Chapter 235: The Magician Under Moonlight
“Old Wu, don’t be foolish. Your life is your own. Put down the poison. You must know the general trend is gone; it’s not something a little Head of Intelligence Section like you can turn around.”
“Put down the poison in your hand. I’ll put in a good word with Director Li, and we brothers can still enjoy the good life together, sharing wealth and honor.”
Wu Ming looked at this “brother” he had once fought side by side with, his eyes erupting with endless rage and contempt.
He slowly raised his left hand, the small capsule gleaming with a deadly sheen under the light.
“Pah, you traitor dog. You dare talk to me about brotherhood.”
“If I die today, it is to serve the country loyally, while you, traitor dog, will sooner or later be cut to pieces by a thousand knives.”
“Xiong Jiandong, I’ll wait for you in hell…”
As the words fell, Wu Ming threw the capsule in his hand into his mouth..
Xiong Jiandong’s eyes sharpened, and he shouted sternly: “Stop him! Take him alive!”
“He has an important piece of intelligence in his possession.”
Two secret agents rushed forward with lightning speed to stop Wu Ming from swallowing the capsule, but the potassium cyanide took effect too quickly.
Wu Ming did not swallow it whole but bit the capsule directly, a slightly bitter taste spreading in his mouth, quickly entering his esophagus along with the saliva.
In just a moment, a heart-piercing pain surged through, and Wu Ming soon lost consciousness.
“Damn it, truly stubborn and unyielding.” Xiong Jiandong looked at the white foam already flowing from Wu Ming’s mouth and couldn’t help but stomp his foot hard.
Potassium cyanide takes effect very quickly; once swallowed, there’s basically no antidote. If the capsule is swallowed whole, gastric lavage might still work.
But if the capsule is bitten open and the cyanide inside is swallowed directly, even immortals couldn’t save him.
It was just a pity about that top secret telegram from Chongqing; only Wu Ming could decrypt the encoded telegram message.
Now that he was dead, the secret of that telegram would go with him into the underworld.
“Search him carefully to see if there’s anything useful, and bring it all back.”
“Yes, Captain Xiong.” The group of Jinling Special Agent Headquarters underlings saluted knowingly.
Shanghai, Suzhou North Road warehouse.
Nighttime, seven o’clock.
Several heavy trucks entered the warehouse, loaded the materials into cars, and soon drove away from the warehouse.
Seeing the cars disappear into the darkness, Madam Lu seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
“Mr. Wang, many thanks for this time.”
“If not for your method, our Old Lu might not have made it out of the Special Agent Headquarters prison alive.”
Liu Geqing, using the alias Wang Ji’en, waved his hand: “Madam Lu, this is nothing. The most important thing is that Mr. Lu is safe.”
Madam Lu barely managed a smile: “Mr. Wang, you’ve worked hard too.”
“Qing’er has arranged dinner for you at the restaurant across the street. Go eat something, and later bring Qing’er back.”
“I’m a bit tired, so I won’t go disturb you two talking.”
A look of joy appeared on Wang Ji’en’s face; this meant she agreed to their matter.
“Auntie, rest assured. I’ll safely send Qing’er back.”
Madam Lu nodded slightly, walked to a black sedan already parked to the side, and Wang Ji’en quickly stepped forward to open the rear door.
Madam Lu got into the car but didn’t forget to remind: “It’s not safe outside. Send her back early.”
“I understand, Madam Lu. Take care.” Wang Ji’en said respectfully.
The black sedan drove out of sight, and Wang Ji’en excitedly rubbed his hands, hurrying toward the restaurant not far across the street.
Food as Heaven Restaurant..
Wang Ji’en soon saw the huge sign of that restaurant.
Entering the restaurant, Wang Ji’en asked the shop assistant inside, who pointed upstairs and told him his friend was in the second floor private room.
Wang Ji’en took two steps at a time and rushed upstairs.
Finding the private room, Wang Ji’en pushed the door open and saw a girl in a qipao sitting in the main seat.
“Qing!” He only managed to spit out that one word, but his gaze changed instantly.
In the center of the room by the window, Lu Qing sat alone, like a lifeless porcelain doll, her face pale as a freshly painted wall.
Even stranger, her eyes stared vacantly and unfocused toward the door, her lips trembling violently, yet as if sealed by invisible tape, she couldn’t make a sound.
Something’s wrong! This expression is off!
Just as he instinctively wanted to retreat, a black shadow flashed from behind the screen in the private room, swift as a ghost!
The heavy rosewood eight-immortal table inlaid with marble was suddenly flipped up by a tremendous force!
The cups, plates, bowls, and leftovers on the table shattered with ear-piercing cracks, turning into deadly projectiles smashing toward him!
Almost at the same instant, from behind the screen, the folds of the thick crimson velvet curtains, and the doors of the antique standing cabinet in the corner burst open. Several black figures lunged out like venomous snakes that had been coiled all night!
A cold hard object smashed heavily onto his forehead with terrifying force!
At the same time, shadows suddenly appearing on both sides of the private room swung weapons, viciously stabbing into the soft kidney area of his waist!
A sharp pain from ironware smashing his occiput!
He was pinned dead against the cold door panel by an overwhelming force, the chill of a knife edge pressing against his carotid artery!
He could even smell the disgusting mix of faint machine oil and sweat from the rough gloves of the person pressing him from behind.
Just as consciousness was about to be swallowed by darkness and agony, a hand in clean white gloves, knuckles distinct, shot out like lightning from the side and clamped tightly over his wide-open mouth!
That face, always calm and composed in his memory, was now twisted in the dim light like a demon!
“Geqing, long time no see.”
Wan Tianmu said softly: “To find you, I spent quite some effort, but it wasn’t in vain.”
Liu Geqing instantly reacted: “Wan Tianmu, it was all a trap set by you?”
“Despicable… using a woman to set up the trap.”
“Wan Tianmu, as brothers, this matter has nothing to do with Lu Qing. If you want to catch someone, catch me.”
“Foolish,” Wan Tianmu walked in front of Liu Geqing: “You say it has nothing to do, and it doesn’t?”
“Of course, I’m still willing to give you a chance. As long as you’re willing to cooperate, Miss Lu won’t lose a single hair.”
“Now, we’ll have to trouble Miss Lu to come with us first. Take them away.”
At Wan Tianmu’s command, several secret agents immediately stepped forward, tying up Liu Geqing securely, and also took along Lu Qing, who was trembling like a frightened quail beside him, out of the restaurant.
Shanghai, No. 76 Jisfier Road.
With the addition of Li Qun and Ding Cun, the manpower at Jinling Special Agent Headquarters had broken through again. Now the Special Agent Headquarters not only had the two important sections: Action and Intelligence.
It also added a cipher group, special training office, special interrogation section, and guidance section staffed by Ume Agency personnel, among other sections.
The current Daxi Road Special Agent Headquarters could no longer accommodate so many departments’ activities.
Thus, with the permission of Deputy Head of Agency Haruki Keiin, Deputy Director Li Qun of the Special Agent Headquarters selected the address at No. 76 Jisfier Road.
The former mansion of Anhui Province Chairman Chen Diaoyuan was used as the secret agents’ activity site.
This was the infamous No. 76 devil’s den in later generations..
After No. 76 was established, due to too many departments and insufficient manpower, Li Qun once tried to build relations with Green Gang boss Boss Du, but it failed.
Boss Du replied with: “I dare to kill and arson anything, but I dare not be a traitor.”
Directly rejecting Li Qun’s proposal.
Helpless, Li Qun had to ask his master Ji Yunqing for help.
As one of the Bagudang elders, Ji Yunqing had very high seniority in the Green Gang. Plus, with his adopted daughter She Aizhen and Li Qun’s persuasion, he finally agreed to Li Qun’s request.
Therefore, most of Ji Yunqing’s disciples also joined No. 76, including She Aizhen’s paramour, the big hooligan Wu Sibao.
Just like that, with one Western-style house, some funds, a few guns, Shanghai’s most terrifying secret agent organization opened for business.
No. 76’s original name was “Jinling Central Executive Committee Special Agent Headquarters Shanghai Special Cases Management Execution Office.”
Its main mission was to capture resistance forces hostile to the New Government and the Japanese.
Including Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, Military Statistics Bureau, Communist Party, and some spontaneous civilian anti-Japanese organizations.
To distinguish it from the Daxi Road headquarters, it was simply called No. 76 after the address.
No. 76 had 38 inhumane tortures inside, such as hanging beatings, tiger bench, pepper spray, electric shocks, steel needle pricking fingers, etc.
It had heavenly prison, that is, hanging and binding in mid-air for sun exposure, dungeon, and water dungeon.
At the same time, to create a reign of terror in society, No. 76 hung bloody heads under street lamps, threw severed hands and feet into homes, stuck daggers in doors, sent ammunition, threatening letters, etc.
Even tracking and kidnapping hostages…
If you can think of it, they can do it.
Deep in the cold prison, even the hypocritical lights of the French Concession could not penetrate here.
The air was thick with the smell of blood. The heavy iron doors opened and closed with dull thuds, dragging out long, eerie echoes.
Bottom level, dungeon. In a brightly lit, blinding special interrogation room, strong lights shone straight at the center of the room.
Liu Geqing was tied to a wooden torture chair, arm-thick iron chains locking his wrists and ankles. His clothes were in tatters, covered in wounds, with congealed blood scabs over fresh whip marks.
His cheekbones were swollen high, one eye almost unable to open. But in the one eye he could open, a calm flame burned.
Two people sat behind the interrogation table.
On one side was Lieutenant Ishikuro Akihito from the Ume Agency stationed at No. 76, his gaze sinister as a hawk.
On the other side sat Wan Tianmu.
Unlike his high-spirited self a few days ago, Wan Tianmu now had a trace of fatigue on his face, a half-smoked cigarette between his fingers, smoke swirling and blurring half his face.
A record sheet lay open before him, but he hadn’t written a single word.
Lieutenant Ishikuro lifted his chin slightly, and a Japanese military doctor stepped forward, roughly pried open Liu Geqing’s mouth, poured in water mixed with powdered medicine, then pinched his nose to force him to swallow.
It was a potent painkiller, dosed enough to suppress agony without causing unconsciousness, just to enable “clear-headed” conversation.
The drug took effect quickly; Liu Geqing’s body convulsed painfully a few times, followed by a deeper numbness.
“Mr. Liu,” Ishikuro spoke in stiff Chinese, tapping the desktop with his fingers, “One more chance. Tell us the location and list of the undercover group in Suzhou, Wuxi, and Changzhou areas! You should know, cooperation means you suffer much less unnecessary pain.”
Liu Geqing gasped heavily, the drug making his voice tremble slightly: “The list… is in my heart. If you have the skills, dig it out and see.”
“Stubborn!” Ishikuro Akihito snorted coldly, looking at Wan Tianmu, “Director Wan, your colleague seems unappreciative of your kindness.”
Wan Tianmu shook off some ash, finally looking straight at Liu Geqing, his face expressionless: “Old Liu, why bother?”
“As the saying goes, those who understand the times are heroes. Whatever Boss Dai can give you, Your Excellency Kagesa can double. No matter how hard the bones, once crushed, it’s just rubble.”
“Pah.” What greeted Wan Tianmu was a mouthful of bloody spit.
The interrogation room fell into suffocating silence. The strong lights baked the air with heat, mixed with the bitter smell of the medicine.
Liu Geqing leaned back in the cold chairback, closing his eyes to ease himself.
When he opened them again, that one seeing eye pierced through the blinding halo, nailing straight onto Wan Tianmu’s face. The gaze was extremely complex: anger, contempt, confusion, even a trace of… regret.
“Wan Tianmu…” His voice was hoarse from throat damage, yet it carried a strange power, echoing in the empty, cold interrogation room, “Do you remember… Nanyuan?”
Liu Geqing seemed to completely ignore Ishikuro beside him, staring dead at Wan Tianmu, his voice low and deep with drug-induced blurry gasps, each word like bleeding: “That time scouting Japanese army deployments, caught by the patrol… I took a bullet in the thigh… it was you! Who carried me out of the pile of corpses… under gunfire… ran three li of muddy ground…”
Wan Tianmu took a deep drag of the cigarette, gray-white smoke enveloping him completely. Memories bit at the cold defenses he had deliberately built like venomous snakes. He remained silent, not denying it.
“And… Tianjin…” Liu Geqing gasped, gathering his remaining strength, “That squad of Japanese devils rushed into the church… over a dozen female students… we charged in to save them… fired our last bullet… you took that bayonet for me… seventeen stitches in your back…”
He raised his shackled hand with difficulty, pointing shakily at Wan Tianmu’s chest, “You said… this scar… is a man’s medal… worthy of our ancestors’ faces!”
Liu Geqing stared at that blurred face behind the swirling smoke, suddenly raising his last bit of strength, his voice hoarse but each word like a knife:
“Wan Tianmu! Look at yourself, then look at me!” His voice trembled uncontrollably with anger, “Today, I, Liu Geqing, lie here—bones broken, but my spine is straight! My blood dirties the ground, but it dyes the soil of us Chinese people! But you?!”
Wan Tianmu’s fingers holding the cigarette trembled violently, the unburnt butt nearly falling. As the smoke cleared for a moment, it revealed his face, now a deathly pale gray.
He avoided Liu Geqing’s fiery gaze, turning to the cold flickering light and shadow on the wall, his Adam’s apple rolling up and down with difficulty. He wanted to say something but ultimately dissolved into deeper silence.
Thud thud thud thud, urgent footsteps sounded, and No. 76 Action Department Captain Wu Sibao suddenly burst in.
“Director Wan, a commissioner has arrived from Jinling and wants to join the interrogation.”
Wan Tianmu was stunned: “Who is it?”
Wu Sibao leaned in and whispered: “Surname Bing, from Guangdong, seems like a Guangdong officer coming from Jinling.”
“He has recommendation letters and documents from Jinling; Director Li has already seen them.”
Wan Tianmu said discontentedly: “Liu Geqing is a Shanghai agent; what right does Jinling have to interfere in the interrogation?”
Wu Sibao said lowly: “He seems to be here about Mr. Wang’s matter, probably the officers there are worried about security issues in Shanghai.”
“He wants to know if the Military Statistics Bureau has arranged any actions against Mr. Wang.”
“He wants to talk to Liu Geqing.”
“Talk then. Talk.” A trace of anger appeared on Wan Tianmu’s face: “Let them talk slowly; see if they can talk out flowers.”
As the words fell, Wan Tianmu stood up angrily and stormed out of the interrogation room.
Wu Sibao frowned, sighed, and ordered the No. 76 agents to release the battered Liu Geqing and take him to a clean cell.
No. 76 cell.
Bing Yaozong, the special commissioner who welcomed Mr. Wang into Shanghai from Jinling, wore sunglasses with his hat brim pulled low, following behind one of Wu Sibao’s “point men,” walking through the deep, cold corridors of No. 76 headquarters.
At this time, Liu Geqing was thrown onto the cold stone bed; the military doctor had just treated his wounds. His tattered prison clothes were stripped off and thrown on the ground, revealing a body full of horrific whip wounds, burns, and bruises.
A guard grumbled and slammed a bowl of thin porridge mixed with blood and debris on the ground before leaving.
Bing Yaozong forced himself to look away to avoid showing any unusual expression.
“Mr. Liu, my surname is Bing,” Bing Yaozong took a deep breath and said slowly: “I’ve come today to give Mr. Liu a way out.”
“As long as you’re willing to cooperate with me, I can fulfill any demand you have.”
Liu Geqing barely opened his swollen eyes and glanced at this so-called Jinling commissioner.
Suddenly, his gaze sharpened. This man calling himself Commissioner Bing had his arms crossed, back to the cell door.
But his left fingers were tapping continuously on his right arm.
That pattern was Morse code?
Liu Geqing strained to open his eyes wider, trying to discern the message from Bing Yaozong’s fingers.
“Hold, firm. Rescue, you, out.”
He was saying he would find a way to rescue him out.
Liu Geqing wasn’t sure if this Bing Yaozong was one of their own or bait to fish for him to speak.
Silent for a moment, he closed his eyes.
Not a word.
Seeing Liu Geqing’s expression, Bing Yaozong confirmed he had received the message, and said slowly: “Looks like Mr. Liu is too tired. Very well, think it over here. I’ll come talk to you later.”
As the words fell, Bing Yaozong knocked on the iron bars, and Wu Sibao’s assigned confidant opened the cell door to let him out.
Late night, Shanghai, a Western restaurant on Jing’an Temple Road about to close..
The neon sign was already off; only a dim yellow wall lamp glowed in the shop’s corner.
The gramophone played a husky “Night Fragrance,” adding secrecy and decadence.
The boss was a silent White Russian old man, slowly wiping wine cups behind the bar, ignoring the last table of guests.
Bing Yaozong wore an unremarkable dark suit, hat brim low, sitting in the innermost booth.
The coffee before him had long gone cold; his fingertips unconsciously tapped the desktop, the rhythm betraying his inner anxiety.
Liu Geqing was captured; the Shanghai Military Statistics Bureau Station was uprooted by Wan Tianmu.
Boss Dai ordered him to execute the assassination of Wang plan. Now, without the Shanghai Military Statistics Bureau’s assistance, success was nearly impossible.
For this plan, Wu Gengshu had spent massive manpower and resources.
He had Bing Yaozong, originally named Dai Xingbing, an Military Statistics Bureau agent, infiltrate the Jinling Government as a fellow Guangdong native.
Spending over ten US dollars to bribe Guangdong generals, he finally got a position close to Mr. Wang as an escort guard.
This was his best opportunity, but without Military Statistics Bureau assistance, his plan to approach Mr. Wang by creating chaos had no chance of success.
Only one person could do it—how could he create chaos and approach the target at the same time? He couldn’t split himself.
After reporting the Shanghai situation to Wu Gengshu, instructions came quickly.
Use the emergency contact signal to awaken a long undercover agent in Shanghai, codename Magician.
This Magician was not on Boss Dai’s line; his seniority was very old. It was said that when the Li Xing Society was just established, he was already on the list.
He was the agent most valued by Director Kang, and one of the main fundraisers for Li Xing Society and Sanqing Tuan.
In current Shanghai, Military Statistics Bureau forces were almost completely swept away; only he could still provide some help to Bing Yaozong.
Three long, two short light knocks came from the restaurant back door, very rhythmic.
The White Russian boss paused, glanced at Dai Xingbing, and upon seeing the latter nod slightly, went to open the door.
A figure flashed in.
The newcomer was not young, with slightly graying temples, dressed ordinarily, short stature, somewhat portly, his face carrying a peculiar calm, as if nothing in the world could move him.
He was one of the most senior and mysterious undercover agents of the Military Statistics Bureau in Shanghai, the “Magician.”
The “Magician” walked straight to sit opposite Dai Xingbing, no small talk, directly opening in a low and steady voice: “I know the situation.”
“Wan Tianmu acted fast; Suzhou North Road warehouse was a trap. No. 76 headquarters basement, heavily guarded, security tighter than ever.”
Dai Xingbing nodded: “I’ve already seen him. Orders from above: rescue Liu Geqing at all costs, or…”
He paused, voice colder: “Ensure he can’t talk.”
The “Magician” nodded slightly, understanding “can’t talk” meant, if necessary, execute the “cleanup” to prevent brothers from betraying after torture.
After a pause, Dai Xingbing said slowly: “Wan Tianmu wants to use Liu Geqing as bait to fish bigger ones. So he won’t execute Liu Geqing immediately but hold a public interrogation to show off his results. This gives us a brief time window.”
“How long?”
Dai Xingbing was direct: “At most forty-eight hours. After forty-eight hours, either Liu Geqing submits, or his ‘value’ is squeezed dry and he’s disposed of.”
“How to rescue?”
Dai Xingbing shook his head: “That’s the problem. We must find a suitable rescue plan within forty-eight hours.”
“If time’s up and we still can’t design a complete rescue plan, Boss Dai’s order.”
“Serve the country loyally.”
