Just then, a commotion suddenly erupted at the Training Ground entrance, mixed with cries of alarm and hurried footsteps.
"Patrol Chiefs! All Patrol Chiefs! Something terrible has happened!"
A trainee patrolman came sprinting over, panic written all over his face.
"What are you panicking for? Speak slowly!" Qian Zhong barked.
The patrolman panted heavily and pointed behind him:
"Zhang... Patrol Chief Zhang Hui is back!
He was carried back! He's covered in blood!"
Yang Ning and the other two sprang to their feet.
Several patrolmen rushed into the Training Ground, carrying a bloodied figure on a makeshift stretcher.
It was none other than Zhang Hui, the lanky Patrol Chief.
His face was now as pale as paper. His uniform was in tatters, and though the several wounds on his body, deep enough to expose bone, had been hastily bandaged, blood still seeped through. His breathing was faint.
Qian Zhong took a single stride forward, steadied the stretcher's edge, and asked urgently:
"Brother Zhang! Hang on!
What happened to the patrolmen and trainee patrolmen who went with you?"
Zhang Hui struggled to open his unfocused eyes, a trace of overwhelming terror lingering in them.
His lips trembled as he used all his strength to force out a broken, horrifying account:
"They... they're all dead...
Duck Dung Alley... deep in Duck Dung Alley...
There's... there's a spirit monster... eating people..."
As soon as the words left his mouth, his head lolled to one side and he sank into complete unconsciousness.
"Patrol Chief Zhang!"
"A spirit monster?!"
The Training Ground erupted into an uproar.
All the patrolmen who had been training stopped what they were doing. Shock, fear, and anger spread through the crowd.
Qian Zhong and Liu Qian's expressions instantly turned grim.
Spirit monsters were running amok, devouring martial artists.
Though such things had been heard of in the Outer City, one this brazen, directly targeting the Patrol Bureau, was unprecedented in many years!
Yang Ning slowly walked down from the raised platform and crouched beside the stretcher to examine Zhang Hui's injuries.
The tearing wounds had certainly not been caused by an ordinary beast or martial artist. Between the tooth marks and claw prints lingered a faint, unpleasant, rank Demon Qi.
He stood and looked over the crowd, their faces filled with doubt and uncertainty, before finally gazing toward Duck Alley and murmuring:
"Looks like, just after Senior Brother entered seclusion, some things lurking in the shadows...
couldn't hold back any longer and wanted to come out and test the waters."
Patrol Chief Zhang Hui's return was like a boulder thrown into East Street's already troubled waters, raising a tremendous storm.
Inside the Patrol Bureau, unease ran rampant.
Training at the Training Ground had long since halted. Patrolmen gathered in groups of three or five, speaking in hushed voices, their faces mostly filled with fear and anxiety.
The Patrol Bureau, once a symbol of authority and safety, now seemed shrouded in shadow.
Whispers gave rise to worry and doubt.
With Gong Tian away in seclusion, such a vicious spirit monster had suddenly appeared and gone on a rampage.
It was undoubtedly a severe test of Patrol Chief Yang Ning's authority.
The atmosphere in the Patrol Bureau's duty room was grave.
Zhang Hui had been rushed away for treatment. His life had been saved for the moment, but his injuries were severe, and he remained unconscious.
Yang Ning, Qian Zhong, and Liu Qian sat facing one another.
A detailed map of East Street lay spread across the table, with the area around Duck Dung Alley heavily circled in red ink.
"That wretch is as cunning as they come."
Qian Zhong's face was ashen as he pressed a finger hard against Duck Alley on the map:
"I just found out in the case files that its first victims were lone martial artists and rogue cultivators.
Even when Gong Si was here, it didn't dare show itself openly.
Only after word of Gong Si's seclusion spread did it reach its claws toward our Patrol Bureau.
It's testing us, and picking on the weak!"
Liu Qian's chubby face had lost its usual smile:
"Exactly.
It hasn't touched the sons and daughters of the great lineages or major gangs, nor anyone with connections in the Inner City.
This beast isn't lacking in intelligence. It knows how to pick its targets, avoid the strong, and strike the weak."
Yang Ning's gaze rested on the map. His fingers unconsciously traced the alleys and slums around Duck Alley:
"It's not just cunning. It knows East Street extremely well, or at least the area around Duck Alley.
It can also ambush patrol teams with precision, leaving them no chance to send out a distress signal.
That means this monster is highly accomplished as well."
He looked at the two men across from him:
"Did Patrol Chief Zhang describe the spirit monster before he lost consciousness?
Was it alone, or does it live in a group?"
Qian Zhong shook his head:
"Brother Zhang only managed to say 'spirit monster' before passing out.
But to wipe out a team led by a Patrol Chief at the Tendon Changing level, it must be at least as powerful as a spirit monster at the Hidden Force level.
But if they live in groups..."
His expression darkened further.
"Spirit monsters that live in groups are more dangerous, but they also leave more traces."
Liu Qian picked up where he left off:
"The most urgent thing is to seal off the area around Duck Alley at once and send more elite patrols.
At the same time, we need to thoroughly investigate all recent missing-person cases, especially those from Duck Alley and the neighboring districts.
We should see if we can find a pattern to the wretch's movements or clues to its lair."
Yang Ning nodded:
"Patrol Chief Liu is right.
Get people on it at once. Set up a cordon centered on Duck Alley and seal off the inner perimeter completely.
People may leave, but no one gets in. Step up patrols around the outer perimeter."
"Understood."
Qian Zhong rose and left to make arrangements, brisk and decisive.
"Patrol Chief Liu."
Yang Ning looked at Liu Qian:
"Sorry for the trouble. Go to the Archives yourself and retrieve the East Street records of missing persons and suspected wild-beast attacks.
At the same time, send people to quietly question residents near Duck Dung Alley and see if anyone has witnessed anything unusual.
Be careful. Don't alert the monster."
"Yes."
Liu Qian stood and took his leave as well.
The two Patrol Chiefs had departed on their orders, leaving Yang Ning alone in the duty room.
He turned his gaze back to the map, his eyes deep and unreadable.
The timing of this spirit monster's appearance was too peculiar.
Senior Brother was in seclusion, and Yang Ning had only just been promoted. He had yet to secure his footing.
And now it had emerged, challenging the Patrol Bureau's authority with such brutal methods.
But for a newcomer like him, this was both a challenge and an opportunity.
Putting a stop to it would undoubtedly be a perfect chance to show what he could do.
News of the incident at the Patrol Bureau reached nearly every major force in East Street at almost the same time.
At Qin Mansion, in the study.
After hearing his trusted subordinate's report, Qin Yuwei set down the book in his hand and furrowed his brow slightly:
"A spirit monster? It badly wounded a Patrol Chief and devoured a whole patrol team?
What's Yang Ning doing about it?"
"Reporting to you, Young Master, Patrol Chief Yang has ordered Duck Alley sealed off. The other two Patrol Chiefs are handling the guard and investigation separately.
So far, the response has been swift and orderly."
Qin Yuwei pondered for a moment:
"I understand.
Keep an eye on things, and report any new developments at once.
Also, have our people avoid Duck Alley for now. They're not to get involved."
He tapped the tabletop lightly with his fingertips:
"This is probably a test for Yang Ning. We'll watch and wait for now."
At a secluded residence the Shen Family maintained in the Outer City.
As Shen Lian listened to a servant's report, he could not keep a trace of glee and mockery from showing on his face.
"A spirit monster? Could it be that one?
Good, good! This is heaven helping me!"
He could hardly stop himself from laughing aloud:
"It must have reached the Hidden Force level under those people's cultivation by now. With Gong Tian in seclusion, who in the Patrol Bureau can stop it?
Yang Ning? The First Patrol Chief?
Heh. I'd like to see what heaven-defying methods you, you mud-legged nobody, can use against a spirit monster like that!
If you handle this poorly...
Heh heh, what a joke that would be."
He paced back and forth, the more he thought about it, the more pleased he became:
"Spread the word. Make sure the news about the East Street Patrol Bureau's predicament gets around as widely as possible.
And pay special attention to that Patrol Chief Yang Ning. Heh.
The peerless genius from the Top Hundred Ranking, hahahahaha..."
"Yes, Young Master."
The Yuan Family's outpost in East Street, by contrast, seemed much calmer.
Yuan Qi toyed with a jade talisman, lost in thought:
"Yang Ning didn't react slowly.
Sealing off the area and investigating are both standard responses.
It's just...
This spirit monster looks like a tough opponent. With Gong Tian in seclusion, trouble couldn't have come at a worse time."
He looked at an elderly man beside him:
"Uncle, what do you think?"
The old man, whom he called Uncle, spoke slowly:
"Spirit monsters are vicious and often have strange abilities.
Yang Ning is young. This won't be easy for him to handle.
Let's see what the other families do. The Shen Family in particular probably won't just sit and watch.
This isn't only a spirit monster crisis; it's also a test of people's hearts.
Our Yuan Family can simply watch and wait."
Yuan Qi nodded slightly.
"Let's see what Yang Ning is made of. Having Gong Tian as a backer and talking pretty at the table won't be enough to establish yourself in East Street."
The Ning Family and the other gangs and martial arts schools entrenched in East Street mostly took a similar stance.
They kept their people in line and far from trouble.
At the same time, they watched Yang Ning's response closely.
For a time, the eyes of all East Street, hidden or open, turned toward Duck Dung Alley, toward the young man who had only recently taken charge of the Patrol Bureau.
A storm was brewing, yet Yang Ning, standing at its very center, calmly walked to the window.
He gazed at the outline of the streets in the distance, stained with a blood-red glow by the setting sun, and rested a hand on the hilt at his waist.
A spirit monster? A test, or a challenge?
The corner of his mouth curved upward.
Then let this be where it begins. He'd pound the right to call the shots in East Street into place, one fist at a time!
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