Pregnancy

The curse ended, and higher intellect recaptured the high ground. Having survived the ordeal, the team felt immense relief, but recalling everything that had just happened left them mortified and deeply embarrassed. It was far more humiliating and agonizing than the trials of "Frugality" and "Clarifying Ghosts." Even thick-skinned Xiahou Aotian could not help harboring thoughts of "I want to go home" and wishing the earth would open up and swallow him whole. Zhang Yuanqing, who had retained his human consciousness throughout, hurried over to Brother Red Chicken while retrieving the Mountain God Scepter and tossing it to Guan Ya. "Quick, quick, quick! Save them!" he urged. The uninjured members swiftly collected their emotions and dashed toward World Returns to Fire, Sun Miaomiao, and Brother Red Chicken to treat their dying comrades. Fortunately, because the curse had lifted in the nick of time, the three who had been hanging by a thread regained their normal status, pulling their feet back from the threshold of the underworld. The most gravely wounded was Brother Red Chicken. His spine was fractured, his internal organs were shredded, and he had suffered massive blood loss. Even with his spiritual energy restored, his condition remained precarious. The Fire Master lay limply on the ground, his face and lips as pale as paper. His pupils were unfocused and his chest heaved violently as his heart worked in overdrive, struggling to pump blood to his oxygen-starved brain, which only accelerated the hemorrhaging. Zhang Yuanqing produced a vial of clear, golden Life Source Fluid and injected it into the vein of Brother Red Chicken's neck. This was not the diluted variety. Diluted Life Source Fluid was incapable of salvaging an endangered Saint. This was the undiluted fluid paid in installments by the Xie family. Zhang Yuanqing stopped after injecting half the vial, waiting for Guan Ya to bring over the Mountain God Scepter. His current stock of Life Source Fluid was running low. Once Brother Red Chicken's injuries were stabilized, the rest could be left to self-healing items. "It hurts... it itches so bad..." Brother Red Chicken groaned and whined. The sensation of bones knitting back together was agonizing rather than pleasant. His fractured vertebrae proliferated at high speed, bridging the broken gaps as flesh and blood squirmed to mend the wounds, but the regeneration petered out before the repair was complete. Guan Ya walked over with flushed cheeks, having already stabilized World Returns to Fire. "Is Brother Red Chicken all right? Let me treat him." At this moment, Guan Ya's eyes were hazy and seductive, her cheeks glowing as if she were tipsy. One look at her state told Zhang Yuanqing that the Mountain God Scepter's side effect had taken hold. He immediately brought out the Ghost Mirror, snatched the scepter with one hand, and shoved the mirror into hers, whispering, "Hold this!" Although Guan Ya was still annoyed with him, she still cared for her boyfriend. She hesitated. "You'll do it?" "I'm protected by the divine power of the sun and have high resistance to negative statuses. That was also why I could keep my self-awareness earlier," Zhang Yuanqing said. The Qin dynasty fangshi had claimed he stayed human because of his rebellious nature and refusal to accept fate, but Zhang Yuanqing knew that disposition was only part of it. What mattered more was that the Pure Yang Body Cleansing Record had tempered him into an invulnerable form. Against curses, gu poison, mental manipulation, and similar skills, his resistance was extraordinarily high. Only then did Guan Ya accept the Ghost Mirror. The surging lust inside her was instantly suppressed, the undercurrent of passion settled, and the weakness in her legs vanished. Zhang Yuanqing pressed the emerald gem at the tip of the Mountain God Scepter against Brother Red Chicken's back. A gentle green radiance flared to life, and the arrested flesh and blood began squirming and growing anew, covering the spine. Brother Red Chicken's injuries were finally mostly repaired, enough for him to move normally. "Can you stand?" Zhang Yuanqing offered a hand. "Bloody hell, I took a whole stroll through the Gates of Hell..." Brother Red Chicken grumbled as he gripped Zhang Yuanqing's palm. Pulling himself up, he offered his thanks: "Good thing you were here, or I really would've kicked the bucket. Every S-rank instance is walking a tightrope. Surviving comes down to pure luck." "Half a vial of Life Source Fluid. Remember to pay me back," Zhang Yuanqing said, hauling him to his feet. Brother Red Chicken slung an arm over Zhang Yuanqing's shoulder, leaning his weight against him, and said heartily, "No problem at all! I've got Life Source Fluid too." With a flick of his wrist, he retrieved a syringe from his inventory. Zhang Yuanqing did not take it, saying flatly, "Pay me back once we clear the instance." Brother Red Chicken stared at him for several seconds, a rare look of solemnity crossing his features. "I wasn't wrong about you. You're a true brother." After a brief rest, the team walked up to the mechanical weapon, examined it, and reached out to touch its frame to inspect its information. [Name: Six Domestic Animals Apparatus] [Type: Mechanical Weapon] [Functions: Curse, Mental Guidance] [Description: Crafted by the Sect Master of the Mohist Sect using Mohist secret mechanical arts, infused with curse power and dream power, and supplemented by an array of top-tier materials. It can alter the destiny of all living organisms for a duration of five minutes. Ineffective against non-living entities.] [Remarks: This item cannot be taken out of the instance.] "So it incorporated dream power as well. No wonder it could warp our perception," Asano Ryo realized. The most terrifying aspect of dreams and illusions was never their raw lethality, but their insidious distortion of the mind and senses. "Shame it can't be taken out of the instance, or we'd be rich," Sun Miaomiao said wistfully. Thanks to the astonishing recuperative power of a Night Walker, her wounds had already completely healed. "An exquisite work of divine craftsmanship... truly divine..." Xiahou Aotian stroked the mechanical creation with deep affection, his face full of regret. "What a pity it can't be taken away." "It won't turn us into pigs again, will it?" Brother Red Chicken kicked the base, lingering dread in his voice. Zhang Yuanqing shook his head. "We've already cleared this stage, so there shouldn't be any danger. The only regret is that there was no good loot." With that, he picked up Little Red Riding Hood and stored it in his inventory. When he retrieved it again, the item had returned to normal. Zhang Yuanqing immediately stored the mechanical swordsman into the hat's spatial interior. "The less loot you get while clearing an instance, the richer your rewards during the final settlement," World Returns to Fire, having survived his brush with death, offered a rare attempt at humor. "It's called the Law of Conservation of Rewards." Seeing that his teammates offered no reaction, he blinked. "Not funny?" Everyone just barely clawed their way back from the grave, who has the patience for your dry jokes? Zhang Yuanqing silently turned around. "Let's move on to the next trial." The party followed in silence, leaving World Returns to Fire lost in contemplation. And so, they pressed forward through the spacious corridor, winding uphill and downhill by turns. Candlelight flickered in the wall niches. Above their heads lay not bare rock, but a paneled wooden ceiling. Every ten meters sat a row of air vents through which faint drafts filtered in. After walking for a dozen minutes, Brother Red Chicken suddenly rubbed his arms. "Why did it suddenly get cold? Is it just my imagination?" He was not the only one feeling the chill; the others could also sense a biting cold drifting through the air, seeping into their pores like fine needles. "It's not your imagination. It's yin energy," Sun Miaomiao said. "There's very heavy yin energy ahead—extremely heavy, heavier than on Corpse Refining Island at Qinfeng Academy." "It wasn't Corpse Refining Island, it was Chicken Heart Island," Zhao Chenghuang corrected. "I forgot, alright?" Sun Miaomiao stuck out her tongue. "What are you sticking your tongue out for? Gross," Zhang Yuanqing, walking in the lead, scoffed. "Your baby talk is what's gross!" "Oh? Why aren't you ramming my butt with your snout anymore?" "You...!" Seeing the two of them still had the leisure to bicker, Guan Ya and the others instantly felt their tension ease. Their team boasted three Stargazers; the thing they feared least was yin entities. Continuing forward, a frigid wind whipped through the passageway, the air grew increasingly damp, and the ambient light steadily brightened. After walking for another few minutes, they spotted the exit as faint sunlight poured into the mouth of the tunnel. Beyond the passageway lay a mountain valley. Dark, towering cliff walls were pierced by rows of parallel wooden stakes, upon which rested rotting coffins—over a hundred of them stretching across the rock face. The valley floor consisted of barren, blackish-brown soil without a single blade of grass. Though sunlight shone into the valley, it carried no warmth whatsoever, casting only a ghastly, pale glare. Two stone steles stood at the entrance to the corridor. One was inscribed with "Frugality in Funerals" and "Elevating the Worthy," while the other read "Reclaiming the Lost Rivers and Mountains." "We're here..." Zhang Yuanqing came to a halt, his expression turning solemn. Sun Miaomiao and Zhao Chenghuang also grew grave. In the eyes of the three Stargazers, the valley was saturated with pervasive yin energy that blotted out the warmth of the sun, and the entire expanse was teeming with vengeful spirits. Men and women, young and old—there were Jin soldiers clad in armor, as well as disciples in the garb of the Mohist Sect. Some were headless, some bled from all seven facial orifices, some wore expressions of deep-seated malice, and others wailed in bitter sorrow. The moment the group arrived at the valley, these vengeful spirits floating midair and drifting across the ground all turned their heads in unison, fixing the intruders with hollow, bone-chilling white eyes. An ordinary person witnessing this sight would have been scared out of their wits, and even Spirit Realm walkers felt an icy shiver run down their spines. Fortunately, no one other than the three Stargazers could see them. The rest of the party was still inspecting the coffins and stone tablets on the cliff face. Xiahou Aotian, as usual, gave his customary lecture: "'Frugality in funerals' means opposing the waste of time and wealth on the dead, while 'elevating the worthy' means appointing people based solely on merit, regardless of noble or humble birth." Xiao Yuan nodded slightly. "Another layer of meaning to 'frugality in funerals' is repurposing waste—refining the deceased into yin entities to guard the checkpoints. As for 'elevating the worthy,' it means that even enemies can become 'allies' driven to fight on their behalf." Xiahou Aotian was startled, clapping his hands in admiration. "Corporate-level insight!" Just as he spoke, a violent gale of yin wind whipped up inside the valley, sending a violent shiver through the physically frail fangshi. Sun Miaomiao raised her voice in warning: "Fall back! Everyone fall back! A wave of vengeful spirits is coming!" The vengeful spirits surged forward like an overwhelming tidal wave. Sun Miaomiao and Zhao Chenghuang took two strides forward, flanking Zhang Yuanqing. Thick, pitch-black energy welled up in the eye sockets of all three Stargazers as they unleashed their Spirit Devouring skill. The rushing horde of vengeful spirits ground to a sudden halt, falling into disarray. A Night Walker's innate suppression against spirits took effect. "If only I could've brought in my Soul-Calling Banner, all of these would be my soldiers," Sun Miaomiao said with a touch of regret. Taking advantage of the temporary suppression of the spirit army, she reached out into thin air, pulling out a yellow Daoist robe spattered with bloodstains and covered in drawn talismans. She blew a puff of breath onto the robe and tossed it high into the air. "Collect!" The Daoist robe unfurled in midair, generating a vortex of yin energy. Shrieking, the vengeful spirits dissolved into wisps of green smoke and were sucked into the garment along with the swirling current. What a formidable item... Zhang Yuanqing watched with envy. That robe was clearly a top-tier item whose grade and quality far exceeded what a Level 4 like Sun Miaomiao should possess. Its only possible source was the blessings of her sect or elders. Having a prominent Night Walker faction backing you was truly nice. Unlike him, who had only entered a handful of Night Walker-specific instances and possessed a pitifully limited number of class-exclusive items. His inventory was practically a brothel full of flashy floozies from every other profession. Suddenly, a shrill, piercing shriek rang out from high up in the valley. The minds of everyone at the tunnel entrance buzzed violently, as though struck squarely across the skull with a club. Warm fluid trickled from their nostrils, and their vision spun with intense vertigo. Crack! Zhang Yuanqing abruptly heard the sharp snap of breaking bone. Whirling around, he saw Sun Miaomiao's head twisted entirely backward, the skin and flesh of her neck tearing open under the strain, spilling copious amounts of blood. Bloody tears streamed from her eye sockets, and her expression was frozen in shock. Stripped of its master's control, the Daoist robe drifted down like a falling leaf. In Zhang Yuanqing's sight, a disheveled vengeful spirit in black robes had possessed Sun Miaomiao, inflicting catastrophic trauma upon her in the simplest, most lethal manner. Crack! Snap! Sun Miaomiao's knees and elbows were wrenched and twisted into mangled braids one after another. Meanwhile, Zhao Chenghuang and the teammates behind them were still reeling from the dizzying mental assault, leaving no one able to save her. "Miaomiao...!" Zhang Yuanqing's expression changed drastically. "Fuck, an Illusionist vengeful spirit!" he cursed. The darkness surged in his eye sockets once more as he clamped a hand around Sun Miaomiao's neck, seizing the spirit lurking inside her. Shielded by the Pure Yang Body Cleansing Record, he had suffered the least harm, and the vertigo had been negligible, allowing him to recover almost instantly. Only because of that was he able to step in. The instant he touched the vengeful spirit inside Sun Miaomiao, Zhang Yuanqing realized it was a high-grade spirit at the pinnacle of the Saint stage—an entire experience bar higher than himself. Sensing the suppression from a Stargazer of comparable level, the spirit's mental force swelled, preparing to unleash another mental strike. Yet the glamorous, alluring figure of Yi Chuanmei floated out from above Zhang Yuanqing's head, deep whirlpools swirling in her pupils. Dreamscape! The spirit's resistance inside Sun Miaomiao weakened rapidly, growing fainter and fainter as it slipped into a dream. Seizing the window Yi Chuanmei had created, Zhang Yuanqing condensed a faint golden glow in his palm and yanked with all his might, dragging out the disheveled, black-robed vengeful spirit. Immediately after, the golden light coalesced into a thin, delicate spear that he hurled straight at the spirit. Sizzle! The golden light impaled the spirit's incorporeal form, sending up plumes of thick green smoke. "Yi Chuanmei!" Zhang Yuanqing barked the instant the spear left his hand. Attuned to her master's intent, Yi Chuanmei threw back her snow-white neck without hesitation and launched a Mental Strike at the spirit. A split second later, the spirit began to shriek, but the sound cut off abruptly as it clutched its head in agony, howling in torment. By this time, Zhao Chenghuang had recovered from the mental blow. Without a word, he grabbed a stack of spirit-sealing talismans from his inventory and whipped his wrist. The talismans shot forth and adhered to the spirit's form, hissing like red-hot irons branding a snowman and throwing off thick black smoke. Guan Ya darted out from behind them, swift as a soaring dragon, leaping high into the air to deliver a downward cleave straight at the spirit! A Swordsman's baleful aura inflicted devastating damage on spirits, and her Insight allowed her to vaguely sense the creature's position. Battered by consecutive strikes, the spirit's aura plummeted sharply, dropping from the Level 6 peak to the early Level 6 stage. It rocketed upward, fleeing toward the towering cliff face while unleashing an ear-splitting shriek. Mental Strike! The surviving vengeful spirits throughout the valley flew upward alongside it, hurtling like moths into a flame to merge directly into the black-robed spirit's form. Devouring the spirits to bolster itself, it unleashed yet another shriek—this time not a mental attack, but a summons. The lids of the hundred-plus coffins lining the cliffs flew open simultaneously, plummeting from on high with thundering crashes like a torrential downpour, creating a magnificent spectacle. Inside the coffins, grotesque, rotting yin corpses sat upright, their necks clicking and grinding as their heads twisted downward toward the team below. "Holy crap, all yin corpses, and high-quality ones at that," Zhang Yuanqing clicked his tongue repeatedly. "Talk about loaded." As a Stargazer, he could gauge the corpses' caliber simply from their aura. Most were at the Transcendent stage, but quite a few were of Saint caliber. Against yin corpses, Night Walkers held no innate suppression. While corpse-suppressing talismans were effective, drawing talismans against such a massive horde was clearly not a viable tactic; smashing them to bits with physical force made far more sense. Zhao Chenghuang felt the gravity of the situation and said in a heavy voice, "Take this seriously. We have a bitter battle ahead." Over a hundred yin corpses, spearheaded by a Level 6 vengeful spirit, made for a grueling fight even for a squad as formidable as the Dead Men. "In my domain, how could I let it strut around like this?" Zhang Yuanqing reached out his hand. A baby's head appeared in his palm. The infant looked extraordinarily adorable, with plump, chubby cheeks, milky-white skin, and long, interlaced eyelashes, looking as though it were peacefully asleep. Were it not merely a severed head, it would have been a baby that anyone would dote on. "Holy shit!" Brother Red Chicken and Xiahou Aotian cried out in unison, instinctively clutching their lower abdomens. "Why the fuck did you bring that thing?!" Brother Red Chicken stammered in panic, backing away step by step. Xiahou Aotian was retreating just as hurriedly. Guan Ya raised an eyebrow, recognizing it as the Xie family's Holy Infant, capable of letting maiden girls and virgin boys experience the wonders of pregnancy. "What's wrong?" Asano Ryo asked curiously, noticing the sudden terror and tension gripping the two men. Brother Red Chicken glanced at her. "You don't have a boyfriend yet, right? Never had a kid?" Asano Ryo flushed with embarrassment and anger, thinking this man was utterly uncouth—how could he be so rude to an eighteen-year-old girl? Brother Red Chicken grunted, "That thing is called the Holy Infant. Its cries will get you pregnant." Whoosh! Asano Ryo, Xiao Yuan, Commandery Princess Yinyao, and World Returns to Fire scrambled backward in a frantic rush. Sensing the scene behind him, Zhang Yuanqing curled his lips into a smirk. "If you don't want to carry my children, cover your ears and retreat into the tunnel. "Next up: ghost-birthing time!" With that, he pressed the Holy Infant against his shoulder. Blood vessels and nerves sprouted from the infant's neck, grafting directly into the flesh of his shoulder. Infused with life, its tightly shut eyes snapped wide open.