Chapter 435 - Another Search

"Fine, if we catch the father, the son can't run away either," Ran Yao said. "But don't get your hopes up. If I were Gou Er, I'd have fled far away long ago."

Lin Baiguang's thinking differed from Ran Yao's. The point of issuing a warrant for Gou Er and his son was not merely to catch them—in truth, the likelihood of capture was not high. It was a matter of attitude. The Transmigrators needed to clear their name for the bloodbath at Gou Family Manor. This had not been done in the past, so now they had to make up for it quickly.

Finding Gou Er's treasure obviously could not be achieved merely by catching people. Lin Baiguang thought for a moment and called Mu Min, asking if she was interested in participating in a search of Gou Er's residence—Mu Min had done five years of criminal investigation work and should have professional experience in searches.

"Search?" Mu Min was surprised. When they raided Gou Er's residence last year, she had not participated because her status was still undetermined. But she had heard the place was turned upside down. What could they possibly find by searching again?

Early the next morning, Lin Baiguang and Mu Min took several native team members into the city. Xiong Buyou had already informed the county jail warden about searching Gou Er's house. The warden naturally agreed readily and brought a few yamen runners to wait.

Gou Er's house was situated in the North Guanxiang area of the county town. Lingao's North Gate had been blocked up long ago, so North Guanxiang was very desolate—no shops, scattered households. It was perfect for someone like Gou Er who engaged in shady dealings.

A small door opened in a black water-stained wall, sealed with the Lingao County Yamen's strip. Ever since the Gou Family Manor was destroyed, the Lingao County Yamen had sent people to seal the house. Wu Mingjin cared nothing for the Gou family. As soon as the Gou Family Manor fell, he had secretly cheered. Right after the Australians finished searching Gou Er's house, he had ordered it sealed to display official authority.

The warden ordered men to remove the seal, gave a few instructions, and departed with his men, leaving only one runner to keep watch.

Inside the door was a small courtyard connected to a hallway. Grass had already sprouted between the paving bricks. Passing through the courtyard, they reached the main building. The doors and windows of the three main rooms stood wide open, revealing a scene of devastation. Rotten paper, rags, unraveled bamboo curtains, smashed pots and jars, and dismantled furniture were scattered everywhere. It looked as though it had been looted. Anything slightly decent had vanished without a trace. This violent search was not the Transmigrators' style; obviously, the yamen runners had not cared about their former jianghu friendship with Gou Er and had thoroughly scavenged the place.

Gou Er's residence was not large; it had the layout of an ordinary well-off household in the county town. Lin Baiguang and Mu Min led their people through every room, searching carefully, but found nothing particularly notable—no hidden compartments or secret rooms. There was a hidden compartment in Gou Er's study, but it had long been smashed open and was empty. Lin Baiguang recalled the report stating that apart from some scattered silver and a dagger, nothing else had been found there.

Mu Min couldn't help but ask: "Why do you insist that Gou Er hid something in his own home and didn't take it? For such important things, shouldn't he have carried them with him when fleeing for his life?"

"Our attack on Gou Family Manor was a sudden action, and we nearly captured him alive on the road," Lin Baiguang said. "He reacted very quickly—so quickly that when we went to the county to catch him the next day, he was already gone. Not only was he gone, but the important valuables in the house had vanished as well. These things couldn't be moved in such a hurry, so I conclude the things are still in the house."

"That's not necessarily true," Mu Min replied. "According to our investigation of the county at the time, after D-Day, wealthy families in the county, guarding against our attacking the city, moved valuables and fine goods to relatives and friends in the countryside one after another. Gou Er would be no exception."

"That possibility exists, but what I want isn't his gold and silver. It's the documents and letters in his hands," Lin Baiguang said. "Compared to gold, silver, and jewelry, these things concern his very life and the capital for his rise. How could he easily entrust them to others? Either he carried them with him—but he couldn't take everything, so surely some portion is hidden somewhere."

"What you say makes sense." Mu Min thought for a moment. "Let's search one more time. Consider it an internship for the kids." She smiled. "To be honest, the previous search might not have been terribly thorough."

Saying this, she took out some equipment from her kit bag—knowing she was to search Gou Er's house again, she had specially requisitioned equipment and brought along her two "apprentices." She had taken two young interns from the Military and Political School specifically to learn criminal investigation from her. One of them was Wu Xiang, who harbored a deep hatred for bandits—he had been chosen for this reason.

"I believe we should start with the study. This should be the key location, followed by the bedroom," Lin Baiguang suggested.

Mu Min shook her head. "Normally, these two locations are most likely to conceal important household items. But when fleeing, neither place is particularly likely—precisely because everyone would think of them. Wasn't that hidden compartment found?"

"Where do you think is more likely?"

"I'm not very familiar with the ancients' hiding patterns, but buried caches should be more common. Digging a pit to bury important things."

"Hmm." Lin Baiguang thought it best to leave such professional questions to her judgment.

"Pay attention to the square bricks on the ground. Check for signs of prying." Mu Min instructed the two interns. "Knock on the square bricks and listen for hollow sounds."

Panel walls and the like had already been split open by greedy runners, so nothing remained inside. Gou Er's house, like most traditional southern dwellings, had no ceiling, so nothing could be hidden on the beams either. The most likely place was beneath the brick floor.

Others helped as well. Lin Baiguang worked for a while but found it particularly boring, so he went out to smoke. He had not expected criminal investigation work to be so dull and tedious; he had originally thought it would be exciting. It seemed his job in enemy work was right for him—at least it was more interesting.

They searched all morning without any discoveries. Someone found a small cellar beneath the original bed position in the bedroom, but lifting the square bricks revealed it was empty.

Several similar small hiding places missed last time were also found. One contained knives and spears; others held several sets of clothes and utensils—outfits for wandering Taoist priests, peddlers carrying loads, and beggars, probably prepared for disguise and escape in emergencies.

But none contained what they sought. Lin Baiguang felt dejected. He had thought he could find something. Did he really have to arrest Gou Er's relatives? First would be Gou Er's father-in-law's family, then Gou Er's in-laws through his son's marriage. Gou Er's clan relatives were all at Gou Family Manor; apart from them, these two families were most closely related to him.

The problem was that according to the Social Work Department's investigation, Gou Er had a very poor relationship with his son's in-laws—his son Gou Chengxuan had forced the marriage, and that family felt deeply ashamed of this relative, having almost no dealings with them. It was impossible for them to hide things on his behalf.

That left only Gou Er's own in-laws. Lin Baiguang checked the records; this family lived dozens of li from the county town and were local small landholders who were fairly compliant with the Crossing Group. Asking them to honestly hand over treasure was probably impossible, but openly raiding their home seemed to lack a suitable reason...

Walking aimlessly to the backyard with a cigarette in his mouth, he found the backyard desolate, with nothing but weeds covering the ground. There was a tall kapok tree in the yard, full of bright red kapok flowers, attracting Lin Baiguang's gaze for a few moments.

Only then did he notice that not far from the tree, there appeared to be the stone enclosure of a well. He hurried over. The well was covered with a lid. Lifting the lid and peering down, he saw it was very deep and dark. Lin Baiguang's heart stirred—a water well was also an excellent place to hide things! Didn't the tunnel entrances in Tunnel Warfare lie within well walls? He pulled out his powerful American police flashlight and shone it carefully around the well walls, hoping to find a trace.

The well was deep, its walls built of blue bricks. Over the years, they had become covered with moss. There were no facilities for climbing up or down on the walls, nor any traces of anyone having climbed—the moss was thick and showed no signs of being worn away.

He was slightly disappointed; there did not appear to be any tricks. After looking for a long time, Mu Min brought her people over and began carpet-searching the backyard.

"Let's put it this way: we've searched every searchable place," Mu Min said with a smile. "We even dismantled the stove in the kitchen. Still nothing."

"Same here. There's a well here. I thought I might find something, but it was empty." Lin Baiguang sighed.

Mu Min took the flashlight and looked carefully. She also found nothing unusual. Just as she was about to leave the well platform, she suddenly froze, staring intently at the stone ring of the well curb.

"What is it?"

"There's something wrong here!" Mu Min was somewhat excited, pointing at the stone ring. "See that? Traces of impact."

Lin Baiguang followed her finger and looked carefully. Sure enough: on the stone rail, there were some pitted marks and traces of dragging and abrasion—the traces were relatively fresh, not from long ago.

"What is this?"

"These traces show that someone once dragged something very heavy over the well curb. This object was very hard—hard enough to knock dents into the stone well curb."

"What could it be?" Lin Baiguang's mood lifted.

"Unknown. Probably ironware. Weapons?" Mu Min said. "Whatever it is, it was likely thrown into the well. The drag marks prove it." She peered at the depth of the well. "We need to find a hook or something..."

She threw a pebble in and watched the splash under the flashlight beam. "Very deep. Ordinary hooks probably won't work; need something longer and heavier."

"It must be the treasure!" Lin Baiguang saw light before his eyes. "Forget grappling iron. Pump the water out directly."

(End of Chapter)