The residential compound Liu Miao had pointed out looked unremarkable at first glance.
The apartment buildings were gray-blue, unlike the beige buildings in the photographs.
But once we entered the compound, we saw that the buildings inside were a different color. The row of buildings along the street had gray-blue exterior walls, while the ones farther in were gray-green.
Liu Miao also pointed out where Chengxin Garden was. It was a little farther ahead, beyond what we could see from where we stood.
After we passed the gray-green buildings, I saw several beige ones.
The first was Building 11, which Liu Miao had mentioned, followed by Buildings 12 and 13.
The suspicious Buildings 13 and 14 stood side by side. From the outside, there was nothing unusual about them.
A light was on in a third-floor window of Building 13. It was a dim yellow glow. Looking closely, I realized it was a flashlight shining against a yellow curtain.
All the other windows in both buildings were dark. Most of the curtains had been drawn open, letting the moonlight into the rooms.
With the power out, the buildings' iron security gates were useless. At the very least, the doorbells wouldn't work.
Liu Miao pulled a small pouch from his pocket. Inside were lock-picking tools, the kind ordinary people only saw in movies and TV shows.
I stared at him in disbelief.
Liu Miao fiddled with the lock for a while, then managed to pick it.
The sound of the lock opening seemed deafening in the night.
Still, we'd already made plenty of noise walking over.
I looked around. No one had poked their head out to see what was going on. I couldn't tell whether it was because it was past midnight and most people were asleep, or because something