manynovel Chapter 639 The news comes out
Chapter 639 The news comes out
Zhang Chuan watched as Jiang Hu led Zhao Ci into the eastern fork in the road. The glow of their miners' lamps grew fainter and fainter in the deep alley, like a star gradually fading away. He immediately turned around, his steps as light as a cat treading on grass, and silently circled around to the western fork in the road.
This road leads to an abandoned winch house, long forgotten in a corner. The rusty winch looks like an iron beast lying on the ground, its huge body riddled with potholes, its gears covered with thick, shiny black grease. Piles of neglected scrap wood and tattered sacks are scattered around it, covered with layers of cobwebs, gleaming gray in the beam of the miner's lamp. Few people usually set foot here.
Last night, under the guise of night patrol, he crept into the vicinity. As he approached, he faintly heard a short, muffled clanging sound coming from inside. Just as he was about to move closer, he bumped into the changing guards, their stun batons flashing coldly in the darkness. Zhang Chuan quickly held his breath, crouching behind a pile of coal, watching the two men walk by, chatting and laughing, until the footsteps completely disappeared. Only then did he retreat sheepishly, but he memorized the eerie sound.
Today, he had deliberately timed his shift change precisely, calculating that this was a lull. Zhang Chuan crouched low, using the coal pile as cover, inching forward. His leather shoes crunched silently on the fine coal chunks. He pressed his ear against the dusty wooden wall and listened. It was quiet inside, save for the whistling of the wind through the broken windowpanes, like someone sighing softly in the shadows.
He calmed down a bit, took out a thin wire from his pocket, and deftly twirled it between his fingers. The wire gently pried open the rusted keyhole, and after a few movements, a soft "click" was heard, remarkably clear in the quiet alley. Zhang Chuan gently pushed open the door a crack, and a smell mixed with musty, machine oil, and faint coal smoke rushed out, making him almost wince.
In the dim light, there was a pile of things covered with tarpaulin in the corner. They were bulging and square, and didn't look like ordinary scrap materials, but rather like solid wooden boxes. Zhang Chuan held his breath and moved over step by step. The beam of his miner's lamp shone on the tarpaulin, and he could see the raised edges under the fabric, like the edges of nailed wooden boards.
Just as his fingertips were about to touch the edge of the tarpaulin, he suddenly heard footsteps outside, clattering on the gravel road, getting closer and closer, mixed with muffled voices. Zhang Chuan's heart tightened, and he quickly dodged behind the winch, hiding himself in the shadow of the iron frame. He also quickly turned off his miner's lamp, leaving only a faint sliver of light leaking through his fingers.
He breathed a sigh of relief once the footsteps outside had faded into the distance. Only then did he notice an inconspicuous little door deep inside the winch room, its door panel riddled with cracks, as if it had been patched up later. He quietly pushed the door open, revealing an even smaller room inside, where the air was even more stuffy, and he could vaguely hear hushed voices coming from within.
Just as Zhang Chuan was about to take a step, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a dark figure flashing past the corner of the wall outside the door—it turned out there was a guard hiding outside, smoking with his back to him. He quickly pulled his foot back, held his breath, and pressed himself against the door, his heart pounding. After a while, the guard stubbed out his cigarette and walked away, then he tiptoed around to the back of the hut, where there was a hole that he could just peek through to listen.
"...Make sure that shipment is handled cleanly, leave no trace. Last time, those miners were too talkative, which caused all the trouble..."
"Don't worry, everything was done according to the rules. We'll just say it was a mining accident, or something supernatural. Who's going to investigate that thoroughly?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chuan felt his blood rush to his head—it turned out that those so-called "mining disasters" weren't caused by any ghosts or gods at all, but were all orchestrated by these bastards! He clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, and suppressed his anger as he quietly retreated.
The waters here run too deep. The intricate network of relationships is like an oil-soaked, impenetrable net, stretching from the mine's management all the way to certain individuals in the county; a single move can have far-reaching consequences. Even if he and Zhao Ci had three heads and six arms, they probably couldn't handle this murky situation on their own. They had to get the message to Director He Feng outside immediately. Only when he arrived with his men could they act like a sharp scalpel, precisely dissecting the layers of filth—the clandestine transfers of benefits, the shoddy workmanship, the disregard for human life, and all those shady deals and clandestine activities—only then could they be thoroughly exposed and laid bare for the light of day.
Zhang Chuan steadied himself, forcing himself to suppress the turmoil in his heart. Following the familiar route he had taken earlier, he crouched low, like a wary night owl, and quietly retreated. His steps were faster than when he came in, and the sense of urgency in his heart surged like dry grass being scorched by fire, yet his feet remained steady and made no sound. When his shoes rolled over the withered leaves on the ground, it was as light as a breeze sweeping through the darkness, not even disturbing a blade of grass.
Just as he was about to retreat into the densest shadow outside the courtyard wall, his foot suddenly gave way and a soft "crack" sounded—he had accidentally stepped on a dead branch. The sound was exceptionally clear in the dead of night, like a needle dropping in an empty room.
"Who's there?" A low shout immediately came from the courtyard, filled with alarm and alertness, like a stone thrown into the peaceful night.
Zhang Chuan's heart leaped into his throat, as if gripped by an invisible hand. He quickly shrank into the shadows of the corner, pressing his back against the cold brick wall, holding his breath, not daring to blink even once, for fear of making the slightest sound.
The squad leader inside frowned, his brows furrowed into a knot. He waved to his men, his voice low and menacing: "Go out and see if anything has broken in." He paused, his gaze sweeping over his men, his tone laced with unmistakable vigilance, "Be alert, everyone. This must not be known to anyone. Our plan is almost complete, just one last step. We can't afford any mishaps at this crucial juncture!"
The two henchmen nodded, gripped the thick wooden sticks in their hands, their knuckles turning white from the force, and carefully pushed open the creaking courtyard gate. One went to the left, and the other to the right, their eyes scanning back and forth in the darkness like searchlights.
Hiding in the shadows, Zhang Chuan's heart pounded so hard it felt like it would shatter his ribs, but his mind raced. Just as the two men's gazes were about to sweep across the base of the wall, he suddenly noticed a small, dusty mouse huddled trembling in a crack in the stone at his feet, its eyes shining like tiny beads in the darkness. An idea instantly formed in his mind. He held his breath, slowly reaching out with a movement as light as picking up a feather. The moment his fingertips touched the mouse's back, the little creature shuddered violently, and he swiftly grabbed it by the scruff of its neck.