Spirit Realm Walker

The baby was about fifty centimeters tall with an ethereal, translucent body. Sparse fetal hair dotted its head. Its chubby cheeks were rounded like a cherub’s, and its stubby limbs were segmented like lotus roots, making it utterly adorable.

It clung to Jiang Yu’er’s calf like a koala, its little head tilted and its eyes closed, motionless as if asleep.

So, Little Aunt had been telling the truth. Her hospital really was haunted, and it really was an infant spirit. 

Zhang Yuanqing stared at the tiny spirit, his mouth gradually falling open. This completely overturned everything he thought he knew.

Jiang Yu’er noticed her nephew eyeing her suspiciously and shot him a glare. 

”What are you staring at?!” she demanded.

She pulled out a chair and collapsed against the backrest, whining, ”Mom, I’m exhausted. Help me get some rice.”

”Don’t you have arms and legs?” Grandma grumbled, but she still got up and headed to the kitchen.

”Oh, the family disgrace, you’re back,” Jiang Yu’er said to her older brother by way of greeting, while grabbing a piece of roasted duck with her hands.

”Stay single for a few more years and you’ll become a family disgrace too. Then we siblings can team up and fight the evil witch together,” Uncle said with a sleazy grin.

Just then, Grandma emerged carrying a bowl of rice. Jiang Yu’er immediately put on an innocent act, hugging Grandma’s arm and resting her head on her mother’s shoulder. 

”You’re the family disgrace,” she said to her brother. ”I’m Mom’s devoted maiden, specially assigned to suppress trash like you.”

This was exactly how Jiang Yu’er had won over Grandpa and Grandma, earning their exclusive favor.

”Well, I could team up with Yuan Jun. He’s about to become the family disgrace too, right honey?” Uncle said.

His wife rolled her eyes at him.

Jiang Yu’er chewed the roasted duck a few times, then asked suspiciously, ”Huh? Mom, did you forget to add salt? This duck has no taste.”

”It’s store bought,” Grandma replied irritably.

Jiang Yu’er frowned delicately, took a breath, and exclaimed, ”How come I can’t smell anything? The food doesn’t smell appetizing at all.”

Hearing this, Grandma asked with concern, ”Are you catching a cold?”

Just then, Zhang Yuanqing saw the infant spirit hanging on his little aunt’s calf. Its tiny, flat nose twitched once, then its eyes opened, looking like black buttons. It took in the unfamiliar environment, and its little face was filled with bewilderment, as if it couldn’t understand why it had appeared there.

Witnessing this scene, Zhang Yuanqing’s heart grew heavier. This wasn’t an ordinary spirit. Regular spirits had no consciousness and could not think, acting only on pure instinct.

The infant spirit didn’t remain confused for long. Following some kind of instinct, it crawled up Jiang Yu’er’s body and onto her shoulder, its little nose still twitching.

From there, it spotted the table full of delicious food.

Zhang Yuanqing tracked the infant spirit as it suddenly crawled faster, making its way shakily down Jiang Yu’er’s arm to the tabletop.

It sprawled on the dining table, reaching out its chubby little hands to grab a piece of roasted duck, but came up empty.

After trying repeatedly, it seemed to finally realize it couldn’t touch the food and began wailing pitifully.

Zhang Yuanqing immediately heard the ethereal crying in his ears. It was loud and annoying.

This dead kid is so noisy, he complained inwardly. 

He channeled his Power of the Dark Moon, concentrating it in his palm. He reached out to grab a piece of roasted duck, and caught the infant spirit in his hand. ”You all keep eating. I’m going to the restroom.”

He carried the infant spirit by the scruff of its neck like a puppy and headed to the bathroom.

Behind him came Jiang Yu’er’s voice. ”Huh, my nose suddenly cleared up. The roasted duck smells good again.”

***

Zhang Yuanqing stood at the sink and held the dead kid in one hand, watching it extend its pink tongue to lick the Power of the Dark Moon from his palm.

A Nocturnal Specter’s Power of the Dark Moon was like a tonic for spirits.

It followed Little Aunt home because she must have my scent on her, he realized. It holds a fatal attraction for spirits.

But what Zhang Yuanqing couldn’t understand was how the baby spirit was still around. After all, babies had weak mental fortitude. When they died this young, their spirits dissipated quickly. They would last at most a day or two, sometimes just a few hours.

Yet the rumours of a ghost at Jiang Yu’er’s hospital seemed to have been going on for some time.

It didn’t make sense.

When in doubt, do your research, Zhang Yuanqing thought as he pulled out his phone with his other hand and logged into the official forum of the Five Elements Alliance.

【#Shocking! Ghost Eye Judge suspected dead, expect Fallen Ones to lose control in coming period. All personnel to maintain vigilance#】

【#Shocking! Sheling Tunnel has actually been cleared. Who is the mysterious Walker?#】

Zhang Yuanqing’s eyes skimmed over the two pinned posts without paying much attention. 

Since the official organization would need to be on guard against Fallen Ones losing control next, the Ghost Eye Judge incident would definitely be made public.

Interestingly, news of his conquest of Sheling Tunnel had already spread through the Five Elements Alliance’s official forum. The unfamiliar ID ”Yuanshi Tianzun” was being noticed by official Spirit Realm Walkers for the first time.

Zhang Yuanqing entered the term ”special spirits” in the forum’s search bar, and quickly found a post explaining spirits.

【Spirits are formed from residual mental energy after the death of intelligent beings. These spirits, having lost most of their consciousness, exist in a dull state, acting on instinct or obsession.

【Once any being dies, its spirit continuously dissipates. Ordinary people last at most seven days, while Spirit Realm Walkers’ spirits linger longer depending on their mental fortitude.

【However, there are always exceptions. As far as I know, high-level Nocturnal Specters and Illusionists can use special methods to make their spirits persist in the world even after physical death.】

When he read this, Zhang Yuanqing couldn’t help but glance at the infant spirit. Clearly, the little guy in front of him couldn’t possibly be a high-level Spirit Realm Walker that possessed the ability to persist in the world.

He continued reading.

【The above covers spirits formed under normal circumstances. Now let’s discuss abnormal spirits. So-called abnormal spirits…】

The content cut off abruptly. Zhang Yuanqing scrolled to the bottom and discovered the second half of the article was locked behind a paywall.

Is this the legendary act of “paying for knowledge”? 

His mouth twitched as he topped up two hundred yuan into his ”Yuanshi Tianzun” account and completed the payment.

It was worth mentioning that over the past few days, some administrative staff had already set up a phone card and bank account belonging to ”Yuanshi Tianzun,” keeping it separate from his regular identity as Zhang Yuanqing.

【So-called abnormal spirits are spirits that have been artificially refined. The most famous example is the creation of spirits through the ghost-taming arts of Nocturnal Specters, though other professions have corresponding methods which I won’t elaborate on here.

【Refined spirits have a chance to develop special abilities and can be considered precious tools or pets. In Nocturnal Specter terminology, such spirits are called spirit servants.

【It is important to note that spirits also have different aptitudes. Not all spirits can be refined into spirit servants. Those with spirit servant potential are one in ten thousand. Next, let me explain the refinement methods…】

【Finally, a reminder: refining spirits of evil classes is permitted, but enslaving the spirits of ordinary people violates regulations.】

【Posted by: Yuan Ting.】

After finishing the post, Zhang Yuanqing sighed sincerely. That was two hundred yuan well spent.

The post had revealed a lot of information to him.

First, once Nocturnal Specters leveled up, they could raise ghosts and refine corpses. In Spirit Realm Walker combat, they could switch between a sneaky assassin style and a sneaky summoner style.

Second, this dead kid was an extremely precious spirit servant. He’d struck gold.

Since it had already developed special abilities, it was a genuine spirit servant, not just a special spirit.

Third, there was truly a problem at Jiang Yu’er’s hospital.

Little Aunt suddenly lost her sense of taste and smell earlier. That must have been its doing. Is that this guy’s ability? Stealing people’s sense of smell and taste? I should verify this later. If I can cultivate this little guy properly, it might be worth a whole item, he thought.

While Zhang Yuanqing felt delighted, he couldn’t help but worry.

There had to be a Spirit Realm Walker hiding in Jiang Yu’er’s hospital. Now that it had followed her home, the refiner behind it would never let such a precious spirit servant disappear.

There would be trouble ahead, which could possibly even endanger Jiang Yu’er.

Whether or not this opponent was official or a rogue Spirit Realm Walker, using ordinary people’s spirits to create spirit servants violated regulations.

There would be no peaceful resolution to this matter.

I’ll report this to the Squad Leader tomorrow, he thought to himself. I’ve got to make reasonable use of available resources.

After thinking it through, he relaxed considerably, and continued to examine the infant spirit sprawled across his palm and forearm.

Sensing his scrutiny, the little guy opened its black button eyes and looked at him with a fawning expression. 

”Abba, abba…” it babbled softly.

Seeing that Zhang Yuanqing ignored it, the spirit continued licking the Power of the Dark Moon.

It seemed smarter than ordinary babies, but still unable to communicate normally. 

Zhang Yuanqing pinched the infant spirit by the scruff of its neck and flipped it over. 

”Come on, let me see if you’re a goofball or a little troublemaker… Hmm, you’ll be called Little Goofball from now on.”

Zhang Yuanqing carried the infant spirit out of the restroom. The family dinner was nearly over.

He returned to his seat and quietly hung the infant spirit on his uncle’s neck while he was still casually eating.

It was the perfect chance to test the infant spirit’s abilities using the family’s disgrace.

Uncle picked up a toothpick and began carefully cleaning his teeth, completely unaware of the dead kid riding on his neck.

Zhang Yuanqing figured it was about time and ladled soup for his uncle.

”Uncle, why don’t you have some soup?”

He wanted to know if his uncle would lose his sense of taste and smell like Jiang Yu’er had.

Uncle patted his round belly and shook his head, replying, ”No thanks, I won’t drink it unless you’ve got some jianbing.”

As he spoke, he struck his signature rap pose. 

Just as Zhang Yuanqing expected to hear the familiar lyrics, Uncle suddenly stuck his thumb in his mouth and babbled, ”Abba, abba, abba…”

At the same moment, the infant spirit riding on Uncle’s neck said something only Zhang Yuanqing could hear. ”Yo yo, check it out, gimme a jianbing set.”

”Pfft~”

Zhang Yuanqing and Jiang Yu’er simultaneously spat out their chicken soup in perfect synchronization.

Grandpa, Grandma, his aunt, and his cousin all wore expressions of pitying disappointment.