Zhou An's Account

The sounds of fighting had been loud.

It was only natural for the Demon Suppression Division to arrive at this time.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, Zhou An immediately mussed up his hair and clothes.

Carrying the iron wok, he returned to the first household, put the wok back, then walked to a corner of the alley and lay flat on his back, his eyes tightly shut.

As for the iron wok, it was spotless.

Protected by qi, none of the pile of minced flesh Chef Liu had turned into had stuck to it.

Once Zhou An was lying in place, the footsteps drew closer and closer. Then he heard Yu Hang cry out in alarm.

Next, he felt Yu Hang grab his shoulders and shake him hard.

"Old Zhou, are you all right? Old Zhou!"

Yu Hang's voice was full of urgency. As he spoke, he kept shaking Zhou An by the shoulders.

He truly was worried.

Back then, he had rushed to the Demon Suppression Division at nearly his fastest speed.

Yet when he led the Demon Suppression Division to the alley, they found only five corpses and no trace of Zhou An.

He had thought Zhou An had met with disaster and immediately panicked. Then, hearing the sounds of fighting, he had hurried after the Demon Suppression Division all the way here.

In the end, they arrived at this alley.

The moment Yu Hang saw Zhou An lying in the corner by the wall, he became frantic.

They had played together since childhood. Naturally, he did not want anything to happen to Zhou An.

As he was shaken, Zhou An pretended to be extremely weak. He slowly opened his eyes and pressed down on Yu Hang's right hand.

His fingers exerted a little force, tapping twice without leaving a trace.

"Lao Yu, you finally came..."

Yu Hang froze slightly. Feeling the taps on his wrist, he instantly understood what Zhou An meant.

This brat was putting on an act!

As his childhood friend, of course he played along. Keeping the anxious expression on his face, he turned to look behind him.

"My lord Zhang, please take a look and see whether my brother is all right."

Behind Yu Hang, Division Magistrate Zhang and more than a dozen Demon Suppression Division members were surveying the surroundings.

Throughout the entire time, Division Magistrate Zhang's brow had remained tightly furrowed. His square face was practically wrinkled enough to drip water.

The alley was pitch-black, with no moonlight reaching inside.

Ordinary people could barely see anything in there.

But Division Magistrate Zhang was different.

He saw the pile of minced flesh on the ground, as well as the blade marks on the wall.

"This minced flesh wasn't cut apart by a blade."

As the person in charge of An Ding County, Division Magistrate Zhang was naturally highly capable. He could tell at a glance.

The pile of minced flesh on the ground could no longer be identified as anyone.

"Who exactly was it?"

"Why was such an expert hiding their identity? What was their purpose?"

Division Magistrate Zhang was at a loss.

At first, one Beast Cult was manageable. Then the appearance of the Blood Shadow Gate had not been a problem either.

But now there was an additional mysterious expert, whose identity was still completely unknown.

With all these circumstances piling together, Division Magistrate Zhang found it particularly headache-inducing.

Especially that mysterious expert—he had investigated for a long time and still found nothing.

The very thought of it left Division Magistrate Zhang speechless.

At that moment, he heard Yu Hang's voice and finally turned his attention to Zhou An.

This constable had witnessed the entire incident. Perhaps he had uncovered useful information.

After considering it, Division Magistrate Zhang walked over and checked Zhou An's condition. "Nothing serious, just some scrapes. You're Zhou An, right? Did you witness the entire incident?"

Zhou An put on a flustered expression. "The mysterious expert! The mysterious expert was the one who acted!"

Division Magistrate Zhang frowned. "Tell me what happened."

Zhou An hurriedly nodded. "When I noticed something was wrong, I had Yu Hang go back and report it first. I stayed in the alley and watched in secret, then saw a man in black being surrounded and attacked by five people..."

He recounted the whole matter, though he altered a few parts slightly.

"Those five people were all from the Blood Shadow Gate, while the man in black was their Elder. After killing those five, the mysterious expert appeared."

"The two of them fought. The man in black was no match for him and fled, but after the mysterious expert discovered me, he actually took me along to pursue him."

At this point, Zhou An wiped away nonexistent cold sweat from his forehead.

Seeing this, Yu Hang secretly nodded.

His childhood friend really could act.

If he had not known the truth, even he would have been fooled.

Division Magistrate Zhang frowned. "Why did the mysterious expert take you with him?"

He could not understand why a mysterious expert would bring along a mere young constable.

Zhou An said, "Because the mysterious expert wanted me to pass on a message. He let me see the man in black's identity and learn what happened."

Division Magistrate Zhang pondered. "First tell me what happened, as well as the identity of the man in black."

Zhou An nodded. "The man in black was Chef Liu from the yamen. He was originally an Elder of the Blood Shadow Gate, but because he was colluding with the Beast Cult, he took the Blood Shadow Gate's treasure and fled here. He hid in the yamen to serve as a spy."

"The Blood Shadow Gate's treasure..." Division Magistrate Zhang muttered.

He paced back and forth through the alley.

Only after a moment did he stop.

"Continue. Why did he take you away?"

"He wanted to convey a message through me: stop investigating him. He definitely bore no ill intent," Zhou An said.

The story he had concocted this time also contained Zhou An's own intentions.

He had to make everything fit together while also telling them not to investigate any further.

With this explanation, Zhou An had thoroughly pushed himself to the sidelines.

It was not that he loved hiding his identity. It was simply better to keep a low profile in this kind of world.

Division Magistrate Zhang said nothing. He merely stood there, seeming to contemplate something.

After quite a while, he finally waved his hand.

"You should go back and rest first. Leave this place to us. You've worked hard."

Zhou An said nothing. Pretending to rely on Yu Hang's support, he rose to his feet.

Neither of them said much. They left the alley at once.

After the two had gone, only Division Magistrate Zhang and the Demon Suppression Division members remained.

One of the Demon Suppression Division members stepped forward and asked, "My lord, how do you intend to handle this?"

Division Magistrate Zhang shot him a glance. "Stop investigating the mysterious expert for now. The Beast Cult's plot this time is no small matter. Deal with the Beast Cult first."

He had thought it through just now.

Since the mysterious expert had already made it clear that he did not wish to be investigated, and judging from the current situation, he bore no ill intent.

Then there was no need to investigate him.

Resolving the Beast Cult matter was what mattered most.

The Demon Suppression Division members did not understand.

They were all confused.

The Beast Cult had now withdrawn into hiding, making it difficult to uncover any leads. How were they supposed to deal with it?

Seeing their expressions, Division Magistrate Zhang's tone turned stern. "Contact the Blood Shadow Gate. If they could find Chef Liu, they can find the Beast Cult. If they refuse to cooperate, deal with them severely. Do you understand now?"

Only then did everyone understand, and they hurriedly nodded.

"Clean this up. Let's go!" Division Magistrate Zhang flicked his sleeve and took the lead in leaving the alley.