The Little Demonic Cultivator in the Courtyard: Borrowing 100,000 Japanese Pirates to Heal

This statement filled Bai Ling with anticipation.

Sister Zhou added that, in addition to intelligence gathering, the organization had another task for her: to continue observing and developing the civilian anti-Japanese forces in Beijing.

Among them, Sister Zhou mentioned that there have been several attacks in the Shangcheng District recently, with targets ranging from outer sentry posts to the deputy captain of the military police. The attackers are highly capable and have put considerable pressure on the Japanese.

It was also mentioned that the organization currently does not have the exact identities of these attackers or attack groups, but based on their modus operandi, they are likely hiding near the Upper City area. The higher-ups want to establish contact, form a tacit understanding, or recruit them.

Bai Ling remained silent for a while.

Of course she knew who the attacker was. Every night, the attacker would climb over the wall to kill Japanese soldiers and return before dawn. During the day, he would wear a courtyard manager's uniform with the character "管" (guan, meaning "manager") printed on it. After that, he would occasionally go to the rice shop, but he rarely went there.

There's nothing she can do about it since the other party is unwilling to communicate with the major party.

Of course, this is also the case; Bai Ling hopes to persuade Xu Jiande to join the major party or cooperate with it as soon as possible.

"That's right," Bai Ling said, looking at Sister Zhou. "I'll keep an eye on it."

This was without telling Sister Zhou Xu Jiande's name, and without saying that he alone killed at least dozens or even hundreds of Japanese soldiers.

It wasn't because she distrusted the organization, but because she had promised Xu Jiande not to tell anyone his secret.

She remembered clearly what Xu Jiande said to her when he stopped her from revealing her identity to Wang Xiaoyong that day in the house: at any time, the fewer people who know a secret, the safer it is.

"If Wang Xiaoyong gets arrested later and can't withstand the torture, he'll give you away. You'll be in danger, and so will I. We'll only be safe if no one but you knows my identity."

She felt that Xu Jiande was right; she couldn't tell anyone about Xu Jiande's background, not even the organization.

Seeing Bai Ling's silence, Sister Zhou assumed she was thinking about how to carry out this work.

There was no urging; the officer simply pushed the intelligence registration form towards her again, explaining that the organization knew her situation was somewhat unusual—she was staying with a member of the public, and her freedom of movement was somewhat restricted.

The authorities don't set rigid targets for you; you can collect as much as you can while ensuring your own safety.

Bai Ling nodded and stood up to leave.

A moment later, Bai Ling came out from the back door of the grocery store.

She circled two alleys to make sure no one was following her before turning into Nanluoguxiang. She pushed open the door to Xu Jiande's house.

Xu Jiande had already prepared dinner: cornmeal porridge and five steamed buns. The porridge was a little thicker than it had been a few days ago because Xu Jiande had brought back another bag of captured grain rations last night.

Bai Ling sat down at the table, picked up her bowl of porridge, took a sip, and briefly recounted the meeting that took place that day.

She said that the organization told her to continue recuperating, gathering intelligence, and observing the local anti-Japanese forces, but she did not mention that the organization had asked her about the attackers.

Xu Jiande simply grunted in response.

He understood that Bai Ling hadn't told him the whole story, nor had she pressed him for details.

Everyone has their own tasks and bottom lines, and he could probably guess what Bai Ling hadn't said.

He simply broke the cornbread into pieces, soaked it in the porridge, ate it in a few bites, and then stood up to put the bowls and chopsticks away in the kitchen.

He paused briefly before leaving the bedroom door, said, "Be careful when you make the meeting," and then gave a few more simple reminders.

Bai Ling was taken aback and asked him how he knew which alley the general store was in.

Xu Jiande said he was worried about you, so he went along for a bit.

Bai Ling was shocked. She thought to herself, if Xu Jiande wasn't one of their own, but one of the Japanese, then these underground resistance fighters would probably all be arrested.

I thought to myself, thank goodness they're one of our own.

Bai Ling was unaware that this was actually due to Xu Jiande's significant improvement in strength, which allowed him to gain more sensory abilities in the spiritual realm.

Of course, the same goes for strength.

……

While Xu Jiande was enjoying a leisurely life, the Japanese were having a splitting headache.

Suzuki sat in the Special Higher Police office, with a large-scale map of Beijing spread out in front of him.

The map was marked with dozens of dots in red, each dot representing an attack.

The Dongsi Street checkpoint, the Beixinqiao barracks, the Gulou East Street teahouse, Caishikou Square, and the narrow alley behind the military police station—each location was marked with the date, time, number of casualties, and method of attack.

One symbol represents death by stabbing with a cold weapon, another symbol represents death by grenade, and recently a third symbol has been added: single-shot burst from a Type 96 machine gun.

He rearranged all the attacks from the past two months in chronological order and used a red pen to draw the attackers' movements on a piece of paper.

After finishing the drawing, he folded the paper on top of the map, took two steps back, and looked at it for a long time with his arms crossed.

All the points were within a five-kilometer radius of Nanluoguxiang, as if someone had drawn a circle with the center of Nanluoguxiang as the center, and all the attacks occurred within this circle.

Suzuki's finger moved slowly across the map.

Five kilometers—not a huge distance, but not a small one either.

It would take at least forty minutes for a person to walk from one end to the other within this area.

If the attacker lives within this circle, he can return to his residence in a very short time after each operation.

But how many households are there within five kilometers? He roughly estimated that there are at least 20,000 households, or between 80,000 and 100,000 people.

Finding the attacker among ten thousand people is not impossible, but it takes time.

Of course, this only means that they might be among them at this moment, and the other party is definitely not just one person, but a dozen or even dozens of people.

What he lacks most right now is time, because the attacks are becoming more and more frequent, recently changing from every few days to every other day, and sometimes even two consecutive nights of action.

The targets are becoming increasingly precise, ranging from outer sentries to lieutenant colonels, with the level clearly rising.

The number of attackers is increasing, and the negative impacts are becoming increasingly significant.

Therefore, Suzuki ultimately decided to take a two-pronged approach: firstly, to investigate everyone within this scope, which would take time; and secondly, to continue waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

As for the investigation, it will definitely start with adults, excluding women and children for now.

Xu Jiande was quickly overlooked in this process.

After all, this guy killed a lot of his compatriots in Beijing, and there was no turning back for him.

It can only be said that many oversights were due to mistakes made from the very beginning, excluding the correct answer.

Of course, after the order was issued, the density of Japanese spies in many parts of the Upper City increased significantly.

In many places, there are more peddlers, and in some corners, there are more idle men squatting and chatting.

In addition, and most importantly, the courtyard manager now has an extra task: to secretly observe strangers and report them immediately upon discovery.

The term "reporting" here means that there's no need to inquire directly; simply report to the nearby patrol team.

After receiving the latest instructions, Xu Jiande guessed that the Japanese might have figured out that he was in the Upper City District, but they didn't know his exact location.

So he decided to go big this time, not in the Upper District, but in the Lower District, or other districts of Beijing.

Openly repair the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang pass.