"So... you are Mr. Lin Yan?"
"Yes."
"Your job... oh no, your previous job was?"
"A caregiver. Before that, I also studied sanda (Chinese kickboxing)."
"A caregiver? At which hospital?"
"Not a hospital. A private clinic... Do you know Dr. Chu Muyun?"
In a café across from the hospital, Chen Ling sat on the sofa opposite Wen Shilin and his assistant, leisurely adjusting his glasses like a highly cultured and amiable scholar.
"That legendary 'Divine Physician Chu'?" Wen Shilin raised his brows in surprise. "I know of him—a colleague interviewed him once. But if you were working as his caregiver, why are you job-hunting at hospitals now?"
"I..." A trace of complexity flashed in Chen Ling's eyes. "I have some personal reasons."
"No, I don't."
"So when you intervened yesterday, it was purely out of a sense of justice?"
"You could say that. I just happened to see it and found that reporter disgusting." Chen Ling smiled faintly. "After all, not all journalists are as righteous as you."
At this, Wen Shilin's brows lifted slightly. "Me? Righteous? How did you come to that conclusion?"
Because of your [Fist of Justice]... Chen Ling thought to himself.
"You stood up for those refugees. Naturally, you can't be a bad person."
As Chen Ling spoke, the waiter brought over three cups of coffee. He lightly pinched the handle of his cup and took a sip.
Wen Shilin and A'Cheng across from him also drank a few sips before setting their cups down.
"There's one more thing I'm curious about... You knocked out several of Zhuo Shuqing's teeth with a single punch yesterday. You seem quite strong, and you mentioned studying sanda earlier..." Wen Shilin blinked, asking earnestly, "If—just hypothetically—if you had fought those thugs yesterday, how many do you think you could take on?"
Hearing this question, Chen Ling's mouth twitched imperceptibly. Judging by Wen Shilin's expression, this seemed to be the topic he was most interested in.
A'Cheng beside him also wore a strange expression. He scrutinized Chen Ling—outwardly, Chen Ling didn't appear particularly muscular. A'Cheng estimated he was probably at a similar level to himself?
A'Cheng saw Chen Ling part his lips slightly, as if about to say something, but the next moment, his vision began to darken. His consciousness felt like it was sinking uncontrollably into the depths of the sea...
Simultaneously, a weak voice murmured beside him, "Damn it... we've been drugged..."
Thud!
Darkness swallowed their vision.
---
An indeterminate amount of time later, a low, rumbling noise echoed nearby.
Vrrrrrm!!
It sounded like some large machinery starting up, gears meshing with a beast-like growl that sent involuntary tremors through the mind. Amid this cacophony, Wen Shilin slowly opened his eyes...
His vision remained pitch black.
A black cloth bag had been pulled over his head, allowing only faint slivers of light to seep through the fibers. His exhaled breath swirled hotly inside the bag, creating a suffocating, scorching sensation.
He tried to remove the bag, but his hands were tightly bound. The clanking of chains drowned in the mechanical roar.
"Damn it... was there something in the coffee?" Wen Shilin thought to himself. "Who's behind this? The Stellar Chamber of Commerce? The White Swan Charity Foundation? Enforcer Lu Songling? Qian Ao? Nan Gongwei? Someone higher up? Qiong Xuan? Or... that person?"
In that instant, countless names flashed through Wen Shilin's mind—he spent over ten seconds counting them all without finishing. Meanwhile, A'Cheng's weak voice came from beside him, "Mr. Wen? Mr. Wen! Are you there?"
"I'm here!" Wen Shilin immediately responded. "Are you alright?"
"I'm okay..."
Wen Shilin seemed to remember something, his expression changing abruptly. "Damn it, Lin Yan might have gotten dragged into this too?!"
Cough cough cough cough... As soon as Wen Shilin spoke, a fit of coughing erupted to his left, followed by Chen Ling's voice, "Mr. Wen... Where is this? How... how did we end up here?"
Chen Ling's voice carried some panic but remained relatively composed—far calmer than the terror and disorientation Wen Shilin had imagined.
A wave of guilt surged in Wen Shilin's heart. Whoever had kidnapped them was undoubtedly targeting him, while Chen Ling had merely been pulled into an interview and stepped into a trap meant for someone else... He shouldn't be here.
"Take me if you want, but let Lin Yan go! He was dragged into this because of me! He's innocent!" Wen Shilin took a deep breath and shouted.
Amid the mechanical roar, a voice spoke unhurriedly from ahead, "Wen Shilin, I believe we’ve warned you before."
It was a man’s voice—cold as an iceberg adrift in the frozen sea. The moment Wen Shilin heard it, his heart trembled, and his mind began racing again.
"You're from the White Swan Charity Foundation... No, wait... You're one of Qiong Xuan’s people?"
"As expected of our esteemed journalist Wen—you’ve offended quite the crowd..." The voice drew closer, whispering almost directly into his ear. "Yet you still treat our warnings as nothing more than wind... Do you have any idea how many lives that matter concerns? Is it something a mere journalist like you should be digging into?"
Hearing this, Wen Shilin seemed to realize something and spoke with certainty, "The 'Hand of Salvation' project... I see. You're one of Tan Xin’s men!"
Beside him, A'Cheng shuddered slightly.
Heh.
The voice neither confirmed nor denied this. Instead, it gradually retreated before a cold gun barrel pressed against Wen Shilin’s forehead moments later.
"I’ll give you one last chance... Where did you hide it all?"
"I don’t know what you’re talking about." Now that he had guessed the other party’s origins, Wen Shilin grew calmer and answered coolly, "If you’ve got the guts, just kill me."
"I know our esteemed journalist Wen isn’t afraid of death. But I wonder... is your assistant just as tough?"
As the voice spoke, it shifted toward A'Cheng and demanded coldly, "Talk. Where did he hide it?"
"I... I don’t know." A'Cheng’s voice trembled.
"Fine. Then you’ll take the first step." The sound of a gun being cocked echoed—just as A'Cheng’s pupils abruptly constricted.
"No, you can’t kill me!" A'Cheng blurted out. "Brother, this is a misunderstanding! I was ordered by Chief Chu to keep an eye on this Wen Shilin in secret. All those articles and evidence about the 'Hand of Salvation' project—I stole them yesterday and left them at the designated spot... You... you didn’t receive them?"
The moment these words were uttered, the gun-wielder clearly froze.
Wen Shilin froze too.
The vast space fell silent except for the low, rumbling hum of machinery.