Chapter 347: Wanted

It was already evening when Chen Ling followed Li Qingshan to his doorstep.

The rain clouds had dissipated, and the sky was dyed a fiery red by the sunset. As the lights flickered, the streetlamps along the bluestone path turned on, revealing a two-story white-walled house before Chen Ling.

"Grandma, I'm home."

Li Qingshan first pushed the firewood into the corner, then took out his keys to open the door and called out inside.

An elderly woman with white hair walked out of the house, leaning on a cane, her steps faltering. One of her eyeballs seemed damaged, glancing askew in one direction, while the other eye sized up the red-clad Chen Ling behind Li Qingshan.

She opened her mouth tremblingly and mumbled something. Li Qingshan leaned in close, listened twice, and then shouted loudly into her ear:

"Grandma! This is a friend I met while gathering firewood! He also likes singing opera!! I brought him back for a meal!"

"What?"

"Singing opera! You used to listen to it all the time in your younger years, didn't you?!"

"Singing opera?? What kind of opera!"

"The Clown role!!"

Grandma nodded as if she understood, sized Chen Ling up for a long time, then turned around and headed back into the house, leaning on her cane.

"My grandma is old, her hearing isn't very good." Li Qingshan smiled apologetically at Chen Ling. "Brother Lin, please sit for a moment, I'll go make dinner."

Li Qingshan rolled up his sleeves and carried a bundle of firewood into the kitchen behind the low door.

Li Qingshan looked like a frail scholar, but in life, he was like a giant—chopping wood, doing laundry, cooking, and supporting himself and his elderly grandmother alone... As bouts of coughing echoed from the kitchen, a wisp of cooking smoke drifted up from the earthen chimney.

Woof, woof, woof—

A thin, black stray dog saw Chen Ling and immediately began to bark wildly.

But as Chen Ling cast a glance its way, the black dog immediately let out two whimpers and retreated silently into the corner, not daring to look at Chen Ling again.

Cooking smoke curled, swallows circled, and the poultry in the pen curiously eyed the strange visitor outside. Chen Ling stood alone in the courtyard in his red robes, like two paintings of vastly different styles, completely out of place with his surroundings...

Chen Ling's gaze swept across the area, and as if discovering something, he walked over to a corner that looked like a trash heap.

He pulled out a dust-covered radio.

Chen Ling fumbled with the radio for a moment and found that most of the buttons were broken. He gave the surface a casual tap, and static immediately crackled to life.

"This is FM101.1, welcome to 'Your Moon, His Heart'..."

"Static..."

"...The next song is requested by Mr. Li of Anhe Town for Miss Dong, performed by the new star singer of the Red Dust Domain, Zhou Ze, 'What Kind of Woman Is That'..."

"Static..."

"Lock in to 'Red Dust Evening News' every night at 5:30 to know all the big and small events... According to relevant investigations, it has been confirmed that the Aurora Domain has fallen into ruins. The main reason lies in the corruption and chaos within Aurora City, where internal traitors colluded with the Twilight Society to destroy the outer defenses, leading to a massive invasion of disasters.

According to survivors, Twilight Society members slaughtered civilians on a large scale, taking pleasure in creating panic and arson. At least hundreds of people were buried in the sea of fire, and Aurora City has been reduced to ruins.

Here, the 'Red Dust Evening News' reminds all listeners that summer is approaching, so please be mindful of electrical and fire safety... If you discover any suspicious individuals in your vicinity who may be Twilight Society members, please notify the local police immediately..."

Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly.

The high-ranking officials of the Nine Great Domains were pinning everything on the Twilight Society—this was exactly as Chen Ling had expected... After all, they couldn't admit that the lives of the Nine Monarchs were on a countdown. Otherwise, the remaining seven domains would fall into unprecedented panic, and the order established until now would collapse entirely.

And the Twilight Society, an organization that always seemed to appear at the "crime scene," was undoubtedly the best scapegoat. Shifting everyone's hatred onto the Twilight Society not only fostered their own unity but also hindered the Twilight Society's "Restart" plan to some extent—killing multiple birds with one stone.

"...Among the Twilight Society members, several key suspects have been identified.

Among them, [Heart of Red 6] Chen Ling, as the primary arsonist, also infiltrated the Aurora base and assassinated the slumbering Aurora Monarch, making him one of the main culprits behind the destruction of the Aurora Domain. He is currently listed as a top-level wanted criminal by all domains..."

Chen Ling: ???

Chen Ling's heart skipped a beat. He never imagined he would be dragged into this?!

But thinking about it, it made sense. After all, he had broken into Aurora City so brazenly, and his photos had been circulating everywhere for a long time. Since those escaping law enforcement officers needed to frame someone, they naturally had to find a clear candidate... And [Heart of Red 6] Chen Ling, who was "infamous" within Aurora City, was naturally the best target.

Of course, in a sense, he really did destroy Aurora City, and he really did commit arson... but assassinating the Aurora Monarch??

These people from the Nine Great Domains were giving him way too much credit.

Hearing noise outside, Li Qingshan, who was halfway through cooking, hurried out. His eyes lit up when he saw the radio playing.

"Brother Lin, you actually fixed it?"

Chen Ling silently changed the radio channel. "Yeah."

"This radio has been bought for many years. I couldn't fix it no matter what I did before, and I didn't have the money to buy a new one... I didn't expect Brother Lin to be so skilled at repairs!" Li Qingshan took the radio, holding it like a treasure, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"It wasn't really broken, just a tap was enough."

"Brother Lin, please sit for a moment, dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

Li Qingshan carried the radio back into the house, spoke loudly to his grandmother, and after some crackling frequency tuning, a melodious opera tune finally played, placed beside her.

The radio's volume had been turned to the maximum, loud enough to be clearly heard outside the courtyard. The elderly woman, sitting stiffly by the window like rotting wood, heard the sound, turned her head slightly toward the radio, closed her eyes involuntarily, and swayed her head, as if intoxicated by it.

Seeing this, a faint smile appeared on Li Qingshan's lips. Then, as if remembering something, he hurried back to the kitchen...

Chen Ling stood alone in the courtyard, watching the busy Li Qingshan, a complex expression flashing across his face.

In his mind, the image of the woman kneeling and crying downstairs at the apartment complex surfaced again... His hand, gripping the USB drive in his pocket, tightened involuntarily.

The fire under the stove burned, the stir-frying of vegetables and oil sounded like a cheerful accompaniment. Before long, Li Qingshan's singing voice drifted leisurely from the kitchen, overlapping with the music from the radio, echoing under the twilight.