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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 142: Ghost Infant
Just when Cao Qilong and I thought we would be obliterated, a strange scene unfolded before us. The corpse demon that had lunged at us was now clawing at the air in front of us, revealing a row of yellow teeth behind its greenish lips, and the stench was unbearable.
The corpse demon stood right in front of us but could not enter our space, merely glaring at us with its white eyes devoid of pupils, staring intently as if it could see us.
It was as if there was a glass wall keeping the corpse demon two steps away from the wall. After confirming that the corpse demon could not approach us, Cao Qilong pulled me up to stand against the wall. I muttered various names of famous deities from Taoism and Buddhism, thanking them for their protection, reciting phrases like "Amitabha," "Infinite Buddha," and "Blessings from the Ancestors."
Seeing the corpse demon's menacing display, Cao Qilong laughed heartlessly and picked up the Emperor Sword from my hand to stab at the corpse demon. I didn’t know what was happening; the Emperor Sword should have contained righteous energy, yet it had no effect on the corpse demon. I tugged at Cao Qilong, reminding him that this was not a time for games.
Perhaps the corpse demon was angered by Cao Qilong's antics; it slammed itself against the wall with all its might. There was an invisible barrier separating us, and we watched as the corpse demon leaped violently towards us, arms outstretched, its five fingernails glinting with an eerie black light under the lantern's glow. Its wrinkled face revealed a row of yellow teeth, clearly intent on biting us to death. A chill ran down my spine; if this mysterious "wall" failed to stop its attack, both Cao Qilong and I would surely be left with nothing but skin.
The corpse demon crashed toward us and just as it reached one step away, it rebounded off this "wall." The force of its impact was immense; it had previously caused blood to spew from its own mouth with just a casual swipe. Now, receiving that backlash, it was flung far back, crashing into another coffin. The force had not fully dissipated from the corpse demon's body; the coffin flew several meters away upon impact with the courtyard's pillar. Since there were no nails in the coffin, only a thin layer of white silk binding it together, this collision tore the silk apart completely, causing the coffin to tumble to the ground while its lid had already rolled off to another side.
Cao Qilong and I turned pale with fear; this single corpse demon had nearly cost us our lives. If another one appeared, we could only imagine our fate. We wondered if this wall could withstand attacks from two corpse demons.
Slowly, a hand as dark as lacquer emerged from inside the coffin. The fingers were long and slender as they crawled out. We saw a figure dressed in a long robe with a front opening and adorned with several gold and jade bracelets on her arms. She was barefoot and exuded an aura typical of Yin Cheng's handiwork.
This female corpse demon did not exhibit the ferocity of the male corpse demon we encountered earlier; instead, she stood quietly in the courtyard. Her white eyes scanned back and forth over us but seemed to pass right through without noticing our presence.
Cao Qilong and I both sighed in relief. Seeing that there was no immediate danger, Cao Qilong remarked, "At least it's a female corpse demon; she seems more cultured and reasonable."
Just as Cao Qilong was about to finish speaking, the Female Corpse Spirit let out a soft groan. The sound was not loud, but in the quiet Courtyard, it was particularly jarring. The other five coffins responded with a series of "bangs," as the coffin boards were shaken by the Corpse Spirits inside. Listening to this, Bai Mao broke into a sweat, while the male Corpse Spirit remained motionless, quietly standing in the Courtyard.
The Female Corpse Spirit continued to groan a few more times, each one louder than the last, as if she was feeling very uncomfortable. After a few groans, she directly lay down on the Ground, and her groans grew even louder. The Female Corpse Spirit held her belly with both hands, and it was evident that her belly was slowly growing larger.
Cao Qilong nervously asked me, "Could it be that this Female Corpse Spirit ate something wrong and has a stomachache?"
I raised my hand and gave Cao Qilong a slap. "What nonsense are you talking about? We're already halfway into the Ghost Gate; how can you still have the leisure to joke around? Look at the Female Corpse Spirit's belly."
Cao Qilong fell silent. I focused intently on the Female Corpse Spirit's belly, which had now grown as large as that of a woman nine months pregnant. It was visible to the naked eye that her belly was still slowly expanding. The front of her long shirt had been stretched open by her belly, revealing a dark, large abdomen.
Her belly had become round and was still growing; the dark skin had stretched to the point of almost being transparent. I was at a loss and didn't know what was happening.
The groaning of the Female Corpse Spirit gradually diminished; her belly was nearly transparent, and I could see that it was filled with something translucent—likely water. Just then, something moved inside her belly.
I asked Cao Qilong if he saw it, but he kept pointing at the Female Corpse Spirit's belly with his finger. When I turned my head to look, I saw that her belly was no longer perfectly round; instead, there was a head pressing against her abdomen from within, creating a small outline like rubber being pushed out.
Could it be that the Female Corpse Spirit is about to give birth? From the looks of it, it seemed quite likely. It is known that if a female ghost dies while pregnant, there is a certain possibility that she could give birth to a Ghost Infant. Since Ghost Infants have difficulty reincarnating into this world and often die in utero without ever seeing the world outside, they tend to harbor great resentment. If not buried properly, they can become Ghost Infants; however, this possibility is quite rare. Ghost Infants are even more formidable than Evil Spirits; such occurrences are seldom seen in a hundred years. Now I had the fortune—or misfortune—of witnessing a Corpse Spirit giving birth. I wasn't sure whether to consider it lucky or tragic; if I weren't dead myself, I'd buy a lottery ticket worth ten thousand times its value because with this kind of bad luck leading to death, winning first prize would surely be mine.
It truly is said: "A small temple has great demons; shallow pools have many turtles." Bad luck seems to follow me everywhere—wherever I go, I encounter ghosts. This time I ended up here because of a water ghost who doesn't want anyone reincarnating. By chance, I stumbled upon Ancient Ghost City only to find it filled with ghosts; in the middle of the city lay seven Corpse Spirits. Just one Corpse Spirit nearly caused my demise here, and now another Female Corpse Spirit is about to give birth—what do you call this? I searched my mind for professional terminology but couldn't find any suitable words.
The outline of something pushing against the Female Corpse Spirit's belly twisted and turned until suddenly a small hand reached out from within her abdomen, pulling against her skin from inside. The Female Corpse Spirit's belly had reached its limit and was penetrated by that small hand. Following that, a Baby's head and body emerged. The Baby was chubby and white, looking no different from an ordinary Baby; sitting on the Female Corpse Spirit's belly with two dark eyes curiously surveying its surroundings without crying or laughing.
Fortunately, the Female Corpse Spirit did not give birth to some kind of alien creature; it looked harmless and quite cute. Both Cao Qilong and I let out a sigh of relief.
With that, the Baby suddenly fixed its dark eyes on me and Cao Qilong, and then with a whoosh, it appeared right in front of us, just before the wall. The Baby still had an umbilical cord attached to its belly, and its chubby little hands were constantly slapping against the invisible wall, making a sound like Baby laughter, "Cough cough cough!" Both Cao Qilong and I pressed ourselves tightly against the wall. Seeing that it couldn't get close to us, the Baby opened its mouth wide as if to bite us. It was cute when it wasn't opening its mouth, but once it did, I felt like I might wet myself from fear.
The Baby's mouth was larger than its body, with the corners of its mouth splitting open to reveal a mouthful of sharp teeth—at least one or two hundred teeth in rows. Its tongue split into dozens of fleshy tendrils, forming a large net that lunged toward us.
What the hell! It looked harmless but was actually far more ferocious than that male Corpse Spirit. The Baby floated in front of us, its mouth frozen in position. I glanced at the Main Entrance, which was only ten steps away from us. I poked Cao Qilong with my finger; he was so scared that he closed his eyes. When I poked him again, he opened his eyes for a moment before shutting them again.
I whispered, "Let's move slowly and see if we can get to the door. It seems like something is trapping them in this courtyard."
Cao Qilong walked slowly along the wall with his eyes closed, while I followed closely behind him, taking small steps. However, every time I moved a step forward, the Baby floated closer, sticking right in front of me.
I don't know how long it took, but we finally reached the entrance. Half of Cao Qilong's body was already outside the door when the Baby remained just a step away. If only we had run one step earlier, that Corpse Spirit wouldn't have been able to come over, and we wouldn't have had so much trouble. With half of his body outside, Cao Qilong hesitated to move further. I poked him again; he turned around with a distressed expression and said, "There’s a whole bunch of ghosts outside."
I was completely dumbfounded. I originally wanted to let the Corpse Spirit fight with the group of ghosts, but it turned out that the Corpse Spirit couldn't leave this room while a crowd of ghosts stood outside watching us like a show. We had become like Zhu Bajie looking into a mirror—neither human nor beast.
I gritted my teeth and said, "Do you want to die at the hands of this unknown creature called Baby, or do you want to die at the hands of those ghosts outside? Choose quickly!"
Cao Qilong turned back to look at the Baby, then quickly turned away again: "I think dying outside would at least leave me with a complete corpse."
As soon as Cao Qilong stepped outside, I hurriedly followed him out. As I crossed the threshold, I thought to myself that I had narrowly escaped another disaster! Turning back to glance at the Baby, I saw that since it couldn't reach us, it squatted down in the corner of the wall and began crying loudly with its hands covering its eyes. The sound was heart-wrenching. I thought to myself that even if it cried its throat raw, no one would come to help it. As I turned to leave, I caught sight of something made of paper in the corner—it looked like a tiger and was only as big as a soda bottle. It was crafted very well; there was even a symbol painted on its back. My heart stirred; what kind of skill did this Yin Cheng possess to use such an ancient formation that had been lost for thousands of years?
Seeing that I was standing motionless at the door, Cao Qilong reached out and pulled me out forcefully. At the entrance of the Yamen, countless ghosts were still standing there, curiously watching us both.
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