On this spring evening, darkness fell early. On the fourteenth day of the third month, in the woods near Little Ye Village, birds took flight amid their evening calls, and scattered lights began to flicker on throughout the village.
The horses had been tethered in a stretch of woods about a li or so from the village and the No. 223 Institute. Two scouts had gone ahead in the last light of day to survey the area; one of them, not in military uniform, had gone into the village first to speak briefly with the village head, claiming to be passing through on official Huaxia Army business, carrying official documents. He accepted a drink of water, casually asked a few questions about the state of the No. 223 Institute, and slipped away before the village head could grow suspicious.
The other scout had also gotten a general look at the composting area within the institute grounds.
More men arrived shortly after.
“How’s it looking over here? Did we spook anyone?”
“We’ve confirmed the composting area and found the manure cart. The man should be in the house right next to it, but it’s not safe to approach directly—we haven’t confirmed things fully yet.”
“I chatted a bit with the village head. The one who hauls the night soil should be under some kind of disciplinary sanction… one odd thing—he usually leaves here each afternoon to head back to Wenpu, but today, at this hour, look, he hasn’t set out. That’s suspicious. We haven’t done anything rash yet. What’s the situation over in Wenpu?”
In the dark woods, the group hadn’t lit any torches, but fortunately it was near the middle of the month, and the moon had already risen early, so everyone’s silhouettes were clearly visible among the trees. Leading the group was a middle-aged soldier with a dignified bearing, scars at the corners of his mouth and eyes, his gaze steady and commanding respect. The others with him also bore clear signs of military service, some dressed in formal uniform.
Once the two scouts had finished giving their report, the middle-aged soldier leading the group nodded. “Sounds like it’s him, all right… in the area we’ve searched, we found clear traces around the manure collection house. This man gave lessons to a group of local children this morning and read them the newspaper. And what’s more… we’ve confirmed he bought wound medicine this morning.”
“That pretty much confirms it, then… the manure cart reeks something awful, this Squire Qiu really went all in with this one…”
“…Do we make our move? Handle it directly, or take him alive?”
“The real question is, who exactly is this man? Boss, did we find anything on him from up above?”
“What background could he have… he’s just a night-soil collector…”
“Quiet. Xiao Yan already told us today—no fingernails on his hands, and yesterday when he saw us he wasn’t the least bit intimidated or nervous. A man like that… has probably done fieldwork out there before and come back.”
“All his fingernails ripped out, and he still got sent here to haul night soil?”
“That makes this even more troublesome…”
The men in the woods conferred in low voices. The leading soldier stared ahead, deep in thought, brow furrowed, before finally speaking. “Did the village say anything?”
“You told us to be careful, boss, since we don’t know his connections here—didn’t want to spook him. We only mentioned the manure station briefly. The village head didn’t say anything particularly notable, didn’t seem to have much impression of the man at all. If we want a clear answer, we’ll have to show our hand.”
The lead soldier nodded. “The No. 223 Institute is just an agricultural research outfit—nobody of any real importance there. But even in a small place like this, there’s bound to be a sharp one or two among them. We’re pressed for time, so we can’t go around asking just anyone casually. Wenpu hasn’t turned up much either—all we know is that this night-soil collector reads books and newspapers every day, seems to understand a fair amount, and had his fingernails ripped out before being exiled to a place like this… For now, we can only guess: he was probably captured, broke under torture, gave up information, and later managed to make it back alive… someone from the intelligence line…”
“Damn coward—if that’s what happened, then he had it coming!” someone growled under his breath.
“…A man like that is dangerous, though!” another added. “If Squire Qiu ended up in his hands, one day and one night—who knows how much he’s already gotten out of him!”
“All the more reason we can’t let him live! Are we supposed to wait until he gets to the bottom of this and goes up top to confront us?”
“…”
The group fell silent in the woods, exchanging glances. The middle-aged soldier leading them wiped his mouth and nose, brow furrowed, pacing back and forth a few steps before finally speaking. “What do you all think—is there any chance we could talk to him?”
“…A man who broke under torture out there and gave up his people isn’t necessarily any kind of tough character,” someone said.
“Even so, we’d need to capture him first before talking, and unless he’s willing to kill Squire Qiu with his own hands, we can’t trust him regardless…”
“Best if the whole Qiu family just dies quietly, without any further complications—otherwise, even if it’s just some night-soil collector who ends up dead, who knows if it’ll get investigated…”
“If he’s willing to talk, then we bleed a little, so be it…”
The matter provisionally settled, the leading soldier finally nodded, a hard glint gathering in his eyes as he began issuing orders.
“All right, here’s the plan for now. Xiao Yin, you circle around to the front of this farmstead, find whoever’s in charge here, tell them roughly that the landowner’s fled and this Tang Minjie may have been sheltering him—say we lost one of our own comrades, this is urgent business, and we’re moving in to make an arrest, so they need to stay out of it. As for the rest of us—Xu, Huzi, you two take the left side; Cripple and Yu, take the right; Xiao Zheng, you’re with me, straight up the front… Two priorities. First, find Squire Qiu, but don’t act on him right away unless you have to. Second, secure this Tang Minjie—if we can get him to kill Squire Qiu himself, all the better. If we can’t come to terms, neither of them can be left alive. Understood?”
His words came fast and firm. Once he finished, the men in the woods saluted. “…Yes, sir.”
“Xiao Yin, go on ahead.”
The soldier called Xiao Yin took off toward one side of the woods, vanishing from sight in an instant. The remaining six stood silently in the woods, watching the moonlight pour down like water. After a moment, the firm command rang out once more.
“…Move.”
Six figures melted into the night, slipping through the trees toward the buildings at the edge of the No. 223 Institute grounds.
This was the site of the composting area, the stench thick in the air, the makeshift fencing around it shabby and offering essentially no real protective function. Tang Minjie’s living quarters consisted of a few old rooms, though kept fairly tidy, with the mule and cart housed in a shed off to one side. Under the moonlight, a figure still seemed to be moving inside the main living quarters. Several of the soldiers crept forward quietly, exchanging hand signals with one another. About three breaths later, a sudden “creak—” of some wooden mechanism sounded through the darkness, jarringly out of place against the night.
Behind the house, a wooden lever swung through the air, and a fishing net swept someone up, hauling them into the air.
Shouts immediately rang out.
“Ah—”
“We’ve found the traitor!”
“Catch the traitor!”
“You can’t run, Tang!”
Those on all sides had all been through serious situations before and didn’t panic under pressure, even as something—bricks, it seemed—suddenly came flying out through a back window toward them, though they dodged clear in the darkness. The middle-aged soldier leading the group shouted, “You can’t run, Tang!” then leaned back against the wall beside him, calling out, “Cripple, you all right?”
Cripple, still caught up in the net, called back, “Damn it, I’m fine! Kill this traitor dead!” Another soldier, surnamed Yu, had already thrown himself through the window, followed by a chaotic clatter of sound—something like a shelf inside had toppled over, and Yu could be heard cursing loudly as he was knocked back out of the room.
In the darkness, the lead soldier gestured to those beside him, sending the man on the left to search the surrounding area first, hoping to track down the escaped landowner Squire Qiu, while he himself pressed close to the door of the main house. “Tang Minjie, we already know what’s going on with you. We’re all on the same side here—can we talk this through?”
Under the moonlight, shadows crept along either side of the composting yard. The room fell silent for a moment before a voice finally answered from within. “I really did think you people wouldn’t resort to something this reckless… isn’t this basically the same as a confession without even being asked?”
The lead soldier fell silent for a moment too, then, catching sight of lights flickering on in the distance, gave a faint laugh. “Confession, you say? Yesterday, Squire Qiu Zishu over in Erqing Village drew a blade and attacked one of our people, killed a comrade of ours from the work team. We looked into it and found out you’ve been sheltering him. Tang—we looked into you too. You’re someone who’s worked out in the field, aren’t you? Lost all your fingernails, and now you’re back here hauling night soil. Who did you sell out… betrayed your own comrades? Come out now and surrender, and there’s still a way out for you…”
“…Squire Qiu reported you people,” the voice from inside answered after a pause.
“These landowners will say anything.”
“You forced him to sign a fraudulent land deed, colluded with others to divide up the spoils for yourselves.”
The middle-aged soldier’s brow furrowed. He began signaling to his companions before responding, “No evidence. That’s nothing but wild talk.”
“It wouldn’t hold up under any real investigation… and you people had already planned from the start to drive his whole family to their deaths.”
Outside, beneath the wall, the middle-aged soldier turned his long blade over in his hand and took a breath. “Have you heard the talk going around in Chengdu?”
“…What talk?”
“When it comes to dividing up land, if you’re going to do it, you have to do it thoroughly. No killing, just buyouts and negotiations—people like that end up harboring resentment, and sooner or later they’ll turn against us in the Huaxia Army. Mister Ning’s too soft-hearted about this—he made a mistake here, and it’s up to us to help correct it… So what you’re saying, you’re not wrong about!”
His words came out firm and unyielding, seemingly startling even those inside the room for a moment. Before the sound of his voice had even fully died away, the companion beside him surged forward like a leopard, charging straight into the house. In the darkness, a series of crashing, rumbling sounds erupted from within—the room, it turned out, was packed full of furniture and clutter, and he’d barely gotten a few steps in before a stack of old tables, chairs, and stools came toppling down, instantly littering the floor with obstacles.
Behind the house, Cripple had by now cut himself half-free from the fishing net, shouting loudly into the darkness: “He’s making a break for it—!” The middle-aged soldier gave chase at once, calling out sharply, “Cut him off!” even as his eyes instinctively swept over the surrounding rooms and the manure cart. He’d only just finished exchanging a few words with the man inside; the two companions searching around for Squire Qiu had already covered most of the immediate area, but a rough search hadn’t turned up anything. At this moment, it seemed Tang Minjie was attempting to break through the rear of the house, with the soldier surnamed Yu rushing to intercept him, while the middle-aged soldier still shouted, “Take him alive!”
A little further off, at the edge of the small composting square, one of the two men searching for Squire Qiu waved his hand under the moonlight, apparently having spotted something. “There’s a kiln over here…”
Capturing the landowner Squire Qiu was a matter that bore directly on all their lives, so his urgency was especially sharp. He struck a fire-lighter with a snap and shoved aside the stone slab covering the opening.
“Don’t—”
Behind the house, the night-soil worker being pursued cried out. The soldier surnamed Yu’s blade had already come down on him, and the middle-aged soldier caught sight of sparks falling through the air, then saw, before his companion up ahead, a wave-like distortion rippling outward.
BOOM—! A massive explosion tore through the night, fire erupting skyward, the ground shaking violently. Two figures, along with a torrent of overturned earth and stone, were hurled up into the night sky together. The middle-aged soldier shielded his head and face, leaning against a wall, ears ringing with a deafening buzz. For a moment, everyone both inside and outside the room stood stunned. The bodies of the two soldiers, along with the flying debris and soil, came crashing back down, the stench of night soil mingling with the scorched smell of the explosion. Only a moment later did a voice cry out from behind the house: “I’ll kill you—!” The middle-aged soldier was already on his feet, blade raised, his face twisted into a savage snarl as he bellowed: “Kill him, kill him, kill him—!”
Tang Minjie, blood streaming from his wounds, was already fleeing toward the mountains nearby…
At that moment, the violent methane explosion had jolted the entire farmstead and the surrounding village awake in the darkness of night.