The baby was about fifty centimeters tall, with a somewhat insubstantial body, sparse lanugo hair on its head, plump cheeks, and short, fat, segmented arms and legs resembling lotus stems—extremely endearing. It hung from Jiang Yu E's lower leg like a tree-kangaroo, tilting its small head, eyes closed, motionless, as if asleep. Was the little aunt telling the truth? Did their hospital really have ghostly occurrences, and were these indeed spirits of infants? Zhang Yuanqing stared at this tiny infant spirit, his mouth slowly opening. This completely overturned his expectations. "What are you looking at!" the little aunt exclaimed, seeing her nephew fix her with a suspicious gaze. She quickly glared at him, then pulled out her chair and slumped back into it, cooing, "Mom, I'm exhausted—please serve me a meal." "You've got no arms or legs yourself," her grandmother remarked, yet still rose to go into the kitchen as instructed. "Oh, you're back, a true family traitor," the little aunt said, while holding up the roasted duck to greet her brother. "Stay single a few more years, and you'll become a family liability—then we, the two sisters, will unite our efforts and stand together against that heartless witch," Uncle said, in a dismissive tone. At that moment, Grandma came out with her dinner bowl, and Auntie immediately adopted a compliant posture, hugging Grandma's arm and resting her head on her mother's shoulder. "You're the real family liability. I'm the daughter-in-law who's always been seated by our mother—specifically here to keep you such a mediocre, unremarkable person in check." Auntie had mastered this tactic to win over Grandparents, securing their special favor. "Then I can team up with Yuanjun as well. Yuanjun is fast becoming a family liability too, isn't he, wife?" Uncle said. His wife gave him a withering look. "Huh?" Auntie chewed on her roasted duck thoughtfully, puzzled. "Mom, didn't you forget to add salt? This duck tastes bland." "Freshly bought from outside," Grandma replied, in a sharp tone. Auntie furrowed her brows slightly, took a deep breath, and exclaimed, "I can't even "Upon hearing this, the grandmother asked with concern, 'Are you feeling ill?' At that moment, Zhang Yuanqing noticed the infant spirit hanging from his aunt's calf, its small nostrils twitching slightly. Then, its black button-like eyes opened, and upon seeing the unfamiliar surroundings, its face grew expressionless, as though it didn't understand why it had ended up here. Watching this scene, Zhang Yuanqing felt increasingly serious. This was no ordinary spirit—ordinary spirits lacked consciousness and thought, acting only on instinct. The infant spirit didn't remain bewildered for long. Following some instinct, it continued to twitch its small nostrils and slowly crawled up along his aunt's body, reaching her shoulder. Then, it spotted the delicious dishes spread out on the table. Zhang Yuanqing followed the infant spirit's movements, observing how its crawling speed suddenly increased, and it trembled its way up along his aunt's arm, reaching the table. It rested on the table, extending its short, plump hands to grasp a piece of roasted duck, but failed to catch anything." After repeated attempts, it finally seemed to realize it could not reach the delicious food and began to cry out in distress, wailing loudly and plaintively. Immediately, Zhang Yuanqing heard the ethereal cries echoing in his ears, clear and sharp. What a nuisance! This stubborn child—she was driving him mad. He summoned the power of the Yin Deity, concentrating it in his palm, then reached out and took a piece of roasted duck, effectively holding the infant spirit in his hand. "You two eat first. I'll be right back to the restroom." With a gentle grip on the infant's neck, he carried it into the restroom like a small puppy. A voice from behind called out, "Hm, my nose suddenly cleared up, and the roasted duck now smells so delicious." ... At the sink, Zhang Yuanqing held the lifeless child in one hand, watching as it extended its delicate pink tongue, slowly licking the Yin Deity's energy gathered in his palm. For a spiritual being, the power of the Night-Wanderer Yin Deity was truly nourishing. "It will follow Aunt Shi home—probably because Aunt Shi carries my essence, which holds a fatal attraction for spiritual beings..." Yet what confuses Zhang Yuanqing is that infants, with their weak spiritual strength, typically dissipate quickly after passing—within a day or two at most, sometimes even just a few hours. Yet the ghostly incidents reported at Aunt Shi's hospital seem to have been ongoing for some time. This doesn't make sense. If uncertain, he would check the records... With the other hand, Zhang Yuanqing pulled out his phone and logged into the official forum of the Five Elements Alliance. #Shocked: The Ghost Eye Judge appears to have perished; over the coming period, there may be cases of fallen spirits losing control—staff across regions should remain vigilant# #Shocked: The She Ling Tunnel has been successfully breached; the identities of the successful passers remain mysterious# Zhang Yuanqing glanced briefly at the two top posts, dismissing them as unimportant. The official organization would soon issue alerts regarding potential incidents of spirit loss of control, so the case of the Ghost Eye Judge would inevitably become public. Meanwhile, the news of Zhang Yuanqing's successful breakthrough through the Shela Ling Tunnel had already reached the official forum of the Five Elements Alliance, introducing the previously unknown ID "Yuan Shǐ Tian Zun" to the official spiritual travelers of the realm. In the forum's search function, Zhang Yuanqing entered the four characters: "special spiritual body." Soon, he found a post dedicated to explaining the fundamentals of spiritual bodies. "Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but shift his gaze toward the infant spirit, thinking that this little one clearly lacked the ability to endure through the ages and thus couldn't be a high-level spiritual realm traveler. He continued reading the post: ["These are the typical spiritual bodies. Now, let's discuss atypical spiritual bodies—what we mean by atypical spiritual bodies…"] The content abruptly ended. Zhang Yuanqing scrolled down and discovered that the latter half of the post was locked, requiring a payment to access. That's the famous concept of paying for knowledge, he thought, as he drew a faint smile, using his phone to top up his "Yuanshizhenshen" account with 200 yuan. Notably, over the past few days, administrative staff had already arranged a dedicated mobile phone and bank card under the name of "Yuanshizhenshen," effectively separating it from the identity of "Zhang Yuanqing." ["Atypical spiritual bodies refer to those created through deliberate cultivation and ritual practices. The most renowned example is the Night-Wandering God's technique of commanding spirits. Of course, other professions also possess their own methods—these are not elaborated upon here."] 】 【"Spirit entities refined through cultivation have a chance to develop special abilities, making them valuable as either items or pets. In the Night-Wanderer's terminology, such entities are known as spirit servants."】 【"However, it's important to note that spirit entities vary in quality—not all can be cultivated into spirit servants. Those with the rare quality of spirit servant potential are exceptionally uncommon. I'll now explain the cultivation methods..."】 【"Lastly, a reminder: it is permitted to cultivate evil-type spirit entities, though subjugating ordinary human beings is considered a disciplinary violation."】 【"Posted by: Yuan Ting."】 The 200 yuan was well spent... After reading the post, Zhang Yuanqing sincerely remarked. The post revealed several key insights. First: With the Night-Wanderer's level rising, they can now maintain ghosts and corpses, and during encounters with Spirit Travelers, their combat style can switch between a defensive, precise-strike approach and a defensive, summon-based strategy. Second: This young spirit servant is exceptionally valuable—what a find! It now possesses special abilities, making it a genuine spiritual servant rather than merely a special spiritual entity. Three: There's an issue at the hospital where Auntie works. "Auntie suddenly lost her sense of taste and smell just now—this must be its doing. So its ability is to steal others' sense of taste and smell? Hmm, I'll verify this further. If we can nurture this little one properly, it might even replace a piece of equipment." Zhang Yuanqing was delighted, yet couldn't help feeling concerned. There should be a spiritual traveler stationed within the hospital. Now that this servant is accompanying Auntie home, the one who has been cultivating it won't allow such a precious spiritual servant to be lost. Complications will surely arise—possibly even endangering Auntie herself. Whether the traveler is an official or a wild one, using a commoner's spiritual body to cultivate a servant violates established regulations. This matter will not resolve peacefully. "Tell Shichang about this thing tomorrow, and make reasonable use of the resources around you..." Once it all clicked into place, he felt a sudden lightness, gazing at the infant spirit lying on his palm and along his forearm. Noticing his attention, the little one opened its large black-button eyes, kindly making a soft sound: "Ah-ba, ah-ba..." Seeing Zhang Yuanqing ignoring it, the spirit continued to gently sip the power of Tai Yin. More intelligent than an ordinary infant, yet still unable to communicate effectively... He gently pinched the spirit's neck, flipping it over. "Now, let's see—whether you're a little funny fellow or a little troublemaker." "From now on, you're going to be called Little Fun-Seeker." Zhang Yuanqing carried the spirit out of the bathroom, just as the family dinner was drawing to a close. Returning to his seat, he quietly hung the spirit on his uncle's neck while casually eating his meal—perfectly testing the spirit's abilities using the family's outcasts as a trial. Uncle was carefully flossing his teeth, completely unaware of the dead child riding on his neck. "Uncle, why don't you have a bowl of soup?" Zhang Yuanqing served him soup when he thought it was time. He wanted to know if Uncle would, like his sister-in-law, lose his sense of taste and smell. Uncle gently stroked his round belly and shook his head. "No, no, thank you—unless you have a pancake with fried bacon." With that, he made his own original rapping gestures. Just as Zhang Yuanqing expected to hear familiar lyrics, Uncle suddenly cupped his thumb and murmured, "Ah-ba, ah-ba, ah-ba…" At the same time, the infant spirit riding on Uncle's neck emitted a sound only Zhang Yuanqing could hear: "Yōu yōu, chè kē nà, let's have a pancake with fried bacon." "Psst!" Both Zhang Yuanqing and Jiang Yuyi simultaneously expelled a mouthful of chicken soup. Their parents, grandparents, and cousin all looked on with pity and a sense of helplessness.