Chapter 87: Thoroughly Cleansed, Peace in the Courtyard

Zhao Jianguo turned the copper badge half a circle under the lamp, said nothing, just stared at the man tied to the pillar. The scar on that man's face looked longer in the oil lamp's light, like a dry riverbed slanting from his eyebrow to the corner of his mouth.

The courtyard had already quieted down; the fire at the warehouse side had gone out early, the bucket still leaned against the door, with some black water left at the bottom. Sha Zhu came back panting, his padded jacket soaked through, still holding an empty bucket.

"Just a small pile of oilcloth, two buckets of water and it's gone." He set the bucket down with a thud, his voice a bit muffled, "Who did this? Bored out of their mind?"

Zhao Jianguo ignored him, bent down and picked up the transmitter; its shell was hot to the touch, the wires charred. He turned it over, and a slip of paper was stuck on the back, with a string of numbers: **0427-881**.

He Yushui came over, notebook cradled in her arms, pencil clipped behind her ear, "What is this? A phone number?"

"Not really." Zhao Jianguo shook his head, "Too neat, like a code, or maybe a time."

Dong Xu had also returned by then, still gripping one end of a rope, "The guy's tied up tight, his mouth sealed—he won't say a word no matter what you ask."

"No rush." Zhao Jianguo handed the transmitter to Dong Xu, "Just leave it here for now, don't touch him, and don't send him away. We need to see if there's any other movement."

Sha Zhu blinked, "You're still worried someone might come to rescue him?"

"It's not fear, it's precaution." Zhao Jianguo walked to the main control box, flipped open the cover and glanced at the voltmeter, "Those three lights flashing together just now wasn't a coincidence. Someone's testing the system, and testing our reaction."

He turned to He Yushui and said, "Record tonight's alarm times, voltage changes, and wind direction, then go back seven days to see if there's a pattern."

He Yushui nodded, flipped open her notebook, and began to write.

Zhao Jianguo then called Sha Zhu and Dong Xu over; the three crouched by the stone bench, whispering their plans. Yanbugui came out leaning on a bamboo stick, drawn by the commotion.

"Old Yan, you used to be the head of the joint defense team—do you think a lone actor could pull this off so precisely?" Zhao Jianguo asked.

Yanbugui narrowed his eyes at the bound man, "Doesn't look like his first time here. His moves are practiced; he even knows exactly which wire in the main control box is cut."

"Then that's right." Zhao Jianguo stood up, "It shows he's not working alone. We've caught one, but there's still someone at large."

Sha Zhu slapped his thigh, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's search the whole courtyard!"

"Searching won't do." Zhao Jianguo shook his head, "We need to let him show himself. What we lack most now is evidence—arresting people alone isn't enough; we need to know who's behind him, how he got in, and what he's after."

Dong Xu frowned, "But what if he doesn't come?"

"He will." Zhao Jianguo gave a cold smile, "If he dared to tamper with the main control box, that shows this place matters to him. Now that we've caught a person and damaged the equipment, even if he doesn't come to collect the body, he'll still come to check whether they're alive or dead."

He turned and walked to the main hall's door, laid the transmitter's wreckage in a conspicuous spot, and had He Yushui spread open her notebook, writing: "2:34 a. m., enemy spy ringleader captured, transmission cut, system intact."

"We need to let him know we're not in chaos or panic," Zhao Jianguo said, "On the contrary, we've laid out all the evidence."

Sure enough, before dawn, Dong Xu discovered a problem while checking the west wall.

"Jianguo!" he whispered, "There are two scrape marks here, the mortar between the bricks worn away, about the same height—likely the same person climbing over several times."

Zhao Jianguo went over, crouched, and felt the brick surface, "Fresh marks, made within the last two or three days."

More importantly, Sha Zhu dug out a half-burnt scrap of paper from the innermost part of the firewood pile, bearing the numbers—**0427**.

"It matches that string of numbers." He Yushui held the scrap up for comparison, "The beginning is the same."

Zhao Jianguo took the paper, furrowed his brow, "Are they using this time point as a signal?"

"Not just a signal." He Yushui flipped open her logbook, "I checked the past seven days; at 04:27 and 20:27 each day, the voltage showed weak fluctuations, at most 0.3 volts, just like tonight's first alarm."

"It's not the wind." Dong Xu realized, "Someone's probing at set points."

"Exactly." Zhao Jianguo stood, "They're looking for vulnerabilities in the system to stay hidden long-term. This person isn't here to sabotage; he's here to be the 'eyes'."

Yanbugui clicked his tongue in amazement, "Quite the character—we had a probe installed in our courtyard and didn't even know it."

"Now we know." Zhao Jianguo pocketed the slip, "Effective immediately, the whole courtyard goes into 'Level Two Alert.' Night patrols are suspended; we'll switch to fixed-point sentries. We'll set hidden posts at the main gate, west wall, and back alley, taking turns to watch."

"And what about you?" Sha Zhu asked.

"I'll guard the main control box." Zhao Jianguo sat back on the stone bench, "If he really has accomplices, he'll definitely come to check the situation. We'll stay right here and wait for him to show up."

Time ticked by, the sky just began to lighten, and sure enough there was movement on the roof of the back alley.

A figure crouched low, crept along the tiles to the edge, holding a binoculars, aimed it at the central courtyard. Seeing the man still tied to the pillar and Zhao Jianguo sitting before the main control box, he slowly backed away, preparing to slip off.

Zhao Jianguo had been waiting for him.

He lightly pressed a button on the side of the main control box; three red lamps glowed on, then slowly faded—this was a false signal of "system normal."

The man froze, stopped moving, then lay back down to look.

In that instant, Sha Zhu led two men from the side door around to the back alley, while Dong Xu and He Yushui came around from behind the firewood shed to flank him.

The man had just tried to climb over the wall, his foot not yet steady, when Dong Xu grabbed his leg and yanked him down. He Yushui lunged to pin his shoulders, and Sha Zhu rushed forward, looping a rope around his head.

"Behave!" Sha Zhu pressed him down, "Move a finger and I'll smack you with a kitchen knife!"

The man was dragged back to the central courtyard and tied side‑by‑side with the earlier captive on the pillar. A search of his pockets revealed a palm‑sized black box with an antenna, plus a slip of paper that read: "If response fails, withdraw immediately."

Zhao Jianguo took the box and examined it, "A miniature receiver, capable of picking up short‑wave signals. That's how they stay in contact."

He handed the slip to He Yushui, "Note that the second one's also been netted—clear orders, tight organization."

By then, the courtyard's residents were waking up one after another. Qin Huairu stood at the door holding her child, Jia Zhangshi leaned on the doorframe to look outside, and a few other households came out in their clothes.

Zhao Jianguo stepped onto the stone bench, faced the crowd, his voice low but each word clear:

"These two—one wanted to wreck our system, the other to collect corpses and flee. They thought we were soft persimmons, easy to squash."

He pointed at the main control box, "But they don't realize that this courtyard now has not just lights and wires, but people watching over it, guarding it with care."

"From today on, anyone who wants to mess with our home has to ask this lamp, this wire, and this group of people whether they agree."

Having said that, he jumped down from the bench, walked to the main control box, closed the cover, and tightened the screw as he went.

Sha Zhu went back inside to change into dry clothes, then came out holding a bowl of hot noodle soup, which he handed to Zhao Jianguo, "Eat while it's hot—I added extra scallions."

Zhao Jianguo took the bowl, blew on it, and the steam from the noodles fogged up his face.

Yanbugui stood in the corridor leaning on his bamboo stick, gazing at the now‑quiet courtyard, and said softly, "This time, it's truly peaceful."

Zhao Jianguo lowered his head to eat the noodles, his chopsticks tapping the bowl's bottom with a soft click.

The oil lamp still burned, shining on the copper badge in his hand, engraved with "Number One," its edges a little worn.