Chapter 52.1

On top of the low wall, in the cramped and chaotic courtyard, more than a dozen fierce-looking men suddenly climbed over.

The courtyard fell silent for a few seconds before erupting into commotion. Some of the timid residents stumbled backward, pulling their children and retreating into their homes.

A few bolder individuals huddled together, watching from a distance as the group of men quickly made their way toward the Wang family’s house.

“What’s going on with the Wang family? Did they offend someone?”

“Since they’re our neighbors, should we go help them out?”

“You can go if you want; I’m not going.”

“Exactly! There’s not a decent person in the Wang family. Just a couple of days ago, I saw their youngest son vandalizing Teacher Bai’s house. Teacher Bai is such a good person, and he ended up hanging himself at home because of those heartless brats.”

“Right? This is the Wang family’s karma. I’m heading back inside; I don’t want to get caught up in this mess.”

“Yeah, yeah! What’s there to see?”

“……”

Su Xi stood at the highest point, with the widest view, honing her senses to the utmost.

She rapidly filtered through all the sounds and movements in the courtyard in her mind, not daring to be careless, worried that she might miss some critical information if she wasn’t vigilant enough.

Meanwhile, Xie Zhen and the others moved with lightning speed, swiftly taking control of everyone in the Wang household.

“What do you want? In broad daylight, is there no law… Oh God…” The matriarch of the Wang family cried out as she was restrained, her voice filled with sobs and occasionally mixed with indecent curses.

Compared to the bewilderment and anxiety of the rest of the Wang family.

Wu Hongmei had recognized Xie Zhen and, at that moment, found herself bound hand and foot. Terrified and confused, she cried out, “Colonel Xie, what are you doing?”

Xie Zhen didn’t spare a glance for the shouting Wu Hongmei.

After leaving a few soldiers to keep watch, he and the rest of the fighters scattered to search for the entrance to the basement.

Wu Hongmei grew more anxious without receiving a response. She sniffled and instinctively glanced at her partner, seeking comfort.

To her dismay, her usually gentle and caring partner was now glaring at her with a dark expression, his eyes filled with malice.

Frightened, she shivered and unconsciously shrank back, stammering, “San Jun, wh-what’s wrong?”

What’s wrong? How could this woman still have the nerve to ask that? Wang Sanjun felt an intense desire to swallow the fool in front of him whole.

Since hearing Wu Hongmei refer to the man in charge as Colonel Xie, he knew they were doomed.

It had to be that foolish Wu Hongmei who had leaked something, leading to their discovery.

At that moment, Wang Sanjun didn’t recall that he had been the one who had schemed to win Wu Hongmei’s affection, intending to use her connections to sneak onto Hongjun Island for more information and to earn himself credit for future advancement.

His heart was filled with anxiety and anger. As he scanned the room, he noticed that no one was paying attention to him. He instinctively looked over at his brother and sister-in-law squatting across from him.

But they didn’t even glance his way; they simply wore expressions of confusion and helplessness.

Wang Sanjun’s heart sank, realizing he had been too naive.

His expression must have been off; a normal person would be as panicked and bewildered as his brother and sister-in-law.

With that thought, sweat began to bead on his forehead.

He darkened his expression, no longer speaking, and lowered his head, hiding all his emotions in the shadows.

Unbeknownst to him, Wang Sanjun’s self-conscious actions were being closely observed by someone lurking in the corner, monitoring them.

Just then, a young soldier rushed out from a bedroom, shouting, “Captain, we found the door to the basement!”

Xie Zhen glanced over at the several people who were bound and squatting on the ground.

Several men’s expressions showed little change, as if they were completely untroubled by the discovery of the cellar. Among the women, most looked confused, but only Wang Dajun’s wife had an expression identical to that of the men.

Xie Zhen’s gaze darkened, and he couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly. It seemed that many were involved, but he wondered why they appeared so fearless.

He instructed the young soldiers to keep a close watch on the people before following the young soldier who had just called out, making his way to the spot where the cellar had been discovered.

As Xie Zhen walked in, he found that it was a bedroom. He looked around and realized that it was a perfectly ordinary bedroom.

Against the filthy earthen walls, aside from a few old, paint-chipped wooden boxes haphazardly stacked, there was only a wooden bed that had been moved away from its original position.

It perfectly matched the family’s poverty-stricken situation. Xie Zhen approached where the bed had been and glanced at the portrait of the Chairman that was affixed to the wall inside the bed. A sense of irony flashed through his mind.

A family like this, who would dare to hang a portrait of the Chairman? He looked at one of the young soldiers and said, “Carefully take down the Chairman’s portrait and bring it with us later.”

“Understood!”

After giving his instructions, Xie Zhen crouched down at the entrance of the cellar and peered inside.

The entrance appeared rough and was not particularly large, barely wide enough for an adult man to enter. Xie Zhen called out to the young soldier who had already gone down, “What did you find? Any discoveries?”

Soon, a somewhat buzzing voice came from below. “Captain, we didn’t find anything. There’s just some coarse grain, nothing else.”

The young soldier seemed to be asking himself if they might have made a mistake.

Could it be… that this family might not have any problems at all?

But Xie Zhen believed in Su Xi. He asked again, “How’s the space down there? Can I fit down?”

“It’s fine, Captain. The area down there isn’t small.”

Upon hearing this, Xie Zhen wasted no time and slid down the staircase leading into the hole.

The previous soldier had brought a flashlight with him.

Once Xie Zhen descended into the cellar, his line of sight was unobstructed. After steadying himself, he began to survey his surroundings.

It truly resembled an ordinary farmer’s cellar, but the only unusual aspect was its location—it was hidden beneath the bed.

The cellar measured about four to five square meters. Aside from a few half-man-high jars in the corner filled with dry grains, everything else was a dull gray, and there was nothing else to be seen.

However, the absence of any valuables made Xie Zhen feel even more suspicious.

Digging a cellar beneath the bed yet not storing any precious items felt entirely wrong.

Xie Zhen recalled what the girl had told him before: the telegraph machine should be hidden very deep.

His cold gaze shifted to the ground beneath him, and he crouched down, feeling around inch by inch.

In a space of four to five square meters, the inspection was quick. When Xie Zhen found nothing, his eyes suddenly landed on the few shabby jars.

He signaled to the young soldier to help him move two or three of the half-man-high jars aside.

Then, he nudged the ground with his foot a few times, and a thin iron wire was pulled up from beneath a layer of dirt.

Xie Zhen squatted down and pulled on the wire with force. The other end, secured to something, slowly began to lift a heavy wooden door.

The young soldier was quick on his feet, propping the wooden door up with his hands. Once it was lifted, he leaned forward and shined the flashlight down, whispering excitedly, “Wow! Captain, this is hidden way too well! Who would have thought there would be another cellar beneath this one? If this family has no issues, I’ll chop off my head!”

Xie Zhen said nothing; he simply took the flashlight from the young soldier and clamped it in his mouth, swiftly descending the stairs.

The young soldier felt anxious and wanted to go down as well, but he hesitated, knowing someone had to stay by the entrance, so he didn’t dare to move a muscle.

Soon, Xie Zhen’s voice came from below: “Go call Old Feng. Also, make sure the people outside are watched closely; not a single one can escape. We also need to prevent them from committing suicide. And don’t mention that we found the cellar yet.”

The young soldier immediately responded, “Yes!”

Then, he quickly climbed back up from the cellar.

—o—o—o—

In the second underground cellar, Xie Zhen moved around in this equally modest four to five square meter space, which could be described as ‘luxurious’ in comparison.

The four walls, including the ceiling and the floor, were all constructed from blue bricks. Coupled with the neatly arranged wooden shelves throughout the space, which held various antiquities, the place had a distinct aura.

What caught Xie Zhen’s attention most was a long table, laden with many books and letters, and most importantly, the telegraph machine.

Xie Zhen didn’t touch it; he simply tapped his fingers on the table’s surface.

It was clean and sturdy.

It was clear that someone frequently came in to clean this place. Additionally, the tables, chairs, and cabinets had all been assembled outside and then brought in for installation.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t fit through the entrance.

Moreover, considering the work involved in laying those blue brick walls, it was impossible to have accomplished this without alerting anyone.

At the very least, the couple living in that bedroom were not innocent.

Just as Xie Zhen was pulling out the letters to examine them, Manager Feng came down through the opening above. He also took a flashlight from his pocket and shone it around.

He inhaled sharply, saying, “These pests have been hiding here for who knows how long, hoarding so many good things.”

Xie Zhen asked, “Old Feng, do you have any matches?” He didn’t smoke, so he generally wouldn’t carry any fire with him.

Manager Feng shifted his gaze from a pile of gold, silver, and jade artifacts to Xie Zhen, then noticed a kerosene lamp beside him.

He understood immediately, pulling out a match from his pocket. He walked over, removed the lampshade, struck the match to light it, and then twisted the wick up, ensuring the flame grew larger before replacing the shade.

After turning off the flashlight in his hand, Manager Feng’s expression darkened as he wandered around the now-brightened small room.

His face grew especially grim as he looked at the telegraph machine on the table.

Though he knew they had come because Xie Zhen had discovered the telegraph machine, knowing it was one thing, but seeing it with his own eyes was another matter entirely.

Just thinking about how much useful information these bastards had managed to leak out made Manager Feng’s hair nearly stand on end from anger.

He turned to look at Xie Zhen, ready to shout a few words of vented frustration, but his attention was diverted by Xie Zhen’s actions. “Old Xie… what are you doing?”

Manager Feng watched as Xie Zhen tapped on the wall in surprise.

Xie Zhen pointed to a drawer on the table. “I just took a quick look. Most of the items here are valuable, but there are hardly any important letters; they’re mostly unimportant matters. It feels more like a ruse to deceive people like us, a disguise for when the unexpected happens.”

Manager Feng frowned, understanding Xie Zhen’s implication. He quickly walked over to the table, pulled open the drawer, randomly picked up an opened letter, and quickly scanned it. After opening a few more, his lips pressed tightly together.

He slammed his hand on the table, exclaiming, “Damn it! If you hadn’t pointed it out, I might have really been fooled! They’re quite crafty.”

Xie Zhen’s gaze turned cold. “This isn’t the time to lose your temper; we’ll have plenty of opportunities to deal with them later. Help me look for any hidden compartments.”

Upon hearing this, Manager Feng immediately reined in his anger and moved to the opposite wall to search.

It wasn’t that the two didn’t want more people to come in and help search; the space simply didn’t allow for it.

—o—o—o—