Just as Hongshi and his group were returning to the capital, the spies sent by the Emperor to inquire about the disaster situation in Kaifeng Prefecture had already arrived. That night, all the spies gathered at a villa on the outskirts of Kaifeng Prefecture. They had all received orders from their organization's leader. They all belonged to the same organization called "Shadow Chaser," which had existed since the time of the founding emperor. Its purpose was to gather information for the Emperor or assassinate certain individuals to ensure the stability of the empire. They only obeyed their leader, who in turn obeyed the Emperor.
Their current leader is called Feng. This is not his original name, but a code name given to him by the organization after he joined the Shadow Chaser Group. The first thing people learn when they join the Shadow Chaser Group is to forget their own names and then firmly remember their code names. Then they will go through all kinds of training. Each training will eliminate a portion of the people. No one knows where these eliminated people go, but most of them are probably dead.
This mission has puzzled many people. Logically speaking, it's just an investigation into the extent of the disaster in a region, so many people shouldn't be needed. Moreover, even the leader of the Shadow Chaser has been mobilized. This matter is definitely not as simple as it seems on the surface.
But while they thought about it, none of them dared to ask. They knew that the first rule of the Shadow Chaser Group was obedience, and those who violated the rule would be severely punished. Sometimes, members of the Shadow Chaser Group would rather die than be punished, because they felt that it would be a situation where they could neither die nor live.
At midnight, the courtyard was filled with people dressed in black. The door opened, and a gust of wind blew out from the house. His gaze swept over the people present; his face was cold and imposing, and he asked, "Is everyone here?"
The person standing on the far left of the first row stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and said, "Reporting to the leader, everyone has arrived."
Feng nodded and said, "Your next task is to inquire about the disaster relief efforts within Kaifeng Prefecture. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" the men in black replied in unison, their voices loud and clear, which was truly impressive. The training of the Shadow Chaser was even better than that of the army.
"Go down!" The words had barely left his lips when he heard a few whooshing sounds. Looking around, he saw that everyone in the courtyard had vanished as if they had never been there. If someone else saw this, they would think it was a ghost.
Over the next few days, the shadow hunters disguised themselves as peddlers, merchants, and farmers, and went to markets, teahouses, taverns, and other places to inquire about the drought.
They discovered that the drought here had already eased, and the initial disaster was not very severe.
Afterwards, they went to Geshan Village. Unexpectedly, because they were afraid of the news leaking out, Ruan Dafeng and the village chief did not tell the villagers the truth. So the villagers were still kept in the dark and regarded Hongshi as their savior, praising him unanimously.
Upon hearing his subordinates' report, Feng compiled what they had said and immediately returned to the capital to report to the Emperor in person.
After hearing his report, the Emperor finally put aside his doubts. He did not want to doubt his own son, so after hearing the villagers' praise of Hongshi, the Emperor was very happy and decided to reward him after Hongshi returned to the capital to commend his achievements.
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