Hidden Radiance

inside the car.

The windshield wipers swung mechanically against the windshield, the rubber scraping making a screeching sound.

Gu Yunqiu glanced at the rearview mirror. In the back seat, Lu Xuzhang covered his swollen, red cheek, his half-broken glasses barely perched on his nose. He stared warily at the front, his body pressed tightly against the car door.

In the passenger seat, Lu Minghui leaned back with his eyes closed.

The stench of blood lingered in the cramped carriage.

Lu Minghui's left side of his trench coat was completely soaked in blood, and dark red liquid dripped down the hem, landing on the floor mat and forming a small puddle of blood.

He didn't utter a single groan. His right hand rested on his knee, his fingers loosely dangling, as if he were dozing off.

"Where to?" Gu Yunqiu asked.

"The French Concession, Rue Albert, that abandoned textile factory," Lu Minghui said in a hoarse voice.

Gu Yunqiu turned the steering wheel, and the Ford sedan merged into the main road, leaving Jessfield Road behind.

Lu Xuzhang shrank into the corner.

"Director Lu, what do you want from me after you dragged me out of No. 76? Your money? Your life?"

Lu Minghui did not open his eyes.

"If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have fired that shot in the backyard."

Half an hour later.

The yarn factory warehouse.

Gu Yunqiu pushed open the rusty iron door. The door made a heavy, grinding sound as it turned. Inside, only a dim, yellow chandelier hung in mid-air, swaying slightly in the draft.

Lu Minghui walked in, pulled over a wooden chair, and sat down. He pulled a Browning out of his waist with his right hand and slammed it on the table.

Lu Xuzhang stood five steps away and raised his hand to wipe the rain off his face.

"Boss Lu." Lu Minghui looked up at him. "Last month, two shipments of penicillin and anti-inflammatory drugs from Guangda Huahang were robbed while transiting through Suzhou."

Lu Xuzhang's expression changed.

"In times of chaos, bandits emerge. The medicine was stolen; I admit defeat."

"There's no police report in Suzhou." Lu Minghui's left hand hung limply at his sides, and he tapped his right index finger twice on the table. "This batch of drugs hasn't been leaked onto the black market either."

Lu Xuzhang gritted his teeth and didn't reply.

"You know where the medicine went, and so do I." Lu Minghui pulled a bloodstained piece of paper from the inside pocket of his trench coat and threw it on the table. "This is the shipping receipt for your batch of medicine. Sun Yaozu found it out."

Lu Xuzhang looked at the paper and swayed slightly.

"Colluding with bandits." Lu Minghui uttered these two words. "If this charge falls into Li Shiqun's hands, you won't be able to leave the backyard of No. 76 today. If it falls into Nakajima Shinichi's hands, all of your more than one hundred employees of Guangda Huahang will be sent to the military police's interrogation room."

"What exactly do you want!" Lu Xuzhang glared at Lu Minghui, veins bulging on his neck. "Kill me or torture me, come at me! I, Lu, would rather die than be a traitor's lackey!"

Lu Minghui looked at Lu Xuzhang's reddened eyes and didn't reply.

"I want you to hand over the control of the four inter-provincial channels of Guangda Huaxing." He spoke calmly, without a trace of emotion. "On the surface, these four channels are under the control of Mei's agency, transporting military supplies for the Japanese army."

Lu Xuzhang sneered: "Dream on."

Lu Minghui ignored his refusal and continued speaking.

"Secretly, your men continue to manage the ships and vehicles. The Japanese army's supplies are handled openly, but your penicillin, seamless steel pipes, and cotton yarn are handled covertly. I don't care where they're sent."

Lu Minghui leaned forward.

"The Mei Bureau's pass is affixed to your car. From Shanghai to East China, no one will check it."

No one spoke in the warehouse.

The chandelier swayed slightly, casting light and shadow across Lu Xuzhang's face.

"What...what did you say?" Lu Xuzhang's voice trembled.

"Don't you understand?" Lu Minghui leaned back in his chair. "I'm telling you, use the Mei Agency's leather to transport the goods you're supposed to transport. Nakajima wants to see the ledgers, so you keep two sets. Give me the public ledger, and keep the private ledger for yourself."

Gu Yunqiu stood in the shadows, looking at Lu Minghui's profile.

"Why?" Lu Xuzhang stared at him, the shattered lens flashing under the light.

"Because I'm a greedy traitor." Lu Minghui paused for a moment, "I want to take 30% of the profits from your clandestine smuggling."

Lu Xuzhang looked at the waybill stub on the table, and then at the Browning.

There is another account.

He slowly took off his half-broken glasses, clutched them in his hand, the frame digging into the flesh of his palm.

"I promise you." Lu Xuzhang closed his eyes briefly, "but if you dare to play any tricks, even if I, Lu Xuzhang, become a ghost, I will drag you down with me."

"Deliver the bill to my office tomorrow morning." Lu Minghui stood up. "Secretary Gu, see Boss Lu out."

Gu Yunqiu came out and gestured for Lu Xuzhang to enter.

Lu Xuzhang gave Lu Minghui a deep look, then turned and walked out of the warehouse.

Gu Yunqiu followed her out.

The iron gate closed. A few whispers came from outside, followed by a series of footsteps fading into the distance.

Lu Minghui stood still. Suddenly, his right leg gave way, and he fell forward.

He braced his right hand firmly on the table and swept the waybill stub off.

The gauze on his left shoulder had turned completely dark red. Blood dripped from his fingertips, falling onto the concrete floor and spreading in a dark ring.

My vision began to blur. Cold sweat soaked my collar; I couldn't tell if it was sweat or rain.

He braced himself against the edge of the table, his right hand reaching for the gun handle at his lower back. The movement aggravated the broken bones in his left shoulder, sending a sharp pain down his spine from his collarbone, causing his right arm to go limp.

The iron gate was pushed open again.

Gu Yunqiu strode in and caught the swaying Lu Minghui. Her hand touched something sticky.

"Are you out of your mind?!"

"Lu Xuzhang...it's done." Lu Minghui's vision blurred, and his voice was so low that only the two of them could hear him. "And what about Hu Juewen..."

"Don't talk, I'll take you to the hospital." Gu Yunqiu took his right arm.

"I'm not going to the hospital." Lu Minghui bit his lip until it bled, the metallic taste spreading in his mouth, forcing himself to stay awake. "I'm going to... Fukaisen Road."

Gu Yunqiu paused.

"Are you serious?"

Lu Minghui did not answer. His head drooped, and he completely lost consciousness.

Gu Yunqiu looked at his pale face.

The rain pattered against the warehouse roof, making a dense, muffled sound.

She gritted her teeth, put Lu Minghui's arm on her shoulder, and half-dragged, half-carried him out of the warehouse and stuffed him into the back seat of the car.

The Ford sedan started up again and disappeared into the rain.

76 Jessfield Road.

Living room of a small villa.

Shao Shijun slammed the string of small-leaf sandalwood beads onto the coffee table. The beads snapped and shattered, scattering across the floor with a crackling sound.

Li Shiqun sat opposite him, holding a teacup in his hand, without moving.

"This is outrageous!" Shao Shijun's facial muscles twitched twice. "Lu Minghui really thinks he's the local tyrant of Shanghai! He's killing and robbing people right in front of me!"

"Director Shao, please calm down." Li Shiqun put down his teacup. "He has Shinichi Nakajima backing him up, and he's a favorite of the Mei Agency now. We won't gain anything by going head-to-head with him."

"What is Shinichi Nakajima anyway!" Shao Shijun sneered. "The Sugi Project was decided by the cabinet. Even if the Mei Agency wants to monopolize it, it still has to see if Nanjing will agree. Mr. Wang is watching from Nanjing."

Li Shiqun narrowed his eyes slightly.

"What does Director Shao mean?"

"Isn't he trying to unify the gangs and chambers of commerce?" Shao Shijun bent down, picked up a sandalwood bead, and held it between his fingers. "I want to see how a dead man can unify them."

Li Shiqun picked up the teacup, held it to his lips, and didn't drink it immediately.

He glanced down at the bead that had fallen onto the floor tile, his gaze lingering on it for two seconds before he looked away.

"I brought three men with me from Nanjing," Shao Shijun said, looking at Li Shiqun. "We'll borrow your territory for a bit."

"The doors of No. 76 are always open for Director Shao." Li Shiqun took a sip of tea and slowly placed the cup back on the table. "I just don't know what kind of people Director Shao and his two associates are."

Shao Shijun turned his head, glanced at him, and didn't reply.

Outside the window, the rain was pouring down harder.

Thunder rumbled across the night sky over Shanghai.

Lin Zhijiang pushed open the door and came in. He glanced at the sandalwood beads scattered on the floor, walked to Li Shiqun's side, and lowered his voice.

"Director, Gu Yunqiu's car headed towards the French Concession. Lu Minghui is badly injured; there's blood everywhere."

Li Shiqun put down his teacup and looked at Shao Shijun.

"Director Shao, strike while the iron is hot." Li Shiqun stood up. "The people from the 76th Division can't make a big show of things in the French Concession. Your men can be moved now."

Shao Shijun threw the sandalwood beads in his hand onto the table.

"Tell those three men I want Lu Minghui's head." Shao Shijun straightened the hem of his long robe. "If you succeed, you'll get a reward of ten gold bars."

"Wait a minute." Li Shiqun waved to stop Lin Zhijiang.

He didn't speak immediately. He rubbed his finger on the bottom of the teacup once, twice, and then stopped.

"Assassination is always a last resort."

"Oh?" Shao Shijun looked up at Li Shiqun. "What insightful opinion does Director Li have?"

Li Shiqun stared at the lone sandalwood bead on the table, a line appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"Doesn't Nakajima like to use Chinese to control Chinese? Then let's use barbarians to control barbarians. Let's use Nakajima's knife to kill Nakajima's dog."

He turned to look at Lin Zhijiang, his voice lowered, as if squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Go and retrieve the codebook that Lu Minghui handed over."

Lin Zhijiang paused for a second, then turned and left.

The door was closed.

Li Shiqun sat back down on the sofa and picked up his teacup.

The tea had gone cold. He still took a sip.