SFTD -Chapter 395 White Spots Reappear (Part 36)

Zhou Hai patted him on the back.

“Nice imagination. Let’s keep following Master Wang and check a little farther ahead. If we go another fifty meters and still find nothing, we’ll turn back, alright?”

Just then, Old Wang suddenly stopped and raised his flashlight, sweeping it up and down ahead of them.

The Fengzi asked nervously: “What’s wrong?”

Zhou Hai walked over and finally noticed the change in the tunnel walls. Large stone blocks had appeared along the sides, forming a transverse passageway.

And now, directly before them, was a T-shaped intersection—one path leading north, the other south. Unfortunately, their flashlight was weak and had begun flickering erratically.

The Fengzi shrank back in fright.

At that moment, Old Wang noticed a wooden stick embedded in the wall. After examining it, he realized it was a torch and pulled it free.

“I quit smoking. Which one of you still has a lighter?”

Zhou Hai took out a lighter and lit the torch. It seemed damp from age or moisture and resisted ignition at first, producing only a ring of faint blue flames on the surface.

But soon the torch flared brightly, dripping thick black oil onto the ground with soft plopping sounds.

Fengzi subconsciously lowered his head toward the sound—and instantly jumped.

“Ahhh—!”

He leapt behind Zhou Hai in a flash.

Holding the torch high, Zhou Hai looked over.

Against the wall sat a person.

Or more accurately, a skeleton.

Dark clothing still wrapped around the remains, and a hat rested atop its head. From where they stood, they could only see the completely exposed jawbone and a row of neatly preserved teeth.

Though the sight was abrupt, it was still manageable. But the dead man’s clothing struck Zhou Hai as strange.

This was not a military uniform.

At first, Zhou Hai had assumed this place was some kind of military fortification, but after seeing the state of the corpse and the conditions within the tunnel, he revised his judgment.

He beckoned to Old Wang.

“Hand me the investigation kit. And be careful—the torch oil dripping down mustn’t contaminate the remains.”

Having recovered from the initial shock, Fengzi crouched down, opened the kit, and quickly began photographing the skeleton.

Very soon, Zhou Hai noticed a knife embedded in the victim’s chest. By slightly shifting the remains aside, he could see that the blade had pierced deep into a crack in the wall. The force behind the stab had clearly been tremendous.

Zhou Hai slowly released the skeleton.

A large amount of dust fell from the corpse’s clothing. On the dark fabric over the chest, something reflected the torchlight.

He reached over and grabbed the gleaming collar.

With a gentle scrape, a golden badge appeared in his palm.

Fengzi hurried closer, took the badge using a piece of gauze, and carefully wiped it clean. Though black dried stains still clung to it, its shape was unmistakable at a glance.

It was a six-pointed star badge.

“A six-pointed star…Why would there be a six-pointed star pin here?”

Zhou Hai had no answer either.

He knelt on one knee and carefully examined the dead man’s clothing. The coat was covered in thick dust and cobwebs.

But even so, he could still tell it was a double-breasted wool overcoat.

The brass buttons had already developed green patina and hung heavily from the fabric. Through a tear at the side, he could see the back waist section of the coat, where a half-belt fastened with two buttons remained attached. The shoulders also showed traces of epaulets once having been there.

Zhou Hai rubbed the corrosion off one of the buttons with force.

Soon, the raised sections beneath the rust became visible, revealing dim copper coloring underneath. The design was a dotted five-pointed star with a sickle-and-hammer emblem in the center.

It was unmistakably a Soviet-style military overcoat.

And this style of coat had once become extremely fashionable during the early 1990s.

“This was the trendiest Soviet-style wool military coat in the early ’90s. The fabric is thick and dense, and the buttons are finely made. Judging by the wear on the inner sides of the buttons, the coat was practically brand new.”

Fengzi leaned closer. Honestly, he couldn’t see any of the details Zhou Hai was talking about.

But he did recognize the military coat.

He reached out and pinched the fabric. With such heavy material, for a blade to pierce straight through the man’s body…

The knife itself was also strange.

Zhou Hai had originally assumed it was a Japanese military saber, but after closer inspection, the hilt didn’t match. The handguard resembled something from a fencing sword—a bowl-shaped guard with hollow decorative patterns.

“Boss, this blade is interesting.”

Zhou Hai nodded.

“You finished photographing it?”

“All done!”

Once Fengzi confirmed he had completed the photos, Zhou Hai wrapped a bag around his hand, gripped the hilt, and pulled hard.

After all, the blade had been embedded into the wall, pinning a body here for so many years. That was definitely not something achievable with ordinary strength.

Fengzi instantly understood Zhou Hai’s intention and hurriedly stopped him, jerking his chin toward Old Wang.

“Master Wang, let us laborers handle the heavy work.”

Old Wang chuckled.

“Let me give it a try.”

Zhou Hai did not insist. Even though Old Wang had retired after being wounded, he had once been a soldier. His physical conditioning was still far beyond ordinary people.

Zhou Hai quickly stepped aside to make room.

Old Wang walked over. It seemed he barely used any force at all. With one backward pull, both the blade and skeleton toppled toward the three of them at once.

Startled, Old Wang’s face immediately changed color.

Even soldiers were afraid of piles of bones. After all, nobody dealt with corpses every day.

Fortunately, Fengzi reacted instantly, turning around and bracing himself in front of Old Wang, using his back to stop the falling skeleton.

At the same moment, Old Wang yanked the sword free completely.

He quickly handed the weapon to Zhou Hai.

But when his eyes fell upon the blade itself, his movement visibly paused.

An eagle wearing a crown was engraved into the steel.

Old Wang raised the sword toward the torchlight and examined it carefully.

“Well now… looks like this is an antique.”

Zhou Hai knew soldiers understood these things far better than he did, so he immediately asked: “Master Wang, you recognize this symbol?”

Old Wang nodded.

“This is called the Prussian Eagle. Germans considered the eagle a solar bird, so they used it as their national emblem.

Between 1871 and 1918, the eagle’s design was altered at least twice.

The final version became a realistic imperial eagle wearing the crown of the Holy Roman Empire, with its head turned to the right.

Compared to earlier versions, the symbols representing Bohemia and Austria were removed. Because by that time, Germany had entered a period of aggressive expansion.

So this sword is an early World War I military saber—a German officer’s dress saber.”

Fengzi immediately asked: “So this is something from the era when the Germans occupied Southeast City? And it still looks practically brand new?”

Old Wang glanced at the saber.

“Officer sabers were made with alloy steel. Quality wasn’t an issue. Besides, it’s been well protected all this time. Even though it was stuck in a wall crack, there was no lateral pressure on it, and the position also isolated it from oxygen, making rust less likely. Look near the hilt—you can still see signs of corrosion there.”

Following Old Wang’s indication, the two of them looked closer.

Sure enough, the blade showed a sharp dividing line between preserved and corroded sections.

Zhou Hai narrowed his eyes.

A man wearing clothing from the 1990s had been stabbed to death with an early twentieth-century military saber and pinned here for all these years.

What kind of hatred could produce something like this?

Could Yang Duxiu really have done it?