20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 530: The Man in the Shadow [Update]

"Boom boom boom!"

"Brother Hu, are you still not ready? Time is almost too late. Everyone is waiting for you downstairs!"

Liu Yansheng stood at the end of the apartment corridor, knocked twice on the door, and whispered a few words to the person inside.

Soon, Chuang Hu's response came from the room: "Brother Liu, you guys go first. My stomach feels a little uncomfortable. I'll catch up with you later. Please help me talk to the boss."

Liu Yansheng frowned, looked at the wicker box at the door, and suggested, "Then do you want me to take your luggage down for you first?"

"That's great. This way I can run faster later. Thank you!"

"You're welcome. Anyway, hurry up. The train doesn't wait for anyone!"

"I know, I know. I'll be fine soon. It will only take a few minutes. Don't worry."

Judging from Chuanghu's tone, it sounded like he was urging others.

Liu Yansheng shook his head helplessly, then bent down, picked up the wicker box, turned around and walked towards the corridor.

"Brother Tiger, I'm leaving first!"

"Oh, I see!"

After saying goodbye, Liu Yansheng hurried down the stairs and came to the outside of the Old Town Apartment Building.

It was a cloudy night, the stars and the moon were nowhere to be seen, and an evening breeze mixed with the smell of earth blew towards us.

Under the street lights, although Jiang Lianheng repeatedly stated that he hoped to leave Shanghai as low-key as possible, Wang Laojiu still brought five or six brothers to see him off.

It was hard to refuse such a kind invitation, so Jiang Lianheng naturally had nothing more to say.

Coincidentally, among the friends who came to see him off were two fellow villagers, Xi Wenzhao and Shi Liancheng, so he took the opportunity to introduce them to Wang Laojiu and asked the Axe Gang to help take care of them in the future.

It was late at night and it was about to rain. The city streets were deserted and the orange street lights were dimmed by the wind.

Wen Tingge yawned loudly.

He was so tired. He had been stalking near Zhang Mansion for a whole day and night. Soon after he came back, he immediately packed his luggage and prepared to set off back to Fengtian. Now he was looking forward to getting to the station as soon as possible so that he could take a nap on the train to relieve his fatigue.

Therefore, when he saw Liu Yansheng coming out, he hurried over to him and asked, "Why hasn't he come down yet? It will be too late later."

"He said his stomach felt a little uncomfortable and asked us to go first and he would catch up with us later."

"I think that kid just doesn't want to leave!" Jiang Lianheng shouted, "Xifeng, go up and grab him off for me!"

"Brother, shall we go?" Li Zhengxi glanced at the time. "If we delay any longer, we will miss the train."

Liu Yansheng nodded and said, "Boss, Chuanghu has good running skills. He is alone and his luggage is in my hands. He should be able to make it in time."

"Yes, yes, yes. Even if we can't make it, we can just leave tomorrow morning. We can let him stay with us tonight!" Xi Wenzhao and Shi Liancheng hurriedly comforted him.

Wang Laojiu and others also advised: "Brother Jiang, don't worry. If it really doesn't work, let Chuanghu come to our club. There is no need to be so nervous!"

After being comforted by everyone, Jiang Lianheng looked up at the bright windows on the top floor of the apartment building, cursed inwardly a few words, and finally nodded in agreement.

"Okay, let's go first. If Hu Zi doesn't catch the train, I'll have to trouble Brother Jiu to take care of him."

"Okay, okay, it's my duty. I think it's going to rain tonight, so let's hurry up and get on with our journey!"

After that, everyone picked up their luggage and walked along the cold and empty cobblestone road, heading towards the tram station.

An evening breeze blew gently, and a slight rustling sound was heard on the roadside.

……

……

At this moment, in the bathroom of the Old Town Apartment.

Chuanghu leaned over to put on his high-top soft-soled shoes, stretched his ankles twice, then stood up, tightened his black silk belt, smoothed his arrow-sleeved wrist guards, and cracked his joints a few times.

"Leave? How can you just leave like that?" He muttered to himself, "Man, you have to keep your word, otherwise how can you face the Grandmaster in the future?"

When he finished his work, he stood up and looked at his outfit - wow, what a tight night suit!

Since entering the "Rong Family", Chuanghu has never been as alert as he is today, even when he risked his life to sneak into the old mountain man's residence, he was not like this.

Chuang Hu didn't dare to tell the truth, because he knew that his boss would definitely oppose his "plan" after hearing it, so he made up an excuse to stay and buy some time, so that he could put his "big words" into practice before leaving!
"The boss is the same. He left so suddenly that I didn't even have time to prepare!"

While complaining softly, he walked out of the bathroom, tiptoed to the end of the corridor, pushed open the glass window, and then jumped onto the windowsill on tiptoe.

Then, Chuanghu leaned out of the window, turned his head and looked at the roof for a moment, and then he suddenly went out. I don’t know which window lintel brick he grabbed, and the whole person climbed up to the top of the window nimbly like a gecko.

The action was quick and neat, without any delay, and naturally his thin figure could no longer be found in the dark window. But a few seconds later, a leg dangled down from the roof and gently closed the glass window again.

……

Atop the apartment building, the wind picked up even more.

Chuanghu crouched down and ran quickly in the night, counting the window panes under his feet in his mind. Soon he arrived at the rooftop of Mrs. Mei's room and his steps slowed down.

The lights were still on in the room. He lay down, stuck his head out, and listened carefully - there was the "rustling" sound of mahjong cards being shuffled.

Chuanghu's eyes flashed, and he muttered something inexplicably. Then he took a step forward and turned over, his nightgown fluttering.

As the old saying goes, the more skilled you are, the more courageous you are!
The three-story apartment building didn't even have a rope tied around its waist, but the boy dared to hold onto the corner of the building, stepping on the embossed bricks and stones unique to Western-style buildings, and slowly moved down step by step.

It happened that a strong wind was raging at that time, and it seemed as if it wanted to stick people to the wall. Moreover, Chuanghu was light and strong, and his kung fu was superb, so he stepped onto the balcony outside the third-floor window without any danger and easily.

First, he cautiously leaned his head toward the right window.

But in the bright living room, Mrs. Mei was playing cards with three other wealthy ladies, laughing and joking. They looked very focused and had no intention of stopping.

Then he looked at the left window at the corner of the building.

It was a bedroom. The lights were off and the door was ajar. Faint light shone in from the living room, outlining a gray-blue outline of the furnishings inside the room.

Chuanghu immediately moved to the window.

The window was locked, but he was well prepared and that was no problem for him.

First, use a diamond drill to scratch a fist-sized circle on the glass. Then cover it with a handkerchief coated with raw glue. Count a few numbers silently. When the raw glue is dry, push it gently with your hand. All the broken glass shards will immediately stick to the handkerchief. Then reach out and pull the pin open - mysterious and silent!

When he heard the sound of mahjong shuffling cards next door again, Chuanghu quickly pushed open the glass window, climbed into the house, then turned around and blocked the hole to prevent the wind from howling into the house.

The laughter in the living room was silent.

A few wealthy ladies were so absorbed in playing mahjong and chatting about family matters that they had no other thoughts and were completely unaware that a thief had broken into their next door.

"Sister Mei, what did my brother-in-law say just now? Will he be back tonight?"

"Well, just play cards. What's the point of doing that? Just let her die outside!"

"Shanghai has been in turmoil lately, and my dead son doesn't come home often."

"Oh my, this is my fate. I did evil in my last life, so I am a widow in this life."

"To be honest, I don't want my Ah Chang to come back. He's a dullard even when he comes back. He's not romantic at all!"

"Nonsense, sister tells you that all men in this world understand romance, they just don't want to spend time on you, you better be careful, don't let him marry a concubine!"

Chuanghu didn't understand Wu dialect, and half guessed, he just felt that these four rich ladies seemed to be "suffering from the same disease" and were all complaining about the faults of their husbands. It was more like a gathering of resentful women than a card game.

But the train waits for no one, and Chuanghu is too lazy to eavesdrop on other people's private affairs. He quickly moves to the dressing table and opens the wooden jewelry boxes one by one.

There were of course quite a few valuable jewels in the box, but none of them caught his eye. Instead, he was focused on finding the pearl necklace.

After tossing and turning for a while, his eyes inadvertently caught a glimpse of a half-length photo on the corner of the table.

I picked it up and took a closer look in the light from the doorway. It turned out to be Mrs. Mei in her youth, and next to her was a middle-aged man in his thirties. His appearance was really hard to flatter and was somewhat off-putting.

Chuanghu's face was full of disgust. He immediately dropped the photo and turned around to continue groping for the drawers and various treasure boxes on the dressing table.

After about two cigarettes, I don't know whether he got what he wanted or not, but in any case, the bedroom window was pushed open again.

Soon, he was seen circling the corner of the apartment building, slowly retreating from a high altitude to the second floor, then leaping, landing on the ground, and rolling. He suddenly realized that it was already very late, so he quickly stood up and ran towards the tram stop.

"Rumble--"

Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the moisture in the evening breeze grew heavier.

As Chuanghu's figure gradually disappeared, a rustling sound was heard again at the corner of the road.

After a while, a lonely ghost walked slowly to the center of the street, looked around for a moment, and scratched his head, as if he didn't understand Chuanghu's behavior just now.

This person seemed to have been wandering around and staying in the area for a long time and was familiar with the situation in the apartment.

But the strange thing is that neither Wen Tingge, nor Chuang Hu, and even the extremely cautious Jiang Lianheng, were aware of this matter.

It seemed as if he had easily gotten rid of the vigilance of the three "Buddhas" without any effort, and he was always monitoring the every move of Jiang Lianheng and others like a shadow.

He stood there for a moment, then reached into his arms, faced the direction where Chuang Hu was going, and followed him slowly...

----

PS Late update!
(End of this chapter)