Hu Xuan was hiding in a house on the southern side of the town, an area that the trio had passed during their investigation.
In fact, when they had followed the night crows to the southern part of the town, Cheng Shi had been subtly scanning their surroundings for any sign of Hu Xuan, but he had co up empty-handed.
This ant Hu Xuan also had a thod of concealing herself—and a very effective one at that.
Li Bola had kept communicating with Hu Xuan, always knowing where she was, without ever ntioning it to Cheng Shi or Qin Chaoge. This implied that Li Bola and Hu Xuan had a similar arrangent to the one the current trio had—a sort of “cooperative agreent.”
That was why Cheng Shi had asked the question earlier.
He feared that this fragile little group might fracture once more, and if that happened, a priest and a bard might not fare well in any conflict.
But all of this would only beco clear after eting Hu Xuan.
Li Bola led the way quickly, and before long, they arrived at Hu Xuan’s hideout, where they finally ca face to face with the alluring Sage of Life.
However, when the trio stood before her, the only emotion on their faces was pure shock—there was no room for anything else.
“You…” Li Bola couldn’t believe her eyes.
“You…” Qin Chaoge looked utterly disgusted.
“You… are Hu Xuan?” Cheng Shi was completely dumbfounded.
“Thank you for coming, Cheng Shi.”
Hu Xuan still maintained her elegance, but that grace was now twisted by her current condition, and her smile was forced.
Her face was deathly pale, but there was an expression of hope and relief in her eyes as she looked at Cheng Shi.
“I can feel it—she’s ready to be born. But there’s a force preventing her from erging. That’s why I need your help.”
“I… how am I supposed to help you?”
Suddenly, Cheng Shi felt himself losing his nerve. The confidence and familiarity he had carried with him before coming here seed to vanish.
“Bola said you know how to deliver babies. If you do, why are you asking ?
Don’t doubt yourself—prepare your tools and cut open my belly. She will be born.”
Cheng Shi felt a chill run through his entire body. He looked up at the enormous belly in front of him and swallowed nervously.
“I an… I’m just saying… my surgical blade might not be big enough for this…”
Following Cheng Shi’s gaze, it beca clear that in this house with three or four ters of ceiling height, the space was almost entirely filled by a gigantic, mountainous belly—a grotesque sight.
Hu Xuan herself hung off one side of this massive “human balloon,” dangling like an accessory. She stood on tiptoe, like a delicate swan, half-turned, smiling at Cheng Shi with a haunting beauty.
At this mont, her belly seed more like her true body.
A vast, terrifying, spherical entity.
Wait…
Hold on a second. Let
calm down.
“……”
Lady, just how many babies are you carrying in there?
If I make an incision, am I going to be ambushed by an army in there?
You’re a Sage of Life, for goodness’ sake!!
Isn’t there supposed to be so kind of “sage ti” or sothing?
Even if you were holding hands with soone all day long, there’s no way your belly could get this big, right?
Am I hallucinating?
Crap!
I’ve avoided getting corrupted by the blood moon all night, only to be contaminated by this belly-moon!
My brain’s about to boil over.
“Don’t worry about . Just a little healing magic will help
endure the pain and welco her birth.”
“Trust yourself, Cheng Shi. And if you have any requests, I’ll grant them.”
As soon as Hu Xuan said this, Qin Chaoge scoffed and walked out of the room.
She was now thoroughly convinced that this unhinged Nature Cult mage wasn’t their killer.
But she still couldn’t accept Hu Xuan’s intentions.
“Arbitrarily distorting life, recklessly abusing one’s body”—to Qin Chaoge, these were acts of pure madness, far beyond human comprehension.
She rejected this madness and despised players who embraced it.
Who said the Nature Cult was reserved?
They might be reserved when it ca to harming others, but when it ca to harming themselves, they were far from holding back.
Li Bola, too, hadn’t expected Hu Xuan to look like this. When they had t earlier in the day, Hu Xuan had still appeared as a graceful beauty with only a slightly noticeable belly.
“You… sigh, I’m going outside for a while.”
With that, Li Bola turned and left.
Now, only Cheng Shi and Hu Xuan remained in the room.
Hu Xuan frowned slightly, watching Cheng Shi quietly standing there. She was trying to think of how to “reassure” him again.
But before she could speak, Cheng Shi’s previously pale face abruptly regained its color. Not only that, but a strange smile began spreading across his lips.
His expression was like that of a collector who had just discovered a rare and valuable artifact.
“You…”
Now it was Hu Xuan’s turn to be baffled. She seed a little out of step with Cheng Shi’s reaction.
Cheng Shi tried to contain his excitent, making sure not to let his smile beco too creepy. He pulled out a delivery saw from his bag, approaching Hu Xuan’s massive belly while carefully asuring where to make the incision.
Seeing this, Hu Xuan finally smiled.
A doctor willing to perform the procedure was the best news she could hope for.
“I’ll say this upfront—I’ve never delivered anything this big before, so if sothing goes wrong, it’s not the doctor’s fault.”
“Agreed, it won’t be your fault.”
“And one more thing—you keep glancing outside. It seems you don’t think this thing inside your belly can wait until daybreak?”
“If ti is so tight, there’s no chance to craft you a custom tool. This saw is second-hand. Hope you don’t mind?”
“I don’t mind.”
“Great. Last question—why ?
Even though I’m a priest, healing magic probably won’t help much in your situation…
If it’s about cutting open your belly, a hunter would be way more efficient than I could ever be.
So tell … Sage. Why choose ?”
“You want to know why? But do we have the ti? As you said, once He rises, she will no longer be able to be born.”
“There’s plenty of ti!”
Cheng Shi glanced outside. There was still a faint remnant of the blood moon in the sky, and the sun had barely begun to peek over the horizon. Judging by the light, they had at least half an hour until dawn.
Half an hour—plenty of ti to discuss from conception to raising the child through college.
“Is this your… consultation fee?” Hu Xuan asked.
“No, no, down paynt,” Cheng Shi replied with a wave of his hand.
Hu Xuan smiled, her pale face maintaining its fragile appearance as she nodded in agreent.
“Alright, down paynt first.”
To explain why she had sought Cheng Shi, Hu Xuan would first have to explain how she had ended up in her current state.
In truth, it wasn’t a complicated story. If you didn’t think too hard about it, there wasn’t really anything new to it.
(Rationality checkpoint…)
While the others had left the inn to gather information, Hu Xuan hadn’t gone anywhere.
She had returned to her room and started chatting with her handso tour assistant, hoping to learn more about the town’s secrets.
During their conversation, she shared her insights on life, and through this, she “enlightened” the assistant, who then revealed to her the details of the town’s most mysterious ritual—the gifting ceremony.
Without hesitation, she willingly participated in the gifting ceremony, successfully allowing her assistant to beco pregnant with her child.
Then, using her own thods, she also beca pregnant with the assistant’s child.
As both of their bellies began to swell, Hu Xuan silently basked in the aura of [Life] that filled the room, comparing and contrasting [Eternal Sun] and [Birth].
But after a while, she reached a shocking conclusion:
The two of them seed to have no discernible difference in authority.
Or rather, [Eternal Sun] was [Birth], only He was an incomplete version of [Birth].
This discovery thrilled Hu Xuan.
She left the inn and began wandering through the town, and every ti she encountered a resident, she would exchange a child.
Along the way, she even crossed paths with Cheng Shi and Qin Chaoge.
By the ti her belly had grown so large she needed help to move, she encountered the ranger, Li Bola.
The two exchanged information, made a deal, and then parted ways.
Once night fell, Hu Xuan realized soone was watching her. But by then, all her energy was focused on her massively swollen belly, leaving her helpless against any pursuers.
So, she chose to run.
Though her movents were hindered, it’s important to rember—balls can roll.
And so, the wind told the ranger:
The Sage of Life is… rolling away.
Though ungraceful, it was certainly effective.
Using her talents, Hu Xuan managed to shake off her pursuers and find shelter in an abandoned house.
In this hidden corner, she continued to feel the [Birth] energy growing within her, further confirming her theory.
She then began to analyze the aning behind Far Dusk Town’s gifting ceremony and used her body as an experint.
She repeatedly perford the gifting ceremony on herself—she was both the giver and the receiver.
Each ti she completed the ritual, the aura of [Eternal Sun] grew heavier, and the divine power of [Birth] also beca more active.
With each iteration of this “observation,” her belly quickly swelled to an unimaginable size, forcing her to move from the outer courtyard to the house interior, where the roof could conceal her ever-expanding belly.
If any other player had been present, they might have realized that so of the intricate designs on Hu Xuan’s clothes weren’t just for decoration.
Even though her dress had been stretched to the point of being paper-thin and taut, it hadn’t torn.
It perfectly wrapped around her… curves.
As the experint progressed, the two energies of [Birth] within her began to fuse.
The energy beca so concentrated that, in one brief mont, Hu Xuan felt His gaze upon her.
And at that mont, Hu Xuan realized—the child within her was ready to be born.
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