Chapter 365: Resentful Spirit (Part 2)
"These kinds of ghostly entities simply don't know what fear is. They are savage, violent, and bloodthirsty, similar to congenital malignant spirits. However, this type of ghost usually isn't very intelligent," Yang Haoran explained.
"Boss, what exactly is this Ghost Infant? We've never encountered one before," Liao Xiaoyu asked.
The question Liao Xiaoyu posed was precisely what Bai Xue wanted to ask, as neither of them understood what a Ghost Infant was.
Old Master Wu, however, showed no surprise or strangeness on his face. From his expression, it seemed he had some understanding of Ghost Infants.
Yang Haoran's study was now home to a collection of books, including some materials he had organized himself, all of which were open to Old Master Wu. Old Master Wu would also read there when he had time, so he was familiar with Ghost Infants.
Since Liao Xiaoyu had asked, Yang Haoran naturally wouldn't deliberately withhold an answer. After all, providing her with more knowledge in this area would only benefit her future work.
"To understand what a Ghost Infant is, you must first understand Resentful Spirits. Resentful Spirits are a special type of ghostly entity; their formation differs from regular ghosts, as they are products refined through special means."
"Ordinary ghosts can enhance their power by devouring other ghosts and can even advance once they reach a certain level. But Resentful Spirits are different. Once a Resentful Spirit is successfully refined, its power will not change at all. To put it simply, their strength is fixed from the moment of their creation and will never improve further."
"Due to their unique nature, Resentful Spirits differ from regular ghosts in many ways. For example, regular ghosts are usually only interested in things with extremely heavy Yin Qi. However, Resentful Spirits are different; they are interested not only in what regular ghosts are interested in but also in things that regular ghosts aren't. For instance, they like to drink blood and eat flesh, especially human flesh, which is their favorite. In this regard, they are somewhat similar to zombies."
"A Resentful Spirit's body can be ethereal or corporeal, just like our Underworld Office's Spirit Power. When ethereal, they can devour Spirit Bodies; when corporeal, they can devour flesh and blood. Both devouring souls and devouring flesh and blood are merely their instinctive reactions. The Ghost Infant we see before us is a type of Resentful Spirit."
After Yang Haoran's explanation, Liao Xiaoyu and Bai Xue finally had a rough understanding of Ghost Infants and Resentful Spirits.
Actually, there was one more thing Yang Haoran didn't mention: Resentful Spirits were also excellent materials for refining Soul Pills. But naturally, he couldn't say that out loud.
"Boss, can Resentful Spirits still reincarnate? " Liao Xiaoyu thought for a moment, then asked again.
Yang Haoran shook his head and said, "Resentful Spirits cannot reincarnate. From the moment they are refined, their souls are shattered by the refiner and then reassembled according to the process of refining Resentful Spirits. Because of this, their souls become incomplete and chaotic, and that's precisely why they become bloodthirsty, savage, fearless, and irrational, like machines programmed to kill."
Upon hearing this, Liao Xiaoyu's expression became somewhat complex, and she then sighed, "Listening to you, Boss, I actually feel that Resentful Spirits are quite pitiful."
Liao Xiaoyu's soft-heartedness was something Yang Haoran had witnessed before. When Xiujuan was killed by her husband and returned as an Evil Spirit for revenge, she happened to encounter Zhou Fudui. In that situation, Liao Xiaoyu, as a Night Watcher, felt compassion for the Evil Spirit Xiujuan. If he hadn't been there at the time, the Underworld Office might have had a conflict with the Spirit Police that night.
From that incident, Yang Haoran saw that Liao Xiaoyu was truly soft-hearted.
However, in this ruthless, dog-eat-dog society, being too soft-hearted often leads to one's own harm, and can even endanger those around them.
Therefore, facing Liao Xiaoyu's question, Yang Haoran decisively shook his head, refuting her statement.
"Resentful Spirits are not pitiful, because a Resentful Spirit itself is merely a product refined through special means. From the moment their souls are shattered and reassembled, they become a new entity. The truly pitiful ones are the materials used to refine the Resentful Spirits."
When Yang Haoran said this, he deliberately emphasized the word "materials. " The meaning of "materials" he referred to was naturally understood by everyone present.
"Look at this Ghost Infant before us. Do you think it's pitiful? If I'm not mistaken, it must have eaten a lot of human flesh while being raised by Fatty Qu. Because the more human flesh a Resentful Spirit eats, the more vicious it becomes. Is it not vicious enough right now?"
Liao Xiaoyu instinctively recoiled, and after Yang Haoran's words, she suddenly felt that the Ghost Infant before her was indeed not as pitiful as she had imagined. If this Ghost Infant hadn't been so weak, she would probably have been bitten to death by it already.
"In the future, if you encounter Resentful Spirits, you must be cautious, especially with powerful ones. Be extra careful and never be soft-hearted, or you will be the one who dies. However, while Resentful Spirits are not qualified for reincarnation, the Underworld Office does have a way to deal with them. So, if possible, it's best to collect them into a Soul-Gathering Bead and bring them back."
Yang Haoran's first part of the speech was for all three of them, while the latter part was specifically for Old Master Wu and Liao Xiaoyu.
After he finished speaking, Yang Haoran put away the Ghost Infant. After a final set of instructions, everyone dispersed.
The snake demon returned to her room to refine the spiritual fruit, while Old Master Wu took Liao Xiaoyu to guide spirits. Yang Haoran, meanwhile, remained in his study, drawing talismans.
The next day, Bai Xue brought Yang Haoran news: Fatty Qu had confessed many things. Some were about his life before he acquired the Ghost Infant, and some were about events after he acquired it.
Even before acquiring the Ghost Infant, Fatty Qu had a very dirty record. The crimes he had committed were enough to warrant execution multiple times.
However, he pulled many strings and spent a considerable amount of money, ultimately managing to save himself.
After acquiring the Ghost Infant, he used it to kill several underworld figures with whom he had grievances. Since he manipulated the Ghost Infant to commit the murders, no clues were left behind, resulting in several cold cases accumulating in Lecheng.
After being captured by the Spirit Police, Fatty Qu confessed everything in clear detail. It wasn't that he wanted to confess, but that he had no choice. The Spirit Police were different from ordinary police; they typically didn't interrogate criminals, but once they did, their methods were incomparable to ordinary police. Once someone fell into their hands, there was no mouth they couldn't pry open, especially since Fatty Qu was not someone who preferred death to submission.
Under the Spirit Police's interrogation, Fatty Qu not only confessed his own crimes but also revealed who he had acquired the Ghost Infant from and what great price he had paid to successfully obtain one. He explained the entire process with utmost clarity.
For the Spirit Police, who refined the Ghost Infant and what price Fatty Qu paid to acquire it were the two most crucial pieces of information. The Spirit Police had originally thought it would take some time to extract this information from Fatty Qu, but they were surprised to find that Fatty Qu was timider than they had imagined, and he quickly confessed everything.
Although Bai Xue was with the Spirit Police, she did not participate in the interrogation, so she wasn't privy to these two matters. However, she told Yang Haoran everything she did know.
Upon learning of this, Yang Haoran felt an itch to make a move. If they could find the Ghost Infant's refiner, that person would undoubtedly possess more, perhaps even stronger, Resentful Spirits. If he could seize this valuable resource, the benefits for him would be self-evident.
However, Yang Haoran did not act rashly. In his opinion, once the Spirit Police found the Ghost Infant's refiner, they would certainly ask him for assistance. At that point, as long as they successfully apprehended the target, all ghostly entities would belong to their Underworld Office according to his agreement with Luo Dui. So, he simply needed to wait for the news; there was no point in rushing.
Days passed, but Yang Haoran did not receive news about the Resentful Spirit refiner. Instead, he received an Iron Book Edict from the Underworld Office.
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