’s soul moving about as if chasing something in a corner. He observed carefully and saw that the object was an energy bottle formed from yin煞energy, rolling along with each movement of the child's soul.

A strange thought crossed Xiao Yu’s mind: how could such a small soul be interested in these things Then he remembered the gleam of excitement in the mother’s eyes when the garbage truck arrived. He understood why now.

Xiao Yu gently pointed his finger, causing the energy bottle to dissipate with a sudden burst.

The child looked bewildered upon seeing something disappear before their eyes, displaying an expression of confusion. Such a young child knows nothing and understands nothing; chasing after the plastic water bottle was merely a reflexive response.

"Quickly call out the child's name!" When Xiao Yu saw that the child appeared confused and floated motionless in mid-air, he immediately shouted to the child’s parents.

"Oh... Baby, baby..." Upon hearing Xiao Yu's shout, the child's parents were momentarily stunned before hurriedly calling out their child's name.

Although they didn’t know why this doctor asked them to call out their child’s name, they trusted Xiao Yu completely and felt that their son was likely not merely sensitive to something specific. Thus, without questioning him further about his instructions, the father did what he thought was necessary for the sake of his family.

As the parents called out, the spirit of the previously disoriented child gradually regained its vitality and made its way towards them. The moment the child’s spirit approached their side, an unconscious gravitational force drew it back into the body.

The instant the spirit came into contact with his physical body, there was a whooshing sound as it was pulled inside him.

"Waaah... Waaah..." The moment the child's soul reentered its body, he began to cry loudly.

“It’s okay… It’s okay… Haha… Our baby is crying, our baby has woken up!” Hearing their child's cries, both parents were overjoyed and burst into laughter. Despite laughing, tears streamed down their faces.

Xiao Yu was also delighted to see the couple so happy and relieved. Regardless of how it happened, he felt proud for being a part of the first successful case at Wansheng Hall. Wait, it hasn’t even officially opened yet! On this thought, Xiao Yu couldn't help but chuckle.

"Thank you, doctor!" Only after laughing and crying did they remember that Xiao Yu was still beside them and hurriedly thanked him.

“Remember, the next time if it’s late at night and your child is asleep when you return home, make sure to call out their name as you turn a corner and arrive back home. Do you understand” He instructed the couple.

The couple was quite baffled by Xiao Yu's words but didn’t dare ask why; instead, they nodded vigorously in agreement.

Right now, both of them regarded Xiao Yu as incredibly mysterious and felt that he was even more enigmatic than their village fortune-teller.

"Alright, you two go back and comfort the child. I'm leaving!" Xiao Yu gave them a brief instruction before turning around to leave.

"Doctor, wait! We haven't given you your payment yet!" The child's mother remembered she hadn't paid Xiao Yu when she saw him walking towards the exit of the courtyard.

Hearing this, without even looking back, Xiao Yu waved his hand dismissively and walked out of the yard. He looked at the alley filled with sewage and could imagine what the neighboring alleys looked like.

Walking through the alley, Xiao Yu occasionally glanced around; he saw a few children between four to five years old in tents. However, these children were covered in patches of dirt on their bodies and faces, and each one had an unhealthy yellowish complexion, clearly suffering from malnutrition.

"Doctor doctor, wait! I'll escort you!" Right as Xiao Yu was about to leave the alley, he heard a voice coming from behind him.

Xiao Yu turned around and saw that young man—the child’s father—who had run up to him while waving his hand.

With a light chuckle, when the child's father reached him, Xiao Yu said, "No need for it. I can manage on my own; you should go back and take care of them."

The father scratched the back of his head awkwardly and replied, "Doctor, no worries! Lingling asked me to escort you because she said that if I don’t see you off home, she won't let me leave!"

Looking at this young man in front of him (who seemed more like a boy than a man), Xiao Yu thought about his sincere gaze and replied, "Alright then. It's a bother for you."

The man quickly shook his head with both hands raised, looking somewhat embarrassed as he said, "No trouble at all! I can't always be there when needed and nowhere to be seen otherwise; that would be too selfish!"

"You're Liu, right Then I'll call you Little Liu."

“Yeah, my last name is Liu. My name's Li'erxi.” Replied the man named Liu Erxi as he pushed a tricycle.

“So, do you have an older brother called Lidaixi” Xiao Yu couldn't help but ask upon hearing his name.

(To be continued)rkness with one hand making intricate gestures to form an arcane seal. As this seal took shape, an invisible force began swirling around Xiao Yu's palm."Begin."After forming the seal, Xiao Yu called o...