r18novel Chapter 13 The Undercurrents of the City God Temple
Chapter 13 The Undercurrents of the City God Temple
The third seat by the window on the second floor of the City God Temple teahouse.
Li Ranmo wore a gray long gown and an old top hat with the brim pulled low. Shen Qiushui sat opposite him, dressed in a blue cheongsam, her hair styled in an updo, looking like a young wife from an ordinary family.
A pot of tea and two plates of melon seeds were placed on the table.
Ah Bing came up the stairs, looked around, and sat down at the table.
"Dr. Li, Nurse Shen," Ah Bing said in a low voice, "My older sister asked me to pass on a message."
"Speak." Li Ranmo didn't look up, her fingers still gripping the teacup.
"The old warehouse at Pier No. 3, which was originally planned, can't be used anymore," said Ah Bing. "Wang Qingnian's men are keeping a close watch on it. There are guards at both the front and back gates, in shifts 24 hours a day. Yesterday, one of our brothers tried to scout it out, but he was almost caught."
Shen Qiushui asked, "What should we do with that guy?"
"My sister said there's a backup waterway warehouse near the old sluice gate in the west of the city, by the river branch. Nobody goes there usually." Ah Bing pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and pushed it over. "The address is here. But my sister said that the place isn't far from the Health Department's inspection team's location, just two streets away. Whether it's safe or not, Dr. Li, you'll have to go and check it out yourself."
Li Ranmo took the paper, glanced at it, folded it neatly, and put it in his pocket.
"When can the handover take place?"
"After you've looked at it and think it's acceptable, then send the signal the old way," Ah Bing said. "Place a pot of white chrysanthemums on the teahouse windowsill. Once our people see it, they'll prepare the goods and send them over the next night."
Shen Qiushui frowned: "Next to the inspection team's camp? That's too risky."
"There's nothing we can do," Ah Bing said with a wry smile. "Right now, Wang Qingnian is like a mad dog at the docks, checking everyone he sees. This waterway is the old place where my older sister used to hide smuggled salt, so not many people know about it."
Li Ranmo took a sip of tea: "Okay, I'll go check it out before noon tomorrow."
"Dr. Li, be careful." Ah Bing stood up. "Those guys from the inspection team are more ruthless than those thugs at the docks; they have guns."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and went downstairs.
Shen Qiushui waited until Ah Bing had walked far away before speaking: "I've heard of the old sluice gate. The waterways there are complicated, and boats have a hard time navigating, but the inspection team does often patrol that area."
"We'll have to go and see for ourselves," Li Ranmo said. "I'll come over tomorrow at noon. If there are white chrysanthemums on the windowsill, it's safe. If not, something's happened, and you shouldn't go."
"It's too dangerous for you to go alone."
"More people means more attention to themselves." Li Ranmo stood up. "Let's go back first."
The two went downstairs and left the teahouse.
The street in front of the City God Temple was bustling with people, selling incense and candles, fortune tellers, and snack vendors, creating a noisy atmosphere.
Li Ranmo and Shen Qiushui mingled in the crowd and walked towards the hospital.
After walking about half a street, Shen Qiushui suddenly slowed down by half a step.
"There are people behind us," she said softly.
Li Ranmo didn't turn around, but glanced back using the reflection of a bronze mirror from a sugar figurine stall by the roadside.
Two men in black short jackets followed at a leisurely pace, about ten steps apart.
"I followed them as soon as they came out of the teahouse," Shen Qiushui said. "They weren't one of Wang Qingnian's men; their attire didn't match."
"Get rid of him," Li Ranmo said.
Ahead is a fork in the road; the left leads to the main road, and the right leads to a narrow alley.
Li Ranmo pulled Shen Qiushui into the alley on the right.
The alley was narrow, with blue brick walls on both sides and broken baskets and rotten wood piled on the ground.
Footsteps followed from behind.
Li Ranmo quickened his pace, walked to the middle of the alley, suddenly pushed open a half-closed wooden door, and slipped inside.
Shen Qiushui followed her in and bolted the door shut behind her.
It was a small courtyard with a few clothes hanging out to dry; no one was there.
The sound of footsteps outside went past and then came back.
Where are they?
"He must have hidden somewhere. Let's split up and search!"
The footsteps dispersed.
Li Ranmo peeked out through the crack in the door and saw that one of the two people was chasing deeper into the alley, while the other was walking back.
"This way." He pushed open a small door on the other side of the courtyard, behind which was another, narrower alley.
The two walked through the alleys, made two turns, and returned to the main road.
I looked back, but no one was following.
"We shook them off." Shen Qiushui breathed a sigh of relief. "Who are those two people?"
"I don't know," Li Ranmo said, "but they're definitely not good people. Let's go back to the hospital first."
The two returned to the hospital and, as soon as they entered the main gate, saw Chen Qitai standing at the end of the first-floor corridor, talking to a caregiver.
When Chen Qitai saw them, he paused for a moment, waved to the caregiver, and turned to go into the office.
"He saw it," Shen Qiushui said in a low voice.
"It's good that he saw it," Li Ranmo said. "It lets him know that we're making moves."
The two went upstairs and returned to Li Ranmo's office.
Li Ranmo paused for a moment after pushing open the door.
"What's wrong?" Shen Qiushui asked.
"Someone came in." Li Ranmo walked in and glanced around the room.
The books on the shelf were in the same order, the drawers were closed properly, but...
He walked to the desk and touched the surface with his fingers.
A thin layer of dust had been wiped away, leaving a small patch.
"I flipped through it, but very carefully." Li Ranmo opened the drawer. The contents were arranged exactly as he had left them, except that the edge of a medical record book was offset by half an inch.
Shen Qiushui's expression changed: "Wang Qingnian's men?"
"Maybe." Li Ranmo walked to the metal cabinet by the wall.
That's a sterilizer for surgical instruments.
He opened the innermost cabinet door, took out the instruments and gauze rolls, and pressed his finger on the edge of the base.
The base plate pops up, revealing the underlying interlayer.
The copper coins and the list are still there.
Li Ranmo took the items out to look at them, then put them back, fixed the base plate, and put the equipment back in its original position.
"Nothing was touched," he said. "They just came to check if I had anything hidden in my office, and when they didn't find anything, they left."
Shen Qiushui leaned against the door: "Wang Qingnian is trying to keep a close eye on you."
"We've been keeping a close eye on it for a while now." Li Ranmo closed the cabinet door. "The problem now is, how are we going to get to the old sluice gate tomorrow?"
The sky outside the window darkened.
Shen Qiushui suddenly remembered something and took out a telegram folded into a small square from her bosom.
"I almost forgot." She handed it to Li Ranmo. "When I just got back, Old Zhao, the gatekeeper, secretly slipped it to me, saying that someone delivered it this afternoon."
Li Ranmo unfolded the telegram.
The message contained only one line: "Wang Qingnian was furious and made several unsuccessful attempts. He has increased his spies and is closely monitoring all passageways from the hospital to the dock. Do not move."
There was no signature, but the handwriting was a familiar contact code to Shen Qiushui.
"The passageways are blocked," Shen Qiushui said. "From the hospital to the dock, and then to the old sluice gate, there are probably his people on every road."
Li Ranmo held the telegram to the kerosene lamp and lit it.
Flames leaped up, and the paper quickly burned to ashes.
"Roads are made by people," he said. "Meet me at the City God Temple teahouse tomorrow at noon."
Shen Qiushui looked at him: "Are you really going?"
"The medicine can't be stopped," Li Ranmo said. "Han Xiuyun dared to suggest using a waterway warehouse, which means that batch of goods is very important. The front line is waiting for it, and we have no way out."
Shen Qiushui remained silent for a few seconds.
"I'll go with you."
"No need," Li Ranmo said. "You stay at the hospital and keep an eye on Wang Qingnian's situation. If I don't come back tomorrow, or if there are no white chrysanthemums on the windowsill, you'll know something's wrong. Immediately cut off contact with Han Xiuyun and protect yourself."
"Li Ranmo—"
"This is an order." Li Ranmo looked at her. "You are the liaison officer. Your mission is to deliver intelligence, not to come with me to your death."
Shen Qiushui bit her lip and remained silent.
Outside the window, it was completely dark.
A few lights were on in the hospital.
The sound of a caregiver pushing a medical cart could be heard in the corridor, the wheels making a rumbling sound as they rolled across the floor.
Li Ranmo walked to the window and looked at the dark night outside.
Tomorrow at noon.
Old gate.
Next to the inspection team's station.
He knew that place; he had passed by it once before. There was an abandoned brick kiln at a bend in the river, and the warehouse should be nearby.
If Wang Qingnian's men have already locked down all the passages, how will he get through tomorrow?
Walk over there? I'll definitely be followed.
Taking a car? That would be even more conspicuous.
perhaps……
A thought flashed through his mind.
"Nurse Shen." He turned around.
"Um?"
"Do me a favor tomorrow morning," Li Ranmo said. "Go to the morgue and find a set of clothes that a dead person would wear, something old, preferably with some mud on it."
Shen Qiushui was taken aback: "What are you going to do?"
"I pretended to be a corpse transporter," Li Ranmo said. "The hospital has corpses to be transported to the mass grave in the west of the city every day, and they take the same road as the old sluice gate. If you blend in with the corpse transport team, no one will check."
Shen Qiushui's eyes widened: "Are you crazy? That's so unlucky!"
"It's better to be unlucky than dead," Li Ranmo said. "The inspection team doesn't even want to look at the carts used to transport corpses, let alone investigate them."
Shen Qiushui opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end, she didn't say anything.
She knew that once Li Ranmo made up her mind, no one could dissuade her.
"I'll go get ready." She turned and walked out.
They walked to the door, then stopped.
"Dr. Li."
"Um?"
"Be careful tomorrow."
Li Ran smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm tough."
Shen Qiushui is gone.
The office fell silent.
Li Ranmo walked to the cabinet, opened the bottom drawer, and took out the Colt pistol.
The gun was cold.
He checked the magazine; it was full of bullets.
Then he tucked the gun into his lower back and covered it with his clothes.
tomorrow.
Old gate.
He wanted to see just how dense the inescapable net that Wang Qingnian had laid was.