Chapter 95: Torture
“The Special Commissioner’s message,” Lin Xueli’s eyes suddenly tightened, and he quickly asked, “Comrade Cai Feng, why would you think that?”
Cai Feng looked around, took a deep breath, and said slowly, “I am very clear about Comrade Shānmāo’s area of activity.”
“From Avenue Joffre all the way towards Baima Road is where he usually appears.”
“Comrade Qing Hu, you are so familiar with the French Concession, you should know what is most common in the Baima Road area?”
Lin Xueli said without hesitation: “Cotton mills.”
“Are you suspecting that this Special Commissioner is hiding in one of the cotton mills on Baima Road, working as a female worker?”
Cai Feng said slowly, “I dare not be sure, but last time when we exchanged intelligence, I instructed Shānmāo to participate in the work of finding the Special Commissioner.”
“Now four days have passed, and Shānmāo suddenly said he had important intelligence for me. I infer that Shānmāo discovered the contact signal left by the Special Commissioner.”
“Shānmāo’s rank is the lowest. He can only understand our contact signals, he cannot understand the meaning.”
“Therefore, he sent a signal requesting a meeting, wanting to convey the intelligence to me.”
“It’s a pity that our meeting this time was unsuccessful. Now I don’t know what Shānmāo actually discovered, or where he discovered it.”
Lin Xueli fell silent upon hearing this. Cai Feng was an old courier, having fought on the hidden front for over five years. With his experience, he shouldn’t have made a wrong inference.
“Alright, Comrade Cai Feng, I will handle the aftermath of Shānmāo’s matter.”
Cai Feng nodded and said, “Everything is entrusted to you.”
“Who knows when we will meet again after this parting. Comrade Cai Feng, take care.” Lin Xueli extended his right hand and shook Cai Feng’s hand vigorously.
Cai Feng’s eyes were a little moist, “Comrade Qing Hu, when the revolution is victorious, we will surely see each other again. You take care too.”
As the words fell, Cai Feng seemed to remember something: “Comrade Qing Hu, Shānmāo has not been on the revolutionary front for long. I don’t know if he can withstand the enemy’s cruel torture.”
“Before, I told him that as long as he could hold out for twenty-four hours, any confession afterward would not be considered betrayal.”
“I have great confidence in him. I believe he can at least buy you twenty-four hours. Therefore, you must speed up and contact the Special Commissioner before the Japanese get a confession, and bring her out.”
Lin Xueli nodded forcefully: “I understand, let’s go.”
This time, Cai Feng said no more, turned, and jumped onto a small boat docked by the wharf.
The small boats at this wharf do not go as far as Hong Kong Island. He still needed to take a boat to the Xinkaihe Wharf in the French Concession, where there would be boats heading to Hong Kong Island.
Standing at the bow of the boat, waving goodbye to Lin Xueli, Cai Feng’s small boat slowly disappeared into the night.
Lin Xueli stood and watched for a long time. When the small boat disappeared from sight, he silently took out his cigarette case, lit a cigarette, and an inexplicable feeling of loss welled up in his heart.
However, he was not bothered by this emotion for too long. After finishing his cigarette, Lin Xueli left the wharf without looking back.
At the same time, in Shanghai, at the Gendarmerie Headquarters, the Special Higher Police Affairs interrogation room.
The underground room was cold and damp. The only light source was the pale chandelier on the ceiling, illuminating the iron chair in the center of the room and the suspicious dark stains on the walls.
The air was filled with the smell of blood, sweat, and disinfectant, making one nauseous.
Zhang Mingda was stripped to the waist. His thin physique was covered in bruises, bloodstains, and brand marks. It was unimaginable for an ordinary person what kind of inhuman torture he had endured in these past few hours.
Cold sweat mixed with blood trickled down his forehead. His hands were tied behind the back of the chair, and his ankles were secured to the chair legs with iron shackles…
Opposite him, Matsui Koji, the Special Higher Police Affairs Investigation Team Section Chief, sat behind a clean table, slowly wiping his glasses with a white handkerchief.
Asano Omiya, the team leader, stood beside Zhang Mingda, idly playing with a barbed leather whip, his eyes fixed on his prey like a poisonous snake…
Matsui Koji put on his glasses, his voice steady yet cruel: “Mr. Zhang, or should I say, ‘Shānmāo’?”
“It has been seven hours since you arrived.”
“Undeniably, your bones are harder than I imagined.”
“I admire your willpower, but here, willpower is a luxury, a foolish consumable.”
“A person’s willpower can last for a while, but not a lifetime.”
“Mr. Zhang, you will eventually say it. I’ll give you another chance. What is the content of the intelligence you are trying to convey? Who is your superior?”
“Pah,” Zhang Mingda spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, “You Japanese devils, your admiration is as cheap as the torture instruments here. Save your saliva. Bring on whatever tricks you have.”
“If I even frown, I’m your dog.”
“Cheap? Heh heh, it seems Mr. Zhang is not satisfied with our punishment.” Matsui Koji bared his teeth and said with a sinister smile, “Asano-kun, give Mr. Zhang some new tricks.”
“Hai!” Asano Omiya threw down the leather whip and walked towards a cloth-covered device against the wall.
With a rustle, Asano Omiya removed the cloth, revealing an old-fashioned telephone modified into an electric torture device, with thick wires connected to two alligator clips.
Matsui Koji said slowly, “Mr. Zhang, the Special Higher Police Affairs electric chair is specially made. Few people can endure it.”
“If you speak now, it’s still not too late, and you can avoid suffering.”
“Hmph.” Zhang Mingda let out a cold snort and resolutely closed his eyes.
“You refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit.” Matsui Koji waved his hand. Asano Omiya’s mouth curved into a cruel smile. Then, he skillfully connected the power, and the machine emitted a low hum.
“Crack, crack.” Asano Omiya separated the two alligator clips, attaching one to Zhang Mingda’s chest and the other to his inner thigh.
Immediately after, he attached two pads to Zhang Mingda’s temples, one on each side.
After completing everything, Asano Omiya decisively pressed the switch and rotated the current dial.
“Buzz.” A low sound rang out, and the current instantly surged through Zhang Mingda’s body.
“Gasp.” In an instant, Zhang Mingda’s body was like being hit by an invisible giant hammer. A muffled groan came from his throat, his waist shot upwards violently, and was pulled back down by the iron shackles.
His entire body convulsed and twitched uncontrollably, as if every nerve was pierced by a red-hot wire.
His eyes bulged due to the extreme pain, bloodshot, almost popping out of their sockets.
“Ah, ah…” A few seconds later, he could no longer suppress it, and a heart-wrenching scream erupted from his throat, a sound as if from the depths of hell.
The current lasted for more than ten seconds before Asano Omiya released the knob.
Zhang Mingda slumped in the chair like a fish whose bones had been removed. His body was still shaking uncontrollably. Sweat, saliva, and urine from incontinence soaked the chair.
Cough, cough, cough. Violent coughing sounds accompanied by heavy panting echoed in the interrogation room. It seemed every breath carried a painful sob, his eyes were unfocused, as if he had lost his sight.
“Mr. Zhang,” Matsui Koji walked up to Zhang Mingda and used the whip to lift his chin.
“Will you speak or not…”
