Nubes ebrias, luna ligeramente dormida

Capítulo 16

The attic was dimly lit and had a heavy, gloomy atmosphere, but the old eagle felt that hiding here temporarily was not a bad choice. He thought that since he was a little tired anyway, he might as well rest here for a while and make plans when it got dark.

As Old Eagle's eyes adjusted to the indoor light, he began to survey his surroundings. Returning to this place felt like a familiar tale, carrying a unique flavor: Just days before, he had kept watch over this spot day and night, even risking two incursions into the attic to finally obtain the arms blueprints. He should have felt a sense of accomplishment, but today's events had been inexplicably ruined by the unexpected car accident, leaving him deeply frustrated and depressed. Being here again only intensified his sense of oppression. Comparing his past successes with today's failure, Old Eagle felt a sense of unbearable regret.

The incident in front of the teahouse quickly spread throughout the streets and alleys of the Jiefangbei area, and various rumors emerged, with different versions scattered in different corners. Some said it was a treasure stolen from a bank vault; some said it was ill-gotten gains; and there were even more bizarre claims that it was a collection discovered in the old presidential palace. But no matter what the story was, it all revolved around the topic of the dead people at the scene.

Chapter Sixteen: Noisy Sounds in the Attic (2)

Near Mei Fang's house, a crowd had gathered and were discussing the matter. Old Diao heard the commotion on the street below and, listening closely, realized that the person he had met with had committed suicide by poison. He sighed inwardly, relieved to be alive, because if he had been caught by the Communists, he too would have had to find a way to kill himself. In such a critical moment, keeping the secret was paramount. Without the courage to commit suicide, one would not only be considered a coward but would also be treated no differently than a traitor—severe punishment (that is, execution).

"Success or death." This is an ironclad rule within the Plum Blossom Party organization. Those who commit suicide while evading police capture often receive a substantial compensation payment to their families. Old Diao, currently single and without any ties, neither wants to die nor be caught. With his exceptional martial arts skills, catching him won't be easy. Old Diao has a history of successful escapes; this kind of hiding and seeking refuge is like a game of cat and mouse for him. For him, scaling walls and leaping across rooftops is child's play. Confident in his martial arts prowess, Old Diao often underestimates ordinary police officers. But this time, however, he is somewhat apprehensive.

110

The driver's injuries weren't serious; he had only broken his leg. Long Fei recognized him as the driver who often waited for passengers near the Wanlong Inn. Suspecting the driver's identity was suspicious, he used his connections to arrange a private hospital room for him and interrogated him secretly. Initially, the driver insisted he was just an ordinary driver and a complete stranger to the passenger carrying the gold.

Long Fei thought to himself, with such a huge amount of gold, how could the deceased have rashly called upon a strange driver to serve him? His sharp gaze was fixed on the driver's eyes: "So, where did you pick him up?"

The driver's eyes darted around, he thought for a moment, and then casually mentioned a place name.

"You're lying. They started digging ditches and building roads there this morning, and cars can't get through at all."

When the driver realized his lie had been exposed, beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead.

In fact, Long Fei was just guessing. There was no road built at the place the driver mentioned. Long Fei only judged that the driver was lying based on the fear in his eyes. The driver started to lose his composure and began to stammer. The more he tried to justify himself, the more flaws he revealed.

"You'd better confess," Long Fei continued, staring intently at the driver. "Since you lied, it means you want to hide the truth. If you're not willing to confess, then we'll have to deal with you severely." These words sounded harsh, making the driver feel like every sentence was a bullet aimed at him.

The driver's psychological defenses began to crumble, and he stretched out his trembling hand, asking Long Fei for a cigarette.

Long Fei was overjoyed, thinking that the kid was about to confess.

Just then, Lu Ming pushed open the door and entered. He whispered a few words in Long Fei's ear with a slightly nervous expression, and Long Fei immediately followed him out.

It turned out that Zhu Dengfu's body, which was placed in the morgue, had suddenly disappeared.

111

As the sun sets, the bored old eagle hides in the back window of the attic, observing the backyard.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the courtyard on the other side of the wall.

Old Eagle recognized the figure immediately. Upon closer inspection, he was shocked to discover it was the mute man who had been rumored to have committed suicide. It turned out that Zhu Dengfu had a special drug hidden in his collar that, when ingested, would induce a state of suspended animation.

Zhu Dengfu darted into Shi Wengsheng's room and reported the whole story to him.

After pondering for a moment, the old carver, taking advantage of the twilight, slipped down from the attic window and quietly crept to the window of Shi Wengsheng's room to eavesdrop on the sounds.

Inside, Shi Wengsheng was angrily rebuking Zhu Dengfu: "What have you done! What have you done!" He paced back and forth in the room in a hurry.

Zhu Dengfu, with his fierce-looking face, bowed his head like a well-behaved child, accepting the reprimand.

From their conversation, the old eagle deduced that the huge sum of money had originated from here. After considering it for a moment, he quietly slipped back into the attic to continue observing the activity in the backyard.

Old Eagle originally planned to leave the attic after dark to meet Huang Feihu, but the unexpected situation made him change his mind. He decided to find out the situation first. None of the upper echelons of the Plum Blossom Party knew the exact location of the treasury or who was in charge of it. When Old Eagle met the treasury's envoy today, he felt that he was getting close to the secret.

Huang Feihu had instructed him to act according to circumstances, find a way to find out the whereabouts of the visitors, and try to find out the origin of the vault so as to leave clues for the future. All the high-ranking members of the Plum Blossom Gang had long coveted this vault.

Huang Feihu had close ties with the CIA. With relations between mainland China and the Soviet Union increasingly tense, the Americans were paying more and more attention to Huang Feihu. Huang Feihu also harbored thoughts of breaking free from Taiwan's control. If he could find the gold vault during the "Sword of Restoration" operation, he would be even more powerful. With that gold treasure, he would have even greater wealth, and then he would no longer need to take Bai Jingzhai seriously.

After consulting with the Taiwanese authorities via radio, Shi Wengsheng decided to retrieve another sum of money from the underground cave.

Although Chiang Kai-shek was very annoyed by the incident, he only gave it a slight reprimand and did not pursue it further, because the incident was purely accidental and, given the critical moment, he was wary of damaging morale on the battlefield.

When Shi Wengsheng saw that Chiang Kai-shek had shown leniency, he was naturally relieved. He immediately informed Huang Feihu through secret channels that they would meet again the next day to hand over the funds.

Huang Feihu was initially very worried when he couldn't see Lao Diao. Through his contacts within our ranks, he learned that the driver had been injured and captured, the envoy had committed suicide, and Lao Diao was missing—not in the hands of the Communists either. After learning the situation, Huang Feihu was secretly annoyed. He wondered what kind of tricks Lao Diao was up to. At this moment, he needed Lao Diao by his side the most.

Huang Feihu grew increasingly anxious as he waited. He secretly dispatched several trusted men to search for the old eagle's whereabouts. Huang Feihu was most afraid that the old eagle would fall into the hands of the police, so for safety's sake, he moved the eagle to another location.

112

Having grown up so much, it was rare for Ah-Cai to see his mother so sick and uncomfortable. Seeing that his mother's spirits were improving, Ah-Cai felt a little relieved. At night, he offered to sleep with his mother, and this time, he acted like a little adult, taking care of her.

Seeing that Ah Cai seemed to have become much more sensible recently, Mei Fang was secretly pleased. In the past, when her son behaved well, Mei Fang would always chat and laugh with him in a good mood. But today, no matter what she did, she couldn't muster the same happy spirit. She just forced a smile, turned off the light, and let Ah Cai keep her company through the long night.

That night, Mei Fang couldn't fall asleep again. Ever since Han Qing appeared, Mei Fang hadn't had a single night of restful sleep. At first, it was because of excitement, anticipation, and worry, but now that Han Qing was gone, she felt endless sorrow.

Ah-Cai couldn't sleep soundly, thinking about taking care of his mother. At such a young age, he already possessed a vague sense of responsibility. This sense of responsibility was a sensitive quality, making Ah-Cai constantly observe his mother's expressions. He knew she didn't like to trouble others and often kept her troubles to herself. Ah-Cai tried even harder to understand Mei-Fang's inner needs from the changes in her expressions. In the darkness, Ah-Cai seemed to have grown an extra pair of ears; he was using his heart to probe for any discomfort his mother might be experiencing, so he could sense it in time and extend a helping hand to her when needed.

In the middle of the night, Ah Cai woke up again. This time, it wasn't because he needed to urinate, but because he was sensitive.

Ah Cai lay quietly, not daring to move, afraid of disturbing Mei Fang, knowing that his mother had been having trouble falling asleep lately.

Looking up at the dark sky, Ah Cai thought of his father. The thought of seeing his father again in a few days filled him with excitement.

Just then, he suddenly heard a strange noise coming from the direction of the ceiling. Listen, what is that sound—a rustling sound.

Ah Cai tensed up his ears.

Mei Fang wasn't asleep; she had also heard the noise upstairs. In the past, hearing noises from upstairs would fill Mei Fang with a strange excitement, but tonight, the noise terrified her. Han Qing was dead; what was making noise upstairs? It didn't seem like wild cats or rats. Could it be Han Qing's vengeful spirit wandering around? What grievances did he have left unaddressed? Why did he die? Thinking of this, Mei Fang suddenly burst into tears. She didn't know that A Cai had woken up, or perhaps she didn't even realize her son was sleeping beside her. She couldn't help but sob quietly.

Ah-Cai was very confused and worried. He didn't know how to comfort his mother.

Then came an even louder noise from upstairs, like something had been tripped over.

Ah Cai couldn't help but shrink into Mei Fang's arms.

Mei Fang was truly frightened this time; she didn't know if there were ghosts upstairs.

Chapter Sixteen: Noisy Sounds in the Attic (3)

113

Starving, Old Eagle was unbearably hungry, but he was quite patient. The thought that he might have stumbled upon a major secret quickly suppressed his hunger with excitement. Ever since he saw the mute Zhu Dengfu go in, he hadn't seen him come out again, and the people inside refused to show their faces. Old Eagle thought he had to find out what kind of people were inside.

Old Eagle persevered until the wee hours of the morning. Just as he was about to collapse from exhaustion, he suddenly heard a noise behind him, and he immediately tensed up. It was a faint rustling sound, as if something mysterious was moving silently. He turned around and secretly watched, trying to find the thing's trace. After a long while, the suspicious object seemed to sense a fright and disappeared without a trace. Old Eagle frowned. He thought it was a hallucination, perhaps he was just delirious from hunger and his mind was filled with illusions. However, he remained suspicious and wouldn't easily ignore the noise he had just heard. Although his gaze was fixed on the neighboring courtyard, his ears were perked up, listening intently to the sounds around him. This was truly multitasking: listening to his surroundings while keeping his eyes focused ahead. Old Eagle's attention darted back and forth between his eyes and ears. He had a peculiar trait: when excited or tense, his reactions were exceptionally sharp. Coincidentally, just then, a few figures finally appeared in the next courtyard. Someone in the shadows mimicked a cat's meow. Suddenly, a loud boom was heard, and a monster the size of a weasel suddenly darted out from the shadows, fleeing past him in a panic. Immediately afterward, a black cat appeared, giving chase. At this moment, another meow, this time from the next courtyard, came. The black cat hesitated for a moment, then ignored Old Eagle hiding by the window and leaped out, rushing towards the next courtyard. The black cat reached the shadowy figures, meowed at them docilely a few times, and then jumped onto the mute man's shoulder.

By the dim light, the old eagle saw the mute and the others quietly walk to a corner of the courtyard and lift the lid on the ground...

What happened next was exactly what Ah-Cai had seen the night before.

The old eagle was overjoyed. He never expected that today's unexpected setback would create an opportunity for discovery.

Before the old eagle's excitement had subsided, he suddenly noticed several red lights flashing from a solitary building across the alley, like signal lights. Seeing this, the people in the courtyard immediately fled the scene, quickly disappearing into the house. The old eagle was completely bewildered. Who was signaling them? And what did this signal mean?

114

Long Fei discovered that the suspect's body was missing from the morgue. Knowing that this was no small matter, he had a gut feeling that something bad might happen in the ward. He hurriedly returned to the ward and found that the driver had closed his eyes peacefully and his mouth was slightly open, as if he was fast asleep. Long Fei knew that something was wrong. He went forward and put his hand under the driver's nostrils to check. Not only was there no breath, but his skin was also cold.

Long Fei was greatly puzzled. This time, he had learned from his previous experience and was keeping a close watch on the captured suspects. The area was almost entirely populated by police personnel, and the movement of medical staff in and out of the wards was entirely under their control. Long Fei recalled recent events, such as Huang Feihu's sudden disappearance and Liao Yanjing's abduction… He vaguely sensed that there were enemy spies among them; in other words, enemy agents had infiltrated his police force. Long Fei thought it over and decided he should be extremely cautious from now on. He secretly screened the people around him: Lu Ming, Ling Yuqi, Chen Yong, Xiao Wu… and other personnel from the provincial and municipal bureaus he frequently interacted with. Long Fei had complete faith in Lu Ming and Ling Yuqi, his comrades-in-arms with whom he had worked for many years. He also felt that there should be no problem with Chen Yong and Xiao Wu, the local comrades he had been working with day and night recently. As for other personnel, such as Bai Jingming, the leader of the city bureau's counter-espionage agency, Long Fei could not see any flaws. After several secret interrogations, Long Fei gradually discovered that one person was suspicious.

Long Fei secretly adjusted the personnel around him, concentrating the right to know about important missions on a few core personnel such as Lu Ming, in order to keep the operation confidential.

Shortly after arriving in Chongqing, Long Fei vaguely sensed that there might be spies from the Plum Blossom Party within the Public Security Bureau. His initial reasoning was simple: a cunning and treacherous intelligence organization like the Plum Blossom Party couldn't possibly be without informants within the Public Security force. This might sound like a somewhat arbitrary guess, but it made perfect sense. His numerous encounters with the Plum Blossom Party had led Long Fei to observe a pattern. Some comrades in the Ministry of Public Security jokingly referred to the Plum Blossom Party as having four weapons: women, beggars, street vendors, and spies hidden within the Public Security Bureau. Upon closer examination, the logic was simple: only by planting spies within the Public Security Bureau could their safety be guaranteed. The Public Security Bureau was the Plum Blossom Party's direct adversary. As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated." For the Plum Blossom Party to understand its opponent, it had to plant spies within the Public Security Bureau. In his past dealings with the Plum Blossom Party, Long Fei had uncovered several spies within the Public Security Bureau. What kind of scoundrel would he encounter this time? In other words, what did that scoundrel look like?

115

The night before, after Ling Yuqi noticed the unusual activity in the courtyard next to A Cai's house, she secretly reported the situation to Long Fei. In order not to add more pressure to Mei Fang's family, Long Fei decided to secretly observe the Shi family from another direction in Shi Wengsheng's courtyard. This was a new surveillance point, located on a solitary building on the other side of the alley where the Shi family's gate was located. The surveillance was carried out by several plainclothes police officers led by Chen Yong.

That night, after Shi Wengsheng retrieved the funds from the underground cave again, he was startled to see someone sending them a signal from a high place. This was a rarely used signal, specifically used to issue the highest level of danger, a top-level warning. The person who sent this signal must be a very important figure in the Plum Blossom Gang.

Upon seeing the unusual warning signal, Shi Wengsheng was greatly surprised, because the other party was taking a huge risk, but he himself was also in extreme danger.

The person sending the signal from the isolated building was none other than Chen Yong! It turns out that he was a high-ranking agent who had infiltrated our public security force. Previously, he had secretly transferred his colleagues who were monitoring the Shi family compound with him to buy food from nearby night food stalls.

That day, when he boarded the ship to inspect Yu Minsheng and his men under Long Fei's arrangement, he secretly gave Yu Minsheng a signal. Yu Minsheng understood the meaning. At that time, he was glad that someone was secretly assisting him. Unexpectedly, his men lost their guns and exposed their identities. The police officers who accompanied Chen Yong on the ship would naturally not let go of the sudden enemy situation. The Plum Blossom Gang members led by Sun Haiwang did not expect that Chen Yong was one of their own. In a moment of urgency, they took the initiative to fire first.

Chen Yong secretly groaned in despair and hastily retreated into the water while fighting. When the bandits rushed to the side of the boat and opened fire on the river, Yu Minsheng immediately ordered his men to turn their guns and attack the police speedboat below. He knew that Chen Yong, who had fallen into the water, might accidentally be hit by their own bullets and die.

He secretly informed Huang Feihu that Yu Minsheng was also being pursued by our side, and that Chen Yong was also the one being hunted.

The murderer who secretly killed the coachman was Chen Yong. At the time, he took advantage of Long Fei's absence to investigate the disappearance of the mute man and secretly stabbed the coachman to death with a poisoned needle.

When the mute man was taken to the morgue after faking his death, Chen Yong went to check and knew something was amiss. He secretly removed the police officers from the morgue's supervision. At the time, Yang Donglin, the police officer guarding outside the morgue, thought the mute man was dead and wasn't very vigilant. When Chen Yong deliberately found an excuse to distract Yang, Yang was completely unsuspecting.

Upon seeing that someone had called the police, Shi Wengsheng quickly prepared to retreat.

Just as Chen Yong finished sending the signal, he suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps. The sound did not belong to his colleagues, and he was secretly startled. Who could it be? Because he was guilty, he was particularly sensitive to unusual sounds.

As expected, the visitors were not his former colleagues, but Lu Ming and several unfamiliar plainclothes officers he brought with him. These plainclothes officers had been specially transferred from Beijing.

Seeing the approaching force of Lu Ming and his group, Chen Yong felt uneasy. He wondered, what is Lu Ming doing here at this time?

Chapter Seventeen: Terrifying Screams (1)

That night, while Ah Cai was fast asleep, a major incident occurred in the courtyard next to his house... 116

Just as Ah-Cai finally fell asleep again, he suddenly felt a movement beside him. He saw that his mother had quickly put on her clothes and gotten out of bed.

There was a knocking sound coming from outside the living room. The knocking was unusually urgent, and a familiar voice called out, "Meifang, Meifang, open the door quickly, it's Xiaoling."

Ah Cai suddenly realized what was happening and followed closely behind Mei Fang. Fearing something might go wrong, he secretly grabbed a replica pistol.

When the door opened, Ah Cai saw Aunt Ling leading several uncles in a hurry. She whispered something to Mei Fang and then led the uncles to the backyard.

Ah Cai wondered what was going on. He grabbed Mei Fang's clothes in surprise, wanting to ask but not daring to. He vaguely guessed that something bad might be happening on the other side of the backyard wall.

Aunt Ling returned from the backyard alone. She whispered a few words to Mei Fang, who nodded and turned around to tell A Cai to go back to his room and go to sleep.

“Go, kid, the adults have something to do, do you hear me? Go back to sleep.” Mei Fang’s tone was clearly uneasy.

Seeing that A-Cai seemed reluctant, Aunt Ling smiled at him and whispered, "You're a good boy, you listen to your mother, right? Young Pioneer, classmate." As she finished speaking, Aunt Ling gave A-Cai a meaningful look. A-Cai seemed to understand immediately, and he obediently retreated to his bedroom. Once in bed, he couldn't close his eyes, his mind racing with questions: What were Aunt Ling and the others doing in the backyard in the middle of the night? What was happening on the other side of the backyard wall that warranted such attention? And who were those elderly people living there?

The alleyway right next to Ah Cai's backyard was already secretly filled with my police officers.

Up in the isolated building, Chen Yong, who was trying to figure out Lu Ming's intentions, saw Lu Ming greet him as usual, first nodding and then patting him on the shoulder encouragingly. Suddenly, two plainclothes officers who had accompanied Lu Ming in grabbed Chen Yong from the left and right, swiftly pinning him to the ground. A pair of cold handcuffs clicked shut behind his back, locking his hands together. Chen Yong thought, "It's over, this is really the end." He was unwilling to accept defeat and instinctively tried to bite his collar. But in a flash, the experienced Lu Ming reached out a strong arm, grabbed Chen Yong's hair, and pulled his head up, preventing him from lowering his head to his collar and biting down on the poison hidden there. This stopped Chen Yong's suicide attempt.

Lu Ming subdued a spy who had been hiding within our public security network.

117

As Old Diao pondered the strange signals from the nearby isolated building, he suddenly noticed several dark figures lurking against the wall of Ah Cai's yard below, spying on the activity beyond. He immediately realized something was wrong. Looking in other directions, he saw shadowy figures moving stealthily in the depths of the alley. Old Diao understood completely: something terrible was about to happen tonight. He inwardly groaned. The initial joy of discovering the vault's secret vanished instantly, replaced by a desolate panic. He sensed that he might be trapped as well. What to do? Escape was paramount, but where was the escape route? He looked around repeatedly, knowing he had nowhere to run. But being a seasoned veteran, he didn't forget to actively search for a last chance. He thought, I must find a way to escape this perilous situation.

Old Eagle saw the three dark figures in the courtyard next door disappear into the corner of the wall as if they had burrowed into the ground. Old Eagle thought to himself, "They're probably finished now. Huang Feihu won't get the funding, he has no money, what will he do? This time, something big is probably going to happen."

Just as Old Diao was pacing anxiously, he suddenly slapped his head. He suddenly remembered that there was a window facing the street in the attic. He quickly and quietly went over and took a closer look. Oh no! There were several military jeeps parked on the street below the window, and there were many police officers with guns and weapons next to the vehicles.

Old Eagle felt as if he were trapped in a net. "God, help me!" Old Eagle sighed in near despair. Just then, he felt a dark shadow rush towards him. He instinctively dodged, but it was too late. The strange little black shadow seemed to be deliberately targeting him, suddenly opening its mouth to bite his neck. In his critical moment, Old Eagle was still somewhat clear-headed, but he dared not utter a sound. He felt a sharp pain in his neck, and immediately his whole body began to heat up. He suddenly felt weak in his limbs and collapsed to the ground.

Ah Cai was still awake when he suddenly heard a loud bang from the ceiling, which startled him. For some reason, everything that was happening tonight seemed terrifying.

Mei Fang was already in bed when she saw A Cai burrow into her arms in terror. Although she was equally frightened, she tried her best to remain calm and quietly comforted her son: "Son, it's okay. It's probably just a fight between a wild cat and a mouse."