Old Records
The old warehouse in the north of the town was a courtyard enclosed by a low wall, with half-withered vines growing on top of the wall. The gate was a rusty, reddish iron door, ajar, its hinges dry and making a long, scraping sound when pushed open. In the courtyard, there were several bundles of old burlap sacks and a pile of scattered firewood. Against the wall, a row of out-of-season bean plants grew, their vines hanging dry and withered from bamboo poles.
Long Tian stood in the courtyard for a while, but didn't see anyone. He went around to the window on the side of the warehouse and peeked inside through the paper window. The room was dimly lit. There were several rows of wooden shelves against the wall, with bundled old files and stacks of yellowed paper books on them. An old man with gray hair was squatting under the shelves, holding a rag and wiping the dust off an old tin box.
Long Tian tapped lightly twice on the window frame. The old man straightened up, glanced at the window, draped a rag over the shelf, walked over, opened half the window, looked Long Tian Yu Jin up and down, and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
"Mr. Wang sent me. My father's name is Long Tieshan."
When the old man heard the name "Long Tieshan," he opened the window a little wider, looked the two men over from head to toe again, turned around, walked to the door, unlatched it, and stepped aside to let Long Tian Yu Jin enter the warehouse. The old man then bolted the door again, walked to the shelf, took down the old tin box, placed it on the table, opened the lid, and pulled out an old book with coarsely sewn edges. He then placed it on the table and pushed it towards him.
"The index copy is here. It contains all the Soul Master registration materials from the Spirit Hall Branch over a decade ago until its disbandment last year. Which pages do you want to see?"
Long Tian recited the names on the list Mr. Wang had given him. After listening, the old man pulled down a thicker catalog from the shelf, checked each item against the index page number, marked the corresponding positions on the paper with his fingertip, and then copied the page numbers onto a slip of paper with a pencil and handed it to Long Tian.
"These pages of the original archive were transferred to the Spirit City's warehouse when the branch hall was disbanded, but I didn't hand over this copy of the index; I kept it myself. If they want to check, they'll have to find my index first to know which volume and page the original archive is in." The old man closed the index book and put it back in the tin box. "I'll move this box tonight; I'll put it at a relative's house in the next village. You can copy whichever pages you want now; the paper and pens are on the second shelf."
Long Tian found several stacks of cut blank paper and a sharpened charcoal pencil on the second shelf. He copied down the pages in the index corresponding to the relevant academy records, one by one. He copied quickly and clearly, checking the number and date after each record. Yu Jin helped him arrange the copied papers in order and flattened them on the table. When he got to the last page, Long Tian saw a line of very small pencil writing at the bottom of the index page. The handwriting was messy, as if it had been scribbled down. "Original file, Section E, Shelf 7, Box 3." He copied down this line as well and marked it next to it as "Section E, Shelf 7, Box 3".
The old man locked the index book back into the tin box, closed the lid tightly, and sat down at the table. He watched as Long Tian folded the copied paper and tucked it into his clothes, then said something as casual as if it were just a casual remark, "Back when your father was in the Seventh Squad, he once came to the town's branch hall to retrieve an old file. I helped him look up the index page of that file. He didn't say why at the time, but I later heard that something happened in the Seventh Squad, and he never came back after that."
Long Tian straightened his clothes, stood by the table for a moment, and did not ask about the contents of the old file. He handed over the letter he had brought from Mr. Wang. The old man took it, glanced at it, folded it, and put it in his pocket. He stood up, reopened the warehouse door, and closed it after they left. He then squatted down in the yard and continued wiping the old tin box.
Long Tian and Yu Jin retraced their steps back to the town center. As they passed the academy alley, Long Tian turned in and handed the copied index page to Zhao Xiaopang, asking him to pass it on to Mr. Wang. He added, "The note on the index states that the original file is in the third box, shelf seven, section E of the Spirit City warehouse. Have Mr. Wang confirm whether there's any record of that original file being taken by the patrol team." Zhao Xiaopang carefully folded the note and tucked it into his sleeve, nodded, and ran off towards the academy. Long Tian exited the alley and walked with Yu Jin along the main street towards the town entrance. Stopping under the old locust tree at the street corner, he mentally reviewed the note he had just copied—shelf three, section seven, section E. This location description matched the location of the hidden compartment in the old archives room that Shen Mo had mentioned earlier.