103: Chapter 103 Emerging from the Water, a Serendipitous Turn of Events

The next day was a day of running his legs off. He ran from 6:30 AM to 12:00 midnight.

Let's all just die together!

The third day, he ran for the whole morning.

Lin Ning raised an eyebrow in thought. The "tail" was gone.

Did he really tire them out to death?

Lin Ning gave a scoffing laugh. Did they think he was just a regular delivery guy with no value, so they gave up?

The fourth day, still no tail.

It seems they really withdrew.

Lin Ning was very annoyed.

They withdrew, but he had to keep going, just in case they pulled a surprise counterattack. Now he couldn't even find someone to drag down with him.

Night fell and the lights came on.

Lin Ning snatched a decent order.

He had to pick up an expensive bottle of red wine from a well-known winery and deliver it to "Yinlu" — a private government-run restaurant in an alley in the East City.

The distance wasn't far, and the pay was substantial.

Riding his e-bike, he turned into the quiet alley.

With blue bricks and grey tiles, and lanterns hanging high, the sign for "Yinlu" was discreetly embedded in the doorway.

From a few dozen meters away, Lin Ning saw two people standing at the entrance.

A slightly chubby middle-aged man in a black jacket — Green Name [Shen Xincheng, Cadre].

A lean middle-aged man in a navy blue jacket — [Li Xianmin, Cadre] — viscous deep red.

Lin Ning's pupils constricted sharply, and he felt as if his heart had been squeezed tight.

For the first time, an inexplicable feeling of panic emerged in his mind.

Lin Ning almost hit the brakes subconsciously.

He had seen plenty of Red Names, so this feeling wasn't the impact usually caused by a Red Name.

It was... danger!

Lin Ning took a deep breath, his Psychic Power surging forward.

The two middle-aged men waved goodbye, and Li Xianmin walked toward a black Audi nearby.

Seeming to sense something, Li Xianmin paused, glanced extremely quickly toward Lin Ning's side, and then scanned the surroundings.

Finding nothing unusual, he withdrew his sharp gaze, opened the car door, and sat inside.

The Audi slid silently out of the alley and disappeared into the night.

Lin Ning suppressed the urge to chase after it immediately and noted down the license plate: Jing A8XXXX.

He silently calmed his rapidly beating heart and tense muscles, then parked his bike at the entrance of "Yinlu".

A waiter in a Chinese-style uniform was already waiting there.

"Hello, delivery service. This is the wine ordered by Mr. Wang," Lin Ning said in a hoarse voice, handing over the beautifully packaged wine bag.

"Okay, thank you." The waiter took it, checked that it was intact, and provided the receipt code.

At this moment, a designated driver drove Shen Xincheng's car over.

Shen Xincheng didn't notice Lin Ning at all and sat directly in the back seat.

The vehicle started. Lin Ning watched with a heavy gaze, waited for a moment, and then followed.

He didn't understand why that strange Red Name gave him such a great sense of crisis, so he would find out.

Although this Shen Xincheng was a Green Name, he knew Li Xianmin, so at the very least, he needed to know his background.

The night traffic became the best cover. Lin Ning maintained a safe distance, his Psychic Power lightly resting on the car ahead.

The further they went, the more familiar the road became to Lin Ning.

When the car's taillights turned into a relatively quiet street and finally stopped slowly in front of an inconspicuous, even somewhat dilapidated small building—

Lin Ning slammed on the brakes, and the little e-bike stopped abruptly in the shadows where the streetlights couldn't reach.

He widened his eyes, watching Shen Xincheng get out of the car, greet the guard, and walk into that small building.

There were no conspicuous signs at the entrance, but Lin Ning couldn't be more familiar with it.

Chen Zhi's hideout! The small building he had been to countless times!

What the f*ck?!

Shen Xincheng is with State Security?!

Countless thoughts exploded in his mind, but Lin Ning didn't hesitate. He quickly drove away from the street and plunged into the traffic of a busier, noisier main road.

He was still in the "observation period" after all.

Until he had driven several kilometers away and found a relatively quiet corner, he dialed Chen Zhi's number.

"Hello?" Chen Zhi's voice was as steady as ever.

"Brother Chen..." As soon as Lin Ning opened his mouth, his voice was so hoarse that it startled him.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

Lin Ning opened his mouth several times, not knowing how to describe his thoughts and feelings.

In the end, he just stated plainly what he had just seen.

"I was doing a delivery, and at the entrance of 'Yinlu', I saw a 'very bad' person saying goodbye to someone."

When Chen Zhi heard the words "very bad", his eyebrows twitched. He remembered the last time Lin Ning had described someone that way.

Lin Ning paused, lowered his eyes, and said, "That person is named Li Xianmin, and he looks like an official..."

"What did you say his name was?" Chen Zhi interrupted Lin Ning abruptly and stood up.

Lin Ning frowned deeply. He didn't ask why he knew the name, but instead...

"Do you know Li Xianmin?"

On the other end of the line, Chen Zhi's breathing stopped for a moment.

"What does he look like? Any distinguishing features?"

"In his forties, with an ordinary face but a lean build, sharp eyes, very keen perception, and an air of authority. Wearing a navy blue jacket, driving a black Audi A8, license plate Jing A8XXX." Lin Ning closed his eyes after finishing the description.

Suppressing his emotions, he continued, "The person he said goodbye to is named Shen Xincheng. I saw him enter the small building."

After he finished speaking.

On the phone, only the heavy breathing of the two men remained.

After Lin Ning described Li Xianmin's features and combined it with Chen Zhi's reaction, he could roughly determine that Li Xianmin was indeed from the State Security system.

That keen intuition and behavior.

He was furious, let alone Chen Zhi, who was hearing about this for the first time.

He thought of how Chen Zhi worked tirelessly and exhausted himself, and he also thought of the tears in his eyes when Ou Jiarui finished his speech.

He must be even angrier and more disappointed.

Lin Ning spoke up to comfort him, "There are stragglers everywhere; just clean them out."

Chen Zhi gave a bitter laugh, "If only it were that simple."

Lin Ning was silent.

Even if he hadn't been involved in official circles, he had read novels.

This time, he really didn't have a shred of evidence. Launching an internal investigation based solely on his remark that "he doesn't look like a good person" was a taboo.

Chen Zhi wasn't the boss yet, after all.

Chen Zhi's voice returned to being steady, "Alright, these things aren't for you to worry about. I will handle it."

Thinking for a moment, he added, "Don't come to the small building recently. If anything happens, contact me by phone. Most importantly, if you see him, take a detour. Do not try to do anything!"

Lin Ning: "Who exactly is he?"

Chen Zhi felt it was necessary to let Lin Ning know about Li Xianmin's danger, otherwise this hotheaded youth wouldn't know the gravity of the situation.

"A division chief in charge of security, the same rank as me. He also walked through blood and fire to get to where he is today. Stay away from him!"

Lin Ning was deeply shocked.

After saying this, Chen Zhi hung up the phone directly.

...

At the same time, on the other side of the city.

Li Xianmin sat in his study, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

He pondered Shen Xincheng's words repeatedly.

No new technology, no special methods, just more reports recently. This was good news for him.

But he didn't want those people in the USA to know.

It was just strange why so many people were reporting things all at once recently; that was also an unusual situation.

"Lin Ning..." Li Xianmin tapped his finger on this name, his eyes deep.

He "played" a key role in the Ou Jiarui case.

Although Shen Xincheng didn't explain what role, it could be used. He had to give those foreigners some sweeteners to prove his value.

He pondered for a moment, took out that special mobile phone, and edited an encrypted message.

[Initial contact made with internal personnel of the target unit. The other party is very tight-lipped. The possibility of "new technology" is high, and the security clearance exceeds expectations. My current level makes it difficult to directly reach the core; more time is needed. It has been investigated that in the Ou Jiarui incident, 'Special Consultant' Lin Ning is a key figure who disrupted all your operations. This person has a special identity; I need more resources and time to determine his identity information.]