Chapter 199: Sanction

Dark night, high wind.

Wen Shilin was pacing anxiously in a remote factory building.

He was the only one in the empty factory. There were no residents nearby, and only a few scattered lights were bright in the distance. Everything was quiet... only Wen Shilin's heart couldn't calm down.

"Why hasn't Lin Yan come back yet... Did something go wrong while he was tying them up?"

"Was the force too light when he struck, and he got discovered?"

"Or was he seen by someone on the way back dragging three people, and reported to the Enforcers?"

"Lin Yan should be doing this for the first time, with no experience. The possibility of something going wrong is high... Sigh, it's my fault for insisting he tie them up. Isn't that making him break the law?!"

"No, this is on me. I have to go get him out."

Wen Shilin struggled for a long time, a look of determination flashing in his eyes. He immediately walked quickly toward the factory entrance. Just then, a figure dragging three sacks was walking over unhurriedly from the distance.

"Mr. Wen, where are you going?" Chen Ling raised his eyebrows in surprise as he saw Wen Shilin rushing out.

Wen Shilin was stunned to see him return safe and sound.

"I was worried that you would have an accident while tying them up, so I wanted to go check..."

Wen Shilin's gaze fell on the three sacks. "You succeeded?!"

"Tying up a few people, what kind of accident could there be?"

Chen Ling waved his hand casually and opened all the sacks. Three figures with cloth strips stuffed in their mouths and their hands and feet tied tightly were lying inside, unconscious. It was Xin Youquan, Qiu Dong, and Wang Yuning.

Wen Shilin's eyes lit up. He didn't expect Chen Ling to actually succeed in capturing the three of them, and to have avoided everyone's sight and successfully transported them here...

"How did you do it?" Wen Shilin couldn't help but ask.

Chen Ling said casually: "I just hid on their way home from work, knocked them out one by one when no one was around, and borrowed a cargo truck to bring them here... Don't worry, no one discovered us on the way."

For Chen Ling, kidnapping three ordinary people naturally wouldn't be difficult. He could even have done it more simply and directly, but considering he couldn't let Wen Shilin be suspicious, he tried to restrain himself as much as possible.

Wen Shilin nodded. "Thank you for your hard work."

As they spoke, the two of them carried the people in the sacks into the factory. Wen Shilin looked at the three people lined up on the ground, who showed no signs of waking up even after being tossed around like this, and turned to ask Chen Ling:

"Did you hit them very hard? Why aren't they waking up yet?"

"...I don't know. This is my first time hitting people, and I couldn't gauge the force." Chen Ling shook his head blankly.

"Sigh... alright."

"How about we pour a bucket of water to wake them all up?"

"Better not. We aren't kidnappers. We tied them up just to ensure their safety." Wen Shilin scanned the unconscious people. "We have time anyway, let's just wait for them to wake up slowly."

Chen Ling narrowed his eyes but didn't say much.

Just then, Wen Shilin seemed to remember something and walked quickly toward the outside of the factory.

"What's wrong?"

"I have to go back once. The camera is still at home... Without the camera, I can't take photos of the three of them, and I'll lack evidence during the interview."

Chen Ling looked at the sky outside, his brow furrowing slightly. After hesitating for a moment, he said:

"Give me the key, I'll go get it."

Wen Shilin was about to say something else, but Chen Ling spoke first. "They should be waking up soon. If I stay here, I'm afraid I won't be able to stop myself from beating them."

"Why?"

"They hollowed out a child last night... just like they hollowed out my younger brother."

Wen Shilin was stunned, and the factory fell into silence.

Chen Ling took the key from his hand and walked out of the factory alone, his figure gradually disappearing into the dark night.

Watching Chen Ling's departing back, Wen Shilin's expression turned complex. He looked back at the three unconscious figures on the factory floor, wondering what he was thinking.

A few minutes later.

*Splash—!*

A bucket of cold water was poured over the three of them. In this cold night, it almost froze them into ice pops.

They woke up from their unconsciousness with a start. Seeing the factory around them and Wen Shilin standing silently in front of them with an empty bucket, their eyes were full of astonishment and shock.

"It's you?!"

"You kidnapped us?! What do you want to do?"

"Damn it! This is illegal!!"

Amidst their panicked cursing, Wen Shilin tossed the empty bucket aside, making a dull thud. He raised his hand and pulled the professional tie at his shirt collar open a bit... his cold gaze looked down at the three of them indifferently.

"Next, I will conduct a deep interview with you all..."

"The content of this interview will determine your fate. If you cooperate, the ones who will sanction you will be the public and the law. If you don't cooperate..."

"I will sanction you on behalf of that child. Understand?"

……

Under the moonlight, Chen Ling, wearing a brown coat, walked into a low residential building.

Chen Ling was no stranger to Wen Shilin's home; he had come to deliver a corpse there just this morning... Compared to the residences in the Third District, this place was undoubtedly much better, but compared to other parts of Aurora City, it was as cramped and crowded as a slum.

The reason Chen Ling didn't want Wen Shilin to come back alone was that he was worried that the people behind the hospital would find out they were investigating things they shouldn't and send people to block them... Chen Ling wasn't afraid of these people himself—they were just sending themselves to their deaths—but if Wen Shilin got injured, the investigation progress would slow down.

Fortunately, looking at the situation around this residential building, there was nothing unusual for the time being.

At this moment, the residents here should be fast asleep, and the entire hallway was extremely quiet. Chen Ling walked up to the fourth floor and found that there weren't many residents on this floor; most of the rooms were still in a rough state or showed signs of not having been lived in for a long time.

Chen Ling went straight to the door at the very end and entered silently.

"Messier than I imagined..."

Chen Ling scanned the slightly messy room. The walls were covered with clipped news items, unpublished article segments, and photos stolen from unknown sources. At first glance, it looked exactly like the spy rooms Chen Ling had seen in movies in his past life.

However, this fit the image of Wen Shilin as an older single man. Besides news, he didn't seem to have any other interests in his life.

Chen Ling quickly found the camera in the room, closed the door, and left. Just as he reached the corner of the hallway, light footsteps came from the stairs on the floor below.

*Tap—tap—tap...*

【Audience Expectation +5】

The footsteps were steady and light, walking slowly from the third floor to the fourth. Hearing this sound, Chen Ling was slightly stunned, and then several thoughts flashed through his mind like lightning!

He quickly raised his hand to his chin...

By the time he passed the corner and reached the hallway, he had already transformed into a middle-aged man of about thirty, holding a briefcase in one hand and walking down the stairs from the fourth floor.

By the moonlight in the hallway, Chen Ling finally saw the figure coming up the stairs. It was a pale man with a hunched back like a hunchback, walking with his head lowered, seemingly listless.

And on his back, a strange paper person with red eyes was lying quietly, motionless.