Infant Spirit

The baby was about fifty centimeters tall, and its body didn't look quite real. Sparse wisps of hair covered its head, and it had chubby cheeks and short, plump arms and legs like segments of lotus root. It looked adorable.

It clung to Jiang Yu'er's calf like a koala, its little head tilted to one side and its eyes closed. It didn't move at all, as if it were asleep.

Was Aunt-in-law telling the truth? Was their hospital really haunted—and by an Infant Spirit, no less? Zhang Yuanqing stared at the tiny Infant Spirit, his mouth slowly falling open.

This completely upended everything he knew.

"What are you staring at?"

Seeing her nephew eyeing her with ill intent, Aunt-in-law hurriedly shot him a glare.

She pulled out a chair and slumped against its back, whining, "Mom, I'm exhausted. Get me some rice."

"You don't have arms or legs?" Grandmother grumbled, but still got up and went into the kitchen.

"Oh, you're back, family disgrace."

The aunt greeted her older brother while grabbing a piece of roast duck with her hand.

"Stay single for a few more years and you'll be a family disgrace too. Then we siblings can join forces and take on the wicked old witch together," her older brother said cheekily.

Just then, Grandmother came out with a bowl of rice. The aunt immediately put on a docile air, hugged her mother's arm, and rested her head on her shoulder. "You're the family disgrace. I'm the virgin serving at Mom's side, here to keep trash like you in line."

That was how the aunt won Grandfather and Grandmother's favor and became the apple of their eye.

"Then Yuan Jun and I can team up, too. He's about to become a family disgrace himself, right, dear?" her older brother said.

Aunt-in-law rolled her eyes at him.

"Hm?" The aunt chewed a few times, then asked suspiciously, "Mom, did you forget to add salt? This duck has no flavor."

"We bought it from a shop," Grandmother said crossly.

The aunt furrowed her delicate brows, sniffed, and exclaimed, "Why can't I smell anything? The food doesn't smell good at all."

Hearing this, Grandmother asked with concern, "Have you caught a cold?"

Just then, Zhang Yuanqing saw the Infant Spirit hanging from the aunt's calf twitch its flat little nose. Then it opened its button-black eyes. Seeing the unfamiliar surroundings, its tiny face went blank, as if it couldn't understand why it was there.

Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing grew even more solemn.

This wasn't an ordinary spirit. Ordinary spirits had no awareness and couldn't think; they simply acted on instinct.

The Infant Spirit didn't remain bewildered for long. Following some instinct, it twitched its little nose and crawled up the aunt's body to her shoulder.

Then it saw the table laden with delicious food.

Zhang Yuanqing's gaze followed the Infant Spirit. It suddenly started crawling faster, making its way along the aunt's arm and onto the tabletop, trembling as it went.

It lay on the dining table and stretched out its short, chubby hand, trying to grab a piece of roast duck, but it couldn't pick anything up.

After trying again and again, it finally seemed to realize it couldn't reach the delicious food. It began to wail in distress.

A loud, shrill, phantom cry rang in Zhang Yuanqing's ears.

What a brat. You're so noisy. Zhang Yuanqing gathered Lunar Power in his palm, reached out for a piece of roast duck, and actually grabbed the Infant Spirit instead.

"Go ahead and eat. I'm going to the bathroom."

He pinched the Infant Spirit by the scruff of its neck, like a puppy, and carried it into the bathroom.

Behind him, he heard the aunt say, "Huh? My nose suddenly cleared up. The roast duck smells delicious now, too."

In front of the sink, Zhang Yuanqing held the brat in one hand and watched it stick out its pink tongue, slowly licking the Lunar Power in his palm.

To a spirit, a Night Wanderer's Lunar Power was a powerful tonic.

"It must have followed Aunt-in-law home because my aura clung to her. That has a fatal attraction for spirits."

But what Zhang Yuanqing couldn't understand was that an infant's mental strength was weak. After dying young, its spirit should dissipate quickly—within a day or two at most, or even just a few hours.

Yet the reports of hauntings at his aunt's hospital had been going around for some time.

That didn't make sense.

If he didn't know, he could look it up. Zhang Yuanqing took out his phone with his free hand and logged into the Five Elements Alliance's official forum.

#Shocking: Judge of Ghostly Eyes Suspected Dead. Fallen Ones May Run Amok in the Near Future; Personnel Nationwide, Stay Alert#

#Shocking: Sheling Tunnel Has Been Conquered. The Identity of Its Mysterious Clearer Revealed#

Zhang Yuanqing glanced at the two pinned posts and paid them no mind. The official organization would have to guard against Fallen Ones running amok in the coming days, so the case of Judge of Ghostly Eyes would certainly be made public.

What caught his attention was the news that he had conquered Sheling Tunnel. It had already spread across the Five Elements Alliance's official forum, and the unfamiliar ID Yuanshi Tianzun had become known to the official Spirit Realm Walkers for the first time.

Zhang Yuanqing entered "special spirits" into the forum's search bar.

He quickly found a post explaining the basics of spirits.

"Spirits are formed from the residual mental strength of intelligent beings after death. Having lost most of their awareness, they appear dazed and act according to instinct—or, more accurately, obsession.

"When any living being dies, its spirit begins to dissipate. Ordinary people's spirits last for at most seven days. A Spirit Realm Walker's spirit can remain in the mortal world longer, depending on the strength of their mental power.

"But there are always exceptions. As far as I know, high-level Night Wanderers and Illusionists can keep their spirits in the world indefinitely through special means, even after their bodies are destroyed."

At this point, Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help glancing at the Infant Spirit. He thought, This little guy clearly can't remain in the world forever. It can't be a high-level Spirit Realm Walker.

He continued reading the post:

"The above applies to spirits under normal circumstances. Next, let's discuss abnormal spirits. So-called abnormal spirits..."

The post ended abruptly. Zhang Yuanqing scrolled to the bottom and saw that the second half had been locked and required payment to read.

Was this what they meant by paying for knowledge? The corners of his mouth twitched as he used his phone to add two hundred yuan to his Yuanshi Tianzun account and completed the payment.

It was worth noting that, over the past few days, the clerical staff had arranged a phone number and bank card for his Yuanshi Tianzun identity, separating it from his Zhang Yuanqing identity.

"Abnormal spirits are spirits refined by people. The most famous example is the Night Wanderer's Ghost Taming Technique. Other professions have their own methods as well, but I won't go into them here.

"Refined spirits have a chance of developing special abilities and can be regarded as valuable items or pets. In Night Wanderer jargon, these spirits are called Spirit Servants.

"However, spirits vary in aptitude. Not every spirit can be refined into a Spirit Servant. Spirits with the aptitude to become one are one in ten thousand. Next, I'll explain the refining method...

"One final reminder: refining the spirits of Evil Professions is permitted, but enslaving the spirits of ordinary people is against the rules."

"Posted by: Yuan Ting."

The two hundred yuan had been well spent. After reading the post, Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help feeling impressed.

The post had given him a lot of information.

First, once a Night Wanderer reached a higher level, they could raise ghosts and refine corpses. In a fight against Spirit Realm Walkers, they could switch between the sneaky assassin style and the sneaky summoner style.

Second, this brat was a very precious Spirit Servant. He'd struck gold.

It had already developed a special ability, making it a genuine Spirit Servant—not merely a special spirit.

Third, something was wrong with the hospital where his aunt worked.

"Aunt-in-law suddenly lost her sense of taste and smell just now. It must have been this little guy's doing. So its ability is to steal other people's senses of smell and taste? Hmm, I'll test that again later. If I can raise this little guy, it might be worth as much as an item."

Zhang Yuanqing was delighted, but he couldn't help feeling concerned.

There had to be a Spirit Realm Walker hiding in the hospital where his aunt worked. Now that the Infant Spirit had followed her home, its former master would never let such a precious Spirit Servant go.

There would be trouble ahead, and his aunt could even be put in danger.

Whether the other Spirit Realm Walker was official or unaffiliated, using an ordinary person's spirit to create a Spirit Servant was against the rules.

There was no way this would end peacefully.

"I'll tell Squad Leader tomorrow. I should make proper use of the resources around me."

Once he'd made up his mind, he felt much more at ease. He looked down at the Infant Spirit lying in his palm.

Noticing him watching, the little guy opened its button-black eyes and made a pleading sound. "Baba, baba."

When Zhang Yuanqing ignored it, it went back to licking the Lunar Power.

It was smarter than an ordinary baby, but still couldn't communicate properly. He pinched the Infant Spirit by the scruff and turned it over. "Come on, let's see if you're a Little Doubi or a little troublemaker."

"From now on, your name is Little Doubi."

Zhang Yuanqing carried the Infant Spirit out of the bathroom. The family dinner was nearly over.

He returned to his seat and quietly hung the Infant Spirit around his uncle's neck, then continued eating as if nothing had happened.

He might as well use the family disgrace to test the Infant Spirit's ability.

His uncle was picking his teeth with a floss pick, completely unaware that a dead baby was riding on his neck.

"Uncle, how about some soup?"

Seeing the moment was right, Zhang Yuanqing served his uncle a bowl of soup.

He wanted to find out whether his uncle would lose his sense of taste and smell like the aunt had.

His uncle rubbed his round belly and shook his head.

"No, I won't drink it. Unless you've got a jianbing guozi."

As he spoke, he struck a rap gesture of his own invention. Zhang Yuanqing expected to hear the familiar lyrics, but his uncle suddenly sucked on his thumb and went, "Baba, baba, baba."

At the same time, the Infant Spirit riding on his uncle's neck made a sound only Zhang Yuanqing could hear: "Yo, yo, check it out, jianbing guozi, one order!"

"Pfft!"

Zhang Yuanqing and Jiang Yu'er spat out the chicken soup in their mouths in perfect unison.

Grandfather, Grandmother, Aunt-in-law, and his older cousin all looked at him with a mixture of sorrow and exasperation.

P.S. A quick explanation about Li Dongze's character. While I was working on the opening, I happened to be reading The Naming of the Night. When I got to the character Li Dongze, the name just popped into my head, and it seemed strangely familiar. Later, I found some time to read more of The Naming of the Night, saw the familiar name, and realized I'd lifted it from Pork Knuckle. By then, Li Dongze had already appeared quite a few times, and changing it would've been too much trouble. Since he was only a supporting character, I decided to keep borrowing the name.