Night.
Zhang Ping and Wang Jieming returned to the Dark Room. The two Heavenly Fox corpses had already been cleared away.
"Zhang Ping, what exactly is going on? How could Mingzhu City have Mutated Beasts? And... are they really Mutated Beasts?" Wang Jieming immediately asked.
Zhang Ping nodded, then told Wang Jieming everything he knew. Wang Jieming froze after hearing it, 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 said when he saw that something was off with Wang Jieming.
Wang Jieming shook his head and said blankly, "I'm wondering if my mom was eaten by a Heavenly Fox."
"Your mom?" Zhang Ping frowned.
Wang Jieming said seriously, "Really. Something's very wrong with her. I couldn't put my finger on it before you said anything, 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... Don't tell me that food was actually... Urgh..."
"Wait, don't scare yourself. I'll go to your house later and check it out. Don't overthink it for now," Zhang Ping quickly said.
Wang Jieming looked like he was about to cry. "Zhang Ping, if my mom really was eaten, what am I supposed to do?"
"What else can you do? Avenge your mother and slaughter that Heavenly Fox," Zhang Ping said sternly.
He remembered 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.
"Sisi," Zhang Ping said.
Liu Sishan calmly said, "Ask whatever you want while you can. I received intelligence that the Mutated Beasts outside the city seem to be showing signs of unrest. The Patrol Team was completely slaughtered by the Heavenly Foxes, and the city's defenses are practically nonexistent. If other Mutated Beasts invade Mingzhu City, the consequences will be unimaginable. I'm afraid I won't have time to look after you after this."
"I know about this. The king of the Heavenly Fox Clan is pretending to sleep. 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 had been discussed at the Heavenly Fox meeting through the Wind Whisperer, so he naturally knew what was happening.
"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 Clan's prince will use this opportunity to observe the Awakened who resist the Mutated Beasts, then focus on eliminating those they believe might belong to your organization."
"I see. They want to throw Mingzhu City's order into chaos, then target the powerful people who make a move." Liu Sishan saw through their intentions in an instant.
It really was a good plan.
Ordinary people couldn't withstand attacks from Mutated Beasts, so the Awakened would definitely have to act.
Mingzhu City had a population of one million. The Heavenly Foxes alone could never investigate the strength of every Awakened, especially since some deliberately concealed their strength while others had never even been registered.
The existing records and files in Mingzhu City could never reveal everything happening within the city.
Zhang Ping looked at Liu Sishan and asked, "Sisi, 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 still plenty we can do," Liu Sishan said.
Before Zhang Ping could ask anything else, she said, "All right, you two should go back first. I'll report this to the organization, and we'll discuss the details later. In the short term, not too many Mutated Beasts should invade Mingzhu City. The city is still safe."
After she finished speaking, Zhang Ping and Wang Jieming were sent back to Iron Soul.
"Zhang Ping, can I sleep here tonight?"
Wang Jieming glanced at the darkness outside the window and asked timidly.
He didn't want to go home.
After all, he had no idea what he would be facing if he returned home.
"All right."
Zhang Ping understood that feeling well. After all, Prince Yue had once come to inspect his room.
To be honest, although Heavenly Foxes themselves were strange and terrifying, they were ultimately just Mutated Beasts. What was truly frightening was the human skin plastered to their foreheads.
That bloodstained human skin was both infuriating and bone-chilling.
Under Zhang Ping's arrangements, Wang Jieming slept in the guest room, which was actually right next to Zhang Ping's room.
After Zhang Ping left.
Once Wang Jieming had shut the door, his whole body relaxed slightly.
He had known Zhang Ping for some time and knew Zhang Ping was not someone with an erratic personality.
The problem was that everything Wang Jieming had experienced so far was only Zhang Ping and Liu Sishan's version of events.
He had not seen what the Heavenly Foxes truly looked like. Even when Liu Sishan killed those two Heavenly Foxes, they had looked like ordinary people to him.
So was it possible that those two people were actually assassins, and everything Zhang Ping said was merely meant to fool him?
That was possible.
There had even once been an Awakened with illusion-type abilities who had deceived a woman, causing her to spend the first half of her life in delusion. Only after that Awakened died unexpectedly did the woman escape the illusion and see reality.
Zhang Ping had an organization behind him.
This organization was very powerful, especially that Sisi. She could kill him in seconds.
Wang Jieming silently summarized that these two pieces of information were at least true. As for everything else, he would tentatively believe it for now, but without absolute proof, he would not make any hasty judgments.
Before sleeping, he thought of his mother. All those strange feelings filled him with inexplicable heartache.
How he wished this was all just a scam.
Meanwhile, Liu Sishan also told Situ Shibai the information Zhang Ping had provided.
Inside the Cleanup Team's conference room were still Jin Bo, Chen Ming, and the others.
Situ Shibai smiled. "The Heavenly Foxes are preparing to muddy the waters in Mingzhu City. What do you think?"
"Hmph, those bastard beasts just want to snuff out all the promising human seedlings. I say we take this chance to strike. Kill as many Heavenly Foxes as we can," Jin Bo said with a cold laugh.
Chen Ming frowned. "Not wise. Although my ability is being interfered with by the enemy, I have a feeling that if we're too aggressive this time, a lot of people will die."
His ability was Precognition.
With this ability, he had become the Cleanup Team's strategist, effectively its second-in-command.
However, because the Moon King's rank was too high, it had already greatly affected him. Most of the futures he saw were false. But he was, after all, a High-Level Awakened. Precognition enhanced his intuition, so his instincts were 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 joining the Cleanup Team, Chen Ming still had a terrible habit: being too arbitrary. Many times, Chen Ming already knew crucial intelligence but refused to say it, insisting on waiting until the critical moment.
"It won't work if I say it," Chen Ming said with a smile.
Jin Bo said unhappily, "That again."
"Some things may be bad for us now, but they could carry great significance for the future. My intuition tells me that, at least for now, the Cleanup Team can't act recklessly," 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 to sleep, have the Barrier Team use the Illusory Light Curtain to divide Mingzhu City into eight zones. The foxes want to observe, don't they? Then let them experience what it's like when everything they see is fake."
"Manny is currently supporting Sisi," Chen Ming said.
Situ Shibai nodded. "I'll inform Sisi. 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 hide anymore."
"Understood." Chen Ming nodded.
The Illusory Light Curtain was a combination technique activated jointly by Manny, Chen Luowei, and Xu Jie of the Barrier Team.
Manny's ability was Black Curtain, and her advanced abilities were Black Passage and Black Chamber. The Dark Rooms where Liu Sishan and Zhang Ping had met several times were provided by her, and she was also responsible for concealing Liu Sishan's movements.
Chen Luowei's ability was Light and Shadow Illusion, while her advanced ability was Dynamic Illusion. She could alter the colors of light and shadows. Humans could see only because of reflected light, and she usually acted together with Manny. Besides maintaining the Cleanup Team's base security, she occasionally provided Liu Sishan with invisibility-related abilities.
Finally, Xu Jie's ability was Solar Charging, and her advanced ability was Energy Sharing. She was Manny and Chen Luowei's power bank. Their ability to keep their powers active for long periods relied entirely on the immense energy Xu Jie provided. Otherwise, neither of them could sustain it.
Once the Illusory Light Curtain was activated, the three of them would be unable to rest and could hold out for a week at most.
After that, they would have no choice but to deactivate the Illusory Light Curtain and rest.
Otherwise, there was a risk of sudden death.
Late at night.
Most of Mingzhu City's residents were still deeply asleep. Starting from the center of Mingzhu City, an invisible Black Curtain slowly descended. In the blink of an eye, it divided the entire city into eight zones. Then all kinds of images appeared on the Black Curtain, rapidly filling it.
The shape of the Black Curtain gradually changed, and the images changed with it.
The whole of Mingzhu City began to become different.
The next day.
Mingzhu City continued operating as usual. No one realized that the city had already changed.
Even the Heavenly Foxes inside the City Lord's Manor had not noticed anything wrong.
Moon One, Moon Two, and Moon Three emerged from 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. It had only become dangerous because human Awakened were watching from the shadows. But 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 like something's wrong?" As Moon Three walked along the street, she looked at the passersby and suddenly asked.
Moon One swept his gaze around them 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 this moment, Jin Bo and the other combatants stood by the street, watching the three Heavenly Foxes pass by.
Although the three Heavenly Foxes all looked human in their eyes, they knew they were Heavenly Foxes.
"Follow them."
After saying that to his teammates, Jin Bo followed behind the Heavenly Foxes. Yet the Heavenly Foxes ahead remained completely unaware.
In the scene the Heavenly Foxes saw, pedestrians came and went around them, and everything looked perfectly normal. Behind them, there was no one at all.
In reality, the Illusory Light Curtain had already enclosed the three Heavenly Foxes.
Everything they saw was an illusion.