Chapter 119: The Red Clothed Female Army (Part 1)

  When I got off the plane, Han Yinan's grandfather and grandmother had already come to pick him up. I watched them leave together, then turned around and rented a car, preparing to leave the airport first and go to the Three Gorges Dam to try my luck. August 1st.

  Finding the woman in red isn't a simple matter. The information Chen Lao gave me only said she was roughly around this area, but the specific location couldn't be determined.

  But I think an organization of over 10,000 people, just eating and drinking, must leave some clues. They can't all solve it by themselves, let alone the food they eat, which must be bought nearby.

  So I first came to several larger vegetable markets nearby, disguised as a company employee who came to sell a large quantity of vegetables, and asked the merchants if anyone had recently purchased a large amount of vegetables, rice, pork, and other food.

  I happened to ask around and actually got some useful information. At a vegetable market near the Three Gorges Dam, someone came to buy a large quantity of food just two days ago. According to the vendors there, those people bought an entire truckload of food at once.

  I inquired about the appearance and accent of those people who bought food, and was delighted to find that they were actually from the Red Clothes Female Organization. Because one of them had said something like this while chatting with the vendor: "Give us a discount, we're from the Red Clothes... we'll come back to buy your vegetables again..."

  The merchant didn't know what "red-clothed woman" meant, but thought it was interesting and remembered it. When I heard the news, I was overjoyed and immediately thanked the merchant. I found a place to stay nearby and prepared to wait for an opportunity to find those people when they came to buy vegetables again.

  Calculating the time, the woman in red should be coming over to buy vegetables soon. No matter what kind of vegetable it is, within two days, even if they haven't finished eating them, they will definitely rot. So I might as well spend the whole day wandering around this vegetable market, and justify it by saying that I'm looking for a big merchant to sell my large quantity of vegetables to.

  However, once someone comes over and talks to me about buying vegetables, I will intentionally raise the price a bit, so that those people will know it's difficult and retreat, in order not to affect my investigation.

  One day later, I finally met the people from that legendary Red Clothes Organization. Strangely, those who saw the truck coming over were still going to buy vegetables and rice from the vendors they had bought things from before, and didn't come to me to make a purchase just because I was a big merchant.

  They didn't look for me, so I took the initiative to find them. So I quietly followed their big truck and found an opportunity to drill directly into their truck and hid behind a large pile of vegetable baskets.

  This is a temporary tracking method, it's not brilliant but very practical.

  Two hours later, they finally bought enough supplies and started preparing to leave. I hid in the car, not daring to move, even slowing down my breathing on purpose, so that I wouldn't be discovered by them.

  There were two people sitting on top of the truck, apparently to prevent their things from falling off. But this way, the distance between them and me was too close, I could even see the pant leg of one of them.

  The truck was shaking violently, I felt it wasn't driving on the main road, but passing through a very remote rural path.

  After the truck had bumped along for nearly two hours, I felt that it was pitch black outside when it finally stopped. I heard people on top of the truck shouting loudly: "Come and unload the truck, everyone come to help."

  I was startled, thinking that I would definitely be caught by them now, so I quickly thought of a way to deal with what's coming next. Just then, someone said: "You've worked hard, take a rest first, and unload the truck after dinner."

  I suddenly felt this voice was very familiar, if it wasn't for this person's sentence, I would have been exposed immediately.

  Several people who came back from buying vegetables responded in unison: "Yes, thank you, Commander Lian."

  I secretly remembered this person in my heart, was he called "Lian Chang" or just a company commander? Never mind, if I meet him again in the future, I will show mercy.

  I didn't expect to find the Red Cloak Woman's base so easily, and I don't know if this is where the Red Cloak Woman's legion is located.

  I remembered what Old Chen said, that the Red Clothed Lady had more than ten thousand soldiers. I felt a bit strange in my heart because there wasn't much noise here. Even if it was a well-disciplined army, a place with more than ten thousand people wouldn't be so quiet.

  Here there is almost no other sound except for a few voices.

  This doesn't feel right, I'm secretly anxious. After the few people on top of the car get off, I quietly push open the vegetable basket in front of me and quietly jump off the bus to take a look at this unfamiliar place.

  This should be an underground cave or something, with insufficient light, and the lighting is all dependent on a few dim electric lights. With the help of the electric lights, I see that it's very humid here, and there are constantly water droplets dripping from the top, and the ground is all flooded.

  Is this at the bottom of the river? Or is it at the bottom of the reservoir? I thought for a moment and shook my head: This is not at the bottom of the river, nor is it at the bottom of the reservoir. The Three Gorges area has many underground water sources, so this should still be in the general mountain belly, but just happens to have underground water, that's why it's so humid.

  The place where the truck stopped was a huge cave. Besides the truck that brought me, there were more than a dozen identical trucks parked next to it, and it seemed like this was just a garage.

  There is no red-clothed woman here, it seems they all went to eat. I hurriedly leave here and start searching for what I want to find in this underground cave.

  The task assigned to me by Old Chen is to figure out the personnel situation of the Red Clothes Female Organization and whether they will pose a threat to our government and people. So I have decided that I must first find their leader. Only after finding their leader and successfully controlling their leader can I have the opportunity to complete this arduous task on my own.

  The underground cave is very long and spacious. It's almost like a modern high-speed rail tunnel, except that it lacks some lighting, giving people a much more gloomy feeling.

  I moved forward about 100 meters along the underground cave, or you can say it's an underground tunnel. Finally, I saw a person. It was a sentry, a sentry with a real gun. Judging from his motionless appearance, he should have received professional training.

  I slowed down my pace, sneaked up behind the sentry and suddenly struck out with one palm, knocking him unconscious. Once I was certain that no one else had witnessed my actions, I dragged the sentry back to the garage we had used earlier and then revived him.

  The sentinel opened his eyes and looked at me with a puzzled face. I asked in a low voice: "Are you the one under Hongyi's command?"

  The sentinel only realized what was going on at this time, and immediately wanted to pull out his gun, but was forced by the gun in my hand, losing the ability to resist.

  I smiled and asked: "Don't think about resisting, you're not my opponent. Just honestly tell me, which one of the Red Cloak Lady's subordinates are you?"

  The sentry looked at the gun in my hand with a reluctant expression and finally said: "I am from 4th company. Who are you? How did you get in?"

  I laughed: "Now you're my captive, so I'll ask and you answer. Do you understand?"

  The sentry's reluctant expression made me want to laugh, so after he nodded, I suppressed a smile and said: "Now you tell me, how many companies do you have? How many warriors? What is the name of your leader?"

  The sentry I asked was stunned and finally said cautiously: "What did you ask? I...I forgot..."

  I couldn't help but laugh: "How many platoons do you have?"

  The sentinel said without thinking: "There are a hundred regiments in total."

  I felt a stir in my heart and whispered "intelligence is inaccurate", then asked again: "How many people are there in each company? Is it a fixed formation? What formation is above the company?"

  The sentry looked at me suspiciously: "Each company has one hundred and twenty men, just like yours, that's the formation. Of course, above the company is the regiment, we have twenty-one regiments."

  I knew their formation and regular troops were the same, but I still asked: "Don't you also have formations like regiments and divisions?"

  The sentry nodded: "We have seven regiments, and from the first to the sixth regiment all belong to the First Division. The Seventh Regiment is an independent regiment and is also the guard team of our leader, it's a truly elite regiment. If you encountered people from the Seventh Regiment, maybe you wouldn't be able to ask anything out of them, they are absolutely loyal to our leader, that is, our division commander."

  I laughed: "That was just my good luck, running into you. Now tell me, what's the name of your leader - that is, your commander?"

  The sentinel also laughed: "Our commander is called Red Clothes Girl, everyone knows that."

  I saw this sentry was quite cooperative, so I smiled and said: "Thank you for your answer. I have one last question, I hope you will answer me truthfully."

  The sentinel sighed: "Ask away, I've said so much already, becoming a traitor to the Red Cloak Woman. Anyway, it's all just death, doesn't matter if I say a few more sentences."

  I furrowed my brow: "Who said you'd die? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that I've looked for you. Now, tell me, your leader, the red-robed woman, where is she now?"

  The sentinel was taken aback and immediately said: "How would I know that? I'm just a small sentinel, how would I know the whereabouts of our leader?"

  I forced a smile: "That's right, your level isn't high enough, you shouldn't know this, let's just forget I asked. You can leave now."

  "Sentinel stunned: 'You don't kill me?'"

  I shook my head: "I didn't come with malicious intent, I just wanted to know your personnel numbers, and never thought of killing anyone."

  The sentry's face was full of doubt: "I heard that your government soldiers kill people at every turn, but it seems that's not the case after all."

  I frowned and said: "Who told you that our government's soldiers kill people at every turn? This is a complete smear against us."

  The sentinel laughed: "No one told me this, I just made it up myself. Now you know what you wanted to know, can I really leave now?"

  I nodded silently and glanced at the sentry before taking a step ahead of him and leaving the garage.

  I proceeded through the underground caverns, which were like tunnels, and encountered another sentinel. Using the same trick again, I got almost the same answer after inquiring, and finally confirmed a fact - that this self-proclaimed "Shizhong" Red Cloak Girl was indeed a formidable figure.

  With just over 10,000 soldiers under her command, she is enough to rival many small countries. A woman who can rival a small country is unthinkable. Moreover, the seven teams under her are like the special forces of our country, all excellent soldiers. These soldiers are completely loyal to the Red Dress Woman, making it extremely difficult for anyone to get close to her.

  Unless she agrees.

  I remember when I was still in school, my roommates Dazhang, Xiaolizi and Aqiang. They all had special feelings towards this mysterious red-clothed woman, either admiring or fearing her, anyway they thought the red-clothed woman was not ordinary.

  It seems that she is not a simple person after all. I want to get close to her and obtain the information I need from her, it's probably not an easy thing to do.

  If I can gain her trust and be considered a close confidant, things might become simpler.

  But this idea is impossible to realize, so I just think about it.

  Letting go of the second sentinel I caught, I quietly set out again, heading straight for the lair of the Red Cloak Organization.

  Gradually, more and more people appeared in the underground tunnel. Many uniformly dressed warriors were busy in the tunnel, seemingly counting something. The tunnel here had also changed its appearance, no longer a long high-speed rail-like tunnel, but on both sides of the tunnel, many cave-like rooms had been dug out, apparently for living quarters.

  I quietly walked into a room closest to me, just about to congratulate myself on not being seen, when I saw that there was actually someone in this room.

  When he saw me, his look of surprise was exactly the same as mine. I scared him and he also scared me. So I immediately took a step forward, lightning-fast, and instantly controlled him.

  The person pinned under me on the bed in the room soon stopped struggling, as my grip was too strong, almost making it impossible for him to breathe, and he is now unconscious.

  I hastily let go, lest I really kill him. After making sure he was not in danger of his life, I tied him up with a bed sheet and stuffed a large piece of cloth into his mouth, lest he make a sound and alarm others.

  After doing all that, I began to take stock of this less-than-twenty-square-meter "room". The room was still a bit damp, but it was much better than that garage. I'm sure it's because this underground cave gradually moved away from the groundwater source, so it dried up a lot.

  The room had a bed and a simple wooden chair. There was also a rope with both ends fixed to the wall, on which hung some clothes that might have been washed.

  The clothes were the same "uniform" as those people outside, looking like desert camouflage. As soon as I saw these clothes, I took them off without hesitation and changed into them on the spot. With this set of clothes, I believe it will be of great help to me in infiltrating here to gather intelligence.

  The warrior of the Red Cloak organization who had fainted soon came to, and his eyes were filled with fear and unease as he looked at me.

  I smiled and said to him: "Don't worry, I'm not here to kill you, so as long as you don't try to escape or raise the alarm, I won't hurt you."

  The man nodded immediately, and his mouth, which had been stuffed with a cloth, opened slightly, but no sound came out.

  I laughed and took the hat off his head, just about to put it on when I froze. It turned out that the red-clothed female warrior whose hat I had taken off was actually a woman dressed as a man. When her hat came off, a head of hair that was obviously much longer than a man's scattered down.

  I didn't notice this before, but now that I have, I'm at a loss. It's not my fault, who made her look so... masculine?!

  For women, I still have a bit of male chauvinism. If the person in front of me is an established enemy, that's easy to handle, either capture or directly kill. But now this female warrior can't be confirmed as my enemy, what should I do?

  Let her go? No way, if she just shouts, I'll be exposed. I'll get caught and even possibly killed. I can't take that risk!

  Killing her was not an option, letting her go was also not an option. I was torn for a moment, standing still on the spot, motionless.

  This female warrior probably misunderstood me, seeing that I didn't move, she was very afraid and twisted her body, wanting to retreat a bit. Unfortunately, behind her was the bed, and there was no room for retreat. As soon as she retreated, she fell onto the bed instead.

  I was startled by her movement and immediately took a step forward, saying in a low voice: "I won't hurt you, don't... move."

  The female warrior was startled and desperately wanted to get away from me. So the movement range became larger and larger, even making some noise in the bed in the room.

  I'm worried that people outside will notice the commotion here, so I took a step forward and pressed my hand against her. At the same time, I whispered to her, "Don't move, I won't hurt you... won't..."

  The female warrior was pinned down by me with great force and could no longer move. She gradually stopped struggling.

  I slowly loosened my grip on her and said calmly, "I'm a government personnel sent to see your school principal. It's just that your principal is too hard to find, I don't know where she is right now, so I mistakenly entered your room. Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. Now I've loosened my hand, don't struggle or make any noise. You... did you understand?"

  The female warrior nodded, and the fear in her eyes did not decrease at all.

  I let out a quiet sigh, not expecting to intrude into a female warrior's room. I slowly released my grip and took a step back, saying: "My name is Jin Cang, formerly an instructor of the Dragon Guard Regiment. You may not know me, but I've long heard of your commander, also known as the Red-Clothed Lady. Back then, I admired her greatly, thinking she was a person who valued loyalty."

  The female warrior couldn't speak, but the fear in her eyes gradually decreased a lot.

  I knew what I said earlier made her relax a bit, so I continued: "I didn't come to find your leader with any other intention, mainly because I want to know if your leader has ever thought of taking action against our government. Think about it, our country is currently facing invasion from many countries and some organizations that want to take action against us or have already done so. If your Red Cloak organization were to add fuel to the fire, it would really be troublesome. That's why I came to find your leader, wanting to have a good talk with her, truly without any malicious intent. I...I'll remove the cloth from your mouth now, but you must promise not to shout loudly. Can you promise me that?

  The female warrior nodded, and the fear in her eyes decreased a bit.

  I took a step forward and reached out to pull the rag out of her mouth. I stood my ground, not retreating, still wary of her because I was worried she would suddenly become untrustworthy and shout loudly.

  The female warrior didn't actually shout out, but instead let out a few loud gasps for air, then looked at me as if waiting for me to ask her something.

  I smiled and said: "I just want to know where your superiors are now, can you tell me?"

  The female warrior hesitated slightly, then looked at me and said: "I don't know."

  Her voice was quite pleasant to listen to, and it didn't match her appearance at all. I found it strange in my heart and said out loud: "That's the case, then there's nothing else I want to ask you. In a while, I'll leave here, and when I leave, I'll untie the cloth strip on your body."

  The female warrior nodded slightly: "Thank you, I know that our organization's power has surged recently and will eventually be infiltrated by your government's agents. The warrior didn't expect you to find me. I'm just an ordinary warrior, belonging to the 17th Regiment. What you want to know, I completely don't know."

  I looked at the female warrior, who seemed to be telling the truth, and nodded: "It's okay, I'll find your commander sooner or later. I just hope that before I do, you won't take action against us. Otherwise, when the battle starts, it will still be the ordinary people who suffer. Especially the ordinary people in this area, they have already experienced one war during the last attack on the Three Gorges Dam by the Wanlong Society, and really can't be affected by war again."

  The female warrior hesitated for a moment, seemingly wanting to say something, but ultimately didn't speak again.

  I glanced at the bed sheet that I had torn apart in order to tie her up, and said with some embarrassment: "Sorry, I tore your bed sheet..."

  The female warrior shook her head: "It's okay, I have another one, just swap it."

  I nodded, took a glance at the warriors still busy outside the door, turned back and smiled, saying: "I'll leave now, I hurt you before, I apologize to you here, hoping..."

  I didn't continue speaking because I saw someone walking towards us, so I took the opportunity to push open the door and walked out with big strides, one hand holding onto my hat.