"Corpse fetus?" Xu Meng and I exchanged puzzled looks, not understanding what the dwarf was referring to.

"Hey, you damn little man, stop spouting nonsense! How could I be pregnant with a corpse fetus?" Xu Meng exclaimed, clearly annoyed.

The dwarf didn’t get angry but instead asked Xu Meng if she had been gagging recently or had cravings for blood.

Xu Meng fell silent, and I felt a chill run down my spine. Could he be right? Was Xu Meng actually carrying a... corpse fetus?

The dwarf explained that carrying a corpse fetus could manifest similar symptoms to a human pregnancy, such as nausea. However, while a human fetus makes a pregnant woman crave sour food, a corpse fetus makes her crave blood. He had just felt Xu Meng's pulse, and there were signs of pregnancy, but her pulse had abnormalities.

He explained that a typical pregnant woman's pulse is called "slippery pulse," which feels like tiny pearls sliding under the fingers, but Xu Meng’s pulse was stiff, almost like there were thorns. This was a clear sign that the fetus was not human—it was a corpse fetus. If Xu Meng also had nausea and cravings for blood, then the chances were high.

A corpse fetus? That sounded terrifying and impossible. The dwarf seemed to have some skill to discern pregnancy with just a touch of the hand. He could even tell whether it was a human fetus or a corpse fetus.

Xu Meng finally spoke, saying that she didn’t know why this was happening, let alone this "corpse fetus" business. At first, she thought she was just feeling nauseous from drinking too much while entertaining clients, but later, she found herself gagging even when she didn’t drink. She also had cravings for blood.

What could have caused this? Was it that ghost that had been following Xu Meng? That didn’t make sense, I had just tattooed the Ghost-Requesting Yasha symbol on her—if it worked on Wang Xin, it should work on Xu Meng too.

Xu Meng said it probably wasn’t that ghost’s fault because my tattoo had indeed worked.

She had always felt that something was following her, something invisible and undetectable, but after getting the Yasha tattoo, she could now sense where the ghost was. There was always a shadow holding a scepter that appeared and made the ghost disappear.

"That’s good, it means the Ghost-Requesting Yasha scared away the ghost. The Yasha eats ghosts, so of course, it ran away," I said, feeling a little relieved. At least the tattoo wasn’t ineffective.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

But then Xu Meng shook her head. The ghost hadn’t left.

She could feel that the ghost was still nearby, just keeping its distance, watching her. That feeling was still very distinct.

What? The ghost was still watching Xu Meng from afar, too scared to get close?

The dwarf was confused and had no idea what we were talking about. So I had to explain everything to him.

After listening, the dwarf slapped his thigh and said that we had misunderstood everything.

First, that ghost wasn’t trying to kill Xu Meng, but rather wanted to borrow her body to carry the corpse fetus. If it had wanted to kill her, it could have done so right when it returned to life, without all these complicated steps.

Second, the ghost wasn’t leaving because it wanted to see its child. Once the corpse fetus was born, the ghost would leave. This was why the Yasha couldn’t drive it away; the ghost was waiting.

Third, the "corpse resentment" on Xu Meng’s body wasn’t meant to kill her, but rather was the lingering resentment of the ghost, who couldn’t accept that its plans were interrupted before the fetus could be born.

This was truly bizarre—how could a corpse somehow cause a woman to become pregnant? The ghost was not even fully possessing Xu Meng, and yet it was somehow able to create a fetus. And who would be so bored as to return from the afterlife to produce a corpse fetus?

What about Xu Meng’s enemy, Chen Xiaomei? Didn’t she hire someone to harm Xu Meng? Why was this suddenly about a corpse fetus?

I was starting to feel that this whole situation was becoming more and more confusing.

The dwarf chuckled, but it was a strange, lecherous laugh. "How would I know? This kind of thing needs to be judged by the King of Hell," he said.

Xu Meng was no longer in the mood for jokes. She had never imagined that something like this could happen to her, and she was terrified. She was alive and yet pregnant with something so unnatural—it was too much for her to handle. I felt sorry for her, too. She had already had such a tough life, and now this?

Xu Meng suddenly knelt in front of me, tears streaming down her face. She begged me to tattoo her again, hoping that I could somehow remove this corpse fetus from her.

I hurriedly helped her up, telling her that it wasn’t that I didn’t want to tattoo her, but there simply wasn’t a "ghost tattoo" for this kind of thing. There was no such thing as a "yin tattoo" or "yang tattoo" for something like a corpse fetus—I had never heard of it before.

A corpse, after all, was dead. How could it make someone pregnant? This situation was truly unnatural. Also, why would Chen Xiaomei lie so persistently and even risk her life? What secret was she hiding?

Xu Meng cried uncontrollably. Seeing her in such pain, I couldn’t stand it. I knew that if I didn’t help her, she might lose all hope, and that would be dangerous. Most people wouldn’t be able to accept something like this.

I asked the dwarf if there was any way to remove the corpse fetus without harming her body. If she had to suffer the consequences of this, it wouldn't be worth it.

The dwarf thought for a moment before saying that this kind of thing needed a Taoist priest, or someone with similar abilities to help.

A Taoist priest? Who could we ask for help? Zhang Qing?

Just then, a familiar voice suddenly came from outside.

"Tan Haozi, you damn bastard, you owe me two million! Do you really need to make such a big deal out of it? Complaining to my sister? Are you even a man?"

Ah, what a coincidence. The Taoist priest had arrived!