Cangmang Asks the Way 1: Guardian of the Lamp

After getting into the police car, Chen Guodong picked up his phone, hesitated for a moment, and finally dialed the private number of a former leader of the municipal bureau.

The phone rang for a long time before being answered, and a steady voice came through: "Guodong, what's up so late?"

"Old leader, Liu Tietou is dead, silenced," Chen Guodong said succinctly. "I suspect the people behind him sensed the danger and eliminated him beforehand."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone: "How much evidence do you have?"

"That's enough to convict him of seven crimes, but there aren't many that point to higher-ups," Chen Guodong said frankly. "The other side cleaned things up very thoroughly; all the documents in his office were taken away."

"Then let's clean up his underlings first." The old leader's voice was calm. "As for the bigger fish... Guodong, some things can't be rushed. Your every move in Ji County is being watched by many people."

"I understand." Chen Guodong paused. "There's something else. There was a shooting in Xiqiao Village tonight, involving a professional sniper. The victim's identity is unknown, but the target seems to be something the Cang family keeps."

"The Cang family?" The old leader's voice changed slightly. "Is it the Cang family that moved from Beiping?"

"You know?" Chen Guodong keenly sensed something.

There was another silence on the other end of the phone, then the old leader slowly said, "Guodong, you need to be careful with this case. If the Cang family is involved, it might not be as simple as a criminal case. I suggest you don't take any coercive measures against Cang Houde before Cang Liuqing arrives."

"Green Willows?"

"Cang Houde's granddaughter, a lawyer in Yanjing." The old leader paused, "and also someone in the national security system—although her public identity is that of a lawyer, she has been involved in some classified cases."

Chen Guodong's heart skipped a beat.

He finally understood—why Cang Houde only trusted Cang Liuqing, why tonight's case seemed so strange, and why a professional sniper would appear in a small mountain village.

This is not an ordinary case; it involves national security.

"Old boss, I need authorization," Chen Guodong said in a deep voice. "If it involves national security, the local public security bureau's handling methods need to be adjusted."

"I will coordinate," the former leader said. "But before the official documents are issued, you should remain still, protect the scene and the parties involved, and wait for the professional department to take over."

The phone hangs up.

Chen Guodong put down his phone, leaned back in his seat, and let out a long sigh.

The snow was still falling outside the window, and the sky was still dark, but his thoughts were much clearer.

He finally understood what he was facing—not ordinary organized crime, not simple criminal offenses, but a complex situation that could involve foreign forces, historical issues, and even national security.

He, a county public security bureau chief, had unwittingly stepped into the eye of the storm.

---

Meanwhile, on the national highway five kilometers away from the sand and gravel plant.

A black Toyota sedan was parked in the shadows of the trees, its windows closed. Inside, Ichiro Imai removed his baseball cap and gloves and connected a small portable hard drive to his laptop.

Data scrolled rapidly across the screen—all the files on Liu Tietou's office computer were being analyzed, filtered, and deleted by professional software.

"All cleanup is complete," the assistant in the passenger seat said in a low voice. "The hard drives have been physically destroyed, and the files have been encrypted and uploaded to the cloud. We created a brief power outage using jamming devices that were pre-positioned on the side of the factory area, and then withdrew via a side road, avoiding surveillance and potential roadblocks on the main roads."

Ichiro Imai nodded, his fingers rapidly tapping on the keyboard. An encrypted communication interface popped up on the screen, and he typed in Japanese:

"The target has been cleared and the site has been cleaned up. No physical evidence such as ledgers was found, electronic files have been analyzed, and information related to us has been destroyed. We recommend evacuation as planned."

A few seconds later, the reply came:

"Evacuation approved. Our operation has been exposed. Your team will immediately go into stealth mode and await further instructions."

Ichiro Imai shut down the computer, unplugged the hard drive, and handed it to his assistant: "The usual."

The assistant took the hard drive, removed a palm-sized metal box, placed the hard drive inside, and pressed a button. A slight "buzzing" sound came from inside the box—that was the high-temperature melting device in operation.

"Mr. Imai, that county public security bureau chief Chen Guodong..." the assistant hesitated, "He acted very quickly tonight. If we hadn't received advance warning from our inside source, we might have been caught by him at the scene."

"Chen Guodong is a problem," Imai Ichiro said coldly, "but he's not a threat yet. The real problem is the National Security Bureau—Cang Liuqing is already on her way back to Jixian County. Once she gets involved, the situation will become much more complicated."

"Should we...?"

"Don't cause any unnecessary trouble." Ichiro Imai interrupted him. "Our mission is the copper coins and box number 23, not a direct confrontation with the Chinese National Security Agency. Notify all personnel to enter a state of silence. No movement is permitted without my order."

"Yes."

The Toyota sedan slowly started, entered the national highway, and quickly disappeared into the vast snowy night.

---

In the office of the county magistrate of Ji County, Zheng Guofu had just finished receiving that mysterious phone call.

He put down the receiver, slumped into his chair, his face pale, but his eyes held a sense of relief at surviving a disaster.

Liu Tietou is dead.

That brute who knew too many of his secrets finally shut his mouth forever.

Although the person on the other end of the phone warned him that "Cang Liuqing is about to return" and "Chen Guodong may notice something is wrong," Zheng Guofu felt that these were not problems at the moment. As long as Liu Tietou didn't speak, he would have enough time and space to maneuver.

He picked up the phone again, dialed the number of the director of the county party committee office, and his tone regained its usual composure:

"Director Zhou, please inform everyone that an emergency Standing Committee meeting will be held tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM. The agenda... will include studying the current social security situation, and in particular, discussing how to cooperate with the public security organs to ensure security during the 'Two Festivals' period."

He specifically emphasized the word "cooperation".

After hanging up the phone, Zheng Guofu walked to the window and looked at the snow falling heavier and heavier outside.

He knew that starting tonight, the situation in Ji County would be completely changed. Chen Guodong wouldn't give up, Cang Liuqing was about to intervene, and there were also those foreign forces lurking in the shadows…

But at this moment, Zheng Guofu had only one thought in his mind: self-preservation.

As long as he doesn't reveal any flaws and as long as those higher-ups' "connections" remain, he is confident that he can remain unscathed in this storm.

As for truth, justice, responsibility... none of those matter.

The important thing is that he wants to stay in this position.

The snowy night was silent.

But beneath this heavy snow cover, the undercurrents have already surged to the surface.

---

Inside the main room of the Cang family's old house, the charcoal fire was dying down, crackling softly. Cang Houde sat alone in an old rattan chair by the charcoal brazier, clutching a dark gold copper coin tightly in his palm, his rough thumb repeatedly rubbing the non-Chinese characters engraved on the coin's edge. His cloudy eyes gazed at the swirling snow outside the window, but his gaze seemed to pierce through decades of time, returning to that winter night in Beiping, a night of gunfire and flames.

"Yunshan... Father..." He murmured, his throat bobbing, "They still came... These 'Japanese devils' harmed you, and now they're harming our grandson..."

Tears streamed down his face, etched with deep lines, and dripped onto the cold ground. For forty-eight years, he had buried this secret, this copper coin, this heavy burden of guilt, and the vow to protect it deep within his heart, silently taking root with his family in this corner of Jiangnan. He thought time could bury everything, but little did he know that what was destined to come would eventually come, and come so fiercely, so bloodily.

Fortunately, under his protection and nurturing, the Cang family tree still has deep roots, its spirit has never been lost, and its backbone has never been broken.

He recalled his granddaughter Liu Qing's resolute words on the phone: "Grandpa, I believe in you, I believe in Great-Grandpa, and I believe even more in the integrity of our Cang family!"

Liu Qing and Li Feng were on their way back. Where were they? Had Li Feng's injuries healed? He thought of his grandchildren: Liu Qing, Li Feng, Tian Ci, and Cang Xiangrong, who had been admitted to military academy and performed exceptionally well... A feeling of pride welled up in his heart.

It was all worth it...