Courtyard House: Time Traveler Not Yet a Ghost

The night in Taiyuan was utterly torn apart by gunfire, explosions, sirens, and the desperate screams of the dying.

The riots at the military camp in the north of the city spread like ripples from a stone thrown into a pond, quickly reaching the entire city. At first, there were only sporadic machine gun mutinies and friendly fire incidents, but as time went on, the chaos spread like a plague—more and more soldiers were possessed and died, their souls being harvested by the Soul-Refining Banner, while the survivors were plunged into ever deeper fear and suspicion.

"What on earth happened?!"

"Has the Eighth Route Army stormed into the city?!"

"It doesn't seem like an external attack...it's an internal mutiny! Troops have mutinied!"

"Damn it! Those machine gunners are insane! They're shooting their own men!"

Ordinary Japanese soldiers and junior officers were completely bewildered. They could only see their comrades suddenly turn their guns on each other, their commanders inexplicably draw their swords and kill their subordinates, and their usually reliable comrades rushing into the crowd with explosives... All of this was beyond their comprehension.

Panic is spreading.

Amidst this immense chaos, a select group of individuals are operating nervously in the shadows.

In the backyard of a grocery store deep in a secluded alley in the eastern part of the city.

A middle-aged man wearing a gray long gown and round-framed glasses was nervously cranking a generator handle. In front of him was a radio disguised as a phonograph, and a noisy electrical sound came from the headphones.

He was the head of the Eighth Route Army's underground intelligence station in Taiyuan, codenamed "Old Locust". The grocery store was his cover, and this hidden basement was the core of the intelligence station.

Around 10 p.m., when he was awakened by a sudden burst of intense gunfire from the north of the city, his first thought was: We've been exposed? The Japanese are here to arrest people?

But he soon realized something was wrong. The gunfire was coming from the direction of the military camp, and it was getting increasingly intense, mixed with explosions. He climbed onto the roof and observed through binoculars, and saw a scene that shocked him—inside the military camp, the Japanese soldiers were firing at each other!

"This isn't an operation targeting us..." Old Huai muttered to himself, a surge of joy mixed with doubt welling up within him. "Could it be... an uprising? A mutiny?"

Whatever it is, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! We must report to our superiors immediately!

He rushed back to the basement and turned on the radio. But due to the sudden surge in communication demand across the city (the Japanese headquarters was frantically calling all its units), the electromagnetic environment was extremely complex, and he had to try several times before he finally got through.

"Yellow River! Yellow River! This is Taiyuan! Emergency!" Old Huai lowered his voice and spoke extremely quickly, "A large-scale armed conflict has broken out in Taiyuan! The conflict is between the Japanese and their own forces! Currently, the areas with the most intense gunfire are mainly the military camps in the north of the city, the warehouse area in the west of the city, and there are also unusual movements at the arsenal in the south of the city! Repeat, it's an internal conflict between the Japanese and their own forces! The cause is unknown! The scale is extremely large! Requesting instructions on whether to take action now!"

A brief silence came through the earpiece, followed by a calm voice from the superior: "Roger. Continue to observe and confirm the nature and scale of the conflict. Avoid disclosure unless absolutely necessary. If any insurgent forces are identified, attempt contact. Be careful."

"clear!"

Old Huai ended the call and wiped the sweat from his brow. He needed more information.

In the south of the city, on the second floor of a small Western-style building.

A young woman in a silk nightgown, with slightly curly hair, was rapidly typing on a typewriter. In front of her was a portable cipher machine used by the Kuomintang secret police, with encrypted messages flashing on its screen.

She was an intelligence agent for the Kuomintang's Taiyuan station, codenamed "Nightingale," and her public identity was a music teacher at Taiyuan Girls' Middle School.

"Reporting to the General: A sudden and drastic change has occurred in Taiyuan. Around 10 PM tonight, a large-scale infighting broke out among the Japanese troops stationed in the north of the city, with light and heavy weapons attacking each other, resulting in heavy casualties. At the same time, multiple explosions occurred in the warehouse area in the west of the city, and the arsenal in the south of the city suddenly lost power. The Japanese headquarters is experiencing unusually frequent communications, suggesting a possible disruption of the command system. Preliminary assessment indicates that this is not an external attack, but rather an internal factional struggle or mutiny within the Japanese ranks. Requesting instructions: Should we initiate 'Operation Picking the Fruit,' taking advantage of the chaos to obtain classified Japanese documents or assassinate key targets?"

After typing the last word, Nightingale quickly encrypted and sent the message. Then she walked to the window, lifted a corner of the curtain, and looked out at the street.

The streets were in complete chaos. Japanese patrols were running wildly, trucks carrying soldiers were speeding towards the north of the city, and the people kept their doors and windows tightly shut, with only a few daring ones peeking through the cracks in their doors.

"Such a good opportunity..." A cold glint flashed in Nightingale's eyes. "Unfortunately, the station's action team was just destroyed last week, and there are too few people available now."

In the basement of a pawnshop in the west of the city.

This is a secret liaison point of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS) in Taiyuan. The person in charge is a chubby, seemingly kind pawnshop owner, codenamed "Manager".

At that moment, the shopkeeper was speaking softly into the phone—not on the radio, but directly through a civilian telephone line, using code words to transmit information.

"Yes, Uncle, there's been some trouble in the city... Yes, it's family fighting family... It's quite a commotion, I heard a lot of people died... Hmm, I understand, let's see if we can pick up some scraps... It seems like something happened to those warehouses, the guards are all in disarray..."

The "uncle" he mentioned was actually the head of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics' Shanxi station. "Picking up some bargains" refers to taking advantage of the chaos to acquire Japanese supplies or documents.

After hanging up the phone, the shopkeeper squinted: "Strange...very strange...If it were an uprising, there should be organization and slogans; if it were a mutiny, there should be clear demands and goals...But this looks like pure infighting, completely chaotic..."

He had lived for over fifty years, experiencing warlord conflicts, the Northern Expedition, and the War of Resistance against Japan, but he had never seen such a bizarre "civil war".

Besides these three parties, other forces are also active in Taiyuan City—

The officials of the puppet Shanxi provincial government were trembling with fear, wondering what the city of Taiyuan would be under when the sun rose tomorrow.

Members of gangs such as the Green Gang and the Hongmen were secretly gathering, preparing to protect their territory in the chaos, or to take advantage of the situation to loot.

Some conscientious officers of the puppet army hesitated – should they take the opportunity to defect?

Ordinary people stayed at home, praying that the war would not reach their doorsteps.

The city's intelligence network, like a disturbed spider web, was in a state of constant flux, with each node vibrating, transmitting information, and awaiting instructions.

The source of all this chaos is now being "harvested" even more deeply in the core area of ​​the Japanese headquarters in the east of the city.

---

The underground command room of the headquarters.

This place was originally the core brain of the command headquarters, with a huge map of the North China campaign hanging on the wall and various battle plans and telegram drafts spread out on the long table. But now, it has become a slaughterhouse.

He Damin's physical body did not arrive in person—it was still in the mass grave five miles outside the city. However, a main soul, several times more solid than the other divided souls, carrying a physical projection of the Soul Refining Banner, had already descended upon this place.

There were more than a dozen corpses lying haphazardly in the command room. There were high-ranking officers wearing the shoulder insignia of major general and colonel, staff officers wearing glasses, messengers, guards... Their deaths were varied: some had blood flowing from their seven orifices (their souls were directly extracted), some had collapsed chests (their internal organs were shattered by the power of their souls), and some had twisted necks (their necks were broken by the chains of the underworld).

All the corpses had one thing in common—their faces were frozen in extreme fear and bewilderment. They died without understanding what this translucent, pale gold figure that had suddenly appeared in the command room was.

He Damin's main spirit floated to the center of the command room, where a Japanese general in his fifties with gray hair and wearing the rank of lieutenant general was sitting.

Yoshio Shinotsuka.

The commander of the Japanese First Army was now firmly bound to a chair by three ghostly chains. The chains burned slowly with eerie blue, soul-corroding lightning, not scorching his flesh, but directly searing his soul. Shinotsuka's face was deathly pale, his body trembling, but his eyes remained fierce as he glared at the soul before him.

"What... exactly are you..." Shinotsuka squeezed out the words through clenched teeth. He could see He Damin and feel that inhuman oppression, which was beyond his comprehension.

He Damin did not answer. He stretched out his right hand and placed it lightly on Xiaozhong's head.

[Memory Reading] Activated.

This wasn't a simple fragment reading, but a deep soul search. What He Damin wanted wasn't just the defense intelligence of Taiyuan City, but also the Japanese army's overall strategy in North China, troop deployment, resource allocation, Special Higher Police network, as well as their assessment and countermeasures against the various units of the Eighth Route Army.

A massive amount of information, like a flood bursting its banks, surged into He Damin's consciousness:

—The overall operational plan of the Japanese North China Area Army: the detailed implementation of the "cage policy," the key areas and timetable for sweeping through the Eighth Route Army's base areas, and the progress of inducing the surrender of the Chongqing Nationalist government...

—The Taiyuan Arsenal's production capacity and technological bottlenecks: It could produce 800 rifles, 50 machine guns, 30 mortars, and 5000 artillery shells per month... but it relied on imports for precision machine tools and faced a shortage of special steel...

—The Special Higher Police's network of covert agents in Shanxi: not only the list that He Damin had previously obtained, but also higher-level "sleepers" known only to the commander—some double agents who had already climbed to the high ranks of the Eighth Route Army or the Jin-Sui Army.

—The Japanese assessment of the main commanders of the Eighth Route Army: an analysis of the personalities and combat styles of Peng Dehuai, Liu Shaoqi, He Long, and others, and even a targeted assassination plan (Li Yunlong's name was highlighted, and he was described as "tactically flexible, unpredictable, and highly dangerous").

—Location and access method of the secret vault: Not only is there one at the headquarters, but there is also an even larger vault underground in the Japanese Yokohama Specie Bank within the city, storing gold, silver, and antiques looted from various parts of Shanxi...

—Communication channels with the Kwantung Army and backup plans: how to request assistance from the Kwantung Army if the situation in Shanxi gets completely out of control, and... the "Gyokusai Plan" to destroy all important facilities and arsenals before the fall of Taiyuan.

He Damin's eyes grew colder and colder.

Each piece of information is priceless. Especially the list of those "sleepers" in the Special Higher Police—how many losses could have been avoided if it had been given to the Eighth Route Army? How many lives could have been saved if they had known in advance about the assassination plots targeting Eighth Route Army commanders?

The soul search lasted for about fifteen minutes.

When He Damin withdrew his hand, Yoshio Shinotsuka's eyes were already unfocused, and he was drooling, as if he were in a daze—his memories had been violently read, and his soul had been severely damaged. Even if he didn't die, he would be a cripple.

He Damin spared his life instead of killing him. A living but mentally challenged Japanese lieutenant general was more valuable than a corpse—what a blow this would be to the morale of the Japanese troops!

He turned and looked at the huge safe in the corner of the command room. According to Shinotsuka's memory, it contained the headquarters' most confidential documents, and... the key to the vault.

The ghostly chains, like serpents, reached out and coiled around the safe door. Soul-corroding lightning flashed, not burning, but using high-frequency vibrations to destroy the lock's structure.

"Click".

The cabinet door opened.

Inside, neatly arranged were document bags, codebooks, seals… and an exquisite sandalwood box. He Damin opened the box; inside were twelve uniquely shaped brass keys, each engraved with a number and location: Vault 1 (Headquarters Underground), Vault 2 (Yoko Yokohama Specie Bank), Warehouse 3 (Confidential Documents Vault)…

He put away the key, then swept all the documents in the safe away and stored them in the Taiji Space.

Next, we will collect the supplies.

He Damin's main spirit floated out of the command room and arrived deep underground in the headquarters. There was a heavy steel door with a huge iron lock on it—this was Vault No. 1.

He used the corresponding key to unlock the door and pushed it open.

Even though he was mentally prepared, He Damin was still slightly moved.

The vault was about the size of two basketball courts, and it was dark inside, but everything was clearly visible to the soul's perception:

On the left, there is a small mountain of gold bricks. Each gold brick weighs 12.5 kilograms (about 400 taels), and they are neatly stacked. A rough count shows that there are more than 5,000 bricks—that's more than 60 tons of gold. Next to the gold bricks is another small mountain of silver coins, packed in wooden boxes, 1,000 coins per box, at least several hundred boxes in total.

On the right were dozens of large wooden crates. Upon opening them, one could find various antiques: bronze tripods from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, jade discs from the Warring States period, pottery figurines from the Han dynasty, sancai (three-color glazed pottery) from the Tang dynasty, porcelain from the Song dynasty, calligraphy and paintings from the Ming and Qing dynasties... Many of the artifacts were still covered in mud, indicating that they had been recently excavated and had not yet been transported back to Japan.

These were all treasures plundered by the Japanese from various parts of Shanxi—especially from Shanxi merchant families, ancient tombs, and temples.

He Damin didn't have time to examine it closely. With a thought, he sent his divine sense over the entire vault.

"receive!"

Gold, silver, antique boxes... vanished in droves.

In just a few minutes, the huge vault became completely empty.

But this is only the beginning.

He Damin's main soul flew out of the command headquarters and hovered over Taiyuan City. The other divided souls had already located the other important warehouses and vaults according to the information in Xiaozhong's memory.

He moved through the chaotic city of Taiyuan like a highly efficient harvester:

—The No. 2 underground vault of the Yokohama Specie Bank received eight tons of gold, thirty tons of silver, and a certain amount of foreign currency cash.

—A classified document library, containing over 300 boxes of top-secret files from the Japanese North China Area Army.

—The Japanese army's main logistics warehouse received 5,000 tons of grain, 100,000 sets of clothing, and 200 tons of medicine.

—The Japanese oil depot received 2,000 barrels of gasoline and 1,500 barrels of diesel.

—The "tribute" warehouse of the puppet Shanxi Provincial Government received fifty boxes of antiques and paintings and five hundred boxes of opium (He Damin frowned, but still took them; these things might be useful in the future).

The entire collection process lasted until after 4 a.m.

He Damin appeared and disappeared like a tireless ghost in every corner of Taiyuan City. Within his Taiji Space, resources were piling up at an astonishing rate.

The original 100-square-kilometer anode space has been largely transformed into a "warehousing area." Weapons and ammunition area, food and clothing area, oil and medicine area, machinery and equipment area, precious metals area, document and archive area, antique and cultural relic area... all are neatly categorized and organized.

As the eastern sky began to lighten with the first hint of dawn, He Damin finally stopped.

He stood atop the tallest clock tower in Taiyuan, his main spirit overlooking the city that had been in chaos all night.

The gunfire at the military camp north of the city had mostly ceased—not because the conflict had ended, but because there were too few survivors. Information from the Soul Refining Banner indicated that over four thousand Japanese souls had been harvested that night.

He emptied two-thirds of the supplies in the western warehouse district; the rest were either of low value or too heavily guarded.

At the Chengnan Arsenal, key equipment and the technical skills of the Japanese technicians have been acquired.

At the East Command Headquarters, high-ranking officers were all slaughtered, Yoshio Shinotsuka was rendered useless, and all confidential documents and gold antiques disappeared.

Meanwhile, intelligence agents from all sides in Taiyuan City were still working nervously in the darkness, trying to figure out what had happened that night, and... what benefits they could gain from this chaos.

He Damin's main soul transformed into a pale golden stream of light and flew out of the city.

At five o'clock in the morning, he returned to the main body of the mass grave.

The physical body opened its eyes, and the golden light in them slowly receded.

He glanced at his pocket watch, then at the direction of Taiyuan City.

"It's time to go."

"As for how chaotic Taiyuan will become... that's none of my business."

He Damin stood up, dusted himself off, and headed north.

His next targets are Baoding and Tianjin.

There are bigger fish, more wealth, and... more souls and blood beads.

Behind him, Taiyuan City slowly awoke in the morning light, only to be greeted by a new and chaotic day: a commander suffering from dementia, high-ranking officers dead or wounded, supplies mysteriously disappearing, and the entire army plunged into panic and suspicion.

Intelligence agents from various factions will spend an entire day trying to piece together the truth of this night. But they will never know that the mastermind behind it all was just a passing cultivator who needed "resources."

The winds of northwestern Shanxi blew across the walls of Taiyuan, carrying away the smoke of battle, but they could not take away the secret of how the city was hollowed out overnight.