Period drama: Old Cao's carefree life

Chapter 54 A Place You'll Never Want to Leave
This commotion was indeed quite significant; the security in Beiping was far tighter than before, and the checks were exceptionally rigorous.

However, no matter how strict the investigation is, what's the use if we don't even know who the murderer is, what their characteristics are, or even whether they are male or female?

However, Nao Tazono still has a way.

If there are no clues, then find them!

With about twenty people missing, such a large target couldn't possibly have been taken out of the city, could it?
If more than twenty corpses were taken out of the city and not a single one was found, then all the guards, police officers, including the military police and secret agents in Beiping should really commit seppuku!

Therefore, he concluded that the body must still be in the city, but had been hidden by the murderer.

This time, the search will not focus on the living, but on the dead!

Once the body is found, clues will naturally emerge, and the murderer can then be found based on those clues.

In this way, at least we won't be completely in the dark like we are now.

There was one thing that puzzled Nao Tazon: she checked the previous patrol team's missing persons records and wondered how the murderer had managed to move the body away in such a short time.

Two bodies still!

The key point is that the experts who examined the traces found no clues as to how the murderer left, except for a footprint on the wall that looked like a toe.

How did the murderer manage to do it?
And why take the body away?
What's the purpose?
He was filled with doubts and could only wait for the search results to come out before slowly unraveling the mystery.

Actually, Cao Wei Da didn't really think about it. Since he had the system space, he just took it without thinking.

At first, it was just something he did casually, but then he realized, "Hey, the Japanese haven't made a fuss about it!"
After that, even after breaking into a house and committing murder, he just wanted to avoid attracting the attention of the Japanese soldiers as much as possible. Although he knew he would eventually have to keep it a secret, he figured he could at least delay it for as long as possible.

The bodies were indeed still in the city; he had thrown them all into the garbage dump.

Because of the brutal colonial rule of the Japanese army in Beiping, the social order of Beiping was severely damaged, the economy was plundered, and the people lived in poverty.

Due to the destruction caused by the war, the predatory exploitation of resources, and the Japanese army's lax management, the infrastructure of Beiping was severely damaged. Apart from the concentrated residential areas, the sanitation conditions in other places were poor, with piles of garbage and a persistent stench in many places.

Let alone twenty or so corpses, even if there were twice that number, stuffing them into those garbage dumps would still take a lot of effort to find them.

Who would want to rummage through that stinking garbage dump?

Anyway, the police are unwilling to go. Putting aside whether they can find it or not, after searching for a day, they themselves will be reeking of stench.

Of course, the Japanese will probably force them to search, but they will likely be unwilling and just go through the motions.

Even if we eventually find him, what then? He has erased all traces of him, and we can't find him anywhere.

"You've written down everything I said, haven't you?"

Little Ears nodded, “Brother Cao, don’t worry, I remember it very well. He was around thirty-six years old, about 178 cm tall, a little thin, and had a black mole next to his nose.”

"Don't worry, not many people in Beiping meet these conditions. Once they see it, they'll definitely remember it."

During the late Qing Dynasty, the average height of Chinese people in the north was around 170 cm. However, in the 1940s, due to the destruction of war, the decline in living standards, and the limited medical care, the height development of Chinese people was affected again.

At that time in Beijing, it wasn't impossible to find someone over 175cm tall, but most of them came from wealthy families and had never lacked money since childhood.

Such families are a minority, and their distinctive features, such as age and facial moles, make them unforgettable at first glance.

Cao Wei Da instructed, "We will split into six groups. Remember to keep this strictly confidential. Absolutely no one must know about this at this time."

"Don't worry, Brother Cao." Little Ears patted his chest and assured him. There were four people who went to the police station with him. Apart from his younger brother Lian Hu, the other three were all his most trusted confidants, and there was no doubt about their loyalty.

Cao Weida patted him on the shoulder and said, "Give the order that there's no need to search deliberately. If you can find it, great; if not, it doesn't matter. Prioritize your own safety."

"If anything seems suspicious, tell the brothers not to act rashly and to come back and tell me."

Cao Weida hadn't held out much hope. Although he roughly knew that the traitor was in the Outer Second District, there were quite a few residents there. It wasn't exactly like finding a needle in a haystack, but it wasn't easy to find a traitor hidden by the Japanese or the puppet government.

But as fate would have it, it seemed even God couldn't stand seeing such a traitor who betrayed his country and harmed his compatriots living in the world. Sure enough, in less than a day, a clue was actually found.

“Brother Cao, the rooms on the third floor of Xiaguangyuan are sealed off. There are people from the East Asian Academic Research Association guarding the outside, so we can’t get in.”

"But when I tried to get closer, I seemed to hear some noise inside, and I also heard the words 'Military Intelligence Bureau' and 'Secret Agent'."

The East Asian Academic Research Association sounds quite serious; someone unfamiliar with it might easily mistake it for an academic research organization.

But once you really get to know it, you'll find that this isn't an academic seminar at all; it's a den of traitors and spies!

Speaking of the East Asian Academic Research Association, one cannot help but mention Wang Kemin, a notorious traitor who dared to challenge Wang Jingwei. Crucially, he was still alive and well before the Japanese surrender, demonstrating the immense power he wielded. The East Asian Academic Research Association was a secret intelligence agency directly under Wang Kemin, a powerful puppet regime intelligence agency capable of rivaling Wang Jingwei's 76th Division. Its influence extended throughout Beijing, Tianjin, Qingdao, Taiyuan, Kaifeng, Tangshan, and other areas, making it a very influential organization.

On the surface, they were mainly responsible for monitoring corruption and illegal activities of the puppet government, but in reality, their main task was to collect intelligence on the Red Party and anti-Japanese underground organizations. Of course, intelligence on the Kuomintang was also within their scope of work.

Xiaguangyuan was a notorious brothel in Beiping, and most of the top courtesans in history came from Xiaguangyuan.

For example, Zheng Meijiao, the former top courtesan, was the face of Xiaguangyuan.

"Could this traitor really be hiding in Xiaguangyuan?"

Cao Wei Da stroked his chin and said, "You know what, it's actually quite possible."

Those who become traitors are doing so for money, power, or women.

Those who were originally dedicated to resisting Japan, after being tortured and killed by the enemy, became traitors. Knowing that the Party and the country would not forgive them, they would become disheartened and give up on themselves, and then persecute Chinese patriots even more cruelly than the Japanese devils.

Then, they too could not escape the erosion of money, power, and women.

Without ideals and faith, wouldn't one have to resort to mundane goals to numb oneself?

During the War of Resistance against Japan, Boss Dai imposed strict restrictions on the marriages of agents within the Military Intelligence Bureau, especially on core intelligence personnel and field agents, to prevent agents from being hindered in their missions by family ties or from being exploited by the enemy because of their family issues.

Although this regulation does not have a strong binding force on the agents below, it does at least have a certain binding force on their behavior.

Especially for ordinary spies, it was alright in an international metropolis like Shanghai, since it wasn't entirely under the control of the Japanese. But in enemy-occupied areas completely controlled by the Japanese, the lives of spies were much more miserable.

Their salaries are meager, and they often don't receive them, making their lives incredibly miserable.

For example, Chen Ming, Yu Xiuning, and others in "Penetration" did not receive a single penny of funding for six years. If they hadn't opened a small restaurant, they would have starved to death!

Zhu Tianxi was a traitor. Once exposed, he defected to the puppet government. Having been poor and driven mad by poverty, how could he still resist indulging in a life of debauchery?
Although brothels are a mixed bag of people, they can still be a good hiding place.

Believe it or not, it's actually possible!

And it's big!

As the saying goes, true hermits live in the city. Whether that's an excuse or not.

"Little Ears".

"Oh, you mean Brother Cao?"

"Tomorrow your older brother is getting married as a concubine. Don't you think we should celebrate tonight?"

Little Ears was clearly taken aback for a moment, then realized what she meant and beamed with joy, "Yes, yes, we should celebrate. I think Xiaguang Garden is a great place to celebrate."

"Brother Cao, you've found a great way out for us brothers. We haven't had a chance to properly thank you yet. Would you do us the honor of treating us tonight to rest at Xiaguangyuan?"

"Xiaguangyuan is about to crown its next courtesan, and I hear she's incredibly beautiful! I'll have her massage your legs tonight!"

"You're sensible." Cao Weida patted his shoulder approvingly and agreed with a smile.

There is a famous place in the outer five districts of Beiping: the Eight Great Hutongs!
The Eight Great Hutongs are located in the outer second district, in the area of ​​Dashilan outside Qianmen, outside Zhengyangmen, and belong to the western part of the outer city.

Its boundaries extend south of Tieshu Xiejie, north of Zhushikou Street, west of Meishi Street, and east of Nanxinhua Street.

These eight hutongs, from west to east, are: Baishun Hutong, Yanzhi Lane, Hanjia Hutong, Shaanxi Lane, Shitou Hutong, Wang Guangfu Xiejie, Zhujia Hutong, and Li Shamao Hutong.

This place is a notorious brothel, attracting countless desperate girls, trafficked or kidnapped, every year.

Some were forced into it by circumstances, others by unavoidable circumstances. What this place has no shortage of is girls who cry every night. It is also a place where men and women of all ages in Beiping linger.

night.

Because of the increased control measures in Beiping, especially at night when people went out, they were repeatedly questioned and checked. This caused many people who originally wanted to go out and have fun to stay at home with their tails between their legs.

As a result, the usually bustling Eight Great Hutongs saw a significant decrease in visitors at night, directly leading to a substantial drop in the GPT (Gross Points) of the Eight Great Hutongs.

Fortunately, Cao Weida had his black leather suit and the Japanese pass, so he arrived at the entrance of Xiaguangyuan smoothly.

The car stopped at the entrance of Xiaguangyuan. When the madam of Xiaguangyuan saw it, her already unhappy face, which was not happy because there were few customers that night, became even more displeased.

With her hands on her hips, clutching a handkerchief, she said in a sarcastic tone:
"Oh my, I thought it was someone else. Isn't this the police officer? What's up? You just checked us during the day, and you're here again tonight. Are you thinking about one of our girls at Xiaguang Garden?"

(End of this chapter)