Too many female prisoners, a special forces soldier transmigrates and marries wildly.

He quickly checked his equipment. The dagger was still there, two throwing knives remained, and the emergency medicine he had brought from the Zhou residence was still in the oilcloth bag in his pocket. The wound on his left arm had only reopened, and the knife wound on his back wasn't deep, so it wouldn't affect his movement for the time being. The biggest problem was the excessive physical exertion; blood loss was causing waves of dizziness, but he could still manage.

We must act immediately. Target: the stove, the third brick from the left.

After turning a few corners, the iconic crooked old willow tree reappeared diagonally opposite the alleyway ahead. The wooden building stood there, its doors tightly shut, and the area in front of it deserted, eerily quiet.

He didn't approach the main entrance rashly. His gaze swept over both sides of the wooden building. To the left was the adjacent, slightly taller wall of the neighbor's house, without windows. To the right was a narrow, dead-end corner piled with broken furniture and clutter, which seemed to end at the back wall of the wooden building's kitchen, where there should be a back door or small window for dumping garbage.

Lin Feng moved swiftly, using the shadows cast by several piles of broken baskets and miscellaneous items, to the dead corner on the right side of the wooden building. Sure enough, at the far end near the base of the wall, there was a low, makeshift wooden door made of a few broken planks, crooked and barely wide enough for one person to bend over and pass through. A rusty, useless iron lock hung on the door.

It's a back door, or rather, a garbage chute.

Lin Feng pressed his ear against the wooden door to listen. It was completely silent inside, except for the sound of his own heartbeat. He gently pushed the door; it creaked softly, but wasn't locked. He took a deep breath, drew his short knife, and carefully pried open a crack in the door with the tip, peering inside.

Inside the door was an extremely narrow, dimly lit passageway, piled high with empty wine jars, rotten vegetable leaves, coal ash, and other debris, emitting a pungent stench. At the end of the passageway, a corner of a stove could be vaguely seen, dark and gloomy, with firewood piled up beside it. This was indeed the back part of the kitchen.

It's safe for now; at least there are no ambushes at the door.

Without further hesitation, Lin Feng squeezed through the doorway and gently closed the wooden door behind him. The kitchen was even darker than outside, with only a few rays of sunlight filtering through the cracks in the dilapidated roof and the stove opening, barely illuminating the outline of the room. The stove was large, a typical earthen stove found in rural northern China, connected to a chimney leading to the second floor. The stove opening was dark and gaping, still warm from unburnt ashes.

This is it. The third brick from the left.

Lin Feng didn't act immediately. Instead, he crouched down, leaning against the stove, and heightened his senses, listening intently to the sounds coming from inside and outside the building. There seemed to be an extremely faint, intermittent rustling sound upstairs, like a heavy object being dragged. Was it the injured "Shadow Guard" moving around? Or cleaning up a corpse? Or... someone else?

There was no time to scrutinize it carefully. He had to find the ledger immediately and leave.

He held his breath and moved to the left side of the stove. In the dim light, he carefully examined the bricks on the outer wall of the stove. These bricks, smudged by years of smoke and fire, were no longer recognizable as their original color, and were covered with a thick layer of soot and grease. He stretched out his fingers and gently tapped the left wall with his knuckles, starting from the part closest to the stove opening.

"Thump, thump, thump..."

The sound was dull, the bricks were firmly laid. He tapped them one by one, his movements extremely light, his ear almost pressed against the wall. The first brick, solid. The second, solid. The third…

"Thump..."

The tapping sound was extremely subtle! It seemed to be more hollow behind the other bricks! Moreover, to the touch, the gaps at the edge of this brick seemed to be slightly wider than the gaps between the bricks next to it, and under the cover of soot, the irregular edges could be vaguely seen.

That's it!

A glint of light flashed in Lin Feng's eyes. He drew his short knife and carefully scraped away the thick layer of cigarette ash and grease along the edge of the brick with the tip of the blade, then tried to pry it inward. The brick was indeed a little loose! But it seemed to be stuck from the inside by something, or perhaps it was simply laid very tightly.

He dared not exert any force, afraid of making a sound. He changed angles several times, probing the inside of the brick little by little with the tip of the knife. Finally, near the top, the tip of the knife seemed to touch a hard, sharp-edged metal object—like a small iron hook or latch—that was holding the brick in place from the inside.

Is it a mechanism? Or a simple clip to prevent bricks from accidentally falling off?

Lin Feng frowned slightly. He tried to gently pry the metal object with the tip of his knife. It was very tight and wouldn't budge. He then tried inserting the short knife into the gap under the brick, using the lever principle, and with his other hand supporting the brick surface, he slowly applied pressure.

"Click..."

A very faint, yet unusually clear sound, like a mechanism loosening, rang out in the quiet kitchen! At the same time, Lin Feng felt the brick in his hand suddenly slip away!

Success! He immediately stopped exerting force, steadied the brick with both hands, and carefully, inch by inch, pulled the heavy brick out of the wall.

Behind the bricks, a square hole about the size of a palm and half a foot deep was revealed. The hole was dark and emitted a musty smell of dust and old paper. Lin Feng reached in and felt around, and his fingertips quickly touched a square, book-sized hard object wrapped in oilcloth.

The ledger! Found it!

A surge of joy filled him. He quickly retrieved the oilcloth bundle, finding it heavy in his hand. Without even checking it, he immediately stuffed the bundle into his robes, pressing it tightly against his chest. Then, he had to restore the scene to its original state, at least making sure no one could immediately tell that the bricks had been moved.

He picked up the brick, intending to put it back in its place. However, just as he lifted the brick, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye that in that small hiding hole, besides the empty space left by the account book, something seemed to be lying quietly in the dust at the bottom corner of the hole.

It was a metal piece about half the size of a fingernail, neither gold nor iron, with a dark, matte sheen in the dim light... shaped like an arrow! Its design was exactly the same as the arrow mark he had seen before, and the "Shadow Guard" token described by Zhou Wenyuan! Only smaller and more exquisite.

Why are there "Shadow Guard" markings here? Were they left by the finance department? Or did they accidentally fall off during a previous search by the "Shadow Guard"? Or perhaps... this hiding place is actually related to the "Shadow Guard"?

Countless thoughts flashed through Lin Feng's mind in an instant, but his movements did not falter. Without hesitation, he reached out and picked up the small metal arrow, which was icy cold to the touch. He didn't examine it closely, and quickly stuffed it, along with the ledger, into different places in his pocket.

Then, he picked up the brick, carefully aligned it with the hole, and slowly pushed it back in. When the brick was fully in place, flush with the surrounding brick wall, there was another extremely slight "click" as the mechanism engaged. Could that small metal arrow be the "key" to activate or lock this simple mechanism?

He didn't have time to verify. Lin Feng used his foot to brush away the dust on the ground, covering up the fresh pry marks on the edges of the bricks. He then grabbed a handful of ashes from beside the stove and scattered them near the brick seams, trying to make it look as dirty and old as the surroundings.

After doing all this, his vest was soaked with cold sweat. The ledger and the arrow in his arms felt like two red-hot irons, searing his heart. But he knew this was not the time to relax. He had to leave immediately!

He listened intently again. The dragging sounds from upstairs seemed to have stopped. From the alley outside, he could faintly hear footsteps approaching again—more than one person! Were the pursuers returning? Or were the reinforcements brought by "One Bite Red"?

We can't go through the back door anymore! It's too conspicuous there, and if we get stuck in the narrow passage, it'll be a dead end.

Lin Feng's gaze quickly swept across the kitchen. Apart from the back door, there was only a wooden door leading to the front hall, and... above the stove, a square opening for venting smoke to the second floor! The opening wasn't large, about a foot square, and it was pitch black inside, pointing straight upwards. One could vaguely see the faint light shining through the kitchen floor on the second floor above, as well as the hanging, blackened iron chimney made of cooking fumes.

The chimney! Though narrow and filthy, it might be the only way out! The situation on the second floor is unclear, but it's better than running straight into the enemy through the front or back door.