Tang Hao shot a fireball from his hand and burned the corpse of the vampire into ashes.
The thirty-three vampires of Baird manor were dead.
He gently exhaled, feeling a lot better.
He went around the room once and looted anything of value.
He planned to hand over the items to the Taoist masters so that they could sell them. The money would be used as compensation for the victims’ families.
After that, he went to the room that held the girls.
Just when he was about to open the door, he stopped and realized that his bloody appearance might scare the girls.
He changed into a set of clean clothes and pushed the door open.
The room was dim. The air inside was stale and carried the stench of rot.
Several big steel cages were placed in the room. In each of those cages was a thin girl with shackles on her feet, as though she was not a human but livestock.
They sat up in attention when they heard the door open, and they looked toward the door with fear.
Tang Hao felt a tug in his heartstrings when he saw the scene.
“Everything’s OK now. I’m here to save you!” Tang Hao said gently.
He walked to the first cage, tore away the lock, and opened the door.
“You’re really safe now! Here, look at my military ID. I’m here to save you… the baddies are all dead!” Tang Hao crouched in front of the girl and showed her his identity card.
The girl became less wary when she saw it.
Tears gushed out of her eyes. She could not hold it back anymore and started crying loudly.
She rushed forward and hugged Tang Hao. “Big Brother… I was so scared…”
Tang Hao hugged her frail body and patted her head. “Everything is fine now!”
He broke open the locks on each cage and released the girls. He also briefly inspected their bodies.
All twelve girls were very thin. Their arms were full of needle holes. Two of them were especially weak and would be dead in a few days.
“Let’s go outside!”
Tang Hao led the way out.
Very soon, they could hear the wail of sirens coming from afar. A squad of police cars arrived, as well as several ambulances.
After the police cars stopped, Captain Zhang, Zhao Qingxue, and the others got out of the cars. They were overjoyed when they saw the girls sitting at the entrance.
“Thank you so much, Comrade Tang Hao!”
Captain Zhang went over and shook Tang Hao’s hands firmly.
His eyes were wet when he saw the girls.
“They’re all OK. That’s great!”
He straightened his brows and displayed an expression of extreme indignation.
“Dammit, so Westerners were behind this crime. I won’t forgive them for performing such evil deeds on Huaxia soil! Where are they?” He took out a pair of handcuffs and prepared to rush inside.
“They’re gone!” Tang Hao said.
“Huh?” Captain Zhang was confused.
“They’re gone! No more! Turned into ashes!”
Captain Zhang felt a chill up his spine. He sucked in a mouthful of cold air.
“That’s the end of this case!” Tang Hao stood up, dusted his hands, and walked toward his car.
“Right, you should be prepared for what’s coming tonight.”
Tang Hao sat inside his car, started the engine, and drove off. Captain Zhang and the other police officers were still standing on the spot, confused.
“Be prepared? What does he mean?” Captain Zhang said cluelessly.
“I don’t know!” The other police officers were baffled too.
Suddenly, Captain Zhang’s phone started ringing. When he answered the call, he trembled violently and his expression changed drastically.
“What’s wrong, Captain?” A police officer behind him noticed the sudden change and asked him.
Captain Zhang froze on the spot, his hand clutching his phone, looking incredulously at the direction in which Tang Hao left.
He turned around after a long time. “The Provincial Headquarters declared a state of emergency not too long ago. From now on, all police officers are to be on standby in the police station and await further orders.”
All the police officers around him were shocked when they heard that.
“A state of emergency? Is something big going to happen?” A police officer said incredulously.
Whatever that was coming seemed to be more serious than the explosions and sniper attacks.
“I don’t know!” Captain Zhang seemed confused.
“Don’t tell me it has something to do with him?” A police officer said as he looked toward the direction in which Tang Hao left.
All the police officers felt a chill travel up their spine.
Many of them had thought of that, but they were unwilling to believe it.
“What does he want to pull off this time? What is going to happen?”
“I don’t know, but it’s going to be something major!” Captain Zhang mumbled.
…
At noon, a military jet landed on an airfield somewhere.
The door of the aircraft opened, and a group of men in military uniforms stepped out.
The leader was General Bai.
“Comrade Tang Hao!”
General Bai shook hands with Tang Hao, who had been waiting there.
“Colonel Tang!”
The other military officers also shook hands with him.
“All these people are the best in the Agency! A big fella will be coming soon, and they’ll be the ones operating it.” General Bai introduced the people to Tang Hao.
The Mao Mountain Taoist priests arrived very soon. Their cars drove into the military base.
“Fellow Cultivator Tang, General Bai! This is a good operation! We Huaxianese have been bullied by those people over these years. It’s time that we strike back.”
“This is the first step to restoring the glory of Huaxia! We’ll show them what we can do!”
“We’ll let those filthy Westerners know that Huaxia does not tolerate bullies! If they dare to do evil in Huaxia, the only consequence is death!”
The elderly Taoist masters’ faces were red with excitement.
A short while later, a fleet of military jets flew over and landed at the airfield.
Squads of soldiers came out carrying crates of supplies.
An extraordinarily huge object came out of one of the transporters. A black cloth covered it.
“This is… an amazing piece of technology! We’ll be relying on it tonight.”
“It’s a specially made radar to detect abnormal qi signatures to differentiate cultivators from mundane people. The Agency has spent a lot of money on developing this piece of equipment.
“Of course, it can also detect those monsters too. Its range can cover the entire Provincial City.
“None of the evil monsters can hide from the radar!
“Why don’t we make a few more? It’s very expensive, dammit! Do you think the Agency grows money on trees? It’s not like you don’t know that!
“Do you think everyone is as rich as you? The Agency will go broke if we make a few more.”
General Bai rambled on.
