Spy war in the Republic of China, peak undercover

Chen Yijun held an umbrella, and raindrops dripped down the edge of the umbrella, splashing tiny water droplets on the bluestone slabs.

"You mean, they will use the power of Pao Brothers?"

Lu Yang nodded, fished out a cigarette from his pocket, took out a cigarette and lit it. "The Pao brothers in the mountain city are very deep-seated."

Chen Yijun looked at him, the lights of the rainy night dancing in her eyes. "Lu Yang, you seem to know a lot about Pao Brothers."

Lu Yang took a puff of his cigarette and slowly blew out smoke rings. "I know a thing or two."

Chen Yijun didn't ask any further questions. She knew Lu Yang was holding back. "There are too many targets on the waterway, and we don't have enough manpower to cover them all."

Lu Yang flicked the ash from his cigarette. "Then let's focus on investigating those docks related to 'Shan Zi Tang'."

Chen Yijun's brows furrowed slightly. "Shanzitang? How did you know it was them?"

Lu Yang smiled. "Yijun, some things are better left unseen."

Chen Yijun was silent for a moment, seemingly digesting the information in Lu Yang's words. "I'll send someone to keep an eye on the river."

Lu Yang put out his cigarette butt and threw it into the puddles on the roadside. "Thank you very much."

The sound of raindrops fell, and the atmosphere between the two was somewhat subtle. Chen Yijun suddenly spoke, her voice a little softer than before. "Lu Yang, are you...how are you doing recently?"

Lu Yang was slightly startled, but then he regained his composure. "Military affairs are busy, so it's neither good nor bad."

Chen Yijun sighed softly. "I heard that you rejected the marriage arranged by the department again."

Lu Yang's lips curled up into a self-deprecating smile. "Yijun, do you think I still have the mind to think about this right now?"

Chen Yijun looked at him, the rain blurring her vision. "Lu Yang, some things should be left in the past."

Lu Yang did not answer. He turned around and looked deep into the alley filled with rain and fog.

The next morning, the rain had stopped and the sky was clear, the air exceptionally crisp. Lu Yang was in the safehouse's sparsely maintained kitchen, clumsily frying eggs. The fumes made him cough uncontrollably, and the eggs were scorched black.

"It seems that I will never be able to work in the kitchen in this life." Lu Yang shook his head in self-mockery.

There was a soft knock on the door. Lu Yang put down the spatula and walked over to open the door.

Standing at the doorway was a tall, pretty woman, holding a food box. She was wearing a simple, elegant cheongsam, her hair neatly tied back. It was Feng Wei, a confidential clerk in the Military Control Commission's Telecommunications Department.

Feng Wei (codename He Wei) placed the lunch box on the table, a subtle hint of worry between her brows. "Team Leader Lu, are you busy so early?"

Lu Yang pointed at the burnt eggs in the pan and said with a wry smile, "Excuse me for showing off."

Feng Wei opened the lunch box, revealing a bowl of porridge and some side dishes. "I guess you didn't eat well either," she said, scooping up the porridge and pushing it towards Lu Yang.

Lu Yang didn't hesitate, picked up his chopsticks and started eating. "Ms. Feng's cooking skills are much better than mine."

Feng Wei sat down across from him and watched him wolf down his food with a faint smile on her face. "If Team Leader Lu likes it, I can send some over more often in the future."

Lu Yang raised his head and wiped his mouth. "That's kind of nice, but there's no such thing as a reward without merit. Miss Feng, you're here today for more than just breakfast, right?"

Feng Wei's smile faded slightly. She pulled a document from her purse and handed it to Lu Yang. "This is a secret message the department just intercepted. It's about Nightingale."

Lu Yang took the document, his expression immediately growing serious. He quickly scanned the contents, his brow furrowing ever deeper. The message was written in an extremely complex, mixed code. Even with the deciphering capabilities of the Military Control Commission's Telecommunications Division, they could only barely decipher a few key words like "Sky Lantern Alley," "connection," and "transfer."

"It seems that 'Nightingale' is really anxious." Lu Yang put down the document and pondered.

Feng Wei nodded. "The Director has given you full responsibility for this matter. Make sure you capture Nightingale before she moves on."

Lu Yang's eyes fell on Feng Wei's pretty face, but a sense of alarm welled up in his heart. Although Feng Wei was a confidential clerk in the Telecommunications Department, her actions today seemed too proactive. The Military Control Commission was full of factions, and people's minds were unpredictable. He had to be on guard.

"Ms. Feng," Lu Yang said slowly, "besides me, who else has seen this secret message?"

Feng Wei's expression froze for a moment, then she regained her composure. "Team Leader Lu, you're joking. This is top secret information, so naturally only you and I know it."

Lu Yang smiled and didn't ask any further questions. He put the documents away and stood up. "Thank you, Miss Feng, for breakfast and the information you sent me. It's getting late. I should go to the interrogation room."

Feng Wei also stood up. "Team Leader Lu, be careful."

Lu Yang nodded, turned, and left the safe house. Feng Wei watched him disappear into the morning light, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes.

Back in the cold, damp interrogation room, the air still stank of formaldehyde and blood. Codename B, the Japanese female spy calling herself "Nobuko," appeared even weaker, but the stubbornness in her eyes remained undiminished.

Lu Yang pulled a chair over and sat down in front of Xinzi, throwing the intercepted message in front of her. "Miss Xinzi, it seems your companions haven't given up on you."

Xinzi glanced at the secret message on the ground and sneered. "You can't catch Nightingale."

Lu Yang smiled nonchalantly. "Really? Then why not make a bet?" He stood up and walked over to Xinzi. His voice was low, carrying a hint of irresistible threat. "I know that you, specially trained spies, are not afraid of death. But, Miss Xinzi, have you ever thought about your family?"

Nobuko's body suddenly stiffened, and for the first time, real panic appeared in her eyes. "What...what do you want to do?"

Lu Yang leaned close to her ear and whispered in a voice like a whisper from hell: "I have some 'friends' in Japan. If Miss Xinzi refuses to cooperate, I don't mind asking them to visit your parents, your brothers and sisters... let them 'feel' the 'glory' of being the family of an Imperial agent."

Xinzi's face turned pale in an instant, and her lips trembled. The safety of her family was the only soft spot in her heart.

"You... are shameless!" Nobuko said gritting her teeth.

Lu Yang straightened up, his face calm again. "Ms. Xinzi, I just want to know how to contact Nightingale. Tell me, and your family will be safe. Otherwise..." He didn't say anything else, but the coldness in his eyes said it all.

Xinzi closed her eyes, beads of sweat oozing from her forehead. After a long pause, she spoke with difficulty, "Every... every fifth day of the month... in the Shancheng Library... in the 'Records of Famous Mountains and Scenic Spots of the World'... use... use specific pages... to mark the contact information..."

Lu Yang sneered inwardly. The contact method he had so easily revealed was most likely a trap. But he remained calm on the surface. "Very good, Miss Xinzi, you made a wise choice."

He turned to C, who was standing by, and instructed, "Send someone to the library and set up a fake rendezvous signal, just as Nobuko said. Remember, make sure you act perfectly and don't reveal any flaws."

C took the order and left.

Lu Yang looked at Xinzi again, with a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Miss Xinzi, do you think you can fool me like this?"

A hint of panic flashed across Nobuko's eyes, but she forced herself to remain calm. "I don't understand what you mean."

Lu Yang smiled. "'Records of Famous Mountains and Scenic Spots of the World'? With such a prominent target, how could Nightingale be so careless? The real contact point must be somewhere else, right?"

Nobuko remained silent.

At this moment, something unexpected happened! Xinzi's eyes suddenly flashed with determination, and she gritted her teeth!

Lu Yang's face changed, and he immediately stepped forward, trying to pry her mouth open, but it was too late. A stream of black blood oozes out from the corner of Xinzi's mouth, and her body twitches a few times before she completely loses her life.

"Damn it!" Lu Yang cursed. He hadn't expected Xinzi to be so stubborn.

He suppressed his nausea and carefully removed a wax-sealed microfilm from between Xinzi's clenched teeth with tweezers. Unrolling the film, Lu Yang could clearly see the contents in the dim light of the interrogation room—a detailed defense map of the Burma Road!

"What a 'surveying the terrain of eastern Sichuan'!" Lu Yang's heart sank. The Burma Road was China's most important international transportation route during the war. If the defense map were leaked, the consequences would be disastrous. It seemed Xinzi's mission was far more important than she confessed. And Nightingale's true rendezvous location must be related to the transmission of this intelligence.

He carefully recalled Xinzi's confession and the subtle changes in her expression. "Specific page numbers..." Lu Yang's eyes fell on the word "page numbers," and suddenly an idea flashed on him! He remembered that in the original novel, the hero and heroine had used a combination of numbers and letters on a bench in an abandoned park to convey information.

"Zhongshan Park!" Lu Yang immediately thought of this place. The benches in Zhongshan Park were indeed numbered!

Late at night, in Zhongshan Park, the massive shadows of plane trees cast a shadow over every corner of the park, lit only by a few dim streetlights swaying in the wind. Lu Yang, hiding behind a sturdy plane tree, gazed warily at a row of lonely benches deep within the park.

Time passed minute by minute, and the park was silent, with only the rustling of leaves in the wind. Just when Lu Yang almost thought he had misjudged his judgment, a man wearing a dark hat and a windbreaker (codenamed E) appeared near the bench like a ghost.

E looked around cautiously, and after confirming that there was no one around, he sat down on a specific bench and tapped his fingers lightly on the back of the chair a few times, as if sending some kind of signal.

"That's him!" Lu Yang's heart skipped a beat. Just as he was about to signal action, he suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. The man's figure, the way he wore the hat...

He suddenly remembered that this person was actually the arms dealer he had met once when he was conducting an arms deal in northern Myanmar! That mysterious man with a complicated background!

Just as Lu Yang was shocked, E seemed to have noticed something. He suddenly raised his head and his eyes met Lu Yang's in the darkness.

"It's you!" E's voice was low and hoarse, with a hint of surprise.

Lu Yang thought to himself, this is bad. His identity has been exposed, and the ambush has lost its surprise. He decisively dodged from behind the tree and pointed his gun at E. "Don't move! You are surrounded!"

A strange smile appeared on E's face. He suddenly took out a cylindrical object from his arms and threw it to the ground!

"Bang!" A thick smoke spread out instantly, blocking the view.

"Oh no! It's a smoke bomb!" Lu Yang immediately held his breath and, based on the direction he remembered, fired several shots at the location where E was just now.

A muffled groan came from the smoke.

When the smoke gradually dissipated, Lu Yang saw E covering his shoulders and neck, staggering away into the depths of the park.

"Chase!" Lu Yang shouted and took the lead to chase.

E was obviously injured and his speed was not very fast. Lu Yang quickly caught up with him.

Just as Lu Yang was about to subdue him, E's body suddenly went limp and he fell to the ground.

Lu Yang went forward to check and found that black blood was flowing from the corner of E's mouth and his pupils were dilated.

He quickly checked E's collar and found a bitten cyanide capsule on the inside of the collar!

"Another fearless person!" Lu Yang cursed inwardly.

He searched E's belongings, hoping to find some valuable clues.

Soon, he found a hard-cover notebook from the inner pocket of E's windbreaker.

Opening the notebook, Lu Yang's pupils contracted again at the contents. The notebook contained a large amount of transaction information, with the names "Shan Zi Tang Wu Ye" and "Wu Kejie" appearing frequently.

Wu Kejie is a famous drug lord in northern Myanmar, with a huge influence and cruel methods. Meanwhile, "Shan Zi Tang Wu Ye" is a very important figure in the Pao Ge forces in Shancheng.

"Employer...drug lords in northern Myanmar...Pao brothers' power..." Lu Yang connected these clues in his mind, and a huge and complex black interest chain gradually surfaced.

The employer not only colluded with Japanese spies, but also had close ties with drug smuggling in northern Myanmar and the Pao brothers in the mountain city.

They used the power of the Pao brothers to transport drugs from northern Myanmar and Japanese arms into the Sichuan-Chongqing region, making huge profits while also facilitating the infiltration of Japanese spies.

Lu Yang realized that what he was facing was not just a simple Japanese spy case, but a huge conspiracy involving multiple dark forces.

The identity of "Nightingale" becomes even more confusing in this complex web. The appearance of Shanzitang Wuye tightly binds together the local gangs, possible traitors within the Military Control Commission, and Japanese spies, forming an unbreakable knot.

Although the pursuit on this rainy night has come to a temporary end, a deeper darkness has just begun to emerge.

And he, Lu Yang, has been completely drawn into this deadly vortex.

He knew that every next step would be more dangerous.

Lu Yang realized that his employer, the Sakura Society, the northern Myanmar drug lord Wu Kejie, and the Shanzitang Wuye of the Shancheng Pao Brothers—these seemingly unrelated forces—had long been secretly connected, forming a complex and bottomless black network. He, and the truth behind his parents' deaths, was just a small node in this vast network.