Chapter 376: Helping to Raise the Child

Chapter 376: Chapter 376: Helping to Raise the Child

As it turned out, it wasn’t just the four men around Shi Lan who were reacting to her morning sickness. Far away, He Hanshi seemed to have caught it too. During their video call at night, he would start dry-heaving mid-conversation, his azure eyes growing moist.

The once-tough man now had a certain fragile beauty, like a flower in the rain. Shi Lan stared at the video, her eyes uncontrollably glued to him.

But his looks were one thing; she knew how awful the dry heaves from morning sickness were and was still very worried about them all.

She specifically looked it up online and learned it was called ’Couvade syndrome,’ which usually occurs in expectant fathers. Generally, it’s caused by being overly concerned for a pregnant partner, leading to pregnancy-like symptoms.

Perhaps because their reactions were even more severe than hers, Shi Lan found her focus shifting to them. She completely stopped thinking about the pain of childbirth, and her anxiety inexplicably vanished.

Fortunately, they seemed to be heavily influenced by her mood. Once she calmed down, their reactions weakened considerably. Still, at night, they all remained light sleepers, constantly monitoring her condition.

When Shi Lan was five months pregnant, Xiao Du suddenly said, [Master, the baby has taken form. I can help you raise it.]

"Huh?"

Shi Lan was stunned. "What do you mean, help me raise it?"

[To be precise, it should be... help you give birth??]

Xiao Du replied uncertainly. It explained, [Master, my kind of spirit body is rather special. We can reproduce both sexually and asexually. As it applies to you, Master, that means after you get pregnant, if you don’t want to give birth yourself, you can hand the baby over to me once it takes form at five months. I can complete the remaining work until the baby is born.]

"It... it can do that?"

It was a complete eye-opener for Shi Lan. Then again, ever since she’d arrived in this world and encountered things like Beastmen and Talent Skills, her worldview had been constantly challenged.

Indeed, the world was full of wonders.

"If I hand the baby over to you, I won’t have to give birth myself? I can avoid all the side effects of childbirth?"

Shi Lan asked excitedly. Xiao Du nodded. [Yes, Master. You’ll just need to absorb more Spiritual Poison for nourishment. A spirit body gestating a baby consumes more spiritual power than the master would, but there are no other side effects.]

"Okay, I get it. Then you do it!"

Shi Lan agreed eagerly. With her big belly, she constantly felt awkward and uncomfortable. She had leg cramps, and her stomach felt so heavy. All in all, it was anything but easy.

But thankfully, her Beast Husbands were taking excellent care of her. So far, she hadn’t found the pregnancy to be too much of an ordeal.

Upon hearing Shi Lan’s agreement, Xiao Du immediately used its spirit body to engulf the baby in her womb. A small green mushroom then appeared in the room. The mushroom settled in a corner, its body slowly swelling to the size of two soccer balls before becoming still and silent.

Xiao Du told her, [Master, this is my seed. It’s now gestating the baby inside.]

After the baby vanished from her womb, Shi Lan magically felt her belly slowly flatten. Her body suddenly felt light and agile.

In the bedroom, the four men who had been watching over Shi Lan saw her suddenly sit up in bed. When a large mushroom appeared in the room, they all looked at her, confused. "Lanlan, why did you let your spirit body out?"

Jiang Xia added naively, "Lanlan, your spirit body grows so fast! It got this big in an instant."

Shi Lan threw back the covers. Ye Ming and Yan Huoshui immediately noticed the change in her belly. Their pupils contracted, and they rushed over nervously, thinking something was wrong. "Lanlan, are you okay? Do you feel sick anywhere?"

"We’re going to the hospital right now!"

With that, Yan Huoshui reached out to carry her out the door.

Shi Lan stopped him, shaking her head as she explained what Xiao Du had just told her.

Hearing that a spirit body could help gestate a baby, even Yan Huoshui, a well-traveled former interstellar pirate, found it unbelievable.

"Spiritual power can do things like this?"

They found it hard to believe, but Shi Lan’s belly had undeniably flattened. The once-obvious baby bump was gone.

Even though it was incredible, the reality of the situation left them stunned.

Truthfully, Shi Lan was just as stunned as they were. However, she trusted Xiao Du implicitly. It was her own spirit body, after all; their connection was symbiotic. It wouldn’t deceive her about something like this.

Shi Lan got out of bed, walked over to the large mushroom, and gave it a nervous, curious poke. Then she started worrying about other things. "Xiao Du, isn’t the mushroom a little too conspicuous here? What if the baby gets hurt?"

She said this out loud. The other four men heard her and immediately crowded around, peering at the mushroom with their big, furry heads. Their eyes, too, were filled with wary concern.

Xiao Du said, [Master, have you forgotten our Talent Skill is Immunity? The baby is inside my seed and can’t be harmed in any way. However, it will need you to supply it with some spiritual power every day.]

Shi Lan was finally relieved. She realized the baby was even safer this way than it had been in her womb.

She let out a long sigh of relief. When she turned her head, four pairs of worried eyes were staring straight at her. "Lanlan, is the baby really okay like this? Shouldn’t we move it somewhere more hidden?"

Shi Lan smiled and explained everything. They were somewhat relieved after hearing her out. But when Shi Lan woke up the next day, she discovered that a mushroom house had been built around the little mushroom.

The little mushroom had been placed inside a tiny house, which had a bright little lamp hanging from it and all sorts of cute, whimsical decorations stuck to the outside. As Shi Lan was getting out of bed, Jiang Xia came over with a soft cushion in his hands and proceeded to wrap it around the mushroom.

Shi Lan watched him, confused. "What are you doing?"

Jiang Xia explained with a proud smile, "This way, the baby won’t get cold."

"Hahaha."

Shi Lan couldn’t stop laughing. She leaned in to fiddle with the cute decorations, and her heart melted as she looked at them.

’So this is how much everyone is looking forward to the baby.’

But as important as the baby was, Shi Lan still came first.

After their routine check on the baby, Yan Huoshui carried Shi Lan to the Treatment Pod. "You seem to be in good shape now," he said, "but I’m not sure if moving the baby from your body might have hurt you. It’s better to use the Treatment Pod just in case."

He gently placed Shi Lan inside the Treatment Pod and stood guard right beside it, not moving an inch.

When Shi Lan emerged, a fragrant lunch made by Ye Ming was waiting for her.

After eating her fill, she touched her completely flat stomach, still feeling a bit strange about it.

But she had to admit, her belly suddenly felt so much lighter, no longer like she was carrying a heavy weight that pressed down on her.

However, Shi Lan still had to go to work. To keep people from asking about her belly, she continued to wear loose maternity clothes to hide the fact that she was no longer pregnant.

Before leaving for the day, she was still uneasy about leaving the large mushroom at home alone, so she took it with her in the Hovercar. At work, she stashed it in a hidden corner of her office. Although the process seemed like a hassle, as someone who had been pregnant, no one understood better than she did just how much easier this was.