Under the fist

Chapter 33 Return to the Tarim River, Mysterious Map

Seeing Qin Yuhu's appearance, Lian Youming said with a smile, "Uncle, why don't we wait until we get back to talk about it?"

In fact, Qin Yuhu regretted his words the moment they left his mouth. Realizing he had lost his composure, he nodded and hummed in agreement. Then, glancing at Yan Lingyun, whose eyes were darting around like a quail with her head down, he smiled and put on a kind and gentle expression. "Lingyun, don't go back to the forest farm today. Come to my house with this kid. I'll have my wife make something nice for you. You must be exhausted after delivering the message. Don't worry, we'll make it up to you no matter what."

The little girl had some quirk; whenever something happened, she would lower her head and look down, but as soon as she heard there was something delicious, she would immediately start moving, raising her head and widening her eyes.

Qin Yuhu laughed and said, "This kid's mother, that is, your Aunt Zhao, is a master cook. She sent a few pounds of cured meat and sausages after the New Year. You haven't tried them yet, have you? Go and try them later. They're different from the ones in Guangxi. They're numbing and spicy, and incredibly fragrant."

"Ok?"

Lian Youming, who was listening nearby, was stunned. In March or April, when Shen Qinghong was about to give birth, his mother, Zhao Lanxiang, sent a lot of things over, all of which were things that Qin Yuhu's family liked to eat. The cured meat and sausages were rare items; the cured meat had been stored for two or three years, and Lian Youming himself hadn't even had a couple of meals with it.

"What the hell are you talking about? I'll settle the score with you when we get back."

Turning his head, Qin Yuhu's gaze towards Lian Youming turned extremely disdainful, and he rushed towards the two corpses.

Although they didn't kill those two fugitives, it was still a great achievement, as they were both wanted criminals nationwide.

Putting everything else aside, at least it can earn some resettlement money for those brothers who were killed in the previous war, on top of their existing pensions.

They were all born of parents, and they've given their lives for us; we can't let them suffer any loss.

If they could also get their hands on the map of the Kwantung Army's underground fortress, that would be an even greater achievement. Even if it was Lian Youming who made the contribution, they would still be able to get a share of the spoils.

This is fantastic news!

Lian Youming was somewhat amused and exasperated, but seeing Qin Yuhu's old face relax for the first time in a long time, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Although this man appeared calm and unconcerned about losing his arm, his face showed signs of aging, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper, and he was almost turning into a little old man.

Lian Youming naturally knew what the other party was thinking. In one's life, besides one's wife and children, the only things one can cherish are the kindness of one's parents and the affection of one's brothers. Otherwise, he would not have asked Yan Lingyun to send a message to Qin Yuhu first.

But his smile may have aggravated his wound, and he couldn't help but cough twice.

"Cough cough..."

Seeing this, Yan Lingyun's heart jumped again. "Lian, are you alright?"

Lian Youming shook his head. He looked around and, seeing that the group of people were far away, lowered his voice and said, "Don't worry, I have fulfilled my mission."

After saying that, he pulled Yan Lingyun to a secluded spot and then rummaged through a pile of grass and leaves and found two pieces of tree bark the size of washbasins. Inside them was a piece of turf and a small pile of black soil. In the soil, one could vaguely see a wild ginseng with flowers and leaves on top and many tendrils hanging down, which looked like a chubby little baby.

There were exactly eight leaves, no more and no less.

Eighth grade wild ginseng.

This thing actually grew inside that old, lush green tree, as if it were deliberately hiding from people. Lian Youming wandered around several times and almost couldn't find it.

"I was afraid I was clumsy and it was too dark to dig carefully, so I just dug up the ginseng along with the soil, which took a lot of effort."

Yan Lingyun looked at it carefully. Although the ginseng flower had not yet withered, and the eighth leaf was a little smaller than the previous leaves, it was still enough.

Lian Youming wanted to say something more, but then he saw the little girl in front of him crying again. He couldn't help but feel a headache coming on and said, "Oh dear, why are you crying again? I've counted, not a single hair has been cut off. Don't try to blame me."

Yan Lingyun pouted, "I'm fine, I'm just a little scared. What if something had happened to you...?"

Lian Youming chuckled, "Are you going to die anyway?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Lingyun immediately stopped crying; she was already furious.

Without further ado, Lian Youming took off his clothes and carefully wrapped the two pieces of bark. "You can take the ginseng when we get back. This is delicate work; it almost killed me, and my eyes are nearly blinded." Actually, Lian Youming had considered waiting until the eighth-grade leaves were fully grown before coming back, but he was just in case. Even though the place where this thing grew was very hidden, what if it was discovered by other mountain travelers in just a few days? After thinking it over, he decided to dig it up first.

"Ok!"

Yan Lingyun hugged it as if it were a precious treasure, and followed Lian Youming back to Qin Yuhu like a chick following a hen.

The two children who had been unconscious also woke up and were held in the arms of two soldiers. They looked at the village woman's body and cried incessantly, and Yan Lingyun also wiped away her tears.

After the group had collected the bodies, they set off to head back.

He hadn't gone far when Lian Youming suddenly turned back as if possessed, looking somewhat puzzled as his gaze swept across the lush green forest, as if searching for something.

Qin Yuhu also turned around and looked around. Seeing that the surrounding area was empty, he couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"

Lian Youming shook his head, took one last look at the pile of ashes that Xie Laosan had turned into, and said softly, "It's alright, let's go back."

As the group walked further and further away, the forest fell into a deathly silence.

……

By the time everyone returned to Songziling, it was already midday.

Without any delay, the group boarded a truck and headed towards Tarim River.

Seeing that Lian Youming was covered in blood and Yan Lingyun was holding something like a treasure, Qin Yuhu gave some instructions to the soldiers and then led the two of them home.

Qin Hongxiu had already returned to school by then, while Shen Qinghong was busy with work and taking care of her child. She had visibly lost a lot of weight and looked quite haggard.

Lian Youming watched this unfold, sighed, and of course couldn't trouble his elders any further. After cleaning off the bloodstains and changing his clothes, he went into the kitchen, grabbed a spatula, and then, under Yan Lingyun's astonished expression, cooked a table of home-style dishes.

Then, taking advantage of the moment when Qin Yuhu went out to report the news, he returned to his room and took out the jade box that Xie Laosan had given him.

This jade box has an ancient and simple design, is long and narrow, and has many dried mud marks between its textures, so it was most likely dug out of the ground.

Lian Youming had already seen what was inside the jade box.

The reason it seems unusual is that, in addition to Xie Laosan's granddaughter's photo and address, there are actually two maps.

One of them was probably a map of the Kwantung Army's underground fortress, located near Changbai Mountain. It was marked with many things in Japanese, such as secret passages, hills, and signs for firearms, ammunition, and military supplies.

The other map was quite strange. It depicted a series of undulating mountain peaks, without any labels or text. There was only one mountain, which was also Changbai Mountain.

Lian Youming stared at the mountains on the map, looking at them from left to right. "Could there be two maps of the underground fortress?"

However, Lian Youming abandoned this idea as soon as it arose.

These two maps are not from the same source; the former is made of paper, and the latter is made of leather, but both depict Changbai Mountain.

"Old Xie didn't explain clearly at the end what this thing is, or if it's completely useless?"

As he pondered, Lian Youming glanced at the jade box on the table and suddenly had a thought, his eyes sparkling. "Could it be that this leather map came with the jade box, and the paper map was put in separately?"

After all, the jade box was obviously quite old, but the Kwantung Army was only a few decades old.

Lian Youming found it increasingly bizarre and strange.

After much deliberation, he decided to take only the paper map out and keep the leather map and jade box.

(End of this chapter)