...

In the only guesthouse of Jinxiu Town, Jiang Cheng was in a fourth-floor room, exchanging recently obtained information with Yao Shun Yu, Li Bai. Fatty wasn't there. He had been spending a lot of time with Su An lately and had reportedly become acquainted with some second-generation Shen Hong members through Su An's introduction.

There was a lot of news lately. The good news was that, with the absolute advantage of the state, the remnants of the Night Watchers were in full retreat. As soon as any base was discovered, it was immediately attacked. Except for a small number who surrendered, the rest were surrounded and annihilated.

But the bad news that followed was that under such high-pressure blows, the remaining core members of the Night Watchers became more and more insane. They had begun indiscriminate attacks, even targeting schools, airports, train stations, office buildings, and business districts – densely populated areas. The extent of their madness was evident.

In such high-intensity conflicts, paranormal events occurred frequently across the country. Several of the most affected cities had even begun imposing martial law, notifying citizens not to go out unless necessary. Public transportation was basically suspended, and soldiers with live ammunition guarded all major traffic arteries.

At the same time, casualties were constantly increasing in the battle against the remnants of the Night Watchers, especially the Dark Army under the command of Old Man Luo, who was at the forefront of the attack. It was said that the organization had been decimated, with casualties exceeding two-thirds.

This was not entirely because the overall combat power of the Dark Army was weaker than that of the Night Watchers. A larger part of the reason was that these Night Watcher remnants were too cunning and fierce, choosing to hide in densely populated areas. The army, with its heavy firepower, could not let go and could only use the Dark Army's flexibility to clear them out.

Once they started, these desperadoes naturally had no scruples, but the Dark Army was different. One could completely let go, while the other was constrained and unwilling to hurt the innocent. It was reasonable that such casualties occurred under such circumstances.

However, to everyone's delight, as the battle progressed, more and more disciples hiding in every corner of the city, living in anonymity, began to step out of the shadows and actively join the war to讨伐 (tǎo fá – punish by armed force) the remnants of the Night Watchers. This included some former Night Watchers.

With the continuous injection of fresh troops, the overall size and quality of the Dark Army were constantly increasing, and they began to gain the upper hand in the subsequent battles.

Some paranormal events rated B and below did not even require official personnel to be dispatched. Within a few hours of the incident being exposed, at most within a day, it would be resolved by disciples who did not leave their names. When faced with some high-level paranormal events, everyone would spontaneously form teams, systematically research and judge, and finally select several disciples with strength and experience to lead the team, launching continuous attacks in batches. After paying heavy casualties, they would finally solve it.

Among the major cities across the country, Da Jing City and Shang Hu City were the most affected, with the highest level of paranormal events and the most serious casualties. The social order in some areas was almost collapsed. However, under the dual channels of the official and civilian sectors, a steady stream of disciples came from all over the country to provide support. After several days of fierce fighting, the haze shrouded over these two cities finally dissipated.

As these events were quelled one by one, the survivors slowly woke up, and more and more people began to accept the existence of "heterogeneous" beings like disciples. They were no longer shadows that could only hide in the night, but they were also stationed in the night, resisting the Nightmare Assault (噩梦惊袭) for the people before dawn.

In addition to these news about the overall situation, there was also a message specifically for Jiang Cheng, which was sent by Old Man Luo through someone. The content of the message was very simple: Tang Qisheng and Zhu Jie's identities had been verified and there was no problem. According to the previous agreement, these two people could be sent over as early as this evening.

The folk taboos encountered in recent missions were increasing. This was Jiang Cheng's weakness, and he had suffered a lot as a result. Tang Qisheng and Zhu Jie happened to be experts in this area, and Jiang Cheng wanted to invite them to give his group a refresher course.

In fact, Jiang Cheng's favorite candidate was the old Master Yu Chengmu, but unfortunately, this person had passed away, so Jiang Cheng had to offer him three sticks of incense in his heart.

Li Bai also knew some of the rules in the Yin industry, but according to her own account, she was also a jack-of-all-trades, superficial. There were also many things she didn't understand in more detail. However, with Li Bai present, it also eliminated the possibility of Tang Qisheng and Zhu Jie talking nonsense, otherwise, once discovered, the consequences would be very serious.

After a simple meal, everyone dispersed. Jiang Cheng was a little tired and planned to go back to his room for a nap, but he had just laid down and was just starting to feel sleepy when he heard someone knocking on the door.

After opening the door, there was a somewhat familiar woman outside. Jiang Cheng remembered her, she was the adjutant of the person in charge here.

"Mr. Jiang, the person in charge asked me to invite you over, he has something very important." The woman's voice was a little breathless, obviously she had run all the way here.

Following the woman to a room on the second floor, he pushed open the door. The middle-aged man had been waiting for a long time, and there were several kraft paper bags on the table in front of him.

The man waved his hand, and the woman retreated, closing the door behind her. However, judging from the sound of her footsteps, the woman did not go far, but stayed outside the door.

Seeing those kraft paper bags, Jiang Cheng frowned slightly. First of all, he knew that today's matter must be related to the Shen Hong base. Secondly, he was a little dissatisfied, because he had reminded the man not to touch the things in these bags, let alone open them to look, as this would only bring endless trouble.

"Mr. Jiang, please don't misunderstand, I have received authorization from above." The middle-aged man went straight to the point, "I'm here today to ask you some questions."

"I've told you everything I know about the Shen Hong base, and now that the base has been destroyed, I'm afraid I can't do anything."

Jiang Cheng almost wrote "please don't bother me" on his face. He didn't want to have too much contact with the man, after all, he had once been a member of Shen Hong, and who knew if he would be implicated in the end.

"Do you know Shao Tong?" The middle-aged man suddenly asked.

Jiang Cheng hesitated slightly. After all, he had never mentioned anything about Shao Tong to the man, nor would Fatty and the others. Therefore, he must have heard this information from somewhere else, which also verified that what the man said was true, he did receive some kind of authorization from higher authorities.

After a brief thought, Jiang Cheng nodded, "Yes, he was my teammate in my last mission."

"According to my information, this person named Shao Tong also came from Shen Hong, the underground base that was destroyed not long ago." The man asked, "Is that so?"

"Yes." Jiang Cheng did not hide anything.

Unexpectedly, after hearing Jiang Cheng's answer, the man took a deep breath, "Mr. Jiang, I have to tell you, according to our analysis of the data, there has never been anyone named Shao Tong in that base."