"No! I'm not lying!" A'Cheng struggled wildly against his chains. "Everything I said is true!"
Chen Ling tightened his grip around A'Cheng's neck, his fingers gradually applying pressure as if intent on strangling him to death right then and there. At the same time, that chilling voice spoke again, "How can you prove it?"
"I..." A'Cheng's voice was choked and fragmented. "In... the hidden compartment of my desk drawer at the newspaper office... I copied a backup by hand... The original was really placed at the drop-off point... I don’t know anything else..."
Chen Ling's brow lifted slightly.
Of course, he had no idea about any "original" or where this so-called "drop-off point" was, but that no longer mattered. If that Tan Xin had indeed sent someone to retrieve it, the original had likely been taken away long ago.
However, the fact that A'Cheng had personally handwritten a backup and hidden it in his desk at the newspaper office was rather intriguing... It seemed this kid wasn’t as loyal to his superiors as he pretended?
Then again, if he were truly loyal, he wouldn’t have spilled the beans so easily.
Having obtained the location of the backup, Chen Ling relaxed slightly and asked unhurriedly, "What is the 'Hand of Salvation' project about?"
Chen Ling had no idea what the "Hand of Salvation" project was, but judging from Wen Shilin’s reaction, it seemed to be highly classified information.
A'Cheng’s heart plummeted. He never would have imagined that the other party had disguised themselves as Tan Xin’s subordinate to trick him—no wonder they claimed not to have found the original. And he had fallen for it, even exposing the backup he had kept for himself... At this moment, he knew he was finished.
But he still couldn’t figure out—which faction would do something like this? Who would be interested in the "Hand of Salvation"?
"Does it matter?" Chen Ling sneered. "You have no other choice now. Either talk... or die."
Knowing that A'Cheng wasn’t completely loyal and no longer interested in playing word games, Chen Ling simply laid his cards on the table, pressing the gun barrel against A'Cheng’s forehead.
Beneath the cloth bag, A'Cheng’s face turned deathly pale. He gritted his teeth, wrestling with himself for a long time before finally speaking with difficulty, "I don’t know..."
Chen Ling narrowed his eyes, his finger poised to pull the trigger but A-Cheng quickly continued, "The clearance level for this project is far too high. Rumor has it that even among the high-ranking enforcers, no more than five people are authorized to know its details... I was just a mole planted beside Wen Shilin. How could I possibly know the specifics of the project?"
"If that’s the case, how did a mere journalist like Wen Shilin find out about it?"
"I don’t know the exact details. I wasn’t embedded with him at the time... He spent months investigating the project and was interrupted several times along the way. All he managed to uncover were fragmented clues, which were compiled into those articles...
"What I remember most clearly is that the 'Hand of Salvation' is supposedly related to the fate of all humanity in the Aurora Domain... It’s meant to bring us salvation.
"I only got hold of the articles yesterday. That’s all I know. I really don’t have any more information."
A'Cheng’s tone was utterly sincere. Ever since realizing Chen Ling wasn’t one of Tan Xin’s people, his voice had grown noticeably more submissive. He knew his life was no longer in his or his faction’s—hands.
Related to the fate of all humanity in the Aurora Domain?
Hearing this, Chen Ling’s mind stirred... Could this be about Aurora Sovereign? Or the frozen Calamities beyond the city walls? Or did Aurora City have some hidden trump card?
Chen Ling pressed further with threats, but A'Cheng provided no additional useful leads. Realizing he wouldn’t get anything more, Chen Ling gave up on the interrogation.
He looked at A'Cheng, still struggling beneath the black bag, and gently pulled the trigger.
A minute later, the machinery in the factory gradually fell silent. Chen Ling pushed open the now-deadly quiet factory doors, a cold breeze dispersing the faint scent of blood inside.
"This Wen Shilin... really is interesting."
As if struck by a thought, he chuckled softly, his figure gradually vanishing into the wilderness.
---
Wen Shilin couldn’t sleep.
In his cramped ten-square-meter room, he tossed and turned in bed. Every time he closed his eyes, Chen Ling’s calm, silent face surfaced in his mind, accompanied by the whistling of fists cutting through the air.
Wen Shilin didn’t understand what was happening to him. The last time he’d felt like this was during his school days, when he’d developed a crush on a girl he shouldn’t have... But this time, it was a man. He knew he didn’t have any peculiar inclinations, but Chen Ling had left far too deep an impression on him.
At around three in the morning, Wen Shilin gave up on sleep. He got out of bed, sat at his small desk, and lit the kerosene lamp in the corner, intending to record the day’s events.
But his mind kept wandering. His writing was interrupted several times by bouts of absentmindedness. After a long silence, he sighed and pulled out the photograph from the file folder.
The dim candlelight illuminated the words "Who stole your heart?" Upon closer inspection, every stroke of the handwriting was steeped in hatred—chilling to the core.
This thing seemed to be one of the roots of his distraction...
Wen Shilin flipped the photo over, staring blankly at the unfamiliar young face.
After an indeterminate amount of time, he took out a blank sheet of paper and copied the phrase from the back of the photo. Then, his thoughts began to spiral, linking one question after another—chief among them being "heart," "organs," "hospital," "organ trafficking?" and the like.
For some reason, Wen Shilin’s curiosity about this matter was overwhelming. He immersed himself in speculating about the meaning behind those words, and by the time he snapped out of it, dawn had already broken outside.
Wen Shilin sat dumbly at his desk, watching the rising sun through the window, feeling inexplicably hollow...
His gaze fell on the file folder containing the job application materials. A powerful impulse surged within him, and as if possessed, he stuffed the photo back inside before hurriedly throwing on his coat and rushing out the door to greet the morning sun.
He wanted to see Chen Ling again! There were things he had to ask.
He knew Chen Ling might not want to see him right now, but the forgotten file folder was the perfect excuse.
As for how to find Chen Ling... Chen Ling had already given him the answer—unintentionally, of course.
He would go to Divine Physician Chu to treat his injuries. Given the severity of his wounds, he probably wouldn’t be leaving the clinic anytime soon... So, as long as Wen Shilin went to Chu’s clinic, he would definitely find Chen Ling!