Chapter 213

The red candles burned out, and the dawn light was faintly revealed. The Siheyuan gradually awoke from the wedding banquet's clamor and the midnight's undercurrents, with a lingering trace of faint celebratory atmosphere in the air, mixed with the coolness of early morning.

Li Ping'an had barely slept all night. He stood like a silent reef behind a window of the West Cross Courtyard for half the night, until he confirmed that the shadow that slipped out from the Deaf Old Lady's corner had not returned, and until he received a report from the outer personnel that "the target entered Nan Cheng's Cotton Alley and lost track." He felt no disappointment; instead, he was even more certain— the Deaf Old Lady was the "Lao Mao"! She had ventured out last night, surely to handle urgent intel or make a crucial contact. Cotton Alley, teeming with all sorts, was the perfect place for exchanging information.

He needed evidence—concrete evidence that could nail her in her lair.

By day, the Siheyuan returned to its usual rhythm, as if nothing had happened the night before. Sha Zhu and Ma Dongmei got up a little later, the new daughter‑in‑law wearing the shy happiness of a first‑time wife, beginning to familiarize herself with the courtyard and her new family role. He Yushui dutifully helped his sister‑in‑law, and with a female head of house now present, even the air seemed different.

Yi Zhonghai went to work as usual, Liu Haizhong still kept his official airs, Yan Bu Gui fidgeted with his little abacus, Jia Zhangshi continued to polish Qin Huairu, and Xu Damao, having gained nothing from last night's "listening at the window root," appeared somewhat listless.

Only Li Ping'an knew that beneath the calm surface, the final thunder was brewing.

He used the daytime to re‑examine all clues and secretly communicated with Zhou Zhengwei and the City Bureau, drafting a detailed action plan. Objective: tonight, while the "Lao Mao" might be lowering her guard or moving again, strike directly at the heart of the enemy!

Night fell again over the Siheyuan.

The wind was unusually strong tonight, rattling the old trees in the courtyard and masking many subtle sounds. The lights in each household went out one by one, and the people exhausted from the day gradually drifted into sleep. In the back courtyard, the Deaf Old Lady's window remained pitch black, as if its owner had already gone to bed.

At midnight, all sounds fell silent.

The gate of the West Cross Courtyard was gently pushed open, and Li Ping'an, like a leopard melting into the night, appeared silently in the courtyard. He did not take the moonlit gate; instead, relying on his familiarity with the terrain, he agilely vaulted over the low wall on the West Cross Courtyard side, like a falling leaf, landing soundlessly on the back courtyard ground.

Almost as he touched down, several other dark figures slipped into the back courtyard from different directions, in the same professional and covert manner, fanning out to encircle the Deaf Old Lady's solitary little house. These were elite forces dispatched by the City Bureau, cooperating with Li Ping'an's operation.

Li Ping'an gave a hand signal, indicating encirclement and vigilance. He himself, like a raccoon, pressed close to the old main door, his ear against the door panel, listening carefully to any sounds inside.

A blanket of dead silence.

But he could sense that inside there was a silence different from ordinary sleep—a deliberately suppressed stillness.

He no longer hesitated, nodding to the teammate beside him. A team member produced a special tool and gave the lock a very slight turn a few times, a faint "click" sound barely audible over the wind.

Li Ping'an flung the door open, his figure like lightning, charging in first! Several team members followed closely, their flashlights' beams instantly piercing the darkness, illuminating every corner of the little house with dazzling light!

The little house was simply furnished—a bed, a table, a cabinet, and an old washbasin rack. The bedding on the bed was messy, yet no one was inside!

"Search!" Li Ping'an's voice was low and calm.

The team members immediately began the search, moving swiftly and professionally—knocking on walls, checking the floor, shifting furniture…

Suddenly, a team member near the head of the bed noticed something odd on the wall—a gap in a wall tile that seemed slightly wider than the adjacent ones and was free of dust. He pressed lightly, and the tile gave way inward; the seemingly seamless wall silently slid open, revealing a secret door just large enough for one person to pass. A stale, chilling breath seeped out from within.

Li Ping'an's gaze hardened; without any hesitation, he drew his gun and was the first to thrust inside! Inside was an extremely cramped space, more like a wall‑embedded secret room. The secret room contained only a small wooden box and an elderly figure curled in the corner, trying to destroy the papers in hand—none other than the Deaf Old Lady!

At that moment, any trace of her usual muddled kindness had vanished from her face. In her eyes flickered a cold light woven from panic, resentment, and desperate hopelessness, and her movements were frantic and disoriented by the sudden exposure.

"Stop!" Li Ping'an barked sharply, stepping forward and precisely gripping her gaunt wrist; with a slight pressure, the several sheets covered in dense script fluttered to the ground. Another team member rushed forward and fully restrained her.

Li Ping'an picked up those sheets; under the flashlight, they glaringly listed recent intelligence on several senior technicians at the Steel Rolling Mill, including Yi Zhonghai and two other seventh‑grade workers—detailing their family backgrounds, daily routines, personality weaknesses, and even records of attempts to make side contacts through Yan Bu Gui and others to assess the possibility of subversion! In addition, there was a small portion of encrypted messages, still partially intact, that had not been fully destroyed.

The evidence is as solid as a mountain!

"Code name 'Lao Mao'?" Li Ping'an's gaze was like an ice spear, stabbing at the suddenly collapsed, wrinkled old face.

The Deaf Old Lady, or "Lao Mao," let out a hoarse, wind‑bag‑like laugh from her throat, full of sarcasm and resentment: "Never thought… I, an old woman, have been lurking for twenty years… only to fall at the hands of you youngsters…" Her voice was raspy, entirely lacking her usual vagueness.

"Take her away!" Li Ping'an ordered coldly, without a flicker of emotion.

Two team members lifted her; she seemed instantly drained of all spirit, becoming hunched and diminutive.

Exiting the secret room into the outer area, a team member opened the small wooden box; inside, besides radio parts and the Code Book, was a tightly oilcloth‑wrapped booklet—a small volume that was precisely the communication ledger that had gone missing from Zhu Yeqing!

Everything matched. This seemingly frail, candle‑flickering old lady who seemed to need care was actually a deeply hidden, high‑rank enemy special operative! She used her age and camouflage as the best cover, secretly weaving an information network and plotting actions.

The commotion in the back courtyard was extremely slight, yet Liu Haizhong's family living there was still startled. Liu Haizhong emerged, his clothes draped over him, and upon seeing the dragged‑out Deaf Old Lady, the cold‑stared Li Ping'an, and several unfamiliar burly men, his legs went weak, he nearly collapsed to the ground, his mouth gaped, unable to utter a word.

Li Ping'an ignored him, ordering the "Lao Mao" and all evidence to be swiftly removed. He walked last, his gaze sweeping over the little house filled with camouflage and sin.

When he returned to the West Cross Courtyard, the eastern horizon had already turned a pale, fish‑belly white.

Lin Xueqing was already up, preparing breakfast in the kitchen. Seeing him return, with morning dew and a faint hint of smoke on her, she asked nothing, simply handing him a cup of warm water.

"Solved it?" she asked softly.

"Yes." Li Ping'an took the cup, drank it down in one gulp; the warm water cleared the dryness in his throat and the fatigue of the night. "It was the Deaf Old Lady."

A flash of surprise crossed Lin Xueqing's eyes, then she understood. The most unlikely is often the most dangerous.

"The courtyard… can stay clean for a while," she said.

Li Ping'an walked to the window and opened it. The crisp morning breeze surged in, carrying the scent of soil and foliage. The crabapple tree in the courtyard, having endured autumn rain and cold wind, still stood stubbornly, its branches even bearing a few leaves that hadn't fallen, glimmering faintly in the dawn.

Sounds began to stir in the front and central courtyards: the Sha Zhu family's newlyweds murmuring softly, He Yushui's light footsteps, Jia Zhangshi's familiar nagging, Yan Bu Gui's gurgling while brushing teeth at the sink… A brand‑new day had begun.

Last night's silent hunt in the back courtyard didn't disturb most people's peaceful sleep, like a stone dropped into a deep pool—after the ripples, the surface eventually calmed. Yet Li Ping'an knew that some of the murk had been cleared, and the air in the courtyard truly seemed a bit fresher.

He inhaled deeply, feeling the hard‑won peace. His gaze remained steady and sharp, fixed on the distance. Guarding the sparks beneath this eave was his endless duty. The crabapple remained, the years silent, and the warrior forever on the road.