Chapter 47: The Peculiar Child

Scolded by Lu Yuan, the bizarre entity in front of him did not talk back, only gazing at him with timid eyes.

For a moment, Lu Yuan did not know what to do.

He squatted down and spoke in a calm and even tone: "This is my body. Return my body to me, and I won't kill you."

"Even without a physical body, you ghost-entities can still survive. Why must you insist on taking mine?"

Lu Yuan believed this entity was different from other specters and that reason could prevail with it.

Although a trace of hatred occasionally flickered in the entity's eyes, that level of malice was far too weak—so weak that Lu Yuan didn't even care to take it seriously.

Upon hearing Lu Yuan's words, the entity shook its head firmly. "This is my body! Why should I give it to you?"

Lu Yuan frowned deeply.

What a stubborn mouth!

In the twenty-odd years of his life, this was the first time he had ever encountered someone with such an obstinate attitude.

His tone began to turn slightly harsh. "The only reason I'm willing to talk to you calmly right now is because I don't think you're a purely evil specter. If you refuse to listen to reason, then I'll have no choice but to resort to violence."

The entity looked like it was about to burst into tears again.

"Don't cry!"

"Cry again and I'll cut out your tongue!"

A cold glint flickered in Lu Yuan's eyes.

Unlike An Shi's villa, which was located in the remote suburbs surrounded by thick, enveloping black fog where making a bit of noise wouldn't attract other entities, this psychological clinic was situated right in the downtown center of City S.

The surrounding area was filled with dark buildings.

Who knew how many specters were hiding inside those structures?

If the entity's crying attracted other specters, Lu Yuan would truly wish he were dead.

He wasn't joking; the chill in his tone was exceptionally palpable, frightening the entity into shrinking its body and swallowing back the syllables in its throat.

Lu Yuan glanced at the time again.

It would be 7:00 AM before long.

He had to resolve this quickly.

Setting the fruit knife in his hand aside, Lu Yuan sat cross-legged on the floor and stared directly at his own body. "I know you don't harbor any malicious intent. Let's talk this out properly."

To be honest, Lu Yuan didn't want to resort to violence either.

Any injuries his body sustained were felt by him as well.

That sensation was far from pleasant.

The entity glanced at Lu Yuan, its eyes filled with a child's timidness and ignorance, as if it genuinely believed Lu Yuan was the bad guy.

This feeling was rather bizarre.

The other party was clearly using his body and wearing his face, yet the expressions and postures projected were overwhelmingly childlike.

To describe it accurately, it was like the soul of a young child residing within the body of an adult.

Suddenly, an idea struck Lu Yuan.

If the opponent truly was a child, would that particular skill come in handy?

***

A thought stirred in Lu Yuan's mind.

A line of bloody text materialized before his eyes.

【Skill Slot: Teacher's Majesty.】

【Available for active use.】

That's right.

This skill was one of the rewards Lu Yuan obtained from the television set after treating An Shi at the villa.

Originally, Lu Yuan had planned to save it for his visit to Mingzhi Elementary School, but upon carefully re-reading the skill's description, he noticed it did not explicitly state the target had to be a child from Mingzhi Elementary School. It merely stated generally: *Ghost-children under the age of ten will be immobilized for five minutes.*

In other words, as long as the target was a child, they would be affected by this skill, regardless of whether they were a student of Mingzhi Elementary School.

Just as Lu Yuan was about to activate the skill, he inadvertently glanced at the entity not far away, and his movements immediately slowed down.

The entity was gazing at Lu Yuan with a look of curious fascination.

Wait!

It wasn't looking at Lu Yuan!

It seemed to be able to see the bloody text floating in front of him!

"Can you see these words?" Lu Yuan asked instinctively.

When questioned, the entity withdrew its curious gaze and muttered an affirmative "Mhm" in a muffled voice.

Lu Yuan immediately stood up, eyeing the entity with stunned suspicion. This was the first time he had ever encountered a specter capable of seeing the bloody text.

He had tested it many times before.

Neither An Shi nor Zhuo Yan could see them.

Why could this ghost-entity see the text?

Lu Yuan felt a persistent sense that something wasn't quite right.

After pondering for a long time without coming to any logical conclusion, Lu Yuan decided to set the doubt aside for now and directly reached out to tap the bloody text floating in the air.

The next second, the ID badge of the psychological doctor from Mingzhi Elementary School lit up with a crimson glow.

【Teacher's Majesty】 activated!

At this moment, Lu Yuan embodied the persona of a strict teacher.

Nothing about Lu Yuan's physical appearance changed, but in the eyes of the child-specter, Lu Yuan transformed into the most stern and ferocious teacher imaginable.

"If my body really belongs to a child, this skill should work."

Lu Yuan leaned over and poked his own body.

It didn't move.

The entity merely stared at Lu Yuan with a bewildered expression; it tried to move its limbs, only to find that its body was completely unresponsive.

"It really works."

Lu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

He could now confirm with certainty that the entity occupying his body was a child.

***

Adopting a stern posture, Lu Yuan lectured, "It's wrong of you to forcefully occupy someone else's body like this. Is this what your teacher taught you?!"

Since only the body was immobilized, it should still be able to speak.

The entity's lips trembled. "I've never been to school. No teacher ever taught me."

Never been to school?

An absolute illiterate!

That made things much easier.

Fooling a child like this couldn't possibly be simpler.

"Even so, it's still wrong."

"Snatching other people's belongings doesn't make you a good child."

Lu Yuan felt he shouldn't be too cruel to a child, especially one lacking education and posing no real danger.

If educated properly, perhaps he could even recruit this entity to his side.

Weak as the child might be right now, with proper cultivation, it could prove somewhat useful.

The entity looked like it was about to sniffle and cry again, but sensing the authoritative pressure of a teacher emanating from Lu Yuan, it could only carefully sniffle and hold back. "I didn't snatch it! This really is my body!"

Lu Yuan began to feel a sliver of self-doubt.

With things having progressed to this point, the child still stubbornly insisted it was its own body. Could something have genuinely gone wrong somewhere?

"How old are you?"

"Five."

"What's your name?"

"Lu Yuan."

"Nonsense! If your name is Lu Yuan, then what's mine?! Not only are you stealing my body, but you're trying to steal my name too!"

Lu Yuan laughed out of sheer exasperation.

This kid was way too deep into the role; it almost made Lu Yuan, the actual victim, start believing it.

Seeming to sense Lu Yuan's skepticism, the entity began to explain on its own accord: "I only remember that I'm five years old and my name is Lu Yuan, but I don't remember anything else."

Lu Yuan furrowed his brows.

"You really don't remember anything else?"

He couldn't shake the feeling that he was being tricked.

The entity thought for a moment, a sudden realization dawning on it: "I do remember the day of my fifth birthday—I went to the amusement park all by myself, and I had a lot of fun."

Lu Yuan froze.

Ever since he began forming memories at the age of five, the very first thing Lu Yuan remembered was going to the amusement park all by himself on his fifth birthday.

That day, he had a lot of fun.

Because it was his earliest memory from the age of five and he had enjoyed himself immensely, Lu Yuan had remembered it vividly up until the present day.

Yet... how did this child know about that?