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

Hearing the little wildcat's impotent rage, Shen Chang'an was not angry at all; instead, he couldn't help but laugh.

He knew exactly what the little girl was up to. He didn't argue, but simply bent down again, extended his slender hand, and placed it naturally and precisely on Bai Yin's head.

Following the smooth, long hair, Shen Chang'an's technique was extremely professional. He gently scratched the base of the two cat ears on the top of her head, and then stroked them down.

"Meow..."

Just a second ago, Bai Yin was baring her teeth and brandishing her claws, but in an instant, her body went limp as if all her strength had been drained. Her two white, erect ears on her head trembled comfortably, and she even squinted her eyes uncontrollably, like a real pet cat, and rubbed against Shen Chang'an's palm twice, making a soft "purring" sound in her throat.

When she realized what she had just done, her face was already red to the roots of her neck, and she was so ashamed that she wanted to dig a hole in the factory roof and bury herself on the spot.

Shen Chang'an withdrew his hand, looked at the girl's embarrassed and annoyed expression, chuckled, and muttered to himself:

"She really is a little cat demon; she hasn't missed out on any of the habits a cat should have."

A few minutes later, red and blue flashes lit up the night sky again.

Wu Hong and his men rushed to the scene.

Shen Chang'an stepped forward and waved the glass container filled with primordial demonic energy in front of Wu Hong, explaining, "The demonic creature has been eliminated, but it suddenly appeared from this area. Just in case, we must conduct a thorough spiritual energy search within a five-kilometer radius overnight, digging three feet into the ground to check for any remaining hidden dangers."

"Understood, I will arrange for personnel to be deployed immediately."

Wu Hongqian readily agreed.

Seeing this, Bai Yin, ignoring the pain in her lower abdomen, struggled to come closer and tugged at the hem of Shen Chang'an's school uniform: "Boss, I'll go help search too..."

"Search my ass! You're in such a state, you couldn't even beat a mouse."

Shen Chang'an ruthlessly slapped her small hand away and pointed to an ambulance next to him.

"Go lie down in the medical ward and behave yourself."

Baiyin immediately deflated like a punctured balloon, her little ears drooping, and she got into the ambulance, looking back every few steps.

After sending away the battle-damaged accessory, Shen Chang'an didn't rush off work as usual. The sudden appearance of a fourth-tier demon was suspicious, and he had to personally oversee the investigation.

As night deepened, a large number of logistics personnel in protective suits, carrying spiritual energy detectors, advanced bit by bit through the abandoned factory area like combs.

Time passed by, second by second.

By five in the morning, a faint, grayish-white light had begun to appear on the horizon.

"Commander Shen, Director Wu! We've made a discovery!"

An investigator urgently reported to his superior over the walkie-talkie. Shen Chang'an and Wu Hong immediately rushed over.

It was an old, well-hidden underground warehouse, its entrance buried under weeds and garbage. Several support staff were using crowbars to painstakingly pry open a thick, rusty iron plate, bit by bit.

"Creak—"

The moment the iron plate was lifted, a nauseating stench mixed with the fishy smell of the sewer hit us.

"vomit--!"

One of the young recorders following behind Wu Hong couldn't hold it in and covered his mouth, about to vomit to the side.

Wu Hong suddenly turned his head and glared at him with a murderous look.

The recorder shuddered in fright, swallowing back what was on his throat, tears welling up in his eyes.

I'll go first.

Shen Chang'an remained expressionless, casually pulled a powerful flashlight from his bag, and walked down the steep steps.

The basement was small, dark, and damp.

The beam of the flashlight swept across the corner of the wall, revealing several decomposed and unrecognizable corpses.

The body still bore signs of struggle, clearly indicating that it had suffered inhuman torture before its death, from which the intense resentment arose.

Shen Chang'an stepped forward, picked up a piece of rag with the tip of his gun, and examined it calmly: "Judging from the clothing and bone age, he should be a missing homeless person or a worker."

He turned to Wu Hong and said, "This is a typical criminal homicide case. Our Zhenye Division doesn't handle such mundane matters. Let the Logistics Department contact the police station's Major Crimes Unit to take over."

Wu Hong nodded in acknowledgment, but his expression remained grave: "But sir, such intense resentment would at most form a vengeful ghost. This fourth-tier demon..."

"This is also a headache for me."

Shen Chang'an rubbed his temples and sighed.

Monsters are generally divided into two types.

Whether it's a foreign roving monster or a native inhabitant, killing a foreign monster is one thing, but if it's a native inhabitant, the nature of the crime is much more serious.

For human resentment to transform into "demonic energy," it requires a trace of pure, primordial demonic energy as a seed.

"There are only two possibilities for the appearance of demonic energy in this place."

Using the light of his flashlight, Shen Chang'an carefully examined the remaining energy in the basement.

"First, a rift connecting to the abyss has appeared nearby, and demonic energy is leaking out from it. If that's the case, then we might as well just abandon Qingzhou District."

Wu Hong broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this.

"The second possibility..."

Shen Chang'an's eyes turned cold.

"Someone deliberately brought the primordial demonic energy into Qingzhou District and chose this excellent place to raise corpses, artificially cultivating a fourth-tier demonic creature."

"Could you please retrieve the surveillance footage from this area?"

Shen Chang'an asked.

Wu Hong gave a wry smile: "Sir, this old industrial area has been abandoned for almost ten years. Those old cameras have long since become bird nests. There's no surveillance footage left to check."

He nodded, unsurprised. He closed his eyes, his powerful five-realm perception spreading like ripples into the depths of the earth, repeatedly confirming the information.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and breathed a slight sigh of relief: "It's a stroke of luck that there are no signs of spatial rifts underground. It seems to be the second possibility: someone poisoned our territory."

"Alright, the rest of the cleanup and investigation work is yours and the police station's responsibility."

Shen Chang'an tossed the high-powered flashlight to Wu Hong, turned around and walked up the steps, his tone returning to its sleepy languor, "I have to go to the branch office and hand this thing over."

It's 6:30 in the morning.

Shen Chang'an rode his black motorcycle into Zhengwu Street, the most central street in Qingzhou District.

The surrounding area was filled with grand and solemn government office buildings, but in a quiet corner at the end of the street, there was a seven-story old building that looked extremely shabby.

The exterior walls are covered with old-fashioned mosaic tiles with an aesthetic from the last century, and a large section of them has even fallen off, revealing the grayish cement base.

It hasn't been renovated in a long time.

As for why this official, powerful institution doesn't bother to improve its appearance? The documents from above clearly state: in order to maintain a retro style consistent with the surrounding old town buildings, it aims to remain hidden in plain sight.