Alert! The Dragon Lord has emerged from seclusion!

Three hours later, the high-speed train pulled into Donghai Station.

Donghai City, a coastal international metropolis, is filled with towering buildings and bustling traffic.

Unlike the gentle charm of the water towns of Jiangnan, this place is full of modern hustle and bustle.

As soon as Lin Chen stepped off the train, a middle-aged man in a gray jacket with an ordinary appearance approached him and whispered:

"Mr. Lin? Patriarch Su sent me to pick you up."

He is the head of the Su family's secret network in the East China Sea, codenamed "Old Chen".

The two got into an inconspicuous black car.

Old Chen gave a rapid report while driving:

"The situation with the Ye family is a bit complicated. Old Master Ye, Ye Zhenhai, is indeed mindful of old friendships and has agreed to see you."

"But the person actually in charge of the Ye family now is Ye Zhenhai's eldest son, Ye Wenyuan, who is also Ye Qingcheng's uncle. This person... is very close to the Zhao family."

Lin Chen's eyes narrowed slightly: "Specifically?"

"Ye Wenyuan controls the Ye family's shipping business and began cooperating with the Zhao family on antique smuggling six months ago. We suspect that Ye Qingcheng's 'sudden onset of a strange illness'—she fell into a coma after a deep-sea dive three months ago and became cold and weak after waking up—may be related to Ye Wenyuan."

"Is Grandpa Ye not going to intervene?"

"There's nothing we can do about it." Old Chen smiled bitterly. "Grandpa Ye suffered a stroke three years ago. Although he survived, he has difficulty moving around and spends most of his time in a sanatorium in the suburbs."

"Ye Wenyuan is now basically in charge of the Ye family's businesses."

Where is Ye Qingcheng now?

"In a private hospital in the city center, in a VIP ward on the top floor, Ye Wenyuan placed her under house arrest under the pretext of 'needing professional medical supervision,' and wouldn't let her see anyone except the designated doctors and nurses."

"Even if Grandpa Ye wants to see his granddaughter, he has to get Ye Wenyuan's permission."

Lin Chen tapped his knee lightly with his fingers.

The situation was more complicated than he had anticipated.

"Go directly to the hospital."

"Now?" Old Chen was taken aback. "Ye Wenyuan has arranged bodyguards, all highly skilled, and the hospital has tight surveillance..."

"Then let's go openly and honestly." Lin Chen took out Qin Huaigu's letter of recommendation from his pocket.

"As an old friend of the Qin family and a successor of traditional Chinese medicine, I visited Mr. Ye and happened to 'hear' that his granddaughter was ill, and I am willing to 'do my part' in a small way."

"Oh!" Old Chen exclaimed, "I understand. I'll arrange it right away."

……

One hour later.

Qingshan Sanatorium, on the outskirts of Donghai City.

This place boasts a tranquil environment and faces the sea, making it a top-tier health resort in the East China Sea.

Ye Zhenhai lives in the innermost detached building.

Lin Chen waited in the reception room for a while, and then an elderly man in a wheelchair was pushed in by a caregiver.

The old man was about seventy years old, with gray hair and a sickly pale complexion. His left side was noticeably less agile.

But those eyes remained sharp, like those of an eagle that had soared over the sea.

"Did Qin Huaigu send you?"

Ye Zhenhai got straight to the point, his voice a little muffled, but his words were clear.

Lin Chen stood up and presented the letter of introduction with both hands: "Yes. Old Master Qin asked me to give you his regards and to come and see if there's anything I can do to help."

Ye Zhenhai had the caregiver open the letter, while he himself sized up Lin Chen.

His gaze was piercing, as if he could see right through him.

"Qin Huaigu said in his letter that your medical skills are superb and that you cured his granddaughter's strange illness," Ye Zhenhai said slowly. "He also said that you might have a way to treat my granddaughter's illness."

"This junior has some knowledge of difficult and complicated illnesses," Lin Chen said neither humbly nor arrogantly. "May I first inquire about Miss Ye's condition?"

Ye Zhenhai remained silent for a long time, then suddenly waved his hand, signaling the caregiver to leave.

There were only two people left in the room.

"Qingcheng's illness isn't an illness," Ye Zhenhai said in a low voice, his eyes flashing with pain and anger. "Someone harmed her."

Lin Chen's heart skipped a beat: "What makes Elder Ye say such a thing?"

Three months ago, Qingcheng went diving in the South China Sea to explore a shipwreck. It was an activity arranged by Wenyuan, who called it "family training."

Ye Zhenhai gripped the wheelchair armrests tightly. "After she went down, she didn't come back up for a long time. When the rescue team found her, she was unconscious in a cave on the seabed, with... there were some strange things around her."

Lin Chen thought to himself, "The beautiful woman is unconscious, could it be...?"

"What is it?"

"I can't explain it clearly. The rescue team's description was fragmented. It was like an ancient altar, and a stone tablet with strange runes carved on it," Ye Zhenhai said, panting.

"After being rescued, Qingcheng remained unconscious for seven days. When she woke up, she was different."

"She became sensitive to cold, weak, and emotionally unstable. Wen Yuan immediately took her to the hospital, where they diagnosed her with 'post-decompression sickness,' requiring long-term treatment. But I knew it wasn't... because I had privately consulted several top medical experts, and they all said that Qingcheng's pulse was strange, and the coldness had penetrated deep into her bones—symptoms that shouldn't be present in decompression sickness at all!"

The old man became agitated and started coughing.

Lin Chen stepped forward and channeled a gentle wisp of Nine Yang True Qi into his body.

Ye Zhenhai was startled and looked at him in surprise.

"Elder Ye, you guessed correctly, Miss Ye is indeed not ill." Lin Chen withdrew his hand and said frankly, "She was ambushed by someone using evil magic, and a chilling, malevolent energy was planted in her body. This malevolent energy will continuously erode her life force, and eventually..."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "And the person who did it is very likely your son, Ye Wenyuan."

Ye Zhenhai was struck dumb, his face turning deathly pale: "No...it's impossible...no matter what Wen Yuan is like, he wouldn't harm his own niece..."

"What if the benefits are big enough?" Lin Chen looked him straight in the eye. "What if the other party promises control of the entire Ye family, or even... the secret to immortality?"

Ye Zhenhai slumped in his wheelchair, looking as if he had aged ten years in an instant.

After a long silence, he asked in a hoarse voice, "Can...can you save Qingcheng?"

"Yes, but we need to see her in person," Lin Chen said in a deep voice, "and it has to be as soon as possible."

"The evil energy in her body has accumulated to a critical point. If it is not channeled away, she will suffer from a cold attack on her heart within ten days at most."

Ye Zhenhai closed his eyes, his mind probably engaged in a battle between heaven and man...

When he opened his eyes again, there was a determination in them.

"I'll take you to the hospital."

"No matter how arrogant Wen Yuan is, he wouldn't dare to stop me in public."

"However..." He looked at Lin Chen, "besides bodyguards, there might be 'other' things in the hospital. You need to be careful."

"Anything else?"

"Something sinister." Ye Zhenhai said, enunciating each word clearly. "I secretly went to see Qingcheng twice. Each time I approached the ward, I felt a chilling coldness that made me uneasy."

"Once, I even saw... I saw a dark shadow drift past the ward window."

Lin Chen's expression turned serious: "I understand."

"you……"

"Don't worry, I can handle it."

……

Evening, at a private hospital in the city center.

Ye Zhenhai's extended Bentley drove into the underground garage, and Lin Chen, disguised as his personal nurse, pushed the wheelchair into the private elevator.

The elevator goes directly to the top-floor VIP area.

As soon as I stepped out of the elevator, four bodyguards in black blocked my way.

The leader was a bald, burly man with a scar on his face.

"Old man, what brings you here?" The bald man asked respectfully, but his eyes were wary.