Illusory Light Curtain

Night.

Zhang Ping and Wang Jieming returned to the Dark Room once more. The two Heavenly Fox corpses had already been cleaned away.

"Zhang Ping, what exactly is going on? How could there be Mutated Beasts in Mingzhu City? And... are they really Mutated Beasts?" Wang Jieming immediately asked.

Zhang Ping nodded and told Wang Jieming everything he knew. Wang Jieming was stunned after listening, and his expression gradually worsened.

"What's wrong? Don't worry. Someone has already covered for us after we killed those two Heavenly Foxes. The other Heavenly Foxes won't find us," Zhang Ping reassured him when he noticed something was off with Wang Jieming's expression.

Wang Jieming shook his head, then said blankly, "I suspect the Heavenly Foxes ate my mom."

"Your mom?" Zhang Ping frowned.

Wang Jieming said seriously, "Really, there's something very wrong with her. I couldn't put my finger on it until you mentioned this, but now I can feel it. She keeps teaching me things I already knew before, and she doesn't cook anymore. She often buys prepared food outside... Could that food actually be... Urgh..."

"Wait, don't scare yourself. I'll go to your house and check later. Don't overthink it for now," Zhang Ping quickly said.

With a miserable look on his face, Wang Jieming asked, "Zhang Ping, if my mom really got eaten, what am I supposed to do?"

"What else can you do? Avenge your mother and slaughter that Heavenly Fox," Zhang Ping answered sternly.

He thought of the Heavenly Fox that had eaten Su Jingyao. How could he not want to avenge that wonderful girl?

Wang Jieming fell silent.

A moment later.

Liu Sishan appeared before them, startling Wang Jieming again.

"Sis Sishan," Zhang Ping said.

Liu Sishan calmly said, "Ask whatever you want while you still can. I received intelligence that the Mutated Beasts outside the city seem to be showing signs of unrest. The Patrol Team has been completely slaughtered by the Heavenly Foxes, and the city defenses are practically nonexistent. If other Mutated Beasts invade Mingzhu City, the consequences will be unthinkable. I'm afraid I won't have time to look after you from now on."

"I know about this. The king of the Heavenly Fox clan is in a false slumber. Mingzhu City wasn't attacked by other Mutated Beasts before because it was stationed here. Now that it has concealed its aura, the other Mutated Beasts are beginning to stir," Zhang Ping said.

He had heard most of what was discussed at the Heavenly Fox meeting through Wind Whisperer, so he naturally knew what was going on.

"In other words, Mutated Beasts will definitely invade Mingzhu City next," Liu Sishan said with a frown.

Zhang Ping nodded. "Not only that, the Heavenly Fox prince will use this chance to observe the Awakened who resist the Mutated Beasts, focusing on eliminating those they consider possible members of your organization."

"I see. They want to throw Mingzhu City into chaos while specifically targeting the powerful ones who make a move." Liu Sishan saw through their intentions at once.

It really was a good plan.

Ordinary people could not withstand attacks from Mutated Beasts, so the Awakened would definitely have to act.

Mingzhu City had a population of a million. The Heavenly Foxes could never investigate the strength of every Awakened on their own. Some Awakened deliberately concealed their strength, while others had not even registered at all.

The existing records and files of Mingzhu City alone could never reveal everything happening within the city.

Zhang Ping looked at Liu Sishan and asked, "Sis Sishan, does your organization have a way to stop this plan?"

"They're using an open scheme, but that's even better. As long as their king doesn't move, there's quite a lot we can do," Liu Sishan said.

Before Zhang Ping could ask anything else, she continued, "All right, you two should go back first. I'll report this to the organization, and we'll discuss the details later. Not many Mutated Beasts should invade Mingzhu City in the short term. Mingzhu City is still safe."

After saying that, Zhang Ping and Wang Jieming were sent back to Iron Soul.

"Zhang Ping, can I sleep here tonight?"

Wang Jieming glanced at the darkness beyond the window, then asked timidly.

He did not want to go home.

After all, he had no idea what he would be facing if he went back.

"All right."

Zhang Ping understood that feeling well. After all, Prince Yue had once inspected his room.

Honestly, while the Heavenly Foxes themselves were bizarre and terrifying, they were ultimately just Mutated Beasts. What was truly frightening was the human skin pasted to their foreheads.

Those bloodstained sheets of human skin were both enraging and chilling.

At Zhang Ping's arrangement, Wang Jieming slept in the guest room, which was actually right next door to Zhang Ping's room.

After Zhang Ping left.

Once Wang Jieming shut the door, his whole body relaxed slightly.

He had known Zhang Ping for some time and knew that Zhang Ping was not the kind of person with an erratic personality.

The problem was that everything Wang Jieming had experienced so far was only Zhang Ping and Liu Sishan's side of the story.

He had not seen what the Heavenly Foxes truly looked like. Even when Liu Sishan killed those two Heavenly Foxes, all he had seen were ordinary people.

Was it possible that those two were actually assassins, and everything Zhang Ping said was merely meant to fool him?

It was possible.

There had even been an Awakened with illusion-type abilities who once deceived a woman, causing her to spend the first half of her life in delusion. Only after the Awakened died unexpectedly did the woman escape the illusion and see reality.

There was an organization behind Zhang Ping.

That organization was very powerful. Especially that "Sis Sishan"—she could kill him in an instant.

Wang Jieming silently summarized the situation. Those two pieces of information were at least true. As for the rest, he would tentatively believe them, but without absolute proof, he would not jump to conclusions.

Before sleeping, he thought of his mother. The many strange sensations left him with an indescribable ache in his heart.

How he hoped this was all just a scam.

Meanwhile, Liu Sishan also relayed the intelligence Zhang Ping had provided to Situ Shibai.

Inside the Cleanup Team's conference room were still Jin Bo, Chen Ming, and the others.

Situ Shibai smiled. "The Heavenly Foxes are planning to muddy the waters of Mingzhu City. What do you think?"

"Hmph, those bastard beasts just want to nip every promising human seedling in the bud. I say we take this opportunity to strike. Kill as many Heavenly Foxes as we can," Jin Bo sneered.

Chen Ming frowned. "That would be unwise. Although my ability has been disrupted by them, I have a feeling that if we act too aggressively this time, many people will die."

His ability was Precognition.

Thanks to this ability, he had become the Cleanup Team's strategist and was considered its second-in-command.

However, Moon King's rank was too high and had already greatly affected him, so most of the futures he saw were false. But he was, after all, a High-Level Awakened. Precognition enhanced his intuition, making it extremely accurate.

"Chen Ming, do you know something?" Jin Bo asked suspiciously as he looked at Chen Ming.

He knew very well that even after Chen Ming joined the Cleanup Team, he still retained a terrible habit: being overly decisive on his own. Many times, Chen Ming already knew crucial intelligence but refused to reveal it, insisting on waiting until the critical moment.

"If I say it, it won't work anymore." Chen Ming smiled.

Jin Bo said irritably, "That line again."

"Some things may be bad for the present, but they hold important meaning for the future. My intuition tells me that the Cleanup Team must not act recklessly for now," Chen Ming said as he looked at Jin Bo.

Situ Shibai smiled. "But we can't let those foxes have it easy either. Since their king has already gone dormant, have the Barrier Team use the Illusory Light Curtain to divide Mingzhu City into eight regions. Don't the foxes want to observe? Then let them have a taste of what it feels like when everything they see is fake."

"Manny is currently supporting Sishan," Chen Ming said.

Situ Shibai nodded. "I'll notify Sishan. Manny won't be able to support her for the time being, but once the Illusory Light Curtain is activated, she won't need to keep hiding anymore."

"Understood." Chen Ming nodded.

The Illusory Light Curtain was a combined technique jointly activated by Manny, Chen Luowei, and Xu Jie of the Barrier Team.

Manny's ability was Black Curtain, while her advanced abilities were Black Passage and Black Chamber. The Dark Room where Liu Sishan and Zhang Ping had met several times was provided by her, and she was also responsible for concealing Liu Sishan's movements.

Chen Luowei's ability was Light and Shadow Illusion, and her advanced ability was Dynamic Illusion, which could alter the colors of light and shadow. Humans could see only through the reflection of light, and she usually acted alongside Manny. Besides maintaining the security of the Cleanup Team's base, she would occasionally provide Liu Sishan with invisibility-related abilities.

Finally, Xu Jie's ability was Solar Charging, while her advanced ability was Energy Sharing. She was Manny and Chen Luowei's power bank. The two could use their abilities for extended periods entirely because Xu Jie supplied them with enormous amounts of energy. Otherwise, they would not be able to hold out at all.

Once the Illusory Light Curtain was activated, the three of them would be unable to rest and could endure for at most a week.

After that, they would have no choice but to deactivate the Illusory Light Curtain and rest.

Otherwise, they risked sudden death.

Late at night.

Most of Mingzhu City's residents were still asleep. Starting from the city center, an invisible Black Curtain slowly descended, dividing the entire city into eight regions in the blink of an eye. Then all sorts of images appeared upon it, swiftly filling the Black Curtain.

The shape of the Black Curtain gradually changed, and the images changed with it.

The entire Mingzhu City began to become different.

The next day.

Mingzhu City continued operating as usual, and no one noticed that the city had changed.

Even the Heavenly Foxes inside the City Lord's Manor did not notice the problem.

Moon One, Moon Two, and Moon Three left the City Lord's Manor.

They were responsible for providing food to the other Heavenly Foxes in the City Lord's Manor, so they had to come out every day to select prey.

This was not difficult in itself, but it had become dangerous now that human Awakened were lurking in the shadows. However, they had been sent out precisely because they were powerful, far stronger than the other Heavenly Foxes.

It could be said that their strength was second only to Prince Yue's.

"Moon One, do you feel that something is off?" As Moon Three walked down the street and watched the passing pedestrians, he suddenly asked.

Moon One swept his gaze around and shook his head. "No. Did you notice something?"

"No, I just have a strange feeling," Moon Three answered.

Moon Two smiled. "You're just being paranoid."

At that moment, Jin Bo and the other combatants stood by the street, watching the three Heavenly Foxes walk past.

Although the three Heavenly Foxes appeared human in their eyes, they all knew they were Heavenly Foxes.

"Follow them."

After speaking to his teammates, Jin Bo followed behind the Heavenly Foxes. Yet the Heavenly Foxes ahead remained completely unaware.

In the scene Heavenly Fox saw, pedestrians came and went around them, and everything was perfectly normal. Behind them, there was not a single person.

In reality, the Illusory Light Curtain had already enclosed the three Heavenly Foxes.

Everything they saw was an illusion.