Operation Red Book

"Thinking back to that day when I suddenly gave up, who would build a bridge across the vast Milky Way..."

The sorrowful female voice echoed in the empty building, seeming far and near, making it even more miserable.

The inside of Shisanfang was already a river of blood, and scattered wood had fallen on the corpses, shaking continuously.

Two black eye holes were lined up on the oval wooden head, staring dimly at the blood-stained armrest.

"The dream is in vain, the love is gone, the way out...is getting farther and farther..."

The singing came from far away, becoming more and more creepy, and the stretched tones echoed in the empty space, bringing with them waves of echoes.

A bony hand suddenly appeared on the armrest. The fingers were white and tender, the nails were red as flowers, and the entire back of the hand was hidden under the wide red sleeves.

A pair of three-inch embroidered shoes appeared on the stairs, with the feet standing upright but the toes not touching the ground.

A red figure floated down the stairs. It was a bride wearing a red veil and a red wedding dress.

She waved her hand slightly, and the wooden head on the ground floated into her hand, and its black eye holes became deeper and deeper.

"who is it?"

The bride made a plaintive sound, a long tone, and she pressed the wood to her ear.

Then she let go of the wooden head, and it fell to the ground with a "click".

The bride slowly turned her head and looked towards the gate of Shisanfang. She could vaguely see the figures of three people leaving.

"It's him……"

The bride disappeared into the shadows of the corridor, sobbing.

"I really heard someone singing inside!" Ivy said anxiously, quickly following Mr. Zhu and Shuyang.

"How many times have I told you, there's no one, no one! Everyone in there is dead, so where is the show?"

Mr. Zhu strode through the Chinese market, looking nervous: “Shuyang, did you hear that?”

"I do not have either……"

Shuyang was wearing a brown robe and a black vest. He followed Mr. Zhu, his voice becoming lower and lower.

On the other side of the Chinese market, there was widespread wailing and people were fleeing in all directions.

The puppet rushed into the crowd with a dagger in hand, hacking at anyone it saw and dragging them away after killing them.

Alexander grabbed a puppet by the neck, twisted the puppet's head off with his right hand, then picked up the puppet's body and smashed it into pieces with a few throws.

Hilda held a sharp sword in both hands, and with a few strokes, she chopped a doll into pieces.

Ivy looked at the fierce battle over there. Although she felt more at ease, she was still worried.

Following Mr. Zhu into an alley, we saw a bluestone road paved between two buildings.

At the end of the cobblestone road is a vermilion gate. Some of the paint on the door has fallen off, and the copper lock is rusty, making it look very old.

Shuyang took out the big bunch of keys from his waist, turned over and over for more than ten times before finding one. He unlocked the copper lock and pulled down the gate, and the three of them turned around and walked into the vermilion gate.

Inside the gate is a small courtyard, with lush vines and trees winding around it, and flowers of various colors blooming, swaying in the evening breeze. The moonlight casts hazy shadows of the flowers, making the courtyard even more elegant.

Mr. Zhu and Shuyang walked into a house in the courtyard. Ivy glanced around and then hurried after them.

Mr. Zhu went straight to the study room, picked up the phone and dialed a number. Ivy and Shuyang were waiting in the hall.

"Where...is this place?"

Ivy looked at the furnishings in the house and it looked like a scholarly home.

"This is Mr. Zhu's residence, and in front is Muyunzhai." Shuyang pointed to the archway hidden under the vines.

"Muyunzhai..."

"Yes, it is Muyunzhai."

Shuyang washed the cups and bowls, lit the fire and started to boil water.

"The Chinese Wharf, Muyunzhai and Shisanfang are all assets under the name of our Mr. Zhu. The entire Chinese Wharf area elected him as the leader five years ago. This is equivalent to being a British knight."

"That's not what I'm talking about." Ivy picked up the fan beside her and fanned the fire.

"The Chinese Wharf is a place for business, Shisanfang is a restaurant and theater, and Muyunzhai...what is that place?"

"Muyunzhai is a place for drinking tea, smoking, and meeting guests."

Shuyang took out a set of tea sets and a few tea cakes and asked, "Would you like green tea or black tea?"

"Black tea, black tea nourishes the stomach."

Ivy continued to fan the fire, and it grew stronger.

"But the gangster I met at the dock said... Muyunzhai is..."

"As a girl, you'd better not go to the dock. It's a mixed crowd there, and most of them are unreasonable guys." Shuyang paused.

He quickly opened a piece of Dianhong tea cake, kneaded some tea leaves, and put them into the celadon teapot.

The fire in the stove was burning brightly, and soon the teapot began to boil, spewing out steam.

"The girls in Muyunzhai are very beautiful. They are all girls from the Chinese dock area."

Shuyang poured boiling water into the teacup and started to make tea.

"They are just serving guests according to the rules. Some serve tea, some bring water, some play music, and some greet guests."

Shuyang washed the tea, opened the cup lid, and the fragrance of tea was refreshing.

"Don't think of Muyunzhai as a brothel. Our Mr. Zhu is a man of high moral integrity and despises those immoral things."

Shuyang was waiting for the tea to brew, and a glimmer of light seemed to flash on his face.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you suddenly...crying?" Ivy asked with concern, looking at the tears in the shadows.

"I'm fine, I just wondered...whether Muyunzhai would also suffer the same disaster." Shuyang wiped the tears from his face and poured some tea.

"I am also worried about the residents, after all, they are our compatriots who have come from across the ocean from China."

Ivy took the tea cup handed to her by Shuyang. Red tea was slowly floating in the water, with some tea leaves in it.

"This afternoon, I was bullied at the dock, and the couple from the Yangchun Noodle Shop on the street took care of me. I hope good people will be rewarded, and I will have time to thank them..."

"The Chen family is a good couple, and their two daughters are very well-behaved. I am planning to take them in to Muyunzhai."

After Mr. Zhu finished his call, he waved his hand and came to the hall. He slumped down on a rattan chair and took the cup of black tea handed to him by Shuyang and took a sip.

"I called in another person, and SCO said they would handle it."

Mr. Zhu's profile was in shadow, and the candlelight flickered on his face.

"There are so many dead Englishmen, I don't know how to cope with it... Bring me a cigarette... Especially that old woman."

Shuyang got up and walked into a door. After a few minutes, there was a noise in the room, as if something was knocked to the ground.

Mr. Zhu turned around and called out a few times, but there was no movement in the room that Shuyang had entered.

Mr. Zhu and Ivy jumped up hurriedly, one holding a boiling teapot and the other picking up the sword on the table.

The two looked at each other nervously, and then walked towards the half-open door together.

Mr. Zhu kicked the door open and held his sword across his chest, ready to attack at any time. But when they saw the situation in the room, they were both stunned with fear.

The scrolls were scattered all over the floor, twisted and crooked, and Shuyang stood in the middle of the room in a daze.

His head was slightly tilted upward, the whites of his eyes were turned up, and one could even clearly see the spider-web-like red bloodshot.

Shuyang exuded an ominous evil aura. Ivy could see some faint black air emanating from his body, which finally flowed to where he was looking - the bride with a red veil.

The bride's feet, covered with a red veil, were more than two meters off the ground, her embroidered shoes were standing upright, and her clothes were fluttering in the breeze coming in through the window.

The breeze slightly lifted the red veil, revealing a red line densely sewing the entire mouth on the pretty and handsome green face.

She closed her eyes tightly, her eyelashes curled, and several lines of blood and tears flowed from her eyes, falling drop by drop.

But there was no trace on the floor, and the fallen blood and tears disappeared without a trace.