65
The young man seemed angry.
In the end, Wen Qingchen didn’t manage to extract any information from Brother Yin about how to “raise” a ghost, which left her a bit disappointed.
When Yin Xiaoge was upset, he became like a tightly sealed jar—no matter how much she said, he wouldn’t respond.
Wen Qingchen disconnected the communication stone, deciding to figure out on her own how to care for Lanlan.
Before she could figure out a proper approach, however, she began noticing that ghosts were becoming more frequent in Tang City.
“Master Chen, Master Chen, you must save my daughter!” An old man, completely disregarding his dignity, dropped to his knees and clung to her leg as soon as he saw her. “Master Wen already saw her, prescribed a few doses of medicine, and told us to go home and monitor her condition. But today, Xue’er has become like this…”
The girl in question was a heavily pregnant young woman, around 19 years old, her belly conspicuously swollen. At the moment, she was gnawing on a large flatbread.
After finishing the flatbread, her hands empty, her eerie eyes darted about, and she picked up the chair in front of her and began gnawing on it!
Her teeth seemed to have turned to iron, as she bit into the chair with loud, crunching sounds.
“Xue’er! Xue’er, you can’t eat that!” The old man quickly took the chair from her hands and replaced it with another flatbread.
Xue’er, without even looking up, devoured the flatbread in just a few bites.
It seemed like she was insatiable—her mouth had to keep moving, consuming something constantly.
The old man, who had this one daughter in his old age, was sweating profusely with worry as he watched her. “Master Chen, Xue’er has been like this, eating non-stop. Look at her belly! She’s been eating like this for six days straight. She used to be so thin! Master Wen said she has hyperphagia, but after taking the prescribed medicine for two days, it hasn’t worked at all…”
Wen Qingchen comforted him, “Don’t worry, Grandpa. This should be manageable.”
The old man had been skeptical of this young “Chen Qing,” which was why he had taken his daughter to Wen’s clinic first.
Now, as he looked at Master Chen, who seemed even younger than his daughter, he could only treat this as a last-ditch effort to save her.
Wen Qingchen reached out, gently pressing on Xue’er’s swollen stomach. The young woman, who had been frantically trying to chew on the table, suddenly froze and stopped moving.
The old man was overjoyed. “Xue’er stopped eating?!”
Wen Qingchen didn’t reply, instead instructing others to carry Xue’er into an inner chamber.
“This doesn’t seem like hyperphagia, does it?” Mu An, who had come to thank Wen Qingchen for helping with the Zhang family’s son, couldn’t help but recall his own experience upon seeing Xue’er’s condition.
Lowering his voice, he asked Wen Qingchen, “Master Wen, is she… like me?”
He couldn’t shake the feeling that there might also be a demonic flower inside this young woman’s belly!
“No,” Wen Qingchen said as she stared at Xue’er’s swollen stomach. Her gaze seemed to pierce through flesh, fixating intently on what lay inside.
“Not?” Mu An felt a chill run down his spine. “Then what is it?”
Lanlan glanced over and remarked, “So ugly.”
Wen Qingchen chuckled. “Yes, Lanlan is the prettiest.”
Lanlan’s hollow eyes seemed to brighten briefly before she shyly lowered her head. Oh no, she thought, I’m liking Big Sister more and more. Big Sister is so good to me.
Mu An’s heart tightened as he overheard the conversation. “Lanlan? You’re talking about… the little girl who… died last time?”
Wen Qingchen nodded casually. “Yes, the one you know about.”
Mu An had taken a particular interest in the Sai Huatuo Clinic and, upon learning about the schemes against it, had conducted his own investigation. Naturally, he knew who Lanlan was!
Now, hearing Wen Qingchen address the air as though speaking to someone, Mu An felt a chill creep through his entire body.
“She—she—she’s here?”
Lanlan slouched and suddenly hugged Mu An. “Big Brother is silly.”
That was true. Wen Qingchen chuckled. “She’s hugging you right now.”
Mu An: “…!!!” What the—!?
His hair stood on end, and his teeth began chattering. “D-d-don’t joke about this, Master!”
Wen Qingchen simply threw out a cryptic response before heading into the inner chamber. “Guess?”
Mu An: “…”
66
Once inside the inner chamber, Wen Qingchen didn’t immediately deal with whatever was inside Xue’er’s stomach.
It wasn’t a demonic flower—it was a ghost. A starved ghost.
It’s said that only those who die of starvation become starved ghosts. Such ghosts are cursed to feel eternal hunger, their appetite growing stronger the more they eat. When they possess a human, they compel the host to eat endlessly.
Xue’er’s stomach was now stretched into a massive sphere. Her stomach had reached its limit, and if she continued eating, it would rupture. Upon her death, the death energy would be absorbed by the starved ghost, increasing its power.
The starved ghost in Xue’er’s body seemed to have already possessed multiple hosts. It was powerful and clever.
Sensing that Wen Qingchen carried a force capable of restraining it, the ghost stayed hidden, remaining dormant within Xue’er.
Wen Qingchen didn’t rush to pull it out. She stood there, frowning in thought.
Earlier that morning, while standing outside the clinic, she had noticed numerous ghosts wandering the streets.
Some had already possessed physically weaker individuals. Xue’er was the fourth person she had encountered that day with such a problem.
“Why are there suddenly so many ghosts in Tang City?”
And where were they coming from?
Wen Qingchen wasn’t a geomancer, so she couldn’t analyze the city’s feng shui. But her intuition told her that Tang City, with its clean air and favorable environment, shouldn’t have been a place teeming with ghosts.
Lowering her gaze, she cast a cold glance at the starved ghost and spoke calmly, “I’m a reasonable person. It’d be best if you came out on your own. I’d rather not resort to force, don’t you think?”
The starved ghost bared its teeth and snarled. It was ravenous, but for some reason, it found itself unable to move in this body.
The ghost glared at Wen Qingchen, unwilling to comply.
Wen Qingchen’s expression darkened, and her presence shifted instantly. A chilling, heavy aura filled the room, radiating with a deadly intensity. “So, you’re choosing not to cooperate?”
Her palm began to glow faintly, an ominous energy flickering within it, ready to strike at any moment.
Feeling an overwhelming sense of threat, the starved ghost hastily fled from Xue’er’s body.
The moment it left her, it darted toward the door, attempting to escape.
Lanlan stood by the door, her dark, empty eyes fixed on the starved ghost.
Among ghosts, starved ghosts were the lowest tier. They couldn’t even speak and lacked the ability to control themselves. They were a stark contrast to Lanlan, a vengeful ghost who had absorbed human vitality in a short time, becoming far more powerful.
When the starved ghost saw Lanlan, its entire body froze. Trembling, it collapsed on the ground.
“So ugly,” Lanlan remarked. “Sister, it’s so ugly.”
But when she turned to Wen Qingchen, her demeanor changed, reverting to that of an innocent child. “Sister is beautiful.”
Wen Qingchen smiled. “Good girl, let it go.”
Lanlan tilted her head, visibly puzzled.
Wen Qingchen gently pulled her aside.
The starved ghost immediately bolted out of the clinic.
With its limited intelligence, the starved ghost instinctively ran in a particular direction the moment it left.
“Lanlan,” Wen Qingchen called, “follow it. Let me know where it goes, and don’t let it possess anyone else.”
Lanlan looked confused but obediently nodded and floated off to chase after the starved ghost.
Only after Lanlan left did Wen Qingchen return to Xue’er’s side and induce vomiting to clear her system.
Wen Qingchen had a nagging suspicion that the sudden influx of ghosts in Tang City wasn’t a coincidence. Since starved ghosts were not particularly intelligent, tracking its movements might reveal where it came from.
Lanlan didn’t return until midnight, bringing news that the starved ghost had fled to a neighboring mountain near Qingcheng Mountain. It had entered a cave teeming with ghosts.
Hearing this, Wen Qingchen’s eyes narrowed in recognition.
“Isn’t that the same cave Mu An took me to last time?” she murmured to herself.
Wen Qingchen had never witnessed such a scene before.
The cave was teeming with ghosts, dancing chaotically.
Various kinds of ghosts emerged from the depths of the cave, their disordered voices echoing within the cavern.
“Hahaha! That power has vanished. That person must have left!”
“So terrifying! How could a human possess such a strong purifying force? Was that woman a Spirit God?!”
“Shh, keep it down, you lot! If you disturb the Ghost King while he’s resting, you’re all doomed!”
“There’s the scent of living humans outside! Hurry, hurry, go capture them and offer them to the Ghost King!”
A dense throng of ghosts surged from the depths of the cave.
They were full of excitement, but before they could fully express their joy, they ran straight into Wen Qingchen.
“………”
For an instant, the entire cave fell silent.
The ghosts stared at Wen Qingchen.
Wen Qingchen raised an eyebrow and stared back at the ghosts.
Time seemed to come to a standstill at that moment.
The silence was almost deafening.
Wen Qingchen, however, remained calm and greeted them, “Hi, good evening. Were you just talking about me?”
The ghosts suddenly widened their various kinds of eyes, looking at Wen Qingchen in horror.
Sh-she had left, hadn’t she?!
Why was she still here?!
“Ahhhhhhh—!”
The ghosts screamed—this woman was still here!
“Ahhhhhhh—!”
Mu An screamed too. What the heck?! I just saw a ghost! A big, shadowy mass!
The ghosts scattered in a frenzy, some rushing outside, others fleeing deeper into the cave.
Wen Qingchen grabbed an unlucky ghost with her bare hands and said cheerfully, “Hey, why are you running? I’m just visiting your place.”
These were all low-level ghosts, so it wasn’t surprising that they were afraid of her.
“Ahhhhh!” The unlucky ghost screamed even louder as the part she was holding began to disintegrate into black mist.
Wen Qingchen said, “Be good and take me to your home. Got it?”
The unlucky ghost whimpered, “Boohoohoo…”
Elsewhere in the cave:
Black-Clad Figure #2: “W-What a horrifying scream! That was Mu An!”
Black-Clad Figure #3: “C-Could there really be ghosts?”
Black-Clad Figure #1: “Get serious! There’s no such thing as ghosts!”
Black-Clad Figure #4: “Hey, #2, even if you’re scared, don’t grab my butt!”
Black-Clad Figure #2: “I-I didn’t grab your butt…”
#4: “Don’t lie! You’re the only one here, and you touched it again?!”
#2 weakly raised both hands: “M-My hands are right here…”
Silence fell over the group.
#4 began to break out in a cold sweat.
#1: “Calm down. It must’ve been something you bumped into. There’s no such thing as—”
Before he could finish, he felt a chill on his neck—a pair of icy, cold hands wrapped around it.
#1: “………”
#3 screamed, “A GHOST!!!”
All four black-clad figures panicked and bolted deeper into the cave.
As they ran, #4 hesitated, “A-Aren’t we supposed to be running out?”
#1, #2, #3: “……”
Just then, they saw Wen Qingchen and Mu An ahead of them.
The four quickly hid behind Wen Qingchen and Mu An, their faces full of terror. “T-There’s a ghost!”
Wen Qingchen: “……”
Mu An screamed, “Who are you?!”
The four black-clad figures: “……” We’re assassins, and we came to kill you quietly. Would you believe that?
Wen Qingchen gave them a meaningful look.
The four assassins trembled.
Wen Qingchen turned her gaze away, still gripping the unlucky ghost, and said, “Lead the way.”
Under her oppressive presence, the unlucky ghost had no choice but to shakily guide her.
The ghosts in the cave had completely disappeared, hiding who-knows-where.
Sniffling, the unlucky ghost led Wen Qingchen to a dead-end stone wall and whimpered, “It’s… it’s inside…”
Wen Qingchen touched the stone wall. “Oh? A hidden mechanism?”
The unlucky ghost wanted to say, That’s not a mechanism; it’s the Ghost King’s barrier.
But before it could, Wen Qingchen reached out, and her hand passed straight through.
