Early the next morning, dawn was just breaking.
Ye Wenjun left the Guesthouse with the bespectacled female team member and headed straight for the officials' Sanatorium at the eastern end of the village.
The other four team members split up, continuing their discreet investigation around the village under the guise of tourists.
The morning breeze brushed Ye Wenjun's resolute face, carrying a trace of moisture.
He instinctively rubbed his temples, but the familiar, excruciating pain that had plagued him for over a decade failed to arrive as expected.
It left him feeling somewhat dazed.
If Chen Lin really was just an ordinary man with extraordinary luck, everything would be straightforward.
But if he concealed a power capable of overturning everything they knew, their Kunlun team had to uncover the truth.
The Sanatorium's gates were solemn and imposing. Two guards stood ramrod straight, barring their way.
Without wasting words, Ye Wenjun pulled a dark red identification booklet from inside his jacket.
The guard took one look, and all the color drained from his face. The hand holding the identification began to tremble uncontrollably.
He abruptly straightened and delivered a regulation military salute, the motion almost ingrained in his bones. His voice cracked.
"Good morning, sir!"
Deputy Bureau Chief of the Guoan General Bureau.
The title seemed to carry a crushing weight, leaving him barely able to breathe.
Not daring to delay for even a moment, the guard returned the identification with trembling hands while hurriedly reporting their arrival over his radio.
The gates slowly opened.
At that moment, an elderly man in a white training outfit was leisurely practicing tai chi in the Sanatorium's rear garden.
He was Gao Yuliang, once the second most powerful official in Northlake Province.
A staff member hurried over and whispered in his ear.
Gao Yuliang