Chapter 2110 - 1169: Night Visit to the Cultural Palace (Part 2)

The middle‑aged man squatting on the ground flicked his cigarette butt to the floor, stepped on it hard to grind it out, glanced at Chief Zhou, then turned and pushed the door open to leave.

At the instant the man lifted his eyes, Yang Xiao noticed the bloodshot streaks filling them; clearly he hadn’t rested properly for a long time.

Once the middle‑aged man left, Chief Zhou rubbed his face, sat down with a kind of weary heaviness, and waved his hand, signaling for Yang Xiao and the other to sit as well.

Then he picked up the cigarette case again, tapped out a cigarette, struck several matches in a row without getting a flame, and finally simply tossed both the cigarette and the matchbox onto the desk, giving up on smoking.

"I’ve already contacted Old Sun at the Cultural Palace, told him that later tonight our Security Department will send two people over. The reason is a routine inspection." Chief Zhou said hoarsely.

"Thank you, Chief Zhou. Did you just get back from patrol? Don’t wear yourself out too much." Yang Xiao tried to comfort him.

"I’ve already arranged for people to patrol tonight. I’m not going."

"Right, if you find any clue at the Cultural Palace, use the phone in Old Sun’s room at the gatehouse to call me. I’ll be on duty at the Security Department all night."

As if he’d thought of something, Chief Zhou added, "Call him Master Sun. His real name is Sun Delin. He’s old guard in our factory—he was here the year the plant was built."

Yang Xiao looked around. This office was fairly large; besides Chief Zhou’s desk, there were four other desks.

They were all that old‑style wooden kind, but only Chief Zhou’s desk was covered with a sheet of glass; beneath the glass were several black‑and‑white photos, faintly showing group shots of many people.

The photos’ backgrounds were towering workshops or heavy‑style gates that looked imposing—likely all taken inside the plant.

"Chief Zhou, you can’t be burning the midnight oil here alone. All the men in the Security Department have to go out on patrol. Why not assign a woman to stay and watch the phone? Women are meticulous, and you could get some rest." Yang Xiao probed.

Hearing this, Chief Zhou shook his head. "This period is a special time. Our Security Department doesn’t assign women to stay on duty at night."

"Alright, I won’t keep you. And listen, next time if you have anything, try to talk over the phone, don’t come here." Chief Zhou warned.

Just like that, Yang Xiao and the other left the Security Department, and the facts also proved: the first phone call had been real, the second one fake. There were simply no women in the Security Department at night.

This also clarified the direction of Yang Xiao’s next move: tonight the Ghost was very likely to go to the family residential buildings under the pretext of delivering armbands, trick people into opening their doors and then kill them.

Yang Xiao, however, planned to turn the tables: they would go to the Cultural Palace tonight and catch the Ghost off guard.

Without further hesitation, the two moved at once, still taking the main road, the kind with streetlights. On the way they even ran into several other groups wearing the same work uniforms.

But it seemed everyone was wary of each other; no one greeted, they just veered to either side and hurried past.

You could tell that although no one said it out loud, once it got late and the place emptied out, people were still a bit scared.

After all, there’s no wall that doesn’t leak wind. Everyone in the plant knew something about the deaths, and with rumors spreading they only got worse.

"Hey, what did Captain Zhou say just now? Did you catch it?" Walking at Yang Xiao’s side, Ye Zheng suddenly asked.

"Mm. He was arguing with that guy, telling that Security Department cadre not to believe nonsense. I’m guessing he meant talk of ghosts and spirits."

"Looks like the factory’s hearts are unsettled too. After all, the way those people died is too bizarre, not something enemy agents could pull off."

"People just don’t dare say it out loud. In their hearts, they’ll all lean that way. That’s human nature." Yang Xiao went on.

"For us, that might not be a bad opportunity." Ye Zheng hinted.

"I know what you’re thinking. But it’s not the time yet. If we want Chief Zhou to fully believe this isn’t enemy agents but a real Fierce Ghost, we need to pick the right moment."

"Absolutely not now, and especially not from our mouths. Best if he sees it with his own eyes." Yang Xiao replied.

"Alright, I’ll follow your lead—you’ve got more ideas." Ye Zheng had a fair amount of respect for Yang Xiao’s abilities. Rongcheng’s Most Fierce Tiger truly lived up to his name, full of schemes.

Such a person as an enemy would be terrifying, but as a teammate, he gave people a strong sense of security. Ye Zheng felt very fortunate to have run into Yang Xiao.

By the time they returned to the Cultural Palace, it was already the small hours before dawn. The Cultural Palace now felt completely different from before.

The distant night was sunk as if steeped in ink, and all around was deathly still. Against the night’s backdrop, the gray‑white Soviet‑style building stood alone at the end of the road, like some huge monster turned to stone—a petrified sculpture.

The gates of the Cultural Palace were shut tight, with only a single night lamp over the entrance—just an old‑style bulb, not giving off a sharp white light but a dim glow tinged with yellow.

The light spread out onto the ground, illuminating only a small patch right in front of the doors; the cement steps leading up to the Cultural Palace entrance lay under a shroud of murk.

Even the five big characters over the lintel—"Workers’ Cultural Palace"—were swallowed by the dark, half‑hidden, half‑visible.

The Cultural Palace doors were two dark‑red, painted wooden‑frame glass doors. They were tightly shut at the moment, but through the fogged glass in the upper sections you could see that a few lights were still on in the main hall, and there was a small room off to the side.

Yang Xiao was the first to lift his foot and step onto the stairs, while Ye Zheng instinctively tugged his coat tighter, raised his head to look at this steel giant, and a trace of worry flickered in his eyes.