[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-there-is-a-malevolent-spirit":3,"chapter-there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-9":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","There Is a Malevolent Spirit",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2263115,4416,"Chapter 9: 8, Zhen Shi","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-9",9,"\u003Cp>8, Zhen Shi\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xiamei’s pale belly swelled like a balloon stretched to its limit, taut as a drumhead, every skin ridge pulled taut and spread wide!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, a human face suddenly bulged from the paper-thin skin of her belly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It let out a piercing, shrill shriek—and tore clean through the thin membrane!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thick, seaweed-like hair gushed from the ruptured belly, and beneath the tangle, a pointed face lined with fangs flickered into view, its gray-white eyes fixed unblinkingly on Zhou Chang!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xiamei!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The grotesque absurdity building inside Zhou Chang reached its peak in this instant—indescribable!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thing that tore through Li Xiamei’s belly was Li Xiamei herself!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xiamei gave birth to Li Xiamei!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rumor had it that Li Xiamei, who had adopted three daughters, longed to bear a son for her husband “Old Feng,” to continue the Feng family line—but the fetus growing inside her had long been dead; she refused to accept it, obtained a remedy from the “Ghost Physician,” and began daily ingestion of living human organs as medicine, hoping to revive the child within her womb.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet now, this fetus nurtured by countless living organs was none other than Li Xiamei herself!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xiamei’s skull writhed, slowly emerging from the tear in her belly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her shoulders followed, inching out gradually.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though her movements were excruciatingly slow, the danger surging in Zhou Chang’s heart rose like a violent tide, crashing over him!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xiamei opened her mouth, lined with fangs, and let out a screech like a night owl!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ya—Hahahaha!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The speed at which her body emerged from the belly increased!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang’s spirit trembled; chaotic thoughts surged like a crowd’s clamor, nearly drowning his mind!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The transparent threads he had deliberately wound around his legs now seemed stained—large patches turning mottled and filthy, then crumbling into wisps of incense ash that fluttered off his body!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why is this happening?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Blades in the real world cannot kill demons born of thought—but I clearly severed Li Xiamei’s neck with threads born of thought!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“She should be dead!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yet she lives!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This method is wrong!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is there another way? Is there any other way?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These thoughts churned through Zhou Chang’s mind, and the pain—as if an iron spike had been driven into his skull—intensified!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The world in his vision shuddered violently; Li Xiamei in the black forest multiplied into row upon row, column upon column of overlapping shadows, filling his entire field of view!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, Zhou Chang, who had felt as if standing in a noisy square, suddenly fell into solitary silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sifted through the chaotic thoughts, piecing and reassembling them into a coherent chain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Certain words Zhou Sanji had spoken earlier returned to Zhou Chang’s mind: “Do you know? As long as we’re still breathing, still moving, that Li Xiamei can smell us, hear us, and come chasing after us…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is that it?” Zhou Chang lifted his face, staring at Li Xiamei, whose arms were now fully emerging from the old body’s belly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The faint white transparent threads dissolving from his body like incense ash suddenly ceased their corruption—yet their total volume had shrunk drastically; he drew them all back, and now they covered only his two arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stood still, motionless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bride in phoenix crown and brocade robe had quietly appeared beside Zhou Chang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A sheet of yellow paper covered her face—but no charming, affectionate human visage appeared upon it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind her stood a thin-skinned coffin; on either side stood two figures without internal organs, their skin and clothing made of paper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the wind blew, the paper figures rustled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath the yellow paper, Bai Xiue’s face was streaked with tears, her eyelashes trembling faintly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lady—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang whirled around, staring at the delicate, frail bride before him, his voice hoarse:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did not know her name; he could only address her by the role they had agreed upon in their earlier play.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lady! Help me!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Help me!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He whispered, then reached out and gripped the yellow paper covering Bai Xiue’s face—he applied no force, yet the paper slipped cleanly from her skin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath the paper, Bai Xiue’s eyes snapped open—and she saw Zhou Chang, pale as death, clutching a wad of yellow paper in his hand!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the instant the paper face was ripped from her forehead, it felt as if the sky had brightened for a moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Xiue clenched her lips, summoned all her courage, and reached out to steady the swaying Zhou Chang—the tall man leaned his entire weight upon her; his icy aura seeped into her, making her shiver.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She lifted her pale face, gazing at Zhou Chang’s profile: “I—I how do I—help you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Help me to her.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang raised his right arm, pointing at Li Xiamei, whose hands had fully emerged from her belly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Xiue turned her head and saw the terrifying figure half-emerged from the headless corpse’s belly—her beautiful features twisted with fear: “...Yes.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang, hearing her, glanced sideways at Bai Xiue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She gripped him tightly; her body became his crutch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Noticing his gaze, she trembled even more: “Y-you—you… I—I—I’ll die, won’t I?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her voice cracked with tears, yet she did not stop—she kept dragging Zhou Chang toward Li Xiamei, whose torso was half-extruded from the belly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even if we die, at least we three die together—we’ll have each other for company,” Zhou Chang said with a smile, his eyes drifting to the fading breaths escaping from Zhou Sanji’s eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He watched Zhou Sanji’s back rise and fall slightly—he knew he was not yet dead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then… that’s… fine…” Bai Xiue murmured a few words; suddenly, she grew calm, her trembling ceasing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She helped Zhou Chang reach Li Xiamei’s side—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Li Xiamei, half-emerged from her ruptured belly, suddenly swung her sharp knife!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Swish!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang shoved Bai Xiue aside; without external support, he collapsed to his knees before Li Xiamei’s headless torso, directly facing her newly born head!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He flung his arms wide—ten fingers wrapped in transparent threads, gripping the descending knife with all his strength!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crack!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His fingers clamped like iron pincers, locking the knife in place!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The terrifying force embedded in the blade defied all logic—it had no measurable scale, yet it could slice Zhou Chang in half in an instant!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Zhou Chang, enduring the agony as if his brain were being drilled open, strained every fiber of the transparent threads—each fragile strand, contrary to expectation, coiled around the blade—clusters of thread ends, like needles guided by steel, burst from the knife’s surface, yanking Li Xiamei’s arm backward with a violent twist!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The knife’s tip plunged into Li Xiamei’s forehead!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her wild hair exploded outward; she shrieked even more furiously, emerging from her belly at greater speed!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the knife had already pierced her brow!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No one can remain utterly silent, hold their breath, yet still have a heartbeat—nor can anyone fully mask their scent—no matter how well hidden, those odors blaze like torches in the dark to a dog’s nose!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Humans cannot compete with dogs!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since you cannot avoid sound or scent, then I must ask you to endure this—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as you cannot smell the living, cannot hear the living—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang gazed at the grotesque, terrifying pointed face before him, cupped her face in both hands as if cradling a lover’s smile—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dense clusters of faint white transparent threads peeled from the knife, swirling like dust and sinking deep into Li Xiamei’s eyes, ears, nose, and mouth—sewing them shut, stitching her hands to her face!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Threads wound round and round, each stitch tight, strong, and precise!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The writhing Li Xiamei fell utterly still.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The final thread circled her lips once, sealing them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xiamei—hands clasped over her face, knife embedded in her brow, lower body still fused to her old belly—suddenly dissolved into a swirling, illusory mist, drifting into the forest and vanishing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black night faded toward dawn; the cold wind stilled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chang collapsed, utterly exhausted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Xiue stood behind him, her pale, delicate face still etched with terror.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, her right cheek rippled like water—another charming, affectionate face emerged from the ripples, gradually covering her right half.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The beautiful face smiled gently at the fallen Zhou Chang, lost in thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Far away, Zhou Sanji suddenly shuddered, awakening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within thick black mist, a wattle-and-daub courtyard flickered into view.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath a thatched gate, a black lacquered door bearing a “Fu” character stood open; inside, three or four huts, built with rammed-earth walls and thatched roofs, were starkly humble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xiamei entered the courtyard and pushed open the door to the main room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her hands, once sewn shut by transparent threads, now hung limp at her sides; the knife embedded in her forehead had vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the main room, light was dim.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the black-and-yellow walls, vague shapes seemed to hang—several long garments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A brazier sat in the center of the floor, its orange flames leaping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The firelight deepened the gloom of the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xiamei picked up a bamboo pole from behind the door and pulled down one of the garments from the wall—each so-called garment was in truth a tanned, blackened human skin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xiamei first slipped her hands into the skin, then her feet, and finally pulled the face-skin over her head—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The long slit along the back of the skin sealed itself silently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The skin’s suddenly bulging belly was pressed flat by Li Xiamei’s hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moments later, Li Xiamei had transformed into a slightly plump middle-aged woman, dressed in blue coarse cloth and a leather apron, kneeling on a straw mat behind the brazier, whispering softly: “Husband… this time, I couldn’t keep the ‘Zhen Shi’…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A rootless soul had taken up residence in that jian corpse…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He has some inexplicable methods…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xiamei, trembling and whispering, grabbed a stack of pitch-black spirit money from beside her and tossed it into the fire basin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black spirit money was swallowed by the flames, rising as illusory, multicolored mist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mist drifted and curled around the spirit shelf nailed to the wall directly opposite the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spirit shelf stood only a foot off the ground; inside, the inscription on the tablet was faintly legible: “Sheng Leng He Chang Feng Si, Divine Banner Altar.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Third girl… she was helping me right here, but then she changed her mind and temporarily hid within the woman who carries the Lotus Embryo Child’s fate…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’s always been independent—though I raised her, her origins lie with the Wealthy King of the Hidden Realm.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though she didn’t lift a finger to help, she still left behind a token…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xiamei raised her wrist—a strand of black hair coiled around it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a lock of hair exchanged between Zhou Chang and Bai Xiue when they forged their pact; now it had become the token left behind by Li Xiamei’s “third girl”!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Third girl says the foreign soul’s ability to inhabit a jian corpse that’s been nurtured for seven days is already extraordinary—let alone the other hidden methods concealed within him. So she wants to uncover the secrets of that living soul before killing him.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In a few days, I’ll go to Qingyi Village and become a butcher, keeping watch over that jian corpse.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Once third girl finishes her task, we’ll kill the living soul together and bring back the jian corpse.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It won’t delay anything…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After finishing her words, Li Xiamei stole a glance at the spirit shelf, one foot off the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The five-colored, half-real, half-illusory “thought-qi” coiled around the tablet inside the shelf—and at that moment, suddenly coalesced into a blurred human face!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The face abruptly opened its pitch-black eyes and fixed them on Li Xiamei!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dozens of human skins hanging on both walls all stared at Li Xiamei, their voices—mixing old, young, male, and female—echoing through the main chamber: “Third girl is restless even in the Hidden Realm!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Keep a close eye on her!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The jian corpse was ordered by the Wealthy King to be kept here—if you lose it, you’ll be ‘dissolved’!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In a few days, let the first girl, second girl, and you go to Qingyi together!”\u003C\u002Fp>",2025,"2026-06-19T18:47:42.084Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","9234c2dfa856795c46eeb78c6f519aa9e7bb6d8640f813bc13a1a63271e1be70","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-10","there-is-a-malevolent-spirit-chapter-8",209,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthere-is-a-malevolent-spirit-cover.jpg"]