Chapter 595: Counterattack! Uprooting the Hidden Posts

Deep in Mang Mountain, thirty miles northwest of the allied forces' camp, lies a hidden valley.

From the outside, it appears to be just an ordinary wild hillside, overgrown with vines and scattered rocks.

But if someone parts the thick curtain of vines hanging at the valley entrance and walks inward a hundred or so steps, they will discover a naturally formed depression about half a mu in size.

At the center of the depression lie the ashes of a campfire, deliberately buried but still showing charred edges.

Around the stone walls are several man-made shallow caves, scattered with dry grass, broken pottery, and a few hastily discarded, hardened flatbreads.

The air is filled with a faint mixture of sweat, mildew, and an indescribable chill.

Chen Wen squatted beside the campfire's embers, extended a finger, pinched a bit of ash, and rubbed it between his fingers.

His gaze was calm, but his brow furrowed slightly.

Wang Ru stood beside him.

She still wore a neat dark combat outfit, topped with an inconspicuous gray cloak, her face dusty from long travel, yet her eyes were sharp as a hawk, carefully scanning every detail of the valley.

Several capable scouts of the Peacekeeping Bureau were meticulously examining those shallow caves and the surrounding ground.

"This is the place."

Wang Ru spoke softly, her voice tinged with cold.

"Three days ago, our outer pickets spotted a small group of suspicious individuals active here, hiding by day and moving at night—neither hunters nor ordinary refugees. Following their traces led us to this temporary outpost."

"They were very alert; the moment our people approached, they withdrew hastily but cleanly, leaving few clues."

Chen Wen nodded, not speaking right away.

He closed his eyes, his left hand gripping the warm mother badge of his Star Pattern Token kept in his sleeve, while his right hand lightly pressed onto the ground still retaining faint traces of human presence.

"Shi Yong" unfurled silently.

This time the sensation was completely different from before.

The mother badge transmitted a steady, clear resonance, like a precision probe greatly amplifying and extending his sensory feelers.

He no longer needed to strain to "capture" those vague, shifting "momentum."

Instead, he could more clearly and steadily "feel" the lingering traces and trajectories of different individuals within this space.

Among the ashes lingered a few strands of extremely faint "dead silence" and "yin chill" that clashed with the surrounding mountains' vital energy.

That was the "contamination" aura unique to the Iron Crow Army's Shades or those long exposed to them.

On the straw mats inside the stone-wall shallow caves, a similar but weaker aura mingled with human sweat and fatigue—the mark of people controlled or driven.

On the ground, some seemingly chaotic footprints, in Chen Wen's current perception, showed a regular "direction."

They ultimately converged toward the southeast of the valley mouth, along an extremely concealed animal trail covered in fallen leaves.

The "Karma Fragment" ability also seemed to be passively triggered as his perception grew clearer.

Some fragmented images, accompanied by the sensed aura, flickered into view:

Several men in tattered leather jackets, faces numb, sat silently around the dying fire.

A figure cloaked in gray, face unseen, stood in the shadow, lips moving slightly as if conveying orders.

Moreover… an extremely faint, insect‑like whistling echoed faintly from the depths of the scene.

Chen Wen opened his eyes.

"It's an Iron Crow Army hidden post, no mistake."

He spoke with certainty.

"At least three long‑term‑infused controlled agents stayed here for two to three days. Moreover… a "cleaner" one with a colder yin aura, likely the liaison or commander Shade, made a brief appearance."

Wang Ru's eyes narrowed: "Indeed it's them! These persistent pests! Though this outpost was abandoned, the fact they set it up shows their surveillance and infiltration of Mang Mountain and our allied forces never ceased."

Chen Wen stood up and brushed the dust from his hands.

"They can't get far. Their hurried retreat in the forest leaves traces even more obvious than usual."

He looked at Wang Ru.

"The new token's sensing range and clarity far surpass the past. Use it as a guide, combined with your Peacekeeping Bureau's tracking experts, to find them and root them out."

Wang Ru nodded heavily, a cold, hunter‑like smile touching her lips.

"Rest assured, my lord. With this 'guiding light', not a single rat hiding in the sewers will escape."

She turned and quickly issued orders to those scouts.

They received the command and, like civet cats, slipped silently into the forest, following the animal trail to the southeast that Chen Wen had indicated, pursuing the quarry.

Chen Wen and Wang Ru then returned to the allied forces' main camp.

Over the next few days.

A silent yet efficient counteroffensive unfolded around Mang Mountain and even farther afield.

Wang Ru personally took command, mobilizing most of the Peacekeeping Bureau's elite forces stationed in the Northward Aspiration Army and allied forces' controlled areas.

Meanwhile, Chen Wen became the "core sensor" of this extermination operation.

He no longer needed to be present at every suspicious site in person.

He only needed to stay in the camp's quiet room, holding the mother badge, and through the various "clues" continually relayed by Wang Ru—a fragment of clothing stained with suspicious aura, an unnatural footprint, or even the vague description of appearance or habit extracted from interrogating captured low‑level agents about their superiors—he could use this as an "anchor" to greatly enhance the directionality of "Shi Yong" and "Karma Fragment".

The new "Star Pattern Token" medium displayed astonishing efficacy.

The distance barrier seemed to be greatly weakened.

Those originally possibly blurred and indistinguishable "contamination traces" and "karma links" due to distance and mixed aura became clear and discernible under the mother badge's resonance and amplification.

Chen Wen could "see" more.

He could sense that seventy li southeast of Mang Mountain, a small contact point disguised as a peddler caravan had its three attendants all wrapped in that familiar yin chill.

He could "see" that farther north, near the edge of the Golden Army's actual control zone, a deserted mountain‑god temple hid a small box of specially processed bone pieces used to transmit information, treated with Nether Energy.

He could even faintly "sense" a thinner, more concealed "line" extending southward from a certain outpost already removed on Mang Mountain's outskirts, winding in an attempt to link toward Facing Peace…

Each clear localization was instantly translated into a precise and lethal operation by the Peacekeeping Bureau.

The contact point disguised as a merchant convoy was silently surrounded one deep night; three "assistants" were killed while attempting to resist, and from the hidden layers of their personal cargo we seized coded cloth strips recording the allied forces' movements and several strange sacrificial items.

The abandoned mountain god temple was raided; the two "shades" guarding it were far tougher than ordinary informants, but under the encirclement of the well‑prepared Jing'an Office elites and the brief "keen" and "swift" boost Chen Wen granted his own men via the token, they were still swiftly slain. The box of bone fragments was seized intact.

Although the line extending south became vague after leaving the allied forces' actual control zone, the general direction and several possible transfer points Chen Wen pointed out still allowed Wang Ru to adjust the outer intelligence network, strengthening surveillance and interception in that direction.

The eradication operation was in full swing.

Within the allied forces' controlled area, that vague feeling of being watched, like a prick on the back, had noticeably weakened.

The camp's security level improved, and communication with the outside became much smoother.

Five days later.

Inside the allied forces' main tent.

Wang Ru was reporting to Chen Wen, Yue Fei, Wu Yong, and others the results of this eradication.

"In total, we eradicated seven confirmed hideouts directly linked to the Iron Crow Army, and eleven suspected related surveillance points."

"We killed or captured twenty-three informants and shades directly under its control showing clear signs of contamination, among whom three were suspected leaders of the shades."

"We seized various coded letters, intelligence records, and strange artifacts, which are now being urgently deciphered and analyzed."

"Based on interrogation testimonies and the traces we have tracked, we judge that the Iron Crow Army's surveillance network, which has operated for years around our vicinity, especially along the line from Mang Mountain to Black Cloud Fortress, has suffered a heavy blow. In the short term, its ability to obtain our core intelligence will be greatly diminished."

Yue Fei heard this, clapped his hands in praise: "Commander Wang, swift and decisive, the brothers of the Jing'an Office have worked hard! This move can be said to have removed a heart‑troubling menace."

Wu Yong also stroked his beard and smiled: "The Iron Crow Army is accustomed to hiding in the dark and weaving plots. This time we have cut off its claws and blinded its eyes and ears—let's see how they can still stir up trouble!"

Wang Ru clasped her hands and said solemnly: "This is not the achievement of one person alone. Without Mr. Chen using the new medium as a basis, perceiving the opportunity first and pinpointing it precisely, even if we knew there were hidden posts, we could not have cleared them so efficiently and thoroughly."

Everyone's gazes turned toward Chen Wen.

Chen Wen's expression remained calm; he merely gave a slight nod.

"The new medium is indeed extraordinarily effective. But the Iron Crow Army's foundations are deep; having suffered this setback, they will certainly not rest. Moreover, they are now catalyzing greater changes on both the northern and southern fronts."

He paused, then looked toward the north.

"The movements on the northern grasslands, the accelerated decay of the False Song in the south… the waves they stir up will only grow larger."

"Eradicating the hidden posts merely cleared the thorns at our side."

"The real storm is still to come."

The atmosphere inside the tent grew slightly solemn.

But after experiencing the breakout at Yancheng, the reversal at Fengbo Pavilion, and now this successful eradication counterattack, a solid confidence has taken root in everyone's hearts.

The thorns have been removed.

Even if a storm approaches, with a sharp blade in hand and a bright lamp in the heart, what is there to fear?

Yue Fei rose, hand on his sword, his eyes gleaming.

"Then let them come."

"Let us see whether their waves are fiercer, or our newly entrenched camp… is more solid!"