Chapter 65: Ghost Fetus

“Okay.” Wen Chu nodded.

He didn’t quite understand, but since Xiu said there was no problem, then there must be no problem.

He climbed back onto Xiu’s back and followed him down from the hotel rooftop. Unexpectedly, they ran into a yawning Yuan Le in the stairwell.

“Returning your sword.” Xiu casually tossed the peach wood sword back to him.

“Whoa! Be careful!” Yuan Le frantically caught it with both hands.

Xiu, carrying Wen Chu, walked past indifferently. “If it breaks, I’ll pay you for it.”

Yuan Le followed them like a puppy. “This isn’t about money. Although this sword isn’t worth much, it’s been with me for over ten years. This is about our feelings! Feelings!”

Xiu ignored him. Wen Chu glanced at him curiously.

Being stared at by a red-clothed spectre made Yuan Le’s hair stand on end, and he couldn’t help but shut his mouth.

A moment later, Wen Chu spoke: “Are you and this sword lovers?”

It wasn’t a joking tone; he was asking quite seriously if Yuan Le and the sword were in love.

Yuan Le: “…”

The creepy feeling from earlier instantly vanished. Yuan Le said, “How is that possible? If I’m going to love someone, it’ll be a beautiful woman.”

Wen Chu withdrew his gaze, losing interest. Mimicking Xiu’s tone, he commented coldly: “Superficial.”

Yuan Le, having been insulted by a ghost: “…”

As expected of a ghost raised by Xiu; even their harshness was identical.

The two men and one ghost took the elevator back down to the fourth floor.

Yuan Le couldn’t help asking Xiu, “So, what exactly did you encounter? Borrowing my sword in the middle of the night.”

At first, he thought Xiu had suffered a backlash from the spectre he carried, but looking at him now, that didn’t seem to be the case.

Xiu lowered his eyes. “It’s about Wen Yaozu. The female ghost in red from this morning didn’t die. She dragged me and him into an illusion just now. I broke the illusion, but if we can’t find her hiding spot and destroy her main body, we can’t completely eliminate her.”

Both Yuan Le and Wen Chu were startled.

Yuan Le frowned, his expression turning grave. “Then should we report this to President Ren now and detain Wen Yaozu for the time being?”

Xiu shook his head. “Tensions between the New and Old Schools are already high. This cooperation was rushed, and creating more issues might cause a rift. Don’t make this public yet. I have a lead; I’ll inform President Ren in a bit.”

After saying this, he raised his hand to burn a soundproofing talisman before looking at Yuan Le.

“I need you to do something for me.”

Yuan Le stood at attention. “Please speak.”

Xiu: “Go to the police station. Pull up all records on An Ya from when she was alive, focusing on investigating her relationship with the Wen family.”

“Also, use whatever means necessary to find any and all information on the Wen family from the past.”

“You mean…” Yuan Le’s expression grew increasingly serious.

Xiu looked up at him. “You find it strange too, right? The Old School masters care most about family lineage, yet in today’s meeting, not a word was mentioned about the Wen family’s history. Before this, not a single person from our New School had even heard of a ‘Wen family’ lineage of exorcists.”

“Even regarding the plan I proposed today, not a single Old School master objected. Wen Yaozu aside, the other families aren’t exactly benevolent types.”

“—They are hiding something from us and want to use us because of it.”

Yuan Le looked solemn. “I understand. Leave it to me.”

Xiu casually pulled a card from his pocket and threw it at Yuan Le. “Password is six ones. Operational funds.”

Yuan Le grinned from ear to ear, happily pocketing the card. “Yes, Boss!”

Ding—

The elevator arrived, and Xiu and Yuan Le went their separate ways.

Wen Chu lay on Xiu’s back, listening until he felt dizzy.

Watching Xiu unlock the door to return to the room, he couldn’t help asking, “What plan did you propose?”

Xiu inserted the key card and said calmly, “Using myself as bait to lure out the escaped Formation Eye.”

Wen Chu almost choked on his non-existent saliva.

“You, you… you’re seducing the Formation Eye?”

Xiu thought Wen Chu’s choice of words was a bit strange (“seduce” vs “lure”), but considering the ghost was unfamiliar with modern terminology, he didn’t think much of it and simply said, “En.”

Wen Chu’s face turned red. “How will you seduce him?”

Xiu carried him into the bedroom and placed him on the bed. While untying the golden thread at the window, he explained, “When the Formation Eye escaped, a barrier was activated over the entire capital. He can’t leave the city. As long as the exorcists set up a grand array covering the capital, and I use my spiritual power within the array to send the Yang energy from my body to every corner of the city, that ghost will naturally smell it and appear.”

In other words, Xiu’s scent would be blown to every corner of the city.

Wen Chu’s face wasn’t red anymore; instead, he said sourly, “Then other ghosts will smell it too.”

Xiu replied coldly, “Except for the Ghost King, I can take out any other ghost with a single strike. Besides, there will be exorcists manning the array all around. It takes a lot of effort, but it’s the fastest method.”

The Ghost King himself, who could supposedly be taken out by one strike: “…”

Wen Chu swallowed nervously. “What if the Ghost King is weak?”

Xiu paused for a moment. “Unlikely? Otherwise, how could he break free—”

Xiu’s voice came to an abrupt halt.

Wen Chu looked at him in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

“Something’s not right,” Xiu lowered his eyes, muttering to himself. “Up until now, Ren Chuanyu hasn’t told us the location of the Formation Eye or how the grand array operates.”

“Rumor has it that the Reincarnation Grand Array was completed only by exhausting the power of all exorcists a hundred years ago. To seal the Formation Eye back in this time, it’s impossible that they don’t need our assistance. What exactly is she hiding?”

“Maybe she just forgot to say it?” Wen Chu had a decent impression of the middle-aged woman.

“I hope so. Hopefully, tomorrow’s meeting will add the details.” Xiu’s brows remained furrowed.

He believed he was a good judge of character. Ren Chuanyu and the majority of the Old School masters were definitely not selfish, petty people.

On the contrary, most Old School masters held a near-pedantic belief in “saving the world,” and many had sacrificed their lives for it.

In short, they weren’t the type to harm New School masters for personal gain.

So what were they hiding?

Wen Chu didn’t understand the twists and turns of it all. Seeing Xiu’s worried look, he couldn’t help floating over and reaching out to touch the center of the blond exorcist’s brow. “Don’t think about these things. You’ll know tomorrow.”

The spectre’s fingertips passed through the exorcist’s brow, bringing a familiar coolness to his forehead.

Xiu paused.

No, it wasn’t just his forehead.

The trace of Ghost Qi that had entered his lower abdomen earlier seemed to sense the touch of its main body and was responding happily in his belly.

His abdominal cavity, already filled with Ghost Qi, felt even more distended, giving Xiu a momentary illusion that his belly had been stretched larger.

Xiu pursed his lips and looked down at his still-flat lower abdomen.

“Xiu?” Wen Chu looked at him with confusion.

Xiu masked his expression. Silently, he used his spiritual power to wrap around the Ghost Qi in his abdomen, compressing it into a small ball and stuffing it into his dantian.

It should be purified by tomorrow.

Thinking this, Xiu plucked Wen Chu off himself and put him back on the bed. “It’s nothing. You’re right, we’ll know tomorrow. Let’s not talk about this.”

Setting aside the suspicious Exorcist Conference for now, Xiu finally turned his attention to the issue of Wen Chu sneaking out.

He crossed his arms and looked at Wen Chu sitting on the bed. “Didn’t I tell you not to go out if the talisman disappeared? Why did you go out?”

He had been sleeping when he suddenly felt an emptiness in his arms. When he opened his eyes, the white-haired boy was gone. It had nearly scared him into a cold sweat.

Wen Chu hadn’t expected Xiu to bring this up suddenly. He shrank his neck and said weakly, “She scared me…”

Xiu scoffed coldly. “You’re a ghost, and you can be scared by another ghost? are you an idiot?”

Wen Chu lowered his eyes. “But as soon as I looked up, I saw your corpse on the ceiling. It was so scary. I was afraid.”

Xiu fell silent.

Wen Chu continued, “Then you knocked on the door from the outside and told me there was a ghost in the room and to come out. I knew it was fake, but staying in the room was scary…”

Wen Chu was speaking half-truths.

It wasn’t convenient to tell Xiu about the previous world, nor was it easy to mention he went to steal Wen Yaozu’s bone flute. Wen Chu ultimately chose to attribute everything to “fear.”

Anyway, Xiu didn’t like him. At most, Xiu would just think he was a useless ghost again.

Being useless was fine. Once he saved up enough Yang energy, Xiu would naturally know whether he was a little useless thing or not.

Wen Chu lowered his eyes, obediently staring at his hands on his knees, ready to accept Xiu’s mockery.

But after waiting a long time, he only heard a soft sigh from Xiu.

“…Forget it, stupid ghost.”

Xiu thought, This spectre was probably genuinely frightened.

He patted Wen Chu’s head. “You have the Five Emperors Coins I gave you on your wrist, and your heart is my Soul-Nourishing Jade. No matter where you are, I can find you and bring you back. Next time you encounter a situation like this, don’t be afraid. Wait obediently for me. I will definitely arrive within five minutes.”

Wen Chu nuzzled Xiu’s palm.

The exorcist’s hand was warm; it was the body temperature of a human.

Xiu is so good.

Thinking this, Wen Chu pursed his lips and smiled. “Okay.”

Xiu looked at the smile at the corner of his lips and paused again. After a moment, he looked away and checked the time.

“It’s three o’clock. Go to sleep. There’s a meeting tomorrow morning,” Xiu said stiffly.

“Also, tomorrow night I need to go to Wen Yaozu’s room. Wait for me in the room, or if you’re scared, I can send you to Yuan Le’s place.”

Wen Chu was curious. “What are you going to do in Wen Yaozu’s room?”

Xiu: “Get his bone flute.”

Wen Chu: “…”

He was stealing it, yet coming from Xiu’s mouth, it sounded like a righteous retrieval.

Wen Chu immediately said, “I want to go too!”

Xiu frowned. “It’s dangerous. We don’t know what that bone flute is. It made you faint last time.”

Wen Chu looked like he was about to cry. “I’ll be scared all alone as a ghost.”

Xiu: “That’s why I said I’d send you to Yuan Le…”

Wen Chu: “No! He likes beautiful women. What if he takes a liking to me?”

Xiu: “…”

Xiu: “You are a male ghost.” The complete opposite of a beautiful woman.

Wen Chu threw a tantrum. “I don’t want to! I don’t want to go to Yuan Le’s. He’s so fierce and scary. I want to be with you.”

This was purely lying through his teeth.

But Xiu thought about it seriously and truly didn’t feel at ease handing the ghost in front of him to anyone else. He sighed and agreed. “Alright then.”

He could protect him anyway.

“Yay!” Wen Chu cheered.

Xiu also sat on the bed. “It’s late. Sleep.”

Wen Chu consciously rolled into Xiu’s arms, holding Xiu’s hand to sleep.

The ball of Ghost Qi suppressed in the dantian sensed the touch of its main body and tried to respond again.

Upon finding that the response was cut off by the spiritual power wrapped around it, the Ghost Qi quieted down, feeling aggrieved.

It hid itself and began to slowly absorb the power of the main body and the surrounding spiritual energy, growing silently and inconspicuously.

In his sleep, the blond exorcist frowned. For the first time ever, he had a nightmare.

In the dream, his lower abdomen no longer felt merely distended, but began to have a heavy sensation of gestation.

He watched helplessly as his belly grew bigger and bigger, the ominous aura becoming thicker and thicker.

From a slight curve to the size of a full-term pregnancy, until finally, he couldn’t button his shirt and could only walk while supporting his belly in loose robes.

Yet, no one noticed his strange belly.

Xiu had to drag his heavy body to continue directing the capture of the Formation Eye. Every night, the fetal movements in his pregnant belly kept him awake, and he even developed reactions he shouldn’t have.

Restricted by his belly, he couldn’t touch himself. He could only kneel on the bed and rub against the sheets. Even rubbing didn’t bring release; he could only clench the sheets, helplessly feeling the emptiness behind him.

How did this happen?

Xiu tried to use spiritual power to abort the fetus, but it was useless. He asked others for help, but no one could hear anything about the ghost fetus. It was as if he were locked in a pregnancy hell that only he endured.

Intuition told him that once the Ghost King was caught, everything would be fine.

Gritting his teeth, Xiu held on until the day the Ghost-Catching Grand Array was set up. Supporting his belly, he walked with trembling legs to the center of the Formation Eye and inputted his spiritual power.

The array shone with golden light, and his spiritual power spread to every corner of the city along with the array.

The ghost fetus, which had been quiet in his pregnant belly for a long time, just silently growing, suddenly became restless at this moment.

“Ah!”

Xiu let out a cry of pain, unable to support himself any longer, and collapsed to his knees in the center of the Formation Eye.

His robes were completely wet; it seemed his water had broken at this moment.

Xiu looked blankly at the puddle of water beneath him, holding his belly and wanting to call for a stop. He was about to give birth.

Just then, a soft chuckle rang out.

“Brother,” a gentle, soft voice of a young man came.

Xiu looked up and met the face of a white-haired youth, beautiful to the point of being demonic.

The white-haired youth, eyes curving with a smile and dressed in vibrant red robes, descended beside him where he sat helplessly on the ground. He reached out a finger to hook Xiu’s chin.

The ghost fetus in his belly seemed to sense the father’s call and began to pulsate madly.

“Uh… ah.” Xiu clutched his belly, cold sweat pouring down. “It’s you…”

The white-haired youth curved his eyes. “It’s me. Wasn’t it Exorcist Brother himself who offered to seduce me?”

“Then, as the price for seducing me, getting pregnant with my child is only natural, right?”

The youth’s slender fingers rested on his thigh. The surrounding exorcists turned a blind eye to this.

His legs were spread apart in public.

The white-haired youth said with a smile, “I’ll help you widen the birth canal. Don’t be afraid, it will be quick.”

“No—!”

Xiu sat up abruptly.

The hotel room was quiet. There was no white-haired youth, no exorcists, and no grand array. Only the sunlight filtering through the gaps in the curtains spilled onto the bed.

Xiu looked down in a daze at his flat lower abdomen.

There was no pregnant belly or ghost fetus.

Only his pants…

He had actually had a wet dream.

“Hmm…?” Wen Chu woke up groggily and saw Xiu staring at his own stomach with a solemn expression.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem with the Ghost Qi from last night?” Wen Chu asked subconsciously.

He reached out to touch Xiu’s abdomen. “Do you want me to see if I can take it back?”

Xiu recoiled almost reflexively.

Wen Chu: …?

Wen Chu looked at Xiu with a gaze that was both confused and hurt.

The face of the person in the dream was already blurry, but Xiu stared suspiciously at Wen Chu’s white hair and said thoughtfully, “Call me ‘Exorcist Brother’.”

Wen Chu didn’t understand why, but he did as asked: “Exorcist Brother.”

It sounded almost exactly the same as the youth in the dream.

Xiu shuddered, nearly getting a reaction again on the spot.

He threw off the covers and got out of bed as if fleeing, rushing towards the bathroom.

“Don’t follow me.”

Xiu hastily dropped this sentence and slammed the bathroom door shut with a bang.

He even locked it.

Wen Chu: ?

Last night he was cuddling me to sleep, and this morning he turns his face and doesn’t recognize the ghost.

Xiu is a big scumbag who refuses to take responsibility after sleeping.

Wen Chu didn’t listen this time. He flew directly over, passing through the wall.

He was going to follow. He wanted to see what Xiu was sneaking around doing so early in the morning.

.

Inside the bathroom.

Whoosh—

Cold water from the shower poured down over his head. Dirty clothes were thrown into the hamper. Xiu pushed his wet blond hair back from his forehead, revealing the handsome and sharp lines of his face.

He looked down at his lower body and pressed his forehead against the cold bathroom tiles in frustration.

How could I have such a wet dream?

Pursing his lips, Xiu used his hand to take care of himself, feeling uncontrollably ashamed as he did so.

That ghost is indeed beautiful, but that’s no reason for me to dream about getting pregnant with a ghost fetus for him.

And in such an obscene way…

Xiu recalled the image from the dream where he had a pregnant belly and was spread open by the white-haired youth in full view of everyone. His eyes went blank, and he lost it directly.

The virile twenty-four-year-old young exorcist didn’t even last three minutes for the first time.

Xiu: “…”

Xiu now not only suspected he was a pervert but also slightly doubted his sexual function.

Xiu looked at his lower abdomen again.

It was very flat, with defined abs, showing no signs of pregnancy.

Xiu uneasily used spiritual power to check once more. Indeed, there was only the aura of his spiritual power in his abdomen. The bit of Ghost Qi from last night should have been purified long ago.

Expressionless, he washed away the filth on his body and began to wonder if the recent pressure was too great, to the point where he wouldn’t even let a ghost off in his dreams.

Maybe I should take a short vacation after this mission to capture the Ghost King.

Thinking this, Xiu turned to squeeze some body wash.

Then, he came face-to-face with a beautiful face almost pressed against the glass of the shower stall.

Long white hair, red robes. Those round, azure eyes were staring at him unblinkingly, cheeks slightly flushed.

Xiu: “…”

Wen Chu blushed, his eyes sparkling. “Xiu, if you need relief, you can come to me. I need your Yang energy.”

The scent in the bathroom was so strong it almost drowned him. Every molecule in the air was dancing, circling in front of Wen Chu’s eyes, issuing an invitation of “Come eat me quickly.”

If not for his remaining reason, and the fact that he didn’t have a solid body, Wen Chu would have already gone in and hugged Xiu to gnaw on him.

Xiu taking care of himself while holding the wall is so sexy too.

It’s just… didn’t it seem a bit too fast?

Thinking this, Wen Chu looked at Xiu with confusion and asked uncertainly, “But, are you okay? Is it normal for humans to be like this?”

Xiu: “…”

Xiu reached the limit of his endurance. “Get out!”

Wen Chu floated to the top of the shower stall.

There was a considerable gap between the glass door of the shower and the ceiling. Wen Chu lay on top of the glass door, boldly poking his head in to look. “No way. I am a seductive spectre; I eat Yang energy.”

“You really smell so good. Let me have a bite, please, Exorcist Brother—”

The boy dragged out the ending note, calling him with soft coquettishness.

Xiu hadn’t completely calmed down yet.

The moment Wen Chu’s words left his mouth, Xiu wanted to turn his body away in panic.

But it was too late.

Wen Chu lay on the door frame, stunned. “You again…?”

Xiu turned around, leaving only the tips of his ears, red under his short blond hair, visible to Wen Chu. “Get out!!”

Wen Chu wouldn’t get out.

He had originally just wanted to beg Xiu a little, but now discovering that Xiu’s reaction was because of him, how could he let the other party off?

The red-clothed spectre floated straight in through the gap above the door.

He floated behind Xiu and embraced his waist.

The semi-transparent ghost hands couldn’t touch, but they left a cold sensation on the side of the waist.

Wen Chu rested his chin on Xiu’s shoulder, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, “Exorcist Brother?”

His hands also covered Xiu’s.

Clearly, there was no physical contact.

But when those beautiful, fair hands covered his own hand and the object, Xiu felt a cold caress.

They were almost the same size as the spectre’s slender arms, yet at this moment, they seemed incredibly useless.

Xiu trembled, a whimpering sound, nearly inaudible, escaping his throat.

This time, he didn’t even last a minute.

As soon as the spectre behind him spoke, he surrendered.

【Lifespan +10h】
【Remaining Lifespan: 6 days 21 hours 41 minutes】

Wen Chu blinked his eyes.

So it can increase lifespan like this too.

Last night he had slept holding Xiu’s hand the whole time, and now having obtained so much Yang energy from Xiu, his lifespan was almost at seven days.

The blond exorcist was still staring at his hand in a trance, seemingly unable to understand how he could be so fast.

Wen Chu, however, stared thoughtfully at the red sting mark on the ring finger of Xiu’s right hand that had never faded.

He poked the system: 【Will Xiu’s body not return to its initial state?】

System: 【It is the same person.】

Meaning even if it wanted to recover, it couldn’t.

Wen Chu smiled.

He didn’t quit while he was ahead. Instead, he continued to float at Xiu’s shoulder, calling out to him again and again, “Exorcist Brother, look back at me, Brother?”

The boy was born beautiful; in this situation, he truly looked like some spirit-sucking succubus.

Xiu trembled, incurably reacting once again.

Wen Chu didn’t reach out to touch Xiu.

He admired the smooth muscle lines of Xiu’s back, curving his lips in a light smile. “Do you like me calling you Brother that much?”

He sighed with genuine emotion, “Xiu, your hobbies are so strange.”

Xiu’s entire body shuddered.

【Lifespan +10h】
【Remaining Lifespan: 7 days 07 hours 41 minutes】

Eh?

Wen Chu looked at the suddenly increased lifespan in surprise.

It can increase even without touching?

Wait, Xiu can lose it even like this?

Wen Chu was a bit worried: 【What to do? Xiu seems… a little broken.】

System: 【…】

Wen Chu revealed his true intentions: 【So in this world, can I still transfer lifespan to heal him?】

System: 【There is no such ability in the initial introduction, so that means no.】

Wen Chu sighed: 【Alright then. Then Xiu will just have to stay broken.】

System: 【…It’s not that we can’t add it.】

---

Author’s Note:

Although Xiu doesn’t say it, when Wen Chu calls him Brother, Teacher, or Mama, he is secretly enjoying it.