Chapter 306: Raiders of the Lost Treasure in a Besieged City

The rendezvous “safe house” was an ordinary shop. The owner and his family, it was said, had been dragged out of the city and killed by the local Liaodong people a few days ago for “exploiting the Liaodong people,” and their belongings had been completely looted. Such vacant shops and residences were everywhere on the street. The better ones were now occupied by the rebel army. This street was relatively deserted, so Huang Ande had chosen it as the safe house to meet the special recon team.

This was Huang Ande’s first time seeing the “Sword of the Senate,” the Special Reconnaissance Team, in a combat situation. This praetorian guard of the Senate rarely made public appearances. Except for joint exercises and passing through the entrances and exits of Bairen City, their presence was almost never felt.

He was quite surprised by their strange attire and various unfamiliar pieces of equipment—even their firearms were different from his own, and even different from the ones the Senators used for target practice.

The naturalized citizen cadres who had the most contact with the Senators on a daily basis would comment in private that the special recon team members and the life secretaries were the ones who most resembled the Chiefs.

“We’ve been waiting for you…” Huang Ande said, looking at the street with trepidation. “Come, come inside.” He glanced around and, seeing only seven or eight men, was somewhat disappointed. “Is this all?”

The man in the lead did not answer. With a wave of his hand, several team members quickly entered the house and searched it with lightning speed, their movements like phantoms. Huang Ande and Zhu Si were dumbfounded. Before they could understand what was happening, they were seized and brought into the house.

The team members guarded the door and windows. Only then did the leader whisper, “Tell me the situation.” He took out a miniature map from his breast pocket and turned on a shaded flashlight.

“Yes… yes…” Huang Ande was not a coward—if he were, he wouldn’t have been hiding in the city and organizing a team for a big operation. But seeing how fierce these men were, half-human, half-ghost, his legs couldn’t help but tremble. Wouldn’t killing a man be as easy as blowing out a candle for them?

Zhu Si, on the other hand, was completely stunned. Everything before him was beyond his comprehension. It wasn’t until the shaded flashlight was turned on that he came to his senses, curious to get a closer look at this “glowing cylinder,” but he didn’t dare.

“Lord Sun Yuanhua… is in the Supervising Army Intendant’s yamen,” Huang Ande said, carefully pointing to the location on the map board. He could read maps, and besides, he had contributed greatly to the drawing of the large-scale map of Dengzhou city.

He composed himself and first explained the route he had planned. The team leader said nothing, just listened attentively.

Huang Ande reported that as of last night, the security and guard situation at the Supervising Army Intendant’s yamen had not changed and was still the same as in his last report.

Sun Yuanhua was being held alone in the main courtyard at the back of the yamen—probably because he was the highest-ranking official, and also because Kong Youde and the others intended to treat him with favor. After his capture, not only was he given preferential treatment in his daily life, but Kong Youde, Li Jiucheng, and others had also visited him and spoken with him.

After a brief exchange of intelligence, the assault team, led by Huang Ande and Zhu Si, split into two groups and headed straight for the rear courtyard of the Supervising Army Intendant’s yamen.

The main gate of the Supervising Army Intendant’s yamen was on the main street and was relatively open. The assault team chose to enter from the rear gate.

The security at the Supervising Army Intendant’s yamen was not tight by the standards of the Special Reconnaissance Team. According to the reconnaissance of Sun Yuan and others, there were no patrols or hidden sentries inside or outside the yamen, only fixed sentries.

More than fifty rebel soldiers were stationed in the yamen, guarding it day and night. In addition, there was a residence of a local gentry not far from the yamen, which was also garrisoned with a considerable number of rebel troops. And with the gates of Dengzhou now closed, by 17th-century standards, Sun Yuanhua was already a bird in a cage.

The dark streets were deserted—except for the occasional passing night watchman, there was not a soul to be seen. The curfew actually provided convenience for their nighttime operation. The night watchman, while making his rounds, also carried a lantern, making him easy to avoid.

At 0233, the assault team arrived at the narrow alley behind the rear courtyard of the Supervising Army Intendant’s yamen. According to intelligence, two rebel soldiers were stationed in the “storage room” in the alley, so the team members first dealt with these two men. Then, three team members worked together to lift one of their comrades onto the rear courtyard wall.

He raised his infrared telescope and began to observe the situation in the courtyard. To his surprise, there was almost no security to speak of in the rear courtyard. According to Huang Ande’s intelligence, a junior officer and ten soldiers were supposed to be guarding the rear courtyard, but at this moment, the courtyard was quiet, without a single person in sight.

These guards were almost all asleep. Only two grunts and an old man guarding the back door were still awake. It was freezing cold, and the three of them were huddled by the stove in the gatehouse, playing cards to pass the time. Probably to make it easier to observe the courtyard, the windows and door were open.

According to the pre-arranged plan, four assault team members quietly crossed the courtyard wall. They crept up to the window and main door of the gatehouse and took out the crossbows from their leg pouches.

The leading sergeant raised one hand and held up three fingers. Three crossbows were raised simultaneously.

After a silent three-two-one, the three crossbows released a faint twang at the same time. The three men playing cards in the room all fell down, their bodies twitching for a few moments before they went still.

The crossbow bolts were coated with a neurotoxin extracted from plants and animals by the biological laboratory. It acted very quickly, causing respiratory arrest within seconds.

Two team members quickly opened the back door and let the others in. Huang Ande and Zhu Si also followed. He saw two team members creep into the barracks where the guards were staying and come out a moment later, giving a hand signal. The leading sergeant made a gesture, and the group continued to advance. A chill went down his spine; he knew that the dozen or so unlucky souls were most likely dead.

Once inside the rear courtyard, the operation became much easier. If they had to go through the courtyards one by one, it would have been very time-consuming, with repeated searches and eliminations, and would have increased the chances of being discovered. Leaving two team members to control the rear, the team took a side passage that ran through the front and rear courtyards of the entire yamen and went straight to the main courtyard.

The gate of the side passage was locked, but this type of padlock offered basically no defense. It was easily cut with a pair of bolt cutters. The entire team moved quickly and silently through the dark side passage. The leader, with two small cylinders on his eyes, occasionally reminded everyone to bypass the obstacles in the passage.

As instructed by the team members, Huang Ande kept his eyes glued to the back of the person in front of him. In the pitch darkness, there was a yellow glow on his back, like a will-o’-the-wisp, which made his scalp tingle. But at this moment, he had no choice but to follow without missing a step.

In the darkness, the team leader quickly found the side door leading to the main courtyard according to the map. He quietly observed through the crack in the door. The courtyard was empty. There were no lights in either the main building or the side rooms. It was clear that everyone was asleep.

The assault team members quietly cut the padlock. Huang Ande carefully entered the courtyard. As agreed, he made the sound of an owl three times. A figure immediately appeared from the porch. It was Sun Yuan.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” Sun Yuan said, finally relieved to see Huang Ande suddenly appear.

“Let’s talk in the side passage!” Huang Ande said quickly.

Sun Yuan’s eyes swept over the ghostly figures in the side passage. Although he knew they were with Huang Ande, he was still very scared. He couldn’t help but take a step towards the door before whispering:

“Only Lord Sun is being held in this courtyard,” Sun Yuan said. “I and two of Lord Sun’s former servants are staying in the east wing. The people sent by Kong Youde to guard him are in the west wing…”

“How many people?”

“Ten.”

“Where are the sentry posts?”

“There are two men guarding the courtyard gate—they change shifts every two hours,” Sun Yuan whispered. “Look carefully, they’re on the covered walkway by the main courtyard gate.”

“No other guards?”

Sun Yuan was taken aback. “Who could escape? Everything is locked—and there’s the city wall.”

“Alright, you’ll take us to Lord Sun’s bedroom later,” Huang Ande said, turning to look at the team leader. The sergeant just nodded. Huang Ande noticed that they almost never spoke, communicating only with hand signals and glances.

Two team members entered the courtyard in a low posture. With their crossbows pointed down, they turned on the simple target indicators made from laser pointers taped on with duct tape.

This was an experimental piece of equipment. Although it looked very makeshift, it had achieved good results in several simulated exercises under dark conditions, whether mounted on a firearm or a crossbow. This was its first use in actual combat.

Because the red light of the laser pointer was visible, the two team members hid in the shadows, waiting for the two night watchmen to turn their backs.

When the two night watchmen turned around again, exposing their backs, the two team members raised their crossbows together. Almost simultaneously, the two night watchmen fell to the ground.

Several team members immediately and nimbly slipped into the courtyard and crept towards the side rooms.

“Big Brother Huang!” Sun Yuan said quickly. “The two boys staying with me are good people. They’re on my side. Don’t kill them…”

“We won’t kill them, but they have to come with us, and so do you,” Huang Ande said. “Otherwise, you’ll all be dead by dawn.”

At dawn, Sun Yuanhua would be gone, and everyone in the yamen would be under suspicion. Sun Yuan and the other old servants would be prime suspects. They would either be tortured to death or killed out of revenge.

Sun Yuan nodded repeatedly. “No problem, I’ll go!”

“Go and wake them up, then take us to Lord Sun’s bedroom. Quickly!”

“Alright, I’ll go right away!”

Ten minutes later, under the escort of two team members, Sun Yuan, along with two boy servants, carried Sun Yuanhua out of his bedroom. To prevent him from refusing to leave or committing suicide, the assault team had given him a sleeping potion as soon as they entered.

“Don’t just stand there, pack up!” the sergeant whispered. “Clean up and check!”

All the team members immediately checked their personal equipment and retrieved their gear. This included recovering the fired crossbow bolts.

“Salamander reporting: mission complete!” the sergeant reported via walkie-talkie. “Preparing to withdraw. Over.”

The group quickly carried Sun Yuanhua and returned to the rear courtyard from the side passage, rendezvoused with the gate-guarding team, and swiftly withdrew to the safe house at the first rendezvous point.