Hospital 444
Chapter 555 - 17: Faceless Leader

Chapter 555: Chapter 17: Faceless Leader

A car passed by a muddy puddle, and the splash of mud and water almost hit Hai Yunlan and Su Wen.

The car didn’t stop; instead, it sped up and soon disappeared from sight.

"Let’s go."

Ahead was an open space, where, conveniently, there were two swings.

With a silent understanding, Su Wen and Hai Yunlan each chose a swing and sat down.

"In the past, Heisong Town wasn’t like this."

Su Wen’s voice also trembled slightly.

"About half a century ago, it wasn’t like this."

Half a century?

"I heard it from my grandfather. Before that incident happened, everything in Heisong Town was normal. But then, all of a sudden, that incident occurred. It was as if a curse had descended..."

A curse...

If it was a curse, then perhaps Hospital 444, reputed for treating curses, could bring hope!

"Back then, the town had an unwritten rule that in public places, except for motorcyclists, no one was allowed to wear any kind of mask or face cover. If a patient needed to wear a mask, they had to show a doctor’s note."

"That..."

A ban on wearing masks?

"Everyone knew clearly... with a mask on, a person could do things they wouldn’t dare to normally do. Because at that time, no one knows who the evildoer is beneath the mask."

"Indeed..."

This was just like how, online, under the protection of anonymity, people’s malice could be unleashed without limitation. Once they put on masks, humans would reveal their animalistic nature, stripped of societal restraint.

Moreover, she had a vague feeling that Su Wen’s words resonated with something in her currently blank memory.

Hai Yunlan held the hemp ropes at both sides of the swing, listening intently and nervously as Su Wen continued.

"Finally, at that time, the initial leader of the Wumianhui appeared. And the worst part was, they were armed with guns!"

"At first, everyone in the town had agreed on something! If someone wore a mask, then everyone would band together to remove it. But with guns, the nature of the matter changed. Our country’s laws don’t forbid ordinary people from carrying guns, although in theory, you need a gun permit, but the inspections aren’t strict."

Clearly, when someone carried a gun, the situation was different.

"They must have bought the guns from smugglers. With guns, no one dared to confront the members of the Wumianhui."

"What about the police?"

"The police were the biggest problem. They had to carry police IDs to arrest criminals. And what was most terrifying was that, as the Wumianhui grew, they also built a formidable intelligence network. After the police got involved, a package was left at the police station’s doorstep containing detailed information about the officers and even their family members’ identities."

"So..."

"Later on, even the local council members pressured the police station, and the police started to turn a blind eye to the existence of the Wumianhui. In turn, when the police responded to calls, they too wore masks with voice changers, and their IDs no longer had photos."

Hai Yunlan guessed that the so-called curse must be referring to the Black Omens.

Once the island’s inhabitants manifested the Black Omens, they would die. But after death, they could become vengeful ghosts that could kill designated individuals. But the condition was, while alive, they must know that person’s face and name, right?

"In fact, all of us hope to find out the identity of the Wumianhui’s leader," Su Wen continued. "The identity of the Faceless Leader has always been a mystery. If he’s still alive now, he might be in his seventies or eighties. If he has passed away, he might have handed over the leadership to his descendants."

"I see..."

"Not long ago, something happened. A member of the Wumianhui went missing. That person was said to be called Dancha."

Upon hearing this, Hai Yunlan felt a start.

"If his name has been decrypted, it means there’s a high chance he has become a Black Skeleton, or perhaps, it was a pseudonym."

"So..."

"He wasn’t just any Wumianhui member. He was... a high-ranking official of the Wumianhui, and very likely knew the Faceless Leader’s identity! Therefore, these days, the Wumianhui are definitely trying to find out the identity of Dancha’s killer."

"They think the murderer might’ve learned the identity of the Wumianhui’s leader through Dancha?"

"Yes."

At this moment, Su Wen’s eyes were bloodshot.

"I feel that the current Faceless Leader is a new generation leader. In the past, the Wumianhui committed evil deeds but still had some bottom lines. They committed crimes to make money, such as collecting protection fees, operating underground casinos, and trafficking drugs, but they wouldn’t allow their people to indiscriminately kill the innocent or engage in looting and rape. But now, the Wumianhui members can openly shoot people in the streets!"

Hai Yunlan immediately realized something.

...

"Who exactly killed Dancha?"

"Whoever it was, that person might already know the Leader’s true identity. Thus, the Leader is also very worried."

"Why did the Leader release the name Dancha?"

"So far, we haven’t found Dancha’s black skull, so we cannot rule out the possibility that Dancha hasn’t been killed."

"Could it be..."

"The Leader wants to sacrifice Dancha. If someone captures Dancha and tortures him for the Leader’s name, it would be very dangerous. He wants them to kill Dancha..."

"But..."

Wumianhui members were parading the ’criminal’ through the streets, while they were also discussing the matter of Dancha.

"The Leader has the lives of all of Dancha’s family in his control and also says he’s a tough guy, unlikely to betray himself. Still, it’s better to have the other side kill Dancha soon. The precondition is that the other side must know Dancha’s name. Now, the whole town already knows the name Dancha Deli."

At that moment, another person in a black mask said, "What the Leader is most worried about is that Dancha might have told someone about his identity, right?"

"Yes. But so far, that person hasn’t done anything... I speculate there are three possibilities, first, that person wants to use this to blackmail the Leader. Second, that person wants to collect more identities of Wumianhui members. Third, that person might already be dead..."

"Actually, there’s a fourth possibility."

"Oh? Let’s hear it. You often have some ingenious ideas, I want to hear your opinion."

"Actually, the possibility of extortion is too low. Doing that would likely lead us to discover their identity in reverse, and then wouldn’t they be doomed. If they want to find more identities of Wumianhui members, it doesn’t hinder them from taking down the Leader first. If they’re already dead, there should be a corpse or a black skull left behind. So..."

"So what?"

"Could they have lost their memory?"

"..."

"You think it’s impossible?"

"Your idea, you’ve been watching too many TV dramas, haven’t you? Where are there so many people with memory loss."

"It was just a random thought."

"No, we have no clues at present, we must consider all possibilities. Since you’ve raised this possibility, go and check all hospitals to see if there have been any patients lately who arrived and then lost their memories, especially focus on questioning neurologists."

"But if it really is like that..."

"Yes. If it is like that, perhaps it’s for the best. But the fear is, they might regain their memories. If that happens, we need to accelerate delivery, and before they remember the Leader’s identity, we must find out that person’s identity first! "

"Alright, I’ll give the orders now..."

"However, if we really carry out a large-scale investigation of hospitals, we might also spook the grass and scare the snake..."

"Let it spook. We can’t care about that much now. When it’s time to report to the higher-ups, we have to show that we’ve been actively searching recently. If we’re lucky and really find some important clues, then... we will have achieved great merit!"

"Then we’ll start with the hospitals near where Dancha went missing."

"Hmm... you take some men and go there!"

At this very moment, Hai Yunlan felt that she might have forgotten some very important information.

It seemed like she had forgotten something crucial that she needed to remember.

She had to recall it...

A name...

Someone’s name!

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