Chapter 66 He's Dead
A young soldier was struggling to move a pile of broken clay pots and several bundles of firewood stacked against the low earthen foundation on Wu Cui's side to facilitate wall construction.
He used a little more force, and there was a dull "crash" sound. A crooked earthenware jar was knocked over and rolled away, and the firewood it was pressing on was scattered all over the ground.
The debris was removed, revealing a small patch of damp and dark dirt ground at the bottom of Wu Cui's courtyard wall. Xie Shiyu heard the sound and glanced lazily, his eyes fixed on the wet dirt ground, where there was a newly carved pattern with something like a sharp stone or iron nail.
The lines of the pattern were twisted, with a primitive malice and haste: a twisted, ferocious spider with eight legs stretched out strangely, and an irregular dot on its abdomen, exuding an evil aura.
It is the "Black Spider Seal".
An icy chill instantly rushed from the soles of Xie Shiyu's feet to the top of his head. His heart seemed to be pinched by an invisible hand and suddenly stopped beating. This symbol of the death contract and the fight until death actually appeared in the yard of the new neighbor.
What did this mean? Was it carved by Wu Cui? Or was it carved for her? A warning? A signal? The target... was the Xie family, so close. The danger was already pressing against the crack of the door.
He suppressed the low roar that was about to burst out and the urge to draw his gun immediately. The muscles on his face were as tight as rocks. His eyes moved away very naturally and fell on the young soldier who was moving things. He said in a deep voice: "Be careful, don't damage your neighbor's things." At the same time, the corner of his eye was like the most sophisticated radar, locking onto Wu Cui who ran out after hearing the noise.
"Oh! My jar!" Wu Cui screamed and rushed out, looking at the broken jar rolling on the ground with heartache. Fortunately, it was not broken. She hurriedly picked up the scattered firewood and complained to the young soldier: "You soldiers are so clumsy at work. Whose responsibility is it if it is broken? These are old things and we can use them in our daily lives." She seemed to have not noticed the evil mark exposed in the corner of the wall at all, or rather, her attention was all on the "loss", and the mark seemed non-existent to her?
The tall and thick earthen wall was finally completed before dusk. The gray wall stood between the two houses, blocking the view and bringing a brief and fragile sense of security.
However, the twisted "black spider mark" in the corner of the neighboring courtyard was like a cold poisonous snake, entwined in Xie Shiyu's heart, spitting out dangerous cores, making him dare not relax at all.
Wang Xiulan was holding her little grandson in the inner room, humming a tuneless nursery rhyme. Gu Qiuyue coaxed her little daughter to sleep and sat on the edge of the bed, unconsciously twisting the corners of her clothes in her hands. From time to time, she looked worriedly at the new wall outside the window, and then at her husband who was standing silently by the window. The air in the room was heavy, and only the soup stewing on the stove made a faint "gurgling" sound.
Suddenly, a rapid knock on the door broke the depressing silence!
Xie Shiyu almost teleported over to open the door. Xiao Liu at the door saluted and said, "Deputy Captain, there's a call for you in the Captain's office."
Almost the moment he finished speaking, Xie Shiyu was blown away like a gust of wind.
He grabbed the receiver in front of Cheng Tuan and said in a cold, steely voice, "Hello?"
Gu Qiuhan's voice came from the receiver. But it was even colder and more rapid than last night's, as if wrapped in the cold wind and the smell of gunpowder from the north. Deeper within was suppressed a surging anger and an unprecedented solemnity: "Shiyu, it's me."
Xie Shiyu's heart sank suddenly, and an ominous premonition instantly gripped him.
"Zhao Laosi... is dead." Gu Qiuhan's voice was like a knife tempered with ice, and every word was cold.
"Dead?!" Xie Shiyu's pupils suddenly shrank to the size of needles. "How did he die? Did you catch him?"
"No," Gu Qiuhan lowered his voice, his voice piercing with gritted teeth. "He was trying to intercept me at Station XX, and was about to be captured alive by our men when a gunshot came out of nowhere, and Zhao Laosi was shot in the head. It was a clean and efficient kill, absolutely silencing him."
He paused, a pause that seemed to carry a thousand-pound weight, his voice sinking as if he were falling into an abyss. "Also, when we were cleaning up the scene, we discovered... a new 'Black Spider Mark' on Zhao Laosi's body, near his heart! It wasn't painted, it was... branded! The skin and flesh were charred, and it was incredibly clear!"
Xie Shiyu's knuckles, gripping the receiver, were white from being branded! What a cruel and arrogant declaration!
"They're declaring war on us, and also warning everyone who knows about it." Gu Qiuhan's voice was icy cold. "I suspect...their route has been leaked in advance. There's definitely a traitor. I'm almost there, and we'll discuss it in detail. You and Yueyue, be extra careful. The Black Spider...has already bared its fangs!"
“Beep…beep…beep…” A busy sound rang out, cold and empty.
Xie Shiyu slowly put down the receiver. The plastic shell seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. The base of the receiver hit the table, making a slight sound, which was like thunder in the silent room.
"How is it?" Cheng Tuan asked when he saw him end the call.
"Zhao Laosi is dead! He was silenced." Xie Shiyu clenched his hands, which hung by his legs, into fists, his knuckles turning pale. He repeated the contents of Gu Qiuhan's call, "My eldest brother-in-law said that they were about to catch him alive, and Zhao Laosi didn't get shot in the head. Fortunately, it was a small station at the time and there were not many people there, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.
Another discovery I made was a black spider-shaped mark on the back of a kimchi jar in Lu Hongjun's home. I saw it with my own eyes."
Hearing this, Cheng Tuan was really shocked, "Really? But the people who came back from the investigation confirmed that there was no problem with the background of Lu Hongjun's family and her cousin Wang Li." But he also knew that Xie Shiyu would not joke with him about such a thing. He waved his hand and asked him to go back first. He also took his hat and went to the division headquarters to report the situation.
Zhao Laosi was precisely silenced, there might be a traitor within the family... The newly carved "Black Spider Mark" on the corner of the neighboring courtyard... The mark branded on the corpse...
The news that Gu Qiuhan handed him made Xie Shiyu feel like a huge and hideous spider web was covering his family's heads. He stood at the door of his house, his eyes passing through the fence next door and falling on a corner of the pile of cans. The afterglow of the setting sun coated the ground with a layer of dark gold, but it could not dispel the heavy shadow.
The newly built wall of his house blocked his view and enclosed a seemingly safe area, but it could not stop the deadly murderous intent that quietly spread like poisonous fog from the depths of the shadows.
He subconsciously touched the cold gun handle at his waist, his eyes as sharp as a blade drawn from its sheath.
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