Chapter 11: Undercurrents in the Military Camp
"Of the three situations you mentioned, at least as far as I know, I don't know which one Captain Shen belongs to. But I don't quite understand, is this related to the case of his murder?" Wu Ziqing asked Yin Chuan.
"Maybe it's nothing, but maybe it's a big deal. If you don't know, that's fine, so let me ask you another question. Do you know what the relationship is between Chief of Staff Han and Commander Shen? Do they have any private conflicts of interest?"
Wu Ziqing was stunned. "Han Chi? I haven't heard of any private conflict between him and Captain Shen. But there's something strange going on between him and Deputy Captain Situ Xin."
"Oh? How is it strange? Tell me in detail." Du Yunzhang couldn't help asking.
Seeing Wu Ziqing showing a slightly alert look, Yin Chuan quickly said: "Captain Wu, don't be nervous, let's talk slowly."
"Actually... they seem to be particularly at odds with each other. They often argue, intentionally or unintentionally. Sometimes it's over the distribution of weapons, sometimes it's over garrison arrangements... It's like they just don't like each other."
"Is that so..." Yin Chuan murmured, then closed his lips tightly, as if thinking about something.
"But... I feel like Staff Officer Han's words carry just as much weight as Deputy Captain Situ's," Linlang couldn't help but say, "Otherwise, when you went to investigate the scene, why did the Deputy Captain agree so immediately when Staff Officer Han insisted on going in?"
Hearing this, Wu Ziqing nodded frequently, and seemed to agree with Linlang's words very much.
"Hmm... I roughly understand. Captain Wu, thank you for your cooperation!"
"No way! Since Deputy Captain Situ asked me to cooperate, I will naturally cooperate unconditionally. So there's nothing for me to do, right?"
Yin Chuan smiled and nodded, and Wu Ziqing then left the barracks.
"Who should we ask next?" Linlang asked.
"It must be that Chief of Staff Han. I think this person is definitely not a simple person." Du Yunzhang said.
Yin Chuan shook his head. "I think before that, we need to analyze the words of the three battalion commanders above. Their answers seem to be very intriguing!"
"Oh? Did you find anything suspicious?" Linlang asked.
"Not really. If you look at their responses individually, there doesn't seem to be anything surprising. But when you consider what each of them said together, it becomes interesting."
"Tell me how it's interesting?"
Yin Chuan did not answer immediately. Instead, he stood up and walked to the door of the barracks. He pushed the door open and looked out. He happened to see Deputy Regiment Commander Situ Xin wearing a military coat and smoking in the snow at the door of the barracks.
"Hey, Mr. Yin, who else do you need to call?" Situ Xin asked.
"Please wait a moment. The three of us need to gather the results of our previous inquiries. I'll talk to you later."
"Okay then. I'll be waiting for your news at the door. Call me whenever you need me."
"Okay. Thank you for your hard work!"
Yin Chuan closed the door, returned to Linlang and Du Yunzhang, and lowered his voice and said, "Did you see that? Deputy Captain Situ is watching us outside. We have to be extra careful!"
"Is it as strange as you say?" Linlang was puzzled. "He's waiting for news from us outside. Why is he so nervous?"
Du Yunzhang chuckled at her, "Have you ever seen a regiment's highest commander personally standing guard outside the barracks for outsiders? If he wanted to help us, he could just arrange a guard. Why would he do it himself?"
"Perhaps he is simply desperate to get to the bottom of this murder?"
"But is there a worse possibility? Perhaps he's the real murderer? Will he be the one secretly monitoring our investigation?" Du Yunzhang lowered his voice. "If that's the case, our situation is very dire."
"Although logically speaking, he does have the motive to murder Captain Chen Hui, from what we know so far, there is no direct clue pointing to him. What I am worried about is that the answers given by the three captains through our inquiries may intensify the powder keg buried in this army. If it explodes, the first to suffer will be the three of us." Yin Chuan said with a frown.
"Then tell me, what is the mystery in what these three battalion commanders said?" Du Yunzhang asked.
Yin Chuan sat back down, bit his lip, and said, "First, let's talk about the Second Battalion Commander, Shen Xi. I asked Shen Xi first because he and the victim were brothers, and because he seemed to have some issues with Situ Xin. So asking him first would allow him to speak his mind before he calmed down. In fact, his attitude indirectly reflects that there must be some rift between Shen Hui and Situ Xin, which is why I said Situ Xin also had a motive for murder.
"The second one, Captain Li Huaide, seems very close to Shen Hui, saying he's a good guy and praising his military talents, seemingly admiring him. But when I asked him who Shen Hui had offended, he casually brought up the conflicts between Shen Hui and higher-ups. This is quite intriguing. Even if this unit belongs to the independent regiment and is directly under Zhang Xun's command, a mid-level officer like him shouldn't be able to directly and unscrupulously instruct us on such matters. At least Situ Xin should have said it, right?
"As for the third Wu Ziqing, I was just testing his limits with my initial questioning, and his response wasn't unexpected. However, when I asked about the ages of these people, his expression suddenly and subtly changed. Did you notice?"
"That expression..." Du Yunzhang and Linlang both frowned as they recalled the incident. After a moment, Linlang seemed to remember, "Oh, right. When you said there were only three possible reasons for him to hold such a high position in the military at such a young age, his face suddenly showed surprise. I don't know what he was thinking of, but it's most likely related to Shen Hui's background."
"Furthermore, he also mentioned the conflict between Situ Xin and Staff Officer Han, which is a bit baffling. I was just asking him about the relationship between Han Chi and Shen Hui, but he suddenly turned the topic to Situ Xin. And when I followed up on his question, he immediately became nervous. I don't know what he was worried about. It's very baffling. Could it be that he has other motives? I always feel like he's pretending to lead us in some direction..."
"So, think about it: in an army like this, the regimental commander and deputy commander appear to be at odds, while the three battalion commanders and staff officers under them each have their own agendas. If beneath the surface, undercurrents surge, a more or less balanced power is maintained, then with the death of regimental commander Chen Hui, at the center of power, that balance is shattered. Who can predict what unpredictable events will unfold?"
Du Yunzhang's expression suddenly changed. "If Situ Xin, the deputy commander, can't control the situation, a mutiny in this army is not impossible!"
"This is the worst outcome for us. So we must find the real culprit before the situation worsens, so that the three of us can escape from this vortex safely." Yin Chuan's tone was very solemn.
"Then why are we still talking here? Let's continue the investigation! The next one should be asked to Chief of Staff Han Chi, right?" Linlang was also a little nervous.
"No, if we want to speed up the process, let's be more direct." Then, Yin Chuan shouted outside the barracks, "Deputy Commander Situ, please ask the next commander's personal guard, Duan Dage, to come in and answer the question."
"Okay, I'll be there right away." Situ Xin replied from outside.
"Duan Da Ge?"
"Is that Chen Hui's personal bodyguard? Why are you calling him suddenly?"
"Because he is the person closest to Chen Hui, it is his responsibility to ensure Chen Hui's personal safety. Therefore, questioning him can get straight to the heart of the case."
Du Yunzhang and Linlang nodded in agreement after Yin Chuan's explanation. "If that's the case, you should have tried him a long time ago! Why did you go through so much trouble just now?" Du Yunzhang demanded.
"Hey, you didn't realize the seriousness of this case. It's not too late now."
The three of them sat in the barracks, drinking water and waiting, but no one came. Yin Chuan felt that something was wrong, so he quickly got up and walked out of the barracks. He found that Situ Xin at the door had disappeared, and in his place were two soldiers with live ammunition.
"Where is your deputy leader?" Yin Chuan asked.
"The deputy commander has urgent military information to deal with. Please be patient and wait in the barracks."
At this time, Du Yunzhang also came out. Seeing that Situ Xin was gone, he naturally planned to look around. However, he didn't expect that two guards would hold their rifles in front of them and block his way. "Everyone, you should stay in the barracks. The deputy commander will be back soon."
"You..." Du Yunzhang suddenly became anxious, but he found that another guard was eager to try and raised his gun, so he had to suppress his anger. After all, a wise man would not suffer a loss in front of him.
"Okay, let's go back to the barracks. Old Du, let's go back and wait." Yin Chuan gave Du Yunzhang a wink, and the two returned to the barracks.
"What's wrong?" Linlang saw that the two of them looked unhappy and felt that something bad was wrong.
"Now, the three of us are under house arrest again. Last time it was Chen Xi, and this time it's Situ Xin. Military camps are really ominous places! We thought we could escape unscathed, but looking at the current situation, it might be impossible." Du Yunzhang complained.
"Don't be so discouraging. Let me think about it." Yin Chuan walked around the edge of the barracks a few times. He surveyed the furnishings, which were nothing more than ordinary military supplies: folding beds, simple racks, military mats, water bottles, and the like. He noticed that while the walls weren't particularly thick, they were still quite hard and resilient when he poked them with his fingers.
"The barracks we are in now should be next to the one where Chen Hui was killed, right?" Yin Chuan asked.
"Yes, that's right. It's right here, to the right of the barracks door." Linlang replied.
"What do you think? Is it possible that the murderer was hiding here before and killed Chen Hui next door by some means?"
"What method?" Du Yunzhang asked.
"I can't guess at the moment."
Linlang then asked, "But the problem is, when Chen Hui was killed, everyone was together. No one stayed in this barracks. Even Situ Xin, who arrived late, came from far away. How do you explain this?"
Yin Chuan shook his head silently and said nothing more.
"Old Yin, what should we do next? Are we just going to sit here and wait for others to do whatever they want?" Du Yunzhang was a little anxious.
Just as Yin Chuan was about to answer, he suddenly frowned and raised his index finger at Du Yunzhang, meaning to keep quiet. A moment later, there was a "crunching" sound of someone stepping on the snow outside the door, and then someone said, "Mr. Yin, please come out!"
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