86: To survive, you'll have to pay more!

Tang Tang frowned slightly, her fingers curling involuntarily. "I remember three years ago, Second Senior Brother was invited by the Special Affairs Bureau to handle a similar incident. At that time, Senior Brother used a Substitute Technique to draw the Infant Spirits' residual souls out of the body. Although the physical body remained in the womb, it could still be removed through a C-section at the hospital..."

Xiao Chi's brows furrowed after hearing this, and he fell into deep thought. Tugging at his sparse hair, he muttered to himself, "It seems this is the only way. If there were only one or two, it would be easier to deal with, but there are six in the womb. It's hard to predict if they will form a united front and be drawn out together."

Tang Tang shook her head helplessly. "Let's treat a dead horse as if it's alive!"

"Consider it a fetal reduction surgery! If it doesn't work once, try twice. If twice doesn't work, we'll have to give up." After speaking, she patted her junior nephew's shoulder in comfort.

Lu Jiahao tried to sit up and lean against the headboard. But because his belly was too large, he couldn't move at all. He said anxiously, "Master! Three times, four times, five times... whatever it takes! As long as there's a glimmer of hope, please don't give up on me."

Xiao Chi scolded him mercilessly, "Stinky brat, shut your mouth! You don't have a say here."

Lu Jiahao was a little anxious, his voice trembling as he said, "Another twenty million! Master, don't give up on me!"

Tang Tang didn't respond to him, but turned her gaze to her junior nephew. "Prepare six Paper Figures. The substitutes need to be similar enough in size to the person to fool those Infant Spirits."

Xiao Chi quickly nodded in response, "Yun Xi, no time to lose, go quickly!"

"Yes, disciple will go to the office to arrange it now." With that, Yun Xi turned and hurried away.

Watching Yun Xi's departing back, Tang Tang playfully explained, "Ordinary Infant Spirits cannot parasitize a man's body. They can only find pregnant women, hoping to be reborn through the baby in the pregnant woman's womb."

"This way, they don't have to go through reincarnation and directly gain new life, commonly known as 'a cuckoo occupying a magpie's nest.' The pregnant woman's original child will be replaced. After the impostor is born and grows to three years old, the parents will gradually discover that the child's personality is irritable and prone to anger, similar to some 'Super Males.'"

Tang Tang paused, then added, "Men don't have a uterus and cannot get pregnant. When Infant Spirits enter their bellies, they are just a mass of residual souls plus their own Ghost Fetus."

"So, for such an extremely rare situation to occur, how deep must the Infant Spirits' resentment be? They clearly want to drain the layman's essence!" Tang Tang said with a cold laugh, trying to scare Lu Jiahao.

Lu Jiahao shivered several times in fright, and said with a mournful face, "Master, I'm a 'pregnant man' now, can't you be a little more considerate of my feelings?"

"Sorry, but scumbags don't get that treatment. I'm already helping you exorcise ghosts because of that seventy million." Tang Tang crossed her arms over her chest.

Lu Jiahao suddenly clutched his belly: "Ouch! They seem to be kicking me!"

"Really? Let me feel my brothers!" Gou Dan leaned over and touched his belly, then poked it a few times.

"Hiss! Gou Dan, be gentle." Lu Jiahao gasped in pain, feeling like his pregnant belly was about to explode.

"Tsk tsk tsk... I just touched it. Such a fuss." Gou Dan bared his teeth at Lu Jiahao, cursing incessantly.

"...Scumbag dad... Scumbag dad..."

Xiao Chi stood by, his expression a bit strange. He couldn't help but ask, "Little Martial Uncle, don't you think something is amiss?"

Tang Tang looked at the scene before her, her mouth twitching slightly. She gave a dry laugh and replied, "No, I just think Lu Jiahao looks very 'pregnant' right now."

As soon as she finished speaking, Lu Jiahao looked up at Tang Tang with pitiful eyes. "Master, they're hungry. Can I have ten pork hocks?"

"Ah, this?" Xiao Chi looked at his nephew in astonishment, unsure how to respond... Midnight... The yin energy was at its heaviest, it was the time when yin and yang intersected, and also the time when a hundred ghosts roamed.

Yun Xi had prepared all the necessary items in advance, the most time-consuming of which were the six Paper Figures.

These Paper Figures were meticulously crafted by the best paper-crafting master in City X, and each Paper Figure had Lu Jiahao's Eight Characters of Birth inscribed within it.

The craftsmanship of the Paper Figures was exquisite; at first glance, they looked lifelike.

If they were to suddenly give a few dry laughs at ordinary people at night, it would probably scare their 'Life Souls' away.

In the bedroom, Lu Jiahao lay on the three-meter-wide bed.

The bed was meticulously arranged like an operating table, with a clean white sheet spread beneath it, and various medical supplies such as hemostatic clamps and bandages placed by the bedside.

Lu Jiahao couldn't help but feel a surge of nervousness, and he unconsciously wiggled his toes, his voice trembling slightly: "Maternal Uncle, this... nothing will go wrong, right? Looking at this setup, even Brother Yun has prepared medical supplies."

"Why don't we discuss it again and plan the details of the scheme thoroughly?" Lu Jiahao suggested, hoping to gain more sense of security.

However, Xiao Chi became a little impatient with his good nephew.

"Don't panic, even if it fails, there won't be any side effects. At most, they'll just become a little more vigilant, and you'll have a small hole in your belly."

Hearing this, Lu Jiahao immediately felt a wave of grievance, his eyes slightly red, and he muttered to himself, "It's not you who's pregnant, Maternal Uncle!"

Facing Lu Jiahao's complaints, Xiao Chi wasn't angry; instead, he appeared very calm. Gently rolling up his sleeves, he picked up the hemostatic clamp and gestured, saying, "This humble Taoist is a Quanzhen Taoist Priest; how could I have the fortune to be a 'male mother'!"

"Maternal Uncle, do you think I'll complain to my mom?" Lu Jiahao closed his legs, his brows tightly furrowed.

"Heh, if you have the guts, call her! This Taoist master won't bother."

"Maternal Uncle, I was wrong, your nephew was just talking nonsense, all nonsense..."

...Xiao Chi ignored Lu Jiahao, formed hand seals, and chanted incantations.

"Grandmaster, empower my spiritual body, with one stroke, open the Azure Dragon's eyes. With two strokes, illuminate the four seas. With three strokes, the body is free. Point the eyes, the eyes are clear; point the feet, the feet are nimble; point the hands, the hands are agile. Point the head, the head is spiritual; point your three hundred and sixty-five joints..."

As Xiao Chi's incantations continued, the yin energy in the room grew increasingly dense.

Lu Jiahao nervously watched Xiao Chi's every move, silently praying. "Three Pure Ones Grandmasters, Underworld Empress, King Yama, quickly manifest..."

After a while, a spiritual light emanated from the hemostatic clamp in Xiao Chi's hand, shooting directly towards the Paper Figures.

The Paper Figures seemed to be infused with life and actually began to move.

Lu Jiahao's mouth dropped open in surprise, watching the wondrous sight—the Paper Figures climbed onto the bed one after another, gently touching his limbs.

Sweat beaded on Xiao Chi's forehead, his expression focused. He said in a low voice, "Success or failure hinges on this one attempt..." Before he could finish, a wisp of green smoke emerged from Lu Jiahao's abdomen, followed by muffled thuds.