63: Even if I change my identity, I can still run rampant in the state capital!

As night deepened, inside the inn room, Li Dong toyed with the Shape-Shifting Mask. It was as thin as a cicada's wing, cool to the touch.

“Can this thing really work?” He muttered, but still, following the System's prompt, he placed the mask over his face.

After a slight tingling sensation, the person in the mirror had completely changed in appearance.

It was a young man, around twenty, with an ordinary, even somewhat simple and honest face, yet his eyes held a hint of shrewdness.

“Mu Feng… Yes, I’ll call myself Mu Feng.” Li Dong, no, now Mu Feng, grinned, and his voice became a bit hoarse and low.

He stretched his limbs, feeling as if even his height had decreased by a couple of inches.

“System, is this new identity of mine reliable?”

Ding! The Shape-Shifting Mask has perfectly conformed. The Host's current appearance, height, skeletal structure, and Qi fluctuations have been completely altered. Unless the Host actively removes it or the mask is damaged, external detection methods will find it extremely difficult to expose.

“Extremely difficult to expose? So, there’s still a chance of being exposed?” Mu Feng raised an eyebrow.

Unless encountering a powerful Cultivator whose cultivation far surpasses the Host's, and who is proficient in special pupil techniques or Soul detection secret arts, for targeted deep probing.

“Alright, it’s better than wandering around with Li Dong’s face.” Mu Feng shrugged, “At least Lin Xiaotian’s incompetent subordinates definitely won’t be able to tell.”

He looked at himself in the mirror from all angles, growing more satisfied the more he looked: “Not bad, not bad. This demeanor, you wouldn’t find me in a crowd. Low-key, luxurious, with substance!”

The next morning, at the General Affairs Hall on the outskirts of the Prefecture Demon Suppression Division.

It was still bustling with people, mostly low-level Cultivators and temporary hired personnel, handling various miscellaneous tasks.

Mu Feng wore a simple blue short-sleeved shirt, his cultivation suppressed to the Foundation Establishment Stage - Early Phase, standing in line, appearing inconspicuous.

“Name, Origin, what business do you wish to handle?” A sleepy-eyed deacon behind the window asked without lifting his head.

“Mu Feng, a Loose Cultivator. I heard the Prefecture Demon Suppression Division is recruiting temporary Demon Suppression Guards, so I came to apply.” Mu Feng’s voice carried a hint of nervousness and hope, perfectly portraying a low-level Cultivator who had just arrived and wanted to make a living.

The deacon finally lifted his eyelids, sizing up Mu Feng: “Oh? A Loose Cultivator? Do you have a recommendation?”

“No, I don’t.” Mu Feng scratched his head, giving an honest smile, “But I’m fast, and I’m pretty strong. Doing odd jobs, tracking a few small demons or monsters, shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Alright, alright, fill out the form.” The deacon impatiently threw out a Jade Slip, “If you pass the test, you can get a temporary waist token. Remember, temporary means temporary, don’t think too much.”

“Aye, alright!” Mu Feng took the Jade Slip, but a cold laugh echoed in his heart. Temporary? This temporary worker of mine is going to do great things!

With certain “conveniences” gained after the System upgrade, plus his more than eighty thousand merit points quietly “greasing” certain Link, the so-called tests and reviews were just a formality.

Soon, a bronze waist token engraved with the words “Demon Suppression Temp - Mu Feng” landed in his hand.

“Done!” Mu Feng weighed the waist token, a subtle smile playing on the corner of his lips.

With a new identity, Brother is still a member of the Demon Suppression Division! Lin Xiaotian, you can take your time looking for “Li Dong”!

Over the next few days, Mu Feng, under the identity of temporary Demon Suppression Guard “Mu Feng,” began to move within the Prefecture Demon Suppression Division.

He didn't rush to access the core areas, but instead specifically chose low-level tasks such as patrolling, escorting, and investigating information.

Although these tasks didn't offer much benefit, they provided freedom, allowing him more opportunities to observe the internal movements of the Demon Suppression Division.

“Have you heard? That Earth Abyss matter isn’t over yet!” A sharp-faced, monkey-jawed Demon Suppression Guard whispered to his companion in a corner of the mission hall.

“How isn’t it over? Didn’t they say that kid named Li Dong was a Demonic Path spy who fled in fear of punishment?”

“Bullshit! I heard that Deputy Commander Lin has been in a terrible mood lately, cursing every day! His faction is like rabid dogs, biting everyone. Anyone connected to the Earth Abyss has been thoroughly investigated.”

“Hiss… So, that Li Dong, he really had something going on?”

“Who knows? But, I heard that several kids from the New Recruit Camp who had contact with Li Dong have been having a terrible time these past few days, being called in for ‘tea’ by Young Master Lin Fan’s people every day.”

Mu Feng sat not far away, holding a cup of low-quality spirit tea, but his ears were perked up high.

Lin Fan… Hmph, this little dog is still jumping around quite happily. But, you guys can take your time interrogating, I’m just wandering around right under your noses!

He could feel that after the Earth Abyss incident, the atmosphere throughout the Prefecture Demon Suppression Division had become unusually tense.

Lin Xiaotian’s faction was clearly stepping up their actions, seemingly wanting to completely cover up the mess of the Earth Abyss as quickly as possible.

“A purge? It seems that old dog is truly anxious.” Mu Feng thought to himself.

That day, as Mu Feng was looking through mission Jade Slips in the mission hall, a familiar voice sounded behind him.

“Mu… Brother Mu Feng?”

Mu Feng’s body stiffened slightly, then he turned his head nonchalantly, a simple and honest smile on his face: “And this Cultivator is?”

The person who came was none other than Brother Qian. At this moment, he looked haggard, with dark circles under his eyes. When he saw Mu Feng, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, followed by some uncertainty.

“You… you don’t recognize me? I’m Qian… Qian Deduo!” Brother Qian said somewhat eagerly.

Mu Feng let out an “oh,” and slapped his head as if suddenly enlightened: “Ah! Brother Qian! Look at my memory! You look much more haggard these past few days. What happened?”

Brother Qian gave a bitter smile, pulled Mu Feng to a secluded corner, and lowered his voice: “Don’t even mention it, it’s all because of Brother Li Dong’s matter… Alas, I don’t know how he is now, whether he’s alive or dead…”

He looked at Mu Feng, with a hint of expectation in his eyes: “Brother Mu Feng, you’re well-informed, do you… do you have any news of Brother Li Dong?”

Mu Feng felt a warmth in his heart. Brother Qian was still that warm-hearted Brother Qian.

He shook his head, a perfectly appropriate expression of difficulty and sympathy on his face: “Brother Qian, you know, the rumors are very tight right now. Brother Li Dong’s matter is being investigated strictly by the higher-ups. How could a small fry like me dare to inquire?”

He paused, then added: “However, I heard people say that Brother Li Dong is a lucky man, and perhaps he has already gone far away to find a place to live a carefree life.”

“Alas, I hope so.” Brother Qian sighed, his expression dim. He patted Mu Feng’s shoulder, “Brother Mu Feng, you also be careful. This Prefecture is not peaceful.”

“Yes, thank you for the reminder, Brother Qian, I will.” Mu Feng nodded.

Watching Brother Qian’s lonely figure depart, Mu Feng felt a mix of emotions. Some friends don’t need constant contact, but that friendship is always there.

“Don’t worry, Brother Qian, Li Dong is doing very well.” He muttered to himself, “When I’ve dealt with these dogs, I’ll invite you for a drink!”

After seeing off Brother Qian, Mu Feng's thoughts returned to the missions.

He was no longer satisfied with ordinary patrol missions.

“The Lin family… and those people on the list… their financial transactions, their allocation of Materials, there must be some clues, right?”

He began to consciously accept some reconnaissance or escort missions related to the various large businesses, Material warehouses, and even certain remote mining veins in the Prefecture.

These missions were often thankless and not highly compensated, but they allowed him to access levels that were usually difficult to reach.

Ding! Host identity “Mu Feng” has successfully established independent behavioral logic and Qi characteristics. After a deep scan and comparison by the System, the current identity's correlation with “Li Dong’s” original data is less than 0.01%. Unless the Host actively exposes their core Cultivation Technique or Soul Origin, conventional methods cannot link the two.

The System’s prompt made Mu Feng even more fearless.

“Heh, even you can’t recognize me? Then Lin Xiaotian and his useless subordinates can forget about it!”

This Shape-Shifting Mask was simply a Divine Artifact tailor-made for him!

Once, Mu Feng followed a team of Demon Suppression Guards, escorting a batch of “special Materials” that were supposedly being transported to a secret workshop outside the city.

During a break, a few old-timers gathered to chat and boast.

“Hey, you guys, do you think that Li Dong is really a Demonic Path spy?” A bearded man took a swig of wine and asked.

“Who knows? If the higher-ups say he is, then he is.” Another tall, thin man curled his lips, “But, that kid was really fierce! I heard he single-handedly overturned the Earth Abyss, and even a ruthless character like Doctor fell into his hands!”

“Isn’t that right! I heard that inside that Earth Abyss, they were doing all sorts of shady business! What with modifying demons, experimenting on living people… Tsk tsk, utterly devoid of conscience!”

“If you ask me, that Li Dong, he might even be acting on behalf of Heaven!” A young Demon Suppression Guard, who had been silent, suddenly mumbled softly.

The bearded man’s eyes widened: “Kid, you can eat whatever you want, but you can’t speak carelessly! Be careful of eavesdroppers!”

The young Demon Suppression Guard shrank his neck, not daring to speak further.

Mu Feng listened silently from the side, feeling a bit amused and frustrated.

Acting on behalf of Heaven? That assessment was quite fair.

However, these guys probably never dreamed that the “fierce man” Li Dong they were talking about was sitting right next to them, listening to them boast.

“It seems not everyone is in the dark.” Mu Feng mused, “Public sentiment can be used, public sentiment can be used indeed!”

His goal was now clear: start investigating with the Lin family, the biggest dog, and gradually uncover their financial chains and networks of interests behind them.

He remembered every name on that core experimental data chip list clearly.

“Lin Xiaotian, and that 'Commander Zhou (Reserve)'… Hmph, none of them will escape!”

He was determined to stir up the waters of this Prefecture!

He even wondered, once he had collected all the evidence of these people's crimes and threw it in front of Commander Wei Zheng, what kind of expression would that Commander have?

Would he also be as shocked as he was when he first saw that list, so much so that his jaw dropped?

Thinking about it, he was actually a little excited!