Chapter Seventeen: The Mysterious Robes

  Wen Lian asked Bai Bing a few "whys", which left Bai Bing stunned, and although he was only one year older than himself, his brain was much sharper.

  While asking these questions, Wen also sought answers in his heart.

  A group of bandits dared to lay hands on the Eighth Route Army, which is really unreasonable.

  It seems that finding the final answer still requires some effort.

  Before long, a brilliant idea emerged.

  That night, several masked men climbed over the wall, tied up the guard and pinned the town head to the bed, pointing a gun at his head, forcing out the truth.

  It turned out to be a typical case of collusion between officials and bandits. The county party department of the Kuomintang received a hint from higher-ups, controlled the development of the Eighth Route Army, spent money, secretly leaked the news to the bandits, and asked the town government to cooperate, turn a blind eye, rob military supplies, in order to kill the prestige of the Eighth Route Army, create some friction.

  The bandits got benefits and disowned their relatives, boldly committing a heinous crime.

  "Where did you get this information?" The muzzle was pressed against the mayor's forehead, his fat wife was so scared that she shrank into the quilt and didn't dare to breathe.

  "I've told you everything I know, just spare my life, I really don't know about the others." The town head was trembling with fear or cold.

  "You're sabotaging the resistance against Japan, you're extremely reckless! The cooperation between the Nationalists and Communists is Chairman Chiang's guideline. We'll kill you and make your face public, if you don't confess honestly, tonight will be your death!"

  The fat wife was so scared that she wet her bed and wailed loudly.

  The town head was covered in cold sweat and begged for mercy repeatedly.

  "Brother, I know you have an inside line there, but I don't know who specifically, only that it's a cadre with the codename 'Black Snake'."

  Several people exchanged glances, and the leader handed over a piece of paper and a pen:

  "Write down what you just said, and I'll spare your life for now. The condition is that tomorrow, you will take all the public grain from the town government office to the Eighth Route Army, and you must escort it personally to the location we specify. Also, don't mention today's events to anyone, and in the future, report any intelligence to us promptly, or else taking your dog head will be as easy as turning over a palm."

  The town mayor just wanted to save his life and didn't dare say a single word of dissent.

  He scribbled and scrawled, filling half a page with a rough account of the collusion between officials and bandits, then pressed his handprint onto it.

  The next day, the town chief indeed brought people with him, wearing a hat with a low brim, and pulled several carts of public grain to the designated location.

  Everything is being carried out in absolute secrecy.

  Only the detachment leader knew the intelligence obtained by Qiao Wenwen. After repeated studies, they agreed to the fishing and bandit elimination plan proposed by the Counter-Japanese Department.

  That morning, the detachment held a special meeting. Qiao Wen "reported" on the progress of the case at the meeting, clearly pointing out that this was an act of sabotage by Japanese secret agents and puppet army plainclothes teams, requiring everyone to remain highly vigilant and concentrate their efforts.

  "Through reconnaissance, this activity is neither the Nationalist army nor a few bandits. Everyone should not suspect and treat friendly troops as enemy troops, affecting the overall situation of the War of Resistance."

  The room was suddenly in an uproar as everyone began discussing the young man's misdeeds.

  "These devils only dare to loot supplies, scum."

  "I almost thought they were bandits, if it weren't for Qiao Ke and the others, we would have taken them down."

  "It doesn't matter if it's not the Nationalist Party, otherwise wouldn't Chairman Chiang be slapping himself in the face? Unity against foreign enemies, unanimous resistance against Japan!"

  ......

  "Ladies and gentlemen, there is another announcement. Recently, the column has organized a batch of radio stations to be distributed here, and each regiment will undergo training from now on. This matter is important. Tomorrow's transportation task will be directly handled by the column, and we only need to receive it here. We will still take the Linshui line this time. The Elimination of Spies Department and the Reconnaissance Department will strengthen their surveillance of nearby Japanese devils and plainclothes teams. Please everyone pay attention to keeping secrets."

  Disperse.

  An invisible net was cast out.

  Who is that "black snake" after all?

  The wind howled, and the winter night in Lunan was immersed in a coldness.

  A figure quietly walked out of the village, stopped under an old tree at the crossroads, cautiously looked around, and after confirming that no one was there, quickly dug a hole under the tree, put something he had brought with him into it, and then swiftly covered it up with branches and dry vines.

  She turned back to the barracks with light hands and feet.

  More than half an hour later, a bicycle came from afar, and the person on it arrived under the old tree. Under the moonlight, they quickly found what they were looking for and left in a hurry.

  Behind a wall at the entrance of the village, a pair of eyes watched everything from head to toe, revealing a hint of a smile in the darkness.

  The next day's action was a great success.

  When the transportation team was seen far away, more than 30 bandits rushed out from the mountain col, but almost at the same time, more than a hundred Eighth Route Army soldiers encircled them from behind. In the midst of surrendering without a fight, individual bandits who attempted to resist were beaten into pulp.

  The banditry on the transportation line was completely eliminated.

  At the same time, the long-hidden nail in the branch team was also successfully pulled out.

  When Qiao Wen led the soldiers of the Jinyiwei to capture Sanlian Deputy Commander Du Yixi, he was caught off guard and surrendered without a fight.

  After examination, Du Yixi confessed that he had betrayed himself for wealth and glory, defected to the enemy, and was ordered to infiltrate and provide intelligence for the Nationalist army.

  The next day, the Purification Team convened a public trial after obtaining approval from their superiors.

  In front of the venue, a long table sat Commander Yang and Qiao Xiangwen, with several villagers specially invited to sit beside them.

  The scene was swept twice, with six machine guns sternly raised their faces

  Thousands of warriors and villagers listened intently in the arena.

  After Qiao Wen read out the crimes and evidence, Yang Shang ordered with one voice.

  With a gunshot, the despicable traitor ended his sinful life.

  Afterwards, the KMT side engaged in a war of words, shifting blame among themselves.

  Relying on a pair of shoes, a case was cracked, and the adultery department fired its first shot.

  #

  That afternoon, Qiao Wen was in the office when Commander Yang walked in and handed over a package.

  Qiao Wen hastily took it over and opened it for a look, only to find that it was a kasaya worn by a Buddhist monk.

  Qiao Wen was taken aback.

  It turned out that a villager had picked up the package at the entrance of a nearby village and asked the monks in Qinglong Temple, but they all said it was not theirs.

  Where did the kasaya come from and how did it appear in the village? The key is that the monks don't even admit it.

  In this area where the Nationalist and Communist parties, as well as the puppet regime, were entangled, such a thought-provoking cassock appeared, no wonder Commander Yang Ruiyuan, who was originally a teacher, had doubts in his mind.

  "Jiao Ke Zhang, you guys take a closer look at this kasaya, see if there's anything written on the back?"

  Facing this lovely young man in front of him, Commander Yang couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration.

  "Commander Yang's judgment is correct, there must be a hidden situation here, and I can confirm that this kasaya did not come from the nearby temple."

  Behind his glasses, Yang Commander was slightly puzzled, he didn't know where Qiao Xiangwen's words came from.

  Young Kai's analysis made Commander Yang suddenly enlightened.

  It turned out that Wen often had to travel around for work, meeting all sorts of people. He had been to Qinglong Temple several times and remembered it very clearly. The temple had suffered greatly from war and was severely damaged. The monks' lives were also extremely difficult, and they only wore their neat grey robes when they went out. Their usual clothes in the temple were all patched up.

  The kasaya in front of me has a bright red background with yellow grid patterns, and there are also several golden threads woven in the middle. The pattern is complex and the workmanship is very fine. Without asking, I know it's not from the Qinglong Temple.

  "Commander Yang, give me a few days' time, and I'll find the owner of this robe." Qiao Xiangwen examined it repeatedly, felt confident in his heart, and made a military order to the commander.

  Yang Shuai had just stepped out of the door, and more than a dozen cadres from the Department of Discipline Inspection were invited into the office. Wen Xian asked everyone to take turns looking at the cassock, without saying a word himself.

  It's rare to see such a lineup, everyone watched and joked together:

  "Section Chief, is this mission going undercover as a big monk?"

  "This monk's head is huge, at least 1.8 meters tall can wear it."

  Xiao Bailian Wu Qin, even more so with a smile:

  "Qiao Ke, can I be exempt from this task? Hehe, otherwise, find me a nun's robe to wear."

  Seeing everyone laughing and discussing randomly, Wen finally spoke out the truth.

  "This kasaya is not simple, it's definitely not something an ordinary person would wear. It's large in size and the workmanship is exquisite. In this chaotic situation, there must be some hidden reason behind it. Especially since this kasaya was thrown into a bundle at the village entrance, could it be that the enemy has come to gather intelligence? Is the enemy using the kasaya as cover, employing a distracting tactic to shift our attention? Everyone, temporarily stop what you're doing and take immediate action. Before tomorrow night, investigate all the temples and monks in the surrounding counties, especially their height and physical characteristics. In your work, rely on the masses as much as possible, mobilize the masses, and don't startle the snake in the grass, lest we alert them."

  So that's how it is.

  Everyone's enthusiasm burst out all at once.

  Qiao Xiangwen immediately assigned tasks to everyone and set off at once, dividing the troops into several routes.

  Wen took the white soldiers, changed into casual clothes, rode on a captured bicycle, and rushed to Linshui to search.

  During the war years, some temples also suffered a similar fate, being destroyed by fire and leaving only a few monks who had gone out into the world, with many more returning to secular life. This also allowed the investigation of the Zhuanjianke to have an immediate effect.

  According to a group of cadres, there is an Kaiyuan Temple in Luhe River. Originally, there were two senior monks who got along well with the villagers nearby. Whenever there was a happy or sad event in any family, the monks would proactively go and chant scriptures, knock on the wooden fish, and comfort the family members. However, for some reason, the two old monks disappeared overnight recently, and two young monks arrived, one tall and one short. They chanted scriptures as if they were models, but their whereabouts were quite mysterious, and they generally didn't interact with the nearby villagers much.

  Where did the high monk go?

  What is the origin of these two young monks?

  Various analyses of the situation suggest that there is a certain cat in the bag, and one of the young monks is actually the tall one. Could he be the real owner of the kasaya?

  Qiao Wenli immediately convened a meeting of the anti-espionage department to deploy the next step of work. One group of people secretly monitored the monk's activities, not allowing him to leave their line of sight. Another group of people conducted in-depth investigations into the personnel around the temple, trying to clarify the monk's true identity as soon as possible and find out the whereabouts of the old monk.

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