Xu Mengshan and You Mingxu exchanged a glance, already understanding her thoughts. He said, "We've long since seized all properties under Yin Chen and Guo Feirong's names—there's no such place among them. Immediately investigate whether anyone connected to him, especially Guo Feirong, has a small farm registered under their name!"
The police swiftly divided into teams and began screening the social connections of Yin Chen, with particular focus on Guo Feirong.
Just 20 minutes later, as if hitting the jackpot, they found the answer.
Xu Mengshan stared at the farm registration documents before him, his eyes nearly blazing with fury. Turning to the others, he said, "Remember Ahua, the one Luo Yu took out? His sister is one of Guo Feirong's publicly known mistresses. Ahua himself owns no property, but his parents have a chicken farm! It's in the southern suburbs of Xiangcheng!"
—
Yin Feng stood beneath the dilapidated house, watching Chen Feng hurry back.
Xiao Yan and Guan Jun had also returned and were standing behind him.
Chen Feng shook his head at him.
Nothing found.
Whether it was the house Yin Chen had rented twenty years ago, the nearby surveillance footage, or any other possible hiding spots—there was no trace.
Yin Chen wasn't here.
As early as 20 minutes ago, the police had forwarded the video sent by Yin Chen to Yin Feng. This had given their search a clearer purpose.
Everyone looked at Yin Feng, awaiting instructions.
But Yin Feng was deep in thought.
One of the four possibilities had been eliminated.
Yin Chen had not returned to the place where he first met You Ruixue.
That left Fan Shuhua, Yin Chen's birth mother, and the Punisher's lair.
This contradicted Yin Feng's initial intuition, leaving him slightly unsettled. Yet, the facts were before him, and he had to accept them. Calming himself, he began reasoning through other possibilities.
Of the remaining options, Yin Feng felt the second one—the home where Yin Chen had lived with his birth mother—was more likely.
Because while Fan Shuhua and the Punisher's lair might have once given Yin Chen a renewed sense of purpose, now the Punisher was destroyed, Fan Shuhua was captured, and Yin Chen was cornered. In other words, the Punisher had failed. Could a failed organization still offer Yin Chen a sense of security? No. Would it still be a place he wanted to return to? Also no.
When his eyes could no longer see meaning in the path ahead, he would turn back to seek the refuge he had once abandoned.
"Let's go to the place where Yin Chen lived with his birth mother," Yin Feng said.
That is, the home where his biological father, his ex-wife, and Yin Chen had lived as a family of three, before Yin Feng was born.
The group got into the car.
The sun had sunk below the horizon, and twilight was beginning to fall. Dressed in gray and black, Yin Feng leaned back in the rear seat, his features blurred in the fading light, leaving only the sharp outline of his handsome profile.
As the car drove away from the area, he turned and looked back at the weathered, sorrow-filled dilapidated house.
For some reason, the feeling in his heart still felt off. He still believed that You Ruixue was the destination Yin Chen most desperately desired. According to You Mingxu's account, when Yin Chen, Xing Jifu, and she were in that fleeing van, Yin Chen—usually so composed—had become utterly unhinged and out of control at the mention of You Ruixue.However, as for that period of the past when Yin Chen once had a family of three, Yin Feng, being the one who came later, truly had no understanding of it. And with his parents' eccentric natures, he had no way of knowing either. So, if his judgment was wrong, it was entirely possible that Yin Chen actually wanted to return to the "home" of his true childhood. Moreover, Yin Chen had stayed at his parents' residence for a full hour. This might be the most compelling evidence, even more convincing than his intuition.
Thinking this, Yin Feng's heart settled. He decided to first go to the next location to investigate.
Just then, his phone rang—it was You Mingxu calling. Her voice, however, sounded incredibly energized and forceful: "Yin Feng, we might have found the place where the hostages are being held!"
Yin Feng was taken aback: "Where?"
"Do you remember A Hua? His parents own a chicken farm."
You Mingxu briefly explained the entire reasoning process and their investigative work, then said, "We're heading out now! Perhaps there's still time to save them!"
But Yin Feng fell silent.
A chicken farm under A Hua's parents' name?
A strong intuition surged over him again. He shook his head lightly and smiled: "No, Yin Chen won't be there. You've got it wrong."
This time, it was You Mingxu's turn to be stunned. Her heart pounded unexpectedly; she never imagined that the thrilling answer she and her colleagues had painstakingly uncovered, like clouds parting to reveal the moon, would be dismissed by him in a single sentence.
But how could it not be? The logic was so clear, the deduced result unique. It couldn't be a coincidence.
"Why?" she asked immediately.
Yin Feng replied: "This location has nothing to do with him; it holds no meaning of 'home.' A Xu, we've long agreed that he isn't just seeking revenge against us or killing the hostages. Killing and abducting our parents are only surface objectives. His true desire is to fabricate an illusory, seemingly perfect home. That is the last lifeline his humble life can grasp. So how could his goal merely be to imprison those parents and slowly kill them? What would he gain from that? Aside from Xu Mengshan's grief, who would be sad? He must have another purpose, another ritual to complete."
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