I deduced that someone might be planning to harm Yevgeny, so Zhou Peng urged the driver to drive out of town. At the same time, he dialed Yevgeny's number and, after a few words, nodded to me: "Yevgeny just came down from the forest farm and is heading into town."

I replied quickly, "Don't let him come to town. Find a place nearby to wait for him. Our advantage is that we can keep in touch with him. It will be troublesome if he gets stopped in the city."

Zhou Peng spoke a few words into the phone and nodded: "There's a small tavern outside town; Yevgeny will be waiting for us there."

I breathed a sigh of relief when I learned that I could still contact Yevgeny: "Tell him not to answer any calls, just stay there and wait patiently!"

The security guards that Song Laosan hired all had legal identities, so they weren't afraid of being investigated even if the police took them back. Knowing that time was of the essence, the driver revved the engine and sped off out of town.

The tavern Yevgeny was referring to was a small wooden cabin by a forest, catering to the local lumberjacks.

As soon as we saw the tavern in the distance, Zhou Peng dialed the phone, then his expression changed: "Yevgeny's phone is off."

I rummaged around inside the car and grabbed a steel pipe, holding it in my hand: "Tell the driver to speed up!"

The van pulled up in front of the tavern. I wrapped the steel pipe around my arms and was the first to walk into the tavern. The sound of the door opening drew everyone's attention.

Zhou Peng shouted Yevgeny's name loudly, but when he received no response, he asked the people around him.

Just then, the tavern owner, carrying a shotgun, strode towards us, shouting something that sounded like he was cursing.

"Hello!"

Seeing this, the bodyguards behind me also stepped forward, one of them even pulling out a pistol.

I saw the boss carrying a hunting rifle and asked Zhou Peng, "What did he say?"

"The owner said...we were just here!"

"How is this possible? Didn't we just get here?"

"Russians look at us much like we look at foreigners; it's hard to remember their faces in a short time. The ones who came must be other Asian faces!"

While translating for me, Zhou Peng was also talking to the boss. He then stepped forward, handed the boss a stack of banknotes, and began communicating in Russian.

Immediately afterwards, a man from a nearby table also came over, said a few words to Zhou Peng, took a few banknotes, and stood beside him.

After Zhou Peng got the information, he led us outside: "The boss said that someone just came to pick up Yevgeny. The leader was a few Chinese people. Yevgeny had an argument with them. His coworkers wanted to help, but Yevgeny stopped them."

Old Song frowned: "Yevgeny left with those people?"

“Hmm!” Zhou Peng pointed to the worker next to him: “He said he was a lumberjack from this mountain. He had seen a group of Chinese people in the mountains during the day and could show us the way.”

"Can this person be trusted?" Old Man Song looked at the man warily. "What if this is a trap, and he wants to lure us into the mountains?"

"It's unlikely. If those people really wanted to capture us, they could have just taken action directly instead of going through such a long and complicated process, luring us outside the city and then into the mountains."

I gestured to Zhou Peng to translate: "Are there any Chinese people among those who came?"

“That’s right. He said the two leading men were Asian youths, and there were several locals with them, which is why the boss made a mistake and thought we had come back.”

As Zhou Peng spoke, he got into the car and gestured for the worker to sit in the passenger seat and give directions, then drove towards the road leading into the mountains.

Looking at the unconscious monkey, Song Laosan lit a cigarette and took two deep drags: "Do you think it will be one of the other two?"

"It's very likely them, otherwise there would be no need for them to show mercy to us!"

I nodded, and at the same time, I turned my head slightly and glanced at Zhou Peng and the security guards.

My meaning is quite clear: I suspect that among these people, there are spies from the other two factions.

Originally, I suspected Song Laosan the most, but it was he who told me that Wei Shengnan and Qu Ruilin were coming to Russia, which allowed me to get ahead of the other two. He had no need to be a double agent at all.

The search for Yevgeny was a spur-of-the-moment decision, not a pre-planned one, and thus it was only leaked out on the day of our visit.

Because we lack legal status, we rarely show our faces in public, and the news is only known to those around us. Naturally, the problems arise among these people.

Song Laosan understood what I meant, but also raised a different hypothesis: "Do you think that the person watching us, besides the two sects, could be Duan Jinyan?"

I was taken aback when I heard that.

“Think about it, we came here for him. If he finds out we’re here too, he’ll definitely try to stop us. There’s an old saying that even tigers don’t eat their cubs. You are, after all, his own son. If he doesn’t want to kill us, it’s understandable that he might use the police to stall us and kidnap Yevgeny.”

I categorically denied it: "Impossible. The news of his presence in the Far East was leaked to me by Su Jialiang, who is very afraid of him and would naturally not have told him this. How could Duan Jinyan know that I am here, and how did he know that I am looking for Yevgeny?"

"You underestimate Duan Jinyan. Not to mention you, even I am just a greenhorn in his eyes. His methods are much more ruthless than you imagine."

Song Laosan's expression was solemn: "If he really knew about our situation, he probably already guessed what we were planning when we went to the memorial hall."

After thinking about it, I realized that what Song Laosan said made sense.

If the person blocking us is indeed Duan Jinyan, it means that his intelligence network here is far superior to ours. If he is in the open while we are in the shadows, then our situation will inevitably become extremely difficult.

On second thought, if it really is Duan Jinyan stopping us, it also means that he hasn't found Hu Shahu's tomb yet, or hasn't made a move, so we naturally have a chance too.

The voice of the worker in the passenger seat interrupted my thoughts. Zhou Peng told the driver to stop the car at a fork in the road at the foot of the mountain and explained, "The worker said that at noon, he saw a pickup truck full of Chinese people here, and that truck was going in."

"Have the driver park our car here to block the way out, and then we'll sneak in on foot to avoid alerting them!"

Song Laosan took a pistol from the bodyguard and said to me, "The situation inside is unclear. You stay and take care of Monkey. I'm going in!"

I waved my hand and got out of the car behind Song Laosan: "Let the driver stay. I'll go with you. If the person inside really is Duan Jinyan, I can help if I go with you."