Jiang Yongguang's meaning was clear to me. He intended for Uncle Mei and me to act as the vanguard for the Xiaoling Guards.

My father and I were corpse fishermen, so it was reasonable for us to move our family for a living. Uncle Mei was a local, so with him, no one would suspect us moving into Hongyan Town.

When the time came, we could use our identities to directly infiltrate the river to find the ancient tomb entrance and help the Xiaoling Guards pinpoint the target. I had to say, this intelligence gathering work was tailor-made for us.

However, before Uncle Mei and I could express our stance, Hu Wazi objected.

He shook his head and said, "That won't do! Uncle and Brother-in-law have already risked their lives for your Xiaoling Guards twice. Once in the tomb, and again when capturing Shopkeeper Wang. How can you have the nerve to make them risk their lives again? What compensation will you offer if something happens to them?"

His words left Jiang Yongguang speechless. He froze on the spot.

Uncle Mei quickly slapped Hu Wazi on the back of the head and said, "Hu Wazi! Don't be so impulsive! As long as we can catch Shopkeeper Wang and find An'an as soon as possible, and avenge your aunt, a little risk is nothing! I'll go!"

After Uncle Mei expressed his stance, I quickly followed up, "I'll go too. It's just gathering information, what danger could there be?"

Jiang Yongguang finally smiled and said gratefully, "That's great, thank you both for your help."

Seeing that Uncle Mei and I had agreed, Hu Wazi excitedly chimed in, "Then I'll go too! More people, more hands. I'll be your bodyguard!"

But Uncle Mei stopped him, "You're not allowed to go. Stay home and keep watch. In case An'an comes back on her own, she won't find an empty house."

Hu Wazi had no choice but to compromise, "Alright, alright."

Then Jiang Yongguang said, "Third Brother, Xiao Chen, we discussed it in the meeting, and it would be a bit strange if only the two of you moved to Hongyan Town. After all, the two of you don't look like father and son, and you don't look like relatives."

I wasn't a local, but Uncle Mei had a local accent. It would be suspicious if the two of us formed a family.

Uncle Mei frowned and asked, "Then what should we do?"

Jiang Yongguang nudged Xiao Liang and said, "Simple, we've come up with a solution. Xiao Liang is also a local. Let her pretend to be your daughter, and Xiao Chen will still be your son-in-law. That way, a family of three would be seamless."

Xiao Liang seemed a little embarrassed. Her pretty face was flushed, and she took two steps forward with her head down, and said shyly, "Uncle Mei, Chen Rongsheng, this is a last resort, I hope you can… can cooperate."

Uncle Mei wasn't pretentious and agreed decisively, "I have no objections. I'm getting a beautiful daughter for free, I couldn't be happier."

But I felt a little sad, because this family of three should have included Little Mei.

If she hadn't disappeared, and Aunt Mei hadn't been killed, would we have already held our wedding and become a real couple?

Would we have already bought a new house in town and started our own family?

Thinking of this, I felt a tightness in my chest, as if I had been punched in the gut.

Seeing that I hadn't responded for a long time, Jiang Yongguang couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Xiao Chen, do you agree? Do you have any reservations about letting Xiao Liang pretend to be your wife?"

I thought about it for a moment and finally overcame my inner turmoil. After all, only by catching Shopkeeper Wang would I have a chance to find Little Mei.

"I agree, I have no reservations, don't worry," I said decisively.

"That's good." Jiang Yongguang nodded and said, "We have already contacted the local police and found a rental house for you. You can go over tonight and start your operation tomorrow."

"Okay."

We all nodded.

Jiang Yongguang added, "To avoid alerting the enemy, I won't contact you again until you've located the target. Xiao Liang will be responsible for contacting our Xiaoling Guards during this time. Third Brother and Xiao Chen, you two are only responsible for collecting intelligence, don't cause any trouble, understand?"

"Understood," we replied again.

After explaining the precautions, Jiang Yongguang called for a moving truck.

Uncle Mei and I packed up a few things, moved our livelihood—the corpse fishing boat—onto the truck, and took some pots and pans and changes of clothes. Then we hurriedly left home and headed for Hongyan Town, upstream of the Duck River.

The journey was neither short nor long, about twenty kilometers.

Because it was dark and the road was rough, it took the truck driver more than forty minutes to arrive.

Jiang Yongguang had arranged for us to stay in a small courtyard next to the Duck River. The condition of the house was rather poor. Part of the courtyard wall had collapsed, and the three rooms inside were dilapidated.

But since we were here to complete a mission, we couldn't be too picky about the living conditions. The driver helped us unload our luggage and drove away.

The landlord heard the noise and came to open the door for us, leaving us the key.

He explained that the house was his family's old house, built by his great-grandfather's generation three generations ago.

Later, when it came to his father's generation, the economic conditions improved, and they built a new house next to it, and the whole family moved there.

The old house had been vacant since then, and no one had lived there for more than ten years.

I felt a chill run down my spine. An old house that hadn't been lived in for more than ten years, could it still be habitable?

Xiao Liang quickly asked, "Does the house still have water and electricity? Does the roof leak? Will the house be damaged if there's wind and rain?"

The landlord quickly assured, "Don't worry, don't worry. Although no one has lived there for more than ten years, family relatives still come to stay during the holidays, so the water and electricity are connected, and the roof and windows don't leak."

We were relieved and carried our luggage into the house.

There were three rooms in the old house, two of which were bedrooms. To avoid suspicion, I first moved my clothes and luggage into Xiao Liang's room and placed them with her clothes.

Xiao Liang knew that this was all for show, so she didn't refuse. But when she was alone in the room with me, her pretty face was as red as a ripe apple. If you looked closely, you could even see the delicate blood vessels under the fair skin of her forehead.

It was getting late, and after moving her luggage, she began to quietly make the bed.

Although it was a double bed, she only brought single bedding. The bedding was light pink with a small bear pattern on it, obviously for a young girl.

I was a little tired after traveling all day, so I didn't stand on ceremony with Xiao Liang and also spread my bedding on the double bed, placing it next to hers.

When I finished making the bed and took out my pillow to go to bed, Xiao Liang carefully pulled the curtains, looked at me with a nervous expression, and asked in a trembling voice, "Chen Rongsheng, how… how do you want to sleep tonight?"