I subdue demons and monsters, and cultivate immortality in hell to become a saint.

Hundreds of fairies took action, as if sounding the charge. A series of deafening roars instantly echoed through Beipu District, and at least seventy or eighty thousand fairies rushed out from every corner.

There were tiger demons with bared teeth and claws, wolf demons with snarling teeth, pig demons with fat heads and big ears, and dog demons wagging their tails. The variety was so great that it was dazzling.

"Good heavens, so many fairies! Have you made Beipu District your lair?"

Zhong Jiu stared in disbelief, then his eyes turned cold, his anger flaring even higher. "So, all those hundreds of thousands of missing infants were swallowed by you beasts to enhance your cultivation? You treated Xing Sha City like your buffet, didn't you? Today, I will act on behalf of Heaven and burn you all to ashes!"

Zhong Jiu had long understood that this world, with its resurgence of supernatural phenomena and overflowing yin energy, had naturally given rise to a group of demons and monsters.

The old locust tree spirit that he burned to ashes earlier was an old demon that had cultivated its power. If it hadn't been eliminated in time, its evil deeds might not have been any worse than those of the Thousand-Eyed Demon.

Before this, Zhong Jiu had not encountered any other demons and secretly thought that the demon race might still be a scattered and insignificant force. Now he realized that he had been thinking too much.

This group of demons not only gained power, but they were so audacious that they dared to infiltrate the heart of human cities: first killing people and stealing their skins, then disguising themselves as humans to infiltrate, and finally using insidious demonic magic to abduct infants, engaging in acts that would lead to the extinction of their lineage.

Ghosts dare to openly harm people, but these demons only engage in clandestine and shady dealings, making them even more despicable.

"Since you dare to trespass and cause trouble in Star Sand City, then you'll all stay here and serve as my firewood!"

Zhong Jiu's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and he hurled the twelve Blazing Sky Banners into the sky.

In an instant, raging flames poured down from the sky, crashing down on the demon horde like falling meteors. Any demon touched by the flames was reduced to ashes and vanished without a trace before it could even scream.

"You scum from the underworld! Don't push your luck! Star Sand City is territory we occupied first!"

Seeing the heavy casualties among his men, the leading tiger demon was so enraged that his fur stood on end and his roar was deafening.

Zhong Jiu scoffed and said in a deep voice, "What? Just because you stepped on it first, does this Xing Sha City become your backyard? When did my investigating cases and exorcising demons become a matter of fighting you for territory? Have you lost your mind because of the flames?"

He knew perfectly well that demons and ghosts were completely different things. Demons were mostly wild beasts that had become spirits, and their minds were still stuck in the stage of eating raw meat and drinking blood, and they didn't understand human relationships.

Just like this tiger demon in front of us, it's almost exterminated but it's still arguing about "territorial ownership". Its aggrieved look makes it seem like Zhong Jiu is bullying others with his power.

If it were a ghost, it would have already knelt down and begged for mercy or fought back desperately by now. How could it have such a naive idea?

"All generals of the City God's Palace, heed my command! Slaughter without mercy, leave no one alive!"

Zhong Jiu was too lazy to waste words with this stupid demon. With a command, the City God's Guards and Soul Messengers, who had been waiting in ambush, immediately charged forward.

These demons looked fierce, but in reality they were all incompetent fools who had never fought a hard battle. Faced with the well-equipped and skilled army of the City God, they were routed in less than half an incense stick's time.

Despite being badly injured, the tiger demon still stubbornly threatened, "Do you know who we are? We are demon generals under the command of the Great Evil Demon King of White Forest Mountain! We've only come to collect the bones of 300,000 infants, and we'll leave once it's done. If you dare to ruin my king's plans, when the Great Evil Saint's army arrives at the city gates, we will grind you to dust!"

Zhong Jiu shook his head at its ugly, snarling appearance, realizing that trying to reason with a wild beast was like casting pearls before swine.

According to this tiger demon's logic, only taking 300,000 baby bones is considered "showing mercy." So, not ruining all the babies in the city makes them seem like they're being righteous?

This is utterly absurd!

The only way to deal with these monstrous creatures that know neither good nor evil is to strike them into a state of deep-seated fear.

Any unnecessary words are a waste of time.

However, Zhong Jiu kept the title "White Forest Mountain Giant Evil Demon King" in mind.

Bai Senshan will surely expose the truth of the crime committed by his subordinates in Xingsha City sooner or later. Demons and monsters should be killed by everyone!

Before the time it takes to drink a cup of tea is up, all the demons in the arena have been slaughtered, with only a few leaders, including the tiger demon, left alive to be taken back to the City God's Mansion for further interrogation.

Although this battle destroyed a large part of Beipu District, it also completely eradicated this malignant tumor hidden in the heart of the city, which was worthwhile!

"Sir! The remaining residents of Beipu Ward are not behaving properly!"

A messenger hurried forward to report, his tone urgent.

Zhong Jiu immediately opened his divine eyes and scanned his surroundings.

As expected, hundreds of thousands of people wandered the streets with blank stares and unsteady steps, like zombies, having lost even the most basic ability to think.

"This is a case of being possessed by demonic magic!" Zhong Jiu's eyes suddenly turned cold.

These demons are cunning. After infiltrating Beipu District, they secretly used their magic to control the people, both to prevent their whereabouts from being exposed and to act as a shield.

Judging from the situation, this method has been in use for quite some time, and it has probably left considerable aftereffects on the people.

The demon has been defeated and its magic has dissipated, but the people who were controlled by it remain unconscious.

Zhong Jiu took a deep breath, channeling all his divine power into his throat, and let out a resounding shout that shook the heavens: "Wake up!"

This shout triggered a thunderous response from the heavens, and a deafening roar echoed throughout the entire city.

The dazed people were jolted awake, blinking as if waking from a dream, looking around in confusion; even the residents who had already fallen asleep in the city were jolted awake by the thunder and got up, putting on their clothes.

"Holy crap! Was that thunder going to split the sky?"

"What happened? I feel really unwell all over."

"There seems to be some activity in Bukpo District. Could something serious have happened?"

The people talked amongst themselves, spending the night in anxiety.

Meanwhile, the Special Operations Department personnel had already rushed to Beipu District following the sound of thunder, and when they saw the scene before them, they all froze on the spot.

Half of the once bustling Beipu District was destroyed, the ground was scorched black, and the air was filled with gunpowder smoke and eerie atmosphere, clearly indicating that a fierce battle had just taken place.

The mountain of monster corpses was enough to make one's scalp crawl.

"This...this is the legendary monster?"

A young special operations team member's voice trembled, and he subconsciously took a half step back. Although he had dealt with paranormal events before, he had never seen so many demonic entities.

Looking at the devastated city, Zhang Yunxiao smiled bitterly: "What a troublesome time! The ghost problem hasn't been quelled yet, and now demons have emerged. We humans are caught in the middle, like a piece of pastry that everyone wants a bite of."

"Minister Zhang! We've made a discovery here!"

Zhong Yingmei's voice came through, filled with undisguised shock.

The crowd rushed over and saw a large crater in the ground of the small square in Beipu District.

One of the team members jumped down to investigate first, and the next second he let out a piercing cry: "Quick! Call someone! This place is full of skulls!"

This was undoubtedly a massive undertaking. Hundreds of special operations team members worked through the night to move the materials, and the cleanup was barely completed by dawn.

When the mountain of white infant skulls appeared before everyone's eyes, the entire scene fell into a deathly silence.

"So it turns out that the previous cases of missing babies were the work of these monsters."

Zhong Yingmei suppressed the churning in her stomach, her voice choked with emotion.

Although she was relieved that the case had been solved and grateful for the bravery of the underworld, looking at the piles of white bones, all that remained in her heart was a heavy sorrow.

Behind this are hundreds of thousands of broken families.

How many untold tragedies are hidden in the vast city of Xingsha?

The next day, the news was made public, and the entire city of Xingsha fell into a deathly silence.

The tragic deaths of hundreds of thousands of babies plunged all citizens into grief. Even knowing that it was the gods who had vanquished the demon, no one cheered anymore.

Zhong Jiu showed no joy whatsoever. Looking at the files on his desk, he coldly ordered, "Within seven days, all staff of the City God's Palace will be mobilized to wipe out all demons and monsters in Xing Sha City, leaving no corner untouched!"

This battle to exterminate the demon was merely the prelude to the City God's purge operation.

In this metropolis of 20 million people, no one knows how many dark corners are hiding evil spirits.

As soon as the order was given, the entire City God's Palace sprang into action.

Squads of heavily armored soldiers and rows of grim-faced ghost messengers swept through the city under the cover of night; day and night, wandering gods patrolled the four directions, shackled generals apprehended fierce ghosts and evil demons, and the Black and White Impermanence collected souls and took lives. Everyone was so busy that their feet barely touched the ground.