Departure and preparations

The white building of the mental hospital gradually shrank outside the car window, eventually disappearing into the deep night and the neon lights of the distant city. The car was silent, just as it had been on the way there, with only the low rumble of the engine and the faint sound of tires rolling over the road.

The Monkey leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the blurry scenery rushing past the window. His mind was still replaying everything that had happened that night— Qin Ming's inhuman wreckage, his appalling confession, his own out-of-control violence, and the lingering fear that seeped into his bones. It was all like a bizarre yet incredibly real nightmare, clinging tightly to him.

He instinctively turned his head and looked through the rear window at the "Municipal Mental Health Center," which was now just a blurry outline at the edge of his vision. Inside, one of the culprits who had almost destroyed his family and caused his sister to suffer the most horrific fate in the world was imprisoned.

A complex mix of emotions welled up inside me: resentment, anger, and a hint of uncertainty.

He turned his head to look at Lin Feng beside him, who was resting with his eyes closed as if nothing had happened, his voice carrying a barely perceptible hoarseness and hesitation:

"Madman... then, that Doctor Qin... is just... left there? What do we do?"

His question was somewhat vague, but the meaning was clear. Qin Ming knew they were there, had heard their questions, and had revealed a shocking secret. Was it safe to leave such a living, unreliable "evidence" in the mental hospital? Would he be silenced? Or was letting him continue to "go mad" too easy on him?

Lin Feng didn't open his eyes, nor did he even change his posture. He seemed to have anticipated the Monkey's question, and simply stated it calmly, as if stating a perfectly ordinary fact:

"Rest assured."

His voice was steady, without the slightest hint of emotion.

"Chen Meijiao... will take care of him."

The word "take care" carried a chilling connotation as it came out of his mouth. Monkey instantly recalled the scene in the ward where Qin Ming, under the calm gaze of the handsome, long-haired young man, collapsed and struggled as if he had seen the most terrifying thing in the world. He shuddered violently, swallowing back the words that were on the tip of his tongue, leaving only a silence mixed with fear and a twisted sense of relief.

He understood.

Qin Ming will not die, or at least not easily. But he will live forever under the nightmare of "Chen Meijiao," enduring a "care" and torment more precise and penetrating to his soul than any legal punishment. Perhaps this is the most "appropriate" end for his actions.

The Monkey stopped talking and turned his gaze back to the window. This time, however, his eyes held less confusion and more an indescribable heaviness.

Like Ghost blending into the night, the black sedan smoothly merged into the traffic and drove into the distance, towards that dazzling and complex urban jungle.

As night deepens, the city doesn't fall asleep; it just changes its form of noise.

On the other side of the city, several shadowy figures, under the cover of night, began to move silently. Scattered in different areas, they had clear objectives and acted swiftly and professionally; they were Lin Feng's core elite assassins.

The instructions they received were clear and ruthless—based on the information Qin Ming revealed during his breakdown, they identified the key targets: the mastermind Wei Guangyuan, and Deputy Director Qian, who was responsible for the specific execution and internal hospital coordination.

Located in a high-end villa area on the outskirts of the city, the environment is quiet and the security is relatively tight. A man wearing a uniform of a well-known courier company, with the brim of his hat pulled low, drove an electric car painted with the company logo and parked it on the side of the road outside the Wei family villa. He seemed to be waiting for a recipient, skillfully taking out his phone as if checking information, but his eyes quickly scanned the villa's perimeter wall, the location of the surveillance cameras, and the routes of the patrolling security guards.

A moment later, he "confirmed" the address was correct and drove away. But as the vehicle passed a bush in a blind spot of the surveillance cameras on the side of the villa, a tiny positioning and vibration sensor, smaller than a fingernail and disguised as a pebble, slipped from his hand and embedded itself precisely in the soft soil and grass, blending into the surrounding environment.

Meanwhile, another assassin, disguised as a landscaping worker, took advantage of a brief opportunity while pruning branches to attach a similarly miniature listening device with strong magnetic attraction to the inside of a rarely opened metal window frame in the villa's backyard.

Deputy Director Qian lived in a high-end apartment building in the city center. Late at night, a bodyguard carrying a tool bag and dressed in the uniform of a network company repairman used a forged work order and skillful rhetoric to deceive the lobby security guard and enter the apartment building. He did not go to Deputy Director Qian's floor, but went directly to the top floor equipment room.

Here, he used technical means to briefly access the building's low-voltage wiring. He located the connection point between Deputy Director Qian's home landline and network interface, and with extremely swift action, connected a passive, wireless eavesdropping device that was almost impossible to detect by conventional methods. This device did not emit signals; it would only briefly operate and transmit data when activated by laser or radio waves of a specific frequency, making it highly concealed.

At night, staff were still on duty in the administrative building of Ankang Hospital. An assassin, disguised as a cleaning company employee performing a deep cleaning, entered Deputy Director Qian's office with the help of an informant secretly placed by Du Mingyuan (another assassin within the hospital). Using cleaning tools as cover, he swiftly planted several listening devices in different corners of the office—under the telephone stand, in the sofa crevices, and even deep in the soil of a potted plant. Each device was meticulously disguised, perfectly blending into its surroundings.

One of the city's most exclusive private clubs, a members-only establishment with tight security. A well-dressed, distinguished assassin, posing as a new member, engages in "socializing" within the club.

He cleverly used conversation and observation to pinpoint the locations of Mr. Wei's frequently used cigar room and private tea room. When the waiters weren't looking, he secretly placed miniature listening devices, disguised as decorative buttons or book staples, in the folds of the sofa and the corners of the bookshelves.

All these actions were completed in an extremely short time. There was no communication between the assassins; they were like different gears on a precision instrument, operating independently according to a pre-set program, yet perfectly coordinated. They had ordinary faces, acted discreetly, and quickly withdrew after completing their tasks, leaving no trace, as if they had never existed.

The darkness concealed their movements and also the invisible surveillance net that was quietly being cast upon Wei Guangyuan and Deputy Director Qian.

Qin Ming's confession was like the Key that opened Pandora's box. Lin Feng's Deathsworn Network had already firmly monitored the dark abyss that this Key pointed to.

A storm is brewing in the silence.