Chapter 181: One-Man Show

There were at least seven or eight knife wounds on Chen Ling's body, and even a bullet hole in his shoulder... His face was covered in blood and exhaustion, and large beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks, dripping onto the barren earth.

Wen Shilin was stunned. He stared blankly at that unnaturally twisted left hand, astonishment appearing in his eyes.

"Your hand..."

"That part couldn't pry open the chains, but it could pry open my hand." Chen Ling smiled palely. "But it's okay... I'll go find Dr. Chu. These injuries are nothing to him."

Wen Shilin looked at Chen Ling with complex emotions. He had also held that part earlier, but he hadn't thought of smashing his own hand to get out, or rather, he didn't even dare to think about it... Yet Chen Ling, upon getting the part, had done exactly that.

If this was the only way to survive, Wen Shilin would have smashed himself with the part without hesitation, but he really hadn't thought of it at the time. It was Chen Ling's courage, or perhaps his extreme, rational wisdom, that had saved them both from the edge of death.

"How did we escape just now?" Wen Shilin couldn't help but ask.

"We were trapped in a warehouse. After we got out of the door, people kept hearing the noise and coming over, so I rushed toward the route with fewer people... and finally escaped through the back door."

As Chen Ling spoke, an invisible python slowly emerged from between his brows, coiling around the unsuspecting Wen Shilin, seemingly sucking something away bit by bit.

Wen Shilin was stunned for a long time, then nodded. "That was truly thrilling... I really owe you this time, Mr. Lin Yan."

"I was just trying to save my own life."

Chen Ling looked down at the wounds on his body and said hoarsely, "Mr. Wen, let's part ways here... I need to go find Dr. Chu."

Wen Shilin wanted to say he would accompany him, but thinking that all of this was caused by him, and that following Chen Ling might drag him into more trouble, he remained silent for a moment before speaking with a complex expression:

"Alright... I won't follow you. You saved my life; if there's a chance, I will definitely repay you."

Chen Ling waved his hand dismissively and walked into the distance with a stumbling gait. The brown coat, stained red with blood, gradually disappeared at the end of the road.

Just as Wen Shilin was about to leave in the opposite direction, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of the spot where Chen Ling had just been standing. A crumpled file bag was lying in a pool of blood... Chen Ling must have had it on him, and it ended up like this during the chaotic fight.

Wen Shilin didn't doubt for a second why this file bag happened to fall there, nor did he doubt anything Chen Ling had just said,

because that [Heart Python] was coiled above his head, continuously absorbing his "doubts."

Wen Shilin lowered his head to pick up the file bag, intending to return it to Chen Ling, but found that Chen Ling was already nowhere to be seen... He was so severely injured, he probably wouldn't care about this job application file anyway.

He could only pick up the file bag from the pool of blood, carefully wipe off the bloodstains, and wait to return it to him the next time they met.

Just then, a gap tore open at the bottom of the file, and a few pages of paper drifted out.

Wen Shilin looked down and found that most of them were Chen Ling's personal information and resume, but when he picked up the last sheet, his brow furrowed involuntarily.

"This is..."

It was a photo of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, gentle and delicate. On the back of the photo was a line of heart-wrenching text:

—Who stole your heart?

Confusion appeared in Wen Shilin's eyes. At the same time, the Heart Python crouching above his head opened its mouth wide, and the doubts that had just been swallowed flowed back into his mind.

Wen Shilin stared blankly at the photo in his hand, the doubt in his heart reaching an unprecedented peak... He had never felt this way while pursuing other news stories.

Who is this boy? Why is he in Lin Yan's job application file? What does "stealing your heart" mean? Does this have anything to do with his interview at the hospital?

Wen Shilin wanted to rush forward and stop Chen Ling immediately, but in the end, he restrained himself... Even so, he felt an unbearable itch in his heart.

He shook his head and stumbled toward the other side of the road.

After Wen Shilin had walked far away, a blood-stained figure stepped slowly across the gravel and returned to the original spot. The biting cold wind brushed his hair, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

Chen Ling waved his hand, and that twisted, broken wrist automatically returned to its original state. The bloodstains on his body also faded visibly, restoring him to his original, spotless appearance...

He stood there calmly, completely unharmed, as if the broken bones and wounds from just a moment ago were merely a hallucination.

The wailing cold wind brushed across the empty wilderness, humming in the deserted warehouse.

Chen Ling pushed open the warehouse door again and walked in slowly with his hands in his pockets, like an elegant actor about to step onto the stage. The roar of the machinery covered the creaking of the door and his footsteps, like an accompanying musical score.

"Let me go! Let me go!"

"I really am one of Officer [Tan Xin]'s men! Everything I said is true! Why aren't you listening to me?!"

"You can't kill me... I completed the mission for the organization! You can't just abandon me like this!"

“…… ”

A'Cheng, wearing a black cloth bag, was locked next to the machine in the center of the warehouse. The roaring of the machine nearby almost deafened him; even though he shouted with all his might, his voice was completely drowned out.

Chen Ling stood still in front of him, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes. He suddenly grabbed A'Cheng's throat with one hand and slammed him heavily against the surface of the machine.

A'Cheng's roaring stopped abruptly.

A layer of skin peeled off Chen Ling's face naturally, and he transformed into the appearance of a completely strange middle-aged man. A cold, hoarse voice rang out:

"...Have you thought it through?"

"What do you mean, have I thought it through?!" A'Cheng replied, trembling. "I, everything I said is true! If you don't believe me, you can ask Officer [Tan Xin]..."

"I've already sent people to ask. They didn't receive your items."

A'Cheng was stunned for a moment. "No, that's impossible..."

At the same time, the skin on Chen Ling's face kept peeling off, like mysterious and hypocritical masks, and distinct voices rang out one after another:

"Boss, he's lying. He's not one of [Tan Xin]'s men at all."

"Yeah... he's just struggling to stay alive. Maybe that location was something he fabricated."

"Boss, that reporter and the other guy have already been killed, eliminating any future trouble. What about this one?"

"Do you even need to ask? Why keep him?"

“……”

Under the roaring of the machine, A'Cheng couldn't distinguish the location of these voices at all. Amidst the murderous voices of the "crowd," his body began to tremble slightly with fear.