176: Take a deep breath and look at me

Her voice echoed in the empty basement, but there was no response.

Various discarded items were strewn haphazardly on the ground: broken clothes, deformed toys, shattered shoes... The air was filled with the smell of metal and decay.

Her gaze was drawn to a horrifying pile of white bones in the corner; several children's skulls were casually stacked there, like trophies.

Bai Wanning trembled all over, quickly covered her mouth, and a wave of nausea surged in her throat. She forced herself to turn around, but in that instant, she saw a small teddy bear casually discarded to the side.

She froze.

...Cai Cai?

She rushed over, knelt beside the doll, her hands trembling, but she still snatched up the bear.

The once soft fabric had hardened, feeling rough and prickly to the touch.

She instinctively flipped it over, only to see familiar off-white velvet stained with patches of congealed dark red blood.

It wasn't just blood; there were also tiny, torn pieces of flesh, as if something had gnawed at it.

"No... no..." Bai Wanning shook her head frantically, tears streaming down uncontrollably. "It's impossible, this isn't Cai Cai's..."

Her son was so well-behaved, so loved her, how could he bear to leave her? How could he... die here?

"No... impossible..." But her fingertips suddenly brushed against something hard.

Bai Wanning froze, forcing herself to flip the bear over.

The next second, a rotten, shriveled little finger appeared on the bear's back, cruelly sewn into it.

At that moment, the air solidified.

"Ah—!!"

Bai Wanning stumbled back two steps, her legs giving out, and she fell heavily to her knees.

Her eyes were fixed on that little finger, as if staring at the collapse of her entire world.

"No... no!! My son... my Cai Cai!!! Ah ah ah ah ah!!!"

Her voice hoarse, she screamed heartbreakingly, kneeling on the blood-stained floor, clutching at the ground like a madwoman, muttering, "Give me back my son... give him back to me!!"

Her cries echoed in the basement, as if the whole world had collapsed... Outside the door, Guoguo, holding a rice bowl, gently knocked on the door, "Auntie Bai?"

No one responded.

He pushed the door open and saw Bai Wanning curled up on the bed, her brows furrowed, her expression pained, as if trapped in a nightmare.

Guoguo tiptoed in, placed the rice bowl aside, cautiously approached her, and gently shook her shoulder.

"Auntie Bai, are... are you scared?"

Bai Wanning heard the child's voice, slowly opened her eyes, and looked at the little boy beside her, "Scared...?"

Mommy, I'm scared.

Bai Wanning sat up abruptly. She looked at the little boy, and in a daze, past and present overlapped; she seemed to see her son again.

She instinctively reached out, pulling Guoguo tightly into her embrace, her body trembling slightly, tears silently falling.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, Mommy is here... don't be afraid. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left you with those beasts. I'm sorry, Mommy will take care of you, don't worry."

It was all her fault.

Her son had always warned her that the Bai Qingshi family were not good people, but she had repeatedly ignored him.

She thought it was just a child being clingy and insecure, but if she hadn't cruelly left him in the hands of those bastards... how could her son have... It was all her fault! Irreversibly wrong.

Guoguo was suddenly hugged and startled. Seeing Bai Wanning crying, he also burst into tears.

He was only a three-year-old child and didn't understand why this auntie would suddenly cry and apologize while crying.

The two cries in the room rose and fell, quickly alarming the people outside.

The first to rush in were the Bai brothers and Lei Qian.

"What's wrong?"

"Wanning, why are you crying?"

"What happened?" Lei Qian immediately knelt beside Bai Wanning, trying to pull Guoguo from her arms, but Bai Wanning didn't let go. He frowned and had to temporarily give up. "Don't cry."

But Bai Wanning seemed not to hear, her emotions completely unable to calm down.

Lei Qian had no choice but to grab her shoulders and sternly reprimand, "Bai Wanning! Look at me!"

"Don't yell at her." Bai Zhan saw Lei Qian shouting at his sister, and anger flickered in his eyes, but seeing Bai Wanning visibly calm down, he didn't say anything more.

Bai Wanning was startled by Lei Qian's shout, and she looked up at him in a daze. Then she looked down and realized that Guoguo was lying in her arms.

This wasn't... her son? Where was Xiao Cai? He was clearly in her arms just now.

Seeing her emotions stabilize, Lei Qian quickly took Guoguo from her arms and handed him to a bewildered Jiang Dai.

She was clearly startled by this sudden situation too; everything was normal a few minutes ago, so why had Bai Wanning suddenly started crying like this?

Bai Wanning looked at her empty embrace, her emotions collapsing again, tears falling like broken pearls.

"What exactly happened?" Bai Zhan was full of confusion, looking at his sister's appearance, his heart full of worry.

Bai Jixuan slowly sat beside her, gently comforting, "Wanning, are you alright? Can you hear me?"

But Bai Wanning still didn't respond.

Lei Qian frowned, raised his hand to cup her cheeks, and gently turned her face towards himself, "Wanning, Wanning? Wake up, darling. You just had a nightmare, that wasn't real."

His tone was anxious, his palm pressed against her face, his eyes sincere: "Take a deep breath, look at me, don't look at anyone else, just look at me, okay?"

Bai Wanning stared at the face that bore some resemblance to her son's, and did as he said.

As her breathing gradually calmed, her thoughts also became clearer. Soon, she finally remembered that she had been reborn and was not her past self.

Her son... hadn't been born yet, he was still in her belly.

Bai Wanning recovered, instinctively covering her abdomen, a sense of relief flooding her heart. Thank goodness, thank goodness, Xiao Cai was alright.

She looked up and saw Guoguo in Jiang Dai's arms, tears still on the child's small face.

This poor child had been scared to tears because of her.

Bai Wanning was filled with guilt. She quickly got up, gently placed her hand on Guoguo's head, and said softly, "Little one, I'm sorry, did Auntie scare you?"

Guoguo wiped his tears, looking at her timidly, and sobbed, "Auntie, are you scared?"

Bai Wanning paused, then realized she had misheard just now; he was asking if she was scared, not saying he was scared.

She sighed slightly, gently wiped away her tears, forced a smile, and nodded, "Auntie isn't scared, thank you for worrying about Auntie."

As she spoke, she took a bag of dried meat from her backpack and handed it to Guoguo, "This is for you. Eat it when you're hungry, okay?"