statue

Hearing Meng Cheng's words, the people he brought with him immediately started to move, some lying on the ground and knocking on the base of the Buddha statue, while others bending over and knocking on the thighs of the Buddha statue.

After knocking on these places, a few people were a little worried: "Captain, how do we knock on the top?"

"Climb up and knock."

The soldier who asked the question looked up at the majestic Buddha statue and said hesitantly, "This... isn't a good idea, is it?"

Although the four olds are being eliminated, they have more or less been to school and know what materialism is and that they should believe in science. Believing in science does not mean not respecting gods and Buddhas. If they are asked to climb directly onto the top of a Buddha statue and act wildly, they would be a little scared.

After hearing this, Meng Cheng did not scold them. Instead, he climbed onto the Buddha statue and knocked on it a little bit from the top of the head.

The reason why he acted without hesitation was not because he did not believe in ghosts and gods.

In the past, he really didn't believe in these things, and believed in science more, but this did not affect his reverence for gods and Buddhas. Moreover, now he knew the existence of the original work from Ye Min.

If this world is a novel, they are all characters in the book. What's so strange about the existence of gods and Buddhas?

But he did not commit such an offensive act for personal gain, but to find the explosives, stop the enemy's conspiracy, defend the motherland, and protect ordinary people.

He believed that if gods and Buddhas existed, they would not blame him for his offense at this time.

Meng Cheng knocked on the Buddha statue from the top of the head, but the sound was solid, without any hollowness. The same was true for the upper part of the Buddha's body, including the bottom and the base that others knocked on, and there was no problem.

Meng Cheng stood on the Buddha statue and looked around the hall.

There is more than one Buddha statue in the main hall, but the others are badly damaged, with only the bases remaining.

They have knocked on those places and there are no problems.

Seeing Meng Cheng standing still, a young soldier said, "Captain, this is just a ruined temple, there shouldn't be anything wrong, right? Even if there is a spy, he can't hide inside the Buddha statue."

Because the people who arrested Tian Mengjun and Meng Cheng set out together, and Captain Wang had no idea that Tian Mengjun was a spy, so Meng Cheng did not mention the explosives, and led the team here under the pretext of looking for a spy.

From a soldier's perspective, it is true that there cannot be spies hidden in Buddha statues, but Meng Cheng knew that he was looking for more than just a person.

People can't hide in Buddha statues forever, but explosives can.

Theoretically speaking, it was quite risky for those people to hide the explosives here, firstly because it was very close to the ruined temple, and secondly because Tian Mengjun and Wang Hui often had trysts here.

But there is a saying that goes, "It is darkest under the lamp." The closer something is to our eyes, the harder it is to find it.

If Ye Min had not seen the barrage and found Tian Mengjun based on it, and then followed Tian Mengjun to find this dilapidated temple, who would care about this dilapidated temple?

Moreover, he did not think that Tian Mengjun was looking for Wang Hui to date. Not to mention whether he liked men or not, even if he really liked one, given his possible identity, he deliberately looked for a soldier and did not even ask for a formal status. It was obvious that he had big ambitions.

Wang Hui also explained that it was Tian Mengjun who brought him to this place.

So Meng Cheng suspected that this was either the spy base or the place where he met with his superiors.

If that's the case, why did he dare to bring Wang Hui here?

Meng Cheng thought there were two possibilities. One was that Tian Mengjun thought Wang Hui was particularly stupid and could be easily fooled by him. The other was that there might be a secret room inside. Even if he came here at the same time as Wang Hui, he could hide himself from being discovered.

Is Wang Hui a fool?

After dating a man for a year, she was exposed as a woman. It seems really stupid. But what is the inside story, whether Wang Hui was really fooled or just went with the flow, no one knows now.

What is certain is that he is a rural soldier who has no connections but has climbed to the position of battalion commander. Even if he is a bit stupid in relationships between men and women, he should not be too confused in other aspects.

From Tian Mengjun's perspective, it is unlikely that he would be regarded as a fool.

Therefore, of the two possibilities, Mengcheng is more inclined to the second one.

Of course, there is also a possibility that Tian Mengjun just likes men, and she disguises herself as a woman in order to keep Wang Hui, a man. She herself has no relationship with the spies.

but……

Meng Cheng asked his men to hand him the cloth bag that was searched out of the closet. After taking it, he took out a wig with two thick braids and looked at it for a long time.

At present, there are indeed factories in China that are convenient for processing, but the technical level is not high, and they only do rough processing and then export. The small amount of wigs produced are also used in special industries and ordinary people cannot buy them.

The wig in his hand feels very delicate, especially the exposed scalp part, which is almost the same as real human texture, and the quality is not ordinary. The wig is also very oily, and even the best wigs will feel rough after being used for a long time, so this wig should not have been used for a long time.

Tian Mengjun has been working in the countryside for several years. Where did he get wigs of such high quality?

He had reason to suspect that the wig was brought into the country along with the explosives, probably for the purpose of making it easier for Tian Mengjun to get close to Wang Hui.

But then again, it's more straightforward to give this task to a woman, and there's less pretense involved.

The fact that the task fell on Tian Mengjun showed that he was not an ordinary person.

Combining this information, Meng Cheng believed that Tian Mengjun was not only related to the enemy spies, but also held a high position in the spy organization.

Thinking of this, Meng Cheng stuffed the wig into the cloth bag, handed it back to the person standing under the Buddha statue, and turned around to continue checking the Buddha statue. But this time he did not choose to knock, but to twist the body of the Buddha statue.

The first thing he targeted was the head of the Buddha statue.

It was originally just a try, but Meng Cheng didn't expect that he could actually twist the head of the Buddha statue.

The people standing below were all stunned: "Captain, is the head of this Buddha statue moving?"

Meng Cheng did not answer, but silently increased the strength of his hands. As the angle of the Buddha statue's head turned larger and larger, the body of the Buddha statue and the base gradually separated, until a hole as wide as a person appeared above the base.

Several soldiers rushed to the cave entrance, all with excited faces: "Wow! There really is a cellar!"

One of the soldiers with darker skin asked, "Captain, shall we go down?"

"Next." Meng Cheng said, and simply assigned some personnel.

Because Meng Cheng was not sure about the situation here before coming, he brought only ten soldiers. He had arranged two people to guard the temple gate and two people to continue investigating in the backyard, leaving only six people in the main hall.

Meng Cheng arranged four people to guard up there, and two people went down with him, and he would be the first to go.

The black soldier immediately said, "How can you lead the charge? I'll go first."

Another person also rushed to go up first, and those who were arranged to stay on the upper floor also said they wanted to go down, fearing that there might be danger below.

Meng Cheng, however, felt that the probability was low. There was only a stone road at the entrance of the ruined temple, and the end of the stone road was the path he had seen in the morning. The rest of the road was overgrown with grass and shrubs, making it very difficult to walk.

He had observed before going up the mountain that before they came, there were still only two people's footprints on the path, and there were no signs of the grass and bushes being crushed.

Unless the cellar is connected to a secret passage, those people who came to destroy the temple would definitely leave traces.

Moreover, in the original book, they planned to take action in early May. During the period before the action, they might meet to perfect the plan, but they certainly would not stay at the meeting place all the time, because it would be easy to be discovered.

This was also one of the reasons why Meng Cheng did not immediately destroy the temple after waiting for Wang Hui.

He didn't want to meet those people directly before the matter became clear.

Therefore, regardless of whether the cellar is connected to a secret passage or not, Meng Cheng believes that there should be no Tibetans inside.

Unless he is exposed.

Meng Cheng thought about it, rejected other people's requests, and jumped into the cellar first.

As soon as he landed, Meng Cheng smelled gunpowder. Without hesitation, he turned on the flashlight and shone it over there.

They had been searching outside for so long. If there were spies hiding in the cellar, they would have known someone was coming. It was useless for him to hide the flashlight after coming down. It would be better to open it directly and turn the situation around where the enemy was in the dark and we were in the light.

Fortunately, the cellar was just an ordinary cellar, low and narrow, with no other secret passages and no other people.

While notifying his superiors, he walked over to three wooden boxes stacked in the corner and opened them one by one. Sure enough, they were full of explosives.

As he opened three wooden boxes one by one, Hei Pi and another soldier came down.

They also smelled gunpowder. In the dim light, they exchanged glances, swallowed their saliva, and asked, "Captain, why are there explosives in here? What do those spies want to do?"

"Unexpected?" Meng Cheng asked instead of answering.

Of course they could imagine it, and that’s why they were so shocked.

But Meng Cheng did not let them be shocked for too long. He quickly closed the lid of the wooden box and allowed them to transport the box out.

The people guarding outside were also dumbfounded when they saw these boxes of explosives. With so many explosives, those people must be doing something big! At the same time, they were full of admiration for Meng Cheng. If it weren't for him, they might not have discovered this cellar and these explosives today.

After the three boxes of explosives were carried out of the cellar, the three people who jumped in also climbed out one after another.

After coming out, Meng Cheng did not take people to leave directly, but restored the statue to its original state and asked everyone to hide their tracks. The black-skinned soldier was very puzzled by this and asked when he came out of the ruined temple: "Captain, didn't someone go to catch Tian Mengjun? If we follow his clues, we should be able to catch all the spies, right? Why do we have to restore this place to its original state?"

Meng Cheng asked back: "Are you sure that Tian Mengjun will confess? Can you guarantee that she will not hide anything when she confesses?"

Heipi thought about it and shook his head: "I'm not sure."

"So we have to keep an eye on this ruined temple."

Leaving four people to guard the two roads, Meng Cheng took the others back to the army to report.

…

Although Tian Mengjun's behavior of disguising himself as a man and flirting with Wang Hui was very suspicious, the troop leaders doubted whether he was a spy without sufficient evidence.

They also didn't expect that Meng Cheng could find explosives from the place where Wang Hui and Tian Mengjun had a tryst.

Although Wang Hui was having affairs with women, oh no, it should be said that he was having affairs with men, and the person he was dating was suspected to be a spy, this was a very serious matter. Once verified, he would not only be dismissed from his post, but he might also be demoted.

But there is still a big difference between ordinary spies and spies who hide large amounts of explosives.

If Tian Mengjun was just an ordinary spy, lurking beside Wang Hui just to gather intelligence, the punishment for Wang Hui would be determined according to the content of the intelligence he revealed.

If he didn't reveal anything, he might be demoted to a lower level. If the information he revealed was unimportant, he might be demoted. If the information was important enough to endanger national security, he might be shot.

But the place where Tian Mengjun and he had a date was filled with a large amount of explosives.

Now, even if Wang Hui knew nothing and revealed no information, he could not escape the consequences of being brought to a military court.

Originally, the matter was investigated by Captain Zheng of the 1st Regiment where Meng Cheng was stationed. However, after Meng Cheng brought back the explosives, the matter escalated rapidly and the local commander became the one in charge of the matter.

Meng Cheng was still the main force of the investigation. After all, it was his wife who first discovered that something was wrong with Tian Mengjun. He followed the clues and first found Wang Hui, and then found the three boxes of explosives.

It would definitely not be appropriate to hand this matter over to other people. First, they don't know it so clearly. Second, there is suspicion of stealing credit. Third, Meng Cheng is good at this kind of investigation.

So that night, Ye Min was unable to wait for Meng Cheng to come home.

The next day at noon, Ding Yang came and asked Ye Min to pack two sets of Meng Cheng's clothes, which he would send over.

If he wanted clothes, it meant that Meng Cheng was fine. Ye Min breathed a sigh of relief, went back to the house, packed two sets of clothes into her backpack, and when she handed them to Ding Yang, she asked, "Is Meng Cheng busy these days?"

This case was of great importance, and no one could talk about it before the notice was issued. However, Ye Min's question did not involve serious matters, so Ding Yang answered without any burden, "Busy. He did not sleep all night last night, and only had time to take a nap in the morning. He will probably have to stay up tonight."

Ye Min had done everything she could. She couldn't help with the rest. Although she was worried about Meng Cheng's health, she could only say, "Let him take some time to rest. His health is important."

"Don't worry, he knows." I just don't know if he can spare the time.

Ding Yang didn't say the second half of the sentence. He just picked up his things and left.

…

Three more days passed and Ye Min didn't hear any news from Meng Cheng.

Although she knew that this meant great progress and that the incident that led to Meng Cheng's sacrifice in the previous life might not happen again, Ye Min couldn't help but worry because he kept coming back.

Meng Zheng and An An also asked about their father from time to time. Although they were used to Meng Cheng being on missions, they still missed him when he was not at home.

Just like when Ye Min went to the countryside for free clinics, the two children were not used to it at first and made a lot of noise at home. Although they got used to it later, every time she came back, they would stick to her especially tightly, and on the morning of the day she left, they would cry their hearts out again.

However, when Meng Cheng was not around, they didn't make much noise. They just asked about his condition. When they heard that he hadn't finished his work yet and would be back in a few days, they were just disappointed for a moment and soon went back to having fun.

On the night when the siblings asked about their father for the fourth time, Meng Cheng finally came back.

Although Ye Min packed his clothes and asked Ding Yang to take them to him, and there were daily necessities in the army dormitory, and razors were easy to borrow, he was so busy these days that he really had no energy to take care of himself.

When he got home, he had a scruffy beard, and Meng Zheng was a little afraid to recognize him. An An was more direct. When he saw him, he exclaimed, "Dad, why are you so ugly?!"

Just as he was about to reach out and pick up the girl, Meng Cheng awkwardly touched his stubble, coughed and said, "I've been busy these days and haven't had time to shave. I'll go take care of it now."

"Don't worry, have you had dinner yet?"

"Dealt with a few in the camp."

"Are you full? I'll make you some noodles."

Meng Cheng waved his hand and said, "Don't bother. I can't eat more. Do you have any cakes at home? I'll just eat a few."

"have."

Ye Min quickly opened the cupboard, took out two boxes of biscuits and placed them on the coffee table, then poured Meng Cheng a glass of water. He had originally wanted to shave first, but seeing this, he gave up the idea and sat down to eat first.

Meng Cheng only ate two bites of bread that night. His stomach was very empty at that time. He didn't feel hungry when he had nothing to eat, but he felt hungry as soon as he put the food in his mouth. But he didn't eat in a hurry. He ate two bites of bread and a sip of water and was full soon.

After filling his stomach, Meng Cheng got up to shave.

As his figure disappeared at the door, Ye Min withdrew his gaze and looked at the brother and sister who were eating biscuits happily.

Of course they were not hungry, as each of them had a big bowl of rice, but there is no child who doesn't like snacks, and Ye Min has always been very strict in this regard. The family always has biscuits on hand, but she only gives them one or two pieces a day, no more.

That is to say, they were able to eat two more pieces now because their dad filled his stomach.

They are full after just one bowl of rice, but their stomachs are truly bottomless when it comes to snacks, so they can swallow any amount.

Seeing Meng Zheng finish one piece and want to take another, Ye Min reached out to take the biscuit, sealed it and said, "You can't eat any more today."

"Ah?" Meng Zheng looked disappointed.

An An quickly clenched the biscuit in her hand and leaned to the side, fearing that Ye Min would take the biscuit away from her.

Ye Min did not take the biscuits in An An's hand, but refused to give Meng Zheng any more. After tying the biscuit bag tightly, he stood up and walked to the cupboard, opened the drawer, put the biscuits in, and locked it.

During this time, Meng Cheng shaved his beard and returned to the main room to feel refreshed. Ye Min didn't think it was a big deal, but An An commented seriously: "Dad is so handsome, he doesn't need a beard."

Meng Cheng was delighted, picked up his daughter, kissed her and said, "Okay, Daddy will shave his beard from now on."

An An covered her face because of the kiss, but before being put down, she licked her father's cheek again.

After returning from Mengcheng, Ye Min wanted to ask him about the progress of the case, but she didn't say anything because of the barrage. It was not until the family finished taking a shower and Meng Zheng was playing with his sister in the second bedroom that she asked.

Meng Cheng did not hide anything and said, "Tian Mengjun's superiors and subordinates have been caught, and the mission in May has also been found out. What remains is the detailed interrogation."

"And the explosives? Have you found them, too?"

"Found it. Found it in the ruined temple where Tian Mengjun and Wang Hui had their tryst."

Meng Cheng spoke briefly and did not mention Tian Mengjun and Wang Hui. Ye Min was startled and almost thought she had heard wrongly: "What did you say? Tian Mengjun and Wang Hui? He is a woman?" After asking, she felt something was wrong, "I checked his pulse and he is a man, right?"

"Tian Mengjun is a man, but he dressed as a woman to hook up with Wang Hui."

This was so shocking that Ye Min was stunned. It took him a while to notice something else: "The Wang Hui you are talking about is Captain Wang?"

Ye Min certainly knew Captain Wang's name, but considering that he was married and had five children, it was difficult to connect him with the person Meng Cheng mentioned.

Meng Cheng nodded affirmatively: "Yes, it's him."

"He cheated on her? And with a guy?"

"That's right," Meng Cheng said, then felt something was wrong, "but according to Wang Hui's confession, he didn't know Tian Mengjun was a man."

“How could I not know this?”

"Every time I met Tian Mengjun, she would wear a wig and women's clothes."

Ye Min was stunned and felt something was wrong. She asked, "How long have they been hooking up?"

"One year."

"Nothing happened?"

Meng Cheng coughed twice and nodded: "Yes."

"How could he not know that Tian Mengjun is a man?"

"According to their account, they had been having sex for a short time, only about half a year, and they met only once every two weeks. Wang Hui covered his eyes every time."

Ye Min didn't believe it and said, "Even if you were blindfolded, it's impossible that you didn't notice it at all, right?"

"I'm not sure about that. Wang Hui said he didn't know, and Tian Mengjun also thought he didn't know. Whether he knew or not, I guess only he himself knows."

Meng Cheng's words sounded like a tongue twister, but Ye Min understood them. She sneered and said, "Yes, everyone thinks he is blinded by lust. Maybe he is smart and wants to go with the flow."

But with a man... Ye Min said in disgust: "Chai Guihong is so unlucky to have met such a man. By the way, what will happen if Wang Hui is involved with the spies? Will Chai Guihong and the children be affected?"

"Tian Mengjun is not an ordinary spy. He organized the operation in May. Although Wang Hui did not reveal any important secrets, he will definitely go to jail for being associated with such a person. As for Chai Guihong and the Wang family's children, they should be fine. They didn't know about Wang Hui's affair and it had nothing to do with the spy, but the children's future will probably be affected."

Before Wang Hui got into trouble, they were children of military personnel, and they would receive preferential treatment in education and work, and their class background was definitely fine. But now Wang Hui was linked to the spies, and he was about to go to jail, so the class background of the children would definitely be affected.

Apart from anything else, his eldest son originally planned to join the army after graduating from high school. Now that Wang Hui is in trouble, he definitely cannot be a soldier and can only go home to farm.

Ye Min and Chai Guihong were relatively familiar with each other. Considering that Wang Hui was not there when she gave birth, they didn't know where he had gone at the time. Now think about it, he was probably going to have a tryst with Tian Mengjun.

Having been betrayed by her husband and having to bear the brunt of his troubles in the future, Ye Min sighed and said, "This Wang Hui is such a troublemaker!"

As soon as Ye Min finished speaking, she suddenly remembered something. She couldn't help but widen her eyes and looked at Meng Cheng and asked, "Tell me, in the original novel, during the action in May, did Wang Hui recognize Tian Mengjun?"

Obviously, Meng Cheng had thought about this too. His expression cooled slightly, but his tone was calm: "No matter if he recognized me at first or not, he definitely recognized me before he died."

"It may even be the real cause of his death."

Although Wang Hui had violated military discipline and had many problems, Meng Cheng didn't think he would collude with those spies, which would not do him any good.

Wang Hui is different from those fearless spies. Those people are either lazy and can't afford to marry, or their family members die one after another, which makes them become stubborn.

But Wang Hui still had both his parents, a wife and children, and he was also a battalion commander. He was well respected by the public, and there was no way he would abandon all these and embark on a path with no visible future.

Wang Hui was just greedy, but he was not stupid enough to fail to see the situation clearly.

Besides, he hasn't lived enough and doesn't want to die.

Therefore, in the original novel, Wang Hui should not know Tian Mengjun's identity, let alone their plan, otherwise he could have found a way to avoid that action.

He participated in that mission, and because he was responsible for meeting outside, he failed to find Tian Mengjun in time. It was not until they thought the crisis was resolved that he walked into the bus station and recognized Tian Mengjun.

From that moment on, there was only one way before him - death!

The only difference is whether he chooses to go out and be shot as a traitor, or stay and destroy all witnesses, leaving behind the reputation of a heroic sacrifice.

Obviously, Wang Hui chose the latter.