The wind howled fiercely, and the blue glow of the Clockwork Spiders outside the camp flickered on and off. Chen Wuya had just tucked the fragment of black talisman paper into his robes when he heard a muffled groan beside him.
He immediately turned his head. Bai Zhi was already half-kneeling on the ground, one hand braced against the ice, the other clamped tightly over her abdomen. Her breathing came fast, and her face turned bluish in an instant.
"What is it?" He crouched and steadied her by the shoulders.
Bai Zhi said nothing, only shook her head. Her knuckles had gone white, and cold sweat beaded on her forehead, glaringly conspicuous in the firelight.
The system alarm exploded directly in his mind:
[Warning! High-concentration demonic qi fluctuations detected. Source: host's partner's uterine region. Demonic qi nature: derivative mutation of extremely cold Killing Intent, possessing corrosive and parasitic tendencies. Immediate intervention recommended!]
Chen Wuya stared into her eyes. "Has it come again?"
Bai Zhi gritted her teeth and nodded. "The child... is moving. Not normally. It feels like someone is tugging at it."
The fire inside the tent crackled, and sparks leaped up, landing on the surface of her boots.
Chen Wuya hesitated no longer. He helped Bai Zhi lean against the ice wall, then sat cross-legged at her side and laid both hands over her lower abdomen.
The instant his palms touched her, a surge of frigid yin energy burrowed into his body through his meridians. He let out a muffled grunt as his Misaligned Force immediately reversed course, spinning at his dantian and forcing the chill back.
"Don't take it head-on." Bai Zhi's voice trembled. "You're not in good shape either."
"I don't have a choice," he said. "Neither do you."
He closed his eyes, and