Chapter 39: Him
This little rascal, why is he running toward Little Aunt again? Zhang Yuanqing cursed internally as he brought the brim of his cap even lower, tracking Little Goofball with his peripheral vision.
The infant spirit seemed both clumsy yet oddly agile as it crawled quickly toward Jiang Yu'er. When it reached its target, it opened both arms, hugging her calf and hanging off it.
Zhang Yuanqing froze for a moment, then his expression gradually grew complicated. What the... Why does he like Aunt so much?
Jiang Yu'er continued chatting enthusiastically with Guan Ya, completely oblivious to it all.
"Didn't your husband come with you?" she asked Guan Ya.
"He's still in college."
"Ah, a college student? My nephew is also a college student, but he still doesn't have a girlfriend."
"Really?"
"Yes, yes. It's so embarrassing."
You've been working for two years since graduation and you're still single too. Who are you looking down on? Zhang Yuanqing thought indignantly to himself.
Just then, he saw Little Goofball voluntarily slide down from his aunt's leg. It crouched on the ground with its head tilted upward, as if discerning something. Then it quickly crawled further down the corridor, heading for one of the clinic's consultation rooms.
Zhang Yuanqing's heart stirred, but he did not let any emotion show on his face. He quietly followed the crawling infant.
Once Little Goofball crawled into the consultation rooms, Zhang Yuanqing waited about ten seconds before casually walking over, pretending like he was just passing by.
The door to the consultation room was half-open. At the desk sat a young doctor wearing a white coat. He had soft facial features and a relaxed, scholarly air.
At that moment, he was sitting up straight, concentrating intently on sensing something.
Little Goofball had crawled onto the desk and was playing by himself.
It's him, Zhang Yuanqing realized.
As his master, Zhang Yuanqing sensed that Little Goofball felt a special affinity for this person. That, combined with the young doctor's subtle body language, made him conclude, at least for the moment, that this doctor in the room was the Spirit Realm Walker who had been secretly crafting spirit servants.
Zhang Yuanqing didn't disturb the other party. He turned and left, returning to the waiting hall, then dialed Guan Ya's number.
The phone rang twice before Guan Ya rejected his call. Shortly after, the mixed-heritage beauty strode over to him on her long legs.
"I found out that the rumors about ghosts started about half a month ago," she said as she approached him. "We won't have to look at too many cases. We can pull the clinic medical records directly, then get a staff list from the obstetrics department—"
"I've locked onto the target," Zhang Yuanqing interrupted quietly, and Guan Ya's expression immediately grew serious.
"So fast, huh. Who is it?"
"An obstetrics doctor," he replied. "The nameplate on his chest says Wang Qian. He's in the fourth consultation room on the right side of the corridor. What do we do next?"
Guan Ya pondered the situation for a few seconds, then said, "I'll go in first to probe and test his capabilities, before deciding whether to call the Squad Leader for backup."
"How do you plan to test his capabilities?" Zhang Yuanqing asked curiously.
"I always feel there's something weird about how you phrase things," the old temptress said with a chuckle, and a faint white light appeared in her eyes as she scrutinized Zhang Yuanqing.
"You are in good physical condition, with a robust vitality, and the Power of the Dark Moon in your body is fairly substantial, roughly equivalent to a Level 1 Walker halfway toward Level 2. Your current emotions are curiosity, vigilance, and faint hostility, although they aren't directed at me."
Seeing Zhang Yuanqing's mouth gradually drop open, Guan Ya laughed.
"Insight is a Level 1 Scout skill. It allows me to gauge an opponent's general capabilities, though it is limited to individuals within the Transcendent tier."
Her expression grew serious, and she said, "If I don't come out within ten seconds, you follow me in. If I do come out within ten seconds, we'll call for backup."
She put on her sunglasses, and with a gentle sway of her hips, walked back toward the obstetrics department.
Zhang Yuanqing watched her enter the clinic office and silently counted to ten. Seeing that Guan Ya still hadn't come out, he immediately pulled down the brim of his cap and began moving.
When he returned to the consultation room, Guan Ya was sitting across from the young doctor, discussing the topic of pregnancy preparation.
Seeing Zhang Yuanqing enter and close the clinic office door, the young doctor frowned.
"You two..." he muttered under his breath.
Guan Ya crossed her arms and smiled.
"We're from the Five Elements Alliance, Kangyang District Spirit Realm Walker Second Squad. You're suspected of illegally crafting spirit servants. Please cooperate with our investigation."
The young doctor's face darkened as his gaze swept over both of them.
He said loudly, "I don't know what you're talking about. Please don't interfere with my work, or I'll consider calling the police."
As he spoke, he stood and walked toward the door, calling out, "Don't block the door. I still have patients."
Seeing the other party walking toward him, Zhang Yuanqing quietly tensed his muscles, ready to enter his Night Wandering state at any moment.
He wasn't panicking inside. Since Guan Ya had remained in the room, it meant she had perceived through her Insight skill that this opponent wasn't strong, and the two of them could handle it together.
Zhang Yuanqing was prepared for whatever resistance the other party might put up, but just then, he saw the young doctor's expression grow sad, and he began singing in a low, melancholic tone.
"Thinking back on all those twists we walked through, only we two could understand each other. You said you were tired, could you please let me go..."
As he listened to the sad song, Zhang Yuanqing felt an indescribable mix of sadness, fatigue, helplessness, and listlessness arise in his heart.
What was the point of struggling so bitterly?
It was better to let go.
With that, he silently moved aside, allowing a path to the doorway.
Guan Ya, who was sitting by the desk, suddenly stood up, her high heels clicking. With a twist of her waist, she spun her body and brought her leg sweeping around.
Bang!
The young doctor, who was just about to escape, was struck hard in the side by that lightning-fast roundhouse kick. He groaned and flew backward, crashing heavily into the wall. His face grew pale, and he clutched his ribs and slumped to the ground.
Zhang Yuanqing suddenly snapped awake, breaking free from that sad and weary state.
He looked completely bewildered and wondered, What was I thinking? Why would I feel such feelings of sorrow and rejection toward a man?
"So you're a Musician," Guan Ya said with a mirthless smile. "You're not only suspected of illegally crafting spirit servants, but also resisting arrest and using supernatural abilities against official Spirit Realm Walkers..."
She glanced at Zhang Yuanqing and added, "Causing massive psychological trauma to our personnel. You're now officially under arrest."
The young doctor continued to clutch at his side, his face pale.
"You can't arrest me," he asserted. "I'm from Slaughter Cessation Palace. Slaughter Cessation Palace and the Five Elements Alliance have always kept out of each others' business. You can't arrest me arbitrarily."
Guan Ya's delicate eyebrows drew together slightly in a frown, and her expression grew serious.
"Slaughter Cessation Palace?" Zhang Yuanqing asked quietly.
"Slaughter Cessation Palace is an unofficial local Spirit Realm Walker organization in Songhai," Guan Ya explained. "The organization's Palace Master is a high level Spirit Realm Walker who signed a non-aggression agreement with our branch.
"The Five Elements Alliance cannot arbitrarily arrest or dispose of Slaughter Cessation Palace members. The people in their organization all have extremist views, constantly chanting slogans like 'stop war with war, stop killing with killing.' That Palace Master is even more of a lunatic, but so long as they behave themselves, our official leadership is willing to turn a blind eye and coexist harmoniously."
"You cannot insult our Palace Master," the young doctor said with suppressed anger.
Guan Ya's pretty face was covered in frost, and her gaze was piercing.
"The premise of non aggression is that you behave yourselves. Since you've done something illegal, no one can save you."
At that moment, she was no longer just someone who only knew how to crack jokes, but a stern and cold law enforcer.
"No, I haven't broken the law. I didn't refine any spirit servants," Wang Qian defended himself in a deep voice.
He was still slumped on the ground and made no effort to get up, afraid that he might provoke rough treatment from the two official Spirit Realm Walkers.
Zhang Yuanqing sneered and said, "Do you need me to give you a hint? What about that child?"
He was calculating in his mind how to deal with the doctor. If he was a Spirit Realm Walker who had done nothing but evil, then naturally, they had to eradicate this evil completely. If his transgressions only involved crafting spirit servants, then it was official business, to be handled according to Five Elements Alliance regulations. Either way, he would resolve it himself.
Something was bugging him. Through his casual observation earlier, this person seemed able to sense the infant spirit, but did not seem to be able to see it.
When he heard the words "that child," Wang Qian's expression changed dramatically as realization dawned.
"So you're here because of this," he said. "You've come to a misunderstanding. I don't craft spirit servants. I'm just a Musician. I don't have the ability to craft spirit servants. That child spirit was an accident."
"An accident?"
"Yes, he... He's my sister's child, who died early in life."
Zhang Yuanqing and Guan Ya exchanged glances. The former was furious.
"You wouldn't even spare your own nephew?" he demanded.
Zhang Yuanqing's words seemed to anger Wang Qian, who retorted with some agitation, "No! I said it was an accident."
"Over half a month ago, my sister had a fall at home," he explained. "Her water broke, she was bleeding, and the fetus in her belly was injured. At that time, she was already seven months pregnant. The hospital immediately delivered the baby via cesarean section, but the child's outlook was poor.
"To save the child, I applied to the organization for an artifact, wanting to use the artifact's power to save my premature nephew, but in the end, he still died. Through a strange twist of fate, though, that artifact imbued him with spiritual power, turning him into a special spirit."
Zhang Yuanqing, who lacked experience and knowledge, turned his head to look at Guan Ya.
The mixed heritage beauty thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "The Musician profession does seem to possess nurturing abilities. I've seen it in the materials before, but it's not a Transcendent-tier skill."
It wasn't a Transcendent-tier ability, so this guy had to apply to the organization for an artifact?
The young doctor said quietly, "You came here because you heard the rumors about the hauntings, right? Because of that artifact, his spirit never dissipated. It wanders the hospital day after day.
"He's still young, and doesn't understand anything. He doesn't even know he's a spirit body. He longs for someone to notice him and instinctively gets close to older women, so people with weak vitality occasionally sense him."
"So you just leave things alone without caring?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.
Sorrow flashed across Wang Qian's eyes.
"What can I do? The Musician class grants me extremely high spirituality. I can sense him, but I can't make contact with spirits like Nocturnal Specters do. I can't communicate with him. All I can do is accompany him until his spirit body is exhausted and completely dissipates."
Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but subtly glance at Little Goofball, who was entertaining himself on the desk.
No one could see him. No one paid attention to him. Had he been passing his days all alone like this, all this time?
He carefully considered Wang Qian's words, and found everything to be quite reasonable.
This was the reason behind the rumors of the hospital being haunted. It also explained why the infant spirit had followed his aunt home after she'd become tainted with the Nocturnal Specter's aura. He had been masterless to begin with. This Musician uncle couldn't control spirit bodies.
Zhang Yuanqing looked toward Guan Ya, asking for her opinion, and Guan Ya offered him a small nod.
Scouts could naturally see through some clumsy lies. There was no flaw in what Wang Qian had said, and he had shown no signs of lying.
"What's your sister's name?" Guan Ya asked.
"Wang Qian[1]."
"Take out your ID card."
After verifying the other party's ID card, Guan Ya returned it to Wang Qian. "We'll verify your sister's situation and report it to the organization, and have the organization contact Slaughter Cessation Palace to verify your words. We'll contact you again after 24 hours. We hope you won't leave Songhai before then."
Wang Qian breathed a sigh of relief and gave a small nod.
Guan Ya immediately asked for his phone number, then left with Zhang Yuanqing, who secretly guided Little Goofball to follow them.
After leaving the obstetrics department, he made an excuse about using the restroom and took him—No, not that! He took him back into his body.
***
The office area, on the second floor of the glass building.
Zhang Yuanqing and Guan Ya went up to the second floor and found out that Li Dongze wasn't there.
"Wang Tai, where's Squad Leader?" the old vixen asked.
Wang Tai responded without looking up, "Not long after you left, the Squad Leader went out. They discovered traces of a Hex Master in Fenghui District and are organizing a party to capture them. The Squad Leader was invited to help."
A Hex Master... Was this a member of the Psychic Assembly? A follow-up to the Ghost Eye Judge incident?
Zhang Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief and said happily, "Sis Guan Ya, let me write up the mission report."
Since Squad Leader wasn't around, there was no need to report to him in person. It was much easier to fudge things in a text report.
Guan Ya seemed rather content with the arrangement.
"Very well. Wang Tai, pull up the information on the Slaughter Cessation Palace personnel for me."
A few minutes later, Zhang Yuanqing was tapping away at the keyboard. He had learned many report-writing essentials from Guan Ya, and was well versed in the techniques of avoiding important issues while filling the page with verbose nonsense.
He was confident Li Dongze would glance through it briefly and immediately lose any interest in reading it carefully.
Enslaving spirit bodies was illegal, but Little Goofball possessed a certain intelligence. He wasn't one of those dull spirit bodies that only had a fragment of consciousness left. To extinguish him would be like extinguishing life. Therefore, Zhang Yuanqing decided to keep the infant spirit and nurture him well.
Zhang Yuanqing spent the rest of the afternoon studying Spirit Realm-related things, including the characteristics of various classes and introductions to evil organizations and official organizations.
All the while, he chatted away with Guan Ya. She seemed very happy that Yuanshi wasn't as boring as Wang Tai.
On the other hand, Wang Tai was rather unhappy because the two of them were simply too noisy.
As the work day drew to a close, Zhang Yuanqing received a call from Li Dongze.
"Squad Leader? The Pingtai Hospital matter is resolved. I've already sent the mission report to your email," he reported to his superior.
Li Dongze skipped over the mission report matter entirely and asked a different question instead.
—Are you at the office?
"Yes. I was just about to get off work."
—Stay a while longer. I'll send a driver to pick you up. There's something I need to trouble you with.
1. The doctor's name is 王迁 (qiān), while his sister's is 王倩 (qiàn). ☜
