Chapter 123

Zhao Jianguo put the multimeter back into the tool bag when his finger in his trouser pocket touched that metal sheet. Its edges were uneven, feeling a bit sharp to the touch, as if it had been forcibly pried off some machine. He didn't rush to take it out, just lightly pinched it, confirming it was still there.

The lamp beside the podium was still lit, the wick burning a little high, the flame flickered. He reached out to turn it down a bit, and in the same motion pulled a small pair of pliers and a length of thin copper wire from the lectern drawer. The crowd had already dispersed, the central courtyard fell silent, even Sha Zhu's home coal stove had gone out, only the wind made the banner flap with soft pap sounds.

He took out the metal sheet and placed it on the table; under the lamp light one could see several extremely fine scratches on the surface, as if someone had drawn them point by point with a needle. He touched the multimeter probes lightly to the two ends, and the needle jumped violently, then slowly fell back. This reaction was off—normal metal wouldn't carry an electric frequency vibration on its own, let alone match the weak fluctuation of the system on standby exactly.

"I should try connecting it." He muttered to himself.

But where is the system interface? He's not an engineer, how would he understand these precision gadgets? Yet last night Jia Wu's image of clutching the sorter while crouching on the roof, that fierce determination, still turned in his mind. That guy could sacrifice himself for a machine, showing he had a line of resolve tighter than anyone's.

He got up and walked toward the Jia family house; after knocking twice he heard footsteps inside. Dong Xu opened the door with messy hair and eyes still a bit red, obviously not having slept well.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Fixing something." Zhao Jianguo handed over the metal sheet in his hand, "Can you figure out why it resonates with electric current?"

Dong Xu took it and looked, his brows slowly furrowing: "This isn't ordinary iron sheet... look here, the pattern resembles code."

"You really can tell?"

"We tested similar material at the factory before, it's for military use." He lifted his head, "What are you planning to do?"

"Putting something together." Zhao Jianguo said softly, "The kind that can find what's hidden underground."

Dong Xu stared for two seconds, then laughed: "Yesterday you were arguing with the neighborhood folks that 'mutual aid among the masses isn't illegal,' and today you want to dig three feet deep?"

"Mutual aid among the masses stays mutual aid among the masses," Zhao Jianguo also laughed, "but if someone wants to change our way of life, I need to know where they're coming from."

The two returned to the central courtyard and cleared a space under the podium. Dong Xu took apart half of an old radio, pulled out its oscillating coil, then wound a small electromagnetic ring with copper wire. Zhao Jianguo took the system terminal out of the interlayer—a palm-sized black box normally kept in the innermost part of the tool bag.

"Are you sure hooking it up like this won't blow up?" Dong Xu held the pliers, staring at the exposed interface.

"Not sure." Zhao Jianguo stared at him, "But if you don't go up and sit there, I don't dare press the switch."

Dong Xu glanced at him, secured the coil, stepped back half a pace: "Let's give it a try."

Zhao Jianguo took a deep breath and pressed the start button.

At first nothing happened. Then the metal sheet suddenly heated up, a blue light crawled along the copper wire upward, like water flowing into the system terminal. The whole podium gave a humming jolt, and the screws on the tabletop jumped a bit.

"Stable!" Dong Xu lowered his voice.

The blue light grew brighter and gradually spread to the ground. In the gaps between the blue bricks, fine-line patterns began to emerge, one ring inside another, as if some kind of diagram was slowly surfacing from underground. Zhao Jianguo crouched down, reached out and touched one of the lines; his fingertip felt a faint vibration, as if something was moving down below.

"Is this... a map?" Dong Xu murmured.

"It's coordinates." Zhao Jianguo stared at the system screen, "Directly below twelve meters, there's an energy source, its signal frequency matches that of the day the camphor wood box was opened."

As his words fell, a dull thud came from above. It wasn't tiles breaking, but a wooden beam somewhere in the roof, bent by a heavy weight, letting out a groan.

The two looked up at the same time.

Before they could react, the courtyard gate was shoved open violently. Chen Jianguo rushed in, his face ashen, lips purple, staggering as if drunk.

"Quick... shut it down!" his voice hoarse, barely audible, "They're using me... to watch you..."

He lunged to the podium, grabbed Zhao Jianguo's arm in one grip, his palm slick with cold sweat. The next second, a mouthful of blood with an eerie glow spurted onto the ground, and as it landed it faintly glowed, like the shattered shell of a firefly in the night.

Zhao Jianguo abruptly cut the power. The blue light vanished instantly, the ground markings faded as if they had never been. The whole siheyuan fell back into darkness, only a distant streetlamp filtering in a faint glow.

"What's wrong with you?" Zhao Jianguo supported him.

"My system... has been reverse-connected." Chen Jianguo panted, his finger trembling as he pointed at his own temple, "They're using me to track the signal source... your position has already been exposed... at most seven days... they'll come to take the 'stabilizer'... otherwise... everyone will be erased..."

"Who?"

"I don't know... but they recognize you... because you messed with Jia Wu's stuff..."

Zhao Jianguo's heart sank. The photos, the camphor wood box, the metal sheet... it turned out all of this had been linked together all along.

"Then it's too dangerous for you to stay here."

"I know." Chen Jianguo gave a bitter smile, "So I can't linger."

At that moment, three short crackling sounds came from the roof, like someone stepping on and breaking tiles. Immediately after, a shadow swept across the ridge, moving so fast it didn't seem human.

Dong Xu immediately stood up: "I'll go pull the alarm."

"Don't!" Zhao Jianguo stopped him, "If it sounds, it's like telling the enemy we're scared. Now we need to make them think the signal is cut, the target gone."

He quickly opened the system terminal, took out the metal sheet alone, and stuffed it into the interlayer at the bottom of the twins' cradle. There lay a layer of soft cloth that Su Qing had put down two days earlier; the system had once marked it—an area of dense emotional fluctuations, a remote detection blind spot.

"Take the back alley." Zhao Jianguo said to Chen Jianguo, "Don't look back, don't stop, keep going straight to the hutong entrance then turn left—someone will meet you there."

"And you?"

"I'll stay."

"Are you crazy? They'll be able to see what you look like by following me!"

"Then let them look." Zhao Jianguo slung his tool bag over his shoulder, "Let them see just how terrifying a worker who fixes electrical equipment can be."

Chen Jianguo stared at him for a few seconds, then gave a small laugh, raised his hand and patted his shoulder: "Alright, as long as you stay alive, I can explain things."

Having said that, he turned and walked away, his steps slow but steady. Dong Xu saw him to the back door; when he returned, his face was pale.

"That sound just now... wasn't made by a person stepping, was it?"

"No." Zhao Jianguo gazed at the hole in the roof, "It's a machine."

"What kind of machine can run on the roof without landing?"

"I don't know." Zhao Jianguo picked up the wrench from the ground, gripped it in his hand, "But next time it comes, I'll make it get stuck."

Dong Xu said nothing more, just silently gathered the scattered tools into the box. The courtyard was so quiet you could hear the wind threading through the electric wires.

About ten minutes later, the roof sounded again, this time softer, like a probe. Zhao Jianguo didn't move, just crouched in the shadow of the podium, eyes fixed on that hole.

A few shards of tile slid down slowly, hit the ground, and made a crisp sound.

He slowly rose to his feet, switched the wrench to his right hand, pulled out a matchbox with his left, struck a match, and held it aloft toward the hole in the roof.

A flash of firelight revealed a black mechanical arm slowly extending from the opening, its tip rotating a ring of fine drill bits.