The Cold Side Character from a Male-Lead Novel is Pregnant - Chapter 17

Chen Kan did not realize anything was wrong at first.

Yan Yu had sent a message in the morning saying he was going to his parents’ house for a day during the holiday. Chen Kan simply replied with an “Mm,” thinking to himself that Yan Yu finally knew how to set aside work, take a rest, and even remembered to report his whereabouts before going to see his parents.

That was good.

It was not until that afternoon that he realized Yan Yu had not replied to his messages for half a day.

In the evening, while at the staff canteen, he overheard two young assistant police officers from the neighboring department whispering about an “abnormal fluctuation in the Soul Realm.” One of them said in a half-joking tone:

“I heard that today, the lonely ghosts and wild spirits across the entire Soul Realm have been unusually restless during broad daylight. They kept swarming toward the Desolate Tombs in the West District, as if they were heading to a market festival.”

Chen Kan’s porridge spoon paused in mid-air.

The Soul Realm was a gap space they occasionally dealt with during special cases. It was usually deathly silent while the sun was up. Collective movement was extremely rare, though it could happen when spiritual veins fluctuated.

However, when he called Yan Yu that night, no one answered. He called Yan Yu’s parents, and still, no one picked up. Although it was possible the family was out for dinner, once the seed of unease was planted, it began to grow wildly.

Chen Kan found that he could not concentrate. After forcing himself to finish the most urgent tasks at hand, he walked through the unit with an air of casualness, but his true destination was the archives room.

Old Qin, the man in charge of the archives, was a rogue cultivator with some skill. He was usually responsible for maintaining the weak connections between the unit and several gap spaces.

Wearing his reading glasses, Old Qin grumbled as he slowly searched for files. “Strange. The ‘Wall’ of the Soul Realm is exceptionally active today. The emotional ripples feeding back are… Tsk, warm and soft, like the hamster my granddaughter keeps. It is completely different from the usual gloomy tone.”

A tiny, sharp sense of oddity flashed through Chen Kan’s mind.

Warm? Soft? Used to describe the Soul Realm?

“How exactly is it abnormal?” Chen Kan asked with a frown.

Old Qin handed him the file and lowered his voice, his eyes gleaming with gossip. “I tried to use the ‘Water Mirror Technique’ today to see the source of the fluctuation. As soon as the image began to form, before I could even see clearly, the mirror was crowded with soul shadows. There were spirits missing limbs, spirits in ancient clothing, and others in modern hospital gowns. None of them were fierce; they were just standing there in a daze, surrounding a patch of land. It looked as if they were protecting some kind of treasure. I only saw the outer perimeter, though; I have no idea what it looked like inside.”

Protecting a treasure?

Chen Kan accepted the file without changing his expression. “Could it be that a spiritual object with a strong life force accidentally entered?”

“Does not seem like it,” Old Qin shook his head. “It seemed more like a living person, and a living person with especially vigorous vitality in some kind of special state. I only caught a glimpse before the image blurred.”

Chen Kan thanked him and left, his pace remaining steady.

Once he returned to his office and closed the door, he stood leaning against the doorframe for a long time before sending a message to Long Zhanye.

Long Zhanye immediately placed a video call, gesturing excitedly. “Damn! I just heard from my buddy who works as a Soul Reaper! The West District of the Soul Realm is incredibly eerie today. The vengeful spirits all over the mountains are quietly gathered around a piece of wasteland. Their soul bodies have become much more solid, and their resentment feels as if it has been washed clean. My buddy said that as he got closer, he actually felt an extremely gentle, vast power radiating from the center. A few fierce ghosts who have been dead for hundreds of years were actually crying, saying they missed their mothers.”

Chen Kan’s knuckles turned white as he gripped his phone. “What is at the center of the crowd?”

“I don’t know! You can’t see it at all! You can only feel that the power is particularly… ‘maternal.’ Yes, that is the word. My buddy said he has been patrolling the underworld for decades, and it is the first time he has seen those ghosts look like they were being tenderly comforted by some supreme existence!”

“What is the specific location?” Chen Kan heard his own voice tighten.

“At the bottom of the Old Grave Mountain in the deepest part of the West District, that mass grave where no one ever dares to go,” Long Zhanye paused and lowered his voice. “But he said there were too many ghosts. It was too dangerous for a single Soul Reaper to squeeze in, so he did not look. He did, however, vaguely hear an suppressed human voice, like a muffled groan? Like someone enduring pain. There were also ghosts whispering things like ‘so much primordial spiritual energy has flowed out’ and ‘we must guard this well.’ In short, it is very strange.”

Chen Kan stood in the shadows of the corner, his fingertips icy cold. All the information now pointed in a direction he did not dare to contemplate.

He had almost called Yan Yu’s phone until it exploded, but still, no one answered. He could only use all his self-control to maintain a calm facade as he drove to Yan Yu’s parents’ house.

Yan Yu’s mother opened the door, looking surprised to see him. “Xiao Chen? Why are you here?”

Chen Kan’s heart sank straight to the bottom.

“Auntie, did Yan Yu not come back?”

“No. He said the unit has been busy lately, so we haven’t been in touch for a few days.” Yan Yu’s mother looked at his suddenly pale face with confusion. “What happened? Is something wrong?”

“I called your and Uncle’s phones. Why did no one answer?”

“Oh, I dropped my phone yesterday. It might be broken; it hasn’t rung at all. Your Uncle’s is the same; he always forgets to charge it, and it ran out of power today.” As she spoke, worry surfaced in her eyes. “You can’t reach Xiao Yu? That child is never like this.”

“It is nothing,” Chen Kan heard his own voice sound incredibly dry. “I might have remembered his schedule incorrectly.”

He turned and walked downstairs, his steps still somewhat steady. He sat in his car and closed the door, and the whole world suddenly became terrifyingly quiet. Outside the car window, the streetlights flickered on one by one, the dim yellow halos shifting across his sharp features.

Chen Kan gripped the steering wheel. His hands were steady, but his fingertips trembled slightly, and his eyes were hauntingly still. He took out his phone, made a call to the unit’s duty room, and then stepped on the gas, heading toward the nearest entrance to the Soul Realm.

Chen Kan found Yan Yu in the deepest part of the mass grave in the West District of the Soul Realm.

Many years later, when Chen Kan thought back to the day he arrived at the Soul Realm, he would still feel a tremor in his soul. He had never imagined that the Soul Realm, which had been chaotic, bloody, and foul-smelling for a thousand years, could turn into such a scene.

The sky was completely dark, yet the entire wasteland of graves was shrouded in a soft, internal glow.

Chen Kan stood at the top of the slope looking down. He saw countless flickering soul bodies quietly forming a large circle, facing the center with respectful postures, like a silent pilgrimage.

In the middle of the circle, leaning against a half-decayed tombstone, sat a pale young man.

His face was so pale it was almost transparent. His hair was soaked with sweat and clung to his cheeks. His left arm was wrapped in thick bandages, but his entire body emitted a strange, peaceful, and warm aura, which was the source of that faint light.

That was Yan Yu.

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