Chapter 79: The Headless Ghost

Because she was sitting in the last row of the bus, there was a step.

So when the little girl’s head fell off, it immediately rolled forward with a rumbling sound.

She hurriedly stood up, trying to pick up her own head.

But the seat was too high, her short legs couldn’t reach the ground, and without her eyes, she stumbled and was about to fall forward.

Shen Siyuan moved swiftly, grabbing her body and placing her back on the seat, then bent down to pick up her head.

The little girl’s eyes were red, filled with sorrow and grievance, big tears rolling down her pale cheeks, falling to the ground and vanishing instantly, as if they had never existed.

Shen Siyuan placed the head in her hands, and she skillfully pressed it back onto her neck.

To ordinary people, this was a strange and terrifying sight, but Shen Siyuan felt no fear—only anger.

The killer was truly cruel; it wasn’t just a throat-cutting, but a direct decapitation.

A wave of malice rose in his heart—what kind of monster would kill such a cute little girl?

“Where do you live?” Shen Siyuan asked again.

At this, the little girl’s face was filled with confusion.

She seemed to think about it for a long while before saying: “Take bus 6, stop at six stations, and that’s my home.”

“Six stations?”

Shen Siyuan looked out the window.

He had boarded at Nanshui Alley; the bus had already passed two stops, and four more stops would bring them to Nanshan Garden Station.

But clearly, the little girl’s home couldn’t be at Nanshan Garden Station—that was a park.

And Lin Yunduo’s “six stations” might have started from any stop.

For a moment, Shen Siyuan had no idea where her home was.

So he said: “Come back with me first. I’ll help you find your family.”

The little girl nodded, then realized her head was about to fall again, and quickly held it with both hands.

Then she gave Shen Siyuan a silly smile.

“I caught it. It didn’t fall.”

The joke wasn’t funny at all; Shen Siyuan felt a mix of emotions.

So he continued: “Can you tell me about your life before?”

“Before?”

Lin Yunduo cradled her little head, as if lost in memory.

“Mom and dad had to go to work, so I stayed home alone...”

“When mom was off, she’d take me to the park...”

“Dad was always busy, but I liked going fishing with him...”

“Hehe, I even caught a big crab!”

“Mimi, my cat, is two years old now, so fluffy...”

“I miss Mimi... and Mom and Dad...”

The little girl’s words were jumbled, and as she spoke, she grew sadder again, big tears spilling from her wide eyes.

“Dad said brave kids don’t cry, but I’m not a brave kid...”

As she said this, Lin Yunduo’s body began to tremble slightly, as if receiving interference, growing faint and blurry—she had remembered something that terrified her deeply.

“I’m a brave kid. I won’t cry. I won’t cry...”

She kept murmuring, as if comforting herself, until finally her body stabilized. This amazed Shen Siyuan—this little girl was clearly extraordinary.

“Mom said crying makes you look like a little kitten, but Mimi is cute, not ugly at all...”

She reached up to wipe her tears, moved too abruptly, and her neck twisted 270 degrees; she quickly righted her head.

“Alright, no more crying. Brother promises you—I’ll find your parents, I definitely will.”

Lin Yunduo nodded immediately, then nearly shook her head off again, quickly grabbing it with both hands, holding it with utmost care.

The sight made her seem both funny and pitiful.

At that moment, Shen Siyuan reached his stop, so he stood up and called to the girl: “Come with me off the bus.”

The little girl hesitated, then rose.

Seeing Shen Siyuan had already reached the rear door and was about to get off, she hurried after him with her short legs, too fast—her head rolled off again.

Only her headless body remained, collapsing to the ground, hands frantically groping for her head.

Under the dim light, it was utterly eerie.

Shen Siyuan quickly lifted her body, then bent down to search for her head.

The bus driver instinctively glanced in the rearview mirror to check if all passengers had disembarked, then saw Shen Siyuan’s strange behavior—his skin crawled, and he slammed the clutch, speeding away from the stop.

“Your head keeps falling off—that won’t do.”

Shen Siyuan looked at Lin Yunduo, holding her head with both hands, and sighed helplessly.

Lin Yunduo’s big eyes welled with tears, looking deeply wronged, on the verge of crying.

“Alright, I was just joking. Don’t fall again. Here, let me hold your hand.” Shen Siyuan extended his hand.

Lin Yunduo looked at his outstretched palm, then released one hand and placed it in his.

“Let’s go.”

Shen Siyuan pulled her toward his rented apartment.

But just then, Lin Yunduo tugged his hand and stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Siyuan turned back, surprised.

Lin Yunduo took her head off her neck, cradling it in one arm—she couldn’t hold it steady with just one hand.

She beamed: “Now it won’t fall off.”

Shen Siyuan: ...

“Isn’t there another way?” Shen Siyuan asked.

Lin Yunduo instinctively tried to shake her head, then remembered her head was in her arms, so she moved it left and right with one hand.

Shen Siyuan found her actions amusing, and felt no fear at all.

Shen Siyuan was curious about ghosts, so he asked Lin Yunduo many more questions.

But her afterlife was dull—mostly just boarding and exiting buses, searching for Mom and Dad, repeating it endlessly. He couldn’t imagine how she endured it.

Of course, during this time, she had met many kinds of people.

In her words, babies grew into big brothers and sisters, who then became old grandpas and grandmas.

But over all these years, no one had ever seen her, spoken to her, or held her hand—until now.

It made her very happy.

“Brother, you’re amazing,” she said.

Lin Yunduo lifted her cradled head, gazing at Shen Siyuan, her big eyes brimming with joy.

“Look ahead.”

Shen Siyuan reminded her, then pulled her into the dim alley.

Shen Siyuan clearly felt Lin Yunduo’s grip tighten, her body stiffen, and tremble slightly.

The dark alley had clearly left deep psychological trauma on her.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

Shen Siyuan crouched down and gently patted her little head.

The hand he held loosened; Lin Yunduo immediately placed her head back on her neck.

Then she stared at him blankly—no one had touched her head in so long. Her father, mother, and brother used to love patting her little head.

Tears swelled in her eyes, as if she might cry again.

“Why are you crying again?”

“I’m not crying,” the little girl insisted stubbornly.

“Then I was wrong. Lin Yunduo didn’t cry. Lin Yunduo is the strongest.”

“Mom and Dad call me Duoduo.”

“Duoduo? That’s a lovely name.”

Shen Siyuan thought for a moment, summoned the [Ten Thousand Souls Banner], formed a hand seal, and, as Duoduo stared in dumbfounded silence, directly absorbed her into the banner.