ould be translated as 'malevolent aura' or 'evil spirit') from them.Xiao Yu knew just by looking at these people that they were soldiers, veterans who had seen combat.When these black-clad individuals...Chapter 17: The Ghost Tunnel on the Way to Beijing

The next morning, Xiao Yu poured a cup of tea and sat behind the consultation desk, carefully reading Zhong Kui's transmission. Zhang Xiaoying, sitting at the nurse's table, stared blankly at Xiao Yu, thinking that he didn't look like a man worth millions!

Just as Zhang Xiaoying was daydreaming, an elegant ringtone interrupted her thoughts. She looked up and saw Xiao Yu take out his phone and answer it: "Hello, Uncle Cai, have you arrived in Beijing"

"What So soon"

"Okay, okay." Xiao Yu quickly hung up the call and turned to Zhang Xiaoying behind him: "Zhang, I'll be out of town for a couple of days. You’ll need to take care of things here."

“Sure, no problem.” Zhang Xiaoying replied with a smile.

Xiao Yu called Fangyuan and took a few days off; Fangyuan readily agreed.

The bustling subway station in Deep Sea City was lively as ever. Both Jingdu and Deep Sea were megacities where traffic was constant, with trains arriving every hour or so. It wasn't the holiday season now, making it easy for Xiao Yu to purchase a ticket. In half an hour, there would be a high-speed train heading straight from Deep Sea to Jingdu.

After completing his ticket check-in procedure, Xiao Yu boarded the train bound for Jingdu. Since its inception, the high-speed train had won people's favor due to its comfortable environment and super-fast speed. What used to take a day and night by regular trains now took just ten hours from Deep Sea to Jingdu.

On the high-speed train, Xiao Yu held his ticket and found his seat. Since he arrived early, there weren’t many people in the carriage yet. Xiao Yu sat down and closed his eyes to take a nap.

"Doo…" A long whistle woke up Xiao Yu who was dozing off. When he opened his eyes, the compartment was already full of passengers. Next to Xiao Yu was a young woman accompanied by a seven or eight-year-old boy. She wore a well-tailored black suit that highlighted her stunning beauty and she looked sophisticated with her frameless glasses.

Opposite them were two young people, a man and a woman, whispering softly and occasionally playfully teasing each other, seemingly a couple.

While Xiao Yu was looking around, the little boy, who had been hiding behind the young woman, poked his head out. His eyes scanned around before meeting with Xiao Yu’s gaze when he looked at him. At that moment of eye contact, the little boy quickly ducked back behind the young woman.

In just a fleeting glance! What kind of eyes were those They were filled with fear and dread towards this world, dull and lifeless like stagnant dead water.

Seeing this little boy, Xiao Yu frowned deeply. He said to him, "Hello there, little one! What’s your name"

"What grade are you in, little one"

...

No matter how Xiao Yu tried to talk to him, the little boy remained motionless behind the young woman.

Seeing the young man talking to her son, Zhou Ruoying wished so much that her son would answer: "Uncle, my name is Wang Boyu. I'm eight years old..." But seeing her son hiding behind her without moving at all, a thick layer of sadness and disappointment covered Zhou Ruoying's face.

"Young brother, stop calling out to him. My son suffers from severe autism," said Zhou Ruoying with a look of disappointment as she looked at the young man who had been trying to talk to her son.

Hearing what the young woman said, Xiao Yu frowned and said, "Autism Sister, I'm a doctor. Can I take his pulse"

"It's no use. I've taken him to see so many doctors—both Eastern and Western medicine—and he has taken all sorts of medication with no effect at all," Zhou Ruoying shook her head but still held out her son’s hand for Xiao Yu. This was also a habit she had formed; anyone who wanted to treat her son would be allowed to do so, in case there might come a miracle that could cure him.

Xiao Yu gently placed his fingers on the little boy's wrist and after a minute he let go of the child’s hand. He then observed the little boy's complexion and frowned slightly as he said, "Judging from his pulse, his meridians are congested, and judging by his appearance, there is a dark cloud over his forehead that hasn’t dispersed. It's definitely autism."

"When did your child start showing signs of autism" Xiao Yu asked after pondering for a moment.

"Around three years old," Zhou Ruoying answered after some thought.

“Then you...”

"Husband, look ahead! It's the 'Fierce Ghost Tunnel'!" Just as Xiao Yu was about to speak, he was interrupted by a couple in front of him. When they mentioned something called "Fierce Ghost Tunnel," Xiao Yu asked them with some curiosity, “Friends, excuse me, what is this ‘fierce ghost tunnel’ you are talking about”

"You're talking about the Ghost Tunnel! See, it's that tunnel up ahead," the man in the couple pointed out of the window with his chin.

The tunnel they were pointing at was carved into a mountainside and looked like a monster’s gaping mouth, swallowing every vehicle passing through.

"The Ghost Tunnel is what we call it among our classmates. They say one year when they went on a trip here, during a stormy night as they passed by this tunnel, they saw disembodied ghosts floating in mid-air inside the tunnel, some wearing white dresses and others Qing Dynasty official robes. We stopped taking trains passing through this place after that, and we nicknamed it 'Ghost Tunnel'." The man spoke while gesturing with his fingers.

"Aren't you afraid" Xiao Yu asked curiously as he looked at the excited couple.

"Why be scared There’s no such thing as ghosts; they’re just a hoax. We often pass through here and have never encountered anything strange!" The man said with a dismissive look on his face.

The train was getting closer to the tunnel when suddenly, "Mommy, that uncle keeps scaring me!" A little boy who had been hiding behind a young woman poked out his head, looking straight at the luggage rack above him.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yu and the couple looked towards the luggage rack, only to find it empty.

"Xiao Yu, don’t lie! Your mom has told you many times not to do that!" The little boy's mother immediately scolded him.

"Okay!" The boy’s originally bright eyes quickly dimmed and he hid behind his mother again.The two who had gotten off the car were the mayor of Shendu City, Cao Jingmin. He just received a call from Zhang Enning saying that Chu Guoqing's troops not only surrounded the police station but als...