Chapter Seventy-Five: Elder Huo Faces Disaster!

I was utterly shocked and rushed to shield Mr. Lin. But at that critical moment, Li Hong swiftly pulled Mr. Lin behind him and, with a flying kick, sent the assailant sprawling to the ground.

The military expert sprang up again, his bones twisted, his face contorted in a terrifying grimace, and lunged at Li Hong once more. Li Hong drew his baton like lightning, snapped the man's arms with two sharp blows, and pinned him forcefully to the ground. I quickly unfastened my belt and bound him. The military expert cried out, “There’s a bug, help!” Then his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

Li Xingchen was dumbfounded. “What’s going on? What’s wrong with this guy?”

I said, “Don’t worry about that now. He just mentioned a bug—what bug?”

Li Xingchen shook his head. “I didn’t see anything.”

Mr. Lin said, “He must have been poisoned, his body infested by some kind of parasite. He might turn into a hollow corpse. We need to get him to the hospital immediately.”

Li Hong hoisted the military expert into the car, but leaving us behind was hardly wise, so he commandeered a taxi and had us follow him.

The police quickly arrived and took control of the scene, leaving the rest in their hands.

On the way, the military expert suddenly regained consciousness. He seemed perfectly normal and asked us, bewildered, what had happened. Li Hong reassured him, saying it was nothing—he may have been poisoned, and they were taking him to the hospital for emergency treatment.

The man said, puzzled, “Just now... I felt something crawling inside me, a bug. It was unbearable.”

Li Hong remained silent.

I hurriedly asked, “Do you remember attacking us?”

The military expert’s eyes widened. “You said... I attacked you? What happened?”

Apparently, he remembered nothing. I quickly told him not to worry, just to be careful.

Sun Lili called Li Xingchen again, demanding why he hadn’t arrived yet. If he dared to stand her up, he shouldn’t contact her again. Li Xingchen immediately apologized and explained someone nearly died, so he couldn’t go. Sun Lili was furious, telling him never to call her again—that a dead man was more important than she was, and all men were the same. Then she hung up.

We had no mind for Sun Lili’s complaints, focused solely on getting the military expert to the hospital, suspecting he harbored corpse worms.

Once infested, one’s mind would become muddled. Could it be that Officer Wang, who hanged himself, was in the same state—unaware of his own actions?

Mr. Lin was silent for a long moment, then suddenly said, “Did you notice?”

We had no idea what he meant.

Mr. Mo spoke, “He took just one sip of water before it took effect—so potent, it’s like a deadly poison.”

We all smiled bitterly, understanding Mr. Lin’s point. If someone wanted to harm us, there’d be no need to poison everyone—just one person would suffice. The poisoned one would go mad and kill the rest. The murderer’s methods were truly terrifying!

Now I understood what “remote-controlled murder” really meant.

We returned to our lodgings, only to find a mysterious team quickly assembling, apparently for a special mission.

The commander, upon hearing we’d returned, immediately summoned us to the office. There he was, pacing back and forth, clearly anxious.

“Mr. Lin, are you all right?” he asked nervously.

Mr. Lin replied that they were fine, thanks to Li Hong’s protection.

The commander looked Li Hong up and down with interest. “Which unit were you in?”

Li Hong smiled faintly. “I served on the border. That’s all I can say.”

“You’re quite a talent. Once this case is closed, we’ll talk more. Now, let’s discuss Mr. Huo’s situation.”

“Right after you called me, Mr. Huo phoned, asking for help. His call was abruptly cut off, the phone dropped. Now I can’t reach him. I’m urgently assembling a rescue team.”

“What?” Mr. Mo’s face changed. “Something happened to Mr. Huo?”

The commander nodded.

“No, he can’t have come to harm,” Mr. Lin insisted. “I’m counting on him to call me Master. Where was he last contacted?”

“Around Jing Shi Road,” the commander replied. “The nearest police station has started searching, but there’s no trace of Mr. Huo yet.”

“We’ll go too!” Mr. Lin declared.

The commander nodded. “That’s my intention. Everyone wears stab-proof vests. The criminals are vicious and cunning, and it seems there’s more than one. We must be careful.”

Mr. Lin agreed.

The commander then asked Li Xingchen, “How did he get poisoned?”

Li Xingchen said, “A street vendor sold him a bottle of water. I warned him not to drink it, but he was very thirsty and drank it anyway.”

“There are street vendors selling bottled water? That’s odd—does it even pay? Maybe the killer disguised himself, but the disguise seems careless,” Mr. Lin remarked.

The commander said, “Mr. Lin, maybe you’re unfamiliar with this area. Nearby is a tourist zone where water is expensive, and many vendors set up stalls to sell it. It’s not uncommon.”

“Then round up all the water vendors nearby. Li Xingchen, can you recognize the one who sold the water?”

“Absolutely,” Li Xingchen replied. “A man with a bushy mustache—he looked like trouble.”

Mr. Lin nodded. “Good. Stay behind and identify the vendor. The rest, come with me.”

Li Xingchen agreed, “I’ll wait here.”

We donned stab-proof vests and joined the main force heading to the site where Mr. Huo was last seen.

This was at the intersection of Jing Shi Road and Yu Cai Road, again beneath a traffic light. Whether by coincidence or not, this intersection was just two streets away from ours. What had Mr. Huo and his group discovered that brought them here?

Police had already cordoned off the area, and after a brief handover, the team launched a broader search.

Watching the bustling crowd, Mr. Lin sighed, saying such blind searching would likely lead to disaster before Mr. Huo was found.

I asked what we should do. Local police said the residents had noticed nothing unusual.

Mr. Lin pointed to the surveillance camera overhead. “Contact the traffic police division—see if the camera caught anything.”

Tang Jingjing quickly called the commander, asking him to coordinate with the traffic police.

The commander soon replied, giving us the location of the nearest traffic police station and urging us to retrieve the surveillance footage.

It was at the intersection outside the hospital.

But when we arrived, we found the station empty.

Mr. Lin was instantly furious. “This is outright dereliction of duty!”

Just then, two traffic officers approached, whispering to each other. Upon seeing us, they told us to leave.

Mr. Lin glared at them coldly. I produced my credentials, and the officers nodded. “Sent by the commander—thought you were civilians.”

Mr. Lin tapped the station door with his cane. “Leaving your post during work hours—do you realize you nearly missed something critical?”

The officers quickly explained, “Sir, don’t misunderstand. We were urgently dispatched to investigate a military-plated vehicle. We spotted something strange in the surveillance and went to follow it.”

Mr. Lin realized his mistake and his tone softened. “Tell us in detail.”

“We were ordered to search for a vehicle with military plates. We found it quickly—it was idling in the road, waiting through three or four red lights, not moving. We sent someone to check it out, but before we got close, it suddenly sped off, weaving dangerously like a drunk driver, nearly hitting pedestrians several times. Our patrol car was blocked by crowds, so it took us a while to get through.”

“When we located the car again, it had stalled—no one was found nearby.”

“Do you have the surveillance footage?” Mr. Lin asked. “Did you see anyone leave the vehicle?”