By then, An Chen had no fixed route. Whenever he heard of an anomaly, he headed straight for it.
He had just dealt with an anomaly in a village and was about to move on.
"Deacon Zhang! I finally found you!" An elderly woman with silver hair and a face full of wrinkles rushed over, her voice trembling with tears. She dropped to her knees with a thud. "Please save my grandson!"
"Don't panic. Get up and tell me what happened." An Chen helped her to her feet.
"My... my grandson, I don't know what's happened to him. He must be possessed."
The woman could barely speak through her sobs. Her shoes were worn nearly through, and her clothes looked as though they had not been changed in ages.
"Possessed? Tell me exactly what's going on." An Chen led her to a rock and helped her sit down. Passersby began to gather around them.
"Hey, isn't that Granny Li from Bai Family Village?"
"Bai Family Village? Isn't that quite far from here? Why did she come all this way for help?"
Granny Li wiped her tears. After glancing at the crowd, she lowered her voice and choked out, "Deacon Zhang, my grandson... he's pregnant!"
The crowd erupted.
"Pregnant? Isn't her grandson a man? How could he be pregnant?"
"He really must be possessed."
An Chen frowned. The word made his heart tighten.
He remembered what had happened in a small town he had visited before. Everyone there had died when their bellies burst open.
He himself had nearly died from being pregnant.
Mother?
An Chen paused, then asked, "Does he have any other symptoms? Or is it just a swollen belly?"
Granny Li nodded and wiped her tears again. "Yes, just a swollen belly. But he's often in a daze,