Night fell quickly.
The already pitch-black, gloomy mountainside grew even darker and more eerie.
The Town Guard Bureau's people immediately lit their torches.
The flames danced in the cold wind, illuminating the mountainside's black stones like a devil's dance.
Thick smoke curled up from several nearby caves.
The Town Guard Bureau's people took fans and furiously fanned the smoke into the cave entrances, forcing all of it inside.
The air was filled with a choking, pungent stench.
"Keep an eye on every cave entrance. Don't let a single one slip by!"
Zhou Qingyang's cold voice rang out from the hillside nearby.
The caves inside the mountain were interconnected, with passages running in every direction, so there were several entrances and exits.
The Town Guard Bureau's people had already located every entrance.
They had stationed men outside in advance, armed with torches and weapons, ready and waiting.
"Head Zhang!"
Zhou Qingyang shouted from the hillside.
Zhang Jiu promptly called back, "I'm over here!"
Zhou Qingyang said, "Come over and help me guard this entrance!"
"Right away!"
Zhang Jiu answered, then gave Luo Qingchen and the others beside him a low, cold laugh. "Captain Zhou deliberately shouted my name so loudly to let that beast know I'm here. That beast wants nothing more than to kill me. Now that it knows it's doomed, it'll probably charge out and fight me to the death in a bit."
Zhou Yan hurriedly said, "Chief, the few of us can go with you and protect you."
Zhang Jiu shook his head. "We shouldn't send too many people, and the other spots need guards too. That monster has already lost its arms. It's no threat to me anymore."
He looked around, then gave his orders. "Zhou Yan, Sun Tong, go watch from the high ground over there.