Chapter 147: Qian Xinghuo

“Guo Qing’s rickshaw is gone. Presumably that Communist surnamed Wang used the rickshaw to carry the wounded Ah Hai away.”

“The Communist surnamed Wang’s two companions both have gunshot wounds. Ah Hai also has a gunshot wound.”

Wang Kangnian paced back and forth with a cigarette held between his index and middle fingers.

“Three gunshot wounds. They won’t dare go to a hospital.”

“Search. Pass the order down. All our informants are to mobilize. You’re from the underworld circles, so notify the gangs as well. Spread the word. Anyone with information on these three men gets five large yellow croakers.”

Wang Kangnian gritted his teeth.

“Especially the private clinics. Keep them under constant watch.”

Of the three men, the most important was that Minister Wang.

He was an enormous catch.

And if they caught this Minister Wang, they could follow the trail and find the mysterious Chenzhou.

“Yes, sir!”

“Quick! Seal off the front and rear courtyards. Catch the murderer!”

“You lot, go over there!”

“You lot, that way!”

At that moment, noisy voices came from outside, accompanied by the sound of hurried footsteps in the distance.

“Section Chief, the constables have arrived.”

Xiao Si pushed the door open and entered.

Wang Kangnian let out a cold snort.

The gunfight had ended nearly half an hour ago, and the constables had finally arrived.

Walking into the courtyard, he could still hear people outside shouting things like “Quick, seal off the compound, don’t let the killer escape.”

The voices, however, were moving farther away from the courtyard.

“A clever fellow indeed.”

Wang Kangnian snorted lightly.

At that moment, one of the agents climbed a ladder and looked outside the courtyard.

After climbing down, he jogged over and quietly reported to Wang Kangnian.

“Section Chief, there are three flatbed carts parked at the entrance.”

Wang Kangnian looked at Ding Naifei.

“I asked around earlier. The one leading tonight’s patrol should be Lu Dazhang,” Ding Naifei said.

Wang Kangnian nodded.

Lu Dazhang’s favorite saying was, “We Shanghainese like making friends.”

He knew how to handle people and rarely offended anyone unnecessarily.

Three minutes later, beneath the dim yellow streetlights, the Party Affairs Investigation Department agents pushed three flatbed carts.

Two carried corpses.

One carried the wounded agents.

Looking at his subordinates, Wang Kangnian felt nothing but misery.

The phrase “a defeated and broken army” surfaced in his mind, filling him with even greater hatred.

Communist Chenzhou.

He would remember today’s grudge.

More than thirty meters away, the constables charged into the now-empty courtyard, acting as though the Nationalist agents not far away did not even exist.

Wang Kangnian halted his steps and clasped his fists toward Lu Dazhang, who stood at the courtyard entrance.

Lu Dazhang returned the salute.

The two men turned away at the same time.

On one side came noisy shouts, as though the constables feared outsiders might not realize they had arrived and were handling a case.

On the other side, a dispirited group trudged silently through the night.

Wang Jun took out the note Cheng Qianfan had handed him and read it.

He had previously guessed it contained intelligence.

It did not.

Written on it was an address: No. 45 Route Tardy.

There was also a sentence:

“The owner’s entire family left Shanghai several days ago. The house is empty. There is a basement that can temporarily serve as a place of shelter.”

“Old Kang, are you familiar with this place?”

Wang Jun handed the note to Kang Erniu.

“I know it. It’s not far from here.”

Kang Erniu nodded.

Wang Jun breathed a sigh of relief.

If it had been farther away, things would have been troublesome.

The three wounded men were not suited for moving through streets and alleys.

They could easily run into constables on night patrol.

More than twenty minutes later, the four men arrived at No. 45 Route Tardy.

It was a two-story house with no lights visible.

Kang Erniu pulled a piece of wire from his pocket and picked the lock in just a few movements.

With Wang Jun carrying Ah Hai on his back, the group entered the house.

They did not dare turn on any lights, nor did they go upstairs.

Instead, they immediately found the basement entrance and went down.

“Old Kang, I’ll leave things here to you. I’m going out for a while.”

Wang Jun said,

“The rickshaw needs to be dealt with.”

At that moment, Cheng Qianfan was cycling through streets and alleys and had already arrived near a garden apartment on Avenue Massenet.

He had come to see Peng Yu’ou.

Peng Yu’ou was a professor in the Department of Chinese Literature at Fudan Public School.

After the late-night message delivery last time, Cheng Qianfan had made a few inquiries and learned the identity of the owner of this residence.

Although Cheng Qianfan did not know what position Peng Yu’ou held within the Shanghai Communists, Wang Jun had previously come here in the middle of the night to report his work.

From that, it was obvious that Peng Yu’ou was Wang Jun’s superior.

Wang Jun himself was already one of the leaders of the Shanghai Municipal Committee.

Peng Yu’ou’s status could only be even more important.

Cheng Qianfan did not immediately step forward and ring the bell.

He circled the house once.

Only after confirming that everything was safe and there were no abnormalities did he gently knock on the door.

He did not ring the bell.

A doorbell ringing in the middle of the night carried far, and the neighbors would hear it.

Instead, he knocked lightly.

The sound was not loud and ordinarily would not wake someone sleeping inside.

Yet Cheng Qianfan was not worried that the occupants would fail to hear it.

Underground Party members had to sleep with their eyes open and ears pricked up.

As expected, the gentle knocking quickly received a response.

“Who’s there?”

It was the voice of a middle-aged woman.

“I am Qian Xinghuo. I have urgent business with Professor Peng.”

“It’s late. Please come back during the day, sir.”

“Please pass along the message. Once Professor Peng hears my name, he will certainly know who I am.”

Cheng Qianfan deliberately spoke in a hoarse voice.

“Please wait a moment, Mr. Qian.”

Holding a pistol, Aunt Shao wore a grave expression as she turned to notify Peng Yu’ou.

For those engaged in underground work, nothing was more dreaded than a sudden knock on the door in the middle of the night.

If a comrade came visiting at such an hour, it invariably meant that an extremely urgent event had occurred.

And usually, it was bad news.

This situation was even more unsettling because the visitor was a stranger.

Aunt Shao found the voice completely unfamiliar.

“Professor Peng.”

Aunt Shao spotted Peng Yu’ou descending the stairs.

In his hand was a Webley-Scott revolver.

This model was the standard sidearm of the red-turbaned Indian constables in the International Settlement.

These constables frequently sold their service pistols privately and then applied for replacement weapons under various pretexts.

“Aunt Shao, who is it?” Peng Yu’ou asked with a serious expression.

“The voice is unfamiliar,” Aunt Shao replied.

“He says his name is Qian Xinghuo and that he has urgent business with you.”

“Qian Xinghuo.”

Peng Yu’ou frowned.

The name was unfamiliar.

It was not any comrade he knew.

And Aunt Shao had said the voice was unfamiliar as well.

That immediately put him on alert.

Anyone who knew his identity and came here to see him would be an important comrade from the Shanghai Municipal Committee.

Aunt Shao had met all of them before.

Wait.

Qian Xinghuo.

Xinghuo.

A single spark can start a prairie fire.

Qian Xinghuo.

The Comrade Xinghuo hidden within the enemy camp.

Shock appeared on Peng Yu’ou’s face.

At the same time, he was overjoyed and tremendously excited.

It was Comrade Xinghuo!

Realizing that the person outside was the Comrade Xinghuo he constantly thought about, worried about, and longed to hear from, Peng Yu’ou became deeply emotional.

At the same time, he was extremely nervous.

For Comrade Xinghuo, who was deeply embedded within the enemy’s ranks, to come personally in the middle of the night, something of utmost urgency must have happened.

Anticipation, excitement, and profound worry.

That was Peng Yu’ou’s state of mind at that moment.

Peng Yu’ou forced himself to calm down.

Taking a deep breath, he remained vigilant and walked toward the door with the revolver in hand.