Cangmang Asks the Way 1: Guardian of the Lamp

In the office of the deputy section chief of the Technical Section of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Nancheng Public Security Bureau, Liu Jianmin was staring at the status of the item "Physical Evidence-047" on the computer screen, with fine beads of sweat on his forehead.

The Motorola digital pager in my pocket started vibrating, emitting a buzzing sound.

He took out the small black box, on which the LCD screen displayed the codes "138****" and "119"—a message from his "cousin's" paging service, meaning "call back immediately."

Liu Jianmin got up, walked to the end of the corridor, inserted his IC card, and used a public phone to call back.

A few seconds later, the call connected, and a hushed voice came from the other end: "How's the situation?"

Liu Jianmin's fingers hovered over the keyboard for a few seconds before he finally spoke softly into the microphone: "The items have been confirmed to have been taken away for re-inspection, and their current whereabouts are unknown. People from the provincial department came this afternoon and asked very detailed questions."

I hung up the phone and removed the IC card. A few seconds later, the pager vibrated again, this time displaying "Understood. Stay alert and report any abnormalities immediately. Be careful."

Liu Jianmin deleted the message record, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

He knew he had embarked on a path of no return.

Meanwhile, in the Japanese-style room of the Fujiwara Ancient Art Research Institute in faraway Kyoto, Fujiwara Shinsuke was kneeling on the tatami mats, carefully wiping an ancestral samurai sword.

The blade reflected his calm and deep eyes.

"Kuroki-kun has failed." He spoke slowly, his voice calm and even.

Hiroshi Nakamura, kneeling opposite him, bowed his head and said, "Yes. The operation was disrupted by a migrant worker who accidentally broke in. Kuroki-kun and the other two... are dead. Most importantly, that verification coin... may be lost."

"Lost?" Fujiwara Shinsuke paused slightly in his wiping motion. "Was it confiscated by the police, or...?"

"The on-site report is chaotic and cannot be confirmed at present. But according to our friends there, experts from the provincial department have intervened, and there have been some unexpected obstacles in the management of physical evidence."

Fujiwara Shinsuke remained silent for a moment before slowly sheathing his sword.

"It seems the other side is more vigilant than we thought." He looked up at an ancient Chinese painting hanging on the wall—one his grandfather had brought back from Yanjing. "But that coin must be found. Without it, even if we know where the box is, we can't confirm which one is the real target."

"I understand," Nakamura Hiroshi said in a deep voice. "The formalities for the delegation's visit to China have been basically completed, and they will be able to enter the country next month. At that time, I will handle the rest personally."

"Don't rush," Fujiwara Shinsuke said calmly. "There's an old Chinese saying, 'Haste makes waste.' Now that they're on guard, we need to be even more cautious. What's the name of that migrant worker who ruined our plans?"

"Cang Lifeng. A construction foreman from Anshi."

"Aoi..." Fujiwara Shinsuke repeated the surname, a thoughtful glint in his eyes. "Investigate his background. How could an ordinary migrant worker possess such skills? And how could he happen to be there at that exact time?"

"We're already investigating. Preliminary information suggests he was just there to demand his unpaid wages; it was purely coincidental."

"A coincidence?" Fujiwara Shinsuke shook his head slightly. "I never believe in coincidences. Continue investigating, find out about his family and his background. Sometimes, the most inconspicuous clues point to the most important truths."

"Yes."

Nakamura Hiroshi bowed and left the Japanese-style room.

Fujiwara Shinsuke knelt alone in the quiet room, his gaze once again falling on the ancient painting.

The painting depicts rolling mountains shrouded in mist, creating a profound and evocative atmosphere.

His grandfather had told him that the painting came from an ancient temple in northern China, and that the temple's library once housed a collection of precious Tang Dynasty sutras—those sutras are now in a bank safe deposit box, waiting for their rightful owner to retrieve them.

"It'll be soon..." Fujiwara Shinsuke murmured to himself, "It'll be soon. Grandfather, I will definitely continue the work you left unfinished."

Outside the window, the night in Kyoto was deepening.

In his ward at Nancheng People's Hospital, Cang Lifeng drifted off to sleep amidst the pain. In his dream, he returned to his old house in Xiqiao Village and saw his grandfather, Cang Houde, sitting in the dimly lit room, the dark gold copper coin in his hand gleaming faintly in the dim light.

Grandpa looked up at him, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something.

But he couldn't hear anything.

Only that copper coin, spinning and magnifying in his dream, eventually transformed into a cold sun, hanging in the deepest part of his consciousness.

Safe house.

Su Mingyue stared at the scrolling data stream on the screen and a few pages of photocopies of paper documents that she had just obtained through special channels. Suddenly, she spoke up: "There's movement, and the historical threads are starting to emerge."

Zhao Haichuan looked up from a pile of photos from the scene: "What do you mean?"

"First, there was unusual access to the Municipal Bureau's Technical Section's intranet last night." Su Mingyue's fingers pulled up the log analysis on the keyboard. "The access ID was Liu Jianmin, the deputy head of the Technical Section, and the time was after 12 pm, outside of working hours. He focused on the evidence list of the 'December 19th Bank Robbery,' lingering for an unusually long time on the record entry 'Evidence-047: Circular Perforated Metal Piece,' and attempted to retrieve a high-resolution photo of the evidence, but the system displayed 'Retrieval failed, insufficient permissions or file temporarily unavailable.' The access record was manually deleted ten minutes later, but I restored the underlying backup."

"Secondly," she switched screens to show photos of several yellowed archives, "following Captain Chen's instructions, I accessed some historical archives of the Nancheng People's Bank (its predecessor) through confidential channels. I confirmed one thing: around the time of the victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan, the bank did indeed take on and retain a number of 'anonymous safe deposit box' services from diverse sources. Its activation and verification mechanisms differed from the systems commonly used at the time, and it is said that it introduced customized security measures requested by certain 'special clients.' The relevant information is incomplete, but the term 'special verification device' has appeared in sporadic records."

The room fell silent suddenly, with only the soft hum of the equipment running.

"Evidence-047..." Zhao Haichuan flipped through the list in his hand, his face grim. "This afternoon I went to the Municipal Bureau's evidence room to request to see this item under the pretext of review. The person in charge searched for a long time and finally told me that the record showed it had been 'retrieved for re-examination,' but the retrieved procedures and its current storage location were 'temporarily unclear,' and it would take time to investigate."

"A fine 'temporarily unclear' statement." Chen Mo sneered, walked to the map, and traced the locations of the bank and the municipal bureau with his finger. "The copper coin appeared at the scene, was recorded, and then became 'unclear' before our people could intervene. Liu Jianmin tried to view detailed photos but failed, and then his access record was deleted. This wasn't an accident; it was a premeditated interception. The opponent acted quickly and has tentacles within our system."

"There are even more obvious clues." Su Mingyue pointed to another screen, which displayed a complex communication relationship diagram. "I've analyzed Liu Jianmin's social connections and recent communications. He has a distant cousin who works as a middle manager in a Sino-Japanese joint venture in Nancheng. The Japanese investment background of this company is indirectly related to 'East Asia Cultural Exchange Co., Ltd.' More importantly, in the past week, Liu Jianmin had three brief meetings with this cousin, all in teahouses far from the city center. Although the call records are clean, the behavior pattern is abnormal."

"The cultural exchange group's entry application was expedited just a week before the robbery," Cang Liuqing added. She had just come in and overheard the second half of the story.

Chen Mo remained silent for a few seconds, his fingers slowly tapping on the table. The forty-something counter-espionage expert's face betrayed no emotion, but those who knew him well understood that this rhythm meant his brain was working at high speed, piecing together fragments.

"The trail is closed." He spoke slowly, his voice deep and clear. "A special copper coin, possibly bearing historical significance, appeared at the scene of a robbery targeting a bank's safe deposit box area. The coin then mysteriously 'disappeared' during the evidence collection process. The deputy head of the technical department in charge of evidence behaved abnormally, and his social connections pointed to a foreign cultural group with a delicate background who was about to enter the country. And this bank happened to have a history of handling anonymous safekeeping transactions that required 'special verification'."

His gaze swept over the three men: "This isn't an isolated robbery, nor even a simple espionage operation. It's more like a 'verification' or 'activation' operation targeting a specific historical legacy. The robbery is a pretext to create chaos and test reactions. The copper coin could be a key, or it could be a token."

"What should we do with Liu Jianmin? Take him into custody?" Zhao Haichuan asked.

"No, the surveillance has been upgraded, making it appear relaxed on the outside but tight on the inside." Chen Mo made a decision. "He is now the most direct bridge we can see, connecting the inside and outside. Moving him will alert the lines behind him. We need to use him to see clearly who is in charge, what their next step is, and... where that copper coin was moved to, or whether there are other 'copies' or related items."

He looked at Cang Liuqing: "What about your brother?"

"Initial contact and security arrangements have been completed. His recollection of the scene is vague, consistent with the cognitive state of a seriously injured person. However..." Cang Liuqing paused slightly, but still reported to the leader, "He mentioned a noteworthy point: a strange, fleeting 'familiarity' or 'heart palpitation' regarding the fallen object. In addition, he inadvertently recalled a childhood memory about his grandfather secretly keeping an object resembling a coin and sternly warning him to keep it a secret."

A glint flashed in Chen Mo's eyes, and his finger hovered on the table for a moment, as if locating something on a virtual map: "Cang Lifeng's grandfather... Cang Houde, the old farmer from Xiqiao Village?"

"Yes."

"Make a note of this." Chen Mo didn't ask any further questions, but he mentally connected "Cang Houde," "hidden collection," and "special historical copper coin." "Protecting your brother is the top priority. At the same time, the emergence of this family memory is itself a signal. From now on, the words 'Xiqiao Village' and 'Cang Houde' will automatically be upgraded to 'potential related elements' in our analytical framework. Mingyue, create a separate file for them, and set hidden markers and warnings."

"Understood." Su Mingyue quickly took notes.

Chen Mo walked back to the table, placed his hands on it, and stared intently at the surface. "The situation is clear now: we've been drawn into a contemporary struggle over a historical secret. Our adversaries have foreign connections, internal support, professional operations, and unclear objectives. Our advantage lies in the fact that their most crucial token may be accidentally exposed, disrupting their operations, and... we're already on alert."

He straightened up, his voice resolute: "Notify all relevant units that Operation 'Shadow Suppression' will now fully transition to the proactive investigation phase. The primary objectives are threefold: First, to ascertain the whereabouts and true purpose of the copper coins; second, to identify and monitor suspicious personnel within the organization, clarifying their superiors and networks; and third, to conduct an in-depth analysis of the true intentions, historical background, and connections of the 'East Asia Cultural Exchange Corporation,' as well as the detailed backgrounds and potential risks of all members of its delegation visiting China."

"We need to pull their nets out when they think they can still hide underwater, and see clearly the direction of every line."

He finally looked at Cang Liuqing, his tone grave: "Liuqing, your brother is the most unexpected and vulnerable piece on this chessboard. Our opponents are likely to reassess his value, especially if he has indeed 'seen' or 'felt familiar' that copper coin. Your task is doubled: you must not only protect his safety but also use him to watch out for any unusual developments related to our family history. Remember, any subtle anomaly could be a clue pointing to a larger truth."

"Understood." Cang Liuqing nodded solemnly, her younger brother's words flashing through her mind again: "Grandpa's copper coin looks very similar to the copper coin I saw at the bank." That heavy family mystery was now tightly intertwined with the national mission.

"Haichuan," Chen Mo turned to Zhao Haichuan, "you will continue working at the Municipal Bureau as an expert from the Provincial Department, but your focus needs to be adjusted. In addition to physical evidence, pay close attention to Liu Jianmin's behavioral patterns and the people he contacts, especially his next contact with that 'cousin.' I need to know what their emergency plan is after the copper coin 'disappeared.'"

"Understood. I will try to access other aspects of evidence management without arousing suspicion, to see if I can find any traces of the copper coins being moved."

"Mingyue," Chen Mo looked at the youngest team member, "you need to expand your information monitoring scope. In addition to the established targets, increase your information gathering on the Nancheng antique market and private collecting circles, especially information on the circulation or price inquiries of 'special coins' and 'old Japanese items.' If the enemy really wants to find or verify something, they may try to probe through these private channels."

"Furthermore," he paused, "I've begun to establish in-depth archives of 'Shin-suke Fujiwara' and his 'Fujiwara Institute of Ancient Art.' I need to know the specific activities of his grandfather, Kenichi Fujiwara, during the war, especially those related to the looting of cultural relics in North China. This historical line must be explored as deeply as possible."

Su Mingyue took a deep breath: "The time span is long and the difficulty in obtaining information from overseas is high, but I will do my best."

"It's not just about trying our best, it's about having to." Chen Mo's tone left no room for doubt. "This is a battle that transcends time and space. The depth of our understanding of history determines whether we can predict our opponent's next move."

With the deployment complete, Chen Mo waved his hand.

Inside the safe room, the sounds of keyboards clicking, papers turning, and low communication tones filled the air once again, like a sophisticated machine starting to run at full speed. Focus was etched on everyone's face, and an invisible pressure and fighting spirit permeated the air.

Cang Liuqing got up and walked to the window, lifting a corner of the curtain.

Outside the window, the night in the southern part of the city was deep. Neon lights outlined the city's silhouette, cars streamed by, and countless lights illuminated homes. This thriving city appeared prosperous yet peaceful on the surface.

But she knew that beneath this calm surface, undercurrents were already surging.

A copper coin from the depths of history, like a pebble thrown into a still lake, is creating ripples that are quietly spreading across the barriers of time, extending the battlefield from Beiping in 1945 to Nancheng in 1993, and may even... involve her hometown and family in the rural Jiangnan region.

Chen Mo walked to her side, also looking out the window, and said softly, "Do you feel a lot of pressure? You suddenly realize that you have to protect not only your younger brother, but also a family history that you may not even know about yourself."

Cang Liuqing was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Captain Chen, my father was a war hero who lost a leg on the battlefield. He taught us from a young age that the Cang family must have strong bones and straight spines. If... if our family has truly carried something or protected something in history, then I have a responsibility to find out. This is not pressure, it is a mission."

Chen Mo glanced at her and nodded: "It's good that you have this awareness. Remember, no matter what the truth is, distinguish between public and private matters, and uphold your bottom line. You are Cang Liuqing, a national security officer; this is your only and most important identity at this moment."

"I see."

"Go ahead. Stay in touch and be careful."

Cang Liuqing picked up her trench coat, turned, and walked towards the door. Her back was ramrod straight under the lamplight, without the slightest hesitation.

The door closed gently.

Chen Mo stood alone by the window, his gaze distant.

All the clues replayed in his mind: copper coins, safe deposit boxes, Japanese military background, the Cang family's memories, the visiting delegation about to enter China... These fragments gradually pieced together a blurry yet unsettling picture.

"Shin-suke Fujiwara..." he murmured the name, "What exactly do you want to reclaim from Chinese soil?"

At this moment, in a mid-range residential building in Nancheng City, Liu Jianmin was restless.

He checked the mobile phone again to confirm that all sensitive information had been deleted. The ashtray on the table was piled high with cigarette butts.

His wife coughed a few times in the bedroom, which annoyed him.

The mobile phone screen suddenly lit up with a new message from the number whose name wasn't saved:

"Be cautious lately and contact us less. We'll let you know if there's any progress on the matter. Remember, we've already prepared the deposit for your child's overseas studies."

Liu Jianmin stared at the line of words, his fingers trembling slightly.

He knew he had no way out.

He replied with a single word: "Okay".

Then he deleted the message, threw the mobile phone on the sofa, and covered his face with his hands.

Outside the window, the night was deep.