Stunning everyone

Lu Mian's current supernatural abilities showed no obvious changes when he used them.

But Ghost Eye was different. Its outward signs were far too conspicuous.

In this age of rampant Evil Spirits and Weird Beings, once he was deemed contaminated by an Evil Spirit, there would be nowhere left for him in Thousand Chimes Commandery City.

He had to use it cautiously and keep it as his last trump card.

Lu Mian checked one last time. Once he was certain there was nothing wrong between his brows, he returned to the streets and resumed hunting Evil Spirits and Weird Beings!

After being attacked, Xu Yi did not rush to leave. He acted as though nothing had happened and continued eliminating Evil Spirits in Flying Cloud County Seat.

The Guard Hall squads had even less chance of knowing what had happened.

Everything went on as usual.

Until the early morning three days later.

Before dawn, a firework bloomed in the night sky above Flying Cloud County Seat.

"It's finally over!"

In an alley, Zhuang Shen looked up at the firework, his expression calm.

It was the signal that the mission was over and they were to assemble and withdraw.

After their operations over the past several days, the Evil Spirits and Weird Beings in Flying Cloud County Seat had indeed been all but eliminated.

"Damn it... I lived through another one."

The bearded man roared with laughter.

After spending so long in such a terrifying, dangerous environment, everyone's nerves were stretched taut, and their bodies were close to their limits.

If they had to keep going, something was bound to go badly wrong.

"Let's go."

"We're going home."

Zhuang Shen smiled.

The others followed him, heading briskly toward the gates of Flying Cloud County Seat.

Two or three squads had already arrived.

Their members were equally exhausted in body and mind, leaning casually against the city walls as they discussed the past few days.

More squads arrived one after another.

Compared with before, however, almost every squad had lost members.

Some squads had even been wiped out, with not a single survivor.

Zhuang Shen and the others had long since grown accustomed to this.

None of them showed any sorrow. Everyone remained calm.

Just then.

A figure carrying the Great Cleaver on his back slowly approached from the distance.

The sun happened to rise at that moment, casting a ray of morning light across his face.

It was a young face.

"Which squad is he from? How come he's the only survivor?"

Someone asked in surprise.

"I don't remember him. He must be new."

"Are newcomers really that impressive these days?"

Another member of the Falcon Guard spoke up.

"His name is Lu Mian. He joined the Guard Hall in the same intake as me."

"He was a Corpse Collector back then, and he even placed in the top ten."

A sturdy, honest-looking young man spoke.

He was Du Tai, who had taken the assessment alongside Lu Mian.

Because he possessed the special Mountain-Moving constitution, the commander of the Mountain Tiger Guard had transferred him, and he had joined Deputy Commander Huang Shi's squad.

Naturally, he recognized Lu Mian the moment he saw him.

"Now that you mention it, I do remember something."

"Me too... the first Corpse Collector from the Dust-Returning Courtyard to join the Guard Hall. We talked about it back then. Who would've thought it was this kid?"

"Looks like he's got some real ability."

Du Tai's words immediately reminded everyone of the matter.

The news of a Corpse Collector joining the Guard Hall had caused quite a stir.

Lu Mian ignored their looks. After nodding to Zhuang Shen, he went to a corner by himself, looking distinctly unapproachable.

A little while later.

Xu Yi and his two companions appeared in the distance, immediately drawing everyone's attention away from Lu Mian.

Seeing them, Huang Shi, the deputy commander of the Mountain Tiger Guard, hurried over to speak with Xu Yi.

After waiting roughly another incense stick's worth of time, no one else appeared. Huang Shi called out, "Thank you all for your hard work these past few days. We'll return to Thousand Chimes Commandery City now. Hang in there a little longer!"

A member of the Falcon Guard immediately said, "Commander Huang, let's get moving."

"Exactly... we have at least two hundred li to cover today."

The others chimed in.

"Let's go."

Huang Shi wasted no more words.

Everyone gathered into a single group and raced toward Thousand Chimes Commandery City.

The Elimination Mission was over, but that did not mean they were safe.

In the world as it was now, nowhere was completely safe.

Only once they came within a hundred li of Thousand Chimes Commandery City could they relax a little.

Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened along the rest of the journey.

Two days later, they returned to Thousand Chimes Commandery City.

Xu Yi and his two companions left immediately for the Inner City.

Huang Shi led everyone else to the Guard Hall's storehouse.

They had to hand in their Evil-Sensing Talismans before they could go back and rest.

Huang Shi stepped forward first and handed his Evil-Sensing Talisman to the Treasury Steward.

"Commander Huang, twenty-three Evil Spirits and Weird Beings slain in total!"

After counting the black dots on the Evil-Sensing Talisman, the Treasury Steward announced the result loudly.

Everyone remained calm.

As deputy commander, Huang Shi would have been remiss if he had not killed more Evil Spirits and Weird Beings than the others.

One by one, everyone handed in their Evil-Sensing Talismans.

No one dared to slack off during an Elimination Mission like this.

Squad leaders generally had a tally of more than ten Evil Spirits and Weird Beings.

Ordinary members had seven or eight, or four or five at the lower end.

In the end, only Lu Mian had yet to hand his in.

He calmly approached the Treasury Steward and handed over his Evil-Sensing Talisman.

The Treasury Steward thought nothing of it at first, but when his gaze fell on the talisman, which looked as though it had been soaked in ink, his eyes suddenly widened.

"How can there be so many black dots?"

"That's ridiculous!"

"I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me!"

The people from the Guard Hall were equally shocked when they saw the Evil-Sensing Talisman in the Treasury Steward's hand.

At a glance, the densely packed black dots were enough to make anyone's skin crawl.

"This..."

Even Huang Shi could not help looking at Lu Mian.

Before the Treasury Steward had even counted, he could already tell that Lu Mian had slain more Evil Spirits and Weird Beings than he had.

Had this been Xu Yi's, Huo Chengle's, or Li Jing's tally, he would have taken it for granted.

But this tally belonged to a Corpse Collector?!

Was this some kind of joke?

Regardless of everyone's astonishment, the Treasury Steward had already begun counting.

"One, two..."

"Sixty-one... sixty-two... sixty-three!"

"Sixty-three black dots in total!"

The Treasury Steward spoke in disbelief.

As soon as he announced it, the entire storehouse erupted.

"This Corpse Collector killed sixty-three Evil Spirits and Weird Beings?"

"He killed more on his own than our whole squad did?"

"There has to be something fishy going on!"

Someone immediately challenged the result.

Before Lu Mian could respond, Zhuang Shen said firmly, "There is absolutely nothing wrong with Lu Mian's tally!"

"Our squad was attacked by a large number of Resentful Souls at an inn. We only escaped unharmed because he came to our aid."

"In that battle alone, he killed at least twenty Evil Spirits and Weird Beings!"

The bearded man added, "Our captain's right. Our whole squad can vouch for Lu Mian."

The other squad members also spoke up in agreement.

After hearing Zhuang Shen's words, the voices of doubt immediately fell silent.