The Uncanny Pregnant Girl

The wail of an ambulance shattered the stillness of the night. The doors of Diancheng People's Hospital were shoved open, and several anxious people rushed in, pushing a bed.

On the bed lay a girl of eighteen or nineteen. Her face was drained of color, and sweat kept dripping from her forehead, soaking the bedding beneath her.

The most striking thing about her was her belly, which bulged high. She looked full-term and ready to give birth, which seemed to explain her unbearable pain.

A middle-aged man of about forty shouted anxiously, "Where's the doctor? Please, save my daughter!"

Doctors and nurses hurried over. The head nurse took one look and said, "This girl is clearly in labor. Why did you bring her here? She needs to go to the maternity hospital!"

The middle-aged man said loudly, "My daughter was perfectly fine while we were eating. In less than half an hour, her belly turned into this!"

Everyone fell silent at once. Only the girl's loud groans remained. The doctors and nurses exchanged looks, clearly not believing him.

The middle-aged man dropped to his knees with a thud. Tears streaming down his face, he pleaded, "Everything I said is true. Please save my daughter. She's only eighteen!"

One of the young men who had brought the girl in, the ambulance crew leader, whispered to the doctor on duty, "He's telling the truth. Her belly wasn't this big when she got into the ambulance!

"She only looked five or six months pregnant then. The trip took barely more than ten minutes, and somehow she ended up like this. If we don't save her now, her belly is going to burst!"

The doctor on duty frowned. Saving lives was a doctor's duty, so he certainly couldn't turn the patient away. But he had never seen anything like this before and had no idea what to do.

After a moment's hesitation, he had the girl wheeled into the emergency room and called his mentor, hurriedly explaining the situation.

His mentor fell silent for a moment before saying, "Don't do anything rash yet. Use the equipment to check whether there's something inside her belly.

"I'll come over right now. Hopefully, it isn't what I suspect, or this girl is doomed. Only someone of that sort could save her, but where would we find one?"

The doctor on duty was baffled, but his mentor was a nationally renowned expert and would never say something without reason. He had the equipment brought over to scan the girl's belly.

The doctor performing the scan cried out and pointed at the screen. His face was filled with terror, and his lips trembled so badly that he couldn't get a single word out.

The doctor on duty reached him in two strides. The sight on the screen startled him too: countless points of light were packed tightly together.

Those lights looked like individual eyes. Anyone with trypophobia who saw them would probably have passed out on the spot.

In the end, the doctor on duty couldn't suppress his curiosity. He had the girl strapped to the operating table, then placed a hand on her belly, intending to examine what was inside with instruments.

As a trained doctor, he was well practiced at this. He quickly dilated the girl's vaginal opening and peered inside.

"Oh, God!" the doctor screamed, tumbling off his chair. In the light, he had seen that there really were pairs upon pairs of eyes inside the girl's belly.

The eyes glowed green in the darkness, looking utterly eerie. They kept blinking, as though they might rush out at any moment.

The operating room door was pushed open, and his mentor hurried in. Without greeting anyone, he bent down and took a few looks.

His mentor straightened and covered his face with his hands. Only after a while did he lower them, barely regaining his composure.

The doctor on duty had climbed to his feet by then. His face full of terror, he asked, "What on earth is that? It's horrifying. Is it some kind of alien?"

His mentor hesitated before looking at him and saying, "We're in southern Yunnan, a region known in ancient times as the Miao frontier. You've heard the legends of gu, haven't you?"

The doctor stared at his mentor in disbelief. "Isn't that all just feudal superstition? How could gu possibly exist? There's no scientific basis for it..."

His voice grew quieter and quieter. The girl was right in front of him, the best evidence he could ask for. What other scientific basis did he need?

His mentor glared at him, then said through gritted teeth, "I've encountered the same thing before, but someone with special expertise handled it then. We can't find someone like that on such short notice.

"We can't just watch this girl die, so there's only one option. Operate on her now, cut her belly open, and see if we can get those things out!"

"Do all of you want to die? If you do, go right ahead. This girl has been afflicted with the most common kind of insect gu. It's nothing special!"

Everyone looked toward the doorway, where a man of about thirty stood. He looked rather unkempt and held an iron liquor flask.

No one knew how he had gotten in. Reaching the operating room meant passing through three doors, each guarded by someone. Why hadn't any of them stopped him?

The man swayed as he walked over and looked at the mentor. "We meet again. I was still a child the last time I saw you."

Surprise appeared on the mentor's face, followed by overwhelming delight. "You're Meng Huai! You were the one who saved that patient last time. Now there's hope!"

Meng Huai ignored him and went over to the girl. He flicked her belly with a finger, making her scream, though she regained a little awareness.

Meng Huai looked at the nurse beside him. "Go get a large bucket and put it underneath. Otherwise, it'll end up all over the floor, and I'm afraid none of you will dare clean it up."

The nurse didn't dare say anything. She hurriedly brought over a large trash can, set it beneath the operating table, and watched Meng Huai nervously.

Meng Huai pinched the girl's nose. When she opened her mouth, he poured the liquor from his flask down her throat. The liquor was pale yellow and had a faint fishy smell.

After pouring the liquor into her mouth, Meng Huai quickly formed a ritual hand seal, then struck her belly with his palm. A bang rang out, as though her belly were about to explode.

The girl groaned groggily, then passed out. But the real show had only just begun: a black torrent emerged from beneath the sheet.

The stuff streamed rapidly into the large plastic bin, giving off waves of stench. The doctor on duty worked up the courage to look inside. It was filled with insects.