Night raid
The moonlight was mostly obscured by thick clouds, and Linjiangtun was immersed in the deep night, with only the river flowing tirelessly.
At three-quarters past midnight, two dark figures, as if blending into the night, silently approached the back wall of Fu Rui General Store. Gu Tieshan crouched down, and Shen Lanjun lightly touched his shoulder with her toes, her body rising like a willow catkin. She pressed her hands against the top of the wall, nimbly flipping over, landing without even disturbing the snow in the yard. Gu Tieshan was even more agile. He took two steps back, made a quick running start, used his feet to push off the wall twice, grabbed the top with his hands, and his tall body lightly vaulted over, landing precisely beside Shen Lanjun.
The two lay hidden in the shadows, like lurking cheetahs, carefully observing the movements within the courtyard. The general store was pitch black and utterly silent.
Shen Lanjun gestured, pointing to the patch of ground in the northeast corner that she had previously confirmed. Gu Tieshan nodded, remaining in place to keep watch, his gaze sweeping across the entire backyard and any possible windows like a hawk's.
Shen Lanjun returned to the plot of land, this time more prepared. She took out a small leather pouch from her bosom, which unfolded to reveal a set of exquisite tools. Using a thin, willow-leaf-shaped steel blade, she carefully inserted it into the edge of the wooden plank, sensing the mechanism inside. After a moment, her brow furrowed slightly—beneath the plank was an extremely fine bell wire.
What an ingenious arrangement! If she hadn't been cautious enough, she would have immediately alerted the people inside by rashly lifting the wooden board.
She held her breath, carefully used a tool to pry open the latch, went around the thin wire, and then gave Gu Tieshan a "safe" gesture. The two of them worked together again, moving the wooden board away extremely slowly, without making a sound.
The musty smell of the cellar mingled with an even stronger odor of machine oil and paper. Shen Lanjun covered her flashlight and slid down first, followed closely by Gu Tieshan, who then partially closed the wooden plank.
The cellar was deeper and more spacious than expected. Several wooden crates were stacked against the wall, which Chen Lanjun quickly checked and found to contain rifle parts and ammunition. But what caught her eye most was the radio on the table in the corner and the locked metal filing cabinet next to it.
Shen Lanjun went straight to the filing cabinet. The lock was an ordinary pin tumbler lock, which was useless to her. She inserted two thin steel needles into the keyhole, concentrated her mind, and in just a few breaths, she heard a soft "click" and the lock opened.
The cabinet was filled with documents. Shen Lanjun quickly and precisely searched through them, her gaze sweeping over lists of supplies, accounts, and seemingly ordinary correspondence in the dim light. Suddenly, her finger stopped on a map marked in both Japanese and Chinese. It was a detailed military map of the border region, with key passes, river crossings, and even some little-known paths marked in red! And at the location of Linjiang Village, a conspicuous circle was drawn.
Besides the map, she also found a work log written in coded language, as well as several photos. The people in the photos included the garrison commander Zhao Shouren, the businessman with gold-rimmed glasses, and several officers with sinister faces dressed in Japanese Kwantung Army uniforms. On the back of one of the photos, there was a line of neat Japanese writing in pen, and Shen Lanjun recognized a few words—"inspection," "plan," and "important."
She quickly stuffed the map, logbook, and a few key photos into her pocket. Just as she was about to close the filing cabinet, her keen ears caught an extremely faint crunching sound from the ground—the sound of someone walking on the snow! And more than one person!
Gu Tieshan also looked up almost simultaneously, his eyes instantly sharpening, and made a gesture to Shen Lanjun to "shut up" and "there are people above you".
The two immediately turned off their flashlights, plunging the cellar into complete darkness and silence. They could clearly hear low voices coming from the ground—Hao Rende and another unfamiliar male voice with a slight accent!
"...We must move out as soon as possible. Those idiots from Black Cloud Village have caused such a commotion; it's not safe here anymore." It was Hao Rende's voice, filled with anxiety.
"What's the panic?" Another male voice sounded calm, even somewhat arrogant. "Check everything. We'll leave together tomorrow night after the 'guests' arrive. The Black Dragon Society's honor cannot be compromised."
The footsteps seemed to be coming towards the backyard!
The air inside the cellar instantly froze. If they were to open the cellar from above at this moment, Gu Tieshan and Shen Lanjun would have nowhere to escape!
Shen Lanjun's mind raced as she scanned the cellar. Gu Tieshan, meanwhile, slowly placed his hand on the pair of cold dragon scale bracelets tucked behind his waist, his eyes like those of a tiger about to pounce, calculating how to instantly kill the two men above him if they were exposed, and how to escape with Shen Lanjun.
Fortunately, the footsteps stopped near the cellar entrance. Hao Rende seemed hesitant: "Should we... take another look down there?"
"What are you looking at? We're moving out tomorrow," the unfamiliar male voice said impatiently. "Go back and double-check the list, make sure there are no mistakes."
The footsteps gradually faded away, as if they had returned to the room.
The two people in the cellar finally breathed a sigh of relief, their backs already soaked with cold sweat.
Not daring to delay any longer, Shen Lanjun quickly restored the filing cabinet to its original state and locked it again. Gu Tieshan listened carefully for a moment, and only after confirming that there was no further movement did the two of them leave the cellar silently, just as they had come in. They covered it with wooden boards, wiped away any traces, climbed over the wall, and disappeared into the boundless night.
Back in the small, warm room of the blacksmith's shop, Shen Lanjun took out the things from her bosom and spread them on the table.
Looking at the detailed map and the coded logbook, her expression was extremely solemn.
"Their goal is far more than just intelligence gathering. This map... they are preparing for military action. The so-called 'country swap plan' is probably far more insane than we imagine."
Gu Tieshan picked up the photo with Japanese writing on the back, looking at the man wearing gold-rimmed glasses in it with a cold gaze.
"That 'guest' is him."
Their nighttime infiltration of the Tiger's Den yielded crucial evidence, but also uncovered a deeper conspiracy. Crisis was imminent.
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