Chapter 138: A Critical Moment

Grrr...

Ah Hai rubbed his stomach.

He was so hungry that panic was beginning to set in.

According to routine, his dinner would have been a bowl of egg-drop soup and a steamed bun provided for overtime workers at the newspaper office.

Today, he had been in a hurry to report the situation to his superiors.

He could only go hungry.

The journey from the International Settlement to the French Concession was not short.

After walking for nearly an hour, Ah Hai’s legs were weakening from hunger.

“Poor bastard!”

About twenty to thirty metres away from Ah Hai, Ding Naifei was tired from walking and cursed inwardly.

“Is everything arranged?” Ding Naifei asked a subordinate beside him.

He was the commander of this operation.

“Guo Qing is following him.”

The rickshaw puller spoke softly, his gaze directed at a rickshaw ahead.

At that moment, Ah Hai was sitting on the curb resting.

He felt the banknotes in his pocket, stood up from the ground, gritted his teeth, and prepared to hail a rickshaw.

However, several passing rickshaws already had passengers.

This made Ah Hai anxious.

Just then, he saw a rickshaw stop a dozen steps away after its passenger got out.

“Rickshaw!”

Ah Hai hurriedly waved and shouted.

“Sir, where are you headed?”

The rickshaw puller wiped away sweat with a towel and asked between breaths.

“Fengqing Lane on Route du Tallas.”

“Alright then, sit tight.”

The rickshaw puller gave an honest-looking smile.

Not far behind them, Ding Naifei saw Ah Hai climb into Guo Qing’s rickshaw.

A cruel smile appeared on his face.

Steady now!

He also waved his hand.

Another subordinate disguised as a rickshaw puller brought a rickshaw around the corner.

Ding Naifei climbed aboard and let out a comfortable sigh.

“Follow him!”

The remaining agents either walked or rode bicycles while following from a distance.

Cheng Qianfan rode an old bicycle swiftly through the night streets.

When he was still two streets away from Wang Jun’s residence, he arrived at a somewhat shabby-looking house.

Taking out a key, he unlocked the door and wheeled the bicycle inside.

This was a safe house he had prepared for himself.

He immediately locked the door, climbed over a low wall, and ran quickly through another alley toward Wang Jun’s residence.

Roughly ten minutes later, Cheng Qianfan emerged from an alley and was about to head toward Wang Jun’s residence when he saw a rickshaw stopped in front of the house.

About thirty to forty metres behind that rickshaw, another rickshaw had also come to a halt.

Suddenly, Cheng Qianfan’s pupils contracted.

He withdrew his body and exposed only half his head to observe.

By the dim yellow glow of the streetlights, he could vaguely make out more than ten people sneaking closer.

Something had happened!

A shock surged through Cheng Qianfan’s heart.

“Driver, how much?” Ah Hai asked casually while reaching into his pocket for money after getting out of the rickshaw.

“Sixty cents.”

Guo Qing wiped away sweat with a towel and smiled.

“Uh.”

Ah Hai froze.

He only had fifty cents in his pocket.

“Driver, I only have fifty cents...”

His original intention was to ask the rickshaw puller to wait while he borrowed money inside and made up the difference.

Instead, he heard the puller wave his hand.

“It’s fine. Fifty cents is fine.”

Ah Hai’s heart instantly turned cold.

This man was not a real rickshaw puller!

Rickshaw pullers lived bitter lives.

There was absolutely no way one would willingly forgo ten cents.

Fear flooded Ah Hai’s heart.

Outwardly, he struggled to remain calm.

He pulled several nickel coins from his pocket and pretended to hand them over, but his hand slipped and the coins fell to the ground.

“Sorry, sorry.”

Ah Hai hurriedly apologized.

“It’s fine.”

The rickshaw puller smiled honestly and bent down to pick up the money.

Ah Hai kicked the bent-over rickshaw puller to the ground, then yanked the rickshaw forward and rammed it into him.

“Aiyo!”

Caught completely off guard, the rickshaw puller was kicked flat onto his face.

Then the rickshaw struck him in the waist, making him cry out in pain.

Looking up, he saw Ah Hai turning to flee.

Bang!

Guo Qing pulled a pistol from his body and fired at the fleeing figure.

After only two steps, Ah Hai was struck in the calf by the bullet and pitched forward onto the ground.

Ignoring his own pain, guilt and worry filled his face, along with a trace of determination.

He knew he could not escape.

He had deliberately fled to provoke the enemy into firing, hoping that Comrade Wang Jun would hear the gunshot and react in time.

However, when he looked up and saw more than ten men carrying pistols rushing forward, despair overtook him.

There were too many enemies.

Comrade Wang Jun would probably find it difficult to escape.

His greatest regret now was that he had chosen convenience and allowed the rickshaw to stop directly in front of Wang Jun’s house.

That was equivalent to pointing out the target for them.

Inside the house.

Wang Jun and Kang Erniu were still discussing the organization’s efforts to aid child laborers when a gunshot sounded outside.

The expressions of both men changed.

They immediately pulled two Mauser pistols from beneath their pillows.

These had been exchanged from the organization in return for two German M24 grenades that they had previously “discovered” in another house.

“What’s happening?” Kang Erniu asked.

Creak.

The door was thrown open.

Dazhuang rushed in carrying a Mauser pistol.

“Something’s happened. The place is crawling with secret agents.”

While Ah Hai had been speaking with the rickshaw puller earlier, Dazhuang had been standing on a ladder watching from atop the wall.

He had witnessed the entire incident.

“What exactly happened?” Wang Jun asked grimly as he pulled a charcoal brazier from beneath the bed.

Seeing this, Kang Erniu also sprang into action.

In a flurry, he pulled out a stack of documents, lit them with a match, and tossed them into the brazier.

Destroying confidential documents was the first thing underground Party members had to do when surrounded by the enemy.

“It’s Ah Hai. He was followed by secret agents.”

Dazhuang spoke urgently.

“Ah Hai noticed something was wrong and fought with the agents at the gate. They shot him.”

“Did you arrange to meet Ah Hai today?” Kang Erniu immediately asked.

“No.”

Wang Jun rapidly burned documents and shook his head.

Today was not a scheduled meeting day between him and Ah Hai.

There was only one possible reason Ah Hai had come on his own.

An extremely urgent matter needed to be reported.

What he could not understand was how Ah Hai had been exposed.

“Minister Wang, Captain Kang, I’ll cover for you. You need to get out now.”

Determination flashed in Dazhuang’s eyes as he shouted.

“Open up! Open up!”

At that moment, a series of Thud! Thud! Thud! sounds came from the courtyard.

The secret agents were battering the gate.

“We can’t get away.”

Wang Jun shook his head.

He looked at Kang Erniu and Dazhuang.

“Old Kang, if things become critical later, shoot me.”

He was one of the leaders of the Shanghai Municipal Committee.

Too many secrets were stored in his mind.

He knew he absolutely could not be captured alive.

“Old Wang!”

Kang Erniu roared, his eyes reddening.

“That’s an order!” Wang Jun growled.

“Minister Wang, Captain Kang, we can’t stay inside the house.”

Dazhuang shouted anxiously.

“The ladder, there’s a ladder in the courtyard. We can climb out.”

Remaining inside the house was the same as becoming turtles trapped in a jar.

If they climbed over the courtyard wall, then in the darkness of night, aided by the cover of darkness, perhaps at least one of them could escape.