Chapter 27: Torture
A bucket of cold water suddenly poured onto Yin Chuan's head, sending a shiver down his spine, jolting him awake from his deep sleep. It was the peak chill of the snowy day, and the water felt like a thousand needles piercing his skin and bones, stinging him to the bone. He tried to wipe the water from his head, but found his hands were tied behind his back, preventing him from moving.
"woke up?"
A voice came into his ears, and it took Yin Chuan a long time to recognize that the speaker was the deputy head of the group, Situ Xin.
"Go, wake her up too." Situ Xin pointed to Yin Chuan's side. Yin Chuan turned around and saw Lin Lang lying on her side beside him, eyes closed and unconscious.
"Wait a minute..." Yin Chuan tried to stop the soldier who was holding up the basin of cold water, but he ignored him and poured it down on Linlang's head. Linlang snorted, "Hmm..." and gradually regained consciousness. Then her teeth began to chatter uncontrollably, and her lips turned purple from the cold.
Just as Yin Chuan was looking at Lin Lang with both heartache and anger, Situ Xin, who was sitting on a chair, spoke up: "I say, you two are too dishonest. I told you to stay in the barracks obediently, but you had to come up with some tricks."
"Commander Si... Commander Situ, what you said... is so unreasonable!" Yin Chuan reluctantly replied, suppressing the pain and coldness all over his body.
"reason?"
"You...you asked us to investigate the truth about Captain Shen's murder within three days...three days, but then you put us under soft...house arrest. How can we investigate like this? What do you think...is this...reason?"
"Hahaha!" Situ Xin laughed a few times. "Mr. Detective, you better understand. This is a military camp! Everything in the military camp is decided by me. Reason? Where is there any reason in the military camp? I gave you three days to find out the truth - ah, you are so naive! I didn't expect you to take my words seriously."
"You...what...do you mean?" Linlang asked with eyes wide open.
"I'm not obligated to say all this, but since you want to know, I'll just tell you. We're currently facing off across the river with the Sun Huang army in the south, and war is imminent. What's the most important thing right now? Morale, of course! And now, Chen Hui has been assassinated. If the news spreads throughout the barracks, I'm afraid morale will be unsettled, leading to chaos even without a fight. Furthermore, the military supervisor appointed by the higher-ups has arrived. If I don't give an explanation to both the higher-ups and lower-ups, my position as deputy commander will be in jeopardy. However, your appearance is just in time. With your ability as Detective Yin, three days is more than enough time to investigate and get the results. I don't care what the truth is. As long as you give me a result, I can deal with the military supervisor and appease the soldiers. If you can't give me a result, I can use you as a sacrifice and accuse you of being a southern spy, and that will still achieve my goal. Do you understand now?"
Yin Chuan suppressed his anger and nodded slightly. "Since you already have this plan, why did you bother waking us up? Are you just asking us to give you a random result?"
"No, no, no, I just want to ask, where is that Du guy who was with you guys earlier?"
Although Yin Chuan had long anticipated that Situ Xin would have doubts about Du Yunzhang's disappearance, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous when he suddenly raised this question.
"He... has escaped from the military camp, you can't find him." Yin Chuan was silent for a moment before speaking.
"Escaped? Why didn't you escape together, but only he left?" Situ Xin asked.
"Because he has seen through the truth of Chen Hui's murder and knows who the real murderer is!" Linlang blurted out, surprising Situ Xin and catching Yin Chuan off guard. He didn't know why Linlang suddenly said this.
"Oh? That Du guy figured out the truth? And it wasn't you, the great detective, who figured it out?"
"Don't think that Yin Chuan is the only one among us who can solve the case. Go ask around. Du Yunzhang was a captain of the fast squad during the Qing Dynasty. And after the founding of the Republic of China, he has been the captain of the patrol police in Wuhe County. Investigating cases and arresting criminals are his forte."
Situ Xin nodded. "I see. Then who did he find out was the murderer?"
"He didn't tell us anything. He just said that based on the clues he had, he had already identified the murderer. All he needed was a key piece of evidence. So he left the barracks alone to find that key piece of evidence. He also promised us that he would return within three days."
Situ Xin turned to look at Yin Chuan again, hoping to verify Lin Lang's story by his expression. Yin Chuan was a very clever man. He quickly understood Lin Lang's intention and quickly agreed, "Old Du is really something. He won't tell me when I ask him. He has to find evidence. The clues are all there. If I give him less than half a day, I can deduce who the real culprit is. Why would I need any more evidence? He's really stubborn!"
Seeing that he was so confident and didn't seem to be putting on an act, Situ Xin said, "It seems that you all are highly capable people. I've impressed you. But words alone won't work..." He took out his pocket watch and looked at it. "It's already noon on the third day. If Mr. Yin hasn't figured out the real culprit by today, or if Du Yunzhang doesn't return with the crucial evidence, I will report back to the military supervisor in my own way and inform the entire regiment of Captain Shen's death. I'll be sorry to you two then. You will take the blame for killing Shen Hui."
Yin Chuan smiled slightly and replied jokingly, "Thank you, Commander Situ, for your generosity."
Situ Xin patted Yin Chuan's shoulder, stood up and left the barracks, leaving two guards at the door to guard Yin Chuan and Lin Lang, and strictly ordered them not to escape again, otherwise they would be subject to military law!
Yin Chuan and Lin Lang looked at each other and smiled helplessly.
"It's over now. I'm afraid we can only wait to be slaughtered." Linlang sighed softly.
"Not necessarily. I think your sudden wit in saying that Du Yunzhang saw through the truth was a stroke of genius!"
"Hey, I just said that on a whim. Who would have thought it would actually scare Situ Xin?"
"The great thing about your statement is that it not only makes Situ Xin hesitate to deal with us, but also buys Du Yunzhang and me valuable time."
"But we're tied up like this, we can't do anything. What good will we do with half a day left?"
"A lot of things can happen in this short time. Don't forget the deal between us and Chen Xi. He will take action soon. Also, I believe Du Yunzhang will be able to bring Huang Tan back on time. We don't have no chance of turning the tables!"
Even so, Yin Chuan still didn't want to be held still like this. He looked around the barracks, as if he had noticed something, and nudged Linlang with his shoulder, "Hey, why does this barracks look so familiar to me?"
"Look familiar?" Linlang looked around.
"Yes, it looks familiar. It seems to be the place where the three of us interrogated several battalion commanders." Yin Chuan quietly approached the barracks door and looked out through the gap. "Yes, it's here! It seems that the barracks next door should be where Chen Hui was killed."
"Alas, even if we are very close to the crime scene, what can we do?" Linlang was a little discouraged.
Yin Chuan moved closer to the barracks wall and listened carefully outside, hoping that he might hear some key information like before, but he walked around and heard nothing.
Just as he was about to stop and quietly wait for Du Yunzhang to return, he suddenly noticed something covered by the felt cloth near the wall of the regimental commander's barracks next door. He walked over and kicked it, and after a few kicks, he lifted the felt cloth and found something underneath.
"Goodness! Isn't this..." Yin Chuan's eyes lit up, "The decisive evidence is actually right here!"
Linlang didn't know what he had discovered, so she came closer to take a look. At Yin Chuan's feet was a piece of hard cloth about two fingers square, with two horizontal bars embroidered on it, three stars in the middle of the bars, and spots of blood on the corners.
"And look—" Yin Chuan pointed to the lower part of the tent wall, which was clinging to the felt. It was wrinkled, as if it had been pulled, and there were also traces of dried blood. "I think I understand all the mysteries, but I need to steal something to confirm it."
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