Gao Wu: A centenarian old man, many children and good fortune! Chapter 071

The two-day rest period ended, and Xiao Yan returned to the Special Warfare Brigade camp. Although he remained highly vigilant about the subtle sense of crisis looming over the city, as the captain, he had to fulfill his daily military duties and responsibilities.

It happened to be the turn of his Third Division to conduct routine patrols and security assessments of some key areas within their jurisdiction. This was normally a routine matter, usually led by a junior captain. But this time, Xiao Yan decided to lead the team himself.

On one hand, he wanted to take this opportunity to test the brigade’s actual combat readiness after the previous battles and rest; on the other, and more importantly, he wanted to use his current extraordinary eighth-grade perception, with its far greater range and precision than before, to personally investigate the city’s outskirts where missing person cases were frequent. He hoped to uncover clues that the Security Department and ordinary detection equipment might miss.

He didn’t make a big show of it. He merely selected the most experienced and well-coordinated First Squad, along with several technical soldiers equipped with the latest detection devices, and quietly left the camp in an inconspicuous, camouflaged armored patrol vehicle.

The vehicle drove along the roads on the city’s edge. Xiao Yan sat with his eyes closed, his powerful mental energy spreading out like an invisible tide, meticulously scanning everything within a several-kilometer radius. The shadows of tall buildings, abandoned factories, desolate parks, sewage-filled rivers… no corner that might hide filth escaped his perception.

The patrol route passed through several locations marked in previous case files where disappearances had occurred. Xiao Yan specifically had the vehicle slow down, carefully sensing for anything unusual, but just as the files described, the sites were unusually clean. Aside from lingering traces of urban life, he sensed no abnormal energy fluctuations or signs of struggle.

“It seems the other party is indeed very cautious, or rather… their method of handling traces is extremely clever,” Xiao Yan mused inwardly, his brow furrowed.

…

The convoy continued deeper, arriving at a more remote, large industrial zone that had been abandoned for many years. This place was once the early heavy industrial base of Fourth New Nanjing, later abandoned due to pollution and urban planning, leaving behind vast areas of factory buildings like a steel jungle, blast furnaces, and intricate underground pipe systems. Due to a lack of management, it had also become a gathering place for vagrants and some gray-area activities, making it one of the high-incidence areas for missing person cases.

The patrol vehicle slowly drove on the gravel and weed-strewn roads. Around them were massive, rust-stained metal structures and collapsed walls, making the area appear particularly desolate and eerie.

Suddenly, Xiao Yan sharply opened his eyes!

Just now, his radar-like perception had captured an extremely faint, almost imperceptible, yet exceptionally unique energy residue!

This energy fluctuation was very peculiar, carrying the cold obscurity of abyssal energy, yet seemingly mixed with a certain… evil aura similar to blood and resentment! It was completely different from the energy of the Brain-Devouring Terrors he had encountered before, but equally unsettling!

Moreover, this energy residue was extremely faint, like a flickering candle in the wind. If his mental energy hadn’t reached the extraordinary eighth-grade, with extremely high perceptual precision, he probably wouldn’t have noticed it at all!

“Stop the car!” Xiao Yan ordered in a deep voice.

The vehicle immediately halted. Zhang Tie, the captain of the First Squad, instantly became alert: “Captain, did you find something?”

“Follow me.” Xiao Yan didn’t explain further. He pushed open the car door, and with a flash of his figure, he soared towards the source of that faint energy fluctuation.

Zhang Tie dared not delay. He immediately gestured for his team members to maintain vigilance, while he himself, with two of his most elite members, followed closely behind Xiao Yan.

Following the almost imperceptible energy trail, Xiao Yan twisted and turned, arriving at an inconspicuous underground pipe entrance, hidden by half-human-high weeds and overturned abandoned oil drums.

The entrance was a rusty circular metal manhole cover, covered in dust and grime.

Xiao Yan crouched down, his powerful perception carefully scanning the ground around the manhole cover.

Soon, his gaze fixed on an extremely inconspicuous crack in the edge of the manhole cover.

There, a few drops of already dried, dark red, almost black, asphalt-like viscous liquid residue remained!

The sticky substance emitted precisely the strange energy aura he had just detected!

“This is…” Xiao Yan’s eyes narrowed. He cautiously extended his finger, not directly touching it, but gently brushing a wisp of Imperial-grade True Essence over the dried viscous liquid.

The sensation was sticky, cold, and strongly corrosive! Even his tempered True Essence felt a faint prickle and… a sense of being contaminated!

Just then, he also found a shallow, extremely fine scratch on the dusty pipe wall nearby!

This scratch didn’t look like it was left by metal friction; it was more like… a very sharp, curved claw had lightly scraped it! And the edge of the scratch also retained a nearly indiscernible energy aura, originating from the same source as the viscous liquid!

A smell of blood (though extremely faint, his extraordinary eighth-grade sense of smell could still detect it)!

Strange black-red viscous liquid!

Scratches possibly made by claws!

Combining this with the recent missing person cases…

Xiao Yan’s heart sank suddenly! A bad conjecture surfaced in his mind!

Blood Ghost Cult?!

Could it really be the Blood Ghost Cult resurfacing?!

After the battle at the Social Security Bureau, the Blood Ghost Cult’s power in Fourth New Nanjing should have been severely damaged, and they had been dormant for nearly three years. Had they really made a comeback? And were their actions even more secretive and bizarre?

“Captain?” Zhang Tie and his team cautiously approached. Seeing Xiao Yan’s grave expression, they also realized something was wrong.

“Seal off this area!” Xiao Yan abruptly stood up, his voice cold, issuing an undeniable command, “Immediately contact the base and dispatch the most professional forensic investigation and biological sample analysis team! Use the highest level of protective measures, and carefully collect these viscous liquid and scratch samples!”

He paused, his eyes becoming incredibly sharp: “Remember! This matter is strictly confidential! All findings must not be mentioned to anyone! All samples and analysis results are to be reported directly to me, single-line! Understand?!”

“Yes, Captain!” Although Zhang Tie didn’t understand what had happened, he felt the unprecedented gravity and killing intent in Xiao Yan’s tone. He immediately stood at attention and responded, daring not to delay in the slightest.