Chapter 195 - 194: Mom!!

Chapter 195: Chapter 194: Mom!!

Huo Yunjing arrived with Kong Xu and the baby ghost. When he saw Chen Ling and Dongfang Ran encircled, he fell silent.

Kong Xu’s eyes visibly lit up when he saw Chen Ling, but he was currently restrained, unable to move anything but his eyes.

The baby ghost could move its hands, but that was the extent of it. It couldn’t speak, so it could only stare at Chen Ling and go, "Ahhh."

Chen Ling didn’t spare the father and son a single glance. She and Dongfang Ran stared at Huo Yunjing, their expressions complex.

A few seconds later, looks of confusion and vigilance appeared on their faces. "Where are the others? Where’s Gu Qingyin?"

Huo Yunjing flexed his wrists and deigned to speak. "To deal with you two, I alone am enough."

Dongfang Ran only had a rough understanding of Huo Yunjing’s power. After all, she had been captured not long after their last encounter. Combined with the fleeting glimpse of him in the dilapidated house before, her assessment of him had risen another level.

’He’s incredibly difficult to deal with.’

Chen Ling, on the other hand, knew nothing about Huo Yunjing. She hadn’t even realized he was a ghost yet; she was only instinctively wary of him because he was controlling the father and son.

She puffed out her chest, trying to appear a bit more confident. "See this array..."

"Mom!"

The short, childish cry echoed, and the entire area fell silent.

Huo Yunjing raised an eyebrow and glanced at the baby ghost beside him.

The baby ghost stared at Chen Ling, its eyes shining with joy, and called out again, "Mom!" The pronunciation was a bit muffled and carried a sinister chill, but it still had a milky, endearing cuteness to it.

’Although ghosts grow quickly,’ Gu Qingyin thought, ’this timing for its first words... is just perfect.’

Chen Ling’s expression and body both stiffened. But she stubbornly kept her neck rigid, refusing to look at the baby ghost. She took a deep breath, intending to finish what she was saying.

"This array is called the Demon Suppression Array. Capturing you will be..."

"Mom!"

Chen Ling pressed her lips together and ignored it again. "...a simple matter!"

The baby ghost blinked in confusion, thinking its voice had been too quiet. It took a deep breath and shouted, "Mom!!!"

As the cry faded, a RUSTLING and FLAPPING sound filled the air. All the birds had taken flight.

Chen Ling closed her eyes.

Gu Qingyin almost burst out laughing. She clamped her hands over her mouth, and the force of her suppressed laughter brought tears to the corners of her eyes.

A mocking glint flashed in Dongfang Ran’s eyes. "Why don’t you answer? Is it because you have a guilty conscience?"

Chen Ling’s eyes snapped open, and she glared at her furiously.

Dongfang Ran wasn’t afraid of her. She continued blinking, mocking her sarcastically. "Oh, I forgot. You probably don’t have something like a conscience."

Chen Ling’s face flushed with anger. From the side, the baby ghost called out again, "Mom!"

Chen Ling couldn’t take it anymore. She spun her head around and glared at it. "Shut up!!"

The baby ghost flinched and looked at her cautiously.

She didn’t know that a child’s affection for its mother is innate and very special. If it doesn’t get a response, it will keep calling for you until you acknowledge it, never growing impatient.

"Mama..." the baby ghost began again.

Its voice was even softer and more childlike than before, making it impossible for anyone to get angry.

Chen Ling turned her head away, refusing to look at it.

The baby ghost’s lip trembled, looking utterly wronged.

Huo Yunjing blinked and released his control over the baby ghost.

Just as expected, the moment the baby ghost was free, it lunged toward Chen Ling, entering the Array’s perimeter in the blink of an eye.

Chen Ling was startled and shouted sharply, "Don’t come any closer!"

The people in the tree stared intently at the baby ghost, wanting to see if it would trigger the Array. But even as the baby ghost was about to crawl to the center, the Array remained inactive.

"Get out!" Chen Ling waved her hands, trying to shoo it away.

The baby ghost didn’t understand. Thinking its mother hated it, it sat on the ground and refused to move, just staring at Chen Ling with a pitiful, wronged expression.

’This thing is useless!’ Chen Ling fumed. ’All it knows is how to drag me down!’

’She’s afraid the Array will activate and accidentally harm the baby ghost,’ Dongfang Ran realized. Outwardly, her expression didn’t change, but inwardly she was contemptuous. ’So now she knows how to protect it? A bit late, considering you were the one who wanted to devour it.’

Chen Ling didn’t explain, just kept shooing it away with an impatient look. Dongfang Ran couldn’t stand to watch anymore. She hated people who couldn’t just say what they meant.

She took a step forward, crouched down, and looked at the baby ghost. "See this circle? It’s an Array, specially designed to deal with ghosts and demons. It’s very dangerous for you in here. You should get out quickly."

Only then did the baby ghost look around. The moment it saw the talismans, its small body stiffened. Then, it tumbled up and quickly crawled backward.

Dongfang Ran stood up, satisfied, and glanced sideways at Chen Ling. "Alright, let me see the power of this Array of yours."

Chen Ling’s face was grim. "Wait until they come in."

Dongfang Ran’s expression faltered. ’Don’t tell me this Array only works if you lure someone inside to activate it? People aren’t idiots. Who would walk into such an obvious trap?!’

The next second, her vision blurred, and a male ghost appeared before her.

That’s right, it was Kong Xu. He had been thrown in by Huo Yunjing. Not only that, he was also under control.

"Ling’er, run!" Kong Xu shouted the warning even as he chased after Chen Ling, attacking her.

Chen Ling was speechless. She took out a talisman to counterattack.

But Kong Xu was being manipulated. He had no intention of defending himself, only attacking—the kind of assault that would sacrifice a thousand of his own to inflict a hundred damage on the enemy.

Chen Ling was forced into a frantic scramble and shouted, "Dongfang Ran, how can you just stand there and watch?"

Dongfang Ran watched from the sidelines, her face devoid of expression. "Sorry, I can’t get a hand in."

From her spot in the tree, Gu Qingyin clicked her tongue inwardly. ’Chen Ling’s people skills are terrible. Even her own ally won’t help her.’

Chen Ling was furious and desperate. "This Array can only be activated once! I don’t know how long it will hold! Are you sure you want to waste it on Kong Xu?!"

Dongfang Ran’s eyes narrowed. ’Fine, fine. Threatening me, are we?’ She snorted coldly, drew her green longsword, flashed behind Kong Xu, and thrust her sword forward!

Up in the tree, a glint appeared in Gu Qingyin’s eyes. A paper figure instantly dropped down behind Dongfang Ran, mimicking her movements and also making a stabbing motion.

But the paper figure had no sword. Its hand suddenly rolled up into a sharp cone, acting as a weapon.

Dongfang Ran sensed the danger. Forgetting her attack, she leaped to the side. When she glanced back, her pupils couldn’t help but shrink.

"Gu Qingyin!" Dongfang Ran shouted. "I know you’re here! If you have the guts, come out! Stop with these cheap, sneaky tricks!"

Gu Qingyin rolled her eyes. ’Your goading tactics are the only cheap thing here,’ she thought.

With that thought, she pettily released another paper figure to perform a pincer attack.

Dongfang Ran soon lost the luxury of being distracted. She had intended to deal with the paper figure first, but she discovered its defenses were much stronger than she’d anticipated.

When she first saw the three-dimensional paper figure, she thought it was inflatable. Only after breaking through a layer did she realize it was fucking solid inside!

’How can Gu Qingyin be such a bitch! What kind of freakish things does she create?!’

’How much paper would it take to make such a large, solid paper figure?! With all that effort, couldn’t she make something better?!’

Dongfang Ran was starting to lose it.

Because she realized that if it was taking her this long just to fight a paper figure, then once Gu Qingyin herself appeared, along with Liu Ergou, Elder Miao, and Miao Yan...

Did she have any hope of leaving here alive? By relying on Chen Ling and her overhyped Array?