Chapter 554: The Crake's Big Egg

Eyes were distributed in all directions around me, and A Cheng watched the surroundings warily to ensure my safety.

Now our people are scattered.

Fang ChuanZong and Hu YuLin guard around the Ancient God Temple, drawing attention.

Liu Junyan and Kong Ji are fighting fiercely.

Now I'm afraid Kong Ji will cause such a commotion and alarm Dìshì's side; if Dìshì's people flank us now, we're likely to suffer more losses than gains.

A Cheng just added another seal to the demon bone, saying this seal will prevent Dìshì's side from sensing the demon bone for six hours.

I know giving birth is hard; some people suffer pain for days and nights before the cervix opens, and if the fetal position is abnormal or the fetus is too large, labor becomes even more difficult.

Not to mention complications like amniotic fluid embolism.

Hence the saying that giving birth is like walking through the gates of hell.

That saying is no exaggeration.

But my situation is much better.

First, my pregnancy is oviparous; second, the little guy is naturally small; third, I've been running around all year, getting lots of exercise, and plus I've successfully achieved Nirvana, my physique is excellent, so it should go smoothly.

But things aren't as optimistic as I imagined; there are waves of contractions in my lower abdomen, yet the little guy shows no sign of coming out.

Every second delayed now brings great danger.

Li Qingying exclaimed anxiously: "What's going on? The amniotic fluid has broken, the contractions are regular, why isn't the little guy in a hurry?"

"It's probably not yet time for the melon to fall ripe," I said.

The little guy suddenly wanted to emerge, stimulated by Kong Ji's burst of Buddhist chant, but the chant was cut off midway, so the little guy may not have absorbed enough.

I told Li Qingying the reason, and she urged anxiously: "Why don't we move closer to the underground palace?"

I shook my head: "No, staying put is safest right now."

Li Qingying then said: "Then I'll go fetch the Copper Coin Person to come chant and spur things along?"

Inviting the Copper Coin Person over would indeed help; he possesses merit and dragon qi… merit?

Thinking of this, I immediately summoned the Soul-guiding Lamp and placed a hand on it.

The Soul-guiding Lamp is full of merit; this has really helped me a lot.

I chanted the incantation, and a continuous stream of merit swiftly flowed back into my body, rushing through all my meridians straight to my lower abdomen.

The little guy instantly became lively, and the contraction pain grew stronger.

I endured the pain without making a sound, held my breath, and then, following Li Qingying's technique, gradually exerted force.

My whole body was drenched in sweat, and my lips were bitten until they bled.

During this process I thought about so much.

My main worry is what effect the demon bone fusing into the little guy's body after hatching will have on him.

That day on A Cheng's little hill, we siblings had a heart-to-heart; actually I could hear the meaning behind A Cheng's words.

He does not approve of forcibly tearing the demon bone from the little guy's body; if possible, he hopes the little guy can tame the demon bone.

After all, the transformation of this demon bone is the process of the three-legged crow ascending to become the Solar Divine Bird.

Taming is roughly equivalent to ascension.

But the problem is, the little guy's true form after hatching is likely a flood dragon or a python.

Even atavistically, like Liu Junyan, he might hatch completely resembling a snake.

With such a true form, how could he possibly ascend to become the Solar Divine Bird?

Put simply, atavism means that after the little guy hatches, he could inherit genes from any generation of his ancestors.

Now the question is, does the Linghai Dragon Clan's ancestry include winged members?

I was surely in pain and a bit muddled then; thinking that, I actually blurted out: "Sister Qingying, are there dragons or flood dragons with wings? Including snakes."

Li Qingying stared for a moment, obviously not expecting me to ask that.

She wiped the sweat from my forehead, perhaps to make me feel better, then followed my question: "Yes, the Yinglong has wings, and the Tengshe also has wings, but the Tengshe has wings without legs…"

Hearing Li Qingying's description, I laughed.

Thank goodness, as long as there are wings, it's fine.

There's still hope.

After half of the merit in the Soul-guiding Lamp was absorbed, it stopped decreasing.

My belly visibly grew a notch larger.

At this moment, far on the horizon, a red-white sword light flashed, and the mournful cries of a flock of birds rang out before instantly vanishing.

I heard A Cheng let out a noticeable sigh of relief: "We won! The old bald donkey was killed by my brother-in-law!"

Mm…

"Xiao Jiu, push, you're coming out soon!"

With Li Qingying suddenly exerting force with her hand, I let out a short grunt, and my lower abdomen suddenly relaxed…

"Indeed it's oviparous." Li Qingying pulled a cloth from her waist, wiped the egg clean, and held it up to me: "The little guy seems a bit small."

Indeed it's smaller than imagined, about the size of a crake's egg.

I dare not look at it; although I've awakened many memories, the fact that I laid an egg still feels strange to me.

Li Qingying, however, shoved the egg into my arms, saying: "Hurry and hold it; later there won't be a chance to."

I pressed my cheek against the egg, then Li Qingying handed it to A Cheng.

A Cheng directly placed the egg into a cloth bag.

Just as we finished, we saw sword light flare up on the horizon again; I frowned: "Why are they fighting again?"

Li Qingying also wondered: "Wasn't Kong Ji subdued just now?"

"No." A Cheng said, "Kong Ji died, but seems to have come back to life, even stronger than before…"

As they spoke, that endless Buddhist chant sounded again.

Just as A Cheng said, this time the Buddhist chant was far more stable than the previous one in the room.

I immediately realized: "Oh no, it's Dìshì!"

Kongjing is dead.

But what Dìshì had set his sights on from the beginning was this body of Kongjing.

A monk who had devoted himself to Buddhist practice for many years and attained the Dao—at least his inner elixir, his relics, and his Xiūwéi would not be low.

Originally, Dìshì chose Kongjing from among many reincarnated Fēnshēn for a reason.

Kongjing possesses several points that are highly compatible with Dìshì.

Just now, Kongjing was taken down by Liu Junyan, but then he immediately came back to life, even stronger than before—this can only mean one thing: the core has been swapped!

As expected, Dìshì has indeed come!

I grabbed A Cheng's hand, forcing myself to stay calm, and said in a low voice: "A Cheng, go find the Copper Coin Person now and have him take you into the Underground Palace. Since Dìshì has already been lured out, the Underground Palace is relatively safe—both its environment and the Copper Coin Person are more advantageous for the Little Guy......"

A Cheng was unwilling: "Older sister, I want to stay with you."

"No, A Cheng, only if you protect the Little Guy well will I not be too distracted." I said earnestly, "Listen to your older sister; your older sister will soon meet up with you—be careful......"