Chapter 41: The Convict Below

  Seventeen years ago, she escaped to this place, terrified, starving, cold, and grief-stricken... almost all the pain in the world had been endured by a nine-year-old girl. Seventeen years later, she returned to this place, where her former enemies were now prisoners waiting for her to settle the score.

  The winter in Shanghai is more gloomy and damp than Xuanwu, 600 miles away. Grey, everywhere is grey: the sky, as if pregnant with the first snow; buildings, symbolizing Western colonial rule; pigeons, rummaging for food on the square, their stomachs growling with hunger.

  There is also a figure in gray, slender and elegant, standing out from the crowd on this bustling square, yet lonely and alone, no longer wearing military uniform, transformed into a young lady from a wealthy family or a modern independent woman, simple black leather boots, long and straight woolen coat, and a gray woolen hat of the same color, simple and elegant.

  She strode through the crowd, got into a rickshaw and was taken to an abandoned warehouse at the dock. The driver hid the vehicle and came back to Huaijin: "The person is inside, my brothers are watching."

  Huaijin nodded slightly.

  The carter pulled out the key, and the rusty iron chain was opened. The iron gate opened, and a musty smell wafted out.

  The coachman turned around and closed the door, and it suddenly became dark. Huai Jin stopped in her tracks, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, before she saw that there were two small windows on either side, almost completely blocked by old wooden boards. Up ahead, not far away, was another door, which the coachman was now leading her towards.

  "He's confessed everything, the list has been compiled and sent to Director Duan. You'll see it soon. As for what to do with him next, Director Duan will give instructions, you can decide."

  Huai Jin slightly closed her eyes and said, "You've worked hard."

  He walked up to the door and knocked: "It's me, Little Six. The officer from Xuanwu has arrived."

  The door was pushed open, and three people in black uniforms were standing inside. Seeing Huaijin, they saluted him, and the leader handed over a carefully folded piece of paper: "This is the list. At first, he was stubborn, but he confessed by yesterday noon."

  Huaijin took the paper, opened it, and saw that there were seven or eight names written on it. Upon closer inspection, several of them seemed somewhat familiar. But these didn't amount to much; what was shocking was that at the very end, in huge characters, was a single word: "Quē".

  Huai Jin only felt a sudden tightness in his back, and a layer of cold sweat oozed out from his skin. He scanned the list again and again, but still didn't see his name.

  "What is his source of information?"

  "Some of it was bought on the black market, he said."

  "Black market? These intelligence prices are not cheap, what's his motive?"

  "He said that Du Yuesheng had long been distrustful of him, and that the Japanese had given him a lot of money. He still hoped to get an official position from the Japanese in the future. If the Japanese didn't support him, Du Yuesheng would not let him off easy."

  "What about the rest?"

  He bribed Du Yuesheng's messenger, Du Yuesheng is now in Hong Kong, many letters are sent from here to there by the messenger, he bribed the messenger, and saw many letters, then according to the information on them, combined with black market intelligence to infer and verify.

  "It's another purchase, it seems that the Huo country people have given him quite a bit of benefit," Huaichen coldly snorted, "Take me to see him."

  "Yes." The man who had just spoken nodded and led Huai Jin deeper into the interior.

  The way to the inner room no longer had a door, but was separated by a half wall. Walking in, I saw a person tied up on a stone pillar, with their hands and feet all fixed in place.

  "You all wait for me outside first." Huai Jin instructed.

  After those people left, Huai Jin walked closer and couldn't help but examine the person on the stone pillar. It was a short, fifty-year-old man with bloodstains all over him.

  "He Shuqiang."

  The man struggled on the iron chain, not opening his eyes, and muttered softly in his mouth: "I've said all I know... Please let me go... I'll serve you."

  Huai Jin scooped up a large ladle of water from the water tank beside her and splashed it onto the man's face.

  The man suddenly came to, slowly opening his eyes, and then, as if he didn't believe his own eyes, closed them again before reopening them. "I say, how did a little girl replace me in just an instant?"

  "Xie Shuqiang, don't you recognize me?"

  The other party glared at her with a swollen eye, sizing her up from head to toe, "Beauty," then hung his head.

  "If you don't recognize me, do you recognize this?" Huai Jin said, taking off the watch from his wrist and holding it in front of him. "If you don't recognize it, your foolish son will definitely recognize it."

  He Shuqiang's whole body was stunned for a moment, and he slowly raised his head to stare at the watch in Huaijin's hand. Suddenly, a look of shock appeared in his eyes, and then he carefully identified Huaijin's face again. After a while, "You are... Yun..."

  "Shut up!" Hua Jin growled, "You're also worthy!"

  "You little ***, after all these years, you're still alive! Return my son's life to me!" He Qiang gritted his teeth and said.

  "It's really true that evil people are the first to file a complaint. Your son was wicked and deserved to die, but do you want to take our servants' lives as revenge? How many times do you need to die to make up for it?"

  "Your parents were killed by Diao Yunfeng, and Diao Yunfeng was also fatally wounded by your father. I'm just his deputy officer, why should I come to pay the price?"

  Hua Jin clenched her teeth tightly, the tragic scenes of seventeen years ago, so many nights that had crept into her dreams and startled her awake, once again appeared vividly before her eyes. She could even smell the bloody stench and the reek of alcohol from the man's mouth.

  "He Shuqiang, you're going to die soon, and yet you still try to argue with me. If it wasn't for your evil intentions towards my mother back then, how would the Hua family have suffered such a devastating downfall? Seventeen years ago, you and your son committed atrocities, harming innocent people. Today, you collude with the Hei Nation, betraying our country for personal gain, selling out your own kin. I've come today to watch you die, to give my family, myself, and all those you've harmed a sense of closure."

  "Who are you? How did you end up in this place?"

  Huai Jin turned around and walked towards the door, "I am 'Quē'."

  As they walked to the door, Huai Jin took out two gold bars from his handbag, "Brother, you've worked hard," and glanced at Li Jian again, "Kill him immediately." After finishing speaking, he walked towards the door.

  Just as he reached the door, a gunshot rang out from behind him. Huai Jin's body swayed slightly, unnoticed by others. "Xiao Liu, take me to the Hong Kong Guild Hall."

  She's exhausted and needs a rest.

  The author has something to say: I'm also tired, everyone have fun, I'll get up early tomorrow to read the reviews :)

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