Holding the original shares, they fought all the way to the Korean War!

"You're welcome."

Hata Shunroku interrupted him.

"I didn't do this for you."

"It's for my own sake."

"If I replace you now and have someone else take over, it will take several days for them to get familiar with the situation from scratch, and I can't afford to wait that long."

"You've been in the Special Higher Police for so many years, and you're most familiar with Shanghai's intelligence network. Replacing you would only waste time."

He paused, his gaze turning colder.

"So, I'll give you seven days."

"Three days have passed now, you have four days left."

"You must find him within four days, by any means necessary."

"I want to see him alive or dead."

"If you still can't find it..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

Kenzo Sato stood up, stood at attention, his voice hoarse but firm.

"Hi!"

Hata Shunroku waved his hand, indicating that he could leave.

Kenzo Sato saluted, turned around, and strode out of the office.

The moment the door gently closed behind him, he realized that his clenched fists were full of sweat.

The lights in the corridor were a bit too bright.

Kenzo Sato stood there for a couple of seconds, then strode towards the main entrance.

He walked along while rapidly calculating in his mind.

Four days. He has four days left.

He must find the murderer within these four days.

The only clue he currently has is the Kuomintang intelligence agents who were just captured.

Although they are likely unrelated to the matter, if we can get them to talk, we might be able to obtain some valuable information.

Even the slightest clue is better than having nothing at all.

When he walked out of the headquarters gate.

Kenzo Sato stood on the steps, remained silent for a moment, and then walked down the steps.

After getting into the car, he said to the driver:

"Return to temporary command post."

Kenzo Sato leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

He knew in his heart that the next four days would be the most difficult four days of his career.

If the murderer is found, he will be promoted and become rich.

The general beckoned to him.

If the killer can't be found...

There is only one outcome.

That's seppuku!

……

One day later.

As darkness fell.

Zhou Tianyang and his group crossed a not-so-high mountain ridge.

On the other side of the ridge, there were more than a dozen low adobe houses.

At the entrance of the village, there are several crooked locust trees, and an old man is squatting on a stone under one of them, smoking a pipe.

I saw a group of strangers coming down from the mountain ridge.

He stood up, his eyes filled with a hint of wariness.

Zhou Tianyang slowed his pace, letting the soldiers behind him disperse outside the village entrance, and then walked forward with only Ma Yong.

The old man looked them up and down, his gaze shifting from Zhou Tianyang to Ma Yong, and then to the scattered figures behind them.

He gripped the pipe bowl in his hand a little tighter.

"Fellow countryman, we're on our way and would like to find a place to rest for the night."

Zhou Tianyang's tone was very polite.

"I won't trouble you. Just find a place that can shelter you from the wind. I'll leave tomorrow morning."

The old man stared at him for several seconds, as if trying to discern something, before slowly loosening his grip on the pipe.

He turned to the side and gestured towards the village with his lip.

"There's an empty house at the end of the village. Old Liu, who used to live there, has left. The house has been empty for more than half a year. If you don't mind, you can stay there."

"but……"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the scattered figures once more.

"With so many of you, one room isn't enough. There's also a woodshed next door that people can live in."

"Okay, thanks, fellow villager."

Zhou Tianyang nodded and took out a few copper coins from his pocket and handed them over.

"This is the rent for the room."

The old man hesitated for a moment, then took it, put it in his pocket, and didn't say anything more.

He turned around, walked back to the stone under the tree, sat down, and lit his pipe again.

Zhou Tianyang waved to the group behind him.

The soldiers entered the village one after another, walking along the narrow dirt road towards the end of the village.

The empty room was indeed small, with mud walls and windows nailed shut with a few old wooden planks, but the door was still relatively intact.

The woodshed next door was even smaller, filled with half a room of dry firewood and several bundles of straw.

Zhou Tianyang divided the soldiers into two groups.

Some went into the main house, and some went into the woodshed, where they each laid out dry straw to rest.

As usual, Ma Yong set up two hidden sentries outside the house before entering the main house, only after confirming that it was safe.

He sat down next to Zhou Tianyang.

Zhou Tianyang sat on the threshold, gazing at the village as dusk gradually fell.

Occasionally, a dog barked once or twice in the distance, but then it quickly fell silent.

Just as he was about to get up and go inside, an old woman passing by the gate of the courtyard stopped in her tracks.

Looking at Zhou Tianyang, he asked:

"Are you just passing through?"

"Where are we going?"

"Head west, to Shanxi."

Zhou Tianyang gave a reply.

The old lady nodded and sighed.

"Is there fighting in Shanxi too?"

"These days, nowhere is safe, even less safe than where we are."

Zhou Tianyang didn't reply, he just smiled.

Just as he was about to get up and go inside, the old lady spoke again, her voice a few decibels lower than before.

It sounded like she was talking to Zhou Tianyang, but it also sounded like she was talking to herself.

"If you hear any noise tonight, don't come out to check."

"This area is dangerous; there are wolves."

Zhou Tianyang's gaze shifted slightly.

"Wolf?"

The old lady put down the wooden basin, sat down on the threshold, and sighed deeply.

"I'm not talking about a four-legged wolf, I'm talking about a two-legged one."

"There's a village in the mountains to the north called Blood Wolf Village, which is inhabited by a gang of bandits."

"Those people come down the mountain every few days to rob things. They take whatever they see, and they'll attack anyone who dares to stop them."

"Last month, a man from Lijia Village in the south had his leg broken because he glanced at them. He's still lying down and can't get up."

Zhou Tianyang listened without interrupting her.

The old woman's voice grew softer and softer, as if she had kept these words bottled up inside for too long and had finally found someone to confide in.

"They not only robbed people, they also arrested them."

"Young men were taken up the mountain to work, and girls who were taken up there never came back."

"Many men and women in the village have thought about settling scores with them, but they have guns. What can we farmers do against them?"

She fell silent at this point, as if that memory made her unwilling to continue.

Zhou Tianyang sat on the threshold, his gaze fixed on the distance.

How many people are in Blood Wolf Stronghold?

"I haven't counted them, but I'd estimate there are fifty or sixty."

The old lady stood up and picked up the wooden basin again.

"You travelers, don't go out at night, just lock your doors and sleep."

"Those guys haven't come down the mountain much lately, maybe they haven't been keeping an eye on our village."

After she finished speaking, she carried the wooden basin into the next room, and the door closed gently behind her.

Zhou Tianyang sat on the threshold for a while, then stood up, turned around, and went into the house.

Ma Yong was leaning against the wall wiping his dagger. When he saw him come in, he raised his head slightly but didn't say anything.