Chapter 143: Escaped

Shen Yan looked quite disheveled, his sharp, elegant suit stained with the filth of the sewers. He glanced down at the grimy tunnel and let out a cold snort. He remembered that just a moment ago, some fellow had been moving quite fast, trying to catch up to him. Yet, as soon as he had ducked into the sewer, that person had stopped following.

He exhaled a long, heavy breath. The street was relatively quiet, with few vehicles or pedestrians around. He cast a look toward the Jade Tower, his gaze filled with a flicker of hatred. He never imagined that the power he had spent years cultivating would be uprooted so quickly in the first strike by the Bureau.

Shen Yan clenched his fists. The tides of fortune shift; he would have his day to return! With that thought in mind, he turned to leave.

"Stop right there!"

Shen Yan’s brow furrowed slightly as he slowly turned to look. Bai Chuan was panting heavily; having seen Shen Yan flee into the sewer, he had recalled where the secret exit was and rushed over to intercept him. Fortunately, he had made it in time. However, seeing the filthy state of Shen Yan’s clothes, he tightened his fists in repulsion.

"You want to stop me?" Shen Yan narrowed his eyes and took a step toward Bai Chuan.

Bai Chuan immediately stepped back, desperate to maintain some distance. The mere smell of the man was more than he could bear—engaging in close-quarters combat with him? He would rather be killed. Shen Yan noticed the reaction and felt a flicker of confusion. *What is this? This kid seems to be afraid of me?*

Bai Chuan took a deep breath and gripped his short sword, wanting to engage, but he simply could not muster the courage.

"You want to fight me?" Shen Yan’s eyes narrowed. He was only half a step away from breaking through ten thousand points of demonic energy—a half-step into the Realm of De-monification. His demonic aura began to radiate outward.

Just then, a figure stepped out from the shadows of a nearby alley. Chen Cheng carried a long sword on his back and held a wine gourd in his hand.

"Hey," Chen Cheng called out.

Shen Yan looked over instinctively. Suddenly, a wine gourd came flying toward him.

"What is this?" Shen Yan frowned, unleashing a palm of demonic energy in an attempt to shatter the gourd in mid-air.

*Bang.*

The gourd didn't break; it was merely sent flying backward. Seizing the momentary distraction, Chen Cheng arrived before Shen Yan in an instant. "In your next life, don't focus all your attention on a wine gourd."

He drew his sword in a blur and thrust it directly into Shen Yan’s heart. Shen Yan’s eyes widened. This man’s sword was fast—so fast he hadn't even been able to react.

"You... who are you?"

"Chen Cheng." Chen Cheng smiled at him and pulled the blade free.

*Thud.*

Shen Yan collapsed to the ground, his eyes still wide open. Chen Cheng shook his head slightly, but just as he turned around, he sensed something amiss. He hurriedly looked back at the body. To his shock, a wisp of black mist was crawling out of Shen Yan’s nose and burrowing into the earth. Chen Cheng immediately struck the ground with his sword where the mist had vanished.

"He let him escape," Chen Cheng said, his expression darkening. "The intelligence was wrong. He wasn't a demon at all." He had been careless.

The battle continued for some time afterward. On the main front inside the Jade Tower, the arrival of Shen Qingzhen and Shen Qingchi had caused significant casualties for the Seventh and Twelfth Teams. However, the demons throughout the building had finally been cleared out.

By now, the Jade Tower and the surrounding streets were cordoned off by federal police. On the road in front of the building, the carcasses of various animals were laid out. Bureau clerks were busy taking photographs and collecting evidence, interviewing everyone who had participated in the fight. The Seventh and Twelfth Teams had suffered seven dead and eighteen wounded. The seven fallen were laid side by side in the building’s lobby, covered with white sheets. When the other members looked at the bodies, pain was etched clearly on their faces. They all knew the high mortality rate of working for the Occult Investigation Bureau, but these were their comrades.

Li Changqing, Bai Chuan, and Hu Xiong, having finished their debriefing, stood under a streetlamp, watching the Bureau staff systematically clear the scene. Their expertise was evident.

Hu Xiong had been about to light a cigarette, but catching sight of the grim-faced Bai Chuan nearby, he put the pack away and remarked, "Changqing, you took down that old turtle all by yourself? Shen Qingdai and Zhang Xun'er said it was supposed to be a tough match."

Li Changqing smiled faintly, thinking to himself that if it weren't for the Changhong Sword, he wouldn't have been a match for the Huangshan Turtle either. Most people would have struggled; its impenetrable shell alone was a nightmare to deal with.

"Is Shen Yan really not dead?" Hu Xiong asked Bai Chuan in a low voice.

"He escaped," Bai Chuan nodded slightly. Li Changqing frowned; with that man on the loose, the future held significant trouble.

Just then, Huang Jiayi, who had been resting nearby, walked over and waved. "Are you three alright?"

"Yes," Hu Xiong said with a chuckle. "Team Leader Huang, congratulations. You were at the forefront; you’ve made a great contribution."

Huang Jiayi sighed. "Shen Yan escaped. No matter how big the credit, it’s going to be discounted. We might even get criticized." Although it was Chen Cheng’s carelessness that let him slip away, people like Chen Cheng were effectively untouchable, and even the Bureau Chief would have a hard time blaming him.

"Forget it. Let’s go back and ask Shen Qingdai and Zhang Xun'er if we can find out where Shen Yan went," Huang Jiayi said slowly. "Brother, even though it’s not my call to make—that’s for Chief Yun to decide—in my opinion, why keep those demons alive? Are we just going to let them keep doing evil?"

"If we don't, the reputation of the Occult Investigation Bureau will suffer," Li Changqing noted.

Huang Jiayi laughed loudly. "We’re the Occult Investigation Bureau! Do we really care what demons think of us? Besides, if we had just killed those two, no one would know we went back on our word. Why keep faith with monsters? But this isn't my place to decide; we'll see what the higher-ups think."

Li Changqing smiled but remained silent. Huang Jiayi sighed; having lost seven brothers only for the prime suspect to escape was truly infuriating.

Once the scene was processed, everyone boarded vehicles and returned to the Bureau headquarters. Upon entering the building, they gathered in Yun Haifan’s conference room. Zhang Xun'er and Shen Qingdai looked on in astonishment.

"Shen Yan isn't a demon? And he escaped?"

Neither of them had been aware of this. Their expressions turned ghastly. If Shen Yan found out they had betrayed him, he would certainly not let them off easily.