Sin in the Abyss (Part 2)
When Stephen and his secretary Carl rushed to the door, the Indian man had already been scalded unconscious and was being trampled underfoot by Qingcheng. The others were not faring any better; their faces were flushed from the sun, and their clothes were soaked with sweat and clung tightly to their bodies.
Karl cried out "God!" while Stephen, maintaining the poker face typical of Germans, pursed his lips. Before the two could ask any questions, Qingcheng preemptively asked in German, "Mr. Stephen, did the visit offend you in any way that you need to silence me?"
Stephen took a deep breath and waved his hand, causing all the mercenaries to lower their weapons. Hu Yukun also breathed a sigh of relief and touched his still-pounding heart. The White Russian man was talking to Stephen in a string of words that he couldn't understand.
Qingcheng, who was next to her, understood. She was saying that there was a strange smell in her trunk and they suspected that something was hidden there. As expected, Stephen also asked them to open the trunk and check.
“Since Mr. Stephen has made this request, I’ll grant you that request. But if you falsely accuse me for no reason, I can’t guarantee I’ll write something about it when I get back.” Qingcheng squinted and leaned close to Stephen, whispering a warning: “You’ll bear the consequences.”
Stephen's eyes twitched incessantly, and his pupils contracted involuntarily. Qingcheng knew he was somewhat moved, so she went all in and suddenly opened the trunk. Inside the trunk were several jars, and the strong smell was coming from one of the unsealed jars.
Carl covered his nose and went to check it himself. The trunk looked normal. Qingcheng leaned closer to him and took the initiative to lift a jar. The pungent smell made Secretary Carl squat down and vomit.
Even the seasoned mercenaries frowned and shouted, "Poison gas! Poison gas! Retreat!"
The scene was utterly ridiculous to Hu Yukun. He suppressed a laugh, took the jar, and pretended to scold Qingcheng: "Oh dear, I told you, people don't like Chinese pickled vegetables."
Qingcheng winked at Hu Yukun and said reproachfully, "It's all your fault for not letting me take it out. I promised to bring some local specialties for Stephen to try, but now I've been stopped."
Upon receiving Qingcheng's instructions, Hu Yukun deliberately waved the jar in front of Stephen, speaking in broken German about the food to indicate that it was safe to eat. Stephen maintained his poker face, though his face turned bright red from holding his breath, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably.
Qingcheng began to introduce Stephen to the local specialties from her hometown: stinky winter melon and stinky amaranth, both pickled vegetables that smell bad but taste delicious. She brought them as a gift, but Hu Yukun wouldn't let her take them out. What a misunderstanding!
Stephen suddenly went around to the back of the car, quickly pressed down the trunk lid with both hands, bowed his head, sincerely apologized to Qingcheng, and begged her to close the lid quickly. Qingcheng pretended to be kind and sealed the lid, placed it in the hands of the pale-faced Carl, and generously said that since they had seen it, they should keep it.
Carl, holding a jar, looked utterly dejected. Stephen quickly had his men fetch a bottle of red wine as a return gift. Then, he personally opened the mine gate to show goodwill. It would have been better if he hadn't opened the gate, because as soon as he did, he saw a large group of villagers carrying rakes and hoes walking towards him from afar.
The burly White Russian man instinctively raised his gun; it looked like he was about to start a brawl. Qingcheng pulled Yukun back to the car, floored the gas pedal, and drove out of the mining area. They drove quite a distance before stopping, and the two of them sat in the car, breathing in the fresh air, when suddenly they both burst into laughter.
If he had stayed any longer, who knows what might have happened. Hu Yukun felt a tightness in his chest and his throat was dry and itchy. Looking at Qingcheng's sunburnt cheeks, he smiled and said, "You are the most fierce female comrade I have ever met, without a doubt."
"Huh? What does 'tiger' mean? Never mind, let's release Caitou first." At Qingcheng's reminder, Hu Yukun quickly opened the trunk and removed a partition. It turned out that the trunk of this car had long been connected to the rear seats by a partition.
"Beard, how do you drive? You're driving like a maniac!" Cai Tou, his face flushed, kicked off the blanket and climbed out of the trunk, cursing. He was already soaked in sweat.
"You're lucky to be alive, what are you asking for?" Hu Yukun checked Cai Tou's body for injuries, then took a few steps back from the smell emanating from him.
"By the way, the car was parked for a long time just now, how did you guys get away with it?" Cai Tou asked, puzzled.
"I've been interviewing miners in the mining area for so long, and I didn't know they smelled like that. I just didn't expect that even after wiping them with alcohol, the smell would still be so strong," Hu Yukun said as he put the partition back on.
"There's no other way; we eat, drink, and relieve ourselves all in the mine. And at night, we share a single blanket nailed to the ground with wooden stakes, taking turns using it." Cai Tou then changed the subject and asked, "So, what are your solutions?"
Last night, after discussing it, they came up with two plans. Plan one: let Cai Tou hide in the trunk and get away with it, then everyone would be happy. Plan two: if that doesn't work, then they'll have to use an even stronger smell to cover it up.
Therefore, with Qingcheng's introduction, Hu Yukun went to the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce early in the morning, bought three jars of pickled vegetables, and then drove to the mining area to pick up people.
"What if neither of these two options works?" Cai Tou asked, scratching his chest.
"Actually, I have a third plan. Foreigners are even more superstitious than we imagine. Today happens to be Friday, which they call Black Friday. I won't go into the specifics, but it's all superstitious stuff." This is an experience that Qingcheng gained from studying in Europe.
"I was so scared just now, I thought I was going to die there. I need to take a shower to get rid of the bad luck," Cai Tou said, still shaken.
"That's good, Caitou. This is the jujube tree you mentioned, right?" Hu Yukun asked, pointing to the tree at the intersection. "What clues did you find?"
"Find someone for me." Cai Tou's eyes dimmed.
The black sedan drove slowly on the yellow dirt road. The roadside was bare, with only two or three sparse small fruit trees appearing and disappearing quickly. Guided by Cai Tou, the car stopped on a mound.
As soon as they got out of the car, a stench wafted up from below the hill, ten times worse than the smell emanating from Cai Tou. Several crows circled overhead, cawing loudly. The scene was reminiscent of a mass grave; if the three of them hadn't all believed in Marxism, they would have run away by now.
Cai Tou led the two men to stand on the valley floor and look down. The two men's eyes widened immediately. The scene was unforgettable. Countless corpses lay scattered haphazardly in the ravine. The remains of animals that had been gnawed on were mixed with dark red soil and scattered around the corpses, making it look extremely desolate.
Before she could be shocked for long, Qingcheng, suppressing the churning in her stomach, quickly told everyone to cover their mouths and noses with cloths, as this kind of place was most prone to plague. Caitou specially picked up a dry branch to search for the corpse. He said he was looking for an old man with a goatee, wearing a light blue short shirt and black shorts without patches.
Following the path, the three slowly climbed down the hill to a depression. This place should have been a riverbed, but it had dried up due to the heat. The bottom of the riverbed was full of sharp, jagged rocks, so they had to be extra careful.
Compared to the rubble, getting close to a corpse requires even more mental fortitude. Due to the hot weather, these exposed corpses are almost all highly decomposed, with rows of white maggots writhing on the bluish-black rotting flesh, and drooping eyeballs with the uneaten eyes of crows hanging from their dark eye sockets.
Qingcheng also started searching through the corpses like them. If she hadn't grown up in a doctor's family, she probably would have vomited. She didn't know what was going on with so many corpses. Judging from their clothes, they must have been from poor families. At this moment, Hu Yukun shouted loudly.
Upon closer inspection, there was a corpse at his feet that had not decomposed. Miraculously intact after a night, it had a deep purple bruise on its neck, and its clothes were almost new. However, there was a Type 38 rifle tucked into its waistband, and its pockets were bulging. Qingcheng and Hu Yukun both looked at Caitou, waiting for his explanation.
Ke Caitou silently holstered his gun on his waist, then took out a few black stones from the corpse's pocket and handed them to Hu Yukun. He continued to search the corpse and finally found a note in the corpse's cloth shoe. Qingcheng glanced at it and it seemed to be a map with a cross marked in red ink.
Before leaving, Cai Tou kicked the corpse in resentment, as if harboring a deep grudge. Unexpectedly, this kick caused the "corpse" to groan and let out a weak wail.
Upon hearing the sound, Cai Tou's square face bulged with veins, and his eyes became bloodshot. Seeing this, Hu Yukun quickly grabbed him, but he struggled and shouted, "Don't stop me! I'm going to kill him! Do you know how many people he's harmed?"
Ignoring Hu Yukun's attempts to stop him, he punched the old man several times in the stomach, jolting him awake. The old man clutched his stomach and rolled around on the pile of rocks. Hu Yukun managed to pull the vegetable off his stomach and tried to persuade him not to act impulsively.
However, when Cai Tou said that he was a wheel, Hu Yukun's expression changed and he spat at the old man. The two of them then started beating the old man. Now it was Qingcheng's turn to look blank. Doesn't a wheel mean a car wheel?
"Stop! Is it appropriate for you two young men to beat up an old man?" Qingcheng asked Hu Yukun, pulling him aside.
Hu Yukun, panting, explained to Qingcheng that "cartwheel" is a slang term for someone who transports goods, and it also means someone who lends money at exorbitant interest rates. The so-called compound interest is like a cartwheel. Of course, it wouldn't be enough to make them go to such lengths just because someone is a loan shark.
The scoundrel Che Gulu did was so bad that even beating him to death would be too lenient. The most despicable thing they did was force people to gamble and smoke opium. Once they owed a certain amount, they would sell people's wives and daughters, forcing them into prostitution. This was especially heinous in this poor mining area.
It turns out that the miners were exploited by the mine manager for a month before they finally got their wages. According to Stephen, each worker would receive at least 6 dollars a month, but the money would first go to the foreman, who would take half as a referral fee as usual. In reality, they would only receive about 3 dollars.
Three silver dollars, if saved properly, would be enough to support the whole family. But some unscrupulous scoundrel came up with this stupid idea first: to open a casino, a brothel, and even an opium den under the mine. The cook would bring his men there, and they would run up credit on the side, then split the money with the cook.
But there are always people who don't want to get involved in these things; they just want a wife, kids, and a warm bed. Is that okay? Of course not. The carts would take villagers who had already been poisoned, forcing honest people to smoke opium or tying them to gambling tables and threatening to chop off their hands if they didn't gamble.
As the head of the household, their hands are their means of livelihood, and they dare not disobey. What awaits them is only an endless abyss, from human beings to beasts, selling their wives, children, and everything else. When they have nothing left, they sell themselves to become bonded laborers, completely reduced to slavery.
This wicked industrial chain has existed for at least ten years. Due to the war, the warlords only cared about seizing territory and did not care about development. The village chiefs and gentry in each village usually served as both cart drivers and cooks, making others the fish and the butchers.
Mine managers usually turn a blind eye to these things, since it's not their casino or opium den. They might even be the ones providing some of the illicit goods. All they need to do is ensure there are enough miners (indentured laborers) to work.
Just listening to Cai Tou's words, Qing Cheng felt a chill run down her spine. She silently released Hu Yukun. The image of the child named Xiao Cao flashed through her mind. How many originally harmonious families were destroyed by these people? How many children would become child laborers like Xiao Cao? How many women would be forced into prostitution?
She felt a tightness in her chest, making it hard to breathe. She couldn't find any words to describe this profession other than utterly depraved.
The old man hiccuped and died completely. Cai Tou seemed worried that the old man might come back to life, so he picked up a sharp piece of stone and stabbed several long cuts on his face and stomach.
The crows that had been lingering around smelled the fresh blood and began to make even more piercing and strange cries. Several crows swooped down, tearing out bloody intestines and ripping them into pieces in mid-air, then happily enjoying their meal.
Even so, Qingcheng felt that the old bastard deserved to die; he deserved to be ground to ashes. Wait, let her spit before she leaves, ugh!
Back in the car, Cai Tou explained that the old bastard was just unlucky. He was originally supposed to be transporting indentured laborers to the Japanese mine next door, but the deputy mine manager who was colluding with him was sent on a business trip to Northeast China. The Japanese recruiters saw that he was all ruddy-faced and also recruited him into the miners, forcing him to work at gunpoint.
The old codger, who bullied the weak and feared the strong, could only endure it. Even so, he enthusiastically boasted to others about how many wives he had ruined and how many children he had sold. It would have been better if he hadn't said anything, because as soon as he did, he caught Cai Tou's attention. Cai Tou deliberately tried to get close to him and helped him grab food, and the two became close as a result.
The old man said he would have to find the deputy mine manager again when he returned, because he still had a batch of goods to deliver after receiving the money. He said he would take Caitou with him when he went out to hang out. He then showed Caitou a map drawn by the deputy mine manager to prove that he was not lying. However, the old man put the map away too quickly, so Caitou did not remember what was drawn.
After staying for a few days, Cai Tou discovered that another group of unfamiliar miners were moving materials in the mining area at night. He sneaked out and mingled with them, hiding a few pieces of ore. These ores were dark and hard like rocks, and he didn't know what kind of ore they were. During the day, they were digging not only coal but also white quartz.
In order to take these ores away, he deliberately switched to the mine where the old man was yesterday, and when no one was around, he strangled the old man with his belt, and then went to report to the patrolling thugs that the old man had died of a sudden illness.
At his instigation, the thugs, finding the reporting process too troublesome and seeing his robust physique, secretly dragged the old man onto a donkey cart. Under the moonlight, they transported him to this valley to dump the body. Most of the people in the valley were miners who had died of illness. Without labor, they were simply abandoned there like garbage, regardless of whether they were dead or alive.
While disposing of the body, Cai Tou casually stole the henchman's Type 38 rifle and hid the ore and the rifle on the corpse.
When the thugs returned, they found the gun was gone. They searched Cai Tou's body but found nothing. They cursed their bad luck and assumed they had lost the gun on the way to dispose of the body. Of course, that's a story for later. Now they had the map and could plan their next move.
The silvery moon hung high in the sky. It should have been a quiet night, but Xuzhou Railway Station was unusually lively, with squads of soldiers in yellow-green uniforms jumping out of the carriages.
On the dimly lit platform, Gao Junxiao and Chen Yao counted the number of people while discussing how to properly handle the deployment of so many brothers.
It seems they'll have to pay a visit to Commander Du, the city's defense commander, in person.
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