On the road not heading to the Central District, Yu Chongyi kept scanning the streets deliberately, but between the sheer number of refugees and the North District’s considerable size, they passed through several blocks in succession without ever spotting Xiang Qisheng or the Peng couple in the crowd.

Passing through the most congested block, the car’s speed picked up immediately. Just as they were about to turn a corner, a truck suddenly appeared to the side ahead.

The truck was parked by the road, a flag fixed to its side. By the light of the streetlamp, Yu Chongyi recognized at a glance that it belonged to a certain patriotic student-teacher group in Shanghai.

The truck bed was loaded with a large quantity of relief supplies, and about twenty students sat on the two rows of seats, chattering away as they sorted the supplies — clearly still basking in a heightened sense of accomplishment from their act of charity in distributing goods.

The truck’s engine hummed and rumbled, as if ready to start at any moment — it seemed they were finishing up here and about to move on elsewhere.

What caught Yu Chongyi’s attention was that, just then, someone hurried across the road toward the truck — from the back, it was clearly Xiang Qisheng.

Wang Bide had apparently seen him too and immediately hit the brakes. Seeing no cars behind them, he took the opportunity to back the car up a stretch. Since they hadn’t yet driven out of that stretch of road, there was a blind spot in view, and they didn’t attract the other side’s attention.

The students seemed to hear that Xiang Qisheng had arrived and crowded to the side of the truck, craning their necks to look out, calling “Mr. Xiang” this and “Mr. Xiang” that, showing extraordinary respect.

Xiang Qisheng remained expressionless as ever, only nodding stiffly, before lifting the hem of his long robe and taking a seat in the passenger seat.

Yu Chongyi’s tone carried confusion. “Is this man loyal or a traitor, in the end.”

He suddenly realized that despite having been neighbors for so long, because Xiang Qisheng was so taciturn, the words the two of them had exchanged didn’t add up to more than ten sentences.

Wang Bide stared thoughtfully at the people in the truck. Once the truck started moving, he slowly pulled the car away from where it had been. “Never mind Xiang Qisheng for now — there’s something off about a few of the students in that truck.”

“Off how?”

Wang Bide deliberately kept some distance from the other vehicle. “A bit too old, and their movements don’t fit either. When Xiang Qisheng came over, their attention wasn’t on him at all — they just kept turning their heads to scan the surroundings. That’s hardly student behavior; clearly they were keeping watch. Looks like members of some organization mixed in among the students posing as such — though whether Xiang Qisheng himself knows about it is another question.”

No wonder — he’d studied forensic traces as a detective, noticing even such subtle details. Yu Chongyi felt a surge of admiration. “Suppose Xiang Qisheng arranged this deliberately — if his accomplices could pose as students, why bring so many real students along too? Aren’t they worried something might go wrong and cause trouble for themselves?”

“Fake is fake no matter how convincing it looks — it’s bound to show a flaw eventually. But without using this group of students as cover, how else could they search for the gold nearby without drawing attention?”

Wang Bide gave a cold snort as he spoke, quietly picking up speed. “If Xiang Qisheng doesn’t know about it, fine. But if he arranged all this in advance, his intentions are truly vicious. To lure out so many students for one operation — if the operation fails, he can even use these young lives as human shields to take the bullets for him.”

Yu Chongyi noticed the truck was heading toward the Central District and said in surprise, “But if their aim really is the gold, shouldn’t they stay in the North District and wait for their chance? Why head to the Central District?”

“There are only three possibilities. First, they’re not enemy forces at all, and they’re heading to the Central District just to distribute relief supplies to refugees there. Second, they really are enemy forces, but their aim isn’t the gold — they have another task. Third, they’re enemy forces and their target is indeed the gold, but for some reason they’ve grown suspicious of the remote Central District, so they’ve temporarily decided to change ‘battlefields.'”

Yu Chongyi showed an expression both confused and uneasy.

Wang Bide patiently explained, “If Xiang Qisheng really is one of the enemy’s people, then he actually has three identities. First, the pedantic Aurora University professor. Second, the leader of a certain patriotic organization. Third, an enemy agent.

“Most people only know his first identity, and few know the others. Some patriotic organizations, having cooperated with him before, happen to know his second identity — and because of that, even if they run into him during operations, knowing his stance, they’ll inevitably let their guard down somewhat, no matter how careful they try to be. As for the passionate young students newly joined to the organization, they’d be even more careless. I suspect someone within the organization has leaked his whereabouts without realizing it.”

By now Yu Chongyi understood completely, and said anxiously, “If Yunqin and the others really are searching for the gold in the Central District, and Xiang Qisheng’s men have followed them there, they could use the cover of distributing relief supplies to catch them off guard.”

Wang Bide’s face darkened slightly. Seeing they had entered the Central District, he unconsciously picked up speed.

The couple, having finished collecting their relief grain, returned to sit beneath a tree, laying their bundles on the ground as cushions. The two of them sat close together, dividing dry rations for the children, showing no sign of leaving for now. As for the other refugees who had come with them, having collected their goods, they were about to head off.

But before they got far, Old Liu and the others smilingly urged them to stay.

“Heading back to the North District? We happen to have a large truck here that can hold a hundred people. The food’s about to run out — if you’d like to go back, you’re welcome to ride along.”

This was an offer hard to refuse. After a day and night of running for their lives, people were already exhausted; with a ride available, it was naturally a hundred times better than walking.

The group’s expressions froze for a moment; they glanced, without meaning to, at the couple under the tree, then instantly put on delighted expressions. “Sir is truly a kind man — we were just heading back to the North District.”

Old Liu smiled. “Then please wait a moment. We’ll set off once we’ve finished distributing the relief grain.”

This area was unusually quiet. He Yunqin and the others were still searching for the gold inside the school, surrounded entirely by their own people. The school building wasn’t large; distributing the food had already taken up more than half an hour — at most another half hour and there should be news. Until then, no one could be allowed out to send word.

Because new refugees kept joining, the relief grain distribution continued. The couple seemed not to notice the commotion here, absorbed in fussing over their children — the wife was rather plump, and the two children were bundled up thickly as well.

Under the cover of the loose clothing, the man quietly extended a hand, about to pinch the older boy’s bottom, when just then someone hurried over, as if having discovered something nearby and eager to report it.

The man’s hand hesitated, then withdrew.

That person made a wide detour to another tree. Seeing this, Old Liu handed the relief distribution work to a companion and walked over.

The man said in a low voice, “Just now, near here, we spotted the Duan brothers’ car — seems they noticed there were people at Peiying Primary School and abruptly changed course, driving the car away. Right now they’re driving around aimlessly on the streets like headless flies.”

Weren’t they heading back to the French Concession? Why had they come back again? Old Liu frowned deeply. “Take two men and follow them. To keep them from stumbling in here and causing trouble, scare them off if necessary.”

The man nodded and left the way he’d come.

At that moment, someone came out from the school’s side gate — as if brimming with heightened emotion, his strides were huge and hurried. Reaching the main gate, he first stopped, then silently looked toward Old Liu.

Old Liu looked over — it was Yu Rui. Though Yu Rui made no extra motion, from his restless eyes and expression, it was clear there had been a major discovery inside the school.

After searching for so long, this was the moment they’d been waiting for. Old Liu’s heart nearly stopped with excitement, followed by an unprecedented surge of vigilance — the gold had been found; what remained was extraction and transport. At this stage, no part of the task would be any easier than what came before — nothing could go wrong. Unnoticed, a thin sheen of sweat broke out on his back as he distributed the relief grain while keeping a wary eye on the commoners around him.

Having delivered the news, Yu Rui was about to head back to the school when his gaze swept past and landed on the couple under the tree not far off — he froze.

They probably didn’t recognize him, but he recognized them. That morning, Brother He had been extremely wary of them, and now, instead of staying in the perfectly safe zone, they had come all the way to the remote Central District. Without that first point, he wouldn’t have been so certain, but with both points combined, the likelihood that they were enemy agents was too high.

Though he didn’t know how many accomplices they had, since this group had already come nearby, they could launch an attack to seize the gold at any moment. His face darkened, and like lightning he reached into his coat — his training was brief and his marksmanship not precise enough, and with two children blocking their chests, he couldn’t pull the trigger without hesitation.

What this motion from Yu Rui meant, Old Liu and the others understood at once. They hurriedly followed his gaze to the Peng couple. Already on guard, at this sight they all drew the guns from behind their waists.

The couple had originally come fully prepared, never expecting the other side to act first. With no time to think about where they’d shown a flaw, they hastily gave the signal to act — but before the older “son” in their arms could even let out a sharp cry, the other side had already fired the first shot.

The dozen or so accomplices under the tree drew their weapons and rose. Amid the chaos, a second shot rang out, then a third, gunfire crackling like a sudden storm, mingled with the commoners’ sharp screams and scattering footsteps.

Wang Bide and the others had at first thought of tailing Xiang Qisheng’s group’s car, but seeing the other side’s numbers were not small, they feared arousing suspicion and dared not follow too closely.

Passing through a block with a large number of refugees, Wang Bide took a bold risk — while the students suggested stopping to distribute relief supplies, he used the cover of darkness to speed up and overtake the truck.

After entering the Central District, the two of them relied on the memory they’d stored that morning, concentrating on following the route to find those two suspicious buildings in the area. Xiang Qisheng’s car would soon catch up — they had to find He Yunqin and the others before then.

The road grew more and more remote. They drove into a quiet street; according to the map, at the end of the road was a small grove of trees, and past the grove would be Peiying Primary School. Before they even drew close, a sudden, jarring sound reached them from ahead.

The two of them froze. Before they could recover, a sustained burst of gunfire followed, each shot more chilling than the last.

It seemed at least one faction had already arrived. Yu Chongyi’s heart pounded uncontrollably; without a second thought he chambered a round. He had promised his sister he would find Yunqin, and now that the two sides were fighting, he couldn’t wait to go help.

Wang Bide’s face, already sallow, turned practically the color of gold foil. He slammed the accelerator, sending the car flying forward — only cursing that the road was too narrow and the trees too dense. Though the gunfire was clearly right ahead, after driving for over ten minutes, they still couldn’t reach their destination no matter what.

Finally entering a narrow path, just as the school’s façade came into view, a woman came stumbling frantically toward them from the end of the road. Her hair was disheveled, her face deathly pale, a wailing infant clutched in her arms.

Seeing the car coming toward her, her eyes lit up, and without thinking she called out, “Young Master Yu.”

Yu Chongyi looked closely — it was Mrs. Peng.

Mrs. Peng ran up to the car holding the child, crying loudly, “The two of us only wanted to catch a train back to the countryside — who knew we’d run into fighting everywhere. Just now, fighting broke out inside again. My husband and our elder boy never came out — I don’t know if they’re dead or alive. Young Master Yu, what should we do?”

As she spoke, one arm remained hidden in the crook holding the child, slowly moving upward under the cover of the plump child’s body. Seeing that Yu Chongyi and Wang Bide’s attention was entirely drawn by her words, though her face was still crying, her hand shot up with lightning speed, aimed straight at Yu Chongyi’s forehead.

With her skill, killing both men at close range would take at most three seconds. Now that the gold had surfaced, she urgently needed to send word to her organization — this car had arrived at just the right moment.

But before she could pull the trigger, Yu Chongyi moved faster than she did. She only felt a tremendous force strike her forehead, sending her whole body flying backward.

She stared in disbelief, her eyes wide, not even having time to feel pain before her consciousness froze at that instant — in her memory, this young man had never looked at anyone with such a cold, severe expression before.

Wang Bide spat, “If we hadn’t already grown suspicious of the two of them, she would have ambushed us just now.”

Yu Chongyi, expressionless, pushed open the car door and got out. Out of an inborn compassion, without pausing to check the woman’s corpse, he first looked at Afu, who was crying so hard he could barely catch his breath. He was just about to carry the child to the car when he suddenly froze.

Wang Bide was about to get out when he heard Yu Chongyi say coldly, “Inspector Wang, there’s something off about Afu’s clothes.”

Wang Bide paused, then hurried to Yu Chongyi’s side and reached out to touch it — Afu’s clothing was stiff and heavy, undoubtedly hiding something.

His heart leapt; he exchanged a glance with Yu Chongyi, and holding his breath, carefully stripped the clothing off the still-wailing Afu.

Turning it over cautiously, just as they’d feared, two rows of bombs stood inside.

The two of them were shocked — no one would use their own child as a human bomb. This child was clearly one the Peng couple had taken from an orphanage or somewhere else to disguise their identities.

Things had happened too fast; fortunately the fuse hadn’t been triggered. Urgently needing to send word, the two of them quickly hurled it far away into a nearby pond, marked the spot, and rushed back into the car. The engine roared, and the car shot forward like an arrow. Wang Bide said, “The second boy has a bomb strapped on him — the older one probably does too. Quick—”

Before he finished speaking, a “boom” sounded, a long, piercing blast erupting from ahead.

Both their hearts jolted with the shaking of the car, freezing in their chests.

The gold was hidden beneath the statue of a certain British knight who had built the school, with numerous detonation mechanisms arranged around it. Fortunately, the technology used was ten years old, and for He Yunqin and the others, who had done extensive preparation, it wasn’t too difficult to dismantle.

Having pinpointed the location, everyone worked together to disarm the mechanisms one by one.

As the soil was dug up layer by layer, a one-meter-square iron box slowly emerged before everyone’s eyes.

For this enormous fortune, over the past ten years, countless people had paid a heavy price. Seeing the thing finally found, everyone’s breathing eased somewhat.

Just as they were about to lift the box out, gunfire suddenly rang out in the night sky. Everyone froze.

Listening intently for a moment, Ruide rose and led part of the group out to respond, while the rest, under He Yunqin’s direction, sped up the digging.

Once they’d worked together to carry the box out, He Yunqin aimed his gun at the rusted latch and fired. The latch fell with a hard clang. Everyone bent down, and when the heavy lid was opened, sure enough, inside lay thousands of dull gold bars, stacked in rows.

Everyone let out a long breath without meaning to. Outside, fighting still continued, and no one dared let their guard down — fortunately the gunfire wasn’t too dense, suggesting that even if enemy forces had reached this place, their numbers wouldn’t be too great. With the truck parked right at the school gate, as long as they could withdraw with the gold before enemy reinforcements arrived, this operation would be more than half successful. Once they reached another district, a large group of comrades would be waiting to receive them.

Gripping his gun, He Yunqin said in a low voice, “Let’s withdraw.”

The gunfire indeed grew sparser — clearly Ruide and Old Liu’s group were gradually gaining control outside the school. Just as they were carrying the iron box to the school gate, about to load it into the truck bed, Yu Rui suddenly said, “Not good — that woman ran off with the child. Quick, after her.”

Hearing this, He Yunqin looked that way. Most of the commoners had already been moved by Ruide and the others to the small hillside beside the school. The remaining enemy forces, though still putting up resistance, had come poorly prepared and had grown careless during the fighting — now only one or two were still holding out.

Things had been too chaotic just now; Yu Rui, inexperienced, only now, with the situation somewhat settled, looked up to discover that the husband of the couple had been held back and hadn’t managed to escape — only the woman was missing.

“Bang—” Just then, another enemy agent was struck down. At the school gate, only the gaunt Tailor Peng remained, still trying to break through. This man, whether in skill or combat experience, was extremely capable — he should have escaped long ago, but he deliberately held back to delay Ruide and the others.

He knew the gold was already in the enemy’s hands; his own side hadn’t arrived yet; the woman had already left, and reinforcements wouldn’t come for at least half an hour. At this juncture, he had to find a way to stall for time.

Fortunately, with his “elder son” as cover, though the other side could have hit him several times, their hesitation let him keep dodging with ease so far.

But as his accomplices were eliminated one by one, and the empty concrete schoolyard left him as the sole remaining target, his dodging grew slower and slower. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his shoulder — his left arm had been hit. His body swayed, and he barely managed to steady his stance to keep from dropping the child. But the next instant, another sharp pain struck his left knee — this time he couldn’t hold up, his mind going blank for a moment as he dropped straight to his knees. He struggled to lift his head, casting a venomous glare ahead, and unexpectedly saw a familiar face — recognizing He Yunqin, he wasn’t too surprised.

He had no way now of determining whether those last two shots had come from this man, but his only remaining thought was to take these people down with him — the child’s body carried enough explosives to finish them all.

He dropped to his knees, adopting a posture of surrender, lifting the child high, and cried out mournfully to the group, “The child is innocent. I beg you, kill me if you must, but spare this child. Take my life, just take the child away.”

The child, frightened, wailed loudly, limbs kicking like a frog. The night was deep, the north wind rising; the child’s cries reaching everyone’s ears inexplicably tugged at their hearts.

Taking advantage of everyone’s attention being momentarily drawn to the child, Tailor Peng quietly pulled the fuse at the hem of the child’s clothing, then, with all his remaining strength, hurled the so-called elder son toward Yu Rui, who was nearest to him. He Yunqin raised his gun and fired his last shot; the tailor fell dead on the spot.

Yu Rui had never encountered such a situation before; for a moment he was at a loss, holding the wailing child, frozen in place. Ruide caught sight of this at once, his face changing, and said sharply, “Yu Rui.”

Yu Rui snapped back to himself, remembering his past training, and with trembling hands reached for the child’s clothing — but, too nervous, after two seconds the garment still wouldn’t come off no matter what he tried.

Old Liu and the others were anxious, cursing themselves for being too far away to reach in time. Just as Yu Rui was growing desperate, an arm suddenly reached out from behind him, and in a few swift motions stripped off the clothing along with him, then, together with the explosives inside, flung it far, with all his strength, into the empty part of the schoolyard. Yu Rui startled — it was He Yunqin.

Everyone present had experience with explosives; seeing that only seconds remained before the set detonation time, in that instant, He Yunqin swept the child into his arms and lunged forward, shouting furiously, “Get down!” But there was too little time — before he’d even finished speaking, a deafening blast tore open the air beside them, shaking Yu Rui’s eardrums and, along with them, shattering his consciousness.

He Yunqin sighed, his consciousness seeming to sink into a vast, dark sea. Looking around, there was nothing but endless darkness and loneliness, the only light a pinprick of starlight overhead.

He wanted to reach up and touch it, but no matter how he strained, that light remained forever distant. In his hazy memory, this light held a source of warm, joyful comfort; in his eagerness to reach it, this yearning gave rise to boundless strength within him. Slowly, he finally made out the outline of that soft light — it wasn’t starlight, nor moonlight, but a drop-shaped pendant, like a tear, like a crescent moon — no, more like her eyes curving when she smiled.

The thought sparked a sudden surge of strength in his chest. The voice, once so distant, grew clearer now, though still hazy. That point of light remained overhead; he knew it was his Hongdou, his wife, the moonlight in the depths of his consciousness.

Fixing his will stubbornly on that beautiful light, he refused to let his consciousness sink back into the sea. Through his relentless effort, the familiar, urgent voice calling to him beside his ear slowly grew clearer: “He Yunqin, another faction is on its way — if you don’t want to die, wake up right now.” It seemed to be Wang Bide’s voice.

Of course he didn’t want to die. He still had to go back to find his wife.

His strength was about to return; he strained to answer, when suddenly someone said, choked with tears, “Yunqin, Hongdou is waiting for you at home. Do you know you’re going to be a father?”

Even before he was fully conscious, He Yunqin felt an immense joy surge into his mind. His fingers twitched, and he suddenly opened his eyes.

“He’s awake, thank goodness.”

Author’s Note: Two updates combined into one.