High-level martial arts: Long spear with black flames to suppress demons.

Shen Chang'an withdrew his gaze, raised his third finger, and stared intently into Zhang Cuihua's eyes: "One last question. Besides Wang Hai, who is your direct superior? Or rather... which cult organization did you come from?"

Upon hearing this question, Zhang Cuihua's pupils instantly contracted.

She began shaking her head frantically, a sickly flush rising on her already pale face. Even her breathing became rapid, and strange gurgling sounds came from her throat, but she refused to utter a single word.

This is by no means due to loyalty or mere resistance.

Shen Chang'an looked at her, who seemed on the verge of collapse.

"Is it another one of those overused 'silencing spells' or 'soul seals'? Once you reveal the organization's core secrets, the person who cast the spell will immediately detonate the seal in your mind, causing your soul to be scattered?"

Shen Chang'an had seen far too many of these methods used by evil cultivation organizations to control their subordinates.

He swiftly grabbed the other woman by the throat and then knocked Zhang Cuihua unconscious.

Knowing he wouldn't get anything out of her here, Shen Chang'an stood up and instructed his assistant, "Keep an eye on her. This old woman is a key witness. Don't let her die, and don't let her find a chance to commit suicide. I'll have professionals from the Municipal Public Security Bureau pry her out."

After saying that, Shen Chang'an left the interrogation area and took the elevator back to the ground office area.

Pushing open the office door, Shen Chang'an was surprised to find that Lao Zhao, who should have been arguing in a meeting, was sitting on his sofa drinking tea.

"Old Zhao, you're back just in time."

Shen Chang'an walked over directly, threw the "Sanshan Group" logo that his assistant had just printed out onto the coffee table, and briefly recounted the results of the interrogation.

Old Zhao picked up the badge, glanced at it, and his originally amiable expression turned serious.

"Sanshan Group...this is a tough nut to crack. Their network of connections in Beijiang City is intricate, and they definitely have guest cultivators within the group."

Old Zhao stroked his stubble and pondered for a moment.

"This matter is too complex; it's beyond what our district bureau can handle on its own."

Old Zhao looked up at Shen Chang'an and said, "Here's what we'll do. As for the Sanshan Group, I'll first use my old connections to secretly investigate their background and find out if they've had any unusual cash flow or cargo transportation lately."

"You don't need to worry about this today. First, finish registering and screening the remaining personnel on the roster. This is a direct order from the Municipal Bureau, and we can't delay it."

"Alright, this investigation is just running errands." Shen Chang'an nodded, then pointed towards the basement, "What about the three people locked up down there? Especially Zhang Cuihua, she has a mental restriction, I can't get the mastermind out of her."

"Leave it to me."

"I will contact the Municipal Public Security Bureau's United Front Work Center immediately and have them send a special operations team to take over these people. The Municipal Public Security Bureau's interrogation department has experts who specialize in 'soul searching' for this kind of soul restriction. As long as she has something in her mind, even if she is dead, the Municipal Public Security Bureau can still dig out information."

"That's for the best, so they won't be an eyesore to me."

Shen Chang'an was very satisfied with Lao Zhao's arrangement. Handling such a mentally taxing and procedurally complicated task with an experienced veteran like Lao Zhao was the easiest way to save time and effort.

Shen Chang'an stretched, turned around to go back to work, and as he reached the door, he turned back and added:

"Old Zhao, be careful when you're gathering information. If you run into a tough opponent that you can't handle, or if you need to launch a full-scale attack, then call me. I'm quite good at this kind of rough work involving fighting and killing."

Over the next three days, Shen Chang'an delegated all the interrogation and follow-up work to Lao Zhao, while he himself drove the SUV and methodically continued the work of investigating and registering practitioners in Qingzhou District.

In the past three days, the underground cultivation community in Qingzhou District has experienced a minor earthquake.

Shen Chang'an acted swiftly and decisively, thoroughly investigating each person on the roster.

During this period, several rogue cultivators who had been swindling money and engaging in illegal activities behind the backs of the Town Night Division were indeed caught.

Shen Chang'an was too lazy to waste words with such people. He simply crippled their cultivation, packed them up, and threw them out of Qingzhou District, permanently banishing them. Adding to this the few who had indeed moved away to other places to make a living, the original list of seventy-nine people shrank considerably.

However, including the six newcomers who had just started intensive training and successfully guided Qi into their bodies, the number of legal practitioners registered in Qingzhou District was finally set at sixty-seven.

The afternoon of the third day.

Shen Chang'an, holding a thick, newly reorganized and bound booklet, pushed open the door to the branch office.

"Xie He, the roster has been checked, and the remaining 67 people are all clean."

Shen Chang'an tossed the booklet onto Xie He's desk and stretched.

"You enter this information into the system for archiving, and then synchronize it with the Municipal Bureau."

"Okay, Captain Shen, thank you for your hard work."

Xie He respectfully accepted the booklet.

As they were talking, the door to the inner office opened, and Old Zhao came out carrying his signature thermos.

"Chang'an, is the investigation complete?"

Old Zhao looked at him and asked with a smile.

"All done, I'm exhausted. What are your instructions, Director Zhao?"

Shen Chang'an found a chair and slumped down.

Old Zhao blew on the goji berries in his thermos, his expression turning serious: "Now that the investigation is complete, and there's nothing else urgent on my plate, you'll come with me to the Municipal Public Security Bureau in a bit. The Municipal United Front Work Center has already made arrangements; they're going to conduct a surprise inspection of the Beijiang City branch of the 'Sanshan Group' tonight. For such a large-scale operation, a fifth-realm expert like you must be there to oversee things."

"So you've got results so quickly? And you want to take action tonight? Fine."

Shen Chang'an nodded, then turned to look at Xie He, who was entering data.

"Don't record yet, we'll do it when we get back. Take your equipment and come with us to the Municipal Bureau; there might be a place where they need you to do data analysis."

"clear."

Xie He quickly saved the document and deftly picked up his tactical briefcase.

A dozen minutes later.

The three arrived at the underground parking garage. Old Zhao drove himself, with Shen Chang'an in the passenger seat and Xie He in the back.

As the Audi A6 smoothly drove out of the branch office and headed towards the city, the atmosphere inside the car shifted to a working state.

Shen Chang'an adjusted his seat, leaned back, and turned to Xie He in the back seat, asking, "Xiao Xie, it's been three days. How's the investigation into the antique shop owner Wang Hai going?"

Xie He shook his head, adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, and reported to his supervisor in a serious tone: "Captain Shen, we have no leads. Over the past two days, I've accessed all the security cameras in the neighborhoods surrounding the antique shop, trying to piece together the footage. However, a large portion of the surveillance cameras in the old town area are old and in disrepair, resulting in missing footage."

"And most importantly, it has dragged on for too long."

Xie He sighed.

"When we discovered he had escaped, a full five days had passed. The spiritual energy fluctuations he left behind at the scene had long since dissipated, rendering the 'Thousand-Mile Silk-Pulling Disc' useless and completely unable to lock onto him."

Shen Chang'an frowned slightly and nodded. Indeed, once a cultivator is determined to escape, the first twenty-four hours are the golden period for pursuit. If the best opportunity is missed, trying to catch them again is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"This is very unusual."

Xie He added.

"In the past few days, Wang Hai's mobile phone location system, bank card transaction records, and even the real-name ticketing system for high-speed rail and airplanes have all been completely silent. It's as if he has vanished into thin air."

"Based on criminal psychology and past case files, it's impossible for someone to erase themselves so completely in modern society. Unless... they don't rule out the possibility that they're already dead. Because only the dead can disappear so cleanly, without leaving a trace."

"To kill him to silence him...?"

Shen Chang'an pondered to himself. If Wang Hai was indeed an important middleman for the Sanshan Group, then it would be perfectly reasonable for him to be eliminated by higher-ups when he was exposed or preparing to escape.

At this moment, Old Zhao, who was driving, chimed in: "If Wang Hai's trail goes cold, so be it. These past few days, the soul-searching experts from the Municipal Bureau's Interrogation Department have conducted an in-depth soul extraction on Zhang Cuihua, and they've unearthed an even bigger fish."

"Oh? What did you dig up?" Shen Chang'an perked up.

"Zhang Cuihua's mind was indeed under a vicious soul restriction, which almost caused the soul search to fail. Fortunately, the experts from the Municipal Bureau were more skilled and forcibly extracted a fragment of memory."

Old Zhao said in a deep voice.

"Behind Zhang Cuihua is a place called 'Baigu Mountain' in our Cangjiang Province."

"It was a small, unorthodox sect hidden deep in the mountains and forests, specializing in crooked and evil practices. Its core members were all 'insect cultivators' who played with poisonous insects. Zhang Cuihua was a low-level member sent by that sect to liaise with the Sanshan Group."

"but,"

Old Zhao abruptly changed the subject and turned the steering wheel.

"This Hundred Gu Mountain involves provincial-level evil cultivation forces, which is beyond the jurisdiction of our Beijiang City Bureau. The city bureau has already reported the intelligence to the Cangjiang Provincial Department headquarters, and they will send experts from the provincial department to directly wipe it out. It's not our place to worry about it."

Shen Chang'an nodded. Such sect forces that spanned cities and even provinces were indeed beyond the jurisdiction of their district bureau.

Therefore, in conclusion...

"Based on all the clues, testimonies, and intelligence obtained from soul searches we have so far, this case can be preliminarily classified as a large-scale illegal human and demon trafficking case funded by the multinational giant 'Sanshan Group,' in collusion with local evil cultivation sects and local rogue cultivators!"

"Tonight marks the first step in our effort to eradicate this malignant tumor!"