The team's formation shifted, with William taking the lead as the vanguard and eyes of the group. Holding his eerie telescope, he would pause after every short distance advanced, scanning the darkness ahead with professional hunter precision to identify the Black Dog's spiritual trail that only he could see.

The noble hunter Ethan set aside his elite pride and followed closely behind William as protection. His ornate pistols, Morning Star and Evening Star, remained loaded at all times, guarding William's flanks. His expression had transformed from disdain and aloofness to vigilance and focus.

He understood that his most critical task now was providing a secure physical environment while William conducted his spiritual observations, preventing any ambushes from the real world.

Lin Jie walked at the rear of the group, serving as both rearguard and tactical coordinator. He held the local map of Dartmoor's abandoned mines and ancient ruins provided by Julian.

He rapidly cross-referenced the coordinates William called out with the map markings, attempting to discern the Black Dog's destination from its seemingly random escape route.

Dartmoor's night was long and cold as they traversed between rain-slicked, jagged granite formations, their feet sinking into the soft, easily penetrable peat bogs.

A chilling wind swept in from all directions with invisible sharpness, howling against their faces with bone-piercing pain.

William's voice broke the oppressive silence as he completed another observation and lowered his Zulu's Gaze.

"It's moving northeast. The trail is faint but unbroken. Its energy has been dissipating since it was injured, making the traces more visible than before. It's going home."

Lin Jie immediately searched the corresponding area on his small map. "Northeast direction... Based on our current position, approximately two miles along this course there are three high spiritual radiation sites. One is the prehistoric stone circle called 'Druid's Altar,' another is the 'Widow's Leap' cliff, and the last is an abandoned tin mine named 'Howling Abyss' that was closed in the early 19th century."

Both William and Lin Jie spoke the word "mine" simultaneously.

Their eyes met in the darkness, mutual understanding passing between them.

Ethan, who had remained silent until now, asked, "Is there something particularly significant about that?"

He wasn't particularly skilled at analysis based on history and geography.

Lin Jie's voice grew grave. "Absolutely. Before we departed, I received additional intelligence from Paris. My curator friend compiled historical archives of all major tragic events in the Dartmoor region for me."

While walking, he recited the contents of Julian's report from his remarkable memory.

"'Howling Abyss' tin mine was one of Devon's largest and highest-yielding tin mines from the late 18th to early 19th century, but its safety record was consistently the worst because the veins extended hundreds of feet underground with unstable geological structures."

"According to local parish records, during its decades of operation, the mine experienced at least hundreds of collapses and flooding incidents of varying scales."

"The fatal disaster that led to its abandonment occurred in the winter of 1807, when a sudden underground structural shift caused catastrophic collapse of the main shaft."

"Records from that time indicate over forty miners working deep underground were buried alive beneath tens of thousands of tons of rock and soil, with no survivors."

"Rescue technology was primitive back then. After symbolic excavation proved hopeless, the mine owner directly abandoned rescue efforts. He didn't recover the miners' remains, simply sealing the collapsed shaft entrance with massive stones, then erecting a small memorial tablet before abandoning over forty souls along with their terror and despair in that underground abyss."

Lin Jie's words made the already cold air drop several more degrees. Even Ethan's perpetually cynical face showed seriousness.

"Since then, the abandoned mine has become Dartmoor's most notorious 'haunted' location. Nearby residents claim that on windy nights, they can hear countless people wailing and crying from the mine direction, which is why they call it 'Howling Abyss.'"

Lin Jie concluded, "Over forty miners suffocated to death in the deepest underground. The sheer volume and concentration of ultimate terror they emitted before death would be a horrifically astronomical figure. And this massive emotional fear, fermented and nurtured for nearly a century on Dartmoor's highly spiritually radioactive land..."

He didn't need to finish the sentence—the answer was obvious.

That place was the perfect granary for this emotional aggregate that fed on "fear," and its ideal resting place after being injured.

The endpoint of their pursuit was locked in at that moment.

One hour later, they arrived outside the legendary cursed mine.

The place was even more desolate and dilapidated than they had imagined. A collapsed area resembling a meteor impact crater appeared before them.

Countless granite rocks piled haphazardly together, forming a natural, impassable tomb.

At the very center of that tomb stood a weathered, moss-covered stone tablet, tilted crookedly like a hunched old man guarding hell's entrance.

William raised his Zulu's Gaze. In his vision, this place was literally an ocean of negative emotions.

Gray-black echoes of sorrow and resentment hung over the collapsed area like thick fog, while the inky black spiritual trail belonging to the "Black Dog" extended directly into the crevices between the rubble, disappearing into the dark entrance leading to the underground abyss.

William lowered his telescope, voice certain. "It went inside."

The lair had been found.

Ethan flexed his wrists, producing crisp bone-cracking sounds. "Alright, since we've located the 'rat hole,' we should proceed to the 'cleaning' phase, which happens to be my specialty."

Excitement reignited in his eyes.

He pulled out some peculiarly shaped silver disc-shaped devices from his bulging tactical backpack, their surfaces engraved with complex solar patterns.

Ethan wore an inventor's pride on his face. "These are custom-made 'Solar Wheel Explosive Traps' crafted for me by the Association's finest artisans. Each trap contains a small amount of sacred sand from 'Ramesses II's' golden coffin, blessed for thousands of years by priests of the sun god 'Ra.'"

"Once triggered, it releases a small-area pure yang blaze reaching thousands of degrees, forming a sacred purification field lasting thirty seconds. For UMAs like this, it's more lethal than being thrown directly into the sun."

He deployed these Solar Wheel traps around the mine's main entrances in precisely calculated triangular formations.

Ethan dusted off his hands with a smile. "Now we just need to go in and 'invite' it out of the hole, then it'll stumble into this custom-made crematorium."

His plan was simple, brutal, yet highly efficient.

But Lin Jie's brow furrowed tightly at that moment. As he looked at the tomb-like mine ruins, an inexplicable but powerful sense of unease wrapped around his heart.

He felt things might not be that simple.

He stopped Ethan, who was preparing to find bait. "Wait. Don't any of you feel this place is too 'quiet'?"

Ethan asked, puzzled, "Quiet? Should a haunted mine be noisy like London's vegetable market instead?"

Lin Jie shook his head, his gaze sweeping over the mountain-like piles of boulders surrounding them. "No, I'm not talking about physical quietness, but 'spiritual' quietness."

"According to Julian, this should be a place filled with 'howling' and 'resentment'—an emotional vortex constructed from the despair of over forty miners. But standing here, aside from feeling piercing cold, I don't sense anything else. That's highly abnormal."

Lin Jie narrowed his eyes as a terrifying conjecture formed in his mind.

"It's as if all the howling, all the fear, all the despair... has already been 'eaten' completely clean by an even more greedy and hungry beast."

"And now we're preparing to charge into this beast's stomach, right after it finished feeding and is quietly digesting."