Special Forces Medic-Chapter 872 - 845: The Temperature of Cigarette Ash on Fingertips

"Yes!

Three days should be enough for Xiao Lin to do something, right? Xiao Zhenfeng stood with his hands behind his back, contemplating the sunlight outside the window.

"Mr. Xiao, the car is ready outside. Do you want to go now or wait a bit more?" Secretary Luo came up behind him after receiving an internal call.

"Let’s go now!"

When Xiao Lin stood in this position again, he couldn’t express his current feelings. The open doorway seemed to have remained unclosed since he last left. Since then, Hua Qingyi seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth without a trace.

He wasn’t worried about Hua Qingyi’s safety. In fact, no news was good news. Not getting any news meant Hua Qingyi was still alive somewhere in this world. But what he couldn’t let go was the information he had heard from the old man that pushed him to a point, a point he couldn’t ever abandon.

Three days! That was exactly the time Mu Rongyun had given him. He had been waiting in this abandoned brick kiln, and time passed neither quickly nor slowly. Yet, Mu Rongyun didn’t show up, and it seemed like the hotel had changed owners. Had he truly missed the right timing? Did he misjudge Fourth Lord?

Xiao Lin sat on the edge of the latrine, smoking a cigarette, and stared into the black hole below. Sometimes he felt he understood Fourth Lord to some extent, yet at times she seemed utterly alien. She drugged Wu Shuang for his sake, but reached her limit without making any move. Had she given up? Or was this an act of revenge for him destroying the kingdom she painstakingly built?

Not wanting to overthink, Xiao Lin finished his last puff of cigarette and jumped down. Whether she was inside or not, he had to go in.

A gust of cold wind drifted out from the dark entrance. Xiao Lin looked up at the sun hanging overhead. Standing in the sunlight filled him with warmth, yet one foot stepping into the doorway brought a chill that made him feel the so-called divide between life and death. He never believed in ghosts, for he thought humans were a hundred times scarier than ghosts.

Without further hesitation, he bent down and entered, supporting himself with both hands on the sides. Xiao Lin couldn’t help but express his critical attitude toward Fourth Lord’s pursuit of life quality.

It’s merely a passageway, yet it was polished so smooth. It was evident they spent a fortune constructing this area, and labor alone suggested the luxury inside. Every touch was smooth without any blemishes or sharp edges, feeling like caressing a piece of cold jade. If it weren’t summer, the temperature here would surely make one fall ill.

Pausing in his stride, Xiao Lin realized he had overlooked an issue. Fourth Lord’s residence constantly emitted the scent of herbs. She had always lived in such an environment. The Middle East is a hot region, and she built her base on the remote outskirts of Jordan. At night, the temperature dropped alarmingly, resembling this place. Could this mean Fourth Lord was a person of extreme yin?

Continuing forward, Xiao Lin still couldn’t fathom why Fourth Lord wanted his blood, her obsession reaching a fanatical level no matter the cost. Another question lingered: was she male or female? Only now did he start to truly ponder this. Since entering this place, his mind hadn’t stopped thinking, always revolving around Fourth Lord alone, which was unusual.

Closing his eyes, he exhaled deeply. In this passage, there were no other living creatures, only his own breaths. The excessively humid air carried a hissing noise, the sound of wind and airflow interchanging. This wasn’t a dead-end; there should be another exit somewhere. As he moved inside, his fingertips felt droplets forming on the walls.

If he’s not mistaken, this location should be near the river bank, or he might be just beneath it. But Xiao Lin preferred to believe he was walking along the river’s path.

After walking about two or three meters, he noticed a glimmer of light. There was no sign of human life, no presence of living creatures, yet the electrical facilities were still operational. The good lighting allowed Xiao Lin to immediately take in the entire underground space.

It wasn’t much different from what he had imagined. The entire setup bore a resemblance to the Middle East, with minimal decoration. Scattered around were immovable furnishings and gauze drapes reflecting Fourth Lord’s interests. The air carried the scent of that woman, the rich and warm aroma of herbs.

Growing vigilant, Xiao Lin realized three days weren’t enough for the scent to remain so authentic. There were two possibilities: either someone was still here or had just left.

Searching from the outer rooms, he found only disarrayed items that proved the place was vacated. Xiao Lin returned to where he stood earlier. The scent of Fourth Lord was strongest here, and he ventured in. Judging from the spacious center area, there had once been a large carpet, reminding Xiao Lin of Fourth Lord’s favorite reclining habit—lying down much longer than she would stand or walk.

Scanning the surroundings yielded nothing. While inspecting, he sought the scent’s origin. In a seemingly inconspicuous corner, his gaze fell on a toppled incense burner, capturing his attention. Picking it up casually, there was still a large piece of incense inside. Pinching a bit of ash, a searing pain spread from his fingertips, and Xiao Lin smiled—this trip wasn’t in vain; there were some small gains.

"Xiao Lin is here. Why not show yourself, Fourth Lord?" Xiao Lin spoke to the air, not because he suspected anyone present but because he believed his actions and words here could be heard or seen by the other party.

But aside from the lingering fragrance in the air, nothing changed. "Fourth Master went through so much effort just to see me and take something from me? Why are you hiding now? This isn’t like you, Fourth Master."

As he spoke, there should have been a crisp echo in the underground environment, but every word Xiao Lin uttered halted after being recorded, causing Xiao Lin to frown. There must be another secret chamber here.

Placing down the incense burner, Xiao Lin exited the room. If the first room coming out of the passage was set up as a meeting room, then where is the Fourth Master’s bedroom? The underground space isn’t as large as beneath the brick kiln. Apart from essential living facilities, there’s no kitchen here, and there are two empty rooms. From the arrangement of the furniture, it shows signs of long-term residence. There are men’s belongings. Most of the people around Fourth Master are women, so where did the men’s belongings come from? Or is the Fourth Master actually a man?

For some reason, Xiao Lin suddenly felt inexplicably anxious. His intuition told him that the Fourth Master must be here, but where?

In a stone-built space, he couldn’t find the location of a hidden door. The only clue he currently had was rendered useless because of the transfer of the inn. Since undergoing surgery in the military district, Mu Rongyun had never appeared again, including Wu Shuang who also disappeared. The information he heard from Wu Mian was just a poor excuse about traveling. What changes occurred during these days when he was absent?

Xiao Lin withdrew from the dark entrance, standing again under the sunlight. With a leap, he grabbed a stone, and with another jump, he leaped out of the pit.

The light shooting down from above cast his shadow long on the ground. He turned back to look at that entrance. He must have missed something down there. He rushed back into the passage, this time heading straight to that room he was just in.

On what was originally empty ground, a table appeared, with a piece of paper pressed under a cyan porcelain bottle.

Xiao Lin looked at the words on it, clenching his fist.

’The antidote and the woman, which will you choose?’

"Come out!" Xiao Lin shouted angrily at the air, suddenly feeling like he had been played for a fool.

"Hehehe!" A calm laugh sounded.

"Fourth Master?"

"Young Master Xiao, there’s no need to exhaust yourself trying to find me." Xiao Lin strained his ears to listen to the direction the voice came from, but he couldn’t determine it. The voice came from all around, from the entire space. "I’m sure you understand the meaning of the note. You can only choose one of the two women. Consider this my return gift for your present."

"What do you plan to do to Xia Xue?"

"That depends on your choice, doesn’t it? No one can take anything away from me. My patience with you has reached its limit. From the Middle East, you destroyed the kingdom I painstakingly built, and now I want you to taste the feeling of loss. Wait for my grand gift!"

"If you dare to harm Xia Xue, I will make you regret it immensely."

"Oh, it seems you’ve already decided between the two women, huh? Even women and brothers are nothing in your eyes!" Fourth Master’s low and enchanting voice echoed, as though filled with magic, into Xiao Lin’s ears. "Young Master Xiao, your Xiao Family’s reign should also come to an end. Dominating this world too long becomes annoying. Rather than questioning me here, you should go back and guard your woman. The person who will regret it might not be who you think, hahaha!"

Xiao Lin grabbed the cyan porcelain bottle on the table and ran out, took a deep breath, and leaped out of the pit, standing in the sunlight but feeling no warmth. A chill ran down his spine. He had never been so afraid, nor so anxious, turning to run towards his QQ car, while not forgetting to dial Zimu.

"Where are you guys right now?"

"Sister-in-law is shopping!" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Take her to the farm immediately, I’ll be there soon." Hanging up, Xiao Lin started the car. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed two figures emerging where he had been standing, fleeting and vanishing. (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation.)