Chapter 1 李东泽
Li Dongze sat behind his luxurious desk, using a sharp razor to trim his mustache.

"I don't enjoy trimming my mustache, it's a hassle, but for elegance, it's a price I must pay." Li Dongze smiled, scrutinizing him. "It seems you passed the Taiyi Sect's screening."

As expected, the squad leader knew why the Taiyi Sect was looking for me, but he didn't give me a hint beforehand. You'll lose me like this… Zhang Yuanqing said casually, "Does the squad leader also know about the Demon Lord?"

"Official organizations, evil organizations, civilian organizations, and even wild rogue cultivators, the number of high-level Spirit Realm experts who have died at the Demon Lord's hands exceeds the fingers on both hands. His fierce reputation is well-known, so of course, I know," Li Dongze said, focused on trimming his mustache. "But such big figures are too far removed from us. An elephant might step on an ant, but it would never intentionally trample on one."

The Demon Lord isn't a good person, how is Brother Bing connected to a guy like that? Zhang Yuanqing took the opportunity to say, "Squad leader, please help me inquire with Jiangnan Province about the progress of Lei Yibing's case. Also, help me investigate Lei Yibing's activities during his university years, his social interactions, etc. The more detailed, the better."

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

But now that he knows the truth about the Demon Lord's role card, he has to redefine Brother Bing's disappearance.

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

The truth behind this is shrouded in layers of mist. It concerns Brother Bing, it concerns him, and even if his strength is still weak, he must try to explore and investigate.

Brother Bing only sent him the role card, without revealing any information. The reason for this is understandable. Sometimes, it's not that he doesn't want to speak, but that others can't pry open his mouth.

Today's questioning is an example.

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

Li Dongze pondered and nodded. "Okay, I'll call and ask my colleagues there, but this will take time."

In his opinion, it's only natural for Yuanshi to be concerned about the safety of his childhood friend, but Li Dongze thinks that as a Spirit Realm expert, entering the Spirit Realm for as long as a week, he's most likely dead.

After talking about Brother Bing, Zhang Yuanqing cut to the chase, 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. "What is it?"

Zhang Yuanqing immediately told Li Dongze in detail about the haunting in his aunt's hospital, and how he accidentally brought the infant spirit home. But he concealed and modified the information about the spirit servant (lingpu).

He described the infant spirit as a dull spirit body that had been sacrificed but hadn't been promoted to a spirit servant.

When saying these words, Zhang Yuanqing calmed his emotions, ensuring his expression and tone didn't reveal any flaws, to avoid being detected by the Scout.

Finally, he concluded, "I suspect that a Spirit Realm expert is conducting spirit servant refining experiments in the hospital, most likely a Night Wanderer. But I don't know if they're wild or official."

Li Dongze's expression worsened as he listened, and he couldn't help but grip his cane tightly, angrily saying, "Oh, God, that's a guy who deserves to go to hell. I'll make him pay for his actions, I swear."

Devouring a spirit body and enslaving a spirit body are different concepts. Spirit bodies will always dissipate, inevitably. Devouring just speeds up the process.

But refining spirit bodies into spirit servants and driving them is inhumane, especially when it's an infant spirit.

The prohibition against using ordinary people's spirit bodies to refine spirit servants is also out of humanitarianism. To put it bluntly, how would you feel if your family or friends, who are special spirit bodies, were refined into spirit servants after death?

I thought you were going to say, I really want to kick his ass with my boots… Zhang Yuanqing complained inwardly about his squad leader's verbal tic.

"Squad leader, I've already helped the child reincarnate, and I've extracted the target's image from its memory. I want to apply to carry out a mission alone, to get some experience," Zhang Yuanqing put forward his suggestion.

As soon as he said it, he knew Li Dongze would definitely disagree.

Li Dongze shook his head as expected. "Your idea is good, but in the process of accumulating experience, you're bound to step into pitfalls. And among Spirit Realm experts, one mistake can mean death. How about this, let Guan Ya go with you. Her physical skills and shooting are better than mine."

"Okay, squad leader," Zhang Yuanqing thought gleefully.

He must take the lead in the infant spirit case in order to conceal the existence of Little Doubi, but as Li Dongze said, Spirit Realm expert incidents must be approached with caution. The price of negligence is often death. Ou Xiangrong is an example.

Therefore, he needs an experienced helper.

When he suggested wanting to gain experience, Li Dongze would likely give up on personally taking action and compromise by having Guan Ya accompany him.

Because everyone knows that as a Night Wanderer, with a rule-based item on him, Zhang Yuanqing has a high tolerance for error. Ordinary dangers won't be able to stump him.

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

"So, I'll go find Guan Ya now?"

Li Dongze hummed in agreement, then suddenly mocked, "You sang well, just don't sing again next time."

"......"

..........

Kangyang District, Pingtai Hospital.

As a Grade-A tertiary hospital, Pingtai's main selling point is its obstetrics and gynecology department, which boasts several authoritative experts in the field and ranks among the top five obstetrics and gynecology hospitals in the country.

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

"Why do you ask?" Zhang Yuanqing, who was thinking about how to find the target, snapped out of his thoughts.

Guan Ya curled her exquisite lips and blinked her watery, charming eyes. "Your expression tells me you haven't been practicing moderation lately."

Zhang Yuanqing was used to her style of speaking and ignored her. "The squad leader wants me to cooperate with you. What do we usually do first in this kind of situation?"

Guan Ya put away her smile and said seriously, "First, lock down the target, then investigate their identity in the real world. You've seen their face, so locking down the target won't be difficult. Then, contact them. If the other party isn't strong, control them directly. Otherwise, notify the squad leader and arrest them by force.

"But we don't know if there are accomplices in the hospital, and we don't know the scale of the spirit servant refining operation, so it's best to hold back and conduct a preliminary investigation of Pingtai Hospital.

"We can start with the haunting rumors, when they started, determine the general time frame, and whether there are any other haunting rumors besides the infant spirit.

"Check the records of abortions and miscarriages during that period, male infants, and not small in terms of months of gestation. There won't be many such groups, so it won't be difficult to identify the infant spirit.

"Infants have extremely weak spiritual power, and once they die prematurely, it will dissipate quickly. So, the personnel who came into contact with pregnant women during that period are all subjects we need to screen.

"Among these people, if there's the target you saw through spirit vision, then carry out the arrest. If not, then it means there's an accomplice."

Her thinking is so clear. Is this what a Scout is like… Zhang Yuanqing listened in a daze and said, "My aunt is in the hospital, so it's not convenient for me to go to the obstetrics and gynecology department. Why don't we split up? I'll investigate the spirit body-related content, and you can get a feel for things on the obstetrics and gynecology side."

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

Entering the building, they took the elevator to the fourth floor. Guan Ya's eyes scanned the women, some with slightly bulging abdomens, others heavily pregnant. Suddenly, her eyes lit up.

A female doctor in a white coat walked towards her. Her round, oval face was fair and delicate, her eyes were large and bright, her nose was straight and pert, and wavy hair fell over her back.

She had a piece of candy in her mouth, and her cheeks were slightly bulging, which made her look even sweeter and more adorable.

Guan Ya was confident in her beauty, but she still felt admiration for this female doctor with no makeup on.

She quickly went up to her, blocked the female doctor's path, and smiled. "Doctor, I'm planning to get pregnant recently. I don't know what I should pay attention to."

.........

On the other side, Zhang Yuanqing came to a secluded corridor and summoned Little Doubi.

"Aba aba......"

The round, adorable infant with sparse lanugo hair lay on the ground, its dark, glistening eyes looking at Zhang Yuanqing, pure and innocent.

Zhang Yuanqing conveyed thoughts like "free to roam" and "go play" to it.

He planned to use Little Doubi to lure the snake out of its hole. The person behind it would definitely look for a precious spirit servant if it was lost. When they found that the infant spirit had reappeared in the hospital, they would definitely be attracted to it.

To take a step back, even if the plan to lure the snake out of its hole failed, Little Doubi could lead him to the person behind the scenes. It would have an impression of the person who refined it, and might even feel naturally close to them.

Having obtained Zhang Yuanqing's permission, Little Doubi happily moved its limbs and crawled along the corridor.

Zhang Yuanqing followed it all the way, arrived at the fourth floor, pushed open the corridor door, entered the waiting hall, and then followed it all the way to the obstetrics and gynecology department.

Is that guy really in the obstetrics and gynecology department?

Just as Zhang Yuanqing was thinking, he heard a silvery laugh. "Really, really, you like that brand of skincare products too? I often go abroad, I'll help you bring some back next time."

This was Guan Ya's voice.

Following the sound, he saw that this woman was chatting and laughing with a female doctor, chattering away.

That female doctor in the white coat was his aunt.

Damn it! Zhang Yuanqing lowered the brim of his hat, trying to keep his gaze down and avoid looking at his aunt to prevent their eyes from meeting.

Although he was wearing a mask and hat, given how familiar his aunt was with him, and how well they knew each other, she could recognize him just by looking at his eyes.

At this moment, he saw Little Doubi crawling happily towards his aunt.