Chapter 153: Comrade Xinghuo’s True Identity

In a storage room of Hans’s clinic.

“Comrade Wang Jun, now that I’ve seen you all escape safely, I can finally put my mind at ease.” Peng Yu’ou shook hands with Wang Jun.

Ah Hai, Kang Erniu, and Dazhuang had all suffered gunshot wounds, which showed just how dangerous yesterday’s events had been.

“Last night really was extremely perilous.” Wang Jun still felt lingering fear as he smiled and said, “I almost went to see Marx.”

Peng Yu’ou nodded deeply in agreement, then his expression turned serious.

“Comrade Wang Jun, I am officially speaking with you on behalf of the organization,” Peng Yu’ou said. “This is a routine interview. Old Wang, don’t be nervous. Just answer truthfully.”

“I understand.” Wang Jun nodded. He felt no resistance and expressed his understanding.

Such a major incident had occurred, with agents actually lying in wait outside his home.

The organization would certainly have to conduct an investigation.

Wang Jun himself was puzzled and wanted to understand exactly what had happened.

“Please describe the entire sequence of events in detail.”

“At around 9:15 p.m. last night, Comrade Kang Erniu and I were discussing the rescue of child laborers when we suddenly heard a gunshot from outside...” Wang Jun recounted everything carefully.

Peng Yu’ou did not interrupt or ask questions midway through.

After Wang Jun had fully recalled and described the entire course of events from the previous night, Peng Yu’ou lit a cigarette, casually handed the cigarette case to Wang Jun, and sank into thought.

His expression was grim, but inside his heart, waves were surging.

Comrade Wang Jun and the others had actually been surrounded and hunted by more than ten armed agents!

Comrade Xinghuo had actually rescued all four of them single-handedly from the encirclement of more than ten agents!

The revelation shocked Peng Yu’ou beyond measure.

Previously, he had not known the specific details of the previous night’s gun battle and therefore had no direct impression of it.

Now that he understood the inside story, the shock in his heart was beyond words.

Previously, he had deduced that Comrade Xinghuo was the undercover comrade whom Zhulin had instructed him to protect before his sacrifice, namely Old Liao’s superior.

This comrade was hidden within the enemy and was an ace agent on the intelligence front.

Last night, from Comrade Xinghuo’s own words, he had inferred that this comrade had rescued Wang Jun and the others.

He had already been surprised that a comrade from the intelligence front possessed decent combat abilities.

However, successfully rescuing four people single-handedly from the encirclement of more than ten armed agents, while also escaping unharmed himself, was completely different from his previous understanding.

It overturned Peng Yu’ou’s perceptions.

An ace intelligence operative.

A combat expert with extraordinarily powerful operational capabilities.

These two completely different identities somehow coexisted within a single comrade.

Peng Yu’ou was confused.

He had never heard of such a comrade within the organization who excelled equally in both intellectual and martial pursuits.

It was not that there were no comrades within the Party who possessed both qualities.

Rather, there was an unwritten rule within the organization.

Comrades on the intelligence front rarely participated in operations.

Comrades on the operations front rarely touched intelligence work.

This was for organizational security and for the safety of the comrades themselves.

The more one did, the more likely mistakes would occur.

Each person fulfilled their own duties and cooperated through division of labor.

These were two parallel lines.

The overlap of intelligence and operational work was something underground work had always tried desperately to avoid.

Most importantly, he and Zhulin had been close friends and former partners.

At the same time, he was a senior leader within the Shanghai Communists.

At his level, there were basically no secrets from him within the entire Shanghai Communist organization or even the Provincial Committee.

If there truly existed such a miraculous ace operative working on both fronts, there was no reason for him not to know.

For example, after Comrade Zhulin’s sacrifice, the intelligence line transferred to him, namely Old Liao.

He did not know Old Liao’s superior’s codename or true identity.

However, he knew that such a comrade existed, and from that had inferred that this person was Comrade Xinghuo.

He had thought he already understood Comrade Xinghuo to some extent.

But now, to be precise, after last night’s events, Peng Yu’ou had become even more bewildered.

Comrade Zhulin!

Just how many secrets had you buried before your sacrifice?

However, after last night’s events, one conjecture had been further confirmed.

He could now state with certainty that Comrade Xinghuo was an ace operative hidden within the Party Affairs Investigation Department.

Only that could explain why Xinghuo had been able to provide timely assistance when the Party Affairs Investigation Department suddenly moved to arrest Wang Jun.

However, when Comrade Xinghuo had “met” him last night, he had not revealed why Ah Hai had been exposed and placed under enemy surveillance.

If Comrade Xinghuo had known the reason, he would certainly have informed him.

Of this, Peng Yu’ou had absolute faith.

There was only one explanation.

Comrade Xinghuo himself did not know the source of the enemy’s intelligence.

He had merely learned of the surveillance and arrest operation at the last moment and could only mount a hasty rescue.

Regarding this, Peng Yu’ou had two theories.

Comrade Xinghuo was indeed hidden within the Party Affairs Investigation Department, but belonged to a different unit from the agents involved in last night’s operation.

That would explain how he had noticed the enemy’s actions yet been unable to issue an advance warning.

Alternatively, he belonged to the same unit as those agents, but had a different assignment and had not been designated to participate in the operation.

The more Peng Yu’ou thought about it, the more confused he became.

Every theory seemed correct.

Yet none could fully provide a satisfactory explanation.

He now desperately wished to receive authorization and approval from higher-level organizations, granting him the authority to establish direct contact with Comrade Xinghuo and assume leadership over him.

Only then could the many mysteries in his heart be answered.

Higher-level organizations?

A thought suddenly flashed through Peng Yu’ou’s mind.

Could it be that Comrade Xinghuo’s organizational affiliation was neither with the Shanghai Communists nor the Provincial Committee, but directly with the Central Committee?

Once the thought emerged, the more he considered it, the more plausible it seemed.

Only that could explain why he knew absolutely nothing about such an exceptionally outstanding Party agent.

Yet the realization only made Peng Yu’ou more agitated.

The Shanghai Communist organization and the Provincial Committee had been out of contact with the Central Committee for more than half a year.

During that half-year, the Shanghai Communists had successively dispatched three comrades to the northwest in an attempt to reestablish contact with the center.

The journey, however, had been fraught with danger.

The news they had received was that one comrade had been killed by local militia forces along the way.

Another had fallen ill and died before completing the journey.

As for the third, there had been no news whatsoever.

Most likely, his fate was no better.

Seeing Peng Yu’ou lost in serious thought, Wang Jun did not dare disturb him.

“In that case, only when Comrade Ah Hai wakes up can we learn the true reason for his exposure?” Peng Yu’ou asked in a grave voice.

“Only then,” Wang Jun replied.

However, he frowned.

“Although it is also possible that Comrade Ah Hai himself does not know the reason.”

“Indeed.” Peng Yu’ou nodded.

If Ah Hai had known he was exposed, he would never have gone looking for Wang Jun.

However, as the person directly involved, Ah Hai certainly understood the situation better than anyone else.

At the very least, he could provide a list of suspicious individuals for the organization to investigate.

What worried Peng Yu’ou most right now was the possibility that a traitor had appeared within the organization.

That was the worst-case scenario.

“Secretary Peng,” Wang Jun said.

“What is it?”

“The comrade who rescued us last night, did he die?” Wang Jun asked uneasily.

This was a question he had wanted to ask all along but had not dared to.

He feared hearing the answer he most dreaded.

“Do you have any news about him?”

“I don’t know. Even if I learn the answer in the future, I cannot tell you,” Peng Yu’ou said without changing expression.

Wang Jun nodded.

Sadness filled his heart.

He became even more convinced that the brave comrade had probably sacrificed himself.

He understood what Peng Yu’ou meant.

That comrade must have been an extremely important operative on the action front.

Every such comrade was incomparably precious and carried the highest level of secrecy.

Even after their sacrifice, their names and codenames would remain classified for a long time.

Only on the day of revolutionary victory would they finally be revealed.