Li Feng gazed into the vast darkness of the night. After some hesitation, he finally decided to call it a day and leave the rest until tomorrow.
Yet just as Li Feng was about to turn around, a sudden disturbance came from the mind fog ahead.
A black-clad figure suddenly entered the area covered by the almost imperceptible Mist.
Because the mind fog was so thin, he could not make out the figure's features, only vaguely sense her general build and the aura of her power.
Still, Li Feng could roughly tell that this was a human, and a woman at that.
The moment the black-clad woman appeared, she charged straight toward the conspicuous mass of mind fog at its center.
Startled, Li Feng immediately willed the mind fog to return.
Just then, the black-clad woman swung her arm and cried out in a low, clear voice.
"Where do you think you're going? Crane Feathers Soar to Heaven!"
In an instant, feathers shining with white light appeared out of thin air, filling the sky and shooting toward the mind fog ahead like countless sharp arrows.
Li Feng immediately felt an overwhelming sense of danger.
Instinctively, he made the mind fog retreat and rapidly spread out into its surroundings.
But how could drifting fog possibly outpace arrows hurtling through the air?
"Hiss, hiss, hiss..."
"Pop, pop, pop..."
Amid a series of piercing bursts, the countless feathers glowing with pale white light instantly pierced the newly dispersed mind fog, as though puncturing countless balloons.
Strange strands of power rapidly spread throughout the entire mass of mind fog from the points where the crane feathers touched it.
Wherever that power passed, the mind fog swiftly broke apart.
"Ugh!"
Li Feng felt as though a massive hammer had struck his brain. He could not help grunting, his body staggering slightly.
Fortunately, although that strange power kept breaking down the mind fog,
the mind fog was also continuously eroding and converting that power.
As a result, the mind fog did not dissipate completely.
Sensing the state of the distant mind fog, Li Feng immediately willed it to move again.
"Whoosh!"
In an instant, the mind fog began spreading rapidly and drifting farther away.
Meanwhile, concealed within the mind fog, Li Feng quickly ran toward the residential community.
He had little offensive ability at present, and judging by that person's attack just now, she could strike from a distance.
When the mind fog was attacked, its properties could still preserve most of it.
But if his actual body took that attack, a single volley would probably finish him off.
Naturally, he had to seize the chance while that person was occupied by the distant mind fog to flee... make a strategic retreat.
"Huh?"
Elsewhere, Tian Yue was slightly surprised to see that the fog had not immediately disintegrated under her attack, but had instead begun spreading out and fleeing.
Still, she did not pay it much mind.
After all, anomalies possessed all sorts of strange abilities and forms and were inherently difficult to kill. She merely raised her hand again and launched another attack.
"Crane Wings Fill the Sky!"
In an instant, a crane wing radiating pale white light swept down over the area ahead.
The fog, which had begun spreading and drifting into the distance, was instantly held in place by a restraining force.
The next moment, the crane wing swept past, purifying and annihilating several meters of fog.
Running in the distance, Li Feng staggered again, his face turning somewhat pale.
At that moment, however, he could not afford to worry about any of that. He simply kept his head down and sprinted forward.
Elsewhere, Tian Yue willed her power into motion, preparing to wipe out the remaining fog.
Yet just as the crane wing glowing with white light rose again, the surrounding fog dissipated on its own.
By then, Li Feng had already put five hundred meters between himself and that location, causing the mind fog to begin dissipating on its own.
This kind of natural dissipation did not affect Li Feng's mind.
"Huh?"
Sensing the rapidly dissipating fog, Tian Yue paused and stopped her next attack.
Apparently, her previous strike had destroyed the core sustaining the fog anomaly, causing it to collapse completely.
Still, to be safe, Tian Yue turned her palm over and took out a Tracking Compass.
As a Night Patrol Officer, she had a Tracking Compass too.
Otherwise, what would she do if a monster or ghost escaped because she had failed to kill it outright?
As she poured power into it, the Tracking Compass glowed with a hazy, clear light. Its central needle spun rapidly, collecting the residual aura of the strange fog.
After roughly three to five minutes, a thumb-sized clump of fog appeared above the Tracking Compass.
The next instant, the Tracking Compass released a suction force and swallowed the fog. Its needle spun, then instantly pointed toward the direction from which the mind fog had drifted.
"Mm!"
A smile flashed across Tian Yue's face, and she swiftly followed the needle toward Xinming Street, where Li Feng had last been.
In less than a minute, Tian Yue reached her destination.
She scanned her surroundings and found nothing unusual.
Looking down at the Tracking Compass, she saw that its needle had settled in place.
"Looks like that strange fog appeared here on Xinming Street, then drifted over to Xinsu Street..."
Muttering to herself, Tian Yue turned her palm over and put away the Tracking Compass.
Meanwhile, Li Feng had already returned to the outskirts of the Pine Court Residential Community.
He quickly climbed over the wall, carefully avoided the surveillance cameras, and sprinted toward the entrance to his apartment building.
Only after he had made it all the way home did Li Feng let out a breath of relief, still shaken.
Sensing that the mind fog within his mind space had shrunk by a full third, and that even the bedroom he had visualized had become a little more insubstantial, Li Feng felt a painful pang.
How many days would it take to recover from this?
The Bed and floor, which had already become completely solid, seemed unaffected.
Fortunately, although that person's attacks had injured him considerably, they had not damaged his foundation.
Nor was this like what happened to things he devoured, which could only grow stronger anew rather than recover.
The mind fog should recover soon enough.
"Whew... thank goodness!"
Li Feng exhaled a stale breath and inwardly relaxed.
Only then did Li Feng begin thinking about what he had just witnessed.
Who was that? Why had she attacked him for no reason?
"...A Night Patrol Officer?!"
After giving her identity a little thought, Li Feng had a fairly good guess.
Unless there was some unexpected twist, she should be a Night Patrol Officer from the Night Patrol Bureau.
As for why she had attacked him...
Thinking about it, a churning mass of fog drifting back and forth along the streets in the middle of the night...
Most people's first impression would probably be that there was a ghost, or that another anomalous phenomenon had appeared.
Either way, as a Night Patrol Officer of the Night Patrol Bureau, she had a duty to eliminate it.
At that thought, Li Feng could not help feeling secretly relieved.
Fortunately, that Night Patrol Officer had not tracked him down.
Otherwise, this would have been difficult to explain.
"Ugh... what a fucking awful start..."
Sensing the mind fog within his mind, Li Feng felt like crying but had no tears. Who knew how long it would take before it recovered and he could go out again?
This time, he had truly tried to gain something only to lose what he already had.
Not only had he failed to find a Paranormal Entity or a Vengeful Ghost to improve his strength and cultivation speed, he had actually set back his cultivation.
Thinking of that Night Patrol Officer, Li Feng could not help gritting his teeth.
Even if he understood her actions, being on the receiving end still left him utterly displeased.
But when he thought of her, Li Feng also felt puzzled.
If she really was a Night Patrol Officer, why had she not tracked down his location?
After all, everyone in those special departments had a Tracking Compass.
Especially when carrying out a mission, it was essential equipment.
After frowning in thought for a moment, Li Feng suddenly had an idea and quickly walked over to where the Tracking Compass was.
In an instant, hazy fog rose around his body.
Yet the needle at the center of the Tracking Compass showed no movement at all.
At this sight, a faint understanding dawned on Li Feng.
His mind fog inherently possessed the ability to block perception and conceal the aura of his power.
Combined with the Bed's ability to block and seal things within his Mind Space,
it made sense that the Tracking Compass could neither detect nor lock onto him.
Next, Li Feng separated a clump of mind fog and sent it away from his body.
Li Feng immediately noticed the needle at the center of the Tracking Compass begin trembling rapidly.
Although it did not immediately point toward that clump of mind fog,
this still proved that mind fog away from his body had considerably weaker abilities and could be detected by the Tracking Compass.
After that, Li Feng mobilized the cool power faintly flowing through his skin and slowly poured it into the Tracking Compass.
"Bzz!"
A hazy, clear light lit up, and the Tracking Compass's sensitivity instantly increased. After spinning for a while, its needle pointed straight at the clump of mind fog.
Yet it did not detect the mind fog shrouding Li Feng's body at all, despite being so close.
After a series of tests, Li Feng gained a deeper understanding of the mind fog's ability to conceal the aura of his power and block perception.
When it surrounded his body, the mind fog could fully exercise its abilities, achieving its strongest effect and remaining virtually undetectable.
When it left his vicinity, the mind fog still possessed concealment abilities, but they were considerably weaker, allowing it to be detected.
Still, this would make Li Feng safer in certain situations.
Between him and the mind fog that had left his vicinity, people would always notice the separate clump of mind fog first, allowing him to escape with greater ease.
Once he finished testing, Li Feng waved his hand and recalled the mind fog.
"Ugh..."
Sensing the diminished quantity of mind fog, Li Feng could not help sighing again.
After tidying up, Li Feng returned to bed and began visualizing, hoping to restore his strength as soon as possible.
As his visualization progressed, the surrounding World Spiritual Force rapidly gathered, pouring continuously into his Mind Space.
The mind fog immediately began devouring it in great quantities, rapidly recovering.
Meanwhile, the Bedroom that had become insubstantial gradually solidified again.
The next morning, Li Feng went to report to the Investigation Department as usual.
When he entered the Investigation Department, he discovered that Wu Cheng and Zhao Fei were already there.
As he drew closer, Li Feng saw that they were each holding a phone and discussing something in low voices.
A little closer, and their voices gradually reached his ears.
"Tsk, tsk. Tian Yue really is lucky. She only recently became a full-fledged Night Patrol Officer, and she's already handled two Paranormal Entity incidents in a row..."
"Heh, the main thing is that the anomalies in those two incidents were weaker each time..."
Hearing this, Li Feng's interest stirred, and he could not help approaching them to ask.
"Wu Cheng, Zhao Fei, who's this Tian Yue? She actually handled two anomalous incidents in a row?"
"Oh? Li Feng's here."
"Li Feng..."
Wu Cheng and Zhao Fei turned around. Seeing Li Feng, they greeted him with smiles.
"Hey, Wu Cheng, Zhao Fei, you still haven't told me who Tian Yue is."
"Oh, you haven't read the announcement on the Night Patrol Bureau App?"
"No, I haven't!"
"Heh, Tian Yue is a newly promoted Level Three Night Patrol Officer in the Night Patrol Bureau..."
She was the one who killed the Wedding-Dress Bride you reported last time...
Just yesterday, she killed a fog Paranormal Entity too..."
Killed a Paranormal Entity in the Mist?
Hearing this, Li Feng immediately realized that the person who had destroyed a third of his mind fog yesterday had to be Tian Yue, who had only just been promoted to a full-fledged Night Patrol Officer.
"Crunch!"
Li Feng could not help but clench his teeth hard.
"Huh? Li Feng, what's wrong?"
Hearing the sound, Wu Cheng looked at Li Feng in surprise.
Zhao Fei also turned to look at him.
"Heh, nothing, nothing. I'm just a little surprised. This Tian Yue really is powerful..."
Li Feng forced a smile and spoke through gritted teeth, inwardly making a fierce resolution.
Tian Yue, was it? He would remember her.
If he got the chance, he certainly wouldn't mind causing her some trouble.
"Come on, isn't it only natural for the Night Patrol Bureau's Night Patrol Officers to be stronger?"
After hearing Li Feng's words, Wu Cheng replied rather dismissively.
"Mm!"
Zhao Fei nodded as though it were only natural, then added, as if trying to justify himself:
"Besides, Tian Yue only managed to handle two Paranormal Entity incidents in a row because she got lucky.
Especially that strange fog yesterday—it barely even reached danger level.
Any one of us could probably have dealt with it if we'd run into it..."
"Mm, haha..."
Listening to Zhao Fei, Li Feng could only give a noncommittal chuckle while grumbling inwardly.
Who am I hurting by being weak?
Just as Li Feng was about to say something else, Yuan Chengfang's voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Look at you lot. Is that all the ambition you have? What do you mean, it's only natural for Night Patrol Officers to be stronger?"
We Investigators are no weaker than anyone else.
Wang Jianfeng, the Department Chief of our Investigation Department, is at Horror Level too. He's every bit as strong as the strongest people in the other departments.
Besides, investigating supernatural beings, demons, and ghosts is dangerous work too.
The stronger you are, the safer you'll be."
"Captain!"
The three turned to look at Yuan Chengfang as she strode toward them, all looking somewhat ashamed.
That was right. Their Investigation Department was an equally important special department. Sometimes, it was even more important than the other two.
As Investigators in the Investigation Department, how could they be content to lag behind others?
Seeing their expressions, Yuan Chengfang nodded in satisfaction, patted their shoulders, and said earnestly:
"Keep at it. I have faith in you!"
Faced with their captain Yuan Chengfang's encouragement, Li Feng, Wu Cheng, and Zhao Fei naturally responded loudly and without hesitation.
"Yes, Captain!"
What they actually thought, however, was anyone's guess.
Judging by how Wu Cheng and Zhao Fei had acted earlier, as though Night Patrol Officers being stronger was simply a given, her words probably wouldn't have much effect.
As for Li Feng, with his Mind Fog and his cultivation techniques all mutating and displaying all sorts of extraordinary properties, he was confident he was no weaker than anyone else.
There was simply no need to tell anyone about any of that.
Before you continue