The Cycle of Reincarnation in the Four-Courtyard House: A Journey Through the Heavens

The document that Li Xiao handed over was quite prestigious among the Japanese.

The Second Department of the Army General Staff is the core intelligence hub of the island nation's army. After its establishment in 1921, it became a key department for coordinating army espionage activities. Its mystery lies in its strategic intelligence coordination capabilities and global reach.

This department is not limited to a single region, but rather deploys a large number of agents in many parts of the world, building a vast intelligence network.

It not only collected military intelligence from various countries to support the Japanese military's strategic decisions, but also orchestrated numerous espionage incidents that influenced the course of the war.

Notorious female spy Yoshiko Kawashima was long under the control of her related system, engaging in activities such as subversion, assassination, and intelligence theft in China, creating various forms of chaos for the Japanese invasion of many parts of China.

So when the Japanese sentry saw Li Xiao's identification, he immediately felt a deep fear of Li Xiao.

After the car drove into the villa courtyard, Li Xiao took the lead and walked into the gate.

At this moment, in the banquet hall of the villa, Johann Strauss II's "The Blue Danube" is playing on the gramophone.

Despite the beautiful background music of this world-famous piece, the mood of everyone in the restaurant was not as soothing and gentle as the music suggested.

Lou Zhenhua's face was very ugly at this moment, and he was sitting in the main seat, tightly gripping a wine glass with one hand.

His two sons, however, were pale and trembling slightly, seemingly afraid of what they were seeing.

Liu Qianqian also looked terrified. Today, she was dressed in a proper Republic of China-era girl's outfit, with two cute ponytails tied behind her head.

In her hair, she also wore a cloisonné enamel butterfly hair clip that Li Xiao had given her.

The butterfly on the hair clip was made so lifelike that a tiny spring was even installed on the base.

With just a slight movement of Liu Qianqian's head, the butterfly would flutter and dance above her head.

As for Lou Xiao'e and Lou Zhenhua's two wives, as well as Li Qian and Li Feng, they were no longer in the banquet hall, presumably taken away by the two women beforehand.

A Japanese officer, dressed in a lieutenant colonel uniform and about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, was sitting next to Liu Qianqian.

The guy's eyes were fixed on Liu Qianqian's stunningly beautiful face, his eyes filled with infatuation.

"Miss, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life. Would you do me the honor of dancing with me?"

Just as Liu Qianqian looked terrified and somewhat at a loss, a voice suddenly rang out.

"cannot!"

Outside the banquet hall, Li Xiao strode in.

The moment Liu Qianqian saw Li Xiao, her pale and fearful face finally regained some color, and a shimmering water appeared in her captivating peach blossom eyes.

"Brother Xiao!"

"Mr. Li!"

Lou Zhenhua immediately stood up from his chair, still feeling extremely guilty about what had happened that day.

I never imagined that celebrating my son's birthday would attract the Japanese invaders.

And this Japanese soldier actually took a liking to Liu Qianqian at first glance and wanted to take her away.

If Liu Qianqian hadn't told him to go find Li Xiao immediately, he probably wouldn't have been able to think of any way to protect the girl.

Upon hearing the sound at the door, Koizumi Shozo immediately turned around, his face displaying a tyrannical expression.

"Who is it?"

When it saw Li Xiao, its eyes narrowed involuntarily.

Li Xiao said in fluent Japanese, "Who are you? How dare you cause trouble at my friend's house?"

When Koizumi Shoichi heard this Japanese spoken with a strong Kyoto accent, he couldn't help but pause for a moment in surprise.

He then replied in Japanese: "I am Koizumi Shozo of the North China Area Army Headquarters, currently in charge of production and management at Lou's Steel Plant!"

Li Xiao walked straight up to it and slapped it across the face.

"Snap!"

"Ah~"

Li Xiao's slap sent Koizumi Shozo spinning through the air before crashing heavily to the ground.

"Pfft~"

Koizumi Shozo spat out a mouthful of blood, along with two large, yellowed teeth.

Koizumi Shozo lay on the ground, glaring venomously at Li Xiao: "You actually dared to hit me! You're dead today!"

Li Xiao's expression remained unchanged. He pulled out the identification document and threw it at Koizumi Shozo's face: "Take a look at this before you speak!"

Koizumi Shozo's half-swollen face changed color slightly as he picked up the document and examined it closely.

When he saw the words on it, his pupils contracted sharply. As a mid-level officer, he naturally understood the meaning behind the document.

The spies within the Army's Second Headquarters wield considerable power, even abroad, and can, under necessary circumstances, act first and report later.

If I were to execute Colonel Hideo Shimada here, all I had to do afterward was submit a report to headquarters stating that I had seriously interfered with his ongoing mission, and my death would have been in vain.

The document that Li Xiao pulled out was genuine.

When he went to Japan, he discovered a spy named Shimada Hideo in Kyoto who was preparing to take a ship to China.

Li Xiao silently eliminated the guy, then replaced the Japanese soldier's ID with his own photo, creating his own document.

With his top-notch skills as a special agent, this little thing was a piece of cake for him. Besides, verifying the authenticity of documents was not as convenient as it is in later years.

Later documents not only featured various high-tech anti-counterfeiting measures, but also included a unique code representing each person that could be directly queried via an internal network.

Apart from the photo, everything else on Li Xiao's document was genuine. Since there was no facial recognition technology at that time, the only way to verify its authenticity was to contact the Japanese headquarters.

Koizumi Shozo immediately struggled to his feet and bowed sharply to Li Xiao: "Colonel, Koizumi Shozo reporting for duty!"

Li Xiao's expression remained calm, but he stared intently at the Japanese soldier in front of him.

Koizumi Shozo was sweating profusely under Li Xiao's gaze, but at this moment he only dared to lower his head and not move an inch.

"Koizumi Shozo, Boss Lou is a friend of the Empire, and also my friend. Your behavior today has really angered me. Tell me, how should I punish you?"

"Please calm down, Colonel Shimada. It was all my fault today. I will do my best to make up for Boss Lou's losses!"

"Oh, how do you plan to make amends?"

"I...I'll personally contribute 10 yen..."

Koizumi Shozo cautiously looked at Li Xiao, noticing that the other's expression seemed unchanged.

"I...I still have a few seals and porcelain pieces from the Ming and Qing dynasties of China in my collection...and...and fifty large yellow croakers..."

As Koizumi Shozo spoke, his half-swollen cheek twitched involuntarily.

This represents the vast majority of his wealth. He had worked hard for several years in China, and now he was back to square one!