In the only guesthouse in Jinxiu Town, Jiang Cheng was talking with Yao Shunyu and Li Bai in a fourth-floor room, exchanging the latest intelligence they had received. The Fatty wasn't there. Lately, he had been spending a lot of time with Su An and, reportedly, had grown close to several second-generation Crimson members through her introductions.
There had been a lot of news lately. The good news was that, under the nation's overwhelming advantage, the remnants of the Night Watch were steadily losing ground. Their various strongholds were struck as soon as they were discovered. Aside from a few who surrendered, the rest were surrounded and wiped out.
The bad news, however, was that under such intense pressure, the surviving core members of the Night Watch had grown increasingly unhinged. They had begun launching indiscriminate attacks, even targeting densely populated places like schools, airports, train stations, office buildings, and shopping districts. Their sheer depravity was plain to see.
With the conflict raging at such intensity, supernatural incidents had become frequent across the country. Several of the hardest-hit cities had even begun imposing martial law, warning residents not to go out unless absolutely necessary. Public transportation had all but ground to a halt, and armed soldiers stood guard at every major thoroughfare.
Meanwhile, casualties in the fighting against the remnants of the Night Watch continued to mount. The Dark Army under Old Master Luo, which was at the very forefront of the fighting, had reportedly been decimated, with casualties at one point exceeding two-thirds of its ranks.
This wasn't entirely because the Dark Army was weaker overall than the Night Watch. A much bigger factor was that the remnants were too cunning and vicious, choosing hiding places in densely populated areas. The military couldn't bring its heavy weapons to bear,