The baby's cry rang out again—brief and clear, from within ten paces of the mountain gate.
Chen Wuya stood where he was, his sea of consciousness expanding in an instant. The False Foresight Domain swept through the night, catching the life fluctuations within that cry—real, faint, carrying the tremble of one newly born. It was neither illusion nor trap. A living child was crying.
Just as he was about to speak, Bai Zhi suddenly let out a muffled groan. Her body swayed, and she braced herself against the corner of the wall. Her breathing grew heavier, fine sweat beading across her forehead as her other hand pressed tightly against her lower abdomen.
"It's coming," she said in a low voice. "Too suddenly."
Chen Wuya turned at once, pressing his palm to the ground as Misaligned Force erupted. A translucent barrier rose from the earth, enclosing the two of them. The crowd had been peering toward the source of the cry, but they all backed away at the sight. Zhao Tianying stopped in his tracks. Han Tianba raised a hand to halt the disciples behind him. No one came any closer.
A woman squeezed out from the crowd. She was around fifty, dressed in coarse cloth, her loosely bound hair still neat. A lotus was embroidered on her chest in silver thread. Carrying an old cloth bundle, she hurried to the edge of the barrier and said steadily, "I'm a registered midwife of the Qingfeng Sect. Let me in."
Chen Wuya stared at the lotus pattern on her chest. Once he confirmed it was genuine, he drew back his hand, opening a slit in the barrier. The woman bent down and slipped inside. She felt Bai Zhi's wrist, asked a few quiet questions, and her expression shifted slightly. "The contractions have