Chapter 200: Eliminate Yingzuo Eiichi

Cheng Qianfan was elated.

His sister had returned.

The Central authorities had sent someone to contact him.

That contact person was his sister.

Cheng Qianfan felt that this was the happiest and most joyful day he had experienced in recent years.

Wang Kangnian’s mood was terrible.

The arrest of Liu Bo had been obstructed by the police station, and the man had been taken away by the Political Department of the French Concession.

On behalf of the Party Affairs Investigation Department, Operations Section Chief Wu Shanyue had personally visited Lieutenant Marais of the Political Department, hoping to conduct a joint interrogation of Liu Bo.

The request was flatly rejected by the Political Department.

The plan to use Liu Bo to uncover senior Shanghai Communist leaders had failed.

Wu Shanyue was extremely dissatisfied with the matter and gave Wang Kangnian a severe dressing-down.

That day, Wang Kangnian was studying newspapers.

The Communists were accustomed to using newspapers to transmit messages, and Wang Kangnian placed great importance on searching newspapers for clues.

“Mr. Hu of Yuyao has recently arrived in Shanghai and is looking for his cousin Feng Weicai in Shanghai.”

Wang Kangnian stared at the newspaper clipping and pondered.

Previously, he had concluded that this Feng Weicai was very likely the escaped Communist “Minister Wang.”

This Mr. Hu was probably a newly arrived senior Communist official.

He had arranged for his subordinates to continuously monitor subsequent editions of the newspaper, yet no further information regarding Feng Weicai or Mr. Hu had appeared.

Wang Kangnian believed there were two possibilities.

One possibility was that this was simply an ordinary family contact advertisement and there was nothing suspicious about it.

The other possibility was that Feng Weicai and Mr. Hu had already successfully made contact.

Personally, he favored the latter.

What a pity.

At this moment, another missing-person advertisement caught his attention.

More precisely, it was an advertisement that had run continuously for several days:

Huo Miao searching for his elder acquaintance Zhu Lin.

Several newspaper clippings regarding this matter lay on Wang Kangnian’s desk.

Issue after issue, Huo Miao searching for his elder acquaintance Zhu Lin.

Then the final clipping contained a change:

Huo Miao stated that he would only wait in Shanghai for two more days.

The more he thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed.

Who was Huo Miao?

And who was this Zhu Lin he was looking for?

Why had he stopped searching? What did two days mean?

Experience and instinct told him that this was a coded signal being used by the Communists to contact an associate.

At that moment, Ding Naifei knocked and entered.

“Section Chief, that Japanese woman has made a move,” Ding Naifei said.

“Where did she go?” Wang Kangnian immediately asked.

The Japanese woman was Ms. Ruth of Avenue Massenet. Earlier, Wang Kangnian had “neutered” Ms. Ruth’s dog and, through careful observation of details, noticed that something seemed suspicious about the woman.

He had arranged for men to keep her under surveillance and ultimately confirmed that she was indeed suspicious.

However, she was not the Communist he had suspected, but rather a Japanese woman.

“That woman met with Yingzuo Eiichi again.” Ding Naifei gritted his teeth. “Section Chief, should we make a move? We can take both that Japanese woman and Yingzuo Eiichi in one sweep.”

Ding Naifei was somewhat impatient.

Yingzuo Eiichi was a senior agent of the Japanese Special Higher Police Section in Shanghai. Capturing him would undoubtedly be a major achievement.

Ding Naifei had bungled both the arrest of Ah Hai and the arrest of Liu Bo. He was now desperately eager to earn merit.

“Continue watching them. Do not act rashly.” Wang Kangnian frowned and spoke irritably.

“Section Chief!”

“That’s an order.”

Wang Kangnian rubbed his temples.

He wanted to act as well, but Wu Shanyue disagreed, saying that Yingzuo Eiichi was Yingzuo Teiaki’s nephew. The matter was too significant, and it would be unwise to provoke the Japanese.

Watching Ding Naifei leave unwillingly, Wang Kangnian became angrier the more he thought about it.

Looking at the newspaper clippings on his desk only made his headache worse. In a fit of anger, he swept the clippings onto the floor with a wave of his hand.

After sulking for a while, Wang Kangnian could only helplessly pick up the clippings and continue thinking with a furrowed brow.

Suddenly, he glanced at the pot of lucky bamboo in the room.

Lucky bamboo.

Bamboo.

Zhulin?!

Zhulin!

He thought of Zhulin, the senior Communist Party Special Branch official who had already been executed.

Huo Miao searching for Zhu Lin!

Searching for “Zhulin”?

Were the Communists searching for “Zhulin”?

Did the Communists not know that Zhulin had already been captured and executed?

Impossible.

The incident had caused an enormous stir. The National Government had even held a special celebration for it, and newspapers had reported on it extensively. The Communists could not possibly be unaware.

Then...

Wang Kangnian pondered intensely.

Huo Miao was a surviving remnant of the Communist Party Special Branch.

He was searching for “Zhulin.”

But he was not truly searching for Zhulin?

He was sending a signal to the Communists!

This was a Communist Party Special Branch agent who had become isolated. In Communist terminology, this was a “comrade who had lost contact.”

This person...

He was using this method to contact the Communists and request to return to the organization!

The train of thought in Wang Kangnian’s mind became increasingly clear.

He grew more and more convinced of his deduction.

Excitedly, he rubbed his hands together.

Who was this Huo Miao?

Using “Zhulin” as a cover signal, this man was very likely one of Zhulin’s former subordinates.

Zhulin had been a senior Communist Party Special Branch official.

One of his subordinates...

Two names immediately appeared in Wang Kangnian’s mind:

Chenzhou!

Yuchang!

Among the Communist Party Special Branch’s eight elite action operatives, six had already “received justice.” Only Yuchang and the even more mysterious Chenzhou remained at large.

This Huo Miao was very likely either Chenzhou or Yuchang!

Having reached this conclusion, Wang Kangnian became extremely excited.

He slammed his palm onto the desk.

Yuchang, Chenzhou, I’ve finally caught your tail!

Whichever one it is, both are notorious Communist killers registered with the Party Affairs Investigation Department.

Capturing either one would be a major achievement!

As long as they continued monitoring Shen Bao, they were certain to uncover more clues!

However, two days.

Huo Miao had said he would only wait two more days.

What did that mean?

This person had run out of patience and intended to leave Shanghai?

Leave Shanghai for where?

The northwest!

Chenzhou, or perhaps Yuchang, had failed to establish contact with the Communists in Shanghai, so he had decided to head directly to the northwest?

The newspaper was from several days ago.

Did that mean he was already preparing to flee?

Or had he already escaped?

“Someone!”

Wang Kangnian called out in a deep voice.

White Fatty pushed open the door and entered.

“Section Chief.”

“Prepare the car. I’m going to see the Section Chief.”

Wang Kangnian gathered up the newspaper clippings and placed them into a folder.

They absolutely had to capture Chenzhou or Yuchang before he escaped Shanghai.

The docks and railway stations had to be placed under control.

He needed to report immediately to his superiors and request assistance from the military and police.

Never a third time!

This big fish absolutely could not be allowed to escape again!

The city lights had just come on.

Cheng Qianfan once again drove his automobile and picked up Song Fuguo at the entrance of an alley on Route McBain.

“Section Chief Song, you’re all right physically, aren’t you?”

Seeing Song Fuguo coughing repeatedly, Cheng Qianfan asked with concern.

“I won’t die just yet.” Song Fuguo smiled.

Previously, he had been jointly arrested by the Japanese and the police and had suffered two gunshot wounds. One of the bullets had struck his lung.

Though he had narrowly survived, it had left lasting complications.

“These are the intelligence reports we’ve gathered on Xiao Zhenzhong over the past few days,” Song Fuguo said. “There’s one particular matter that I think is extremely valuable.”

Cheng Qianfan did not immediately ask about it.

After a moment of silence, he slowly said, “Section Chief Song, I have an immature idea. I’d like your advice on it.”

“What idea? Let’s hear it,” Song Fuguo said.

“Section Chief Song, are you interested in eliminating Yingzuo Eiichi?” Cheng Qianfan asked.