20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 825 Planning
The Japanese outpost responded quickly; within just a few minutes, a group of officers appeared on the street and rushed toward the apartment building.

Immediately afterwards, several gunshots were heard from the crossroads not far away—it was the Jiang family brothers providing cover for them.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

After the gunshots, the Japanese police officers on the street were indeed taken aback, but they did not disperse. They hesitated for a moment before continuing to rush towards this side.

As Chuang Hu previously stated, many Japanese residents live in this apartment building, and the Japanese police officers understand the priorities, naturally placing the protection of the residents' safety as their top priority.

Standing on the outer staircase, Zhao Guoyan could see clearly and hurriedly shouted, "New Year! Time is running out, evacuate quickly!"

After saying that, he immediately raised his hand and fired several shots, forcing the Qin family's thugs back into the depths of the corridor.

Hai Xinnian caught his breath, then simply climbed over the fence, grabbed the railing with one hand, swung, and jumped directly to the platform below.

Zhao Guoyan quickly went over to help him, and he managed to stand up. Then he fired a few more shots upstairs, emptying his magazine instantly.

"Come on!"

While shoving Hai Xinnian, he quickly changed to a spare magazine.

The two of them clung tightly to the inner handrail and stumbled their way to the second-floor platform.

Unexpectedly, at that very moment, the side door on the second floor of the apartment was also suddenly kicked open.

Hai Xinnian's heart tightened, and he subconsciously raised his gun. He thought the Qin family had pursuers lying in ambush, but instead, he was met by a group of men, women, and children dressed in pajamas.

It turned out that the gunshots were so intense that they had already woken up the other residents in the apartment building.

Unaware of the reason, these people thought they had encountered a robbery by ruthless bandits. Without having time to ask any questions, they panicked and rushed to the side door of the corridor, preparing to escape from the building and seek refuge.

Now, as soon as they burst through the door and saw the muzzle of a gun, they screamed and scattered, retreating deep into the corridor.

However, the residents on the first floor were unaware of this, and several people have already rushed out of the building, chattering in Japanese.

Seeing this, Zhao Guoyan quickly pressed Hai Xinnian's arm down and whispered, "Put the gun away and follow the crowd!"

Hai Xinnian nodded in agreement and hurriedly ran downstairs.

They had only run a few steps when gunshots rang out overhead again. Bullets struck the iron stairwell, sending sparks flying and causing everyone to scatter in panic.

At this time of year, the lights are dim, and the apartment residents don't have time to recognize each other; they just mingle in a chaotic mess.

"Bang-bang!"

After two shots rang out, someone from the Qin family shouted, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot! Aim carefully before you shoot, or it'll be troublesome if you hit a Japanese person!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a "humming" sound came from the dark alley!
With the engine roaring, two beams of light swept across the road, and the tires kicked up patches of snow and mud. The Jiang family's car braked suddenly at the intersection, and before the car had come to a complete stop, the back door was already pushed open.

The driver rolled down the window, fired a shot at the side door on the third floor, and shouted urgently, "Brother Yan, get in the car!"

"go!"

Zhao Guoyan, carrying Hai Xinnian, rushed to the car. When they reached the intersection, he first pushed Hai Xinnian inside, and then crouched down and crawled into the car himself.

The car started, and the accelerator was pressed too hard, causing the wheels to spin twice in the air on the snow before finally moving forward at high speed.

The two didn't have time to turn around; the car door closed entirely due to inertia. Just as the door closed, a bullet whistled through the air, but fortunately it only shattered the taillight.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The Qin brothers stood on the outer staircase and quickly fired several more shots.

However, the Jiang family's car made a sharp turn and disappeared among the buildings of the South Railway Concession in the blink of an eye.

"Hold!"

Zhao Guoyan swung his fist and slammed it hard on the back seat, uttering a rare curse.

Chuang Hu sat on the other side, pressed against the car door. Hearing the curses, he slumped down, too scared to even breathe.

"This is utterly shameful!"

Zhao Guoyan gritted his teeth, his anger reaching its peak, and he couldn't help but lose his composure slightly.

He did not accuse Chuang Hu of failing to scout the location properly.

At times like these, blaming each other only disrupts morale and serves no other practical purpose.

Now, seeing everyone safe and sound is a stroke of good fortune amidst misfortune.

But Chuang Hu was filled with unease and muttered anxiously, "How could there be so many people... That shouldn't be the case. When I was following him, I never saw anyone meeting up with me!"

"Forget it!" Zhao Guoyan waved his hand and said, "What's the point of saying all this now?"

Chuang Hu swallowed hard: "But... when we get back, if the boss asks, I'll have to give him an explanation, won't I?"

"Then you can push the blame onto me!" Zhao Guoyan looked back and, seeing that the Japanese police hadn't caught up, relaxed a little. He continued, "I'm the foreman. I was clumsy and didn't do a good job. No matter how you look at it, I'm partly responsible!"

"No, no!" Chuang Hu quickly shook his head. "Brother Zhao, whoever is at fault should be at fault. I can't let you take the blame for me!"

Hai Xinnian suddenly interjected, "Could it be that Qin Huaimeng already guessed that we were going to kidnap someone today?"

Zhao Guoyan's face was ashen, and he said in a muffled voice, "If he could really guess that accurately, then it can only mean one thing..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but quickly went through all the people in the know in his mind, then shook his head firmly and said, "No, impossible!"

Within the Jiang family, very few people knew that the kidnapping would take place tonight. Even Xifeng only learned about it by chance when they happened to meet.

If the driver informed on him, then there's no need for him to come to the rescue.

If it was the brother who was supposed to be covering for him who betrayed him, he should have run away long ago.

Zhao Guoyan pondered deeply, but finally said, "It must have been prepared in advance."

Upon hearing this, Hai Xinnian couldn't help but turn to look at Chuang Hu.

Chuang Hu was dejected and ashamed, not knowing what to say.

“But that doesn’t make sense!” Hai Xinnian continued. “If that translator was really that important, why didn’t Qin Huaimeng just have a few bodyguards with him? Why did he have to set up an ambush in the apartment? Wasn’t he afraid we would kidnap him on the street?”

These words served as a reminder to the two uncles.

In Fengtian, three-legged toads are hard to find, but two-legged translators are plentiful. Is it worth Qin Huaimeng sending so many brothers to guard a mere translator?

If Hou Chuanyan is really that important, why risk letting him wander the streets alone?

After much thought, there's probably only one possibility—this translation isn't important, but Qin Huaimeng deliberately made it seem important!

Or rather, Qin Huaimeng was certain that the Jiang family was trying to find his hiding place through this translator, and therefore would not easily kidnap him on the way unless absolutely necessary.

Zhao Guoyan suddenly realized something and quickly said, "He knows we've already got our eye on this translator!"

"How did you know?" Hai Xinnian glanced at Chuang Hu again.

Suddenly losing his confidence, Chuang Hu asked doubtfully, "You mean... I've given myself away?"

"Think carefully, is there something you've overlooked?"

Zhao Guoyan spoke gently, trying to avoid sounding accusatory. In truth, he didn't believe that Chuang Hu would be so careless as to make such a mistake.

That's a poppy under the bed!

How much invaluable intelligence about the Jiang family was obtained by him personally?

Back then, if it weren't for Chuang Hu's infiltration of Fengwaiju and his obtaining intelligence that the Zongshe Party was planning to assassinate Lao Zhang, the Jiang family would probably have perished long ago.

In Zhao Guoyan's view, if Chuang Hu did not notice anything unusual near the apartment, it could only mean that the Qin family's thugs had already moved into the apartment in advance.

It could be two days in advance, or it could be even longer in advance.

Chuang Hu scratched his head and muttered to himself, "What you've said has made me a little insecure..."

Before I could finish speaking, a sudden inspiration struck me!
"Right, it must have been that day!"

"When?"

Zhao Guoyan and Hai Xinnian hurriedly inquired.

Chuang Hu dared not speak rashly, and cautiously recalled: "It was on the second night after we checked into the Nantie Hotel that the boss sent me to Warehouse No. 7 to inquire about the situation of Sentry Li. It was on that night that I saw the Qin family's translator."

"You've been discovered?"

Chuang Hu shook his head and said, "There shouldn't be any. At least when I left, no one stopped me. But there was a heavy snowfall the night before, and there are usually not many people around the warehouse. The roof was covered in white. If I had given myself away, it would have been that night when they found out!"

Zhao Guoyan remained silent.

It seems the problem arose that night.

But there's nothing we can do about it. After all, the tiger doesn't have wings. When the snow covers the sky and everything is white, it will always leave some clues.

However, at that time, Lao Dou and Whistle Li's first reaction was fear. They were afraid that Jiang Lianheng would come to their door and retaliate.

Qin Huaimeng was the only exception. His first reaction was to turn the tables on the Jiang family, set up bait, and even prepare to deal another heavy blow to them.

Only then did Zhao Guoyan realize that the Jiang family had encountered a true adversary.

Qin Huaimeng is cautious, low-key, insidious, ruthless, bold, and meticulous. In terms of both ability and strategy, he is far superior to Whistle Li and others.

What's most chilling is that he rose to prominence almost silently and quietly right under Jiang Lianheng's nose.

Jiang Lianheng had met him before, but every time they met, he was extremely respectful and humble, making it impossible to tell that he had the slightest ambition.

Perhaps, such people will appear sooner or later, or even be somewhat inevitable.

No matter how cautious Jiang Lianheng was, he couldn't change the inevitable cycle of change in the martial arts world, where one power rises and another falls...

…………

Meanwhile, inside the apartment building.

The Japanese police quickly brought the situation under control and then sent someone to the police headquarters to report to their superiors and notify all branches to send police officers to provide support.

Immediately afterwards, the scene was cordoned off, the overseas Chinese were reassured, and the situation was understood from the security guards at the apartment building.

Although order is gradually being restored inside the building, people are still in shock, and the corridors are still noisy with crying, complaining, and accusations that have not yet subsided.

As the parties involved, the Qin brothers were naturally subject to close questioning by the police.

It would have been better not to investigate, because once you do, you find all sorts of problems.

First of all, having so many people crammed into the same room already violates the apartment's rental rules, yet the building's security guard claims to be completely unaware of it.

Secondly, the fact that everyone in the room had a gun, and that they were all Type 26 pistols that the South Railway Independent Garrison had recently phased out, made the situation even more suspicious.

In the end, three people died at the scene. Before the police could draw a conclusion, these people insisted that it was the Jiang family in Fengtian City who did it, as if they had expected it all along.

The Japanese police didn't tolerate them either, and immediately began questioning them in the lobby on the first floor. Hou Chuanyan, as the resident involved, naturally took the lead and helped act as a translator for both sides.

All the rambling details will be omitted here.

After understanding the general situation, the Japanese police prepared to escort everyone to the police station for detailed interrogation.

But just then, the officer who had gone to report to the police station suddenly turned back and whispered a few words in the squad leader's ear. The last sentence was heard very clearly:
"Officer Saito said he'll be there soon and he'll handle everything here. Until then, please don't make things difficult for these people. If they have any needs, please make sure they can pass through easily and don't neglect them."

Upon hearing this, the squad leader on site immediately frowned and asked in a low voice, "Whose order is this?"

The officer who rushed to deliver the message whispered in his ear, "It's the commissioner's order! Their boss is an important figure in the Goodwill Association and has some dealings with the police department!"

The squad leader dared not say another word. He lowered his hands, which had been behind his back, and nodded to Hou Chuanyan, asking in Japanese, "Is there anything you need?"

Hou Chuanyan pointed upstairs and said respectfully, "I want to go back and make a phone call."

The squad leader didn't stop him; he simply sent one of his men upstairs with him.

The Japanese policeman followed Hou Chuanyan to the third floor. As soon as he pushed open the dilapidated door, he couldn't help but frown and mutter, "Those Chinese pigs have no sense of hygiene!"

To be fair, it's not that he spoke rudely, but Hou Chuanyan's room really was no different from a pigsty.

The room wasn't large, but it was filled with bedding rolls, the ashtray on the table was overflowing, and many cigarette butts were on the floor. Occasionally, you could also see chessboards, leaf games, dominoes, and other little things to pass the time.

The room reeked of feet, the smell assaulting the very core of one's being. Soon after entering, one couldn't help but burst into tears.

Not only did the Japanese shake their heads at the sight, but even Hou Chuanyan himself covered his mouth and nose.

He walked to the table, picked up the telephone, dialed a number, and said into the receiver, "It's me, Hou Er, I'm looking for Master Qin."

After that, hang up the phone.

A short while later, the phone rang.

Hou Chuanyan answered the phone again, his tone much more respectful than before, and hurriedly said, "Master Qin, it's me, they're here tonight."

The person on the other end of the phone asked, "Are there any survivors?"

"Uh... well, we didn't catch any of their men, but three of our brothers died..."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, and Hou Chuanyan could feel Master Qin's anger even through the receiver.

However, when Qin Huaimeng actually spoke, his tone was quite lenient: "It's alright, just do your best. I'll talk to the police station. You just need to cooperate with the officers in the investigation. You've already been exposed. It's safer for you to stay at the police station during this time."

"Master Qin, when can I get out?"

"When I show up on the day of the Japan-China Friendship Association meeting, you can come out."

"But the Jiang family hasn't been eliminated yet. Wouldn't it be dangerous for you to show your face now?"

"I have to attend this meeting. Don't ask any more questions, that's all—"

Almost as soon as I finished speaking, a series of beeping sounds came through the receiver.

Hou Chuanyan hung up the phone helplessly, turned around, clasped his hands together, and said to the Japanese policeman, "Sir, please take me away!"

(End of this chapter)