Chapter 341: Mother and Son

"It's dangerous inside, let's go!" I didn't have time to explain. I pried his hands away, scooped him up, and bolted outside.

At that exact moment, the Infant-Feeding Ghost lying on the wooden table jerked her neck upward. The Soul-Fixing Needles embedded in her Tongziliao acupoints shot out as her eyelids stopped twitching and snapped open!

A dense web of bloodshot veins covered her pitch-black pupils, and deep within her gaze lay the faint silhouette of a child.

I glanced back and made direct eye contact with the Infant-Feeding Ghost. Yin energy formed a massive black vortex swirling against the ceiling, where countless infant spirits fed her their resentment to help her break free.

Corroded by the Yin energy, the thin silver needles transformed at a visible rate. Something resembling rust spread across them, and soon every single needle had turned entirely black.

As the Yin energy surged, the needles vibrated through the room like plucked harp strings.

"Not good!" I pressed Wang Yu's head down, shielding his body, and made a mad dash for the exit. Behind me, the Ghost Mother's aura grew increasingly powerful. I had never encountered such a terrifying presence before. Let alone a Mahayana Fate Ghost, even if I combined every ghost I had ever faced, they wouldn't amount to half her strength. 'This thing could probably go toe-to-toe with the Fox Immortal Corpse.'

Sweat beaded on my forehead, and I didn't dare stop for a single step. I held Wang Yu with one arm and hauled the mad woman with the other. 'Back then, the fox immortal's Corpse Reanimation was enough to battle the possessed Ye Bing and Daoist Priest Xianqing. If the Ghost Mother is on that same level, even having the Great Divine Mantra of the Big Dipper won't save me!'

My mind raced for a countermeasure amid the gusts of Yin wind. Spotting the ordinary Little Ghosts snickering maliciously as they trailed me, I gradually calmed down. 'Infant spirits harbor deep resentment, but most of the time they only seek revenge against their biological parents. Even though this Ghost Mother has absorbed the resentment of numerous infant spirits and possesses formidable strength, every grievance has its perpetrator and every debt its debtor. Once she breaks free, as long as I don't provoke her, she shouldn't do anything to me.'

Various sects had their own theories on how ghosts were formed, but undeniably, every single tradition agreed that ghosts were tied to obsession.

'Her resentment is overwhelming; she will definitely go after the person who laid the array first. Although this place was sealed off, the great array is still operating. The array master definitely has eyes and ears around here. The Ghost Mother will take her anger out on them first.' My deduction was logical and well-founded, but reality turned out a little different from what I imagined.

Yin energy smashed open the door to the Family Planning Department like a heavy anchor dropped from a ship, slamming the door and its hinges onto the floor. Yet, that was merely the beginning.

Visible chains of Yin energy roiled out from the room. Out in the hallway, the Little Ghosts hiding in the other first-floor departments scrambled out of their hiding spots. Terrified out of their wits, they fled for their lives as if it were the end of the world.

'Isn't this thing way too terrifying?' I sprinted toward the hospital's main entrance. Wang Yu had to be the key to this livestream. As long as I took him with me, there was hope of completing the mission.

But no sooner had I decided on a tactical retreat and taken a couple of steps than another change occurred inside the Family Planning Department.

The surging Yin energy manifested into a massive hand that thrust out of the room. Ignoring everyone else, it grabbed directly for me!

"What grudge do you even have against me?!" No matter how fast I ran, I couldn't outpace the incoming Yin energy. 'It wants me dead!'

Setting down Wang Yu and the mad woman, I gritted my teeth and pulled out the Great Divine Mantra of the Big Dipper. I whipped my head around and shouted to Wang Yu, "Little guy! Run out of the hospital, quick!"

There was no time to say more. Forming the Star Seal with my hands and stepping the seven-star footwork, my eyes flashed like lightning as I chanted the incantation: "Seven Stars of the Big Dipper, divine breath rules the heavens. Great Sage of the Heavenly Handle, boundless in might and light!"

The giant hand of Yin energy moved faster than I had anticipated, carrying with it the howling of ghosts and wolves. Cold sweat drenched my cheeks. My fingers faltered, my spiritual sense nearly collapsing. Reciting the Ksitigarbha Sutra twice earlier had drastically drained my mind. Forcing the use of a minor mastery talisman now, before I had fully recovered, could inflict irreversible damage on my psyche.

I hesitated internally, but the incantation in my mouth didn't stop. As far as I was concerned, this was my only chance. "Above the heavens and below the earth, sever the source of evil!"

Halfway through the chant, the massive hand of Yin energy bore down on me from above. My face paled; the time left wasn't nearly enough to finish the rest of the incantation. 'Crap...'

The Yin wind tore at my eardrums, and my cheeks felt like they were being scraped by knives. The pain was unbearable.

"To encounter a monster of this level... the official livestream is really full of 'surprises'." I smiled bitterly and gave up on the incantation. Even if I redeemed an Upper Vehicle Talisman, my chances of winning against a ghost like this were exceptionally slim.

The massive Yin energy hand, larger than my entire body, eclipsed my vision completely. I thought it would unhesitatingly smash me into meat paste, but to my surprise, the overwhelmingly oppressive hand stopped just a few centimeters in front of me.

'What is the meaning of this? It wants to torture me to vent its resentment before killing me?' I knew that many ghosts preferred torturing the living for their own amusement rather than killing them outright.

Hovering above my head, the palm of Yin energy seemed to hesitate. A few seconds later, it slowly dissipated.

'It dispersed?' In all my past livestreams, this was the first time I had encountered such a bizarre situation. My mind jolted, but this was no time to investigate the cause.

I took a step back and turned to run, but I suddenly felt a tug at my pant leg. Looking over, I realized Wang Yu was standing right by me.

"What are you spacing out for? Run!" I crouched down to scoop him up, but he dodged my grasp.

The child kept his eyes glued to the Family Planning Department, as if anticipating something.

Having narrowly escaped death, I gradually calmed down and looked over along with him.

A few pale fingers gripped the doorframe, and then a face that looked almost entirely human leaned out from the Family Planning Department.

'The Infant-Feeding Ghost!' Calling her a Ghost Mother would be far more appropriate now. That unprecedented, malignant aura made every bone in my body tremble.

With half her body leaning out the doorway, she held a bag woven from hair in one hand. Through the opening of the bag, the vicious glares of infant spirits could faintly be seen.

The clothes she wore were likely the exact outfit she had on before she died. Swaying her body, she slowly walked out of the room.

Most of the silver needles piercing her acupoints had fallen out, revealing her actual skin. She looked almost like a normal person, except her skin was covered in countless child-sized handprints—bruised and congested with blood. Her exposed skin resembled a jigsaw puzzle. From this alone, one could guess the horrific torment she had endured in her final moments.

Black hair hung down, obscuring half of the Ghost Mother's face. She didn't seem accustomed to walking on two legs yet. Her movements were bizarre; she dragged herself across the floor as if she had no bones, inching closer to Wang Yu and me.

Compared to me, Wang Yu appeared much calmer. I didn't know if the kid was just scared silly, but he craned his neck without uttering a single word, staring wide-eyed at the Ghost Mother.

'Something is odd.' I had felt that something was amiss right after narrowly escaping death. Now, the little boy's behavior gave rise to a new hypothesis: 'Was the Infant-Feeding Ghost Wang Yu's mother in life?'

When the Ghost Mother drew closer, my hypothesis was further confirmed: Wang Yu's silhouette was reflected deep within her pupils.

I had seen a similar situation with the Fate Ghost; back then, my reflection had also been in the Fate Ghost's eyes. 'Could this be how high-level ghosts express their memories and obsessions?'

I didn't make any rash moves, carefully observing the Ghost Mother before me. She looked like a woman around thirty years old, and her skin was gradually becoming smooth and radiant under the nourishment of the Yin energy.

If not for the infant spirits occasionally popping their heads out of the hair-woven bag in her hand, I almost would have mistaken her for a living person.

The Ghost Mother's attention wasn't on me. She stopped in front of Wang Yu. Her expression hadn't changed at all; it remained venomous and twisted, as if she despised everything in this world.

Wang Yu was already shorter than his peers, and he struggled to look up at her. Maintaining that same uncommunicative demeanor, he stared intently at the Ghost Mother.

I stood off to the side, my back drenched in sweat. This situation was far too bizarre, and I had no idea what I should do.

The Yin energy gradually thickened. The Ghost Mother was surrounded by an immensely heavy Yin aura, and the resentment she inadvertently emitted was enough to drain the color from Wang Yu's face, leaving his lips cracked and bleeding.

Seeming to notice that Wang Yu was in excruciating pain, she reached into the hair-woven bag and pulled out an entirely pure-white infant spirit.

This infant spirit didn't carry much resentment. Its eyes were shut tight, as if it were dormant.

The Ghost Mother's next action baffled me. She placed the infant spirit down in front of me. Sensing the aura of a living person, a thin slit cracked open above the infant spirit's eyebrows, and it opened three eyes simultaneously!