Lunch was a simple meal of cornbread with pickled vegetables and a bowl of pumpkin soup.
After finishing her meal, Xu Xinghe returned to the west room, locked the door, and slipped into the space.
She took a good bath with the spiritual spring water, washing away the sweat and dirt, and then reapplied the birthmark on her face to make sure her disguise was flawless.
After leaving the space, she found Uncle Li and said, "I want to go out for a walk this afternoon. You can tell everyone that you asked me to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things and get familiar with the environment."
Uncle Li nodded. "Okay, go ahead. Be careful on the road, don't go to remote places, and come back soon."
"I understand, thank you." Xu Xinghe picked up an empty cloth bag, pretending to go shopping, and pushed open the courtyard gate to walk out.
Instead of heading directly towards the supply and marketing cooperative, she first circled the village to make sure no one was following her before lowering her hat brim and walking out of the village.
She planned to take advantage of the afternoon to walk around the riverbank and see if she could find any traces of espionage activities.
Along the village paths, there are many crops and fruit trees planted.
Occasionally, when villagers pass by, they see the birthmark on her face and instinctively avoid looking at her.
Xu Xinghe didn't care at all and hurried along.
She carried an empty cloth bag and walked along the riverbank.
The afternoon sun was a bit dazzling, the river surface shimmered, the weeds on the bank were wilted by the sun, and occasionally a few water birds skimmed across the water, stirring up ripples.
Her gaze swept across every corner of the riverbank.
It's a pity that apart from the traces left by the people who did the laundry, there's nothing else left.
I suspect it was also related to the rain that happened when I got off the bus earlier.
Rain washes away many things, leaving nothing behind.
Since she found nothing at the river, she turned and headed toward the town.
The town is small, with several main roads crisscrossing it.
There weren't many pedestrians; most were residents coming and going.
Xu Xinghe first went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some salt, needles and thread, and a few pieces of coarse cloth. He stuffed the cloth bag half full, pretending that he had finished shopping. Then, under the pretense of shopping, he began to investigate the locations that Jiang Linchuan had previously investigated, which were mentioned in Commissar Wang's documents.
She walked slowly along the street, and as she passed each suspicious courtyard, she pretended to slow down and carefully observed them out of the corner of her eye.
Most places looked ordinary, either normal shops or ordinary houses, all inhabited and without any abnormalities.
She stopped when she reached a secluded path on the edge of town.
Not far ahead, there was an inconspicuous little courtyard right by the roadside. The courtyard wall was made of rammed earth and looked somewhat dilapidated, as if it had been abandoned. This was one of the strongholds that Jiang Linchuan had explored, as recorded in the documents.
Xu Xinghe deliberately tripped, pretending to accidentally drop the bag of salt from the cloth bag onto the ground.
She bent down to pick something up, but her eyes quickly glanced at the crack under the wooden door of the courtyard.
The yard was empty except for a few withered yellow weeds, which looked like they hadn't been tended to for a long time.
After confirming that no one was around, Xu Xinghe no longer hesitated.
She picked up her cloth bag and quickly walked around to the side of the courtyard.
The walls here are even lower, only about a meter high.
After several days of combat training, scaling walls is no longer a problem for her.
Xu Xinghe pushed off the ground with both feet, exerted force with her arms, and leaped lightly, grabbing the top of the wall with both hands. With a little effort, she flipped over and landed steadily on the ground in the courtyard.
The courtyard was indeed deserted, filled with a dusty and damp atmosphere.
Scattered on the ground were some firewood, broken pottery jars, and a few discarded old clothes, indicating that the people inside had left in a great hurry and hadn't even had time to clean up these miscellaneous items.
Xu Xinghe held her breath and cautiously began to explore the courtyard.
She moved very quietly, trying not to make a sound, while keeping a watchful eye on her surroundings.
She inspected the main house, the side rooms, and the woodshed.
The room was a complete mess; drawers were pulled open, cabinets were overturned, and scraps of paper and broken items were scattered on the floor, but there were no valuable clues.
Xu Xinghe felt a little disappointed. Could this place really just be an abandoned outpost with nothing left behind?
Just as she was about to leave, her gaze was suddenly drawn to a patch of weeds in the corner of the courtyard wall.
The weeds grew exceptionally lush, almost covering most of the wall, but at the base of the wall hidden by the weeds, there seemed to be a faint engraving, very inconspicuous, which she would not have noticed at all if she hadn't looked closely.
Xu Xinghe immediately perked up, quickly walked over, squatted down, and carefully parted the weeds.
As the weeds were cleared away layer by layer, a clear mark was revealed.
It was a simple symbol, not deeply engraved, but with sharp edges and corners. It was Jiang Linchuan's handwriting, which she knew all too well!
In an instant, Xu Xinghe's heart began to pound, and her eyes instantly reddened.
It's Rinkawa!
He really did leave clues here!
She knew all too well what the mark meant.
This is a secret code used by the military, indicating that items are left here.
When carrying out a mission, if important evidence or supplies are inconvenient to carry or cannot be delivered in a timely manner, such markings will be left to facilitate subsequent retrieval by personnel.
Or you can return and retrieve it yourself after the task is completed.
Jiang Linchuan must have discovered something important while exploring this base. He didn't have time to deal with it, so he marked it, intending to retrieve it after completing the mission. But he never expected that he would disappear afterward.
Xu Xinghe gently stroked the engraving with her fingers, a surge of indescribable excitement welling up inside her.
Markings provide clues!
If there are clues, it might be possible to find Jiang Linchuan!
What he left behind must be of paramount importance!
She suppressed her emotions and began to carefully search around the marker.
Jiang Linchuan is always meticulous in his work. Since he left this mark, he must have hidden the item nearby.
She parted the surrounding weeds, carefully felt the soil at the base of the wall with her fingers, and checked the nearby stones, but found nothing unusual.
Xu Xinghe was not discouraged. She stood up, scanned the area around the marker, and recalled Jiang Linchuan's habits in her mind.
He likes to hide things in secluded places where they are not easily damaged.
Her gaze fell on a bluestone slab below the mark. The slab was larger and flatter than the surrounding stones, with some loose soil around the edges. Only upon closer inspection could one discover that it had been moved.
She took a deep breath, squatted down, gripped the edge of the stone slab with both hands, and lifted it upwards with force.
The stone slab wasn't too heavy, and she easily moved it to the side using the strength of her waist and abdomen.
Below the stone slab was a shallow pit, in which was a piece of oiled paper wrapped around a small iron box.
Xu Xinghe's heart pounded even faster. With trembling hands, she picked up the tin box, opened it, and found a neatly folded piece of paper and a small piece of cloth inside.
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