Special Forces Medic-Chapter 654 - 616: There Are Many People Named Hong Lian

Relying on his memory, Xiao Lin came alone to this slum area. Walking down the not-so-spacious street, Xiao Lin pondered a question. It seemed he had forgotten this person for a long time, but now suddenly, the memory jumped into his mind, feeling strange. Who was the person that guided him to the central garden that night? Their familiarity with the Xiao Family amazed him, yet he still couldn't discern if that person was a friend or foe.

The door was ajar, in the bright afternoon sun, the girl who no longer worked should not leave her grandfather unattended and go out alone, this was Xiao Lin's impression of that girl. He politely knocked on the door, being here because of a previous promise.

There was no response. Pushing open the ajar door, the inside was a mess, as if showing signs of a fight, which puzzled him greatly. What kind of person would need to come here and cause trouble? A big boss?

Some essential items in the room had been moved out, and the bed where the elderly man lived was just a wooden board, with the bedding already removed. Xiao Lin walked outside and halted a passing auntie. "Excuse me, what happened to the grandfather and granddaughter living here?"

"They moved out this morning!" The auntie looked at Xiao Lin cautiously and answered.

Xiao Lin returned to the room. Although it looked like it had just been vacated, there were still obvious signs of a struggle. The girl wouldn't fight; it must have been the old man. Xiao Lin felt he might have missed something.

"Shou, I need you to check on someone." Xiao Lin immediately dialed Shou's number, whose lazy voice sounded still half-asleep.

"Hmm! I have four people here for you to identify. When are you coming back to the city center? Also, Wing said he can't find you, and he urgently needs to see you." Even in his drowsiness, Shou spoke with his eyes closed, having not slept for several days.

"I'm coming over now." After a faint reply from the other side, Xiao Lin hung up the phone.

An hour later, Xiao Lin arrived in the basement level of the hotel supplies market, pulling up a roller shutter. On a camp bed, a figure was moving. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"You got here way too fast!" Shou was wrapped entirely in a quilt, making muffled sounds.

"Where's the stuff?"

A hand pointed from under the covers to a certain direction, leading his gaze to a water basin. Xiao Lin walked in the opposite direction to a table with a pile of papers.

"These four are the most likely candidates for Hong Lian's new appearance."

Xiao Lin carefully looked at each photo; he had never seen Hong Lian, so he didn't know how to distinguish these four people. "Who are they?"

Shou helplessly poked his head out from under the covers. "They're the same person, look closely."

The brows and eyes showed no resemblance, and neither did the noses. Xiao Lin realigned the four photographs. If there was a commonality, it was in the lips and jawline, with only subtle changes; the overall structure remained distinctly similar.

"See it?" Seeing Xiao Lin silent, Shou propped up his upper body, considering whether he should plan to move. Living here wasn't as comfortable as before, and recently many people had been spying around his place, possibly due to past matters with Hong; he was getting anxious.

"You seem to be in a lousy mood." Xiao Lin looked around for a place to sit, only finding equipment aside from the bed. "I see you've posted a transfer notice at your door; are you planning to go back to the underworld?"

"No, I just don't want to live under the surveillance of fools."

Only Hong had moved to a new place; Shou occasionally spent a few days there but mostly stayed in this small shop.

"Haha!" Xiao Lin knowingly rubbed his hair. "Aren't you avoiding suspicion by not moving together?"

"Oh, you're quite well-informed!" Shou stretched lazily and climbed out of bed. "I don't think those people are bad, so I haven't acted, just a bit irritated," pouring himself a cup of coffee and taking a sip. "Those four people have moved more than dozens of places. Initially, they were out of my sight, but there's a suspicious point they all share, a little girl with them."

"A girl?" Xiao Lin pondered.

"Hmm!" Shou took the photos from Xiao Lin's hand, spreading them out on the bed, pointing to one with spiky hair. "This was around seven or eight years ago, back then he was still moving solo, once made a deal here in the underworld, took quite a bit of money."

Xiao Lin's mind churned an idea. "I think the person I want you to find might be their extension."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you heard about the case in the northern district?" Shou nodded, since in their line of work, all sorts of news were immediately compiled here.

"Was it you?"

"It's a pity I haven't found the stronghold yet." Xiao Lin lit a cigarette. "The girl I want you to find is about twenty years old, with an elderly man suffering from asthma. She isn't a key figure in this case, but slightly related. Today, they've moved from their original location, and I suspect the old man might be the one who lured me out before."

"Oh, it sounds like a rather complicated thing." Shou took the cigarette from Xiao Lin, placing it in his mouth, inhaling before holding it between his fingers. "This person registered under the name Hong Lian here once entrusted us to sell an item, though unrelated to the hand thing you mentioned; it was another artifact, a weapon from the Warring States era."

"There are many people named Hong Lian in China, just in Yanjing, there are 3,145 people with that name." Shou paused and continued. "Afterwards, this person always relocated using this name, the girl accompanying him probably around his second transformation, which raised my suspicion, but there's another suspicious person, though based on age calculation, they seem too young." He then pulled a printed sheet from that pile of documents, handing it to Xiao Lin. "Take a look at this."

The image printed on A4 paper wasn't clear; the blurry face outline gave only a vague idea. "Doesn't the person beside him look familiar to you?"

"When is this photo from?" Xiao Lin immediately recognized Wang Zhantian beside this person. "Seven or eight years ago, I found it accidentally while going through our records, thus, he's also a potential candidate for being Hong Lian."

"Could they be the same person?" Xiao Lin hypothesized.

"I can tell you with certainty, no." Shou confidently dismissed Xiao Lin's speculation. "That person is currently in a mental institution." (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)