After the blood mist that had shrouded the community dissipated, all communication devices returned to normal.
The detective dispatched an officer to go outside the community and bring the car in. At the same time, he contacted the station to send transport vehicles to handle the subdued cultists.
During this time, Su Fan focused on regulating his breathing and healing the injuries caused by the backlash.
He was also contemplating the current situation.
Paimon had escaped.
Su Fan had used “Summon” to draw down lightning, and infused that natural lightning with the power of the “Demon-Slaying” enchantment and the Five Thunder Talisman.
In one stroke, he had rendered all of Paimon’s life-saving measures useless, then pressed the attack.
He had even anticipated the possibility of Paimon abandoning his body to escape and had a countermeasure ready.
But who could have predicted that another demon would suddenly intervene and rescue Paimon?
Recalling the eye that had been revealed at that moment, Su Fan narrowed his own.
Although it was only a brief encounter, he could be certain that the demon who intervened was no weaker than Paimon.
From this point on, he was officially locked in a struggle with a high-ranking demon from Hell.
The strength of a high-ranking demon, after accepting a sacrifice and being formally incarnated, was indeed worlds apart from its spiritual state.
This battle was arguably the most perilous Su Fan had faced since he began his cultivation.
However…
Su Fan exhaled a breath, calming his somewhat stirred emotions.
It was exhilarating.
Throughout the fight, notifications for skill proficiency increases and various insights had popped up continuously.
He hadn’t had a chance to look at them closely, but judging by the frequency of those notifications, the benefits gained from clashing with Paimon were definitely substantial.
Feeling waves of pain inside his body, Su Fan set aside the thought of checking his status for now and continued to focus on regulating his breathing and healing.
As the only medical professional among the group, Ron stayed by Su Fan’s side to look after him.
She wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, found a soft cushion for him—she was being thoroughly attentive and responsible.
As for the detective, he was constantly on the phone with various parties, reporting the situation and requesting backup.
The community was destroyed, there were mass casualties—he needed to dispatch professional crime scene analysts for evidence gathering, as well as morticians, and so on.
On top of that, he had to field calls from the chief inquiring about the situation and direct the officers at the scene…
Dean and Sam Winchester, meanwhile, had become idle.
Sam sat beside Su Fan, who was lying down.
Neither he nor Dean had sustained any injuries, but the long drive and the fight with the hellhound had left them exhausted. Now that the tension was easing, fatigue was naturally setting in.
If they could sit, they certainly weren’t going to stand.
“So that’s what a hellhound looks like, huh? Seems like what’s written in books isn’t always reliable.”
When Sam had been reading earlier, he had come across entries about hellhounds.
They said that while hellhounds had physical forms, ordinary people couldn’t see them, and they could only be repelled through special means.
Aside from their elusive nature and a few special abilities, hellhounds were supposedly about the size of a gray wolf.
But what they faced was a three-headed monster as tall as a two-story building.
Fortunately, the information about Paimon had been accurate.
Dean walked over as well.
But he was more concerned about the aftermath of the battle.
“…An entire community, just gone like that.”
Saying this, Dean looked over at the ruins not far away.
The ground within the community looked like it had been plowed up, completely unrecognizable, not to mention the numerous craters of varying sizes scattered around.
The most dramatic was the scorched, massive pit left by Su Fan’s lightning strike.
Anyone seeing it would think a large-yield explosive had detonated there.
“Those cultists you killed with your sword earlier… their bodies are mangled beyond recognition, all mixed together… Saved you the trouble of destroying the evidence.”
“But this incident is probably going to become huge news… Have you figured out how to handle it?”
Unlike the brothers’ usual demon-hunting trips, the confrontation between Su Fan and Paimon had been massive in scale with a wide area of impact.
Plus, an entire community’s residents were either dead or had fled—under normal circumstances, this would be very difficult to cover up.
One wrong move, and if the media and mainstream public opinion focused their attention here, things would get very complicated.
“Maybe you should go into hiding, or follow our lead and hit the road, hunting demons across the country.”
Dean suggested, trying to persuade him.
“Things haven’t reached that point yet.”
Su Fan’s expression was neutral, but internally, he was rejecting the idea.
He had a business to run; he had no intention of becoming homeless wanderers like these two.
“Alright then, tell me, how do you plan to solve this?”
“Extreme weather creates an anomalous tornado, destroys residences, causes a gas explosion. Coincidentally, there happens to be a dangerous religious ritual happening nearby. Simple as that.”
The answer Su Fan gave left the Winchester brothers staring at each other in disbelief.
“Dude, you actually think that explanation sounds reasonable?”
Dean’s tone couldn’t help but carry a hint of mockery.
“All these low-probability events happening simultaneously? Most people wouldn’t buy that nothing was going on, would they?”
Heh, you should have seen the mess left behind by the Grim Reaper I dealt with before.
“Sometimes, being reasonable isn’t that important. The key to covering up the truth is forming a logical closed loop.”
“The weather bureau releases some data, we pay a few ‘experts’ to show up and spout nonsense, cook up some fake evidence, and finally, pin all the blame on the cultists.”
“People won’t get suspicious?”
Sam’s expression was complicated.
“Have you two forgotten that Su is still injured right now?”
Ron, who was on the side, looked a bit displeased and seemed ready to shoo them away.
In her opinion, Su Fan needed rest.
What were these two doing, chattering away here?
“It’s fine, talking is okay.”
Su Fan stopped Ron, then looked at Sam.
“Some people will be suspicious, but being evasive won’t work. It’s better to blow it up.”
“Get fake whistleblowers to leak stories about sacrifices, curses, supernatural forces, aliens—whatever, the more exaggerated, the better.”
“Mix truth with fiction, fiction with truth. Most people will probably just think it’s some boring publicity stunt.”
“Then, we dig up some scandals in the entertainment industry or politics and release them in quick succession to divert public attention.”
“Trust me, with this combination, even those who are suspicious will be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information and won’t have the time or energy to dig deeper.”
Considering how many people believed in the flat earth theory on the internet in his previous life, it was a testament to how successful America’s “happy education” system was.
Hiding things from them wasn’t that difficult.
As for the elites, they knew what they should know and what they shouldn’t.
After hearing Su Fan’s plan, both Dean and Sam were hard-pressed to hide their shock.
The first wave of explanation could fool those too lazy to think and habitually trust so-called authoritative experts. The second wave of disinformation could confuse those who liked to investigate but didn’t delve deep—the self-proclaimed “smart people.”
As for the third wave, the information bombardment, that was for the slightly sharper crowd.
After this filtering process, there would be very few people left who noticed anything unusual, and even fewer who had the ability to investigate further.
“With a mind like that, it’s hard to believe you run an antique shop.”
Dean said, looking Su Fan up and down as if seeing him for the first time.
