Taboo Mage - Chapter 58 - Sudden Incident

Not wanting to disturb Auntie and her son, I quietly moved next to Jue Chi and whispered, “What have you found?”

Jue Chi did not speak; instead, he silently formed a dharma formula with his fingers and then touched my forehead with his index finger.

“Look over there.”

I turned my head in confusion and nearly collapsed in fright the next moment.

At the end of the corridor, the floor was densely packed with countless babies, each with a bluish-purple complexion and black holes for eyes. When they looked up at me, their lips curled into terrifying smiles.

“Holy shit, what the hell is that!”

I blurted out instinctively, and Jue Chi quickly covered my mouth. I glared at him, signaling him to give me a proper explanation.

This is no maternity ward; it’s like a nursery in the Netherworld!

Jue Chi spoke softly, “Those are children waiting in line for reincarnation. Since we are in a hospital, many of these children died before they could be born, which is why there are so many waiting to reincarnate.”

“You mean, all those things on the floor are from miscarriages in this hospital?” I asked, my eyes widening in shock. When I looked again at the group of eyeless babies, a sense of sorrow welled up inside me.

Jue Chi nodded, his gaze shifting toward the entrance of the maternity ward.

Following his gaze, I saw a baby crawling towards the door, seemingly sensing something. It looked back at us, chuckled mischievously, and then vanished through the doorway.

The next second, the sound of a baby crying came from inside the maternity ward.

A nurse hurriedly opened the door and shouted, “Family of Li Meng! Who is related to Li Meng?”

“I am! My name is Du Qiang, I am Li Meng’s husband!”

Auntie’s son sprang up from his seat and rushed over, with Auntie herself leaning against the wall and trembling as she followed.

I quickly went to support Auntie, fearing she might faint again in her excitement.

The nurse glanced at the sheet in her hand and announced, “Congratulations, your wife has given birth to a son, and both mother and child are safe.”

Hearing the nurse’s words, I felt a wave of relief. Looking at Auntie and Du Qiang next to me, their faces were brimming with joy. Auntie gripped my arm tightly, her excited face streaming with tears.

“Oh no!”

Suddenly, a cry of alarm came from the delivery room that still had its door open.

The nurse paused briefly, then pushed past Du Qiang, who was still holding her, and ran inside.

Du Qiang seemed to realize something and chased to the entrance of the delivery room, frantically banging on the door.

My heart sank as I looked towards Jue Chi. He shook his head and sighed softly.

More than ten minutes later, the door of the delivery room opened again, and a doctor wearing a mask came out, glanced around, and then asked Du Qiang, “Are you Li Meng’s family?”

“Yes… How is my wife? And my child?”

“I’m sorry, the child suffocated right after birth, and we couldn’t save him. The mother had severe bleeding, but we’ve managed to control it,” the doctor said coldly.

The child really died?

I stared in shock, struggling to accept it, especially since I had just seen a baby waiting for reincarnation pass through the delivery room door, smiling at me, and there had clearly been the sound of a baby crying inside.

But why did the child suddenly die?

After speaking, the doctor moved past the stunned Du Qiang. Returning to the delivery room, it took a moment for Du Qiang to react before he rushed to the door again, crying and banging on it.

I felt a slight sourness in my heart, and suddenly, the auntie who was pulling at me actually fainted.

“Call a doctor!” I quickly grabbed the auntie and shouted loudly.

The scene became chaotic instantly, and all I remember is doctors rushing over, placing the auntie in a wheelchair, and pushing her to the emergency room. Jue Chi and I were holding Du Qiang, one of us following them to the door of the emergency room.

After several chaotic hours, things finally settled down.

I sat quietly in the ward, with the auntie lying in front of me still asleep, and on the adjacent bed, a young woman lay barely alive.

Her face was pale, motionless. If not for her eyelashes trembling slightly, one might wonder if she had already left this world.

She is Li Meng, Du Qiang’s wife, and the auntie’s daughter-in-law, who has just lost her child.

I looked at the two women lying there, at a loss for words to describe how I felt at that moment.

There was a knock at the door, and as I turned, Jue Chi entered, holding a bag, followed by Du Qiang who looked as if he had lost his spirit, his face expressionless and his fingers slightly curled at his sides.

“I bought some stuff; you guys eat first,” said Du Qiang.

I nodded and thanked him. Jue Chi placed the bag on the nightstand next to me and found a stool to sit on without saying a word.

The atmosphere in the ward was oppressively stifling, and after sitting for a while, I found an excuse to step out, signaling Jue Chi with my eyes.

In the corridor, I clenched a cigarette between my fingers, my brow furrowed, still unable to comprehend what had suddenly happened.

Jue Chi twisted his prayer beads, murmuring Sutras, likely performing rites for the passing spirits. When he finally opened his eyes, I asked him if there was anything suspicious about the child’s death.

Jue Chi shook his head, “It’s not apparent. After the departed spirit entered the delivery room, its malevolent energy was purified. It wouldn’t harm the pregnant woman. Besides, that was its mother in its next life.”

“But don’t you find it strange? Everything was normal, so why did the child suddenly die?”

“Yes, it is strange,” Jue Chi nodded.

I rolled my eyes in frustration, “Obviously! I know it’s not the work of a departed spirit. If it were, it should have been the pregnant woman who died, not the child! Could it be that it didn’t want to be reincarnated and just queued up for decades to specifically kill its own future mother?”

Jue Chi sighed and fell silent.

The cigarette in my hand burned quickly. I reached into my pocket. The yellow talisman paper had been used up on the train, but fortunately, I still had one life amulet left from before we left.

I snuffed out the cigarette butt in a nearby trash can, holding the string of the life amulet, chanting the dharma formula. The amulet flickered a few times, then I grasped it in my hand and pushed open the door to the ward.

Inside, the auntie had already woken up, crying incessantly. Du Qiang was trying to comfort his mother, clearly becoming agitated.

Losing his son and with his wife still lying there, plus his mother causing a commotion, any man would be close to breaking down.

I looked at Du Qiang with some sympathy and hung the life amulet around Li Meng’s neck.