Chapter 159: Dark Night's Trail

The Steel Rolling Mill's spy case has been over a month, and on the surface it seems calm, but Li Ping'an always feels it isn't finished. Night after night, he sits alone in the Security Section duty room reviewing Zhang Gong's interrogation records, the kerosene lamp throwing wavering shadows on the wall.

"Section Chief, aren't you taking a break?" Wang Dahu comes in holding a tea jar, his eyelids barely open.

Li Ping'an rubs his throbbing temples: I keep feeling Zhang Gong's account is too smooth, like a rehearsed line.

But the evidence is solid— the transmitter, the coded potion were all found.

Exactly because it's so complete, it's suspicious. Li Ping'an stands and paces; an old spy who's been lurking for years could so easily spill all his assets?

Just then, a faint sound outside the window. Li Ping'an's eyes harden, he flings the window open and sees a black silhouette whoosh away into the depths of the plant.

The two scramble out the window to chase. The night plant is eerily silent, only the cold wind whistling through the steel frames. They reach near Warehouse No. 3, but the black figure is gone.

"A ghost!" Wang Dahu pants, how did that person run so fast?

Li Ping'an crouches, pinches a handful of soil: It's not speed, it's an escort. Look at the wheel tracks.

At the base of the warehouse wall, fresh wheel marks flicker in the moonlight. Li Ping'an follows the prints to the wall, finds a loose brick. He nudges it gently; behind the brick is a small hidden compartment, empty.

Seems someone came to take something. Li Ping'an's face turns serious.

Early the next morning, Li Ping'an goes straight to see Factory Director Yang. After hearing the report, Yang's face turns pale.

Comrade Ping'an, are you saying there are still spies in the plant?

More than one. Li Ping'an says confidently, Zhang Gong is at most a runner.

Yang pauses: How should the plant cooperate?

I'll check every worker's file, especially the newcomers.

In the archives, Li Ping'an stays for three days. The piles of files reach half a person's height; he flips page by page, marking with red pen. Wang Dahu leads a team outside to investigate, but makes no progress.

"Section Chief, this way of checking isn't working." On the fourth night, Wang Dahu can't help complaining, it's like looking for a needle in the sea.

Li Ping'an doesn't look up, his finger stops on a file: This Liu Jianming, what do you think?

A newly arrived technician in the Workshop? Looks pretty honest.

Too honest. Li Ping'an pushes the file over; the résumé is unrealistically perfect, every date fits like a lock. You believe it?

Just then, the duty Telephone rings. Wang Dahu picks up, listens a few sentences, his face changes dramatically: Section Chief, Workshop No. 3 had an accident!

When they arrive at Workshop No. 3, a few workers are gathered discussing. Beside the lathe, Liu Jianming clutches his arm on the floor, blood seeping from his fingers.

"What happened?" Li Ping'an parts the crowd.

"Section Chief Li, the workshop supervisor ran over sweating, saying young Liu's machine malfunctioned while operating, cutting his arm."

Li Ping'an looks at the blood‑stained lathe, then at Liu's pallid face, suddenly crouches: Technician Liu, this wound… was it the lathe that cut you?

Liu Jianming averts his gaze: Yes, yes…

A lathe cut should be a clean incision; Li watches his constantly bleeding arm, but the wound is ragged, looks like… something animal bit it?

Everyone present freezes. Liu tries to stay calm: Section Chief Li, you're joking, there are no beasts in the plant.

"Is that so?" Li Ping'an suddenly grabs his wrist, then asks, where did those black hairs in the wound come from?

Liu Jianming jerks free, his eyes turn fierce: You're deceiving me!

"Take him down!" Li Ping'an orders, Wang Dahu immediately leads men to pounce.

But Liu is surprisingly agile, flips and evades the capture, snatches a wrench and hurls it at the nearest worker. The workshop erupts into chaos.

"Everyone, get back!" Li Ping'an shouts, unleashing Ba Ji Quan straight at the opponent's face.

The two clash furiously in the workshop. Liu's moves are brutal, nothing like an ordinary technician. After several rounds, Li spots a gap and delivers a top‑of‑head elbow, sending Liu crashing to the ground.

"Speak! Where are your comrades?"

Liu spits out blood, snarls: Too late…

Before he finishes, the plant erupts with an explosion. Everyone rushes out, seeing thick smoke billowing in the northwest corner.

"It's the warehouse!" Wang Dahu exclaims.

When they reach the warehouse, several black silhouettes dart in the smoke. Li Ping'an decides: Team One seals the exit, Team Two follows me!

Inside the smoky warehouse, Li Ping'an activates Divine Perception, quickly locking onto those figures. Both sides fire among the shelves; bullets hit steel frames, sparking showers.

"Section Chief, they're trying to blow up the raw material area!" a teammate shouts.

Li Ping'an looks toward the voice, sees a black silhouette loading explosives beside the material pile. He raises his gun, the silhouette falls. But another silhouette lunges from the side, dagger thrusting at his back.

"Careful!" Wang Dahu pushes Li Ping'an hard, his shoulder gets slashed.

Li Ping'an punches the attacker back, steadies Wang Dahu: You okay?

"Just a superficial wound…" Wang Dahu grits his teeth, we can't let them succeed!

The fierce fight lasts a quarter of an hour; in the end five spies are three dead, two wounded. But when tallying the battlefield, Li Ping'an's heart sinks— Liu Jianming is missing.

"Search! He must still be in the plant!"

At this moment, Liu Jianming is covering his wound, crawling painfully toward the drainage outlet under the plant wall. If he squeezes out here, someone outside will be waiting…

Suddenly, a flashlight beam shines on his face.

"Technician Liu, where are you going this late?"

Li Ping'an stands at the drainage opening, his gun steady on him.

Liu Jianming closes his eyes in despair: You… how did you find this place?

"You thought only you would bury things underground? " Li Ping'an sneers, "I marked this drainage spot three days ago."

Back at the Security Section, Li Ping'an immediately interrogates the captured spies. But they're hard‑hearted; no matter how he asks, they won't speak.

"Section Chief, what now?" Wang Dahu, bandaging his wound, asks anxiously.

Li Ping'an says nothing, picks up a copper coin seized from Liu Jianming and studies it closely. The coin looks ordinary, but its edge bears a line of almost invisible tiny characters.

"It's…" he suddenly recalls something, pulls the evidence bag from Zhang Gong's case from the drawer. Inside is another such copper coin.

Comparing the two coins under the lamp, Li Ping'an's expression grows increasingly grim.

"Section Chief, what did you discover?"

Look, Li Ping'an points to the inner edge of the copper coin; these two marks together form a place name.

Wang Dahu leans in to examine, suddenly draws a cold breath: This… this is…

That's right. Li Ping'an stands up, his gaze sharp, our direction was all wrong. The operative's target is not the Steel Rolling Mill at all…

Outside the window, dawn is approaching. But Li Ping'an knows the real contest is only just beginning.