Chapter 15: House Arrest

The death of Captain Shen's personal bodyguard Duan Biao completely blocked his original plan to follow his confession and find solid evidence.

Soon after the adjutant brought the three of them back to the previous barracks, an orderly brought in folding beds and bedding, and the three of them lay down to rest.

"Old Yin, this incident today is getting increasingly bizarre to me." Du Yunzhang, who had just laid down on the bed, murmured, "Tell me, why are there so many strange things happening in this army?"

"Shh! Keep your voice down. Don't you know that walls have ears?" Linlang reminded.

Du Yunzhang shrank his neck and quickly covered his mouth.

"Just now, Adjutant Wang didn't find Duan Dage, but just whispered in Situ Xin's ear for a long time. Do you know what he said?" Yin Chuan asked in a low voice.

"Did you hear that?"

"He said that Duan Biao's body was found near the reconnaissance squad's barracks."

Upon hearing this, Du Yunzhang and Linlang, who had just laid down, immediately sat up in shock.

"What? Dead?" Du Yunzhang exclaimed in a low voice.

"No wonder Situ Xin spoke so vaguely. I guess he knew that if he told us clearly, it would be equivalent to blocking the way for investigation and giving us an excuse not to continue the investigation. That's why he didn't say it for sure." Linlang said thoughtfully.

"I thought of that, but didn't you notice that Han Chi came back just as we left? He even argued with Situ Xin."

"What did they say?"

Yin Chuan pondered for a moment, "Although I think Chief of Staff Han has nothing to do with Duan Biao's death, he has secrets! He must be hiding something!"

"So, you think he is the real murderer of Captain Shen?" Linlang asked.

Yin Chuan shook his head. "Without evidence, all reasoning is out of the question."

Du Yunzhang and Linlang felt somewhat deflated and fell silent. After a while, Du Yunzhang began snoring, apparently extremely sleepy. Yin Chuan rolled over and saw that Linlang, lying flat on her back, was exhaling white air much faster than Du Yunzhang's, indicating that she was breathing very rapidly and didn't seem to be falling asleep at all.

"Can't you sleep?"

"Brother Yin, do you think this is a disaster for us?"

"Disaster? Why do you say that?"

"Since the Luyuanzhuang incident, the poison in my body has been basically cured, but I don't seem to notice that you feel relieved. I think you are worried about this chaotic world. Who knows when it will drag us into an abyss of no return. Isn't our current situation exactly what you are worried about? Those officers are superficially respectful to us, calling us detectives and promising to cooperate with the investigation. But I can see that whether it is Deputy Commander Situ Xin, Staff Officer Han, or those battalion commanders, they are all two-faced. We never know when they will turn against us and become lambs to the slaughter. For us, isn't this military camp a den where we walk on the edge of a knife and may die at any time?"

Yin Chuan was silent for a long time before he whispered, "It's not just this military camp; the world is a devil's den. We can't guarantee we'll end up buried there one day. But... Linlang, whether it's in this military camp or in this world, I will do my best to protect you. Although I can't guarantee that you'll be 100% safe, at least you won't die before me!"

Linlang was quite moved by Yin Chuan's words. She suppressed her inner emotions, clenched her fists, and said quietly, "You can't die either. We must live on. No matter what, we will definitely survive!"

Linlang woke from her dream in the early morning. Although the weather was still freezing and the air was cold, her first thought was Yin Chuan. She turned to see if he was cold. Suddenly, she realized that she was covered not only with a military blanket but also with a fur coat, which was Yin Chuan's coat. Linlang couldn't help but feel warm in her heart.

Before she could turn her attention to Yin Chuan, she suddenly heard a chaotic commotion outside the barracks and the sound of footsteps crunching on the snow. What happened? She was confused.

"Has something strange happened again?" Du Yunzhang was awakened by the sound, and then Yin Chuan also woke up.

"Don't make any noise. Let me listen carefully to what's going on outside." Yin Chuan jumped off the bed and walked to the door of the barracks. Just as he was about to get closer to listen to the noise outside, the door of the barracks was suddenly pushed open and a cold wind blew in from outside, chilling him to the bone.

Adjutant Wang raised his pistol and shouted at them, "Deputy Commander Situ has something to say. The three of you must stay here honestly. You are not allowed to move around without permission and you are not allowed to make any noise. If you disobey our orders, we have the right to deal with you on the spot!" He waved his pistol and spoke in an extremely tough tone, as if he would not allow them to question him at all.

"What does this mean?" Du Yunzhang looked puzzled. "Are we still investigating the case?"

"Don't ask too many questions. Just do what you are told to do. Let's put the case aside for now." After saying that, Adjutant Wang turned and left without giving them a chance to ask any questions.

The three of us looked at each other.

"What's going on?" Du Yunzhang was confused. "We only slept for a few hours, why did the atmosphere suddenly change?"

"Could it be that the thing we are most worried about - the long-accumulated problems within them - has erupted?" Linlang asked worriedly.

Yin Chuan shook his head. "It doesn't seem like it. If there was a riot in the barracks, Adjutant Wang would have been panicking, but looking at his serious expression, it seems more like he was carrying out an order from his superiors, and it was directed only at us."

"That's strange. He's only targeting us... Could it be that Situ Xin has changed his mind? He won't allow us to investigate further?"

As the three of them were talking, two more soldiers came in, one bringing toiletries and the other breakfast. After placing them on the table next to them, one of them said, "If you three don't want to sleep, we'll take away the bedding and bed frame." With that, he quickly folded the bedding and made the bed.

This left the three of them somewhat bewildered. Du Yunzhang, still unable to contain his thoughts, stepped forward and asked, "Brothers, what exactly do you mean? You're not letting us investigate the case, you're sending us food and drink, and you're not even allowing us to leave the barracks?"

One of them smiled awkwardly, "Sorry, the deputy leader won't let us talk any more, so just stay here and be quiet."

Another person interjected, "Don't worry, you've got food and drink, and we're not stopping you from investigating the case. Once the commissioner leaves, you can do whatever you need to do. Why the rush?"

"Commissioner? Which commissioner?" Linlang grasped the key point.

The soldier next to him quickly pulled his companion, realizing that he had let the cat out of the bag, and quickly interrupted him: "This has nothing to do with you. Anyway, you just listen to the orders of the superiors and do whatever they tell you to do. Don't do anything on your own if you are not allowed to do so. That way, you will be safe."

They packed up in a hurry and left the barracks quickly.

Du Yunzhang sat down on the chair, feeling somewhat discouraged. "Well, now it's good. There's nothing we can investigate. We have no idea what's going on outside."

Yin Chuan blinked his shining eyes and said, "No, I think our chance has come!"