Chapter 162

Chapter 162

Gu Dongting, having dealt with his matters, came to meet up with Shen Wang. Before he even got close, he noticed Shen Wang’s troubled expression.

Glancing at the stubborn elders, Gu Dongting softened his voice, asking Shen Wang, "What happened?"

Shi Yan and the other members of the special department, completely ignored: "..."

Hearing the voice, Shen Wang looked up, seeing Gu Dongting, his furrowed brows slightly relaxed: "Tang Jiu is dead."

Gu Dongting was taken aback, his expression turning more serious.

Ever since discovering that an invisible hand was stirring up trouble behind the scenes, both Shen Wang and Gu Dongting felt the brewing storm.

The behind-the-scenes mastermind had intricate connections with the celestial mountain, and Tang Jiu, touted as their savior, surely had more to his story.

Letting the celestial mountain people take Tang Jiu was initially to trace back to the person behind him... but unexpectedly, he ended up dead.

His death was so abrupt.

Shen Wang and Gu Dongting exchanged a deep look, both harboring an ominous premonition.

Shi Yan didn't grasp the concern in Shen Wang's tone, only hearing about Tang Jiu's death. He brightened up: "That's great news."

After speaking, he realized it sounded inappropriate and quickly added: "I mean... that's really unfortunate."

Despite his words, the smile on his face didn't diminish in the slightest.

Shen Wang glanced at him and cautioned: "Something's not right about this. Everyone needs to be on high alert and prepared."

Shi Yan then responded seriously: "Alright, I will."

Tang Jiu's death made everyone aware of the looming threat over their heads, like the Sword of Damocles. Everyone's nerves were on edge as they hastened to purge the metaphysical world.

But soon, they felt the terror of the force behind the scenes, which involved nearly half of the metaphysical world.

Shen Wang and Gu Dongting were like firefighters, rushing wherever they were needed, without any rest, capturing suspects all over, to the point where the special department's prison was almost overflowing.

It was during this hectic time that Shen Wang and Gu Dongting suddenly received a message from a foreign land.

It was from Yolanda, the She-Wolf Queen, across the ocean.

When Shen Wang and Gu Dongting had left in a hurry, they only left some medicinal pills and basic body-strengthening techniques for them. Since returning to Huaxia from the island, they hadn't paid much attention to the news about these werewolves.

Now suddenly being contacted by Yolanda, Shen Wang felt somewhat guilty.

Gu Dongting opened the email from Yolanda, filled with dense English text.

Shen Wang blinked and looked at Gu Dongting.

A hint of amusement flashed in Gu Dongting's eyes as he softly translated the message from the email, his expression gradually turning grave as he read on.

After Shen Wang and Gu Dongting's departure to the island nation, Yolanda seized the opportunity they had created. She began gathering oppressed werewolves and people with special abilities nationwide, using the city that Shen Wang initially cleared as a base, officially starting the resistance against the vampires.

Yolanda, aware that her resources and strength were not yet a match for the vampires, chose not to expand aggressively but to prioritize maintaining her existing territory.

She had thought it would be a prolonged war, but recently, something happened to the vampires, leading to their mass deaths.

Not just the lower-level vampires, but even the high-ranking ones were not spared.

In just a few days, the vampires, who had oppressed the werewolves for centuries, had nearly wiped themselves out.

At the end of the email, Yolanda remarked, "The psychics following us thought it was a werewolf-developed poison specifically targeting vampires, but I know it's not. I'm also clueless about what this bizarre disease or poison might be.

But perhaps you might have some clues.

Thank you again for your assistance to the werewolves, esteemed sir."

The files attached to the email showed various appearances of dead vampires, their bodies shriveled up, as if all their blood had been drained... just as they had once done to others.

Shen Wang was flipping through these photos and suddenly remembered the recent news about an outbreak of a foreign infectious disease.

The death toll from this 'infectious disease' was significant, including well-known political figures, wealthy businessmen, and celebrities, sparking a wave of panic.

However, Shen Wang and the members of the special department were too busy apprehending people to pay attention to this news.

Gu Dongting commented on the photos, "They look like they've been drained of their essence by a fairy."

"It's not just a resemblance," Shen Wang closed the email. "Do you remember how these people were transformed into vampires?"

After a few seconds of recollection, Gu Dongting thought of the ancient 'treasures' and blood pools passed down from their ancestors, "The antiques?"

"Forced into a half-human, half-demon form through external means, surviving only on human blood..." Shen Wang said indifferently, "But being transformed by external forces, in a way, they also became puppets of others."

Just as the higher-ranking vampires have absolute control over the lower-ranking ones, the person who transformed them into vampires can also completely control the life and death of all vampires.

These vampires, seemingly granted extraordinary longevity and power, are merely accumulating essence for the puppeteer behind the scenes while feeding on others' blood.

"Just like a pig that seems free but is actually just free-range, when it reaches a sufficient weight, it's time for it to be slaughtered."

After hearing Shen Wang's explanation, Gu Dongting fell into silence.

"Planning for hundreds of years, using tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of lives as nourishment, shows the cruelty and ruthlessness of the person behind the scenes."

Shen Wang casually logged onto a social media app to check. He ignored the 99+ message notifications, directly opened the trending topics, and indeed saw several news items.

"[Country X Experiences Major Epidemic]"

"[Land Collapse in Island Country]"

"[7.2 Magnitude Earthquake in Country X]"

These news items dominated the top of the trending list. Clicking into them, various worries and speculations followed.

"[Is it just my imagination, or does it feel like this year has been particularly full of disasters, with natural and man-made calamities around the world?]"

"[Don't think too much, it's just a sign of the apocalypse.]"

"[Tomorrow is the end of the world, and here I am still going to work today.]"

"[The older I get, the more I realize how precious world peace truly is.]"

Shen Wang briefly scanned the comments and then carefully read through the news, especially the one about the land collapse in the island country, which he studied seriously for a while.

"In the news, the island country had an retired minister bowing in apology, explaining that the land collapse was due to construction issues and stating that they would hold the construction company accountable."

"Behind their seemingly grandiose explanations, Shen Wang noticed that the location of the land collapse was not far from the shrine. Even through the screen, he could feel the chilling, dark energy emanating from that massive black hole."

"This doesn't seem like a natural disaster," Gu Dongting frowned, unable to see clearly through the screen, but vaguely sensing something, "Is it like... a pit of a thousand ghosts?"

"In China, ancient battlefields were once transformed into pits of a thousand ghosts. Shen Wang had exerted some effort to annihilate all those demons and took the opportunity to clean up the ancient battlefields across the country."

"No one would have thought that the island country had buried such a pit within their own land, and right under a crowded tourist spot."

Shen Wang's heart sank: "The person behind this can't wait any longer."

The two exchanged a glance, suddenly feeling a chill down their spines: Other countries were in chaos, what about China?!

Shen Wang leapt up and immediately found Shi Yan, his first question being, "Have there been any unusual events happening in the country recently?"

Shi Yan, busy interrogating the captured suspects, was suddenly asked this question and paused, instinctively responding, "I don't know..."

"Think carefully!" Shen Wang's expression was stern, his tone cold and firm.

Startled, Shi Yan really thought for a while before hesitantly saying, "Does it count that it snowed in the south?"

"It's only late autumn now, and the north hasn't even started snowing, yet it's already snowing in the south. This caused quite a stir on the internet, but soon meteorologists came out to explain the reasons, assuring that this was normal."

Shi Yan remembered this incident because a member of the special department from the south had been talking about it for days, planning to return south to see the snow after the busy period.

Unfortunately, with the special department being extremely busy, he hadn't finished his duties and hadn't had the chance to return home to see the snow.

As Shi Yan finished speaking, Shen Wang immediately let him go, and Gu Dongting understood immediately, "I'll go request an emergency flight route."

At that moment, Shi Yan finally realized something was amiss: "Shen Wang, what's happening?"

Shen Wang rubbed his forehead, casting a disdainful glance.

While Gu Dongting could keep up with his line of thought and knew they had to immediately take a private plane to investigate, he wondered why others still had to ask what was happening.

Truly, it's exasperating how some people just don't compare.

After Shen Wang roughly explained the situation, Gu Dongting's private jet was ready. Shi Yan, sweating profusely and with a shaky voice, said: "Brother Shen, Brother Gu, I... I need to report this to our superiors."

The gravity of the situation was not to be taken lightly, and Shi Yan felt his inexperienced shoulders couldn't bear such a heavy responsibility, urgently needing the organization's assistance.

With a stuttering, scared demeanor, Shi Yan received a look of disdain from Shen Wang, who said: "Go ahead."

Shen Wang himself quickly boarded the plane.

Before Shi Yan could react, Shen Wang and Gu Dongting had already flown away without hesitation.

On the plane, Shen Wang was not idle. He looked down at the scenery below, and suddenly, his heart skipped a beat.

Gu Dongting, who excelled in swordsmanship, didn't notice anything amiss and asked, "What's wrong?"

Shen Wang took a deep breath, his face looking unprecedentedly troubled: "Dongting, have you ever heard of dragon veins?"

Gu Dongting felt a ripple in his heart at the term 'Dongting.' Since confessing his feelings, Shen Wang hadn't used such an affectionate address for him in a long time.

After hearing Shen Wang's following words, Gu Dongting's expression also changed, the inappropriate emotions vanishing without a trace, replaced by a cold seriousness.

"Dragon veins are places where the spiritual energy of an area is most abundant. They nourish the land, creating a positive cycle with the earth... Minor dragon veins, called spirit veins, are just areas with slightly more spiritual energy. Cultivating near a spirit vein aids in spiritual practice."

"But only the major ones are called dragon veins. They are closely linked to the rise and fall of a nation, protecting its people... It can also be referred to as the nation's fortune."

Shen Wang looked at the silent land beneath them, exhaling a turbid breath: "Now, this dragon vein has been cut off by someone."

The dragon vein was forcibly severed in the middle; viewed from above, the spiritual energy flows invisible to ordinary people couldn't circulate. They clashed and collided, forming whirlwinds of various sizes, resulting in utter chaos.

A massive and fierce crack spanned the center of the dragon vein. The surrounding spiritual energy flowed into the crack, being completely devoured.

The crack seemed to be expanding further.