Kawashima Kōtarōs residence was located at No. 17 Route in the British Concession, near the Wàzi River, a Western-style mansion with a good location, clean streets, and elegant surroundings, covering an area of about five mu, facing east and west, three-story building, more than 20 rooms, front yard has flower beds, fake hills, ponds, garages, backyard has vegetable gardens, greenhouses, kitchens, servant houses, etc.
When Mu Yang arrived here, several cars and sidecars had already stopped outside the door, and it was clear that someone had come to celebrate his birthday.
Muyang tidied up his clothes, paid the fare, and then carried a brocade box containing fake antique porcelain bottles into the mansion with an air of confidence.
"Captain, please show your identification." The Japanese soldier at the door stopped Muyang.
Muyang took out the ID of Takashi Koyabashi and handed it to the inspecting soldier. The soldier carefully examined it before handing it back to Muyang with both hands, saying: "Lieutenant Colonel, you may enter."
Walking into the yard, it is a very spacious front garden, with flowers and grasses that have been carefully trimmed and maintained. Although autumn has already arrived, they still look lush and green.
As he walked up to the door of the villa, a butler in a black suit and tie opened the door for Mu Yang. After entering the hall, Mu Yang saw that there were already three or four men wearing Japanese military uniforms and several middle-aged men dressed as politicians and businessmen.
Muyang could be said to have been caught off guard, he suddenly realized that he seemed to have missed something. He had only thought about coming in to celebrate his birthday and then seeing Kanemoto Koutarou, completing his task. However, it seemed like he didnt really recognize the colleagues in front of him, Muyangs heart skipped a beat.
Muyang regretted his mistake in silence, but since he had already come, he would carefully respond.
"Hey, Gaoqiao Jun youre here, come sit over here." An officer with the same rank as Shao Xiao called out to Muyang who had just walked in.
Mu Yang walked past, looking at the officers back, not recognizing him. He could only steel himself and walk over, putting down his things on the table, then said to the officer: "Youre early too, I was late because I was picking out a gift."
"Its not late, its still early, and the guests are still arriving one after another. Guan Gen, the chief advisor, hasnt come downstairs yet." He said, pulling Mu Yang to sit down.
He then leaned in close to Muyangs ear and whispered, "Look at the village team leader and Lieutenant General Kato, they arrived earlier than us, truly very enthusiastic."
Muyang glanced at the two Japanese military officers sitting not far away, who were talking to several politicians and businessmen. He found that their military ranks were both lieutenant colonel, obviously higher than his own rank. It seemed that they were close associates of Sekine Kōtarō, so they came very early.
At this time, several people came in one after another at the door. Muyang felt that he couldnt wait any longer and whispered to the guy sitting next to him: "Do you know where the Chief of Staff is now?"
"Whats up, want to meet alone? The Chief of Staff should be in the study room, I guess well have to wait until the guests arrive before he comes down."
Muyang nodded, stood up directly, picked up the brocade box on the table and said, "Ill be right back." He ignored the lieutenant who was staring at him blankly and walked straight towards the stairs.
"That Japanese lieutenant muttered in a low voice: Another guy who loves to flatter."
Muyang walked to the staircase and said to the attendant standing there: "I want to pay a visit to General Staff, can you take me over?"
"Is there anything else I can help you with? If not, the master will come down personally to see the guests in a moment." The servant clearly did not want anyone disturbing his master.
"Excuse me, I am Staff Officer Takashi Kōyama of the Army Ministry. I know that the Chief of Staff has a fondness for Chinese antiques. I have obtained a fine piece of porcelain from the Qing imperial palace and would like to present it to the Chief of Staff personally for his appreciation. Thank you."
"Then you wait a moment, Ill go and report." The servant said, then went straight upstairs.
The time was not long, and the servant returned to Mo Yang and said: "The master invites you to go to the study, Ill take you there."
On the second floor in a room on the west side, Muyang finally met Sekine Koutarou.
"Koukyou-kun, youre really thoughtful." Kanzaki Kyutaro, around 50 years old with a well-groomed beard, said with a warm smile towards the sunny window.
If he didnt know that he was holding an antique, I reckon he wouldnt be smiling like hes eaten honey bee dung.
"General, after learning of your birthday, I searched very carefully for a long time and finally found this piece of Chinese fine antique porcelain from a descendant of the Qing dynasty royal family. It is said to be a palace utensil from the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty. I had someone appraise it and confirmed that it is genuine."
Muyang said with a smile on his face, while slowly opening the brocade box with his hands, lifting the lid to reveal the beautiful red glaze peony porcelain vase inside.
Kazuo Kondos small eyes shone outward, and he slowly extended one hand to stroke the bottle, then gently placed it on the table, carefully observing it from all sides.
"Wow, Gaoqiao is really a thoughtful person, he actually knows I like antiques. Great, great, I love this porcelain." He said, looking up to face Muyang.
All he saw was a black shadow flashing before his eyes, and then he felt a numbness and dizziness in his body, after which Kogoro Taro knew nothing.
Muyang took out an electric baton from behind and stabbed it into the back of Kanzaki Jutarōs neck at his most relaxed moment. A few seconds later, Kanzaki Jutarō lost consciousness and was strangled to death with ease.
He quietly walked to the door and listened for a moment, finding no reaction outside. Mu Yang directly locked the door and began searching the old mans body.
Keys, pocket watch, documents, pen, wallet, thats all.
Then he started searching the room, focusing on the large office desk. Mu Yang sat in the position where Kanemoto Kitaro had just been sitting and began to search through the drawers. There were many documents inside, but Mu Yang only gave them a rough glance at the directory, throwing aside those that seemed useless.
Suddenly, Mu Yang found a folder with a document labeled "Detailed Implementation Plan for the Golden Lily Project in Tianjin" that caught his attention.
Moyang vaguely remembers that when he was reviewing the materials, he had seen a plan called "Golden Lily" in Japan, which seemed to be about looting gold and silver treasures from mainland China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Laos, Java, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaya, Singapore, Sumatra, Borneo, and the Philippines.
Muyang quickly opened the folder and found several documents and lists of cultural relics inside. The top one was a document about the recent transportation of Chinese cultural relics from Beijing by the North China Japanese Army, along with a list of all the transported items.
The report shows that this batch of antiques, because there are several batches and in different places, finally chose to take the land route to Shanghai, and then after concentrating in Shanghai, they were shipped to Japan. According to the date on the report book, this batch of antiques should have been delivered to Shanghai.
Finally found it, Mu Yang was overjoyed in his heart, and his mission could finally be completed.
Then, a message suddenly popped up in Muyangs mind: The first worlds fourth task is complete, please claim your reward in time.
Muyang doesnt have time to deal with him now, lets just hurry up and finish the follow-up work here, and then find a quiet place to receive the reward.
Muyang put the document directly into his space and continued to search. What was Muyang still looking for? Of course, it was valuable things. After all, even a big captain like Yamada Kōsuke had stored 100,000 pounds in cash. This Sekine Kyūtarō was even more powerful than Yamada, and he was an old devil, so he must have had more private money. We cant leave the money to the enemy, right?
After searching the entire house, nothing valuable was found. Mu Yang stood in the middle of the room, scratching his head and looking around, feeling that it was unlikely.
"I must have missed something, its impossible that theres nothing valuable here." Murong muttered to himself, his eyes searching everywhere.
Suddenly, he found a string of keys that were searched from the old ghost Kōtarō Sekine. At that time, Muyang didnt pay attention and put them directly on the table. However, now when Muyang looked over, he discovered that one of the keys had an unusually large head.
Mu Yang walked over and picked up the keychain, carefully flipping through it, then Mu Yang smiled.