Chapter 443: Tearing Off the Mask

In the Qianmen Small Courtyard, six men lay crookedly on a large heated brick bed.

Four had splints tied to their arms, two had gauze wrapped around their shoulders, and every one of them had a bright red nose, with the sounds of coughing and nose-blowing rising one after another.

The few people who were thrown into the ice hole by He Yuzhu yesterday had all caught severe colds today.

Xu Damao paced the room with his hands behind his back, glancing at the bed from time to time. He suddenly chuckled and teased, "San Ge, you are all old hands, but when you run into a new problem, how exactly was this 'scouting' done? How could it be such a coincidence that you ran into He Yuzhu? If you ask me, it's because you were discovered by that old fox Chen Qingshan while scouting, and that's why he called that kid over!"

Wang Baosheng blew his nose and asked, "Are you sure... it was really He Yuzhu?"

Xu Damao sighed, "According to what you said—not yet twenty, tall, sturdy build, taking all six of you down by himself. In this Si Jiu Cheng, besides him, I can't think of a second person."

"Pah!" Jin Ye spat fiercely, "When I recover, I'm going to kill his whole family!"

Xu Damao turned abruptly, his face darkening, "Second Brother, watch your tongue! I've told you brothers before, this He Yuzhu is too damn ruthless. Avoid him if you can; it's best not to provoke him if you don't have to. You haven't seen it with your own eyes... back then, he carried a rocket launcher and killed dozens of Bald Party soldiers with a single shot! I still get scared thinking about it now!"

Jin Ye's Adam's apple bobbed a few times, and in the end, he didn't say another word.

Wang Baosheng was silent for a long while before speaking in a hoarse voice, "Brother Damao, thank you so much for this, for both the money and the effort!"

Xu Damao waved his hand, "No need for polite talk. Back in the detention center, if it weren't for you brothers looking out for me, I would have been bullied to death long ago."

At the 95 Siheyuan, He Yuzhu let Tian Dan into the room and closed the door tightly behind him.

Warmth rushed to meet them inside the room.

He Yuzhu deftly brewed a cup of Longjing tea and handed it over.

Tian Dan took it, blew the floating leaves away, and took a sip. Her eyebrows arched slightly, "Zhuzi, drinking Pre-Rain Longjing tea—you're quite particular. I haven't had this tea in over a decade!"

"Wait a moment, take two boxes with you!" He Yuzhu sat down across from her, "I'm just benefiting from the Liu Shi Trading Company. When they collect tea, they help me get a little bit on the side."

Tian Dan took another sip of tea before setting the cup down, "I came this time because I still want to ask Lin Wanning for help. The bureau has redistributed the work; Zhou Hao and I are each leading a team, and we must find that group of people who escaped from the coal mine as soon as possible. They caused two more explosions yesterday, which cost us six comrades and left two others seriously injured."

"There's such a thing? Why didn't you call me?" He Yuzhu's brow furrowed tightly.

"It's all that idiot Zhou Hao's fault!" Tian Dan gritted her teeth and said, "He received a letter that revealed two places where enemy agents might be hiding. That bastard was so eager to earn merit that he sent two batches of inexperienced people over, and they ended up triggering trick mines."

"Zhou Hao is a real damn menace! Why didn't he get himself blown up this time?" He Yuzhu cursed.

"Ever since that grandson got promoted, he doesn't lead the charge anymore. He leaves all the dangerous work to his subordinates, and believe it or not, he's actually earned a good reputation for 'delegating power'." Tian Dan sneered, her eyes full of annoyance.

He Yuzhu was silent for a moment, then said, "In such a vast sea of people, finding those guys is indeed difficult."

"Lin Wanning knows them after all. Even if she only marks out a general direction, it's better than us running around like headless flies right now," Tian Dan said.

He Yuzhu stared at the tea leaves rising and falling in the cup and nodded, "I'll go pick her up tomorrow; you come over and talk to her!"

"Alright." Tian Dan finished the tea in her cup and stood up to leave.

"Dan, you haven't eaten yet, have you?"

Tian Dan touched her stomach and honestly admitted, "I actually forgot because I was so busy."

"Let's go, I'll treat you. Let's go to He Ji Restaurant by Shichahai. I happen to need to go to my Siqiang's place to discuss something anyway."

Tian Dan didn't stand on ceremony, "Fine, I'll take you for everything you've got today."

The two left the courtyard gate and walked along the hutong toward Shichahai.

The night wind whipped against their faces, carrying a bone-chilling cold. He Yuzhu turned up his collar and said casually, "Dan, catching agents is important for the bureau, but you should also pay attention to public security. Yesterday, six people snuck into my Siqiang's house, intending to commit theft and robbery."

"There's such a thing?" Tian Dan paused her steps and tilted her head to look at him, "Did you catch them?"

"I took care of them. All four of them were carrying daggers and even wanted to kill me. In the end, I beat them all to the ground, treated them to a cold bath in Shichahai, and then let them go."

"You should have sent them straight to the police station; why let them go?" Tian Dan was puzzled.

"I broke all their arms; wouldn't I be asking for trouble if I sent them in?" He Yuzhu smiled.

Tian Dan raised her hand and patted his arm, "Zhuzi, you've made some progress at least; you didn't take any lives."

"Times are different now, after all," He Yuzhu's smile didn't fade, "We can't always be fighting and killing."

Tian Dan thought for a moment, "Bring me the photos you developed another day; I'll have Lao Zhou's side check their backgrounds."

"Sure!" He Yuzhu agreed readily.

The two turned into the street bordering the sea and walked toward "He Ji Restaurant."

Just as they were about to reach the entrance of the restaurant, He Yuzhu suddenly felt as if someone was following them.

He remained calm and activated the System Scanning Function, discovering two figures about 100 meters away, following at a distance.

"Dan, you have a tail behind you; it's likely those escaped agents."

Tian Dan felt a jolt in her heart, then smiled, "With you here, it's perfect to catch them; perhaps we can pull on the thread and unravel the whole thing."

He Yuzhu asked in a low voice, "When and where do you want to make a move?"

Tian Dan pondered for a moment and said, "Let's wait until after we eat. When the time comes, I'll drive in front, and you follow behind. Head toward the Small Tavern, and we'll make our move at Xinqiao Hutong."

He Yuzhu nodded, "Sounds reliable."

The two ate a quick meal at He Ji Restaurant.

He Yuzhu went to see Chen Qingshan to give a few instructions, telling him to stay alert during the night, before heading out with Tian Dan.

Tian Dan's Jeep drove slowly in front.

He Yuzhu took a bicycle from his space and followed far behind the car.

There were many pedestrians on the street, and Tian Dan's car was not moving fast.

Before long, two rickshaws caught up from behind.

He Yuzhu followed silently behind the rickshaws.

After passing through a few streets, those two vehicles were still following at a leisurely pace, and the last shred of doubt in He Yuzhu's mind vanished. They were definitely agents.

Tian Dan's car turned into Xinqiao Hutong. This was a relatively wide hutong where the courtyards were quite large, the residents were sparse, and it was exceptionally quiet.

The Jeep suddenly stopped in front of a gate.

The two rickshaws behind also slowed down accordingly.

He Yuzhu knew the best time for the capture had arrived. He suddenly exerted force from his waist and back, and the bicycle shot out like an arrow from a bow, instantly closing in on the side of the rickshaws.

Without even looking, he threw his fists out one after another, smashing them into the back of the two passengers' heads.

The two men let out a muffled groan and immediately collapsed.

The two carriage drivers turned pale with fright; just as they were about to open their mouths to shout, He Yuzhu's hand-blade arrived, and both were knocked unconscious instantly.

Tian Dan ran over quickly, using the moonlight to carefully identify the two faces.

She suddenly reached out and nimbly tore off the fake beards and fake eyebrows from their faces, her expression changing abruptly: "Liu Yu, Chen Chengdong... these are Zhou Hao's men!"

"What? Zhou Hao actually dared to send people to tail you?" He Yuzhu was also shocked.