Spider silk
After the banditry, the status of "Gu Family Blacksmith" in Linjiang Village quietly changed. Although Gu Tieshan remained taciturn, the villagers looked at him with genuine respect, and even became much more polite to Shen Lanjun. Zhao Xiaoshuan became a regular at the blacksmith shop, eagerly helping with chores, his eyes overflowing with admiration.
On the surface, Zhao Shouren acted as usual, even sending two catties of pork as a reward. However, Shen Lanjun keenly sensed that the apprehension and distance behind his smile had deepened. Moreover, speculations about Gu Tieshan's background were quietly circulating in the village, with various versions circulating.
With external pressure temporarily eased, Shen Lanjun devoted more energy to internal investigations. "Furui Grocery Store" remained her primary suspect.
That morning, Shen Lanjun used the excuse of buying soy sauce to step into the general store again.
Shopkeeper Hao Rende maintained his usual amiable and business-minded demeanor, but the scrutiny in his eyes was more intense than before. "Madam Gu, you are a rare guest. I heard that Master Gu displayed his extraordinary skills a few days ago; it's truly admirable," he said casually as he bought soy sauce.
"The man in charge is strong, but he was driven to desperation by those damned bandits." Shen Lanjun lowered her eyes and sighed softly, perfectly portraying the image of a woman worried about her husband getting into trouble. "I just hope we can live a peaceful life from now on."
“Yes, peace is the best.” Hao Rende handed over the prepared soy sauce, tapping his fingers casually on the counter. “But in this world, it’s hard to live a peaceful life. I heard that things aren’t peaceful up north… over there with the Russians.”
Shen Lanjun's heart skipped a beat, but her face showed confusion and a hint of fear: "The north? That's a long way off... We're just a small place here, we're lucky if we can stay safe." She paid the bill, picked up the soy sauce bottle, and left in a hurry, as if she didn't want to talk about these frightening things anymore.
Back at the blacksmith's shop, Shen Lanjun handed the soy sauce to Xiu Niang and then went back inside. Gu Tieshan was inspecting a hunting fork that had just been repaired.
“Hao Rende is testing me,” Shen Lanjun said in a low voice. “He brought up the north (the Soviet Union) on his own initiative, as if he was observing my reaction.”
Gu Tieshan put down the hunting fork: "Are you sure?"
“Seven or eight out of ten.” Shen Lanjun’s eyes were sharp. “In the northeast corner of the backyard of the general store, there is a patch of soil with a slightly different color from the surrounding soil, as if it has been moved frequently. Moreover, I noticed that the Japanese matches sold in the store are from very recent batches, not like goods stockpiled before the war. It is abnormal for a general store in a border village to have such a stable source of Japanese goods.”
As night falls, the village falls asleep, with only the occasional bark of a dog and the sound of the flowing river.
Just after midnight, two dark figures disappeared into the night, leaving "Gu Family Stove" silently. They were Gu Tieshan and Shen Lanjun.
Both were skilled night stalkers, and they slipped past the watchmen and any possible sentries, stealthily reaching the back wall of "Fu Rui's General Store" like ghosts. The back wall wasn't high, but some sharp shards of porcelain were stuck in its top.
Gu Tieshan crouched down, gesturing for Shen Lanjun to step onto his shoulders to climb over. Shen Lanjun didn't stand on ceremony; she lightly touched his shoulder with her toes, her body as light as a willow catkin, and gracefully vaulted over the wall, landing silently. Gu Tieshan, on the other hand, took a few steps back, took a running start, pushed off the wall twice with his feet, pressed his hands on the top of the wall, and nimbly leaped over, the broken porcelain shards failing to harm him in the slightest.
The courtyard was quiet, with miscellaneous items piled up in a somewhat messy manner. Shen Lanjun walked straight to the patch of ground in the northeast corner that she had noticed during the day. Gu Tieshan, hidden in the shadows, kept a watchful eye on her, listening intently.
Shen Lanjun crouched down, carefully rubbing the soil between her fingers. She then took a slender metal hairpin from her hair and cautiously inserted it into the soil to investigate. After a moment, her eyes narrowed as the hairpin touched something hard. She gently brushed aside the loose soil, revealing a wooden plank about a foot square.
She pressed her ear against the wooden board and listened carefully to make sure there was no movement below, then gestured to Gu Tieshan.
Gu Tieshan approached silently, and the two of them worked together to move the wooden plank very slowly, without making a sound. Beneath the plank was the entrance to a cellar, and a smell mixed with mustiness and a faint odor of engine oil wafted up.
Shen Lanjun took out a small flashlight covered with a black cloth from his pocket and shone it downwards. The cellar wasn't deep, and it contained some boxes, but near the entrance, there was a simple wooden table with several pieces of paper scattered on it, and... the antenna connector of a radio was vaguely visible!
It really is a communications point!
Shen Lanjun instructed Gu Tieshan to keep watch upstairs while she slipped into the cellar like a nimble cat. She quickly inspected the boxes, which contained batteries, spare parts, and some tightly sealed document bags. Not daring to linger, she swiftly flipped through the few sheets of paper on the table.
Most of the items were ordinary lists of goods and accounts, but on the back of one list, she gently scratched it with her fingernail and, in the dim light, saw traces of writing with steganography ink that required special methods to develop. One recurring word made her pupils shrink—"Black Dragon Society."
There was also a seemingly casually scribbled-down number note, which she quickly jotted down.
Suddenly, Gu Tieshan tapped the wall very lightly twice—a warning! Someone was approaching!
Shen Lanjun immediately restored everything to its original state, her movements as swift as lightning, and quickly climbed out of the cellar. The two of them worked together to cover the wooden planks and quickly smoothed out the loose soil.
Almost as soon as they disappeared into the shadow of the woodpile in the backyard, the soft sound of a key unlocking came from the back door of the grocery store. A dark figure darted out, seemingly getting up in the middle of the night. He stood in the yard for a moment, looked around, and then went back inside.
Once the courtyard was quiet again, the two quietly climbed over the wall and, under the cover of night, quickly returned to the blacksmith's shop.
Under the oil lamp, Shen Lanjun wrote down the set of numbers she had noted on a piece of paper, her brows furrowing slightly: "This looks like a frequency, or a code. The Black Dragon Society... It seems their activities here are deeper than we imagined."
Gu Tieshan looked at the set of numbers, his gaze calm: "We've found the thread."
Clues have begun to emerge. Beneath the tranquil surface of Linjiang Village, a vast shadow is gradually revealing its menacing edge.
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