Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 462, 461, the Secret Chamber
Feng Xiuhu and Fang Youliu hid in the shadows of the eaves of a building on the street and watched as the mute Jin entered the Qinghai Inn.

Feng Xiuhu asked in confusion, "He lives here too?"

Fang Youliu was speechless: "He's a local from Jindi City, he's not homeless, why is he staying in a hotel?"

Feng Xiuhu spoke up for the mute Jin: "You don't understand. Men always need personal space—like smoking in their cars after get off work."

"What a mess."

Fang Youliu waved his hand to interrupt: "He clearly has a problem, and the mute Jin and that tax official went in one after the other. Who knows if they have something going on?"

Feng Xiuhu was startled: "They're both here for me?"

Fang Youliu remained silent, pondering to himself—Logically, they shouldn't be like this; one was a tax official working for the temple, and the other was a lackey of foreigners—they had absolutely nothing in common.

But from another perspective, they all had past conflicts with Feng Xiuhu, so it's hard to say whether they might join forces to retaliate.

Just then, Shunzi returned, and Fang Youliu told him what he had just seen. Shunzi immediately flew into a rage: "He still dares to come here? I should have broken his legs at noon!"

After saying that, Shunzi angrily rolled up his sleeves and was about to go to the hotel to arrest the people: "I don't care who they are, I'll deal with them all and then ask them questions."

Feng Xiuhu stopped Shunzi.

It wasn't that his temper had improved, but rather that he suddenly remembered his guess at the temple—if it wasn't the temple that was instructing the tax collector, then who was it?
Feng Xiuhu suddenly had a premonition that this matter was inextricably linked to the mute Jin.

"Don't alert them, let me ask first."

Feng Xiuhu pulled down the brim of his hat and said in a low voice.

The three of them returned to the inn with natural expressions.

Hearing footsteps, the innkeeper looked up at them and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, this meal has taken quite a while."

Feng Xiuhu remained noncommittal, then abruptly asked, "Innkeeper, I think I just saw someone sneaking into the inn. Are you sure you're not a thief?"

The innkeeper's eyelids twitched, and he quickly put on a smile: "Not at all, our 'Qinghai Inn' sign has been up for years and nothing has ever happened."

Feng Xiu smiled insincerely: "Never had any trouble? I don't believe it. In this world, are there any shops that aren't afraid of trouble? Either they have powerful backers, or they're shady shops—which one are you, shopkeeper?"

The shopkeeper paused, his expression turning sour: "Sir, please stop joking. Everyone who comes and goes through this door is a respectable person. Whatever you see or hear, just pretend you're seeing things."

Feng Xiuhu leaned against the counter and laughed, "But I clearly saw someone come in just now. He looked like the famous mute Jin—what, is he staying at your place too? Why don't you introduce me?"

The innkeeper's expression turned completely cold: "Sir, you might as well take my advice. Since you are a guest, just mind your own business. Why make yourself unhappy? When it's light tomorrow, everyone will go their own way and no one will recognize anyone else."

Feng Xiuhu nodded with a smile: "Look at how stingy you are. If you won't recommend me, then forget I said anything."

After saying this, Feng Xiuhu called to Shunzi and Fang Youliu, and the three of them went upstairs without looking back.

After Fang Youliu took out his key and opened the door, Feng Xiuhu gave the two of them a wink and whispered, "I'll go see what's going on. You two keep an eye on things from the window."

Having said that, Feng Xiuhu disappeared into the shadows.

……

Hearing three footsteps going upstairs, the shopkeeper turned his head and stared at the stairs warily for a long time. Only when he heard the sound of a door closing did he quietly come out from behind the counter and go to the stairwell to look up.

After confirming that no one was around, the shopkeeper returned, locked the shop door, and then quickly went upstairs.

We arrived at the second floor.

The layout of this floor is very similar to that of the third floor, with the same narrow corridor and rooms closely arranged on both sides.

The shopkeeper quickly crossed the corridor and went straight to the hot water room at the end.

Standing at the entrance of the boiler room, the shopkeeper looked around again. It was late at night, and the corridor was deserted, with only shadows swaying under the gas lamp.

The shopkeeper was relieved and went into the hot water room to the counter.

The boiler room is not large. A large wooden cabinet stands against the inner wall, on which are placed towels, wooden basins, kettles and other sundries.

The shopkeeper reached into the gap between the cabinet and the wall and fumbled for a moment. Suddenly, he heard a soft click, as if a lock had been unlocked.

Then the innkeeper pushed the cabinet to the side, revealing a door behind it—mezzanine levels are most easily designed in places like inns where rooms are densely divided.

There was a hole in the door, and the people inside had already heard the noise. At that moment, an eyeball was looking out through the hole.

Upon seeing that it was the shopkeeper, the door opened quickly.

Inside the door was Master Wa, who asked the shopkeeper, "What brings you here?"

The shopkeeper waved his hand without answering and quickly went inside.

The interior of this "secret room" is not large; a square table and a few stools almost fill it up. The only light source is the kerosene lamp on the table, so the room is quite dimly lit.

There were quite a few people inside. Apart from Grandpa Wa and Dumb Jin, all four stools were occupied, and two other people were leaning against the wall.

Judging from the seating arrangement, Jin the Dumb is the one in charge among this group.

The mute Jin remained calm as he looked at the shopkeeper: "Old Zhang, what happened?"

The innkeeper replied in a deep voice, "Master, you were recognized by a group of guests when you came in. Do you think we should..."

He made a motion of wiping his neck.

The mute man frowned slightly: "How could the guest recognize me? And I'm disguised like this, how could they recognize me?"

The shopkeeper shook his head: "I don't know, but they did call out the owner's name and asked me to help introduce him."

Dumb Jin rubbed his temples, pondered for a couple of seconds, and then instructed, "No matter who it is, they won't be able to bother us for the time being. Go back and keep an eye on things first. After I've finished giving instructions here, I'll go and find out more about the guests."

"Hey."

The shopkeeper responded and left. As the door closed again, a slight sound of the cabinet moving could be heard outside.

Dumb Jin continued their previous discussion.

“I received word from Abbott that the President’s letter will arrive soon. If we wait until that day, all our plans that we’ve been preparing for will be in vain.”

He looked at the person leaning against the wall: "Ah Jiang, we can't wait any longer. How long until the flood season?"

Ah Jiang replied listlessly, "It should be soon. The moon and sun have been shrouded in halos these past two days, and the wind has been strong at night. I specifically touched the stone railing on the embankment today, and my fingertips were damp, which means a heavy rain is coming."

Wa Ye said impatiently, "After talking for so long, you still haven't given me a definite answer. Chen Ajiang, do you even understand what's going on?"

Chen Ajiang sneered and retorted, "Zhao Wazi, do you even have the right to speak? Look at the way you got beaten up, I wouldn't even dare to come tonight if I were you."

Zhao Wazi glared, about to unleash a torrent of curses, when Dumb Jin slammed his hand on the table: "Shut up!"

The two immediately fell silent.

Dumb Jin lowered his voice and said, "Do your own job well. Ordinary people don't know what the official letter is for. Keep sending them to the dock. The matter will be settled in the next two days. No one is allowed to make any mistakes."

His gaze was fixed on the oil lamp on the table, his pupils flashing with a fierce light.

"Whether we can recover our debts from the shipping guild depends on this."

(End of this chapter)