Chapter 75

"Just because you say he's a spy doesn't make it so."

The guard had barely finished speaking when Lin Tu shot him a look. One of the men on the ground burst into tears.

"I am! I am! I started working in June of '47, collecting information on the Rebel Army's patrol soldiers. I've already submitted information on more than seventy people, the highest-ranking being Sergeant Major John. I also did other things for the Government Army from time to time—the coordinates for this attack were sent back by me."

The guard was dumbfounded.

He instinctively looked at the communicator in his hand. Just now, when he'd seen Lin Tu looking like she was about to smash the place up, he'd pressed the button on his communicator, and on the other end was his superior officer.

He'd always bullied the weak and feared the strong. He'd originally wanted to let his boss teach this upstart Lin Tu a lesson. But then he suddenly remembered that the Government Army had just recently changed their outpost, and by all rights it should have been much safer. Yet they'd still been ambushed by the Government Army, who had struck directly at their warehouse and other core buildings. It was utterly baffling.

Now, hearing the "spy" Lin Tu had dragged back say all this, everything clicked into place.

Could it be... was Lin Tu telling the truth?

Just as he was thinking this, he heard the scraping of a chair against the floor off to the side, as if his superior was getting up from his seat to come look out the window.

"What else?" Lin Tu kicked the spy.

"There's more! There's more! Don't kill me, I'll tell you everything!" he said immediately. "I know the Government Army's plan. They're planning to cross the Polly River tonight and wipe out every last shelter in the civilian districts that have Rebel Army patrol soldiers, especially the place where Sergeant Major John's wife and children are staying."

"Impossible!" the guard heard his superior say. "They can't cross the bridge!"

"Who said anything about crossing the bridge?" the spy rolled his eyes. "Our Government Army already..." He paused. "Those damned Government Army soldiers found a steamship in the ruins and docked it at the northernmost port. They're just waiting for fuel to be brought back, and then they'll use sea transport to ferry their soldiers over here."

By now, the superior believed about eighty percent of what he'd said. He himself had received word not long ago that the Government Army was searching everywhere for fuel. That information was highly classified—not something ordinary people could access.

"These people you caught—what happened? Where'd you catch them?" the superior asked Lin Tu.

"It's a long story," Lin Tu sighed. "Unfortunately, my military merit is too low, so I can't get into the Rebel Army's garrison. I was going to report to my superiors, but now I can't."

"Who says you can't? Wait—" The superior realized something and immediately looked at the guard. The latter was standing there, hands and feet fidgeting, staring back at him. Knowing his subordinate's character all too well, the superior flew into a rage.

He hurried downstairs and kicked the guard: "You can't even guard a door properly! These military merits are wasted on you! I wouldn't dare joke about spies, but you would!"

"Sir..."

"Don't even think about the military merits. I'll report this tomorrow. Whether you get fired depends on your luck."

Given the secrets the spy had spilled today, his firing was all but guaranteed. The guard's face went pale. Losing his iron rice bowl during wartime—he was finished...

Lin Tu smiled as she waved goodbye to the guard and followed the superior into the Rebel Army's garrison.

After meeting the guard's superior's superior, Lin Tu omitted Na Wei and told the fabricated "truth." The Government Army spy, having been coerced and bribed, spilt every secret he knew without any backbone whatsoever.

The Rebel Army field officer quickly believed her. Overjoyed, he tentatively asked, "What reward do you want?"

"I do want a little something," Lin Tu said, and the moment the words left her mouth, she saw the officer's expression shift. He probably wasn't really asking about rewards—what he really wanted was to take the credit for himself. Lin Tu silently cursed him out, but kept a troubled look on her face. "You saw it just now—in the Rebel Army, I'm always looked down on because I'm a woman. I just hope to get some kind of credential so people will show me a bit of respect and I can go anywhere I want in the Rebel Army."

"That's no reward at all. Wait here—I'll issue you a Medal of Honor!" The officer's ugly expression softened immediately, and he said magnanimously, "But these medals are only given to the most senior and most meritorious people. So I'll have to report the spy matter under my own name first, then pass it on to you."

Lin Tu looked troubled.

You can't catch a wolf without risking the child. The officer gritted his teeth: "But your contribution is hardly small, of course I'll include your name in the report. Don't worry about that."

Lin Tu still looked troubled.

The officer frowned at her, then after a moment, his heart cleared like clouds parting. Look at this—did this have anything to do with honor? This person clearly wanted a pass into the military garrison. Well, that was simple enough. The officer waved over the sergeant major standing nearby: "Give her your rank insignia. This is the garrison guard's insignia. Wear it on your shoulder. It's not as glorious, but you can go wherever you want."

As for where Lin Tu wanted to go and what she wanted to do? That was none of the officer's concern. He was about to gain enough honor and military merit.

This time, Lin Tu was satisfied. She reached out, took the rank insignia, and in an instant transformed into a Sergeant Major First Class. She sincerely thanked the two of them.

After walking out of the room, Lin Tu felt that things had gone far more smoothly than expected.

She pinned on the insignia and swaggered toward the prison.

Night shrouded the earth like a thin veil. Lin Tu stepped lightly through the thick darkness, and after striding confidently past the second checkpoint, she turned a corner into a deserted area. In her mind, she had the uses and names of various buildings that Luo Te had told her, as well as the map of the Rebel Army garrison that the spy had confessed. When the two overlapped, a destination was emerging.

She avoided the crowds and made her way with great delight toward the place where Rui Si was being held. She was certain she was getting close to the truth.

The prison had been converted from a subway tunnel. The entrance had once been a subway station, like a crocodile half-submerged in water with its jaws wide open, not a single light on at night. Lin Tu wandered around the area and found that all the other entrances had been sealed off, so she had no choice but to poke her head in through the entrance.

She cleared her throat. Inside, it was silent as if no one were there—utterly dead quiet.

The endless corridor stretched up from some unknown depths below, opening into a pitch-black abyss. A chill wind blew up from below, raising goosebumps all over her skin.

Lin Tu lifted her foot and, holding onto the handrail, slowly groped her way down in the darkness.

Down below, there was no moonlight or streetlights, and she couldn't see a thing. Lin Tu knew that guarding the prison required at least a field officer's rank, and if she were caught, it would be hard to get away, so she didn't dare turn on a flashlight. She waited until the sound of wind in her ears suddenly grew more open and spacious, then tentatively felt her way forward, only then confirming she'd reached the underground.

For some reason, her heart was beating a little fast.

"I've finally waited for you." A low, hoarse voice echoed through the empty, dark subway station.

Behind her, Lin Tu felt goosebumps rise all over.

Who was it? She clutched the token in her hand and slowly turned around. For some reason, she felt that this voice was somewhat familiar.

"I waited for you for so, so long. I waited through a spring, summer, autumn, and winter, until the leaves at the door grew new buds, and you still hadn't come back. The second year, I started to hate spring. But watching the people come and go at the door, I guessed maybe the next one would be you, so I waited again. I waited until all those people died, and a new group appeared, and you still hadn't come back. I figured you might have run into trouble, so I kept waiting. Until group after group of people died, until the whole world turned to ruins. And I thought..."

A hoarse laugh came from behind her.

"Maybe I was waiting in the wrong place. See, I switched places, and in just a few decades, I waited for you."

The air froze.

"You've got the wrong person," Lin Tu said without hesitation. "I wandered in here by accident."

This was her first time in this place—there was no way he'd been waiting decades for her.

She'd initially thought his voice sounded a bit familiar, but now she calmed down. She must have misheard. With so many people in the world having similar voices, how could hearing one similar voice mean it was someone from her past?

"Really got the wrong person?" The man's voice grew even hoarser, as if puzzled as to why the person in front of him was still trying to talk her way out of it.

A sense of dread rose in Lin Tu's heart. Sure enough, the next second, the man let out a soft laugh.

"Sister, won't you stay here with me?"

The familiar form of address instantly transported Lin Tu back to another world. She turned in shock, but before she could see clearly, there was a loud bang! as heavy objects fell all around. A massive magnesium light blazed to life overhead, its harsh glare instantly dispelling the darkness, nearly blinding Lin Tu.

"Is it you?" Lin Tu stepped forward two paces and was indeed blocked by a cage. She squinted, but still couldn't make out the man's face.

"Me? I don't know what name you'll say." The man seemed to have been holding back for too long, and he started chattering again.

"Yuan Que, it's you." Lin Tu said promptly. She keenly noticed that after she called out that name, the other side fell into a brief silence, and then when he spoke again, his tone was noticeably higher.

"So Sister does remember me. Then why didn't you come find me?"

"I was going to come find you," Lin Tu hurriedly explained. "But something came up in between, and I didn't get the chance yet." But explaining something you hadn't done always sounded like making excuses, so Lin Tu changed the subject—

"Yuan Que, this light is so blinding. Can you turn it down a little?"

After a moment of silence, the magnesium light dimmed somewhat. It was no longer so harsh, and although she still couldn't make out the face of the person across from her, she at least sensed a hint of goodwill.

Lin Tu tried asking, "How did you know I'd be here? How did you get here?"

"My intuition told me you'd be here," Yuan Que replied sullenly. "Sure enough, you'd go to so much trouble to find someone else, but not me. As for how I found you..." He hesitated slightly when answering the second question—

"Smell."

That single word almost instantly made Lin Tu think of the culprit that had gotten her into this mess—that monster had found her by smell too.

Both non-players, both outsiders—could Yuan Que also be one of them?

"Yuan Que," Lin Tu asked cautiously, "it's been so long. Can I see your face?"

"See... my face?" Those words were like a switch. Yuan Que's voice suddenly turned strange and shrill, and he burst into wild laughter.

At the same time, the magnesium light that had dimmed blazed white and bright as day again, and the ground beneath Lin Tu's feet let out creaking, groaning sounds, as if it were moving.

"Yuan Que! Yuan Que!" Lin Tu shouted loudly, trying to calm him down, but it had no effect.

"If you see my face, you'll run away," Yuan Que said eerily. "But we'll be together forever."