"Name."
"... Xin Youquan."
"Age."
"43."
"Occupation."
"Chief Physician at Frostleaf Hospital."
"When did you start removing organs for them?"
In the dim, cramped warehouse, Xin Youquan hung his head in silence.
On the small table in front of Wen Shilin, a fountain pen was automatically transcribing their conversation into a notebook. As Xin Youquan fell silent, the pen tip stopped moving.
Xin Youquan’s hands and feet were tightly bound as he curled up in the corner of the warehouse, still refusing to answer.
"...Or are you afraid that if you talk, the Stellar Chamber of Commerce will retaliate?"
At Wen Shilin’s next words, Xin Youquan shuddered slightly, looking at him in surprise. "You know?"
"Two years ago, I already discovered traces of suspected organ trading by the Stellar Chamber of Commerce across the seven major districts. But back then, information inside and outside the city wasn’t interconnected, all leads were dead ends—even I couldn’t gather enough evidence... But this time is different."
Wen Shilin spoke unhurriedly. "This time, you actually dared to operate within Aurora City... You’ve left too many traces behind. Thinking you can walk away unscathed? Impossible."
"Even so, there’s nothing I can tell you."
"You think keeping quiet will make the Stellar Chamber of Commerce protect you? Do you even realize that if I hadn’t kidnapped you and brought you here, you’d already be dead by now?" Wen Shilin’s voice was utterly calm.
"What?!" Xin Youquan froze. "No, that’s impossible..."
"Impossible? You’ve worked with those people from the Stellar Chamber of Commerce—you should know exactly what they’re like. When things are calm, fine. But the moment they sense danger, do you really think they’d let you live?"
Xin Youquan seemed to recall something, his face turning as pale as paper.
"Even if you don’t talk, it doesn’t matter. Earlier, when I interrogated—no, interviewed Qiu Dong, he told me everything he knew." Wen Shilin set the self-writing fountain pen aside and casually flipped back a page in the notebook, filled with dense lines of dialogue.
"As the first one to cooperate with the investigation, I’ll honor his request—when this story goes public, I’ll omit his name to keep his friends and family from finding out. I’ll also explain the situation to the law enforcement system, which should help reduce his sentence..."
"No! Qiu Dong was brought in by me! He only handled the surgeries!" Xin Youquan immediately spoke up. "I was the one dealing with the Stellar Chamber of Commerce! I know far more than he does!"
"Oh?" Wen Shilin raised an eyebrow, placing the fountain pen back on the notebook.
"So, Mr. Xin, you’re willing to cooperate now?"
A flicker of hesitation passed through Xin Youquan’s eyes before he finally said, "What do you want to know?"
---
By the time Wen Shilin finished interviewing the last person, the sky was already beginning to lighten.
Carrying a thick notebook, he sat alone at the warehouse entrance, rubbing his temples with a weary expression.
"Harvesting organs outside the city, distributing them inside... The White Swan Charity Foundation... That young master Yan Xishou has dragged the entire Aurora City business world into this... Even a few high-ranking officials in the law enforcement system are involved."
"This is bad..."
Wen Shilin knew all too well that the Stellar Chamber of Commerce alone might not be terrifying—what was truly frightening was the entire chain of interests tied to it. Now, even though he had gathered information, it was all just verbal testimony. Trying to overturn everything with this was nearly impossible...
He needed more direct, more irrefutable evidence. But such evidence would undoubtedly be thoroughly hidden by the Stellar Chamber of Commerce. Relying solely on himself to find it was practically hopeless.
Knowing the truth but being unable to prove it—this sense of powerlessness was all too familiar to Wen Shilin. Over the past few years, while investigating other cases, he had often encountered situations like this. He knew there were even greater conspiracies behind it all, but he couldn’t dig deeper. Sometimes, he couldn’t even publish an exposé article smoothly... His enemies never left him any openings.
Wen Shilin didn’t know how to explain this to Chen Ling. Maybe he shouldn’t have boasted in the first place.
"Where’s Lin Yan?" Wen Shilin suddenly remembered, looking around outside the warehouse in confusion.
Earlier, he had been completely immersed in the in-depth interviews, completely forgetting about Chen Ling going to fetch the camera. Only now did he realize—Chen Ling had been gone the entire night without returning...
Wen Shilin, after all, was someone who had weathered many storms. He immediately sensed something was wrong. He sprang up from the warehouse floor, about to leave, but after taking half a step, he hesitated and turned back.
First, he took off his overcoat, stripped Xin Youquan of his padded jacket, and wrapped another person’s scarf around half his face. After confirming that he wouldn’t be easily recognized from a distance, he hurried toward his home.
The cold wind of dawn brushed against Wen Shilin’s cheeks, temporarily suppressing his exhaustion from the night. His heart was in his throat as he warily scanned his surroundings, silently praying that Chen Ling was safe.
Finally, the familiar residential building appeared at the end of the road.
Wen Shilin’s gaze swept over it, noticing a crowd of neighbors gathered around the fourth floor—his floor—along with a few uniformed law enforcement officers. His heart sank.
"This is bad."
Wen Shilin quickly approached his apartment, where a group of people was pointing at a massive, cracked hole in the hallway floor—nearly smashing through entirely—that looked anything but man-made.
The onlookers were shocked, unable to comprehend how this had happened. The law enforcement officers, however, seemed oddly indifferent, casually jotting down a few notes before waving dismissively:
"It’s just the floor cracking from the cold... Everyone, disperse. Nothing to see here."
As the crowd was shooed away, Wen Shilin didn’t approach further. Instead, he kept his head down and blended in with the crowd, gradually distancing himself.
He knew something must have happened here last night. And judging by the law enforcement’s reaction, it was almost certainly tied to the Stellar Chamber of Commerce... Chen Ling’ disappearance was undoubtedly connected.
Had the Stellar Chamber of Commerce actually deployed a Path practitioner to target them?
This thought unsettled Wen Shilin deeply. Over the years, though he had faced numerous assassination attempts, most of his attackers had been ordinary people... After all, in Aurora City, all local Path practitioners were promoted to law enforcement officers, bound by the system’s regulations. Even outsiders were strictly monitored. For the Stellar Chamber of Commerce to send an outsider this time meant they were dead set on eliminating him.
Wen Shilin knew his own situation was dangerous, but he was even more worried about Chen Ling... Chen Ling had only gotten dragged into this because of him!
With law enforcement riddled with Stellar Chamber of Commerce’s people, reporting this was out of the question. But aside from that, who else could he turn to for help in rescuing Chen Ling?
Names flashed anxiously through Wen Shilin’s mind until, finally, one stood out:
The Miracle Doctor, Chu Muyun.