The Demon-Beast Tunnel

"Instructor Pan, I think I know where we might find a lead." Mo Fan had been listening to the two of them talk when something clicked, and he spoke up quickly.

"Where?" Both turned to him with puzzled expressions.

"The City Demon-Hunting Squad," Mo Fan said.

Their conversation had triggered a thought that had been flickering at the edge of his mind.

The Demon-Beast invasion appeared to have come out of nowhere — but Mo Fan, as a Squad member, had actually picked up on some early warning signs about Bo City's situation. The most glaring of them was the unchecked proliferation of Giant-Eyed Ape-Rats.

Giant-Eyed Ape-Rats were expert tunnelers. From that alone, it wasn't hard to deduce that the underground passages linking the outside world to Bo City had been excavated by them.

The City Demon-Hunting Squad kept records of every Demon-Beast they hunted. The Ape-Rats' movements throughout Bo City must have indirectly betrayed the locations of the tunnel openings.

The two exchanged a glance, and understanding struck them both at once.

For Giant-Eyed Ape-Rats to have bored tunnels of that scale beneath Bo City without leaving a single trace — that was impossible. And when it came to knowing what was going wrong in this city, no one had better intelligence than the City Demon-Hunting Squad.

They could get solid leads from there.

"Good thinking. I'll contact the Squad right away." The man in the headscarf gave a firm nod.

Pan Lijun turned to look at Mo Fan with faint surprise. She hadn't expected this student to cut straight to something so critical.

"I'm actually a Squad member myself," Mo Fan said, a rueful smile crossing his face under her scrutiny. "After the last Field Expedition, I realized just how much stronger I needed to become, so I joined one of the City Demon-Hunting Squads. I just don't know where they're based right now."

"You never stop surprising us," Pan Lijun said, managing a strained smile.

"Instructor Pan — how is Xuefeng Mountain Waystation holding up? My father is there."

"Don't worry. It's safer than Bo City right now. He'll be fine."

"That's a relief." Mo Fan paused. "Could you do me one more favor?"

"Go ahead, little hero."

"The Quarantine Safe Zone is packed — it's like a massive evacuation camp in there. I can't find the family members who were evacuated. Could you help me find out which section they're in?"

"Of course. Commander Cheng will need a bit of time to track down the Demon-Hunting Squad anyway."

With Demon-Beasts loose inside the city, normal communications had gone almost completely dark.

Not long after, the headscarfed Commander Cheng returned — and he had brought others with him. Among them were two faces Mo Fan recognized immediately: Xiao Ke and Xu Dahuang.

Xiao Ke was cradling her miniature laptop, rapidly scrolling through the hunting logs she had entered into the system.

"We've narrowed it down to a few areas where Giant-Eyed Ape-Rats were previously sighted," she said, addressing Commander Cheng. "The first is a park in the Beilin District — one Ape-Rat attacked a civilian there. That was also likely the earliest confirmed point of Demon-Beast incursion into the city."

"Beilin District is currently occupied by Demon-Beasts," Commander Cheng confirmed with a nod.

"Then there's Guangshang Heavenly Street, followed by Lufeng Town, and then—"

"Are there any locations with a confirmed tunnel opening?" Commander Cheng cut in.

"Yes — a tunnel was found beneath the cafeteria at Mingwen Middle School. A girl went missing around the same time. The Demon-Beast density in the Mingwen District is extremely high. There has to be an entry point there."

"I remember that one," Feishi jumped in. "Fan Mo had just joined the squad. We got called out to Mingwen Girls' School for an Ape-Rat sighting, and then the police found the tunnel too. Everyone assumed that girl had been dragged underground and eaten."

The group talked as they walked. Xiao Ke and Xu Dahuang clearly hadn't noticed Mo Fan standing off to the side — both were deep in thought.

The rest of the hunting squad, of course, knew that Mo Fan was Fan Mo. They were quietly baffled — shouldn't he be meditating in the Earth Sacred Spring? What was he doing here?

"If there's a Demon-Beast entry point in the Mingwen District," Commander Cheng said, turning to the female Military Mage beside him, "have the residents been evacuated?"

"No evacuation orders have been issued for that area."

Silence fell over the group.

After a long moment, Xu Dahuang furrowed his brow. "So there really is a Demon-Beast entry point in the Mingwen District — and it's at Mingwen Girls' School. No wonder people around there kept feeling tremors, like a construction crew was working underground. It was Giant-Eyed Ape-Rats boring their tunnels the whole time."

"No evacuation?" Mo Fan's gaze locked onto the female Military Mage who had just spoken. "Are you sure you haven't made a mistake? You're certain they haven't evacuated?"

"Mo Fan, calm down—"

"The entry point is almost certainly near Mingwen Girls' School. The Mingwen District will have taken a serious hit because of it. Getting people out from there is no simple operation."

Mo Fan went very still.

He remembered clearly — Ye Xinxia had mentioned that her school experienced frequent tremors. Now he understood. That had been the Giant-Eyed Ape-Rats digging their tunnels beneath their feet all along.

If Demon-Beasts had clawed their way out directly from there, the entire school could have been obliterated in an instant.

The whole of Bo City was already drowning in crisis. Who would have had the attention to spare for one middle school's evacuation?

"Commander Cheng, our priority right now is to dispatch a team there immediately and destroy the Demon-Beast entry point," Pan Lijun said.

The tunnel had been found. Every second counted now.

"The team has to be small," the female Military Mage said. "These Demon-Beasts aren't mindless. The moment they spot a large force moving toward their entry point, they'll know exactly what we're after — and they'll send a flood of Demon-Beasts to cut us off."

Commander Cheng swept his gaze across everyone present, his voice heavy. "I'll go arrange the personnel."

"Commander, I'm coming with you," Xu Dahuang said. "As squad captain, I know better than anyone how to fight Demon-Beasts in an urban environment."

Xiao Ke glanced at Xu Dahuang but said nothing, unsure whether the call was hers to make.

"Agreed. Having an elite hunter along will improve our odds considerably." Commander Cheng nodded. "But this mission is extremely dangerous. Everyone needs to stay sharp, no matter what."

The group had just finished their planning and were beginning their preparations when someone stepped into their path.

"Fan Mo?!" Xiao Ke and Xu Dahuang both startled. "Wait — Mo Fan!"

Mo Fan looked at the two of them, then shifted his gaze to Commander Cheng.

Pan Lijun's expression shifted to surprise as well. "Mo Fan — don't tell me you're joining too. You already led Tianlan Magic High School to safety, and you destroyed the Black Church's plan to seize the Earth Sacred Spring. Please — stay in the Quarantine Safe Zone and rest. Leave this to us."

"Exactly," Commander Cheng added with a firm nod. "You've done more than enough. You're a hero to this city. And this mission — calling it a 'one-in-ten chance of survival' would be generous."

A hero to this city?

Mo Fan didn't see it that way.

*If she dies — then I'm nothing. Just worthless, through and through.*