Chapter 7364
Clues
The air inside the car seemed to freeze instantly; even breathing could be heard clearly. The young soldier in the driver's seat had bulging veins on his arms, his knuckles gripping the steering wheel so tightly they were white, clearly trying his best to suppress his emotions.
Xiao Chen fell silent.
The thought of "granting Li Can a chance" that had flashed through his mind just a few days ago now turned into a chilling irony. He had vaguely deduced Li Can's fate; although it would be full of twists and turns, it was by no means destined for an early death!
Did he miscalculate? Or... did someone forcibly reverse cause and effect?
An intensely chilling aura emanated uncontrollably from Xiao Chen, causing the temperature inside the carriage to plummet as if it had instantly plunged into an ice cellar.
Fine ice cracks spread across the bulletproof car window at a visible speed, like a frozen lake in the dead of winter, as if it would shatter completely at any moment.
Just as the oppressive silence was about to solidify into something tangible...
"Ding……"
Xiao Chen's phone suddenly beeped with a message notification.
The screen lit up automatically, its cold light illuminating half of his stern profile. In the sender's field, two words flashed prominently: Li Can.
These two words were like a thunderclap, instantly shattering the deathly silence in the carriage.
Xiao Chen's breath hitched almost imperceptibly, and his fingertips tightened involuntarily; Zhuang Yuan beside him straightened his back abruptly, leaned forward, and stared intently at the lit screen, his eyes filled with shock and urgency.
"Wait!" Zhuang Yuan's voice was dry and hoarse, filled with disbelief and urgency. "If Li Can can still send messages, why did he only send one to you? According to the rules, even if he had a message, he should have reported it to the Martial Arts Army Headquarters first! This is not in accordance with procedure!"
Xiao Chen's gaze was fixed on the name "Li Can," his expression remaining calm: "This is not normal contact; it's a clue, and also bait thrown out by the other party."
A light swipe of the finger unlocks the screen, and the text message appears... brief to the extreme, yet it exudes a blatant provocation:
"Xiao Chen, have you ever tasted despair?"
There was no title, no signature, and the words were permeated with a cold mockery.
The last flicker of emotion in Xiao Chen's eyes vanished completely. It wasn't Li Can. Li Can had always addressed him respectfully as "Mr. Xiao," and would never have used such a direct address, much less utter such pretentious nonsense.
He immediately dialed back, but all he heard was a monotonous, empty busy tone; he couldn't get through at all.
"It's an encrypted network redirect, using a virtual number segment."
Zhuang Yuan's voice was taut like a fully drawn bowstring, "The technical team needs time to trace the source, but the fact that the other party can send messages through Li Can's device... at least indicates that the device, or Li Can and his team, are still within the other party's control!"
Xiao Chen did not respond, turning his gaze to the thick, inky night outside the window. After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked, "How much do you know about Extreme Yin Island?"
Zhuang Yuan took a deep breath and pressed his temples hard, as if forcibly calming his turbulent emotions:
“In recent years, the Western Martial Arts Army has dealt with them several times. A group of hyenas hiding in the shadows, they target lone martial artists or small forces. They are ruthless, vicious, and have no bottom line.”
"Their leader is called the Extreme Yin Ancestor, who is revered like a god by the lunatics on Extreme Yin Island. He reportedly has a hundred thousand fanatical followers. In past encounters, we've both suffered casualties, but we've never suffered such a great loss..." He paused, lowering his voice even further, tinged with a heavy sense of apprehension:
"The fact that Li Can's elite assault team could lose contact instantly, even completely erasing their life signals... indicates that this group is definitely not ordinary henchmen from Jiyin Island; they are likely the top combat force of their core members."
Zhuang Yuan turned to look at Xiao Chen, his eyes filled with suppressed anger and deep worry:
"Their target is very clear: they're after you. You killed several of their core members in the ancient city incident. These people hold grudges and are obviously looking for revenge."
Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Chen's phone vibrated again.
This time, a pure black message bubble popped up on the screen. In the very center of the bubble was a scarlet link, like a blood-soaked, eerie eyeball staring intently at the person in front of the screen, exuding an indescribable malice.
"Mr. Xiao, give me your phone."
Zhuang Yuan immediately handed over a data cable and deftly connected the phone to the military laptop mounted in the vehicle. His fingers flew across the keyboard, the sound of rapid typing echoing like rain, and strings of code scrolled quickly across the screen.
"Have the tech team analyze this immediately and see what kind of nonsense is hidden in this link!"
After a moment, Zhuang Yuan's tense expression eased slightly:
"The initial scan results are in. The link itself does not contain any embedded viruses or location programs. However, the location of the server it points to is very unclear, and it uses at least ten layers of proxies, so tracing it will take time."
"Open it." Xiao Chen's voice was calm and even, as if he were talking about something trivial.
Zhuang Yuan looked up at him and saw that he looked determined. Without further hesitation, he pressed his fingertips heavily on the Enter key.
The screen went black instantly, and after a brief silence, a violently shaking image appeared on the screen.
The scene is dimly lit and murky, as if it were deep inside a damp, abandoned warehouse, with the air seemingly filled with the smell of rust and blood.
Ten figures dressed in Western Martial Arts Army combat uniforms were tightly bound to a rusty steel frame with thick, rough hemp ropes, their heads drooping limply, their fate unknown.
Their combat uniforms were already soaked with dark red bloodstains, and the torn flesh beneath the tattered fabric was a horrifying sight. There were also pools of black blood on the ground.
Despite having mentally prepared himself, Zhuang Yuan's breathing suddenly became heavy upon seeing this scene. His chest heaved violently, and he slammed his fist hard on the seat next to him with a dull thud. His eyes blazed with fury.
Xiao Chen stared at the screen silently, his face expressionless, as if the horrific scene on the screen had nothing to do with him.
But only those who know him well know that the calmer he appears, the more intense the anger burns within him... In the depths of his profound eyes, it seems as if an extremely cold glacier is silently collapsing, brewing a blizzard powerful enough to destroy everything.
The screen shook violently a few times, and a pale white Noh mask was suddenly thrust in front of the camera.
The exaggerated, distorted smile on the mask revealed two bottomless black holes in the eye sockets, sending chills down one's spine. A voice, altered and androgynous, rang out, piercingly harsh like fingernails scraping glass:
"Xiao Chen, nice to meet you. Please take care of me." The masked man paused, seemingly sizing up the person on the other side of the screen, his tone laced with playful admiration, "You're even younger than the intelligence reports... such enviable vigor."
"Release them." Xiao Chen spoke, his voice not loud, but like ice that had been frozen for millennia, instantly lowering the temperature inside the carriage to freezing point. "Release them now, and I might leave you with intact corpses." (End of Chapter)