Chapter 38

Li Dongze sat behind a luxurious desk, holding a sharp razor to trim his mustache.

"I don't like trimming my mustache because it's troublesome, but for elegance, it's a necessary price to pay." Li Dongze smiled and scrutinized him, saying:

"It seems you've passed the Taiyi Sect's screening."

Sure enough, the squad leader knew the purpose of the Taiyi Sect finding me, yet didn't give me any hints beforehand. You're going to lose me... Zhang Yuanqing said casually:

"Does the squad leader also know about the Demon Lord?"

"Among official organizations, evil organizations, civilian organizations, and wild cultivators, the number of high-level Lingjing practitioners killed by the Demon Lord exceeds the number of fingers on both hands. His infamy is widespread, so I naturally know about him." Li Dongze said while focusing on trimming his mustache.

"But such a big figure is too distant from us. An elephant might step on an ant, but it certainly won't deliberately trample it."

The Demon Lord isn't a good person. How is Brother Bing connected to such a guy? Zhang Yuanqing seized the opportunity to say:

"Squad Leader, please help me inquire about the progress of Lei Yibing's case in Jiangnan Province. Also, help me investigate Lei Yibing's actions and social interactions during his university years, the more detailed, the better."

Previously, because he was still a novice, lacking ability and experience, Zhang Yuanqing had harbored the illusion of a "long-term mission" regarding Brother Bing's disappearance.

But now, knowing the truth about the Demon Lord's character card, he had to redefine Brother Bing's disappearance.

Why did Brother Bing disappear? Is he dead or alive? What is the reason for giving me the Demon Lord's character card?

The truth behind this is shrouded in layer upon layer of mystery, concerning Brother Bing and himself. Even with his current low strength, he had to try to explore and investigate.

Brother Bing only sent him the character card without revealing any information, which was understandable. Sometimes, it's not that he doesn't want to say, but others can't pry it out of him.

Today's questioning is an example.

Brother Bing probably didn't say anything to protect him, but he would definitely leave corresponding clues, guiding him step by step to explore and uncover the truth. Therefore, Zhang Yuanqing needed as much information about Brother Bing as possible.

Li Dongze nodded thoughtfully: "Alright, I'll call and ask my colleagues there, but it will take time."

In his view, Yuan Shou's concern for his childhood friend's safety was natural, but Li Dongze thought that as a Lingjing practitioner, entering the Lingjing for a week, he was likely dead inside.

After talking about Brother Bing, Zhang Yuanqing then got to the point, his expression serious:

"Squad Leader, I have something to report."

Seeing his subordinate so serious, Li Dongze put down the razor, closed the makeup mirror, and straightened his back slightly, saying:

"What is it?"

Zhang Yuanqing immediately informed Li Dongze in detail about the ghost haunting at his aunt's hospital and inadvertently bringing the infant spirit home, but he concealed and modified the information about the spirit servant.

He described the infant spirit as a dull spirit body that had been refined but not yet promoted to a spirit servant.

While speaking, Zhang Yuanqing calmed his emotions, keeping his expression and tone from revealing any flaws to avoid being detected by the scout.

Finally, he concluded: "I suspect a Lingjing practitioner is conducting spirit servant refinement experiments in the hospital, likely a Night Walker. But I don't know if it's a wild one or an official one."

Li Dongze's expression grew worse as he listened, and he couldn't help but grip his cane tightly, saying angrily:

"Oh, my God, this guy deserves to go to hell. I will make him pay for his actions, I swear."

The concepts of consuming and enslaving spirit bodies are different. Spirit bodies will eventually dissipate, inevitably, and consuming them just accelerates this process.

Refining spirit bodies into spirit servants is inhumane, especially for an infant spirit.

Prohibiting the refinement of ordinary people's spirit bodies into spirit servants is also based on humanitarianism. To put it bluntly, if your family or friends, after death, were refined into spirit servants, how would you feel?

I thought you would say, 'I really want to kick his ass with my boot'... Zhang Yuanqing silently mocked the squad leader's catchphrase.

"Squad Leader, I have already performed the ritual for the child and read the target from its memory. I want to apply for a solo mission to train myself." Zhang Yuanqing proposed his idea.

He knew that Li Dongze would absolutely not agree.

Sure enough, Li Dongze shook his head:

"Your idea is good, but in the process of gaining experience, you will inevitably make mistakes. In the world of Lingjing practitioners, one mistake can mean death. How about this, let Guan Ya accompany you. Her martial arts and shooting skills are better than mine."

"Alright, Squad Leader." Zhang Yuanqing was secretly pleased.

He must take the lead in the infant spirit case to cover up the existence of the little rascal, but as Li Dongze said, Lingjing practitioner matters must be handled with extreme caution. The cost of negligence is often death, as Ou Xiangrong's case shows.

So, he needed an experienced helper.

When he proposed training, Li Dongze would likely not go himself, but instead send Guan Ya as a compromise.

Because everyone knew that as a Night Walker with a rule-based artifact, Zhang Yuanqing had a high tolerance for errors, and ordinary dangers were not a problem for him.

In Zhang Yuanqing's view, Guan Ya was much easier to "fool" than Li Dongze.

"Should I go find Guan Ya now?"

Li Dongze nodded and suddenly mocked: "Your singing was good, but don't sing again next time."

"..."

......

Kangyang District, Pingtai Hospital.

As a tertiary hospital, Pingtai is known for its obstetrics and gynecology department, with several leading experts in the field, ranking among the top five in the country.

A black business car drove into the hospital, and the door slid open automatically. Guan Ya looked at Zhang Yuanqing's blank face and asked with concern: "Have you been seeing double on your phone or computer lately?"

"Why do you ask?" Zhang Yuanqing, who was thinking about how to catch the target, pulled his thoughts back.

Guan Ya's delicate lips curled up, and she blinked her watery, seductive eyes: "Your expression tells me you haven't been restraining yourself lately."

Zhang Yuanqing, used to her style of speaking, ignored it and said:

"Squad Leader asked me to cooperate with you. In such situations, what do we usually do first?"

Guan Ya put away her smile and said seriously:

"First, we lock onto the target, then investigate their real identity. You've seen his appearance, so locking onto the target won't be difficult. Then, we make contact. If the target is not strong, we control them directly; otherwise, we notify the squad leader for a violent arrest.

"But we don't know if there are accomplices in the hospital or the scale of the spirit servant refinement. So, it's best to hold off for now and conduct a preliminary investigation of Pingtai Hospital.

"We can start with the ghost haunting rumors, determine when they began, and set a rough time frame. Besides the infant spirit, check if there are other ghost haunting rumors.

"Check the records of abortions and miscarriages during that time, focusing on male infants with significant gestation periods. This group won't be large, making it easy to identify the infant spirit.

"Infant spirits have very weak mental power and dissipate quickly after death. Therefore, anyone who came into contact with pregnant women during that time is a target for our investigation.

"If the target you saw in the spirit reading is among them, we will proceed with the arrest. If not, it means there are accomplices."

Such clear thinking, this is a scout... Zhang Yuanqing was stunned, saying: "My aunt works in the hospital, so it's not convenient for me to go to the obstetrics and gynecology department. Let's split up. I'll investigate the spirit-related content, and you can do the groundwork in the obstetrics and gynecology department."

The two got out of the car, put on masks and baseball caps, and split up outside the outpatient building.

Zhang Yuanqing entered the building, took the elevator to the fourth floor, and his eyes swept over the women with slightly protruding or large bellies. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

A female doctor in a white coat walked towards him, with a round, smooth, and delicate face, large and bright eyes, a straight nose, and wavy hair cascading down her back.

She had a piece of candy in her mouth, making her cheeks slightly puffed, which made her look even sweeter and cuter.

Guan Ya, confident in her own beauty, still felt admiration upon seeing this plain-faced female doctor.

She quickly approached, blocking the doctor's path and smiling: "Doctor, I'm planning to conceive soon. What should I pay attention to?"

......

On the other side, Zhang Yuanqing came to a quiet hallway and summoned the little rascal.

"Ababa..."

The plump, cute baby with sparse fetal hair lay on the ground, its black eyes looking at Zhang Yuanqing innocently.

Zhang Yuanqing conveyed thoughts of "free movement" and "go play" to it.

He planned to use the little rascal to lure the culprit out. A valuable spirit servant being lost would certainly prompt the person behind it to search. When they discover the infant spirit reappearing in the hospital, they would be drawn to it.

Even if the plan to lure the culprit out fails, the little rascal could still lead him to the person behind it. It would have an impression of the one who refined it, even a natural affinity.

With Zhang Yuanqing's permission, the little rascal happily moved its limbs and started crawling down the hallway.

Zhang Yuanqing followed it, came to the fourth floor, pushed open the hallway door, entered the waiting hall, and followed it to the obstetrics and gynecology department.

Is the culprit really in the obstetrics and gynecology department?

As Zhang Yuanqing was thinking, he heard a tinkling laugh: "Really? You like that brand of skincare too? I often go abroad, I can bring some back for you."

It was Guan Ya's voice.

Following the sound, he saw her chatting and laughing with a female doctor, chatting away.

The female doctor in the white coat was his aunt.

Damn! Zhang Yuanqing lowered his cap, trying to keep his gaze down to avoid meeting his aunt's eyes.

Even with a mask and cap, his aunt, who knew him well, could recognize him just by his eyes.

At this moment, he saw the little rascal happily crawling towards his aunt.