Spirit Realm Walker
Chapter 39

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That brat, why is he heading toward my aunt again? Zhang Yuanqing wanted to curse. He lowered the brim of his hat once more, tracking Little Doubi with his peripheral vision.

The Infant Spirit crawled with a mix of clumsiness and agility, quickly approaching Jiang Yu'er before opening its arms to hug her calf, hanging onto her leg.

This, this, why does it like my aunt so much? Zhang Yuanqing froze, his expression gradually turning complex.

Jiang Yu'er was completely oblivious, chatting away with Guan Ya with great enthusiasm.

"Didn't your husband come with you?"

"He's still in university."

"Oh, a college student? My nephew is a college student too, but he still doesn't have a girlfriend."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's so embarrassing."

Zhang Yuanqing thought to himself, You've been working for two years since graduation and you're a single dog too, who are you looking down on?

Just then, he saw Little Doubi slide off his aunt's leg on its own. It lay on the floor, tilting its head as if discerning something, then quickly crawled toward the depths of the corridor, heading into one of the outpatient offices.

Zhang Yuanqing felt a stir in his heart; he stepped forward nonchalantly and quietly followed.

After Little Doubi crawled into the outpatient office, Zhang Yuanqing waited a dozen seconds before walking past, pretending he was just passing by.

The door to the outpatient office was half-open. Sitting at the desk was a young doctor in a white coat with soft facial features and a comfortable, scholarly air.

At this moment, he was sitting up straight, sensing something with intense focus.

Little Doubi had crawled onto the desk, playing by itself.

As its master, Zhang Yuanqing sensed that Little Doubi felt a special sense of closeness to this person. Combined with the young doctor's subtle body language, he made a preliminary judgment: the doctor in this room was the Spirit Realm Walker secretly refining Spirit Servants.

Zhang Yuanqing didn't alert him. He turned and left, arriving at the waiting hall, and dialed Guan Ya's number.

The phone rang twice before Guan Ya hung up. A moment later, the mixed-race beauty walked out on her long legs.

"I found out that the ghost rumors started half a month ago. There shouldn't be many of them. We'll pull the outpatient records directly and then get a list of the OB-GYN staff."

Zhang Yuanqing whispered, "I've locked onto the target."

"So fast?" Guan Ya's expression turned serious instantly. "Who is it?"

"He's an OB-GYN doctor. The name on the badge on his chest is Wang Qian. He's in the fourth outpatient office on the right side of the corridor." Zhang Yuanqing asked, "What do we do next?"

Guan Ya pondered for a few seconds and said, "I'll go scout him out first, test his depth, and then decide whether to call the Squad Leader for support."

Zhang Yuanqing asked curiously, "How do you plan to test his depth?"

"I always feel like your words are weird." The Old Driver chuckled, then a faint white light lit up in her eyes as she scrutinized Zhang Yuanqing. "Your physical fitness is good, your vitality is strong, and the Lunar Power in your body is quite thick, roughly equivalent to the mid-level of the Transcendence Realm. Your current emotions are curiosity, vigilance, and a faint hostility, though not toward me."

Seeing Zhang Yuanqing's mouth slowly drop open, Guan Ya laughed. "Insight is a skill for Level 1 Scouts. I can see through an opponent's general level, limited to the Transcendence Realm."

"If I don't come out within ten seconds, follow me in. If I do come out, we'll call for reinforcements." She put on her sunglasses, swayed her waist, and headed back toward the OB-GYN department.

Zhang Yuanqing watched her enter the office and counted silently to ten. Seeing that Guan Ya hadn't come out, he immediately lowered his hat brim and began to move.

When he returned to the office, Guan Ya was sitting across from the young doctor, discussing pregnancy preparation knowledge.

"You guys..."

Seeing Zhang Yuanqing return and close the office door, the young doctor frowned.

Guan Ya crossed her arms and smiled. "We are the Five Elements Alliance, Second Squad of the Kangyang District Spirit Realm Walkers. You are suspected of illegally refining Spirit Servants. Please cooperate with our investigation."

The young doctor's face darkened. His gaze swept over the two of them as he said loudly, "I don't know what you're talking about. Please don't hinder my work, or I will consider calling the police."

As he spoke, he stood up and walked toward the door, shouting, "Don't block the door, I still have patients."

Seeing the man walking toward him, Zhang Yuanqing quietly tensed his muscles, ready to enter the Night Roaming state at any moment.

He wasn't panicked; since Guan Ya stayed there, it meant she had used Insight to determine that the opponent wasn't strong and that the two of them could handle it.

Zhang Yuanqing was already prepared to meet the man's resistance, but just then, he saw the young doctor reveal a sorrowful expression and begin to sing in a low, mournful tone:

"Recalling the twists and turns we've walked, only the two of us understand, no one else can know. You said you were tired, can you let me go?"

Listening to the sad singing, a sense of indescribable sorrow, fatigue, helplessness, and listlessness rose in Zhang Yuanqing's heart.

What is the point of struggling so bitterly?

It's better to just let go.

Consequently, he silently stepped aside, no longer blocking the door.

Guan Ya, standing by the desk, suddenly rose, twisted her waist, spun around, and swept her leg, her high heels clicking sharply.

BANG!

The young doctor, who was about to escape, was struck hard in the side by the whip kick that carried the sound of wind. He groaned and flew backward, slamming heavily into the wall. He clutched his ribs with a pale face and collapsed to the ground, limp.

Zhang Yuanqing snapped back to his senses, shaking off the state of sorrow and exhaustion.

What am I thinking? Why would I feel such weary indifference toward a man? He looked bewildered.

"So, you're a Musician," Guan Ya said with a forced smile. "Not only are you suspected of illegally refining a Spirit Servant, but you also resisted arrest and used supernatural abilities against an official Spirit Realm Walker."

She glanced at Zhang Yuanqing and added, "You have caused significant mental trauma to our official personnel. You are now under formal arrest."

The young doctor clutched his aching ribs, his face pale. "You can't arrest me. I belong to the Stop-Killing Palace. The Stop-Killing Palace and the Five Elements Alliance have an agreement to stay out of each other's way. You cannot arrest me at will."

Guan Ya frowned, her expression turning grave. Zhang Yuanqing asked in a low voice:

"Stop-Killing Palace?"

"The Stop-Killing Palace is a local Spirit Realm Walker organization in Songhai. It's unofficial, and its Palace Master is a high-level Spirit Realm Walker," Guan Ya explained.

"The Palace Master of this organization is a high-level Spirit Realm Walker who signed a non-aggression pact with our branch. The Five Elements Alliance cannot arrest or dispose of members of the Stop-Killing Palace at will. The people in this organization are all quite extreme; they constantly spout slogans like 'stopping war with war, stopping killing with killing.' Their Palace Master is even more of a madman. As long as they behave themselves, our branch's higher-ups are willing to take a step back and coexist peacefully."

"You must not insult our Palace Master," the young doctor said, his voice tinged with anger.

"The premise of non-aggression is that you behave yourselves. Since you have committed an illegal act, no one can save you." Guan Ya's pretty face was cold as frost, her gaze sharp.

At this moment, she was no longer the Old Driver who only knew how to joke; she was a stern and ruthless law enforcer.

"No, I didn't break the law. I didn't refine a Spirit Servant," Wang Qian said, his voice deep as he defended himself.

He slumped to the floor, not attempting to stand, fearing he would provoke rough treatment from the two official Spirit Realm Walkers.

"Do you need me to give you a hint? That child," Zhang Yuanqing sneered.

He was calculating how to deal with this man. If he were a Spirit Realm Walker who had committed all sorts of evil, then naturally, he should be eradicated completely.

If it only involved the refining of a Spirit Servant, then it would be handled according to official procedure, following the regulations of the Five Elements Alliance, and he would try his best to resolve the matter under his own watch.

However, he had a question in his mind. Through his "passing" observation earlier, this man seemed able to sense the Infant Spirit but could not actually see it.

Hearing the word "child," Wang Qian's expression changed drastically, and he realized:

"So that's what this is about. You misunderstood. I didn't refine a Spirit Servant. I am just a Musician; I don't have the ability to refine a Spirit Servant. That child was an accident."

"An accident?"

"Yes, he... he was my sister's child who passed away prematurely."

Zhang Yuanqing and Guan Ya exchanged a look. The former was furious: "You wouldn't even spare your own nephew?"

Zhang Yuanqing's words seemed to provoke Wang Qian, who said with some agitation: "No, I told you it was an accident."

"Over half a month ago, my sister fell at home. Her amniotic sac ruptured, she hemorrhaged, and the fetus in her womb was injured. She was seven months pregnant at the time. The hospital performed an emergency C-section, but the child's condition was not optimistic."

"To save the child, I applied to my organization for an item, hoping to use its power to save my unborn nephew, but he passed away in the end."

"By some twist of fate, that item imbued him with spiritual power, making him a special kind of spirit."

Lacking experience and knowledge, Zhang Yuanqing turned his head to look at Guan Ya.

The mixed-race beauty pondered for a moment and hummed:

"The Musician profession does seem to have caretaking abilities. I've read about it in the archives before, though it's not a skill from the Extraordinary stage."

It's not an ability from the Extraordinary stage, which is why this guy had to apply to the organization for an item? Zhang Yuanqing thought to himself.

The young doctor said in a low voice: "You must have come here because you heard the rumors about the haunting. Because of that item, he never dissipated, wandering the hospital day after day."

"He is still young and doesn't understand anything. He doesn't even know he is a spirit. He longs for someone to notice him and instinctively feels close to older women. That's why people with weak vitality occasionally sense him."

Zhang Yuanqing said: "So, you just did nothing?"

"How could I? The Musician profession granted me high spirituality, so I could sense him. But I cannot touch spirits like a Night Wanderer, nor can I communicate with him. All I could do was accompany him until his spiritual body was exhausted and he dissipated completely."

When he said these words, a flash of sorrow crossed Wang Qian's eyes.

Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but cast a subtle glance at Little Doubi, who was amusing itself on the desk.

No one could see it, no one paid it any mind. In the days that passed, was this how it spent its lonely time?

Chewing over Wang Qian's words carefully, Zhang Yuanqing found that everything made sense.

That was precisely why the hospital was haunted, and why the Infant Spirit followed his aunt—who was tainted with the aura of a Night Wanderer—home. It was ownerless, and the Musician uncle could not control the spirit.

Zhang Yuanqing looked at Guan Ya, asking for her opinion.

Guan Ya nodded slightly.

A Scout could see through some clumsy lies; what Wang Qian said had no flaws and was not a lie.

Guan Ya asked: "What is your sister's name?"

"Wang Qian."

"Take out your ID card."

After verifying the ID, Guan Ya handed it back to Wang Qian and said:

"We will verify your sister's situation and report it to the organization. We will have the organization contact the Stop-Killing Palace to verify your story. We will call you again within 24 hours. Before then, I hope you do not leave Songhai."

Wang Qian breathed a sigh of relief and nodded slightly.

Guan Ya immediately took his phone number, then left with Zhang Yuanqing.

Zhang Yuanqing secretly guided Little Doubi to follow them. Once they were out of the obstetrics and gynecology department, he made an excuse to use the restroom and took it—no, took him—back into his body.

The two-story glass building, office area.

Zhang Yuanqing and Guan Ya climbed to the second floor and found Li Dongze was not there. Old Driver called out, "Wang Tai, where is the Squad Leader?"

Wang Tai didn't even look up as he replied:

"Not long after you left, the Squad Leader went out. Traces of a Voodoo Master were discovered in Fenghui District, and they are currently organizing a team for an arrest. The Squad Leader was invited to go help."

Voodoo Master. A member of the Spirit Energy Society? Is this the aftermath of the Judge of Ghostly Eyes incident? Zhang Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief and said happily:

"Sister Guan Ya, let me write the mission report."

With the Squad Leader gone, he wouldn't have to report in person, and a text-based report offered plenty of room for maneuvering.

"Quite sensible, aren't you?" Guan Ya also said happily. "Wang Tai, pull up the information on the registered personnel of the Stop-Killing Palace for me."

A few minutes later, Zhang Yuanqing clattered away at the keyboard. Having learned the essence of report writing from Guan Ya, he was well-versed in the techniques of downplaying the important while filling the pages with nonsense.

He ensured that Li Dongze would lose the desire to read it carefully after a cursory glance.

Enslaving spirits was illegal, but Little Doubi possessed a certain level of intelligence; he was not one of those dull spirits that were merely remnants of mental energy.

To kill him would be like taking a life, so Zhang Yuanqing decided to keep the Infant Spirit and raise him properly.

He spent the entire afternoon studying knowledge about the Spirit Realm, the characteristics of various professions, and introductions to both evil organizations and official organizations.

During this time, he kept Guan Ya company with endless chatter. Old Driver seemed very happy, as Yuanshi was not as boring as Wang Tai.

Wang Tai was very unhappy, because they were too noisy.

Near the end of the workday, Zhang Yuanqing received a call from Li Dongze.

"Squad Leader? The matter at Pingtai Hospital has been resolved, and I have already sent the mission report to your email."

"Are you at the office?" Li Dongze skipped over the topic of the mission report entirely.

"Yes, I'm just about to get off work."

"Stay there. I'm sending a driver to pick you up; there is something I need your help with."

End of Chapter
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