Chapter 6

The main reason was that he’d been wailing about how he could never show his face in public again. Xie Chi couldn’t very well abandon him, so she brought him back and asked her martial nephew to see if there was any way to treat him.

At the time, her martial nephew had been slumped over the steering wheel, nearly asleep. Hearing someone knock on the car window, he groggily opened the door. “Martial Aunt, you’re back!”

He vaguely noticed someone following behind her. Rubbing his eyes, he blurted out in astonishment, “Martial Aunt, it’s only been half a night! How did you manage to get someone pregnant already?!”

Xie Chi: …

“I didn’t do it.”

Her martial nephew coughed twice, finally waking up completely. He hurriedly tried to salvage his image. “You misheard me, Martial Aunt. What I meant was, what happened to him? Why is he… why…”

“Let’s talk when we get back.” After thinking it over, Xie Chi had Meng Shu sit in the front passenger seat. After all, they had to take good care of the “expectant father.”

After returning to the villa, the three of them sat in the living room. Meng Shu watched the ghost servants coming and going, looking utterly devastated.

“And you fucking told me you didn’t believe in ghosts?!”

Xie Chi raised her head and stared at the ceiling. Then, under the table, she quietly poked her martial nephew with a finger.

Her martial nephew understood immediately and hurriedly explained what Xie Chi had been doing. After finishing his explanation, he said helplessly, “Martial Aunt was livestreaming at the time, right? There was nothing she could do about it. My martial aunt takes her work very seriously.”

Meng Shu: …

Xie Chi said quietly, “That’s not the important thing right now, is it? We should probably discuss your… stomach.”

Xie Chi recounted what the female ghost had told her earlier, then admitted frankly, “I don’t really understand these things. Martial Nephew, do you have any ideas?”

“I’ll have to take a look first.” Her martial nephew asked Meng Shu to lift his shirt. His belly was swollen and round, looking as though he were seven or eight months pregnant. Judging solely from its appearance, there was no difference between him and an ordinary pregnant woman.

“There have been similar cases, although they happened many years ago. A wealthy merchant’s wife in Nanyang was implanted with a ghost fetus, and a friend of mine handled the case. I’ll call and ask him.” Her martial nephew quickly added, “Don’t worry too much. It’s not like you can actually give birth to it. We’ll find a solution sooner or later.”

His attempt at reassurance was so utterly unhelpful that it made Meng Shu want to punch him.

Xie Chi patted Meng Shu on the shoulder and said, “Stay here for now. I’ll unauthorized copyalso ask around for you.”

“Thank you…” Meng Shu cradled his stomach, looking as though he wanted to cry but had no tears left.

Ordinary ghost infants couldn’t parasitize male bodies. They could only seek out pregnant women, attempting to reincarnate through the babies in their wombs. By doing so, they could bypass the cycle of reincarnation and avoid the risk of not being reborn as humans in their next lives.

However, men didn’t have uteruses and couldn’t become pregnant. Even if ghost infants entered their stomachs, they would remain nothing more than masses of yin energy.

Meng Shu had fallen victim to this because the group of fragmented souls had brought a ghost fetus with them. Simply put, it was equivalent to an infant having entered his belly, so it was perfectly understandable that his body had ended up in its current condition.

Such cases were exceptionally rare, so it was only natural that everyone lacked experience dealing with them.

Her martial nephew and Meng Shu began contacting their respective masters and elders through various means to seek advice. By then, it was already quite late. After chatting for a while, they each returned to their rooms to rest.

As a precaution, her martial nephew had the room next to Xie Chi’s cleaned and prepared for Meng Shu. That way, if anything happened, they would be able to find out immediately.

After returning to her room, Xie Chi took the box out of her backpack, placed it on the offering table, and went to take a shower.

While she was showering, a snow-white hand suddenly emerged from the previously silent box and rested on its edge. The ​read the original at bailiantales.com​fingers hesitantly scratched at the wooden rim.

After several dozen minutes, the hand dissolved into a cloud of black mist. It twisted and crept down from the table, silently drifting across the floor toward the bathroom.

The black mist pressed itself against the bathroom door, or more precisely, against the gap beneath it. It split into several strands before twisting together again, lingering outside the door.

It hovered there, hesitating. Several times, it seemed ready to slip inside, only to retreat as though it didn’t dare.

Just as the black mist finally made up its mind to enter, the bathroom door creaked open.

Like a startled cat, the black mist sprang high into the air. Unfortunately, it was already too late to escape. Xie Chi reached out and scooped her up.

“Were you waiting for me outside? You’re so clingy.”

Xie Chi had only a bath towel wrapped around her body, and her hair was still dripping wet.

Caught red-handed, the black mist wriggled awkwardly. Suddenly, she felt an urge to help Xie Chi dry her hair. Unfortunately, she was nothing more than a little ball of black mist. Such a difficult task was simply beyond her capabilities.

Fortunately, Xie Chi had already picked up a dry towel and begun drying her hair.

As she rubbed her hair, she said, “All right, all right. It’s getting late. Go get some rest, and remember, don’t eat anything you’re not supposed to.”

The black mist rubbed affectionately against her body before reluctantly retreating into the box.

Ever since she had nearly been eaten last time, the female ghost responsible for delivering things had become extremely cautious. Whenever she brought something over, she would put it down and immediately flee, as though a ferocious beast were chasing her.

This time, she had brought fresh fruit. It had already been washed, sliced, and arranged neatly on a fruit platter.

Xie Chi was feeling rather sleepy. After eating a little, she casually placed the platter on the offering table for her little darling to enjoy as a snack. Then she climbed into bed and went to sleep.

Early the next morning, Xie Chi woke up bright and early.

The ghost servants had already prepared breakfast. She sat down and ate a little. Halfway through her meal, Meng Shu walked in from outside, supporting his enormous belly.

“You’re up this early?” Xie Chi was a little surprised. She tactfully remarked, “It must be rather inconvenient for you to move around like that. I thought you’d sleep a little longer.”

Meng Shu supported his lower back and couldn’t help sighing at the mention of it.

“I woke up really early, around five o’clock. My stomach felt awful. It was all bloated, and I kept feeling nauseous, like I was about to throw up. I couldn’t stand it, so I went outside for some fresh air and took a walk while I was at it. I feel much better now.”

“C-could it be… morning sickness…?” Xie Chi’s expression turned grave.

Meng Shu, who had never studied anything related to pregnancy, looked equally serious.

“I’m not really sure. But if it is… women all over the world really are incredible.”

The two sat together, marveling at the hardships of pregnancy for quite some time before eating a little more.

Only then did her martial nephew finally wake up and come downstairs, yawning.

After all three had finished breakfast, they once again found themselves staring blankly at Meng Shu’s stomach.

Suddenly, Meng Shu clutched his belly.

“Ouch! I think it just kicked me!”

“Really? Let me feel!” Xie Chi nervously leaned closer and placed her hand against his stomach.

Beside them, her martial nephew wore an indescribably complicated expression.

“You two… don’t you think there’s something a little wrong with this situation?”

Meng Shu: …

“There’s no point talking about that now. The important thing is figuring out how to deal with this thing. I can’t possibly walk around with a huge belly forever, can I? I still have a job. I can’t take too much time off, or I might get fired.”

Xie Chi, Unemployed Person Number One, and her martial nephew, Unemployed Person Number Two, both looked at him in astonishment.

The two of them were full-time practitioners in their profession and earned quite a lot of money. Leaving everything else aside, the way her martial nephew had casually offered to give Xie Chi an entire villa was more than enough to show how wealthy he was.

As for Xie Chi, there was even less need to mention her financial situation.

Although she looked rather plainly dressed, her family fortune was substantial. unauthorized copy She had followed her master around catching ghosts since she was eight years old. After her master passed away, he had even transferred ownership of the entire mountain to her name.

In other words, she owned a whole mountain.

Having grown up surrounded by senior martial brothers and sisters who worked full-time in their profession and were all extraordinarily generous with their money, Xie Chi regarded Meng Shu with particular admiration.

“Are you trying to experience ordinary life? That’s pretty good, too. My senior martial sister has always wanted me to attend university, but I haven’t had the time.”

She’d been too busy earning money.

Meng Shu’s expression stiffened.

After a long while, he finally said, “The reason I have to work might be a little different from what you’re imagining. I… I haven’t completed my apprenticeship yet…”

Besides, not everyone in their profession could earn money. The more skilled someone was, the more they could earn. Many people without much talent were treated like scammers whenever they went out, let alone given opportunities to make money.

He lowered his head in embarrassment.

Her martial nephew was around the same age as unauthorized copy him, yet the man lived in a villa while he himself rented a small apartment.

They really were worlds apart.

Xie Chi: ?

“So you’re saying you haven’t even completed your apprenticeship, yet you dared to go somewhere that dangerous all by yourself?”

Meng Shu lowered his head so far that it was practically resting on his stomach.

“No, I haven’t graduated from my apprenticeship, but it’s not because I’m incompetent. It’s because… because I’m only good at one subject…”

Every Taoist priest had their own specialties.

Some excelled at performing rituals, some at drawing talismans, and others at examining feng shui. However, regardless of their individual specialties, they still had to achieve passing grades in several fundamental disciplines.

Meng Shu… was exceptionally skilled at feng shui.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have recognized that something was wrong with the hospital at a glance, nor would he have climbed through a window in the middle of the night to resolve the problem.

Unfortunately, his practical combat abilities were truly terrible.

He wasn’t qualified to accept assignments independently.

That was also why he had appeared at the hospital the previous night.

He’d wanted to gain some practical experience.

Xie Chi and her martial nephew didn’t have the chance to question him further, mainly because they finally received a reply.

Her martial nephew stared at the messages on WeChat for a long time before speaking.

“Hmm… My friend has suggested a solution. Why don’t you two take a look? Especially you, since you’re the one directly involved. If you think it’s acceptable, we can give it a try.”

Meng Shu leaned over to look.

His expression became so complicated that his entire face seemed to twist.

“Th-this… this…”

“If you don’t think it’ll work, we can try to find another solution. It’s just that this thing is so rare that there’s very little experience dealing with it. You might have to walk around with that big belly for quite some time.” Her martial nephew patted him on the shoulder. “The choice is yours. Think it over carefully.”

Xie Chi also looked at the proposed solution and tilted her head.

“Which part can’t you accept? Is it the part where you have to become its mother? It’s not like you’re actually—Mmmph, mmmph, mmmph!”

Meng Shu lunged forward and clamped a hand over her mouth.

“Please, I’m begging you, stop talking! Spare me a little dignity! I’m going to die of embarrassment!”

Her martial nephew stood to one side and made a show of reaching out to support him.

“Careful. You might disturb the fetus.”

“Oh, screw you!” Meng read the original at bailiantales.com Shu cried indignantly. “Neither of you has a conscience!”

We rich people don’t have consciences.

Xie Chi felt a little too embarrassed to keep teasing him, so she changed the subject.

“So, are you going to try it, or do you want to keep looking for another solution?”

Meng Shu was extremely uncomfortable with the idea.

He hesitated for a while, glanced down at his stomach, then gritted his teeth.

After all, things couldn’t possibly get any worse than they already were.

“Let’s do it!”