Chapter 104: Interrogating the Japanese Agents

Cheng Qianfan stood in the drafty corridor smoking.

Looking into the distance, he could see the lights of the city.

He reached out a hand toward them.

As the wind blew past, it seemed to carry with it the bustling atmosphere of ordinary life.

Time to get to work.

Cheng Qianfan tossed the cigarette butt onto the ground and ground it hard beneath his gleaming leather boot.

He was now wearing a brand-new National Revolutionary Army uniform.

This had been Yu Ping’an’s sudden requirement before he left the office.

“This is your first time interrogating Japanese agents. Make it formal. A military uniform looks the most spirited,” Yu Ping’an had said.

Cheng Qianfan walked toward the interrogation room.

His boots struck the floor, producing a steady Tap, tap, tap.

The air inside the interrogation room was foul.

As the door opened, the fresh air from outside and the stench inside rushed to meet one another.

The first thing Cheng Qianfan noticed was a newly placed chair directly facing the interrogation platform.

It was a leather swivel chair.

In one corner lay a dead pig.

“Team Leader Cheng, you’ve worked hard.” Lu Da smiled and invited Cheng Qianfan to take a seat.

“Thank you.”

Cheng Qianfan nodded and walked directly to the swivel chair.

After sitting down, he adopted an unrestrained posture, leaning sideways in the chair with his body turned toward the interrogation platform.

“Team Leader Cheng, which one shall we interrogate first?” Lu Da asked.

“Leave Endo Hiroshi until the end. Bring up his subordinates first,” Cheng Qianfan said.

As Lu Da was about to ask for clarification, Cheng Qianfan added, “If I remember correctly, we captured eight people. Aside from Gu Changyou and Endo Hiroshi, there are six others. Bring all six up.”

“Understood.”

Lu Da waved a hand at his younger brother, Lu Yuan.

Cheng Qianfan pulled an unopened pack of cigarettes from his pocket and was about to open it when Lu Da handed him one.

He glanced at Lu Da.

Without caring in the slightest about the dried blood stains on the man’s fingers, he accepted the cigarette and extended his hand.

“Captain Lu, give me a light.”

Lu Da chuckled and passed over the cigarette hanging from his own mouth.

Cheng Qianfan lit his cigarette from it, returned it, and asked quietly, “Everything ready?”

“Don’t worry. We started preparing as soon as we received your instructions.” Lu Da patted his chest.

Cheng Qianfan whispered several words into Lu Da’s ear.

“Captain Lu, I’ll have to trouble you today.”

“What are you saying, Team Leader Cheng? This is our first time working together, but I feel we get along well. And this plan of yours, damn, it’s brilliant!”

Very soon, the six “employees” from Hengrun Teahouse were brought up.

All six had black cloth blindfolds over their eyes and cloth gags stuffed into their mouths.

“Gentlemen, I had a very pleasant conversation with Mr. Endo just now. I hope we can communicate just as pleasantly,” Cheng Qianfan said.

The moment they heard those words, all six reacted immediately.

They struggled desperately and were promptly rewarded with heavy punches to the stomach by the Special Service Office agents escorting them.

“Now that our guests have arrived, let’s begin serving the dishes,” Cheng Qianfan said.

Several interrogation-room agents proceeded to bind four of the Japanese agents to wooden cross frames.

“Chief Lu, there are only four frames. We don’t have enough.”

“Since Team Leader Cheng said we’re serving dishes, let’s first give one guest a grand feast.”

Lu Da grinned sinisterly.

“Him. Put him on the tiger bench.”

Lu Da pointed at one of the remaining two men.

Immediately, two interrogators dragged the man away and strapped him onto the tiger bench.

The remaining Japanese agent was held upright by Special Service Office agents, with nowhere to put him.

Cheng Qianfan gave a signal.

Lu Da yanked the gag from the man’s mouth.

Without another word, he immediately added two bricks beneath the victim’s feet.

“Ahhhh!”

Accompanied by the man’s scream, the four Japanese agents bound to the frames, as well as the remaining agent being held nearby, all became visibly furious and struggled restlessly.

“Remove the gags from the other five as well,” Cheng Qianfan said with a wave of his hand.

Lu Da went around removing the cloth gags one by one.

“Bastards!”

“What have you done to Kobayashi?”

“Kobayashi, are you alright?”

“Mr. Kobayashi!”

“Bastards! Damn Chinese!”

Cheng Qianfan quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

By deliberately mentioning Endo Hiroshi’s name first, he had intended to create the impression that the Special Service Office had already identified them as Japanese agents.

As a result, these men instinctively called out their companions’ Japanese names.

Even if torture would eventually force them to admit their identities, why not save some time?

With a wave of Cheng Qianfan’s hand, Lu Da immediately stuffed the gag back into the mouth of the Japanese agent who still had nowhere to stand.

At the same time, he struck the man’s neck with his palm and knocked him unconscious.

“Why isn’t this man tied up?” Cheng Qianfan asked impatiently, pointing at the unconscious agent.

“Team Leader Cheng, the interrogation room is only so large. There are no spare frames or torture benches,” Lu Da replied.

“What kind of nonsense is that!”

Cheng Qianfan cursed.

At that moment, an agent cautiously approached.

“Team Leader Cheng, perhaps we should take him outside first?”

“Why make things so troublesome?”

Cheng Qianfan snorted coldly and drew his sidearm.

Bang!

He fired a shot into the dead pig lying on the floor.

The bullet pierced the flesh, producing a dull Thump.

At the same time, one of the agents cooperated by letting out a low scream that ended abruptly.

“Mr. Maeda!”

“Shoichi!”

“Bastard, what have you done to him?”

Putting away his pistol, Cheng Qianfan smiled.

“Gentlemen, you should be happy for him. At least he won’t have to suffer any physical pain.”

Then he waved a hand.

“Maeda Shoichi, is it? Write it down. Maeda Shoichi, burdened by the weight of his crimes, committed suicide by smashing his head into a wall. Drag him out.”

“Bastard! You killed Mr. Maeda and then insulted him!”

“Chinese pig! The armies of the Empire of Japan will never let you go!”

Cheng Qianfan strode forward two steps and punched one of the agents bound to a frame squarely in the face.

“We never invited you to China! Since you came uninvited, we’ll make sure to give you beasts a proper welcome!”

Several agents splashed a basin of blood over the unconscious Japanese agent and dragged him away.

A long trail of blood was left across the floor.

The pig that had been shot was also carefully carried away.

It belonged to the kitchen.

It had merely been borrowed temporarily, and tomorrow it was still meant to be eaten.

The interrogation-room door slammed shut once more.

“Good. Now we can continue.”

Cheng Qianfan signaled for the agents to remove the blindfolds from the Japanese prisoners.

Suddenly exposed to the light, the men squinted.

Only after roughly half a minute did their vision return to normal.

After the black cloth covering his eyes was removed, Eguchi Hideya squinted for quite some time before adapting to the light.

His first instinct was to look around.

He saw one companion tied to a chair, with bricks stacked beneath his elevated feet.

Three other companions, like himself, were bound to wooden frames.

Where was Maeda Shoichi?

He turned his head to search.

What he saw were Chinese agents pouring water across the floor to clean it.

A blood-red drag mark remained faintly visible.

They had killed Maeda?

They had really killed Maeda!

“We can begin now,” Cheng Qianfan said to Lu Da.

“Gentlemen, enjoy the show.”

Lu Da grinned viciously at the four Japanese agents tied to the frames.

The agent strapped to the tiger bench immediately had two more bricks added beneath his feet.

The man let out an inhuman scream and fainted.

A nearby interrogator immediately picked up a branding iron glowing red from a basin of charcoal and pressed it directly against the Japanese agent’s chest.

The man emitted a shrill scream, regained consciousness, and then immediately fainted again.

“Baka!”

“Bastards!”

“Stop!”

The four Japanese agents bound to the frames cursed hoarsely, their faces twisted with rage.

“Release Mr. Kobayashi! If you’ve got courage, come at me!”

The last of the four struggled frantically, appearing half-mad.

“Kill me! Kill us!”

“That’s right, kill us!”

“Kill us! The armies of the Empire of Japan will avenge us!”

The other two joined in.

“Gladly!”

Cheng Qianfan drew his pistol.

Bang!

A bullet struck the forehead of the first man who had spoken.

Brain matter and blood sprayed outward.

“Kill me...”

Eguchi Hideya had shouted a fraction of a second slower.

The words had not yet left his mouth when he witnessed the scene.

His eyes widened.

He stared in horror at the man whose skull had been blown half apart by the bullet, red blood mixed with white brain matter spilling everywhere.

His mouth hung open.

His mind went completely blank.

Cheng Qianfan sharply caught the reaction of this Japanese agent.

His icy gaze swept over.

At the same time, he raised his pistol.

“Very well, I’ll grant your wish.”