The Military Control Commissioner’s mansion had never been so airtight. There were three layers of fences outside, and even a pigeon that landed near the wall was shot dead.
On the contrary, the small corner of the side courtyard inside the mansion seemed very quiet.
The housekeeper, Lao Yang, is old, and the Military Control Commissioner has long stopped him from running errands. He is treated well and is just allowed to live in this remote courtyard. In the past two days, Lao Yang has had the additional job of guarding a prisoner.
The prisoner was being held in a dungeon in the side yard, never seeing the light of day. Lao Yang was only responsible for keeping the key to the door, as there were men with guns guarding outside, so he didn’t need to worry about anything.
That night, Yuan Ye sneaked into the mansion with a man in a black cloak, who had half his face covered. Yuan Ye took advantage of the shift change and brought the man in with the help of a gatekeeper who had been favored by him. The man was going to be transferred tomorrow, so today was the only chance for him to see him.
As soon as Lao Yang saw Yuan Ye, he smiled and said, “Why are you here, Young Master?”
Yuan Ye said without further ado, “Lao Yang, open the door. I want to see the prisoner.”
Lao Yang’s expression changed, and his hunched body shrank a little. He pleaded, “Young Master, I am alone now and old. Please let me spend my old age in peace, have pity on me.”
“Lao Yang, I won’t take the person away, and I can’t take him away either. We’re really just gonna meet and talk.”
“Young Master, Old Master has become more and more suspicious recently. These things are not clean, so don’t get involved!”
Seeing that his pleading was useless, Yuan Ye changed his words: “Lao Yang, I helped you when your son was being chased and killed over gambling debts. I’m not saying this to make you feel obligated to return the favor, but just to ask you to show me some consideration for it. You’ve seen me grow up, and I won’t harm you.”
This really hit home. Lao Yang pursed his lips, looked at the sky, and then took out a pipe from his trouser pocket, lit it, took a few puffs, blew out smoke rings, and gritted his teeth: “Fine… just one pack of cigarettes.”
While smoking, he turned around to unlock the dungeon door, mumbling as he did so, “The guy in there is truly ruthless. On the very first day he was brought in, he tried to kill himself. With no knife, he bit into his own wrist. Tsk, tsk, tsk… even severed his own tendons. I’ve lived a long time, but I’ve never seen anyone that brutal to themselves.”
The chain rustled and fell to the ground. Lao Yang opened the door, walked aside, pointed at the door with his pipe, and motioned them to go in.
Yuan Ye said to the man, “Xu Hang, I’ll watch over you here. If you have anything to say, hurry up. It’s not fun to be discovered.”
Xu Hang took off his black cloak, took the kerosene lamp, nodded, and walked down to the dungeon.
The door of the dungeon was above the ground, and the steps went down, covered with moss. There was no light inside, and the air was filled with the smell of mold, dampness, and blood.
It was clear this place had been abandoned for quite some time and only recently put back into use. Dust thick in the corners, a skylight choked with cobwebs, the shriveled remains of rats and cockroaches scattered around—the air was stale, and each step forward felt like descending into an abyss.
The kerosene lamp could not stand the dampness and was swaying. It always wanted to be extinguished, but it survived tenaciously until it reached the depths of the dungeon.
A little light drove away all the darkness.
Xu Hang saw Cong Lin’s current situation clearly.
He knelt at the base of the wall, a steel needle as thick as a thumb driven into his right shoulder. Blood had trickled from the wound, now beginning to crust over with dried scabs.
Both if his wrists were covered with deep bite marks, deep enough to see the bones, flesh and blood were exposed, pus was flowing due to suppuration, meridians were broken, and both hands were useless, slumped to the side. There were scars of all sizes on his body, half of his face was covered in blood, and he slowly raised his head when he heard footsteps.
It’s really surprising that he hasn’t died even after falling to this point.
Cong Lin saw who was coming and smiled very weakly. His voice was like an echo in a rotten dead tree: “Young Master Xu… you are the only one who has the ability to come to a place like this to see me.”
Xu Hang put down the kerosene lamp and sat cross-legged in front of Cong Lin: “If you die quietly like this, it would be a waste.”
“…I don’t feel aggrieved for losing to you.” Cong Lin recognized Xu Hang’s wisdom.
Xu Hang shook his head gently: “You are very smart. If you were born ten years earlier, I might not be your opponent. You just lost because you are too young.”
“Hehe…” Cong Lin laughed softly and frowned in pain from the wound. “If we were not on different paths, we could still appreciate each other… what a pity.”
Looking at the horrible wound, Xu Hang raised his eyebrows slightly: “You’re really set on cutting off your own hands. Now that the bandits are dead and Yuan Sen believes you’re mute, you can’t write or speak either—making you the perfect scapegoat.”
When Cong Lin was taken by Yuan Sen, he had already foreseen his fate. If he didn’t take matters into his own hands, Yuan Sen would force him to give false testimony and frame Duan Zhanzhou. No matter how strong his will, he would still be tortured. Since the knife was inevitable, he chose to wield it himself—hoping that by doing so, Yuan Sen would give up.
In this way, his only value is to bear the blame. It can be regarded as giving himself some breathing space at the end, and it can also be regarded as… protecting Duan Zhanzhou.
Still, Xu Hang had to admit—there aren’t many people in the world with the kind of courage Cong Lin had, to go so far as to bite through his own tendons.
Time was running out, so there was no time for such reminiscing. Xu Hang said directly, “Your sentence has come down. You will be shot in three days.”
Cong Lin was very calm after hearing this, without any fear of life or death at all: “This is… good.”
“I want to make a deal with you. You know a lot of things, and that’s exactly what I need. Are you willing to use your last bit of value and bargaining chips to exchange for the safety of the warship?”
The condition Xu Hang offered was to “rescue Duan Zhanzhou,” not to “save him.” He understood all too well that, first of all, it was sheer luck he’d managed to get in today—there was no way he could get Cong Lin out. Secondly, even if Cong Lin were freed, the Chief of Staff would never let him go. He’d be as good as dead for the rest of his life, especially now that his body was already broken beyond repair.
Cong Lin also knew these two reasons.
“Young Master Xu, you are the one who brought me to my defeat. Can I trust you?”
“You can, and you must.” Xu Hang looked at him steadily. “Once this happens, you are already a useless chess piece in the eyes of the Chief of Staff. He will send new assassins to Duan Zhanzhou. Once you die, you will no longer be able to protect him. You should know that only I can help him deal with the Chief of Staff’s conspiracy and save his life.”
Cong Lin stared at the flickering lights with his dark eyes for a long time.
Xu Hang spoke again, “Don’t give me that crap about deep bonds between master and servant. For Duan Zhanzhou, you’d even kill your own sister—so don’t talk to me about that bullsh*t loyalty and trust.”
This made Cong Lin laugh sneerily. After all, the only person who understood him in the world was this opponent.
“Cough, cough, cough… Young Master Xu, I really admire you more and more…”
He moved his knees, which were worn out from kneeling for too long. He let out a long breath. “I thought I would keep these things to myself for the rest of my life, but I didn’t expect you to be the first person to listen.”
Xu Hang saw that he was in pain, so he walked up to him, took a handkerchief, put it under his knees, and asked, “You killed Cong Wei, not because of jealousy, right?”
“If my sister truly loved Duan Zhanzhou, I’d not be willing to go that far. But… she tried to kill him. My foolish sister fell for an old man who saw us as nothing more than tools… she was so naive.”
Cong Lin began to talk.
It turned out that Duan Zhanzhou had accidentally gotten drunk at the Chief of Staff’s house. When he woke up, he found Cong Wei lying naked beside him. Looking at the girl crying, he realized that he had behaved immorally after drinking, so he proposed to the Chief of Staff.
“Actually, Duan Zhanzhou didn’t sleep with Cong Wei, but you did, right?” Xu Hang said with certainty.
Cong Lin raised his head suddenly: “Did you find out?”
“Ever since I caught you when you were living in Qiyuan, I found it hard to believe. At first, I thought Duan Zhanzhou had been drugged by you, but when I took his pulse, everything seemed normal. He didn’t seem to remember anything either. I doubt there’s any drug in the world that could do something like that.”
“…You are really meticulous.”
Xu Hang said, “After consulting a lot of classics, I concluded that he probably had a kind of ‘night wandering’ disorder. Although Duan Zhanzhou’s behavior in his dream is too rare, judging from the symptoms, it should be similar, so it’s no wonder that he was taken advantage of.”
Sleepwalking is a peculiar condition. In the “Autumn Lantern Collection” written by Wang Xie during the Qing Dynasty, there are numerous accounts of people dancing in their sleep, wandering around in dreams, and engaging in countless other strange behaviors.
Cong Lin chuckled dryly and shook his head. “Not entirely. That day… the Chief of Staff spiked his wine to stir him up, but no one knew about his sleepwalking condition. When my sister was placed in his room, he was gone… but ended up in… my room.”
That night was chaotic, unfamiliar, restless, and bewildering, leaving Cong Lin with a lasting impression.
In reality, even if Duan Zhanzhou had been awake, Cong Lin knew that if he didn’t want to, Duan Zhanzhou couldn’t have truly forced him. In the end, with the tacit approval of both sides, one was willing to fight, and the other was willing to be beaten.
By dawn, the muddled plan had been set right, the truth concealed, and the prince replaced by a cat. Everything unfolded just as the Chief of Staff had intended.
Later, Cong Lin discreetly questioned the servants who attended to Duan Zhanzhou, and they all claimed he simply took walks in his sleep, with nothing unusual ever happening. Yet that night, like a mysterious key, it had unlocked a hidden door in Duan Zhanzhou’s body. From then on, he would occasionally stumble into Cong Lin’s room in the same way, only to forget everything by dawn.
It was like a dream, it was all in vain.
This secret bond was buried deep in Cong Lin’s heart, which was both shameful and helpless.
It was not his fault that he did not say anything. If he told others about this kind of thing, who would believe it?
If Xu Hang hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he would have sneered as well.
Cong Lin glanced up at the dark ceiling. “The Chief of Staff arranged everything perfectly. The only surprise was that he never anticipated I would betray him from the very beginning.”
At the beginning, Duan Zhanzhou was ordered to resist the Japanese invaders, and the Chief of Staff was bribed by the Japanese and was ready to attack Duan Zhanzhou. Therefore, on the wedding night, if Cong Wei didn’t die, it would be the death of Duan Zhanzhou.
Everyone thought that Cong Lin was ruthless, but no one knew that he was the most heartbroken person in the world when Cong Wei died.
On the wedding day, Cong Wei, wearing a white wedding dress, was as beautiful as an angel, as the missionaries said. She smiled sweetly, and it was the most beautiful moment Cong Lin had ever seen her. Therefore, when he stood in front of Cong Wei with a knife, he trembled so much that he almost dropped it.
Cong Wei looked at his eyes, which changed from shock to suspicion, from sadness to relief, and finally returned to calmness.
Run away, Sister.
No.
Can you not kill him?
I can’t.
Cong Lin understood all the feelings expressed in Cong Wei’s eyes. She loved the Chief of Staff, so she was willing to be used by him, just as he loved Duan Zhanzhou and was willing to become an enemy of his family for him.
It was Cong Wei who took the initiative to hold Cong Lin’s knife and put it against her own heart.
She said, “Little Brother… you know that spies who fail their missions can only be dealt with. So, one of us must die tonight. I don’t want to be your enemy, nor do I want to hurt those you care about, but… the moment we became assassins, we were already doomed to a tragic end. Before I’m consumed by sin, I’d rather you end it for me. Do it.”
Cong Lin’s eyes filled with tears, his shoulders trembling. In the next moment, his wrist was yanked by Cong Wei. With a sharp ‘hiss,’ the tip of the knife broke through the skin, sinking into the flesh, and pierced the beating heart. Blood splattered, staining half of her wedding dress with a warm, crimson hue.
Cong Wei opened her mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood, but she tried to smile.
She hugged Cong Lin and said, “Little Brother… Sister has wronged you. I was blinded by the devil at the beginning… I was jealous of how good Dad and Mom were to you, so I tricked you into going with Pahua Zi… If it wasn’t for that, you wouldn’t be so miserable…”
She always felt guilty towards her younger brother for ruining his life, so she should give him this life as compensation.
Cong Lin held his elder sister tightly, only to realize that the woman who had once used her body to warm him during the cold winters now felt so weak and light in his arms.
In the face of love and family, she chose to sacrifice herself to spare Cong Lin from the pain. Perhaps only she knew whether it was the weariness of a killer’s life or the guilt she felt towards her younger brother that drove her to take the initiative to end her own life.
It doesn’t matter anymore.
He only remembered the sister who would share meat with him when eating, warm his bed when sleeping, and stand in front of him when he was on a mission. She is no longer there.
When recalling Cong Wei, a rare warm smile appeared on Cong Lin’s face.
Xu Hang has no brothers, but he can sense his pain and frowns: “How did you hide it from the Chief of Staff later?”
“I lied to him and said that my sister fell in love with Duan Zhanzhou and wanted to tell him all the plans, so I killed her.”
“Did the Chief of Staff believe it?”
“He was half-believing and half-doubting, so… I swallowed the coal.” Cong Lin mentioned this and couldn’t help but recall the painful feeling of the hot coals burning in his mouth. “That was a play I put on to make the Chief of Staff believe in my loyalty to him. Only in this way would he be assured that I, who was obedient enough to swallow coal without hesitation, was loyal and place me next to Duan Zhanzhou.”
It’s easy to say, but the price is too high.
What kind of killer is Cong Lin? He has extraordinary wisdom and skills, but he doesn’t have the ruthlessness that a killer should have. If he can’t get through Duan Zhanzhou’s disaster, he will die.
Xu Hang felt a little regretful: “I used to think you and I were alike, but now it seems that we are not alike at all. At least, I can’t protect such a heartless guy.”
“Haha… cough, cough… if I hadn’t fallen into this situation, I wouldn’t believe that I could do this either. Just like a gambler, I have placed a lot of bets, always thinking that I can turn the tables in the next round, and I can’t bear to stop.”
Cong Lin’s laughter became more and more sad.
“Then you are really a failed gambler.”
“Yes, I protected him so much, but he didn’t know it at all and even… hated me.”
Cong Lin looked at a small moth fluttering around the candle flame. After hesitating for a long time, it finally dove in and burned itself to ashes. “He must be very happy. I’m going to die, he will definitely be very happy.”
Even though Cong Lin had hurt Xu Hang before, but he had no intention of adding insult to injury. He stood up, moved forward a little, squatted down again, and pushed Cong Lin’s messy hair back, revealing his small face covered with bruises and wounds.
Just looking at his face, he still appeared to be a 17-year-old boy.
He took a gentle breath and said, “Cong Lin, Duan Zhanzhou likes you.”
Cong Lin was stunned for a moment, then made a helpless expression: “Young Master Xu, even if I’m dying, I won’t be this pitiful either, you don’t have to coax me…”
“He likes you.”
“Even if everyone in the world died, he would not be happy…”
Xu Hang interrupted him hastily: “For you, he almost broke into the Military Control Commissioner’s mansion alone; for you, he was willing to give up the governorship that was within his grasp; for you, he even planned to rob the execution ground. Cong Lin, what would you call this if it’s not love?”
Cong Lin was stunned. Every word Xu Hang said was powerful, but he felt that it couldn’t be equated with the Duan Zhanzhou he knew.
“You, you said that he, he… he… it’s impossible…”
In order to make Cong Lin believe what he said, Xu Hang held up his face with both hands, looked him straight down, and said seriously, “Except for you who don’t believe it, anyone with a discerning eye can see it. He just can’t accept that he is attracted to you, and you never dared to hope that he would treat you well as well. Aren’t you the person who knows him best in this world?”
After taking a breath, he continued, “If he really hated you to the core, would Duan Zhanzhou really not kill you because he was afraid of the Chief of Staff after all these years? Think about it carefully. Has he ever revealed the slightest bit of his longing for your sister? As a spy, could you be brought down from Jiuhuang Mountain alive?”
One question, one shot, hitting Cong Lin’s heart.
