Chapter 47: Public-Spirited Citizen He Yuzhu

Chapter 47: He Yuzhu, the Public-Spirited Citizen

As the Spring Festival drew closer, the suburban free market became increasingly lively.

Over the past few days, He Yuzhu had noticed while browsing the free market that many people were selling flour again. Prices had gone up, too. However, these were all individual sellers dealing in small quantities. Flour had now become a highly sought-after commodity in the market.

While walking through the market, He Yuzhu discovered a small alley where quite a few people went in, but none came out. There was definitely something shady going on. Through a few days of observation, He Yuzhu noticed that the people who went in would emerge from another alley, all carrying backpacks.

Taking advantage of the crowd in the market, He Yuzhu approached a few people who had just come out and used his spiritual sense to inspect their bags—they were all filled with flour.

It seemed there was an organized flour-selling gang operating inside the alley.

Originally, He Yuzhu had planned to unload a batch of flour before the New Year, but he could no longer sell it in this market. Small amounts were fine, but a large quantity would attract the gang's attention and bring unnecessary trouble.

Since that was the case, he would play the role of an anonymous, public-spirited citizen and quietly submit a tip-off.

Using his left hand, He Yuzhu wrote two letters of report in different handwriting based on what he had seen. Instead of reporting to the nearby police substation, he waited until dusk, rode his bicycle to the back of the local police precinct, wrapped the letter around a stone when no one was looking, and threw it over the wall. A shattering sound of glass echoed from inside, causing a brief commotion before things settled down again.

He Yuzhu quickly pedaled his bicycle into an alley and whisked both himself and his bike into his spatial dimension. Just as He Yuzhu vanished from the alley, several police officers rushed over. He Yuzhu extended his spiritual sense to monitor the movement outside, watching as the officers searched the vicinity and then pretended to leave. After a short while, they came back to check again, and only when they found nothing did they finally depart.

Had He Yuzhu not used his spiritual sense to see that their first departure was a ruse to hide and stake out the alley, he might very well have been caught.

Confirming with his spiritual sense that they had truly left, He Yuzhu emerged from his spatial dimension. Avoiding the alley this time, he scaled a wall to leave.

If the precinct reaction was this fast, the main bureau must be even more formidable. He Yuzhu dared not throw his second tip-off letter to the headquarters just yet. He would keep it for now and see how things developed. If no action was taken, he would toss the other letter to the headquarters; if action was already underway, he would let it go.

After riding three alleys away from the precinct, He Yuzhu retrieved his bicycle from his space and rode home.

The next day, when He Yuzhu returned to the suburban free market, he noticed nothing unusual. Could it be that the tip-off letter had no effect?

As He Yuzhu left the market and headed home, wondering when to drop the remaining tip-off letter into the headquarters, his spiritual sense detected someone carrying flour knock on the door of a small courtyard. After letting the person in, the person who opened the door looked left and right before stepping inside and locking it.

Seeing their suspicious behavior, He Yuzhu quietly approached the courtyard from the back. Once his spiritual sense covered the compound, he stopped moving closer. There were four or five people inside the house, and He Yuzhu even spotted one of the police officers who had chased after the suspects the previous night.

It seemed yesterday's tip-off letter had worked; the police had already sent people over to investigate.

He Yuzhu certainly wouldn't miss out on this excitement, so he visited the market for two consecutive days.

On this day, just as He Yuzhu entered the market, he spotted the police officer from the precinct along with several companions patrolling the perimeter. It looked like they were going to close the net today. He Yuzhu hurried into the market and found a spot with a clear view where he could conveniently use his spiritual sense to watch the show.

Before long, several plainclothes officers armed with guns surrounded the alley. As they closed in slowly, gunshots suddenly rang out from within the alley. The plainclothes officers stationed at the mouth of the alley immediately subdued the lookouts, while the others drew their weapons and rushed inside. From outside the market, numerous other police officers poured in, cordoning off the two alleys leading to the den.

The market instantly plunged into chaos as people scrambled to escape, cursing their parents for not giving them an extra pair of legs.

More gunshots echoed from inside, prompting the police outside to send reinforcements rushing in.

After a short while, the chaos subsided, and the people in the market were calmed down by police officers maintaining order. Hiding in the courtyards on both sides of the street, onlookers poked their heads out to watch the spectacle.

They watched as the police escorted out a dozen or so suspects, followed by two injured officers being carried on stretchers. Bringing up the rear were stretchers bearing a few corpses.

Five trucks arrived outside the market. One truck loaded with the arrested individuals and another carrying the two injured officers left first. Of the remaining three trucks, two drove into the alley and emerged shortly afterward loaded to the brim with two massive truckloads of flour. The final truck picked up the remaining police officers and departed from the market.

After the police left, the market gradually returned to its bustling state. He Yuzhu did not go into the alley to investigate; going there right now would be too conspicuous. He had no choice but to head home first.

That night, after Yushui fell asleep, He Yuzhu sneaked out of the house. Dressed entirely in black with his face covered by a black cloth, and aided by the cover of night, he rode his bicycle to the mouth of the alley near the market. Extending his spiritual sense to scout the surroundings, he slowly made his way into the alley and spotted a residence sealed with official paper strips. It appeared this was the flour-dealing stronghold.

Since it had been raided during the day, there were bound to be some hidden treasures left behind. He Yuzhu circled around to the back of the residence and was just about to use his spiritual sense to investigate when he heard footsteps approaching from behind. He quickly hid inside his space.

"Third Brother, hasn't this place been raided? Why are we still coming here?" one of them asked the other, who was addressed as Third Brother.

Third Brother replied, "Of course we're here to find the money the Boss left behind! The Boss resisted with a gun during the day and was shot dead by the police. No one knows where he hid his money; it definitely wasn't found during the search. As long as we find it, we'll be rich, Little Six."

The two scaled the wall and entered the compound. After waiting a moment, He Yuzhu also climbed over the wall and entered.

"Third Brother, do you know where the Boss hid the money?" Little Six asked after searching for a while without finding anything.

"It's definitely in this room. That day, I saw the Boss put money into a box and bring it into this room. When he came out, the box was gone. Let's keep looking," Third Brother said with certainty.

The two searched for a long time and found nothing. He Yuzhu had no patience to wait any longer. He extended his spiritual sense to thoroughly inspect the floor of the room, but found nothing. He then swept his spiritual sense upward toward the roof, and sure enough, he discovered several hiding spots carved into the ceiling beams. Who would have thought of hollowing out a roof beam to hide things? They certainly weren't afraid of the beam snapping. He Yuzhu swept all the hidden items straight into his spatial dimension.

Before leaving, He Yuzhu scanned the entire courtyard once more and discovered a large wooden chest buried underground in a corner of the yard. He sucked it directly into his space.

"Third Brother, we've searched everywhere and there's nothing! Did you remember wrong? The police found several hiding places in the house next door," Little Six complained.

Third Brother insisted, "That's impossible! I clearly saw the Boss enter this room."

Little Six retorted, "But we've searched every inch, and there's nothing."

Third Brother urged, "Keep looking. We must get the money and get out of here. If someone rats us out tomorrow, we won't be able to leave."

"Little Six, go up and check the roof beams," Third Brother ordered, directing Little Six upward.

He Yuzhu couldn't leave any loose ends. Taking advantage of their inattention, he flashed out of his space, knocked both men unconscious, and pulled them into his space before scaling the wall to leave.

He Yuzhu rode his bicycle further out toward the suburbs and stopped outside a secluded patch of woods. Packing away his bicycle, he took out a pickaxe and a shovel, walked deep into the woods, and dug a deep pit. He released the two men, crushed their throats directly, threw them into the pit, and buried them.

Having finished disposing of the bodies, He Yuzhu rode his bicycle back home.

Back home, He Yuzhu examined his haul from the night: twenty large-denomination ten-yuan bills hidden in the roof beam, unexpectedly one thousand US dollars, a handgun—likely the legendary Browning—and three hundred rounds of ammunition. The chest dug up from the courtyard corner contained three rifles, a box of ammunition, fifty small gold bars, and thirty large gold bars.

Looking at these spoils, the gang leader was certainly no ordinary figure, but that was none of He Yuzhu's concern. He would simply pretend to know nothing about it.