I looked at Hu Xin. “The nine flower buds are the nine fetal spirits, but are there really nine embryos in her womb?”
Right now, that meant nine child spirits had been crammed into a single body. If they weren’t born—or even if they were—they’d become a monster, because as they developed, the fetal spirits would fight over nutrients from their mother’s body. Whoever managed to seize the arms, legs, and body first would survive, no matter how many limbs ended up on one body.
Nine souls in one womb—Châu Thai joined as one.
If this wasn’t dealt with, something would happen sooner or later.
And on top of that, Huo Weiwei had died while pregnant. The nine fetal spirits in her womb couldn’t be born, and would turn into a terrifying Châu Thai Sát!
Everyone connected to this would have to die!
No one could escape!
Hu Xin’s face went deathly pale. “Then… what do we do? What do we do?! Is there still time to get an abortion?”
“It’s too late.” They were already at the crematorium. What was the point of an abortion now?!
He looked over at Zhang Yan, trembling, then pulled out his phone and started booking a train ticket home right away. “Then… then doesn’t that mean his family will die first? If I leave now, can I still make it?”
Zhang Yan heard him.
He curled his lip and stepped forward. “What the hell? Châu Thai Sát? Don’t try to pull a fast one. My family already had Master Lü look into it. There’s nothing wrong. You two putting on this act—aren’t you just trying to scam us out of money?”
His mouth twisted into a contemptuous smile. “Honestly, what school beauty or internet star haven’t I seen? Someone like Huo Weiwei—if she hadn’t clung to me and claimed she was still a virgin, would I have even touched her?”
Weiwei’s father was so angry he stammered. “Y-you’re talking nonsense! You were the one who pursued her!”
Zhang Yan sneered and lowered his voice. “So what? She’s dead now. There’s no proof. And you’re saying my family forced her to her death so you could extort money from us? Open your eyes and look at the security footage! She jumped on her own!”
“A dirt-poor woman who reeks of poverty. Giving you money was already an act of charity, so don’t get greedy.”
As he spoke, he reached into his bag, grabbed a handful of cash, and flung it all over the ground. “Now I can take the college entrance exam in peace. A girl I got tired of playing with wants to use her pregnancy to marry up? A boy? Even if she gave birth to a crown prince, it’d be useless! Let’s be honest—you just want money, right? Get down on your knees and pick it up. Take your time. This is charity from me to you.”
Hu Xin gasped for breath as he watched the bills flutter down in front of him.
So much money.
His fingers trembled slightly.
The Zhang family had come here today intending to settle everything with money. After all, the college entrance exam was tomorrow, and they couldn’t let anything affect Zhang Yan’s future.
The security guards nearby and the passersby had already started sneaking down to pick up the money.
A few cleaning ladies hurried over. “Don’t get your hands dirty, everyone. We’ll sweep it all up.”
I was the only one who didn’t touch a single bill.
The living don’t take money from the dead.
Zhang Yan’s eyes were bloodshot, and he was practically overflowing with murderous intent. If he kept acting recklessly and no one dealt with him right away, he wouldn’t live past eleven tomorrow morning.
Oh—right in the middle of the college entrance exam…
“What are you throwing money around for? Tossing spirit money into a dark alley—are you tired of living?”
When Zhang Yan saw that I was indifferent to the bills flying everywhere—and even seemed ready to hit him—a flicker of interest lit his eyes. “Well, well. You’re the first person who hasn’t bothered picking up the money. I don’t believe there’s anyone who can resist it.”
He grabbed another big handful and flung it again. A shower of deep-red bills drifted down from the air.
What an idiot.
The spot where Huo Weiwei died had originally been a basement. Sunlight couldn’t reach it, and the yin energy there was extremely heavy. A funeral home was an even more shadowy place.
He was asking for death.
Sure enough, the stretcher carrying Huo Weiwei’s body suddenly grew heavy and thumped to the ground.
Her body rolled onto its side, and the burial cloth over her face slipped out of place.
Crack, crack!
It sounded as though something had just broken.
Then a red stain slowly spread beneath the white cloth.
Huo Weiwei’s belly rose even higher, as if something inside were thrashing about.
It looked exactly like… she was about to give birth!
The two funeral home attendants jumped in fright, and everyone turned their eyes toward her.
Zhang Yan’s expression changed drastically. He looked a little panicked and immediately called for his Master Lü to come take a look.
Terrified, Hu Xin grabbed my sleeve. “Master An, what’s happening? Why is this happening?”
“Let go.” I was going to get the cinnabar.
“Master An, I’m scared.”
Hu Xin wept bitterly. “You know Weiwei and I never got along. I hit her before, and she cursed me too. I…”
As he spoke, Huo Weiwei’s belly thrashed more and more violently.
Even using Di Hoa Âm Pháp to conceive couldn’t possibly cause a reaction this strong.
It wasn’t murderous energy.
From close by, Zhang Yan and his parents could all see what was happening.
Zhang’s mother was a doctor, and her expression turned grim as she watched.
Master Lü stood beside them, visibly tense. He swallowed, picked up a cheap market-bought sword, and stepped forward.
Under everyone’s watchful gaze, he steeled himself and lifted the white cloth.
Beneath it… was a large snake.
Everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, a living creature wasn’t as frightening as something dead.
But why was there a snake here?
Zhang Yan wiped the sweat from his forehead, while Master Lü broke into a smug grin. “The deceased must have been born in the Year of the Snake. Their own kind are drawn to each other.”
So he was a fraud after all.
I glanced at him.
He smiled back at me, too.
Zhang’s father ordered them to kill the snake.
A security guard used a heavy-duty steel animal-control tong to clamp onto it. It writhed violently, and its length was astonishing.
But on closer inspection…
It wasn’t a single snake.
It was a group of small snakes, each biting the next one’s tail, tightly coiled together into one body.
The tong’s tip pierced the cloaca of one of them, and several small snakes immediately came spilling out.
Nine of them.
Under the glaring lights, the sight sent chills down everyone’s spines.
Usually, the snakes that turned up inside houses were harmless house snakes. You could just catch them and release them.
But these snakes had appeared in such a sinister way—and they’d crawled out of Huo Weiwei’s corpse.
Master Lü furrowed his brow, his phoenix-shaped eyes slanting upward with a look full of……serious.
“That’s not right.”
“We can’t let them get away.”
Zhang’s father gritted his teeth and nodded firmly. “Right. Don’t fear the strange. If you see a monster, kill it.”
“Kill them!”
Hearing that, I immediately frowned. “You can’t touch the snakes.”
“This place is currently under the influence of the Two Blacks and Five Yellows. The yin energy in the ground is at its peak. Snakes may be cold-blooded, but in the Five Elements, they belong to Metal—the element that most strongly restrains yin earth. Besides, at the Zi and Wu hours, yang reaches its peak and gives birth to yin. If blood is shed now, the consequences could be dire.”
Zhang’s father lifted his chin and looked at me with contempt. “Hey, you. Where’d you come from?”
“By the time Master Lü here had traveled all over the place, you were still in diapers, weren’t you?”
“Even I know Earth produces Metal. Snakes belong to Metal, so how could they restrain yin energy? You think you can tell us what to do?”
The people around us wore scornful expressions too, as if I were showing off in front of an expert.
Zhang’s father waved his hand.
Before he could finish speaking, one snake’s head fell to the ground.
Then a second.
The decapitated snakes began thrashing violently on the ground.
Master Lü glanced at me and turned the wooden-bead bracelet in his hand. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”
He turned to Zhang’s father. “Mr. Zhang, get the body moved right away.”
Huo Weiwei’s corpse was strangely heavy, even though it felt soft and limp.
What’s more, on closer inspection, it seemed even bigger than before.
Two burly men tried to lift the corpse, but couldn’t budge it.
The more they lifted, the heavier it became.
Their blood ran cold.
Following his father’s example, Zhang Yan shouted, “Lift it! If one person can’t do it, get two! If you can’t lift the whole body, cut it up!”
As soon as the word “cut” rang out, Huo Weiwei’s belly suddenly fell silent.
I closed my left eye and opened my right.
Countless evil spirits were hovering around Huo Weiwei.
Some were trying to pull the fetuses from her womb.
Others were struggling to force their way inside.
At Zhang Yan’s words, they all turned toward him, their eyes filled with hatred. It wasn’t easy to be born with a complete soul.
Some fetal spirits had to endure countless tribulations, yet in the end still failed to take shape.
Now there was a perfect fetus here, carrying such heavy yin energy. How could they not be tempted?