The members of Liu Ruyan's group were all terribly frightened. Compared with the scene before them, the Class D missions they had completed previously were like child's play!
They subconsciously looked at Liu Ruyan, their backbone, only to find that her face was ashen and her expression solemn. She pursed her lips tightly and said nothing!
Zhong Shengwan was so scared that he almost fainted. His natural fear of ghosts made his hands and feet ice - cold.
He stared fixedly at the increasingly clear red - clothed figure not far away, which emitted an ominous aura. He threw out the evil - exorcising talismans desperately as if they were free. Golden lights exploded continuously, dispersing the cold and gloomy resentful qi that tried to entangle them.
"One Song Yanling wasn't enough... and now there's an even more ferocious one! It never ends!"
Although Dongfang Xiao's scalp was also tingling, he gritted his teeth and his sturdy body bravely stepped in front of everyone. He held his magic weapon horizontally in front of his chest and roared angrily:
"Damn it! This is supposed to be a Class A mission? It's clearly like poking a ghost's nest!"
However, the expected violent pounce of the red - clothed female ghost did not happen.
The figure condensed from the thick black mist just "stood" there quietly. A pair of eyes full of endless resentment and grief slowly swept across the people on high alert. Finally, that ethereal yet extremely heavy gaze passed over all the disciples and accurately landed on Li Jinghuai, who was being protected at the back!
She slowly raised an arm condensed from mist. Her skinny fingers first pointed to the position of her heart, and then the fingers slowly moved, with a terrifying obsession, directly pointing at Li Jinghuai's still flat abdomen!
At the same time, an arc extremely slowly twitched on the pale and terrifying face of the female ghost.
That smile was so eerie, seemingly a mixture of deep sorrow, mockery, and some kind of hard - to - understand expectation!
"Ugh—!" Almost at the same time, Li Jinghuai suddenly covered her abdomen and let out a pained groan!
At this moment, she was in excruciating abdominal pain and her face was as pale as paper. But more than the pain, what made her even more panicked was—this was clearly a dream, so why was there such a real and intense pain?!
The instinctive concern for the fetus in her womb instantly overwhelmed all her fears. Li Jinghuai somehow found a burst of courage. She suddenly pushed away the person supporting her beside her and stepped forward. Although her voice was trembling, it carried an unprecedented coldness as she questioned:
"What... what do you mean exactly?! What do you want to do to my child?!"
But just as her voice fell, there was a loud "boom"!
The entire dream seemed to be unable to bear the burden. The blood - red high walls around began to twist and shake violently, cracking bit by bit like broken glass!
The sky twisted and spun. The towering pagoda tree let out shrill wails!
The red - clothed female ghost in front of them, the sky - filling resentful qi, the endless bloody handprints... all the scenes dissipated and collapsed rapidly like the ebbing tide!
A strong sense of dizziness suddenly hit!
Li Jinghuai let out a scream and suddenly sat up from the couch. Her chest heaved violently and her whole body was soaked in cold sweat!
She gasped for breath in a state of shock and had not yet recovered from the vivid horror just now. But she was stunned to find that her husband, Wen Zimo, was sitting beside her couch at some point.
He just sat there quietly, with a gentle and usual smile on his lips, quietly looking at her.
"Did you have another nightmare?" Wen Zimo's voice was as gentle as ever. He reached out his hand, trying to wipe the cold sweat from her forehead very naturally.
However, Li Jinghuai subconsciously shrank back. The eerie picture of the red - clothed female ghost pointing at her abdomen in her mind overlapped with her husband's gentle smiling face at this moment, making her feel an inexplicable and bone - deep chill...
Wen Zimo's smile froze for a moment and he asked softly, "Xiaohuai, what's wrong with you?"
Li Jinghuai couldn't tell why either. Her dodge just now was completely subconscious.
She was about to speak when Shen Cuiyu stepped forward in a timely manner. Her voice was calm and emotionless:
"Mr. Wen, Jinghuai was frightened by Song Yanling in her dream just now. She needs to rest quietly at the moment. I'd like to accompany her alone for a while to help her calm down."
Hearing this, the three members of the group tacitly remained silent, thinking that Shen Cuiyu deliberately concealed the existence of the red - clothed female ghost and must have her reasons.
Hearing this, Wen Zimo's expression softened a bit. "I see. That's why..." He looked at Li Jinghuai lovingly and said worriedly, "Then I'll have to trouble the Celestial Master. Although Song Yanling was Jinghuai's close friend before her death, there's a difference between the living and the dead. I've heard that a person's personality will change after death. It's not a good way for her to keep pestering. The disciples of the Vientiane Academy are all outstanding in the mysterious arts. I believe you all must have a good way to get rid of this evil ghost's entanglement and bring peace back to my wife and me."
After saying that, he gave Shen Cuiyu a meaningful look, then followed the other disciples and quietly walked out, closing the door behind him.
For a moment, only Shen Cuiyu and Li Jinghuai were left in the room.
"Celestial Master..." Li Jinghuai was still in a state of shock. Just as she was about to speak, Shen Cuiyu's fingertips moved slightly, and a light - yellow sound - insulation talisman silently stuck to the door.
Only then did Shen Cuiyu walk to the couch and sit beside Li Jinghuai. Her voice was extremely soft, but carried an undeniable solemnity:
"Jinghuai, I need you to think carefully again. In your daily interactions over the years, has Wen Zimo ever shown any... subtle signs that made you feel strange or wrong?"
Li Jinghuai was suddenly stunned, her eyes full of disbelief. "Celestial Master... are you suspecting Zimo?" She subconsciously shook her head and her tone became excited. "It's impossible! Zimo has been very kind to me. If it weren't for him saving me and patiently comforting me back then, I wouldn't have been able to get through the difficult days after losing Yanling... It was him who accompanied me through the most difficult time. How could he..."
Shen Cuiyu looked at her quietly. After her emotions calmed down a bit, she slowly spoke, her voice low but as clear as ice beads falling on a jade plate:
"I'll tell you the truth. You've really been targeted by evil spirits and your life is hanging by a thread. I was still a bit hesitant before, but after the 'pointing' of that red - clothed woman in the dream, I'm sure of it."
Her gaze landed on Li Jinghuai's abdomen, and her eyes were as sharp as a knife. "In the mysterious arts, there's a kind of insidious and forbidden technique called 'borrowing a womb to return to life'. And the so - called fetus in your abdomen... actually has no fetal heartbeat that a living being should have. It's a ghost fetus that 'grows' by absorbing your essence, qi, and blood."
"Don't you ever suspect that since you've been 'pregnant', you've become increasingly drowsy and weak, and your mental state has been much more sluggish than normal morning sickness? And the so - called 'sleep paralysis' was not caused by Song Yanling, but the suffocating feeling brought about when this ghost fetus grew stronger and instinctively seized the mother's vitality!"
"When all your essence and qi are sucked dry and you're at the end of your rope, that's when this ghost fetus is completely 'ripe'. By then, although your physical appearance remains the same, the 'core' inside has already been occupied by another soul. This is a very hidden and insidious way of the soul - stealing evil technique."