Read Novel Full Chapter 1020: A Face From the Grave
Chapter 1020: A Face From the Grave
The alley had fallen quiet.
Only the distant hum of passing traffic and the occasional blare of a horn disturbed the silence.
The five burly men were no longer in any condition to cause trouble.
Liu Shan, Lin Hui, Qi Li, and Xu Long had gathered them against the brick wall, leaving their unconscious bodies slumped together in an untidy heap.
Lin Hui dusted off his hands.
"Well, that was a waste of time."
Liu Shan glanced at the men.
They could have taken them in for questioning. After all, they had clearly been protecting Liu Peng, and someone had arranged for a luxury sedan to collect him.
But bringing five unconscious men back to the condo would create unnecessary complications.
Worse, it could leave a trail.
They were already operating without Yue Ling’s knowledge. The last thing they needed was to draw attention to themselves before understanding what they were dealing with.
Besides, if these men had information worth knowing, Liu Shan and Lin Hui had other ways to get it.
Their identities, financial records, communications, and connections could all be investigated from behind a computer screen.
For now, the more pressing question was who had picked up Liu Peng.
Xu Long, however, had a different concern.
He stood a few feet away, staring at the three men.
Ever since he arrived, not one of them had offered a proper explanation.
He turned toward Liu Shan.
"What’s going on? Why were you guys chasing that man earlier?"
Liu Shan remained silent.
Xu Long gestured toward the five unconscious men.
"And who are these guys?"
Still nothing.
He looked at Lin Hui.
Then Qi Li.
"What kind of trouble did you guys get into?"
Neither answered.
Xu Long closed his eyes.
He drew a long breath before rubbing his forehead.
"Can someone please explain?"
Silence.
"Give me something. Anything."
Qi Li finally spoke.
"Liu Shan, we need to get back to your place."
Xu Long slowly turned toward him.
"...Seriously?"
Liu Shan looked at the illustrator.
"Did you find something while you were inside?"
Qi Li’s brows drew together.
He remained silent for a moment, replaying a particular image in his mind.
Then he said, "I need you to check something for me."
"What?"
"I’ll tell you when we get there."
Liu Shan studied him.
He knew Qi Li well enough to recognize that expression.
The man had seen something.
Something he was not yet prepared to put into words.
Qi Li rarely voiced a suspicion without first gathering enough evidence to support it.
Lin Hui seemed to reach the same conclusion.
He exchanged a glance with Liu Shan but did not press further.
Liu Shan nodded.
"Alright."
He turned toward Xu Long.
"We’ll explain on the way to my place."
Xu Long stared at him then threw his arms in the air.
"Finally. For a moment there, I thought I was talking to air!"
There was no point hiding the situation from him anymore.
He had already witnessed too much, and knowing Xu Long, he would continue demanding answers until someone gave him one.
Besides, another pair of eyes might prove useful.
The four men left the alley without looking back.
By the time they reached Liu Shan’s condo, Xu Long had learned enough to understand why the others had been so reluctant to speak.
Liu Peng.
The name alone had been enough to make his expression change.
He knew the man.
Or rather, he knew what the man had done.
Liu Peng had been a disgusting father and had recently joined Hung Woo.
The man was also involved in the operation that led to Ji Jingxu’s kidnapping.
And he was supposed to have died when Red Militant was eradicated.
Except he hadn’t.
The man had managed to escape.
His body had never been recovered, and Alpha Team had discovered the discrepancy only after reviewing the aftermath of the operation.
Since then, they had been searching for him in secret.
"Does Miss Han know?" Xu Long asked.
Liu Shan kept his eyes on the road.
"Not yet."
Xu Long turned toward him.
"Does my boss know?"
"No."
A heavy silence followed.
Xu Long leaned back against the seat.
"You’re all insane."
Lin Hui, seated beside him, glanced over.
"That’s a little dramatic."
"You’re hiding a surviving member of Red Militant from both of them."
"We’re not hiding him," Lin Hui corrected. "We’re trying to find him."
"Without telling them."
"That part is correct."
Xu Long stared at him.
Lin Hui looked away.
Xu Long rubbed his face.
"Unbelievable."
Qi Li, seated in the front passenger seat, had remained unusually quiet.
His attention was fixed on the passing streets.
Xu Long noticed.
"What’s wrong with him?"
Liu Shan glanced at Qi Li.
"That’s what we’re about to find out."
Liu Shan’s condo stood on a hill overlooking Imperial.
The four men entered without wasting time.
Xu Long had barely removed his coat when Liu Shan was already opening his laptop in the living room.
Lin Hui pulled a chair closer.
Qi Li disappeared briefly into one of the rooms.
When he returned, he was wearing a new pair of half-rimmed glasses.
Xu Long looked at him.
"How many pairs of those do you own?"
"Enough."
Qi Li approached the laptop.
"Liu Shan, pull up the surveillance inside the lounge bar."
Liu Shan nodded.
He had memorized the establishment’s name before leaving the alley.
At the time, he had suspected they might need to revisit it. Now he was glad he had.
His fingers moved swiftly across the keyboard.
A series of windows appeared on the screen.
Within minutes, several surveillance feeds from the lounge bar filled the display.
The footage showed different areas of the establishment.
The front entrance.
The reception counter.
The main lounge.
A corridor leading toward the private rooms.
And the rear service exit.
Liu Shan leaned back slightly.
"What are we looking for?"
Qi Li studied the screen. His eyes moved from one camera angle to the next.
Then he pointed.
"That one."
Liu Shan followed his finger.
A camera overlooking the entrance to the rear hallway.
"Can you pull up the cameras in this area?"
Liu Shan began typing.
Several moments passed.
His brows gradually furrowed.
"There’s nothing inside the hallway."
"Nothing?"
"No cameras beyond this point. Must be the private rooms."
Qi Li pursed his lips.
"Find the closest one."
Liu Shan continued searching.
Lin Hui leaned forward.
"What exactly are you looking for?"
Qi Li did not answer. His gaze remained fixed on the monitor.
After another minute, Liu Shan found a feed.
"Here."
He enlarged the footage.
A long hallway appeared on the screen.
Private rooms lined both sides, their doors closed.
The camera was positioned near the ceiling at one end, offering a clear view of the corridor and the people entering or leaving the rooms.
It did not capture the inside of the private rooms.
But it was enough.
"This is the closest camera," Liu Shan said.
Qi Li nodded.
"Pull up the footage from before Liu Peng entered."
Liu Shan adjusted the timestamp.
The image shifted.
The four men leaned toward the screen.
The hallway was initially empty.
A server passed through carrying a tray.
A few minutes later, three men entered the frame.
They walked toward the far end of the corridor.
Their backs faced the camera, preventing the camera from seeing their faces.
The trio stopped outside the last room on the right.
One of them opened the door.
All three entered.
The door closed.
Liu Shan glanced at Qi Li.
"These three?"
"Keep watching."
The footage continued.
Ten minutes passed.
Then Liu Peng appeared.
He entered the hallway with his cap pulled low.
Unlike someone unfamiliar with the establishment, he did not pause to examine the room numbers or search for directions.
He knew exactly where he was going.
He walked straight toward the room at the far end on the right.
The same room the three men had entered.
Lin Hui narrowed his eyes.
"He knew where to go."
Qi Li nodded.
On the screen, Liu Peng raised his hand.
He knocked.
Not casually.
There was a deliberate rhythm to it.
Two knocks.
A pause.
Then another sequence.
A coded signal.
The door opened.
Liu Peng slipped inside.
Liu Shan’s expression darkened.
"So he was meeting someone."
"Keep going," Qi Li said.
The footage advanced.
Not long afterward, Qi Li appeared in the hallway.
Xu Long leaned closer.
"There you are."
On the screen, Qi Li approached the far end of the corridor.
He was only a step from the room when the door suddenly opened and Liu Peng emerged.
The two men nearly collided.
Qi Li immediately reached for him.
But before he could secure his grip, the door directly opposite them flew open.
Five burly men rushed into the hallway and one of them reached for Qi Li.
Liu Peng seized the opportunity.
He ran.
Qi Li dodged the man and gave chase after his target.
The five men followed.
Within seconds, the hallway was empty again.
Liu Shan paused the footage.
He turned toward Qi Li.
"Did you see something while you were inside?"
Qi Li stared at the frozen image. His expression was unreadable.
He remembered the door opening.
Liu Peng stumbling out.
And the brief glimpse he had caught of the room beyond him.
Someone had been sitting inside.
Someone whose face he knew.
Someone who should no longer exist.
His hands slowly clenched at his sides.
Then loosened.
"I thought I saw someone inside that room."
Lin Hui tilted his head.
"Someone we know?"
Qi Li answered without hesitation.
"Someone we know who’s dead."
The room fell silent.
Liu Shan slowly turned toward him.
"Who?"
Qi Li pressed his lips together. His expression turned grave.
"Shin."
For several seconds, no one moved.
Liu Shan and Lin Hui wanted to tell Qi Li he was wrong but his expression gave them no room to deny what he saw.
Then Liu Shan shook his head in denial.
"That..."
He swallowed.
"That’s not possible."
Lin Hui stared at Qi Li.
His face had lost its usual composure.
"We attended his funeral."
His voice lowered.
"We saw his body."
Qi Li knew how impossible it sounded. He had been there too.
He remembered everything.
But he also remembered the face he had glimpsed through that open door.
Even if it had only been for a fraction of a second.
"Play the video again," he said.
Liu Shan remained motionless.
"Liu Shan."
The assistant blinked.
Qi Li’s gaze hardened.
"We need to see who leaves that room."
Liu Shan turned back to the laptop. His fingers hovered over the keyboard.
Then he pressed play.
The footage resumed.
The hallway remained quiet.
A server entered one room.
Two customers emerged from another.
A woman walked past the camera, speaking into her phone.
Minutes passed.
The door at the far end remained closed.
Lin Hui leaned forward.
"Speed it up."
Liu Shan adjusted the playback.
People came and went.
The four men watched the last room on the right.
Nothing.
Another few more minutes passed.
Then—
"There."
Qi Li pointed.
Liu Shan returned the footage to normal speed.
The door opened.
Three men stepped out.
Two burly men walked in front in dark suits.
One followed behind. He was leaner and had on a navy trench coat.
They did not attempt to conceal their faces.
They moved with the relaxed familiarity of regular patrons leaving a private lounge.
The first two men passed beneath the camera.
Neither looked up.
But the third—
Liu Shan’s fingers went still.
Lin Hui leaned closer.
Qi Li’s expression turned cold.
The man had shoulder-length blond hair that swayed lightly with each step. His features were refined, almost unnaturally handsome, as though God had taken particular care in sculpting his face.
But that beauty was interrupted by a jagged scar.
It crossed diagonally over his right eye and extended down his cheek.
A mark that should have made him unmistakable.
The man walked toward the camera.
Then, just before passing beneath it, he lifted his head.
His eyes met the lens.
Directly.
Deliberately.
One corner of his mouth curled upward.
A devilish smirk.
As though he knew someone would eventually watch this recording.
As though he had been waiting for them to find it.
Then he lowered his gaze and disappeared from view.
The footage continued.
But no one in the living room moved.
Liu Shan stared at the screen.
His face had gone pale.
Lin Hui’s lips parted slightly, but no words came out.
Qi Li stood perfectly still.
None of them wanted to believe what they had just seen.
Although the man’s hair and body build did not quite match...
That face—
How could they ever forget that face?
Lin Hui was the first to break the silence.
"It’s him."
His voice was barely above a whisper.
Qi Li’s gaze remained fixed on the screen.
"Lee Shin."
At the exact same moment, Xu Long spoke.
"Choi Li Sun."
Silence.
Liu Shan slowly turned his head.
Lin Hui followed.
Qi Li looked away from the monitor.
All three stared at Xu Long.
Then, in perfect unison—
"What?!"