CHAPTER 48: CHAPTER 48 SCORCING SUN FIST

Duanzhou, Cai Qidong looked at the newly delivered intelligence files, his face dark as water.

In these past days, a massive amount of manpower had been invested, a near carpet-style sweep, and it was now fully confirmed—within the three states of Wei, Duan, and Xing, a large number of incidents similar to the poisonous mushroom case had appeared.

It wasn’t just a matter of the chefs’ methods going wrong; some dishes lacked key ingredients or crucial steps, yet ordinary people hadn’t noticed anything out of place.

He glanced at his own boxed lunch, gazing at the so-called salt-baked chicken inside. He didn’t find anything wrong with it, but according to the old records, it wasn’t made this way before, and he didn’t prefer it like this either.

He flipped through the records, locating a specially highlighted passage.

It recorded a Tianfu Restaurant in Virtue City, and their dish of boiled beef, which had two different ways of preparation.

One with chili oil poured on top, and one without.

Upon further investigation, it turned out Wen Yan had dined there and quarreled with the chef about this dish. The restaurant owner was shrewd, believing that once a dish arrived locally, it had to be adapted to suit local tastes.

So afterwards, they tried it twice and simply gave the one dish two ways of making it, to suit both spicy food lovers and those who weren’t.

And the time when Wen Yan argued with the chef was already after the Soul Devouring Beast’s appearance.

They later found surveillance at the market—Wen Yan couldn’t tolerate it, so he bought loads of specific seasonings himself, his choices very deliberate and authentic to the brand.

It could be clearly concluded—Wen Yan, unlike everyone else in the three states, hadn’t been affected by the Soul Devouring Beast.

Cai Qidong looked at this latest minor detail they’d tracked down, and actually felt this was the most normal thing of all.

Someone able to enter the Old Ice Warehouse without a soul could be immune to having their soul devoured by the Soul Devouring Beast—perfectly reasonable.

He picked up another file from the side, which recorded other Domains within the hundred-mile-wide lockdown zone.

Other than the Domain inside the chemical plant, there was one more Domain that was simply impossible to enter.

They had looked for a long while, followed countless clues, and mapped the range where "souls" were being devoured. They could confirm—the Soul Devouring Beast was in Duanzhou.

But they still hadn’t found any trace. The most likely situation was that the Soul Devouring Beast was hiding in one of Duanzhou’s Domains.

And these newly discovered Domains had the highest probability.

Cai Qidong pondered—should he find some suitable excuse to upgrade Wen Yan’s clearance?

...

After sending Feng Yao off, Wen Yan finally started reading the files.

The information said that Duanzhou Chemical Plant had been sealed, as well as several dozen miles of surrounding area, with the excuse of a chemical leak.

So that whole swath of area was basically deserted now, lucky for them the plant was already far from any residential zone.

Within the factory, there was a type II Domain that didn’t overlap with reality. The preliminary intel wasn’t complete yet, so it certainly wouldn’t be Wen Yan’s turn to go in.

But in that whole region, they’d found other Domains as well. One overlapped with reality—a type III Domain. No one could enter. They’d tried everything, all sorts of methods, but couldn’t find the entry rule, so Wen Yan had to help explore it himself.

Wen Yan glanced it over. The marked-out region was already remote, with hardly anyone living there before—just a single guesthouse still in business.

Ever since the chemical plant incident, the guesthouse had closed, the residents all moved out.

The spot most likely to have problems was inside that guesthouse.

Wen Yan’s assignment: as long as he could enter the Domain, conduct a preliminary intelligence reconnaissance.

The Scorching Sun Department had already tried everything: booking a room at the guesthouse, buying vacant old houses in the area, issuing documents, driving, walking, by day or night—nothing worked to get in.

Completely stumped, they could only turn to Wen Yan.

Theoretically, as long as he was inside the Domain’s range when the Domain appeared, he could enter directly.

He carefully studied the file, preparing to take on this field assignment.

Because Wen Yan had previously asked about the poisonous mushrooms, Feng Yao hadn’t explained clearly—just said they were investigating. For deeper details, Feng Yao spoke frankly: it was a policy issue, he couldn’t say more.

That he could tell Wen Yan even a little was because Wen Yan was personally involved, even hospitalized for poisoning, and had resolved a Domain. But more importantly, he figured Wen Yan would get upgraded clearance sooner or later.

Wen Yan didn’t get more in-depth info, but he had his own guesses.

He felt the Scorching Sun Department seemed to know about the Soul Devouring Beast.

The more he learned, the clearer it became: the Scorching Sun Department’s manpower and resources were limited—they worked by priority.

And last time, just a few people getting poisoned by uncooked mushrooms had made the Department invest serious resources. Even during normal mushroom-eating season, the publicity was never that intense—this time, it was a blanket alert to everyone.

Afterwards, the investigation scope was clearly expanded.

The two Scorching Sun Department members previously with Feng Yao, as well as the two assigned to monitor the high-intensity fires, had all been dispatched for related tasks.

This finally gave Wen Yan a chance—leaving the Hopping Corpse with him.

Wen Yan had heard from Zhang Laoxi that Big Executor Corpses evolved at frightening speed—if unchecked, the results could be terrifying.

But even so, the priority was still lower than follow-ups on the poisonous mushroom case.

Meanwhile, Cai Qidong, parachuted into Nanwu County to lead the Scorching Sun Department there, hadn’t even stayed long in Yu State, the most prosperous area of the county. Recently, other than Wei State, all his activity had been in Duanzhou.

Even resources from Yu State were being shifted to Duanzhou—and that was just what Wen Yan could see.

Too many clues lined up—the only thing Wen Yan could imagine ranking that high in priority was the Soul Devouring Beast.

Now, even a Domain they couldn’t enter had to be investigated by a rookie like him—clearly, the Scorching Sun Department’s manpower was stretched thin.

He didn’t believe the Department truly had no method or no one to send into a small Domain—there must be other ways, or other people, but they simply couldn’t be spared now.

Wen Yan also wanted to know—where was the Soul Devouring Beast?

These past couple of days, he’d had a strange feeling—the Soul Devouring Beast was evolving, had secured its footing, and passed the initial stage.

He didn’t know why he suddenly sensed this, but he believed it had to be true.

From the looks of it, the Scorching Sun Department hadn’t found it either. He figured their urgency in sending him into a minor Domain likely had to do with the Soul Devouring Beast as well.

Maybe they suspected it was hiding in a Domain somewhere.

These days, Sparrow Cat hadn’t received any signals either, and the missing Mo Zhicheng hadn’t contacted it. Wen Yan decided he really ought to do something—he couldn’t just sit this out.

The Soul Devouring Beast was evolving, still evolving, and that was definitely not good news.

Wen Yan put down the papers, his head brewing only one question: the Soul Devouring Beast was currently devouring the "soul" of gourmet food; if it could evolve, what might it eat next—he didn’t even want to imagine.

Just then, as Wen Yan was drifting in thought, Zhang Laoxi’s car stopped outside. Carrying a half-man-tall case on his back, he walked into the yard.

"Wen Yan, didn’t you say you wanted to train in martial arts? I’ve found you a style that’s absolutely the one for you."

Even before coming in, Zhang Laoxi was already beckoning at him with a look of delight.

Wen Yan was overjoyed and rushed forward.

"Brother, you found something suitable for me? I’ve been reading those books until my head spins. I’m afraid I’ll never learn them."

"Don’t worry, this one’s simple for real. I started training as a kid. Everyone from Fuyu Mountain knows it—it’s called Scorching Sun Fist."

"But I’m not from Fuyu Mountain. Will it still fit? Do I need to formally become a disciple?"

"It fits. Grand Uncle Master said times have changed—anyone who can master it, should. As for discipleship, forget it! Fuyu Mountain isn’t that fussy. Besides, you’re a Scorching Sun guy yourself..."

"I..."

"I know, I know. This ability is innate. Trust me, just learn it, just train—absolutely suits you. No need for a ceremony; I’ll be your guide."

Zhang Laoxi’s eyes shone with unconcealed joy as he handed Wen Yan a printed booklet.

"It’s all translated, side-by-side with the original. Totally easy to understand, very precise descriptions. I’ll coach you, and you’ll pick it up fast."