Chapter 90: The Dark Room Hidden Underground (2/2)

“Can Shopkeeper Tang be such a person? He looks like a normal citizen who is timid and afraid.”

“Actually, I think so too...” I replied.

Xiaotao looked over my shoulder in the direction of the bun shop.

“Well, since we’re here anyway, why not go see him again? Let’s just ask him more questions and see what’s not making sense.”

“Sure!”

We went over and knocked on the closed shop door. No one answered. Xiaotao called the police officers who were on stakeout nearby and asked them if Shopkeeper Tang had gone out. They told her that he’d always been inside.

But no matter how many times we knocked, no one answered the door. Xiaotao pulled two of her hairpins and gave them to me.

“Come on, Detective Song. It’s time to show off your special talent!”

“Wait,” I stopped her. “This is private property. Is it really a good idea?”

“Don’t worry,” insisted Xiaotao. She put her hand on her chest. “I’ll answer for it if we get into trouble.”

It didn’t take me more than ten seconds to unlock the door. But when we went into the shop, we found no one there. Xiaotao exploded in anger and dialed the same number. She reprimanded them for not being able to notice a grown man leaving the shop.

The voice in the phone replied, “We’ll search for him immediately!”

Then I saw two people coming out of the black car across the street.

I surveyed the shop carefully with my Cave Vision. There was a pile of flour on the chopping board with a fresh dough beside it. There was also a big bowl of minced meat nearby. The lights were all on.

It clearly seemed like Shopkeeper Tang was in the process of preparing buns. How did he disappear? There were no other entrances in the shop. He’d have to teleport if he wanted to get out of the shop without the policemen outside noticing.

“It looks like he’s not here. We shouldn’t wait for him here either. Let’s go back for now!”

“Wait!” I stopped her.

My eyes fell to the ground next to the chopping board. Some flour was sprinkled on the ground, and it showed two distinct lines. Xiaotao followed my gaze with curiosity.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

I looked up and saw a big freezer next to the kitchen counter. I immediately understood everything. “Someone has just dragged this freezer.”

“There’s a hidden door below it,” Xiaotao cried excitedly.

“Come on, let’s check it out.”

Xiaotao and I pushed the freezer aside, and there really was a large iron gate beneath it. We exchanged glances. I pulled open the iron gate, and found a ladder leading underground. Cold air rushed out of the darkness.

“It's a bomb shelter!” I exclaimed.

“But why is there a bomb shelter underneath a bun shop?”

I looked around and noticed that there were some faded slogans on the mottled limestone wall. They looked like they were made in the 1970s.

“There was probably a warehouse here,” I explained. “Relations between China and the Soviet Union were tense in the 1970s, and there was the very clear threat of atomic bombs, so the government responded with a policy that encouraged people to dig bomb shelters and store food in there in case of emergencies. Many bomb shelters were built, and most of them have been abandoned today.”

“Shall we go down and look around?”

“Absolutely!”

My senses tingled inexplicably. I had a feeling that the truth of the case was hiding below.

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