Chapter 203: He Confessed
On bustling Nanjing Road, crowds of pedestrians flowed endlessly.
In Eguchi Hideya’s eyes, there was only her and him.
Keiko!
That was the Keiko he longed for day and night, the Keiko who occupied his every thought!
How could Keiko be here?
When had she come to China, to Shanghai?
Who was the man beside her?
Seeing his fiancée, smiling radiantly, appearing before his eyes so suddenly while holding a man’s arm, the image of Keiko by the seaside in Kagawa, holding a little red parasol and smiling gently as she called out “Hideya,” gradually faded from his mind and was replaced by darkness.
Behind that darkness were images of Keiko entwined passionately with that wild man.
The last remnants of resolve and “purity” deep within Eguchi Hideya’s heart completely collapsed.
Clenching his teeth, he stared blankly.
“Eguchi-kun, what’s wrong?” Mitsugi heard the screeching brakes behind them and was startled. He glanced back, quickly bowed in apology, and tried to pull along the distraught Eguchi Hideya, but could not move him.
A silver-gray automobile stopped in front of Keiko and Yingzuo Eiichi.
Like a gentleman, Yingzuo Eiichi opened the car door for Keiko.
The woman gracefully got into the car.
Yingzuo Eiichi walked around to the other side and got in as well.
The automobile started up and drove away.
Realizing that this was merely an accident and not someone attempting to ambush him, Cheng Qianfan did not hurry to drive away.
Instead, he watched in surprise.
Seeing that “Ruth” was actually together with Yingzuo Eiichi, Cheng Qianfan was surprised, yet not surprised at the same time.
Ruth was a Japanese agent. It was not strange for her to know Yingzuo Eiichi.
What interested him was the relationship between Yingzuo Eiichi and Ruth.
Judging from appearances, the relationship between the man and woman was anything but ordinary.
To be precise, it looked as though Yingzuo Eiichi was pursuing Ruth.
“Eguchi-kun, hey, Eguchi-kun.”
Eguchi Hideya came back to his senses.
His hands gripping the gift bags were clenched tightly.
“I’m fine, Mitsugi-kun. I just saw someone who looked very much like an old acquaintance.”
“Who?”
“The man who was with that beautiful lady just now, the one who left in the car. He looked somewhat familiar.”
“Eguchi-kun knows Lord Yingzuo?” Mitsugi asked in a low voice.
“Lord Yingzuo? Then I must have mistaken him for someone else. The two simply look very similar.” As he spoke, Eguchi Hideya walked toward the roadside. “Can you tell me about this Lord Yingzuo? Is he one of our people?”
Seeing that the man had moved aside, Cheng Qianfan slowly drove past.
He glanced at the man who had been standing there in a daze moments ago.
His instincts told him that the man’s behavior had been highly unusual.
Then he saw the man’s face.
Eguchi Hideya!
Cheng Qianfan immediately recognized the Japanese agent whom he had personally interrogated.
It was actually Eguchi Hideya!
After a moment’s thought, Cheng Qianfan immediately formed a conjecture regarding Ruth’s identity.
He had always been interested in just how completely Eguchi Hideya had betrayed Japan.
Before leaving Hangzhou, Cheng Qianfan had held a secret conversation with him.
Afraid that his determination to defect might be doubted, Eguchi Hideya had revealed his inner struggles and secret.
He wanted to return alive to Japan.
He wanted to marry his fiancée, Keiko.
For Eguchi Hideya to lose control of himself so thoroughly just now, Cheng Qianfan inferred that this “Ruth” was very likely the fiancée Keiko whom Eguchi Hideya constantly yearned for.
The fiancée whose existence had driven Eguchi Hideya to betray Japan was actually in Shanghai, and was involved with Yingzuo Eiichi!
And Eguchi Hideya had witnessed the scene with his own eyes.
Cheng Qianfan knew the depth of Eguchi Hideya’s love for his fiancée, or rather, the depth of his obsession.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Cheng Qianfan’s mouth.
Eguchi Hideya had already betrayed Japan once.
If there was a first time, there could be a second.
At this moment, Eguchi Hideya must hate Yingzuo Eiichi intensely!
Moreover, Eguchi Hideya’s appearance in Shanghai was itself unexpected.
Judging by the many gifts he was carrying, it seemed that his current circumstances were actually quite favorable.
Cheng Qianfan had received information from Nanjing indicating that Eguchi Hideya had not suffered much torture and had even gained weight.
Under such circumstances, the Japanese should naturally have become suspicious of him.
Cheng Qianfan was very curious as to how Eguchi Hideya had passed the suspicions and investigations of the Inoue Residence.
At the same time, Cheng Qianfan felt considerable regret.
Yingzuo Eiichi was an extremely cautious man who attached great importance to his own safety and rarely appeared in public.
Yet unexpectedly, he had shown himself openly while accompanying a woman on a shopping trip.
Had Cheng Qianfan known of this situation in advance, it would have been an excellent opportunity to assassinate Yingzuo Eiichi.
A close-range shooting in the street, with proper support arranged in advance, could have allowed the assassin to escape amidst the chaos.
What a pity.
That very night, Song Fuguo received two photographs.
Behind each photograph was a slip of paper.
“Japanese agent Eguchi Hideya, agent of the Inoue Residence. This man was captured and defected in Hangzhou before later escaping. He is currently in Shanghai. He appears to have a grievance involving a stolen wife against Yingzuo Eiichi (pending verification). Please determine his whereabouts.”
“Japanese agent of the Inoue Residence. This man maintains close ties with Eguchi.”
Song Fuguo’s eyes lit up.
He understood Cheng Qianfan’s meaning.
Three days later.
After disguising himself, Cheng Qianfan brought Haozai to the outskirts of Nanshi.
This was a secret interrogation site belonging to the Intelligence Section of the Shanghai District of the Special Service Office.
An unconscious man was bound to a wooden frame.
The man was not Eguchi Hideya, but rather the person whom Cheng Qianfan had seen accompanying Eguchi Hideya that day.
“What’s going on?” Cheng Qianfan frowned.
Song Fuguo looked somewhat embarrassed.
He was also helpless.
His men had investigated everywhere but had never found any trace of Eguchi Hideya.
Instead, while casting a wide net, they had discovered this man, knocked him unconscious, and brought him here.
“Wake him up.”
Song Fuguo waved his hand.
One of his subordinates immediately splashed a basin of cold water over him, waking Mitsugi Ichijō.
Groggily regaining consciousness, Mitsugi Ichijō opened his eyes and discovered that he was tied to a wooden frame.
Several sinister-looking men stood before him.
“Who are you people?” Mitsugi was greatly alarmed.
“I ask. You answer.”
Cheng Qianfan personally stepped forward.
He grabbed the man’s hair and slammed his head hard against the wooden frame.
“Your name. Your position at the Inoue Residence.”
Mitsugi Ichijō’s eyes widened.
At first he had assumed he had been kidnapped.
Upon hearing those words, he immediately realized that his identity had been exposed.
The people before him were not kidnappers.
They were Chinese agents.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just a law-abiding ordinary citizen.”
“Not being honest, are we?” Cheng Qianfan shook his head and immediately drove a punch into the man’s abdomen.
“I told you, I’m just an ordinary person. You’ve arrested the wrong man.”
Mitsugi Ichijō was still trying to hold out.
“He’s yours now.”
Speaking in a hoarse voice, Cheng Qianfan sneered.
“Don’t worry.”
Song Fuguo let out a cold laugh.
The Japanese revered their so-called Bushidō, but Bushidō could not withstand cruel torture instruments.
Mitsugi Ichijō was terrified.
He gritted his teeth.
He was gambling, gambling that he could endure it.
Cheng Qianfan and Song Fuguo waited in the outer room.
A pot of liquor and several small dishes sat on the table.
The food and drink were rather simple.
Yet drinking while listening to the screams of a Japanese agent being tortured provided a unique kind of satisfaction.
About an hour later, a Special Service Office agent came running over excitedly.
“Section Chief, he confessed!”
“Excellent!”
Song Fuguo was overjoyed.
He clinked cups with Cheng Qianfan, and the two drained their drinks in one gulp before standing up.
“Let’s go take a look.”