kvmb 148. Outpost Exposed
148. Outpost Exposed
The woman panicked and made up a story, but how could Yosuke Saotome believe it?
“I’m not asking you, I’m asking this little friend. Little friend, if you tell me, I have a piece of candy here, and I will give it to you. You are a good child who doesn’t lie.”
As Yosuke Saotome spoke, he pulled a piece of candy from his pocket. When had the children in the alley ever seen candy? The little girl's eyes widened in astonishment.
"I can give you one to eat first. If you don't lie and tell me the truth, I'll give you another bag."
Yosuke Saotome opened the candy wrapper and, with an encouraging expression, urged the girl to try it.
"Xiao Hui~~ You're not allowed to eat! You're not allowed to eat the Japanese devils' food. Have you forgotten how your mother taught you?"
The girl's mother secretly pinched her daughter's arm. The child suddenly pulled her hand back, her face showing an expression that was about to cry, and hid behind her mother.
Yosuke Saotome's expression remained unchanged. He simply raised his hand and waved it slightly, and two Japanese soldiers dragged the woman out from either side, forcibly separating her from her child.
"Xiao Hui~~~ Xiao Hui is my child~~~ Please don't make things difficult for her, come at me if you have any problems!"
"Yes, sir, don't make things difficult for the child. She doesn't know anything; she's still young."
"You beasts, let go of the child!"
The villagers couldn't stand still when they saw this, and began to riot and push forward. But the Japanese soldiers in front of them pulled the bolts of their rifles and aimed at them. Two of them were hit on the head with the butts of their rifles, and blood immediately flowed from their faces.
Yosuke Saotome's expression remained unchanged as he held the candy, urging, "Come on, have a bite, little sister. This candy is very sweet. I guarantee it's the sweetest thing you've ever eaten in your life. One bite and you'll forget all your troubles."
Children will be children; although she was also scared, the candy seemed to have a magical power, making her unconsciously open her mouth. Saotome gently pushed it in, and the candy was in the child's mouth.
"Xiao Hui~~~~ Xiao Hui, throw it up! Don't eat the Japanese devils' food, throw it up~~~!"
The child's mother struggled and screamed until a Japanese soldier struck her hard in the abdomen with the butt of his rifle. She swallowed back all the words she was about to say. Large beads of sweat dripped from her forehead as she was in too much pain to speak.
This scene terrified the child. She spat the candy onto the ground, screamed, and ran out, grabbing the Japanese soldier and yelling, "Don't hit my mommy! Don't hit my mommy! You're bad people! I won't tell you anything! You're all bad people!"
Saotome looked at the candy that had been spat on the ground, clicked her tongue and shook her head, saying, "What a waste... Do you know the value of this candy? It's something you couldn't buy with your lives... Take them all away. Since you won't cooperate, we'll have to resort to some methods. Separate the children from the adults and lock them up. I want to see how tough you really are."
"Yes!"
"What are you doing? Let us go! We didn't do anything, what right do you have to arrest us?"
"Let go of the child! You Japanese devils are doing inhuman things, you'll get your retribution!"
"Mommy~~Mommy~~I want my mommy~~~Waaaaah~~"
"My child~~~my child~~Xiao Hui!"
Amidst cries, curses, and shouts, all the residents of Fengwei Lane were taken away, and soon the entire lane fell into an eerie silence.
Yosuke Saotome dusted off his hands, stood up, glanced into the depths of the alley, and sighed, "I gave you chances, but you didn't cherish them. The last thing I want to do is kill, but you all forced me to. Especially you, the one who helped the weapons expert escape, who are you? I think I can already see your silhouette... You are a woman."
Zhou Hongyi and the others were still unaware of what had happened in Fengwei Lane. Ultimately, these were just ordinary people, struggling to survive at the very bottom of society; it was already remarkable that they hadn't immediately betrayed Qingxia and Expert Wang.
However, in Saotome's squad, there was a man named Yamamoto Goro who was extremely skilled at interrogation. His interrogation methods were cruel and efficient. Once someone fell into his hands, no matter how firm their will was, he could use clever psychological pressure combined with physical torture to pry out bits and pieces of information from the criminal and then piece these fragments together to get the answers he wanted.
Of course, these methods are for professionals, while ordinary people find the pressure and torture unbearable. Soon, Qingxia's name reached Yosuke Saotome's ears.
"Come on, come on, it's time to eat. Try my cooking tonight. These dishes are all things I learned from Chef Wu. I heard that foreigners especially like his food, so let's have a taste of the West tonight."
It was night, and the antique shop had already closed. Everyone pulled down the windows, locked the doors, and sat together. Qingxia cooked a Western-style meal.
Seeing the steak, bread, foie gras, and other food in front of him, Fusheng, who was never picky about food, picked them up and stuffed them into his mouth without a second thought. The blind man and Agui, on the other hand, seemed a little lost, not knowing where to start.
Xiao Bei chuckled. She was a worldly woman after all. She picked up her knife and fork and said, "Blind Brother, Ghost Brother, do it like this: first, use the fork to hold the edge of the meat, then use this knife to cut the meat off, lightly dip it in the sauce, and then you can eat it."
Ah Gui clumsily cut off a piece of meat following Xiao Bei's example, then suddenly exclaimed, "Why is this meat raw and bleeding?"
Qingxia, who came up from behind with the soup, rolled her eyes at him and said, "What do you know, you poor wretch? Foreigners eat steak that's deliberately undercooked, it's better when it's rare."
"Who wants to eat raw meat? I'm not a savage. I'll go grill it a little longer."
Ah Gui didn't want to eat raw meat, so he simply picked up his plate and ran into the kitchen to have it processed again.
"Hey, what a country bumpkin. Who eats steak well-done?"
Zhou Hongyi sat there and chuckled, "Sister Qingxia, that's true, but if the beef isn't fully cooked, it might contain parasites that could affect your health. So from now on, it's best to cook it thoroughly before eating."
“Brother Zhou is right, I’ll go grill some more too.” After saying that, the blind man took his plate and ran to the kitchen.
"You!" Qingxia glared at her son, but still smiled and picked up Zhou Hongyi's plate of steak, saying, "Young Master Zhou is right, raw meat is indeed unhygienic. Okay, then I'll go and process it for you again."
Soon, perfectly cooked steaks were placed in front of them. They chuckled, clinked glasses, and ate their meat in a relaxed atmosphere, with smiles on everyone's faces.
Suddenly, at that moment, Zhou Hongyi, who had just taken a sip of wine, twitched his ears, and the smile on his face vanished instantly. He raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, then lightly stood up, pulled a dagger from his back, and held it against the window.
Seeing this, the others exchanged glances. Ah Gui and the blind man pulled out their pistols and moved towards the window. Qingxia and Xiao Bei retreated to the inner room and picked up their sleeping child.
Zhou Hongyi used the muzzle of his gun to pry open the curtains a crack, his eyes flashing like lightning. He saw two strangers standing under a streetlamp across the street. Their hats were pulled low, and they were motionless, like two statues. But Zhou Hongyi could clearly sense that both of their gazes were fixed on their antique shop.
Zhou Hongyi didn't speak, but made a gesture, instructing Agui, the blind man, and Fusheng to protect the women and prepare to temporarily evacuate through the back door.
The group moved stealthily, protecting the two women and a child, and walked from the back door of the antique shop to the riverside path.
The street was deserted at night, save for the gentle lapping of the Huangpu River in the wind. But they stopped after only a couple of steps, for several strangers in trench coats and top hats appeared under the streetlights at the end of the road. Clearly, they were surrounded.
"Go back, turn around!"
Ah Gui stood in front of everyone, urging them to continue retreating. The antique shop had another escape route: the rooftop. They could use the uneven rooftops to move to other paths and shake off the enemy.
But as soon as they took a few steps back, they noticed a shadow looming overhead. Ah Gui looked up sharply and saw several strangers squatting on the roof.