Chapter Fourteen: Echoes from the Shadows
Night lay thick over the city. A dense fog draped itself like a vast curtain across the skyline, concealing all the secrets that had yet to be unveiled. Inside a cramped, dingy apartment, Lin Qishan sat in the gloom with a newly lit cigarette smoldering between his fingers, never once lifted to his lips. His gaze, cold and heavy, rested on the investigative notes strewn chaotically across the table. The hints and traces he'd collected in recent days felt like tiny shards of glass, each slicing at his sanity and leaving him with a growing sense that events were slipping beyond his control.
A sudden ring cut through the silence. Lin Qishan glanced at his vibrating phone; Luo Xi's name glowed on the screen. He hesitated a moment, then accepted the call.
Luo Xi's voice sounded weary and cautious. "Qishan, I have something you might be interested in. But this time, you need to be extra careful."
Lin Qishan replied coolly, "What is it you want to tell me?"
Lowering his voice almost to a whisper, Luo Xi continued, "There's a young assistant by Bai Jingci's side, name of Xu Han. He seems to know far more than we do." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "Lately he's been making frequent trips to a small warehouse on the west side of the city. Always very secretively. I suspect that place is hiding something important."
Lin Qishan frowned. "Have you been there yourself?"
"I have," Luo Xi admitted with a sigh, "but the security there is extremely tight. One misstep and I'd have blown my cover. That's why I'm reaching out to you—you're much better than I am at getting information in that kind of environment."
Lin Qishan fell silent for a moment, then finally nodded to himself. "Give me the address."
Past midnight, the air was cold and damp. Lin Qishan parked his car in a back alley some distance from the warehouse and watched in silence. The building looked ordinary enough from the outside, but its perimeter bristled with concealed surveillance cameras and alarms. It was an island of concrete guarded by unseen eyes.
He waited patiently as the hours crept by. It was nearly 2:00 a.m. when an unremarkable black sedan finally pulled up in front of the warehouse gates. Xu Han stepped out, casting a careful glance around the area before slipping inside.
Using the darkness as cover, Lin Qishan crept closer along the side of the warehouse. He quickly spotted several hidden security cameras perched under the eaves. Taking pains to stay out of their sightlines, he edged toward a section of wall where time and weather had opened a narrow crack. Pressing his eye to the gap, he peered into the dimly lit interior.
Inside, a weak yellow light cast elongated shadows across a handful of figures. Xu Han stood in the center of the warehouse, engaged in a hushed conversation with several others whose faces were set in hard, forbidding lines. Lin Qishan held his breath and strained to catch their words.
Xu Han's tone was calm but carried a quiet authority. "Bai Jingci is growing suspicious of us. Continuing like this is far too dangerous. The 0024 matter must be dealt with immediately—no more slip-ups."
One of the other men murmured in response, "What about the people on that list? Do we take them out as well?"
"All of them, wipe them out," Xu Han answered coldly. "No loose ends."
Lin Qishan's heart began to pound. He hadn't expected Xu Han to be orchestrating such a vast scheme—one that now targeted even more innocent people. A cold dread prickled through him as he backed away from the wall with utmost caution. It wasn't time to blow his cover or reveal the truth yet; he would need far more concrete evidence before making any move.
Back at his apartment, Lin Qishan sat down and carefully sorted through the intel he'd just gathered. The situation had already spiraled far beyond anything he'd imagined. It was clear now that Xu Han's role was far more significant than that of a mere assistant.
Early the next morning, through an old contact, Lin Qishan arranged a secret meeting with a member of the investigative task force. In a quiet, secluded corner of a cafe, he shared the latest information he'd uncovered.
The investigator listened with a grave expression, then nodded slowly. "Qishan, you need to be more careful than ever," he said in a low, urgent voice. "Xu Han is definitely not just some ordinary player—there could be even more powerful forces entangled behind him. And there's something else: we've recently obtained a new lead."
Lin Qishan's brow tensed. "What lead?"
The man glanced around and lowered his voice further. "We have reason to suspect that Xu Han is actually Atang—the one pulling the strings behind the code name 0024. In other words, he may be the direct controller of 0024. We think he's the one truly driving the plan behind the whole Xiangci system, and he could be connected to multiple disappearance cases and murders."
A chill ran down Lin Qishan's spine. The mysterious code "0024" that had haunted his case notes for so long—its real puppet master turned out to be someone so close at hand. The revelation was staggering; for a moment he could hardly believe it.
Seeing him fall silent, the investigator added quietly, "One more thing. Last night we monitored unusual activity on Bai Jingci's private communications. It looks like she's begun to suspect Xu Han as well. We believe an internal power struggle between them is about to erupt."
Lin Qishan took a deep breath, forcing himself to think clearly. This game had become far more convoluted than he'd anticipated, and now Xu Han's hidden identity and agenda cast the entire affair into deeper uncertainty.
Night fell once more. Lin Qishan stood alone at his apartment window, staring out into the blackness. He understood now that this was no longer just his personal quest—it had become a matter of life and death for countless innocent people. He needed to decide on his next move. The path ahead was overgrown with thorns and riddled with unseen dangers, but he had no choice but to walk it.
At that moment, his phone buzzed on the table, shattering the silence. An unknown number flashed on the screen. Lin Qishan's pulse quickened; he hesitated, then answered.
A cool, low voice came on the line. "Lin Qishan… Things have escalated beyond your control. If you don't want to end up as the next corpse, you'd best stop your investigation now."
Lin Qishan's voice hardened. "Who are you?"
The caller let out a short, icy laugh. "Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is that the closer you get to the truth, the closer you are to death. It's your call." With that, the line went dead.
For a long moment, Lin Qishan stood in the dark, phone pressed to his ear and the dial tone droning softly. Finally he lowered the phone and stared at the blank screen, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Instead of terrifying him, the warning had only confirmed that he was closing in on a critical truth. Outside, the night was as deep and impenetrable as ever, but inside him, his resolve only burned stronger.
He had no way back now. The only road left led forward—straight into the darkness ahead.