Chapter 583 Karma Retribution

Chapter 583 Karma Retribution

After Chloe's parents left, I activated my Internal Alchemy again, listening carefully to hear what the two elderly people would say.

They walked to the elevator entrance, seemingly waiting for it.

I heard Noah say, "What's going on with Chloe? Why does it seem like she and that young man..."

Before he could finish, Sabrina immediately cut him off: "What nonsense are you talking about? Usually your eyes are dim and your ears are deaf—you can't see or hear anything. Why are you suddenly so sharp today?"

"But look at how they were just now..."

"What about how they were? Your daughter isn't a child anymore. She knows what to do! Besides, that son-in-law of yours isn't any good either, always out there living it up and hanging around with those worthless friends."

"That's two different things, okay? As parents, we can only hope for the best for our kids. We absolutely can't..."

"When have I not hoped for the best for our kids? Besides, she's your own daughter! A son-in-law can be replaced, but you only have one daughter!"

Just then the elevator doors opened, and the two elderly people walked in. I couldn't hear their voices anymore.

I shook my head inwardly. It seemed fathers had a stronger sense of righteousness, while mothers always sided with their own children.

Chloe's mother was like this, and wasn't Cecilia's mother the same way?

Maybe mothers nag their daughters more in daily life and manage more things, but when it really comes to their daughter's own interests, a mother's protection of her daughter is absolutely unconditional and unreasonable.

I patted Chloe's shoulder, coaxing her slowly to sleep. When it was time to change her IV drip, I got up and headed toward the door. The nursing aide came in at that moment. I asked her to watch over Chloe while I walked out to the corridor and called Paul.

Paul was still his usual irreverent self, speaking without filter, as if afraid I wouldn't get into trouble.

As soon as he answered, he asked, "You little punk, what trouble have you gotten into now?"

I was used to his tone and didn't bother arguing with him. I just complained, "I hope in the future, whether you have something going on or not, you won't always have your phone off. What if you're right and I really get into huge trouble and can't reach you?"

"If you really poke a hole in the sky, finding me won't help anyway."

I didn't want to bicker with him, so I got straight to the point: "Paul, do you know if there's such a thing as an Infant Spirit in this world?"

"You little punk, which girl have you hurt now? If a miscarriage really created an Infant Spirit, that would be real trouble!"

So Infant Spirits really exist?

"Wait, an Infant Spirit should be a type of vengeful spirit. If it can attach to the mother's body, I should be able to see it with my Divine Eye, right?"

"What do you know? If there's a miscarriage before it takes form, it won't necessarily become an Infant Spirit. Only if the pregnancy is at least two months along and the fetus has formed a basic shape in the mother's body—if there's a miscarriage then, it will become an Infant Spirit."

"Can an Infant Spirit be subdued?"

"To subdue an Infant Spirit requires deep ability. Your consciousness must be able to move between the human world and the underworld, like a ferryman, to successfully subdue an Infant Spirit. Most people who've practiced their whole lives can at best use spells and sacred incantations to expel an Infant Spirit from the mother's body, but the expelled spirit might reattach at any time. Those with even higher ability can destroy it while expelling it, making it vanish completely, never to be reborn!"

Now I understood—dealing with an Infant Spirit was like dealing with any other ghost; it mainly depended on the practitioner's ability.

Those with low ability could only drive it away, without guaranteeing it wouldn't reattach.

Those with high ability could destroy it, making it vanish forever.

Only those who had reached a certain level of cultivation, or were divine beings to begin with, could successfully subdue one.

I quickly told Paul everything Byron had said in detail, then asked, "Paul, do you think this Byron is a fraud?"

Paul explained, "From what he's said, he does have some cultivation. Perhaps like me, through some chance encounter he found a master and learned some exorcist skills. Combined with years of experience, he can definitely determine what kind of vengeful spirit has possessed someone. Of course, being able to identify it and actually solving the problem are two different things."

"You mean even if he's not a fraud, he might not be able to deal with an Infant Spirit?"

"Of all the ghosts that can't immediately be reborn, Infant Spirits are the most powerful because they carry the heaviest resentment and strongest desire for revenge. Plus, they originally formed in the mother's body, so they're hard to detect. Once fully formed, not everyone can handle them. From his asking price of twelve thousand dollars, it's not too high—doesn't seem like a professional con artist. Maybe through chance he really has removed some vengeful spirits from people, which gives him this confidence."

"There's one thing I don't understand. If it's an exorcism ritual, why can't it be done anytime? Why must it wait until dawn or two or three in the afternoon?"

"You don't even know this and you dare call yourself my student?"

"You never taught me that, did you?"

"So it's my fault?" Paul sighed. "If you divide the day into Yin and Yang poles, dawn is naturally when Yin and Yang alternate, when Yin Energy is heaviest. That's when ghosts are most powerful, but also when their guard is most relaxed. For Infant Spirits specifically, they most easily gather and take form at dawn, whereas normally they're like a cloud of bad energy corroding the mother's body, very hard to remove."

"Then..."

"Why are you rushing? When I was teaching you before, I never saw you this eager to learn!" After scolding me, Paul continued, "Midday is when Yang Energy is strongest, but as they say, extremes meet—right at noon, if you're in tree shade or other dark passages, you'll feel the Yin Energy is heavier than elsewhere. That's why people sleep more deeply during afternoon naps, have more nightmares, and wake up with worse headaches than waking up at midnight."

So that's it—during summer naps, people with weaker constitutions are more easily possessed by vengeful spirits.

Paul continued, "That Byron you mentioned, since he knows to perform rituals at these two times, it proves he has some skill, but also proves he's no master. Otherwise, he wouldn't need to wait for these times—he could perform exorcism rituals anytime, anywhere."

I suddenly thought of myself. When I exorcised Kyle, it wasn't at either of these times.

"Paul, do you think if I performed the exorcism ritual, would the effect be better than his?"

"Of course! If you did the exorcism ritual, it would be a piece of cake! But tell me the truth—is that miscarried child yours?"

"Does it matter?"

"So it is your child!" Paul let out a long sigh. "You need to know, those who practice cultivation cannot take life, especially not their own child. If you personally perform the exorcism ritual, unless you can ensure the child is peacefully reborn, forget about whether you'll lose years of your life—you probably won't have children for the rest of your life."

"What?"

"This is what's called karmic retribution. Whatever bad things you do, you'll pay for eventually. You only thought about the pleasure of sex but never thought about taking responsibility for it?"