Chapter 123: Is It a Ghost or a Shadow Lurking Within?

Lin Yang shrugged his shoulders, putting on an innocent expression as he leaned his head through the car window. His eyes locked onto Bai Jing, a mischievous smirk curling the corners of his mouth. His brazen posture carried an undeniable air of flirtation, the kind that would instantly earn him the honorable title of a rogue in anyone’s book.

A rogue, at any given time, is a term that inevitably conjures up associations with a lecher, or perhaps, for those with a broader vocabulary, a string of labels for bad men like sleazy, lascivious, or shameless. Consequently, Lin Yang’s strange, cheeky grin and his habit of flashing lecherous glances were enough to cause even the usually emotionally obtuse Bai Jing to fall into a misunderstanding.

Just as Bai Jing expected Lin Yang to open his mouth to make some outrageous request—well, to be precise, some inappropriate, adult-only requests, such as asking for a kiss, or a touch on the chest, or a pinch of her shapely hips—the kind of request that makes a woman feel guilty and nervous, her heart pounding like a startled deer and a blush rising to her cheeks—Lin Yang suddenly reined in his lewd expression. His attitude did a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn: the corners of his mouth drooped, his brows knit together, and he adopted the classic, gloomy look of someone mourning a family member. It was truly a case of "changing one's face as easily as turning a page." As soon as his smirk vanished, he muttered in a low, pained voice, "The camera, or how else am I supposed to capture the evidence?"

"Whew." Bai Jing let out a deep, relieved sigh, inwardly cursing herself for letting her mind wander to such inappropriate thoughts. She had assumed that Lin Yang was planning to take advantage of the upcoming adventure to demand a sweet kiss from her. Hearing his actual request left her feeling ashamed, and beneath that shame, there was a faint, lingering sense of disappointment.

Disappointment?

As the thought flickered through her mind, Bai Jing was startled by her own reaction. She truly could not comprehend how such an absurd idea could have crossed her mind.

"Why the disappointment? Could it be that Sister Jing has actually fallen for this rascal, who is loved by everyone and adored by all?" With his highly potent mental energy, Lin Yang’s senses were far sharper than those of an ordinary person. Bai Jing’s fleeting disappointment was clearly detected, and his habit of teasing others couldn't help but flare up again.

"As if! Go to hell, what are you thinking?" Bai Jing gave a huff of annoyance and rolled her eyes at Lin Yang, who was mocking her. She turned, rummaged through her handbag, pulled out the latest model of Canon high-definition camera she carried with her, and shoved it forcefully into Lin Yang's hands. Pouting indignantly, she said, "Here, take it! Go on! You’re determined to go throw your life away, and I can't stop you."

Lin Yang offered a cheeky smile. Having spent some time with Bai Jing, he had long grown accustomed to her habit of saying the opposite of what she felt. Far from being upset, he felt a warmth spreading through his chest.

Bai Jing spoke this way because she knew Lin Yang’s character—stubborn and rebellious. Once he made a decision, it was immutable. Even the old man at home, who possessed absolute power and acted like an emperor, couldn't make him change his mind. Not even Tang Yixue, his childhood sweetheart and the only true love in the depths of his soul, could sway this rascal. Thus, all she could do was vent her frustrations with words while silently praying in her heart that the brat would be blessed with beginner’s luck and avoid any misfortune.

Lin Yang examined the camera in his hands for a few moments, performing a few symbolic demonstrations to ensure he knew how to operate this latest model, before pulling his head back out of the car window. Under Bai Jing’s watchful gaze, he turned, pivoted, and with the agility of a nimble cat, disappeared from her sight in a few leaps.

Seeing those incredible, athletic bounds, Bai Jing felt a little more at ease.

The abandoned factory was massive—surprisingly so. Even standing outside and looking across, it was at least fifty times the size of a football field. And that was just the side visible to the eye; considering the rugged, undulating terrain surrounding it, the total area of this abandoned site was impossible to calculate.

The main entrance was guarded by nearly ten men, all well-equipped. To the naked eye, they looked ordinary, but if Lin Yang hadn't used his mental detection as he approached, he would never have discovered the silenced pistols concealed beneath their clothes. The sight of the dark, cold barrels would have struck fear into most, but for someone like Lin Yang, who had already survived several encounters with handguns, they held no terror.

For the sake of safety, Lin Yang scanned the surrounding environment in detail. He clearly memorized the locations of surveillance cameras and the points where defenses were weakest. After all, he was only there to sneak in and collect evidence of the Fang family’s illegal dealings; he wasn't there to play the hero in a one-man charge.

After a thorough scan, Lin Yang identified the best spot to scale the wall. Although there was a surveillance camera nearby, there was a blind spot, and the area was unguarded. He boldly decided to take on this challenge.

The wall was undeniably high—he looked up and estimated it to be at least four meters. Without some sort of aid, even with his current martial arts skills, it was beyond his reach, and he would have been forced to find another way. Fortunately, the passage of time had left its mark on the hardened concrete and lime wall; it was pitted and cracked. These seemingly insignificant fissures became his effective secret weapon.

Having precisely calculated each step in his mind, Lin Yang took a few steps back, crouched, and kicked off with his right foot. He lunged forward, then pushed off with his left, accelerating with a speed several times faster than Usain Bolt in a hundred-meter dash. His right foot left the ground, landing perfectly on a pre-calculated pit. His body sprang up, his left foot found another indentation, and with that push and jump, he reached the four-meter wall. His left hand hooked firmly onto the top, his right hand pulled him up, and with a graceful vault, he cleared the wall.

Just as he was about to jump down, he caught sight of the situation below and reflexively used his hands to force his body to freeze on top of the wall.

Jagged scrap iron, iron spikes, and iron hooks lay scattered in a chaotic mess along the wall’s base, covering an area spanning at least ten meters. Looking left and right, he saw no end to the debris. Lin Yang’s head throbbed; the factory was so vast, yet there was nowhere for him to stand!

If he had jumped down, he would have been turned into a human skewer on a bed of nails, or worse, pierced through by the iron spikes.

He searched left and right, and heaven finally rewarded his efforts; he spotted a large sheet of scrap metal lying across the debris, providing him with a landing pad.

Afraid of being discovered by the Fang family members inside, Lin Yang dared not waste a second. He pushed off the wall, performed a clean long jump, and landed steadily on the metal sheet. Thankfully, the metal was sturdy; had it been a decayed, rotting piece, he would have been consigned to the sharp claws of the scrap heap.

After some effort, he made his way across the treacherous minefield of scrap. Looking ahead, several abandoned workshops came into view. What left him speechless was the layout: there were at least thirty workshops, each easily the size of eight football fields. Lin Yang couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Which one should he search? Where were the five experts hidden? This was his most pressing concern, as every minute wasted was detrimental to their side. Since discovering that the Fang family had brought the five experts to this desolate, middle-of-nowhere site, a terrifying conspiracy had been playing out in his mind.

He suspected the Fang family was resorting to torture to extract the formula for the "Golden Silkworm Powder" from the experts. The "Golden Silkworm Powder" he referred to was, of course, the "Beautiful as Nature" capsule, which had recently been pulled from the shelves despite its immense market success. The Fang family were no fools; how could they possibly let such a peerless medicine, capable of dominating the entire Chinese market, slip through their fingers?

Search them one by one? That was clearly impossible. Lin Yang calculated that searching a single workshop at top speed would take at least ten minutes. With nearly thirty workshops, if he were lucky enough to find them in the first one, he might be done in ten minutes, but in the worst-case scenario, it could take five hours.

The first scenario—hitting the jackpot? Lin Yang never counted on such one-in-ten-thousand odds.

As for the second—having the worst luck imaginable? That was a one-in-a-million chance, and Lin Yang didn't think he was quite that cursed.

*Stay calm, stay calm.* The more overwhelmed he felt, the more he needed to stay cool-headed to ensure his mind remained sharp. After a few moments of self-soothing, Lin Yang actually calmed down, and his thoughts grew clearer. Everything he saw and heard became more vivid.

The most likely location would be where the guards were most concentrated. This was the first thought that occurred to him. Therefore, as long as he found guards, he would find where the five experts were being held.

This strategy actually brought him luck. After spending five minutes checking the entrances of ten workshops, the one located in the middle of the third row caught his attention. The reason was simple: eight heavily armed guards were standing in a row at its entrance.

Compared to the guards at the main gate, these eight were much better equipped. They carried German-made A-47 submachine guns, military daggers in leather sheaths strapped to their right thighs, and powerful, high-explosive compression grenades at their waists. Like the others, they all had silenced pistols hidden beneath their clothing.

Seeing these heavily armed men, Lin Yang was certain that the Fang family’s base was inside this very workshop.

"This is it." Lin Yang concluded with certainty in his heart. However, looking at their weaponry, he felt a sudden sense of powerlessness—yes, complete helplessness. With his current strength, one wrong move against this level of armament, and he would surely perish here. This was no joking matter.

Should he enter? Or should he not?