Chapter 49

Xu Feng leaned in close to San Shan Dou and asked, "Tell me, what secret does that Russian church have?"

San Shan Dou said, "There's gold there. The Russians mine gold in the mountains and store it in that church."

Xu Feng smiled and asked, "How did you find out?"

San Shan Dou said, "We once saw a Russian convoy, and it was all gold."

Xu Feng pressed the gun to his forehead and said with a smile, "Tell the villagers who you really are."

San Shan Dou hurriedly said, "I am San Shan Dou."

The group immediately erupted in anger. They were all local martial artists and had never been deceived like this. Moreover, San Shan Dou was notorious. The group immediately surrounded him and, without a word, beat him to death.

After killing San Shan Dou, the group was still not satisfied and moved towards the street performer. The performer ran to Xu Feng, fell to his knees, and cried, "Savior, please save me one more time."

The performer cried, "Savior, I have never done anything bad. The idea to deceive people for money was all San Shan Dou's. I was forced into it!"

Xu Feng remembered how the performer was bullied by the Japanese in the teahouse and knew he wasn't a major villain. The performer was indeed timid and could only follow San Shan Dou to swindle a few coins. If San Shan Dou had dragged him into something more serious, he would have been terrified to death.

The group drew their knives to kill the performer, but suddenly smelled a foul odor. They looked down and saw that the performer had been so scared that he had lost control of his bowels. Seeing his cowardice, they laughed and left.

The group, embarrassed in front of the villagers, packed up and left. A few young and strong villagers came out, dragged San Shan Dou to the foot of the mountain, dug a hole, and buried him. Xu Feng took the performer back, gave him clothes to change into, and that's all there was to it.

The next morning, Liu Dama got up to make breakfast, but Liu Dazhuang didn't come out. Liu Dazhuang was usually very diligent and always got up early. Why wasn't he around today?

Liu Dama entered her son's room and saw that the quilt was neatly folded, but he was gone. Liu Dazhuang was very filial and always told his mother where he was going. Why did he disappear without a word today?

When Xu Feng got up, he also knew that Liu Dazhuang was missing. By breakfast time, Liu Dazhuang still hadn't returned, and Liu Dama started to panic. By noon, Xiao Wu Zi's mother came over, and it turned out that Xiao Wu Zi had also disappeared early in the morning.

The two old ladies were at a loss. Where had these two gone?

While Xu Feng was deep in thought, the performer spoke up. The performer had no parents and had been living by performing with his master. He had no real name, only an artistic name, "Qiong San Bei," which was a self-deprecating reference to how his family had been poor for three generations.

Qiong San Bei said, "Savior, I saw Liu Dazhuang last night."

Xu Feng quickly asked, "When did you see him?"

Qiong San Bei said, "I don't remember the exact time, but it was already completely dark. I saw Xiao Wu Zi come to find Liu Dazhuang, and they whispered for a while before leaving together."

Xu Feng asked, "Do you know where they went?"

Qiong San Bei said, "I don't know."

Qiong San Bei wasn't lying. Xiao Wu Zi had heard about the gold in the Russian church and had the idea to burn it down. He thought, "How can the Russians steal our gold? We need to burn their church and see if they dare to steal our gold again."

Xiao Wu Zi, young and impulsive, didn't think it through and went to find Liu Dazhuang. Liu Dazhuang was even more reckless. When he heard about the Russians stealing their gold, he was furious. When Xiao Wu Zi came to him, they immediately agreed.

When they reached the church, they tried to climb over the wall but were caught by the Russian patrol. The patrol didn't mistreat them and simply locked them in a room.

Hearing Qiong San Bei's story, Xu Feng thought, "They must have gone to the Russian church. I can't tell the villagers, or they might attack the church, leading to heavy casualties."

Xu Feng told Qiong San Bei not to tell anyone and went to the church alone. When he arrived, his first impression was that the church was much larger than any he had seen before.

It was noon, and the guards at the gate were dozing off. Xu Feng, recalling his Russian training, approached the guards and said, "I want to go in for confession. Is the priest here?"

Confession is a common ritual in Catholicism and Orthodoxy, where the penitent confesses their sins to a priest for spiritual relief.

The guards, seeing Xu Feng's black eyes and hair, initially looked down on him. But when he spoke Russian, they immediately showed respect and said, "The priest is inside, but it's nap time. He might be resting. You can go in and look at the sculptures in the courtyard." They let Xu Feng in.

Inside the church, there was a large courtyard with a grand church in the center. The back of the church was blocked by a wall, and it was unclear what was behind it. The courtyard was filled with Christian-themed sculptures. Suddenly, Xu Feng saw a familiar figure come out of the church. He quickly hid behind a sculpture. The figure was the woman he had met before—Xiao Tao Hong.

She was dressed in a black formal dress, like a Western noblewoman, gently holding the arm of a blue-eyed, blonde man. They walked to a statue by the wall, looked around, and the man crouched down. Xiao Tao Hong took a few steps back, then leaped and stepped on his shoulder. The man helped her up, and she climbed over the wall.

Xu Feng, puzzled, decided to ignore them for now and entered the church.

Inside the church, the first thing Xu Feng saw was a large mural. As he was admiring it, a priest approached and asked disdainfully, "Are you Chinese? Why don't you have a braid?"

Xu Feng smiled and said, "I'm an orphan, adopted by a Russian couple and raised in Moscow." In his heart, he cursed, "I'm a real Chinese, and my parents are still alive and well!"

Xu Feng said, "I'm here on business. I have two servants. Are they in your church?"

The priest thought for a moment and said, "We did catch two people, but they were thieves."

Xu Feng asked, "Can I take them with me? I'll punish them properly."

The priest smiled and said, "They've caused us a lot of trouble."

Xu Feng understood the implication and said, "Compensation is no problem."

At that moment, an attendant rushed to the priest and whispered something. The priest's face changed, and he said to Xu Feng, "You can take them back."