Chapter 23: Information Screening, Forces of Evil!

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First Update Today: Chapter 023!

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Except for Su Rui, the newcomer to the team, everyone else gave Yu Le a gift. To them, these might have seemed ordinary, but to Yu Le, who was used to hardship, every gift felt precious.

Though he was also a new teammate, Yu Le received some treatment that Su Rui did not, yet even Su Rui didn’t feel this was unfair.

Rather than just giving gifts, the team was actually investing in Yu Le.

Everyone knew that as a Heaven Martial prodigy blessed by the heavens, Yu Le held the potential to grow into a towering tree. Now, they were merely fertilizing the soil.

With their shared secret, the initial distance between the few who met that day quickly vanished.

After Yu Le had packed up the gifts from the five others, the waiter outside, whose hands were nearly numb from carrying, finally brought in the drinks.

Along with a variety of exquisite dishes prepared using spirit beasts, spiritual herbs, and spirit fish.

The array was dazzling; Yu Le couldn’t even pronounce the names of many ingredients, let alone had he ever tasted such cuisine before.

This feast was no small expense!

“Come, fill your glasses. Usually, because we need to undertake demon-hunting missions, our squad forbids alcohol. But today is different. Today, we welcome newcomers Yu Le and Su Rui. Let’s toast to our squad reaching new heights. Eat and drink well tonight; starting tomorrow, we all work hard together!”

Everyone clinked their glasses, the atmosphere warm and harmonious.

Naturally, Yu Le became the center of attention at this recruitment banquet. Sitting among several men, he learned many things previously unknown to him, including the duties of the demon-hunting squad and how to carry out various missions.

Meanwhile, two women from the team took out their computers and began working on something.

“Found it,” Xiao Yuan suddenly interrupted the lively chatter.

Nearby, Han Yuesu, who was organizing various data, furrowed her brows tightly.

Found what?

Xiao Yuan bounced over, holding a laptop, and showed it to the group.

Yu Le’s pupils contracted sharply as he saw the search results on the screen.

“Uncle Geng, these are the reports of children missing within the Burning City over the past few months, found in the demon-hunting association’s database.”

Geng Xiao put down his glass and scrutinized the data carefully. Su Rui, at the edge, widened his eyes: “That many?”

Xiao Yuan nodded: “Within three months, the demon-hunting association received over 130 reports of missing children. But these are only the cases officially submitted to the association. Although most of these cases are low-level with rewards ranging from tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand yuan...”

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Ling Xiao added, “At that reward level, even some well-established Yellow-rank demon-hunting squads might not be interested.”

But this represented the entire wealth those families could muster!

Yu Le understood Xiao Yuan’s implication: “So, these are just the reported cases with posted rewards. There must be countless others without enough money to officially submit tasks to the association.”

“Exactly,” Xiao Yuan confirmed.

She then manipulated the interface again.

“After filtering, about a dozen were false alarms—those missing children were found. Of the remaining cases, one-third resemble Uncle Yu’s daughter’s sudden disappearance, with no clues at all. The other two-thirds…”

Information streamed up one by one.

If the one-third cases only had time and place but no valuable details, just like Yu An’an’s disappearance,

Then the rest shared a common factor.

“Involving monsters?” Yu Le’s heart sank after reading this.

Many parents reported seeing monsters near the locations where their children vanished. A few had even captured or retrieved surveillance footage clearly showing monsters abducting children.

“Monsters kidnapping children?” Su Rui stared at a relatively clear photo showing a monster carrying a child away, uttering a nonsensical statement.

But as soon as he spoke, the five members of the Burning Sky squad all turned their gaze toward him.

Su Rui’s bottom stiffened: “What? Did I say something wrong?”

Geng Xiao patted his shoulder: “No, you didn’t say anything wrong—you hit the crucial point.”

Kidnapping children was usually the work of human traffickers. Monsters typically only hunted for food!

Then, he clicked through photo after photo. Regardless of clarity or blur, and despite different monster species in the images, they shared a similar pattern.

These monsters acted like thieves—once they grabbed a child, they fled immediately.

Han Yuesu spoke up: “Monster attacks on humans are common. Some ferocious monsters like to prey on humans for food, sometimes even targeting children—this is normal.”

“A few monsters might even take human infants as their own offspring, but that’s exceptional.”

“But these scenes involve various monsters at different locations, yet none show the typical behavior of eating the children on the spot. Instead, it looks like deliberate theft—stealing children.”

At this point, the five members of the Burning Sky squad grew solemn, having sensed the gravity of the situation.

Amid Yu Le and Su Rui’s puzzled expressions, Meng Huai couldn’t help but speak: “Could it be that behind this is…”

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Han Yuesu drew a deep breath: “It’s close to that. The only group known to command monsters to perform such strange acts is the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect.”

Ten Thousand Beasts Sect?

Yu Le looked at the equally new Su Rui, noticing fear etched across his face.

Clearly, he had heard the name before.

“What is the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect?”

Han Yuesu’s face twisted with disgust: “An evil force steeped in villainy.”

Xiao Yuan was more straightforward, pulling up a post introducing the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect.

By definition, the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect is a cult that controls various monsters to commit crimes against society.

The post briefly described the sect’s origin and the destruction it had wrought in the human realm.

About sixty years ago, a prodigy of unparalleled brilliance emerged in the human realm, but instead of walking a righteous path, he became known as an evil cultivator.

As he grew, he committed countless heinous crimes, bringing disaster upon many.

His existence threatened all humanity, prompting a coalition of powerful figures, sect leaders, and clan heads to besiege him.

After a legendary battle, he was finally slain.

However, his dying words gave birth to the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, a shadowy anti-human organization lurking in the dark corners.

“What did he say?” Yu Le asked curiously.

Everyone shook their heads: “Any leaked videos have been completely banned.”

Han Yuesu quietly added: “Some have summarized his last words’ meaning as...”

“When you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.”

Isn’t that Nietzsche’s famous saying?

Could it be that he was, like himself, a traveler from another world?