"You... that's just an infant, how could you be so ruthless?" Wang Jue's eyes snapped wide open as she fiercely questioned.

The swaddling clothes were submerged for two seconds, then automatically floated back up, drifting to the edge of the boat, the infant's cries growing even more piercing. I hastily hunched over to retrieve it, while Wang Jue assisted from the side, taking the retrieved bundle.

"It's alright, in the Sea of the Undead, you don't need to breathe; drowning isn't fatal," Wang Jue said, patting the startled infant with relief.

Hou Dayong climbed back onto the boat by himself, sitting opposite me and Wang Jue in silence, offering no explanation for his recent action.

"Why did you do that just now?" I couldn't help but ask.

"How could there be an ordinary infant here? What you are holding is a Ghost Infant."

Hearing the words 'Ghost Infant,' Wang Jue's hands trembled slightly around the baby, and she forced a calm composure before asking, "What is a Ghost Infant?"

Hou Dayong sighed, leaning back against the bow and lying down, his voice tinged with melancholy. "Li Xiaohao was also a Ghost Infant when he first arrived in this world. Ghost Infants are those babies who died in the womb before ever being born. Because they carry a fierce desire for birth, upon dying in utero, they generate powerful resentment, lingering between the Yin and Yang realms in their infant forms. Once they find an opportunity, they can transform directly from a Ghost Infant into an Undead, living in the mortal world in human guise to fulfill the desires they never realized."

I recalled Ah Li once mentioning that when a black cat jumps over someone who died accidentally, the corpse turns into a Jiangshi, and that Jiangshi can then be manipulated by magic to become an Undead. Now, the Undead Hou Dayong described was an entirely different transformation. Were there multiple paths to becoming an Undead?

Before I could speak, Wang Jue asked first, "So, you also transformed from a Ghost Infant into an Undead?"

Hou Dayong chuckled, "No, Li Xiaohao is the Master; he transformed me into this state."

"Then there is more than one way to become an Undead?" I added as a follow-up question.

"Correct, but the Undead grown from a Ghost Infant is the most powerful; it can create its own servants through Jiangshi."

I see. After winding through eighteen corners, I finally pieced together the true nature of Li Xiaohao's group. The reason Hou Dayong had tried to discard the infant earlier was out of fear that it would cause us trouble once it matured into an Undead.

As we discussed the Undead and Ghost Infants, the infant in Wang Jue's arms ceased crying and reached out a hand to play with the jade pendant hanging around my neck. Looking at those chubby, lotus-root-like little hands, I couldn't see any difference between him and a normal baby. In fact, he seemed even more endearing.

"Good baby, goo-goo-goo..." I extended a finger to touch his tender little cheek. The little darling giggled, actively rubbing his face against my finger as if acting spoiled.

"Haha, such a small child can act spoiled!" I was immensely amused, completely forgetting what Hou Dayong had just said, and teased him by presenting my finger as a pacifier to his lips.

Feeling the finger near his mouth, he genuinely thought it was a nipple, opened his mouth wide, and sucked down on my finger, drawing hard as if nursing.

"Look, he can eat..." Just as I was lost in my delight, I suddenly felt a strange sensation from my finger—a sharp, needle-prick feeling spreading from the tip.

I tried to pull my finger back but found the infant possessed surprising strength. "Oh, sweetie, let go of Uncle's hand, Uncle has delicious things for you..."

But he remained disobedient, continuing to suckle on my finger. A wave of dizziness began to wash over me.