69: Chapter 69 The Disappearance of Chu Xuan

The middle-aged woman fell silent for a moment before slowly speaking: "Combining the four corpses found at a household on Taikang Road, the one at the foot of the park's hillside, and these nine in the market, that makes a total of 14 corpses of Strange Creaturess... Our preliminary judgment is that this Chu Xuan might be hunting Strange Creaturess!"

Boom!!

Tao Jiajia's head buzzed. Her body swayed, and she nearly fell, but she was quickly supported by the middle-aged woman and Hua Jun.

Hua Jun sighed and advised, "Jiajia, why don't we just stop? Let the Night Watchers handle this. This is their responsibility anyway, and they have more experience than us..."

"I've said it before, this Chu Xuan might have obtained some kind of extraordinary ability. The higher-ups' attitude toward such people is that we should use soft tactics to win them over. It's not too late to stop now. Otherwise, if the people above find out what we've done today..."

"No!"

Tao Jiajia suddenly stood up and said resolutely, "Things have come to this point; we absolutely cannot back down. Otherwise, won't everything we've done today become a joke? I just asked my grandfather for help, and now you want me to stop? Where would I put my pride?"

"No matter what, everything waits until we catch Chu Xuan first!"

At this point, Tao Jiajia paused and suddenly added, "Pass down the orders: regarding the matter of Chu Xuan potentially hunting Strange Creaturess, not a single word is to be leaked without my permission!"

"Take all those corpses away. Clean up the traces first, then send them to the Research Department for study and inspection. Say that our Investigation Team hunted them down. This is everyone's credit. You should know what to say and what not to say..."

Hua Jun and the middle-aged woman both nodded repeatedly.

Seeing that the two still looked somewhat worried, Tao Jiajia cleared her throat, lowered her eyes, and spoke much more slowly:

"You don't need to have any concerns. Even if the sky falls, it won't crush you! As long as you can successfully catch Chu Xuan and obtain key results, that will be a massive achievement. Your futures will be limitless!"

Hua Jun and the middle-aged woman looked at each other, both appearing somewhat bewildered.

...

Xuzhou, a certain manor on Shishan Road.

An old man with white hair but a ruddy face was fishing by the lake.

Not far away, several armed guards stood watch, and beside the old man stood a young woman with a graceful figure and a bright, enchanting appearance.

"Grandpa, you're just letting Jiajia mess around like this? Aren't you afraid she'll suffer? The Night Watchers aren't that easy to deal with, and she doesn't understand anything at all."

The old man unhurriedly put on bait and said without looking back, "She wants to compete with the Night Watchers at every turn to prove herself. Wasn't it you, her cousin, who instigated that?"

"But doing this also happens to align with your wishes, doesn't it!"

The enchanting woman covered her mouth and giggled. "Even without me, Aunt would have played my role. I'm just stimulating her a bit more."

"You girl, you're just too clever!"

The old man shook his head with a chuckle, then lamented, "Let her make a scene! The bigger the scene, the better. It's best if she makes such a fuss that the Night Watchers in Haicheng can't take it anymore and can't help but make a move against her... Power that isn't under control is ultimately a disaster."

Splash!

A large black carp was hooked.

A strange light flashed in the enchanting woman's eyes, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly:

"Who is the fish, who is the bait, and who is the fisherman?"

As the words left her mouth, the old man seemed unable to hear them, still maintaining the posture of a wise sage, leisurely fishing.

...

Medical University, outside Dormitory Building No. 4.

The cordon set up here had been in place for over 12 hours. The area inside was wrapped in a thick layer of white mist, making it impossible to see what was happening inside.

Outside the cordon, a middle-aged man with a scruffy beard, wearing a long black windbreaker and a cigarette in his mouth, had one hand in his pocket. He continuously puffed out clouds of smoke, making the white mist surrounding the dormitory building even denser.

"Uncle Qiang, the 'Walking Out of Mystery' program crew has arrived. What should we do next?" a young man dressed similarly, with a hint of naivety on his face, came over and asked.

"Follow the old rules, do I even need to say it?" Zhang Qiang exhaled a heavy cloud of smoke directly into the youth's face, causing the latter to cough repeatedly.

"Luo Xiaotian, if you have something to say, just spit it out. Don't beat around the bush. Also, you should call me Uncle Qiang, don't be so disrespectful."

"Un... Uncle Qiang, I just want to know, how long are we going to let Tao Jiajia mess around? I really can't take it anymore!" Luo Xiaotian's eyes were tearing up from the smoke.

Zhang Qiang asked indifferently, "Is it her you can't stand, or is it me?"

Luo Xiaotian chuckled. "Both, both."

Smack!

A slap landed on the back of Luo Xiaotian's head. Zhang Qiang continued to puff smoke and said leisurely:

"Without Tao Jiajia, there would be a Li Jiajia, a Chen Jiajia... they're just fools used specifically to annoy us. As the saying goes, the tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind. How many eyes are watching us? Any small mistake will be infinitely magnified! But as long as we don't do anything out of line, we will always hold the winning hand. This is 'contending by not contending'."

Luo Xiaotian muttered, "I only know about fighting for one's pride. If this keeps up, I'll want to quit and run away. Uncle Qiang, I really can't swallow this insult!"

"Don't worry, the Captain has already given me the lowdown. Tonight at the earliest, or tomorrow morning at the latest, the documents will be issued. Our Haicheng will become the first pilot city in the country. When that time comes, we will have absolute authority, and we can start settling scores one by one legitimately."

Zhang Qiang said coldly, "Let her make a scene. The more she acts out now, the more miserable her end will be."

Luo Xiaotian was delighted. "Really?"

"Fake."

Zhang Qiang's expression changed, revealing a mischievous grin as he rubbed Luo Xiaotian's head vigorously. "Go back and write an application yourself. If you don't get lost soon, your Uncle Qiang will let you experience exactly why the flowers are so red!"

...

Small Commodity Market.

[You have slain Specter: Parasite, your spirituality value +16]

...

[You have slain Specter: Parasite, your spirituality value +12]

...

[You have slain Specter: Parasite, your spirituality value +14]

[Current spirituality value: 100]

Looking at the spirituality value displayed on the System page, Chu Xuan finally felt a lot more at ease. This was his capital for trial and error in the dreamscape.

In this market, he had killed almost all the Specters he could sense through the Phantom Demon. There were a few others for which Chu Xuan couldn't find a suitable opportunity to strike, so he just let them go.

Furthermore, it was now dark, and a large number of law enforcement officers had gathered outside again, beginning to seal off the entire market and conduct clearing and inspections.

On this Saturday night, which should have been a peak time for foot traffic, such an event had occurred. Most of the public expressed dissatisfaction, especially the individual business owners who had paid high rents; they were full of grievances and were calling the report hotlines one after another.

But it was completely useless.

Large numbers of law enforcement officers entered the scene, forming multiple layers of cordons and closing in on the center of the pedestrian street. They each held shields and riot forks, and some held stun batons.

There were even armed personnel carrying rifles, moving in groups at various positions with solemn expressions.

With such a heavily guarded and airtight formation, everyone thought some major international bandit had appeared. They all began to get nervous, cooperating with facial recognition checks and leaving the area according to the designated routes.

"All units attention! The target is within a ten-meter range ahead. Stay alert!"

After the crowds had passed the checks and left, what remained inside the encirclement was a small booth selling sugar-roasted chestnuts, located at the center of a crossroads.

The shop owner had long since left after being checked, leaving only this small storefront to be surrounded and approached by numerous personnel armed to the teeth.

When the encirclement shrank to the final two-meter range, five people rushed forward first. Among them, a burly man wearing riot gear and holding a riot shield led the charge, violently kicking open the door.

Bang!

The moment the small wooden door was kicked open, the burly man crouched and ducked inside while holding the riot shield. Another person followed closely behind with a rifle, and the remaining three were also on high alert.

The surrounding crowd outside also held their breath, standing ready to deal with any situation that might arise.

Before the operation, all these personnel had heard that the target's Physique was extraordinary and that he had also snatched a pistol and two magazines, making him extremely dangerous and fierce.

However, to everyone's surprise, no sound came from inside the small chestnut booth.

It wasn't until over ten seconds had passed and the people who had just entered filed out that everyone understood the reason.

"There's no one inside."

The burly man who had first rushed in with the riot shield held up a cell phone and said in a muffled voice, "There's only this tracked phone."

Everyone was dumbfounded.

After all that effort and such a huge commotion, they had only caught a cell phone?

A few more people walked over, peered into the booth, and then walked out shaking their heads.

Da-da-da-da...

Rapid footsteps rang out as Tao Jiajia, leading a group of young men in black suits, pushed through the surrounding crowd to the front of the booth. Her voice trembled as she asked, "Where is he? Aren't you going to search?"

The crowd shook their heads in silence.

Tao Jiajia walked in herself with a cold face, but after seeing the scene inside, her heart turned completely cold.