Those several constables who had fallen into a deep stupor had already been attacked by evil spirits, losing a significant amount of their vital essence and blood.
Fortunately, he had arrived in time, so there were no major issues.
After bringing the constables back, Shen Changqing did not even have time to sit down before receiving other news. Immediately, he left the yamen, carrying his blade, and rushed toward another location.
After an unknown amount of time had passed, a massive commotion suddenly erupted outside the city, punctuated by piercing screams and the roars of martial artists.
"My Lord, there is unusual movement outside the city!"
Standing beside Shen Changqing, Zhang Yue's expression involuntarily turned solemn.
The earlier attack by evil spirits on the streets had been managed without major incident thanks to their prior preparations. Now, just as they had dealt with those spirits, trouble had broken out outside the city. It was impossible not to feel the pressure.
"It seems those sects weren't entirely unprepared. The Eternal Life Alliance's true purpose in attacking Lin'an City this time is still to contend for the essence blood of demons."
Shen Changqing had naturally noticed the commotion outside the city. With a simple thought, he connected several dots. Compared to the evil spirits ravaging the city, the struggle for demon essence blood outside the city was the greater trouble.
Based on Shen Changqing's perception, the strength of the evil spirits fighting for essence blood outside the city was at least at the Resentment level. The combined strength of those few sects would not even be enough to fight a single Resentment-level monstrosity. For this reason, Shen Changqing had already prepared for the possibility of their total annihilation.
But looking at it now, other experts must have arrived there. The current commotion outside the city was the battle between those experts and the evil spirits. It was evident that the members of those sects were merely the vanguard for the struggle over the essence blood, with powerful experts backing them.
"The ones fighting are at least at the Xiantian realm, but I don't know how many have actually arrived!"
Only Xiantian martial artists were qualified to contend with Resentment-level monstrosities, but Shen Changqing could not be certain how many Xiantian martial artists had arrived. As for Grandmasters, the possibility was slim. However, this also showed just how much those sects valued the demon essence blood.
Withdrawing his gaze, Shen Changqing looked at Zhang Yue. "Continue patrolling the city. If you discover any signs of evil spirits, report to the yamen immediately!"
Having said that, he headed toward the Yongfu Pawnshop. With several leaps through the air, he vanished from the sight of Zhang Yue and the others.
"Move out, continue the patrol!" Zhang Yue snapped, regaining his composure and addressing the still-startled constables.
***
On the other side, Shen Changqing arrived at the Yongfu Pawnshop.
Judging from the fighting outside the city, he was certain that the evil spirits within Lin'an City would not be able to run rampant for long. As long as the martial artists outside the city emerged victorious, the spirits in the city would automatically retreat. Similarly, if the martial artists suffered a crushing defeat, the evil spirits would undoubtedly sustain heavy losses as well. At that point, with him presiding over Lin'an City, the Eternal Life Alliance would surely withdraw the spirits from the city to avoid further losses.
Therefore, regardless of the outcome, the intervention of the experts from those sects had eased the current situation in Lin'an City.
The Yongfu Pawnshop before him was like any other place—pitch black inside, as if no one were present. With a surge of true qi, the doors swung open, and Shen Changqing stepped inside.
Instantly, a wave of chilling air rushed toward him.
"Evil spirits!"
Shen Changqing's expression turned cold. He was all too familiar with this chilling sensation; it was clearly the sinister aura inherent to evil spirits. Such an aura only lingered when an evil spirit was present or had recently departed.
Just as he suspected, the fact that the Heavenly Observation Guards had remained silent despite the attack on Lin'an City meant they had clearly been struck by the spirits as well.
Entering the pawnshop, he was met with darkness. Shen Changqing could see in the night, and with a single glance, he took in the entire interior environment.
No one!
He stepped toward the backyard. Suddenly, a dark shadow collapsed onto the ground. He walked over to inspect it, only to find a desiccated corpse. From the outside, the corpse looked as if it had been dead for a long time, but Shen Changqing could tell at a glance that this was the result of its essence blood being completely drained. Furthermore, the face of the corpse looked familiar.
Looking closely, he realized the corpse was a former clerk of the Yongfu Pawnshop. Of course, that was only his public identity; in reality, he was also a member of the Heavenly Observation Guards. But now, this guard had become a dried husk.
As intelligence personnel, the general strength of the Heavenly Observation Guards was not particularly high. As the head of the Heavenly Observation Guard's outpost in Lin'an City, Situ Bei had not even reached the Meridian-opening stage.
Stepping over the corpse, Shen Changqing continued toward the inner hall. More corpses lay scattered across the floor, all of them, without exception, drained of their essence blood. However, unlike the previous one, the expressions on their faces varied—some were filled with terror, others with twisted agony.
By the time he fully entered the inner hall, a bloody stench hit him. In the darkness of the hall, he saw a person whose four limbs had been severed, left like a "human pig." As he drew closer, Shen Changqing saw that this "human pig" was, in fact, Situ Bei.
The leader of the Heavenly Observation Guards in Lin'an City had not been drained of his essence blood by the spirits; instead, his limbs had been severed, and he had bled to death. Looking at the wide-eyed, furious expression on his face, one could guess exactly what had happened.
Squatting down, Shen Changqing placed his hand over the man's face, helping Situ Bei close his eyes. He then stood up, expanding his perception to its limit.
The sinister aura still lingered in the surroundings, but it was weakening with every passing moment, proving that the evil spirits present here had long since quietly retreated.
After a while, Shen Changqing withdrew his perception and turned his gaze back to Situ Bei, his expression neither sad nor joyful.
"You were simply too comfortable, and now you have fallen at the hands of evil spirits."
He had noticed earlier that the Heavenly Observation Guards in Lin'an City were far too complacent, lacking the demeanor a guard should possess. Their intelligence gathering regarding the evil spirits had also been incomplete. The destruction of the Yongfu Pawnshop was the price Situ Bei had paid for his negligence.
After all, while the strength of the Heavenly Observation Guards was not great, they never lacked means for self-preservation. Otherwise, as the eyes and ears of the Demon Suppression Division, they could not have developed so peacefully for so long in the Great Qin, a land surrounded by evil spirits. To put it bluntly, their combat strength was lacking, but their survival skills were top-tier. Cases like the Yongfu Pawnshop, which was wiped out so easily, were actually quite rare.
This also showed that Situ Bei had forgotten almost everything a member of the Heavenly Observation Guards should possess.
After searching the Yongfu Pawnshop inside and out, Shen Changqing finally confirmed that the entire Heavenly Observation Guard outpost had been massacred by the evil spirits. It was clear that the Eternal Life Alliance had come prepared. By destroying the outpost immediately, they had effectively blinded the Demon Suppression Division in Lin'an City.
However, the Eternal Life Alliance likely did not realize that the Heavenly Observation Guards in Lin'an City were barely different from having none at all. Destroying the Yongfu Pawnshop would have little impact on the entire Demon Suppression Division, or even on Shen Changqing himself.
Having completed his search, Shen Changqing dug a deep pit on the spot and buried all the corpses there. He did not touch a single other thing before returning directly to the yamen.
As he returned, the great battle outside the city was still ongoing. Simultaneously, flames were rising high within the city.
When Shen Changqing arrived at the yamen, he immediately summoned all the constables who were recuperating there.
"The fires in the city are undoubtedly the work of evil spirits. Gather the nearby citizens to extinguish the fires; do not allow large-scale chaos to break out!"
"As you command, My Lord!" The constables hurriedly accepted their orders.
Shen Changqing looked at the scene outside the yamen. The city, which had originally been pitch black, was now illuminated by much more firelight.
"The evil spirits are at a disadvantage; otherwise, they wouldn't resort to such extreme measures like setting fires. They certainly have quite the imagination!"
Setting the city ablaze was undoubtedly an attempt to incite panic. All the men from the yamen had already been dispatched.
"It's a pity Lin'an City is too small and its geographical location isn't particularly important, so there's no way to station a large army here. Otherwise, handling this would be much easier," Shen Changqing sighed.
The Great Qin was vast, and not every city would have soldiers stationed in it. In fact, cities with actual soldier garrisons were either major hubs or geographically vital. In a small place like Lin'an City, having a few dozen constables was already considered decent.
With a single step, his body leaped into the air. Standing atop the roof of the yamen, his field of vision expanded significantly, allowing him to overlook most of Lin'an City. Originally, the city had been dark, and even with night vision, one could not see very far. But now it was different; firelight was erupting everywhere. With the help of the flames, Shen Changqing could see much further.
From his vantage point, he could clearly see that because of the fires, many citizens were running out of their homes to help extinguish them. Further away was the battle outside the city. Unfortunately, the distance was too great; even with the advantage of height, he could not see much.
"Come!"
"Let me see just how many evil spirits are left in Lin'an City—"
Shen Changqing pushed his perception to the limit, his gaze sweeping over the city like lightning, attempting to find the tracks of the evil spirits. Since the Eternal Life Alliance had gone as far as setting fires, the spirits would no longer act as discreetly as before. After all, in the eyes of evil spirits, humans were nothing more than pigs and dogs. Now that they had completely dropped all pretenses, they would surely engage in a massive slaughter before retreating.
As far as the eye could see, there were only raging fires. Amidst the citizens scrambling to put out the flames, a chilling aura flashed by.
"Found you—"
Accurately capturing that sliver of chilling aura, a cold, fierce smile appeared on Shen Changqing's face. In the next instant, his body soared into the air, rushing toward the direction where the sinister aura had vanished.
Soon, he landed in a courtyard. That faint, chilling aura had now become dense. Looking around, corpses were lying on the ground everywhere. The manner of their deaths was the same as the Heavenly Observation Guards in the Yongfu Pawnshop: they had died with their essence blood completely drained.