As the sky turned slightly bright, with the sun yet to fully rise, there were already pedestrians on the street.
The daytime in this city is much shorter than the night, so very few people sleep until daylight before getting up.
Moreover, this time period is actually safer than daytime.
Monsters that hunt at night usually come out only in the depths of night, while those that hunt during the day typically sleep until dawn before going out for fun; monsters without a fixed hunting time are dangerous no matter when they appear.
Although this city is terrifying and oppressive, life must go on. Under the deliberate control of those monsters, the population of Yalan City has always remained at a relatively stable level.
In front of the Yalan City government, there is a tall flagpole where the flag-bearer prepares to raise the flag every day at first light.
The flag here is a blue and white triangular flag, which looks poorly shaped.
The flag-raising location is the most prosperous area of Yalan City. Occasionally, many citizens come back to watch the flag-raising, for it is one of the few beliefs they have left.
Today, like usual, two spirited soldiers held the blue and white flag and walked to the flagpole.
They intended to have the flag reach the top of the pole with the first ray of morning sunlight.
Seeing that it was about time, the soldier attached the flag to the rope, then pulled another rope to hoist the flag upward.
During the pulling, the soldier heard the crowd below gasping in surprise, but he paid no attention.
Not until he found the flag couldn't move did he notice something was wrong. According to his flag-raising routine, there should still be at least two meters to the top.
When he looked up, he almost fainted from shock; above the flagpole, there was actually a person 'skewered' there!
This person, with an exposed upper body, had a smiling face mark branded on his chest and a huge wooden board hanging behind him.
While the two soldiers were discussing how to handle this 'person', the first ray of morning sunlight came in, shining on the figure at the top of the pole.
The silhouette twisted violently, trying to avoid the sunlight, but inevitably was burned by it and let out a beast-like roar.
Citizens, hearing this roar, scattered in fear, while a few did not escape. They watched the figure on the flagpole with grim, dreadful expressions.
Gradually, under the sun, Aide became a mummified corpse, then turned into ashes that dispersed in mid-air.
To a low-level vampire, sunlight is the deadliest poison. Even a mere touch of sunlight will burn them, and prolonged exposure will result in a miserable death like Aide's.
Burning Aide the vampire to ashes in full view of the city's citizens was a show Wen Wen wanted the city to see.
He declared in this manner that Detective Wen was going to stir things up here!
Those few who didn't flee were the hidden monsters among the crowd. The scene of Aide being executed on the flagpole was deeply imprinted in their minds.
Previously, there were also monsters killed by the city's Security Office, but it never left such a massive impact. Orıginal content can be found at Novᴇl_Fire(.)net
After Aide vanished, the board beneath him was revealed, with a line of big characters painted in red.
The humanoid monsters looked at each other and left the square one by one.
They didn't feel fear, only boundless anger. They considered themselves the overlords of this city, and the person who hung Aide on the flagpole was provoking them!
When they got back, they would investigate this mysterious person. Although the city is large, it's also small. Finding the troublemaker wouldn't be difficult.
By then, they would make that guy suffer a public and miserable death, no, worse than Aide's!
That way, they could intimidate these foolish citizens, making them afraid to entertain thoughts of resistance.
Unbeknownst to these monsters, not far away, a man with a bizarre grin was watching the square's situation through binoculars.
He observed the faces of the monstrous creatures for a while, ultimately selecting the most arrogant one among them, sneakily tailing him to his dwelling.
After the man returned home, he immediately chugged a bottle of alcohol, causing white smoke to rise from his body as his human skin rotted and fell to reveal a horrifying appearance.
This was a light green monster covered in a thick layer of mucus, with skin full of tiny holes as if infested by worms.
He was a shape-shifter, capable of using his secretions to mimic human skin and disguise himself as human.
Wen Wen lay outside the shape-shifter's window, staring intently inside, "Shape-shifter, let me think, what was its weakness... This thing's surface is disgusting; I don't want to touch it."
"Tsk tsk, I remember now. Its weakness is salt; the shape-shifter's mucus decomposes into a high-temperature substance and water when encountering salt, and its skin, like a snail's, will dehydrate in contact with salt."
"I'll deal with it tonight. Let me prepare some things first."
Next, Wen Wen found Yalan City's finest fireworks and glass craftsmen, 'secured' some needed items, and then returned to the shape-shifter's home, subduing it with ease.
Wen Wen's strength may not be great now, but his experience was sufficient to crush these low-level monsters. As long as it's not a head-on confrontation, he has ten thousand ways to deal with these small monsters.
As dusk fell, the people of Yalan City prepared for sleep.
Once, there were a lot of night owls here, but when one night owl after another suddenly died, the people learned to sleep on time.
However, tonight was destined not to be peaceful. Still, in the square from earlier in the day, heaps of fireworks lay on the ground, shooting into the sky one after another.
Once airborne, the fireworks burst into eye-catching texts under the guidance of some unknown force.
"There's nowhere to run."
"Pray I'm not looking for you first."
"You're at death's door."
In short, they were threatening words.
Some monsters were alarmed but found no one setting off the fireworks here. The fireworks were pre-arranged, their long fuses lit, ensuring their sequential release.
Within the fireworks' encirclement, there was a giant sand timer over two meters high.
Sitting cross-legged below, tightly bound, was the shape-shifter, whose chest bore a maniacal smiling face mark, with salt continuously trickling down from above.
The salt sprinkled on the shape-shifter's body, causing it to emit hissing white smoke.
But after all, it was a monster, not a fragile slug, so it kept secreting mucus, barely maintaining balance.
"Save me, help me..." The shape-shifter pleaded with the monsters for help, the appearance of its companions igniting the hope of survival within him.
A monster quickly transformed into a sturdy wild boar and directly crashed through the giant sand timer, attempting to rush out with the shape-shifter.
With its speed, the whole process wouldn't let the shape-shifter get contaminated with the salt from the top of the sand timer.
But just as it broke through the glass, a rune array below flared up, sending blistering currents that made the Wild Boar Demon Yao pause for a brief few seconds.
In those few seconds, a massive amount of salt from above piled up on the shape-shifter's body.
The shape-shifter struggled violently, shrinking to the size of a basketball when the Wild Boar Demon Yao pulled it out, devoid of a trace of vitality.
Seeing this scene, the monsters present shuddered in terror.
If earlier in the morning they only felt anger, now a hint of fear finally emerged in their hearts.
Even though they were monsters in human eyes, they didn't want such a miserable fate to befall them.
And atop a nearby building, Wen Wen pocketed his binoculars, having already picked the next target: the one who seemed the least afraid!