Shi Gandang

Qian Xiao Long's gaze swept around and landed directly on the old-fashioned telephone booth at the factory entrance.

"Isn't that near the main road? Why doesn't it show any images?"

The leader of the Demon-Suppressing Guard nodded first, then shook his head.

"Yes, it does, but you should see for yourself."

Qian Xiao Long took the monitoring Law Artifact from the other party and examined it carefully. It was a diagonally upward perspective. From this perspective, the phone booth only occupied a small corner, and the screen was empty. If it weren't for this corner, and the appearance of a small shadow, one might even mistake it for a completely empty person.

"This shadow--"

Qian Xiao Long simply tossed the monitoring Law Artifact to one of the Devil-Suppressing Guard.

"Could you please take a picture for me?"

Next, Qian Xiao Long tried several routes, from the factory to the phone booth, and the shadow disappeared and then reappeared.

It took at least five or six attempts to replicate the changes in the shadow before it was nearly identical to those in the picture.

The route he took perfectly circumvented all surveillance.

"The murderer possessed Divine Sense at the Golden Core level. Through this level of Divine Sense, he covered and located the surrounding surveillance cameras, which is how he found this safe passage."

One of the Demon-Suppressing Guard couldn't help but speculate.

"It's possible, but unlikely," Qian Xiao Long said, pointing to the corpse of the demonic cultivator.

"That's what he did, so he's almost never seen in the surveillance footage. But almost doesn't mean he's not there. The new generation of surveillance Law Artifact has long been coated with an anti- Divine Sense layer, which causes a slight deviation when Divine Sense scans through it. That's why he appeared in the footage several times."

"But the killer almost perfectly evaded all possible surveillance—unless he was Nascent Soul, but the several large surveillance stations nearby didn't detect any Nascent Soul level fluctuations, so the most likely possibility is..."

"The other side also has monitoring Law Artifact, and Law Artifact coverage area is larger than ours, which is why they were able to evade them so perfectly."

"Of course, this is just my speculation. We'll have to wait for the autopsy report and the audio recording investigation report to come out before we can say for sure what the cause is."

"Director Xu, I do have a question I'd like to ask you."

Qian Xiao Long took out a stack of printed papers from the prepared file folder. Each one contained very detailed personnel information from Pine Peak Security.

"Why are there so many unregistered monsters right under your noses? And as far as I remember, the resurgence of monsters and spirits has only occurred in the last few years, while many of these monsters have been active for over a decade, and quite a few are even involved in some serious local crimes."

The head of the Demon-Suppressing Guard took the documents somewhat awkwardly, and the more he read, the more sweaty he became.

"Uh, I don't know. I need to check with the relevant civil affairs department before I can give you a reply."

"Do you know this woman? You seem to have a good relationship with her."

Qian Xiao Long calmly took out a photo. There were two people in the photo, one of whom was the head of the Demon-Suppressing Guard in front of him.

In the dimly lit and suggestive private room, the woman draped one of her thighs over Director Xu's leg, holding a wine glass in her hand, her posture suggestive.

"What's the deal with this Bai Siniang? Is this how your Demon-Suppressing Guard suppresses demons?"

Director Xu's face suddenly turned pale.

Those around immediately knew that a local government official was about to fall from grace.

After the head of the Demon Suppression Bureau was taken away, Qian Xiao Long turned his attention to the other head of the Devil Subjugation Bureau.

"Director Sun, have you completed your investigation?"

The head of the Devil Subjugation Bureau silently shook his head.

"Is this local black monk network that powerful?"

"No, there's some information we can't investigate. The household registrations of these monsters are all recorded by the Underworld Bureau; we can only apply for them."

Qian Xiao Long frowned. This protective net is that strong?

"Over the years, it's not uncommon for demons to be arrested for committing crimes, but before being taken away, they all have to undergo investigation by the Underworld Bureau," the head of the Devil Subjugation Bureau hesitated for a moment before speaking:

"After the review was completed, a portion of these monsters' memories were erased—not regarding the cases themselves, but rather their origins."

"There has to be a location for the investigation, right? Did the Underworld Bureau take everyone there? Shouldn't this be reported?" Qian Xiao Long pressed.

"It's the headquarters of the Evil-Subduing Chuma Battalion, people from the military; they have their own system."

"The Chuma Dao Soldiers?"

Qian Xiao Long was taken aback. Were the local Daoist priests also involved in this matter?

Isn't this incident a bit serious?

Qian Xiao Long thought for a moment, then avoided everyone and dialed his colleague's number. The call was answered quickly, but the voice on the other end was a bit noisy, and there seemed to be strange phrases like "brothers and sisters, please help me" and "dear dao companion family members" mixed in.

"Where are you?"

Qian Xiao Long could tell immediately that the other party hadn't been diligently on duty.

"Me? I did some research, and I found the best local team of female impersonators who specialize in suggestive content. I'm currently learning how to do it."

"..."

Qian Xiao Long opened his mouth, truly speechless. He finally understood why Minister Hong drank cooling tea every day; if he were managing this group of people, he probably wouldn't be able to control his temper either.

Please do not mix personal hobbies with work hours.

"No, I have a proper job during working hours, okay? Hey you, didn't you say you own shares in Pine Peak Company? What's your name again?"

"Yes, yes, hello leader, my Huang Jiayou, and my family does indeed own 20% of Pine Peak Security."

On the other end of the phone came the anxious voice of a little weasel.

Huang Jiayou looked at the Huang Household security personnel lying all over the ground at his feet with unusual caution.

Damn it, I thought it was Bai Household who had finally turned on us and come to kill us, but it turns out this killer has descended from the sky and is here to learn how to skirt the law! What the hell is going on?! Who is this woman anyway?!

"?"

On a night when most people couldn't sleep, Hu Mang strolled home with a relaxed attitude, and the surveillance cameras along the way were practically useless under the sweeping "Heavenly Eye" surveillance.

"The engagement is tomorrow. Finally, we can see clearly what kind of monsters and demons are lurking beneath the surface."

Hu Mang muttered to himself, "A engagement? He's never been engaged yet."

Suddenly, he thought of something, and his expression changed.

Damn it, it's a good thing he exposed himself early. If he hadn't revealed his "Tribulation Eye," the person he'd be engaged to now might be Liu Manqing's mother.

Although the idea of a mother and daughter sharing a body sounds quite erotic, the thought of her mother's aged and terrifying appearance is particularly frightening.

Early the next morning, his mother, dressed formally, and Hu Mang were picked up by Brother Li and put on the flying shuttle.

"Not bad, Brother Li, this must be a high-end flying shuttle, it flies so steadily," Hu Mang laughed. "And why did you come here? Don't you know things haven't been peaceful at the company lately? If you come to pick us up, be careful your fourth aunt doesn't give you a hard time."

The driver, Brother Li, said without turning his head:

"My third sister saved my life, so how could I not come to such an important event as our engagement? Besides, no matter how nice my fourth aunt's words are, talking about going public and getting shares, if she can't pay out the money, she just can't pay out the money. Back when the Five Great Households were in charge, everyone was eating and drinking well. Why is it that when it's your Bai Household's turn to be in charge, all sorts of problems have popped up in the company?"

"Don't worry, Little Python, Third Sister, as long as you get things done this time, we'll definitely be on your side."

Hu Mang smiled without saying a word, looked at his expressionless mother, and suddenly spoke.

"Mom, why did you bring my cheapskate father along this time?"

Sitting between him and his mother was his own adoptive father, an AI version of "Xie Xianyu".

"Is this Third Sister's husband? Third Sister, how come we've never heard of your remarriage?" Brother Li asked in surprise.

"May I ask how to address my brother-in-law?"

The cheapskate father smiled without saying a word.

"My dad isn't much of a talker, so you can just call him Old Xie, Brother Li."

Brother Li tentatively asked his "cheap old man" a few more questions, but when the other party didn't answer, he awkwardly shut up.

Brother Li's shuttle had already left Pine Peak's urban area, but it didn't seem to be heading towards the Liu Household's place.

Hu Mang continued with a laugh, "Brother Li, this doesn't seem to be the way to the Liu Household."

Brother Li remained expressionless. However, when they reached an old forest, he suddenly stopped the shuttle. As soon as the four of them landed, one temporary formation after another was set up.

Then, a series of Yao Qi, malevolent figures emerged.

"Third Sister, don't blame me. When you left the company back then, you didn't think about our livelihoods. Now, most of us demons have our own families, and our whole families need to cultivate and improve."

Brother Li turned around, a fierce look flashing across his face.

"Does following Fourth Aunt Bai guarantee we'll have food to eat?" Hu Mang retorted.

"Not following Fourth Aunt Bai, but following Eighth Master Hui, doing business with him in 'Bone-Molding Pill'."

"Do you think you can deal with us?" Hu Mang said with a smile, his eyes gleaming with Yao Qi.

"Little Python, I know you're a college student from one of the five families, and you've learned quite a bit about cultivation. But when it comes to fighting skills, I'm afraid you really can't compare to us mountain spirits. Besides, it wasn't just us monsters who were resurrected back then; there were living people too, Shi Gandang!"

As the words were spoken, a bald, muscular man with exaggeratedly large muscles stepped out, though he didn't possess Yao Qi.

"Third Aunt, it's been so long! And Little Python, do you still recognize me?"

"You know him? He's a descendant of Shi Polu, oh no, I should say he's a stone demon formed from Martial Temple's essence. I've heard of him since I was a child."

Hu Mang laughed.

Xie Xianyu's reputation was partly due to the sages of the Martial Temple, as was that of Champion Marquis Shi Polu.

If Xie Xianyu is portrayed in historical records as a refined and elegant figure, then Marquis Shi Polu is a ruthless butcher of a foreign tribe, so vicious and bloodthirsty that he could stop even a child from crying.

Moreover, Xie and Shi were key figures in the revival of the Liang Dynasty and major generals in the early expansion of the Shen Dynasty, respectively, and they lived across a single dynasty.

Coincidentally, the last emperor of the Liang Dynasty was apparently captured alive by Shi Polu and then beheaded by his own hand, making their relationship quite delicate.