Chapter 52

Dong Ku noticed that Liu Zhong and Mazi had unfriendly expressions and didn't know what had happened, so he hurriedly asked, "What's going on?"

Liu Zhong silently turned and walked out, while Mazi clenched his teeth and followed, neither of them speaking.

Liu Zhong and Mazi's reactions left Dong Ku puzzled, so he quickly followed them out of the living room. Shunzi and Liu Hai also didn't know what had happened and followed closely behind.

Liu Zhong walked straight through the courtyard, turned past the main house, and arrived at the kitchen door, angrily saying, "These are beasts!" Then he pushed open the door.

Dong Ku didn't understand what was happening, but he knew the problem must be in the kitchen, so he stepped inside.

Upon entering the kitchen, Dong Ku didn't notice anything unusual. There was only a sand pot on the stove emitting steam, and a few covered porcelain basins on the cutting board. On the ground, there were scattered porcelain shards, clearly from a basin lid that had fallen.

Dong Ku turned to look at Liu Zhong and Mazi standing at the door, then walked over to the table.

When he lifted the lids of the porcelain basins, he didn't find anything unusual. The basins contained various cold dishes, all sliced. One basin seemed to contain sliced tripe, another contained liver and heart, but the color of the meat was unfamiliar, not lamb or beef, and the texture was not like pork.

Dong Ku scanned the kitchen again and saw only the steaming, bubbling sand pot and some onions and potatoes.

Could the problem be in the sand pot?

The kitchen couldn't hide anything, and seeing no other abnormalities, Dong Ku stood up and walked to the stove a few meters away.

"Huh?!"

When his gaze fell on the contents of the sand pot, Dong Ku's eyes narrowed, and a surge of overwhelming anger rose in his heart. His head buzzed, and his blood rushed to his face, turning his eyes blood red. If not for the makeup, his face would have been as red as a pig's liver.

As his anger rose, a cold, murderous aura spread.

"Damn it!!!"

Seeing the hand, clearly belonging to a young person, half-submerged in the soup, Dong Ku was enraged. The sand pot contained a human hand!!!

In that moment of rage, Dong Ku immediately understood what the porcelain basins contained: human meat!!!

Dong Ku closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. Rationality told him that once he lost his temper, he would lose his ability to think and judge, putting the nine people who followed him into a dire situation.

"Phew..."

After a long while, Dong Ku exhaled a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He turned to look at the few people standing at the door, said nothing, and walked out of the kitchen.

Shunzi and Liu Hai were confused and didn't understand what was happening until Dong Ku left the room. Liu Zhong and Mazi quickly drew their knives and followed Dong Ku, their faces filled with murderous intent.

Shunzi and Liu Hai exchanged a glance. Shunzi turned and dashed into the kitchen, with Liu Hai following closely behind. They reached the stove and looked into the sand pot, immediately understanding the source of Dong Ku's anger. In that moment, they both drew their knives and rushed to the room where the captives were held.

Dong Ku stood before the bound captives and asked coldly, "Who is the cook?"

"I... I... am..."

A pale, slightly fat man stammered, his face turning ashen, clearly terrified.

"Is the food on the stove for lunch?"

Dong Ku's voice was as cold as the wind from hell, piercing to the bone.

"Yes... no..."

The man's lips trembled as he struggled to speak, on the verge of breaking down.

"Do they all eat it?"

"H... he... they..."

The cook couldn't speak, and a foul smell emanated from him.

"Speak."

Dong Ku pointed to another male servant and ordered him to speak.

"Sir... Madam... they eat good meat... we... we... eat the leftovers..."

The servant's face was ashen, and he stammered.

Dong Ku didn't ask further. He stood up and said, "I will check the target. Be careful not to cause a bloody mess. No one leaves the Wang family compound without special circumstances. If you have to shoot, follow the pre-planned route out of Jiamusi." He then turned and walked to the back door.

As Dong Ku's footsteps echoed, the room filled with the sound of bones breaking...

Dong Ku left the Wang family compound alone and headed towards the nearby expatriate area.

This was the concentrated living area for Japanese expatriates, with only traitors and Japanese people living there.

Walking on Songjiang Road, Dong Ku silently thanked Zhang Dashi. If it weren't for his policy of not ceding an inch of land and the large-scale immigration from the interior, along with the informal order that Chinese people could not rent houses to Japanese expatriates, the Japanese expatriates would have had no place to live, and many would have frozen to death. This made the Japanese remember the lesson and, under intense ethnic hatred, avoid living with Chinese people, creating a separate area. Without this, his plan would have been difficult to implement.

Songjiang Road had been widened, with a width of about ten meters, and the houses on both sides had been demolished, leaving a strip of land about twenty to thirty meters wide on each side. The east side was the Japanese expatriate area, and the west side was the local residents. The Wang family compound was on the west side.

Seeing the fortifications and the tangled barbed wire, Dong Ku walked slowly on Songjiang Road, which had little foot traffic, carefully observing until he reached the river.

As he walked through the eastern area, Dong Ku saw two military camps. Judging by the number of troops, each camp probably had a company, though it was unclear whether they were standard companies or special units for fighting the Soviet Union. The expatriate population, as evidenced by the crowded streets, was at least 100,000.

In Dong Ku's memory, the expatriate population in Jiamusi, due to the vast Sanjiang Plain, was much larger than in Harbin and probably more than in Qiqihar, making it the area with the most expatriates in Heilongjiang.

The reason for choosing Jiamusi was the large population and the organized living arrangements. The only drawback was the lack of extensive forests, which would make it difficult to escape if they were slow, as two legs couldn't outrun a car.

After more than an hour of walking, Dong Ku returned to the Wang family compound via Jiaxing Road, which led directly to the bustling streets on the west side.

On the way, Dong Ku noticed that the original residents of Jiamusi seemed quite calm, without the fear and caution seen in other places. The security appeared relatively quiet.

As he walked, Dong Ku saw that the streets ahead were blocked by Japanese troops, with strict checks at the entrances and exits. Each street corner had guards, creating a tense atmosphere.

Even if a large force had entered Jiamusi, it seemed unnecessary to have such strict security. It was more like a high-ranking official had arrived; perhaps even the Emperor of Japan? Why else would the security be so tight?

Dong Ku pondered this as he followed the crowd, stopping just before the first checkpoint and turning into a side alley.

Who had arrived to warrant such tight security?

Dong Ku was full of questions but couldn't ask, as he was in Japanese military uniform. He didn't know if there were any special agents among the civilians, and the checkpoint required identification, which he didn't have.

Returning to Songjiang Road, Dong Ku quickly headed back to the Wang family compound. The target had been confirmed, and now he just needed to wait. He was also eager to find out who the high-ranking official was that warranted such tight security.

As Dong Ku rushed back to the Wang family compound, Wang Mianzhi, the eldest son, and four guards were already lying in the living room. Wang Miantang, the second son, was returning home with four guards in a car, which arrived less than half an hour later.

Before the car's horn could sound, the gate quickly opened. The guards and Wang Miantang didn't notice that the two people opening the gate had changed and drove into the compound without a care. They weren't worried about the safety of the compound; if anything happened, the patrol teams on the streets would surround the Wang family compound within minutes.

The four guards stood by the car doors, and the car drove into the compound. The gate closed with a bang behind them.

As soon as the car stopped, the guards and Wang Miantang got out and headed for the steps to enter the living room. The driver opened the car door, preparing to return to his room.

At that moment, a servant who was sweeping the yard bent down, picked up a crossbow from a basket, and turned, shooting the driver to the ground.

At the same time, five arrows flew out from the living room, and before Wang Miantang and the guards could react, they were all hit and fell to the ground.

Shunzi checked the driver's pulse and quickly carried the body into the living room. Liu Zhong and the others also carried the fallen men on the steps into the living room and quickly cleaned up the blood.

As the battle ended, Dong Ku arrived at the back door. He listened for any commotion inside, then carefully knocked. Seeing that it was Mazi who opened the door, he knew there had been no unexpected incidents and quickly entered the compound, heading straight for the living room.

Upon entering the living room, he saw that Liu Zhong and the others had changed into the guards' uniforms, and the floor was covered with bodies. Knowing the ambush had been successful, he didn't ask for details and ordered, "Shan Zi, open the radio and record as much as you can. See if any big fish have come to Jiamusi."

"Yes!"

Shan Zi moved the radio from the corner to the side room and began his work.

Soon, the radio messages were translated.

The messages were very complex, covering troop movements, supply transports, troop deployments, and reports from the entire Jiamusi area.

Dong Ku read the translated messages, his brow furrowed. The Jiamusi garrison was commanded by a major, at most a lieutenant colonel. Why was there such a big commotion? Was there really a major operation, or had he just happened to arrive when a high-ranking official was here?

He quickly read through a few messages and found that they couldn't be decrypted with the known codes, indicating they were special, highly confidential messages.

If the messages were special, it meant there was a high-ranking officer here, communicating directly with Japan.

Who was in Jiamusi? Why was there no record of this in later history?

Reading the messages, Dong Ku's attention quickly shifted. Among the many messages, he discovered that they had infiltrated the core of a heavily guarded area.

"Damn!"

He was shocked. This was no joke; if anything happened in Jiamusi, they would have a hard time leaving...

PS: Dear readers, I couldn't fix the computer yesterday. I need to add spaces to the paragraphs in the draft, which takes a lot of time. I'll upload one chapter first and fix the computer in the morning. There won't be any missed updates, so please rest assured.