Parasite

Well then, he had truly fainted this time.

Bian Chunchou hurried forward to help him up, only to discover that the man... was far too light. Had Bian Chunchou grown stronger lately, or was this man really just too thin?

"Is he all right?"

"He's fine. He just fainted from fright." Bian Chunchou looked up at the sky. "It's almost midnight. Is the Moonlight Grass about to mature?"

Wen Xu nodded. "Soon. I can feel it—they're about to mature."

Moonlight Grass only matured at night, when the moonlight was at its fullest. If it was not harvested in time, it would wither in an extremely short span of time. The mission required ten jin, and while ensuring its quality, the three of them would need at least three days to gather enough.

"Now."

The moment Wen Xu finished speaking, Bian Chunchou and Chen Zui immediately got to work. All three were cultivators, so a simple task like picking Moonlight Grass was naturally no challenge for them.

But the Moonlight Grass really did wither fast enough that even an epiphyllum would have to call it big brother in the withering world. In the blink of an eye, the three of them had filled their baskets, yet altogether they only had a little over three jin.

Sure enough, gathering missions traded time for sect contribution points.

"They wither way too fast. Are they rushing off to reincarnate or something?"

Wen Xu chuckled softly. "Aren't they just? Rushing off to reincarnate."

Bian Chunchou: ...

"Let's go. We'll come back tomorrow. First, let's send those two to the magistrate's office. As for this one, let's bring him along for now. He doesn't seem to be in good condition. I'm afraid that if he gets another shock, it really will be one corpse, two lives."

Chen Zui had no objection, and Wen Xu did not refuse either, so Bian Chunchou brought the man with them.

The next day, however, the weather suddenly turned overcast. What had been a bright, sunny day became shrouded in dark clouds before noon, and by evening, a torrential downpour had begun.

"Damn it, Moonlight Grass only matures in clear, sunny weather. Looks like we can't pick any tonight." How could the weather change at the drop of a hat? It was clearly winter—why was it pulling summer's little tricks?

Luckily, the Mist Mountain Village investigation mission had a long time limit. Otherwise, there might have been no hope at all.

"That man still hasn't woken up?"

Wen Xu and Chen Zui were cultivation maniacs. Even though the spiritual energy in the air was not as rich off the mountain as it was on it, the two of them still used meditation and breathing in spiritual energy in place of sleep. Bian Chunchou wanted to sleep, but... they were all friends, so he could only risk his life to keep them company in their grind.

Thus, the room's only bed was occupied by the pregnant man they had rescued. Perhaps it was only an illusion, but his belly had barely shown last night, while today it had already risen slightly.

"Wen Xu-Xu, why do I feel like his belly is growing so fast?" Even blowing up a balloon was not this fierce, was it?

Wen Xu could not help frowning. He had already realized that they might have brought back trouble. If it had been before, when he was alone, he absolutely would not have stepped in to help. At most, after those two had left, he would have dug the man out and counted it as a good deed for the day. But this was the Cultivation Realm, and he had joined a sect. Yonglu Mountain was a righteous and renowned sect. As the Divine Venerable's disciple, he could choose not to be kind, but he had best not stand by and watch someone die.

"His belly is very strange." With his sight obscured, even though Wen Xu was only pretending to be blind, his hearing and sense of smell had improved to a certain degree. Coupled with the perception of his Wind Spiritual Root, there were actually far more things he could sense now than what his eyes could see.

"What's strange about it?"

Wen Xu could not quite put it into words. "They say pregnancy lasts ten months. Whatever a pregnant woman eats, the child in her womb eats as well, so pregnant women grow hungry especially quickly. Some women with good appetites can even eat ten meals a day. But haven't you noticed? It's already been a full day and night. An ordinary person should be hungry by now. He isn't injured, so at this hour he should have been starving enough for his stomach to rumble." How could he still be lying there?

Bian Chunchou could not help holding his breath, because just then, he had seen it with his own eyes—

"Ahhh! His belly really got bigger again! He won't be in danger, will he?"

This was the Cultivation Realm, sure, but it could not be this unscientific! This was challenging his understanding of biology!

"Should we bring back a doctor to take a look?"

How would I know? Wen Xu thought. But they had already rescued him, so they could not simply leave him alone. "Get a spirit healer. An ordinary doctor probably can't handle a pregnant man."

Chen Zui soon brought back a spirit healer. To their surprise, he was a very young and refined-looking man. He carried a small wooden case, and Wen Xu sniffed lightly, but did not catch even the faintest scent of medicine or pills.

A spirit healer did not need to write prescriptions? A question slowly rose in Wen Xu's heart.

"Bright Spirit Healer, how is he?"

When the Bright Spirit Healer saw the man on the bed, surprise appeared on his face as well. "Are you sure you didn't call the wrong person? I think you should be looking for a midwife."

Well now, who was it that was so impressive he had managed to get a man pregnant? Truly extraordinary.

The Bright Spirit Healer's expression turned subtle as he took the man's pulse, then his brows gradually furrowed. "Hm? It resembles a slippery pulse, yet differs somewhat from one. There really is a child in his belly, but this child..."

"What is wrong with the child?"

"It..." The Bright Spirit Healer looked at the three of them. "Which one of you is this child's biological father?"

The three of them: Huh? Was something wrong with this spirit healer's head? What biological father?!

Parasite

"Hey, don't look so terrified. I was joking. I know you're disciples of Yonglu Mountain, so you certainly aren't the sort of... earth-shatteringly scandalous people."

Did the earth-shatteringly scandalous people in his mouth refer to people capable of getting men pregnant?

Bian Chunchou: ...He had said both the nice and nasty parts all by himself. What kind of spirit healer was this? Was he even a proper spirit healer?

He could not help turning to Chen Zui. "Which Household did you hire this spirit healer from?"

Chen Zui also looked somewhat doubtful as he looked at the Bright Spirit Healer. "Clearheart Hall, two streets away."

Ah, Clearheart Hall. Wasn't that a business under Golden Cauldron Pavilion? As the richest in the cultivation world, Golden Cauldron Pavilion had vast wealth and grand enterprises. Surely they would not harbor some swindling fraud?

The moment the Bright Spirit Healer heard their conversation, he became annoyed. "You actually doubt my identity? I'm deeply wounded. I don't even want to look at this strange case of a pregnant man anymore!"