Chapter 195: The Outsider

"The sheet?"

Chen Ling had also checked the sheet last night but hadn't found anything. There was no hospital name left on it. Since those people dared to use the sheet to wrap the body for cremation, there shouldn't have been any clues on it.

"There are four hospitals in Aurora City, two public and two private. Because of different suppliers, there are actually subtle differences in the stitching of these sheets."

Wen Shilin took four pieces of fabric from his pocket and squatted on the ground, laying them out in order.

"After I sent the body over this morning, I immediately went to the four hospitals to collect fragments of their sheets. The two on the left are from the public hospitals, and the two on the right are from the private ones. Take a close look."

Wen Shilin handed Chen Ling a magnifying glass.

Chen Ling took the magnifying glass, squinted, and carefully observed the fragments, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

"Sure enough..."

"The supplier behind the private hospitals comes from a textile factory under the Star Chamber of Commerce. Their business occupies 70% of the Aurora City market; their production lines are huge, and their technology is more mature. The public side's technology is slightly behind. Of course, if you don't look closely, you can't tell at all."

"Then how did you lock onto Shuangye Hospital between the two private ones?"

Wen Shilin didn't speak, but silently flipped over the last piece of fabric. In the corner of this piece, the name of the hospital was embroidered...

"Because all the sheets at the other hospital have their name printed on them, but the one on the corpse didn't."

Chen Ling looked at Wen Shilin with a subtle expression.

He finally understood why Wen Shilin had been able to dig up so much dirt over the years and even discover the Enforcers' top-secret "Hand of Redemption" plan... This terrifying drive and observational ability were not something just anyone possessed. Even with his own [Secret Pupil], Chen Ling hadn't thought to go find fabric from other hospitals to compare.

"What do we do next?" Chen Ling asked.

"Knowing which hospital the problem is at makes things easier," Wen Shilin replied calmly. "Judging by the time of death, the surgery must have been performed yesterday afternoon. As long as we screen the operating room usage at Shuangye Hospital from yesterday afternoon, we can basically lock onto the target."

"If that hospital really has a problem, will they allow us to investigate their operating rooms?"

Wen Shilin turned to look at Chen Ling and smiled slightly.

"Allow? No, we don't need anyone's permission to do our work. Don't forget... we have media freedom."

……

Star Chamber of Commerce.

"How is it? Did you find Liu Chen?"

Seeing someone rush back from outside, Yan Xishou immediately put down his teacup and asked with a frown.

The man stammered for a long time, hesitant to speak.

"Speak!" Yan Xishou's voice was filled with anger.

"We... we went to the crematorium and found Liu Chen's car, as well as a corpse that had been kicked to death. It seems to be one of the subordinates Liu Chen took out last night. But we couldn't find Liu Chen himself or the other two subordinates." The man paused for a moment and added:

"Besides that, we found signs of a struggle at the entrance of the crematorium... If nothing else, they were likely abducted."

"What?!"

Yan Xishou jumped up from his seat. "What about the corpse? Was it burned?"

"I don't know... it wasn't found at the scene either."

Yan Xishou was furious. "You couldn't even handle a corpse, and you let them get abducted?! Did you find out who did it?"

The man lowered his head nervously, saying nothing.

"A bunch of trash!!"

Yan Xishou was clearly anxious. He paced frantically around the room, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead.

"Damn it... I shouldn't have agreed to that old bastard from the Silver Moon Chamber of Commerce. Father said before he left that if the route in the Seven Districts is cut off, we should just pause for a while and not bring in new goods... If that old bastard hadn't knelt and begged me, I never would have taken this risk!"

"Now look at this—the corpse and the people are all gone, and we can't even find out who did it! If these things are exposed, when Father comes back, we're all finished!"

"E-Eldest Young Master... there's one more thing."

"There's more?! Speak!!"

"Just now, we got a call from Shuangye Hospital. They said two reporters suddenly rushed in and started investigating all the operating rooms used yesterday... They might be coming for this."

"What?!"

Yan Xishou's heart sank.

"Which two reporters?"

"It's that Wen Shilin, and someone who seems to be his new assistant, named Lin Yan."

"Him again..."

The people and the corpse went missing last night, and today someone is investigating the hospital. If he didn't believe there was a connection between the two, he'd be dead.

"This Wen Shilin has been working against us before, and now he dares to come and investigate this... He's really asking for death!" Yan Xishou was so angry his teeth itched, and a murderous intent spread wildly in his eyes.

Meanwhile, the subordinate who came to report sighed:

"It's not like we haven't sent people to deal with him over the years, but his counter-surveillance awareness is just too strong. He's as hard to catch as a fish..."

"You? What else can you do? You can't catch Jian Changsheng, and you can't kill Wen Shilin! How did our Yan family end up with a bunch of trash like you!"

Yan Xishou looked at the mess before him, feeling incredibly irritable.

When his father, Yan Shang, went on this long trip, he left the entire Chamber of Commerce for him to manage, intending to test his ability. But now, Jian Changsheng has escaped from prison, and despite sending so many people, there has been no progress. He took a risk to get a heart for the Silver Moon Chamber of Commerce, only to have it intercepted and nearly exposed... The Star Chamber of Commerce hadn't had as much trouble in the past few years as it had in these last few days.

Yan Xishou paced the room for a long time, a ruthless look flashing in his eyes. He looked up at the butler who was standing silently to the side.

"Uncle Long, how many of those 'Outsiders' that Father hired from other realms... are still in the Chamber of Commerce?"

The butler narrowed his eyes. "Why? You want to use them?"

"The situation is a mess right now. We can't count on these ordinary people, and the Enforcers won't kill for us... They are the only ones with Divine Paths that our Chamber of Commerce can secretly use."

The butler fell silent.

He had heard everything just now. To be honest, the situation was indeed very tricky, especially with the reporters. If they didn't take action quickly and let the organ trafficking be exposed, it would be a disaster...

"When the Chairman left, he took two with him. There are only three left in the Chamber of Commerce. But to deal with an ordinary person like Wen Shilin and a first-tier [Asura] like Jian Changsheng, one is enough."

The butler dipped his finger in tea and gently wrote three characters on the table:

【Force】, 【Puppet】, 【Book】.

"Which one of these three do you want to use?"

Yan Xishou narrowed his eyes. After hesitating for a moment, he tapped the character 【Puppet】 with his fingertip.

"Him."

(Three chapters tomorrow)