Hidden Radiance

"Let's go." Lu Minghui turned around and picked up his coat.

Underground interrogation room.

Two men, covered in blood from being beaten, were hanging from an iron frame, the sound of whips striking flesh dully.

When the thugs from the interrogation department saw Lu Minghui, they stopped and stepped aside.

Lu Minghui stepped forward and carefully examined the two of them.

His knuckles are large and there are calluses on the web between his thumb and index finger, but there are no calluses on the side of his index finger from long-term trigger-pulling.

Then look at the shoes. The soles are badly worn; they're tattered cloth shoes, not rubber-soled. Old Zhao's men always wear rubber-soled shoes when they go out to scout locations, for ease of movement.

Finally, I went to the dentist.

Lu Minghui pinched the man's chin on the left, pressing his thumb under his jawbone and his index finger on his chin, forcing him to open his mouth.

All teeth are intact, and the lower left molar is clean and without any signs of filling.

Each of Lao Zhao's men had a wax-sealed cyanide capsule hidden in their lower left molar. When they were arrested, they didn't have time to crush it, and repeated interrogations would chip the enamel, leaving marks.

These two people have no teeth at all.

The key issue is that the two suspects are being held in the same interrogation room, which is highly unprofessional, unless interrogation is not necessary at all.

"Is this the Red Party member you arrested?" Lu Minghui released his grip and glanced back at Gu Yunqiu.

Gu Yunqiu took two steps closer. "They've already confessed. They said their superior's codename is 'Old Ghost,' and they were sent to scout out Xiafei Road."

Old Ghost.

Lu Minghui's face remained unchanged. But the cigarette between his fingers burned an extra half inch, scalding his skin, but he didn't flinch.

"Old Ghost" was his online code name.

Were those two words forced out of the prisoner's mouth, or were they stuffed in by Gu Yunqiu beforehand?

If it's the former, it means that the South Manchuria Railway Company has other leads that can be cross-verified; if it's the latter, it means that she's casting a wide net, and "Old Ghost" is just bait to see who will crack first.

Two possibilities, corresponding to two levels of danger.

But it's impossible to tell right now. He can only proceed based on the worst-case scenario.

Lu Minghui walked to the prisoner on the left, grabbed the man's hair and pulled it back, forcing him to raise his head.

"Who sent you?"

The prisoner's eyes darted around, glancing in Gu Yunqiu's direction before quickly looking away.

"I...I'm a Communist, Old Ghost sent me..."

As he said this, his breath hitched. Not a gasp of tension, but a mental search for the next word. A trained person, when arrested, gives a coherent account because they are recounting their personal experience. A person memorizing lines will pause because they are recalling what others have taught them.

Lu Minghui released his grip and drew his sidearm from his lower back.

Click. Bullet chambered.

The gun barrel went straight into the man's mouth, breaking two of his front teeth.

The prisoner began to sob, his whole body trembling violently, and his crotch was soaked.

"I don't know the rules of the South Manchuria Railway. But in No. 76, impersonating a Communist and framing a superior is a capital offense." Lu Minghui's index finger was on the trigger.

"Lu Minghui! What are you doing!" Gu Yunqiu stepped forward to stop him.

boom.

Gunshots.

A spray of blood exploded from the back of the prisoner's head, splattering red and white matter onto the wall behind him. The body slumped down, the chains rattling loudly.

The interrogation room was deathly silent. The thugs took a step back.

Gu Yunqiu's face turned deathly pale, and her outstretched hand froze in mid-air. She hadn't expected him to actually fire.

It happened to her without warning.

She slowly withdrew her hand, clenched it into a fist, and tucked it into her sleeve. Her gaze shifted from the white smoke billowing from the gun to Lu Minghui's hand holding the gun.

Lu Minghui turned his gun and pointed it at the prisoner on his right. The barrel was still smoking.

The man was terrified and struggled desperately.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I'm not a Communist! I really am not!"

"Speak. Who told you to go to Avenue Joffre?" The gun barrel was pressed down, against the man's knee.

"It was...it was Chen Mazi from the Green Gang! He said there was opium hidden in that mansion on Xiafei Road, and he wanted us to investigate! I was arrested before I even climbed over the wall! Sir, have mercy!"

Lu Minghui holstered his gun, engaged the safety, and tucked it back into his waistband.

He turned around and looked at Gu Yunqiu.

"Chen Mazi of the Green Gang. Secretary Gu, is this the Red Party you mentioned?"

Gu Yunqiu gritted her teeth and remained silent.

Lu Minghui walked to the basin, washed his hands, and dried them with a towel.

"Secretary Gu, I understand your desire to gain merit. But it's foolish to use such underhanded methods to frame your superior."

He threw the towel on the table.

"I won't report today's events to Section Chief Nakajima. I'll save you some face."

"I hope there won't be a next time."

Walk out, stop at the door.

"Clean up the rest. I don't want to hear the words 'Chen Mazi' and 'Red Party' mentioned together again in No. 76."

The door closed.

Lu Minghui walked down the corridor. This was just the first test, and Gu Yunqiu would not stop there.

There's also the code name "Old Ghost." Whether Gu Yunqiu made it up or it's genuine, we must get Old Zhao to relay the message back as soon as possible.

Back in his office on the third floor, Lu Minghui pulled the gun from his waistband, removed the magazine, checked it, added a bullet, and put it back in the holster.

There was a red burn mark on his finger from a cigarette butt. He glanced at it and clenched his fist.

The phone on the table rang.

"Commander Lu, something has happened."

The person on the other end of the phone was the young man who had led the way; he was now a squad leader in the guard unit, and his tone was panicked.

"She Aizhen brought dozens of Green Gang members and blocked the guard brigade's courtyard. Director Li's brother-in-law, Fu Yewen, also brought his men, and the two sides were about to draw their guns."

Lu Minghui glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 10:00 AM.

Li Shiqun's men acted swiftly. Fu Yewen had barely been squeezed out of the confidential office when they rushed off to seize territory from the guard battalion.

"Where is Sun Yaozu?"

"Deputy Captain Sun tried to stop them, but couldn't. Fu Yewen took Director Li's order and said he wanted to take over the guard brigade. She Aizhen refused, saying that Captain Wu's body was barely cold before the 76th Division was already discarding him after he had served his purpose."

"I see."

Lu Minghui hung up the phone.

Nakajima appointed him as the chief instructor of the guard battalion precisely so he could intervene at this crucial moment. If he didn't go, the protective barrier created by Sun Yaozu and She Aizhen wouldn't be established.

The guard unit is located in a separate two-story building in the backyard of No. 76.

When Lu Minghui arrived, the courtyard was tense and ready to fight.

On the left were dozens of Green Gang thugs dressed in black jackets, carrying axes and pistols. At the very front stood a woman in her thirties, wearing a plain white cheongsam, a white flower in her hair, and a thin cigarette between her fingers.

She Aizhen.

On the right are the members of the 76th Action Team, all dressed in Zhongshan suits and carrying submachine guns. The leader, with slicked-back hair and a powdered face, is Fu Yewen.

Sun Yaozu was caught in the middle, sweating profusely with anxiety.

"Director Fu, Director Li went to Nanjing for a meeting. Should we wait until the director returns before issuing this warrant?" Sun Yaozu said with a forced smile.

"Enough with the nonsense!" Fu Yewen shoved Sun Yaozu aside. "Director Li instructed us before he left that the guard brigade cannot be without a leader for even a day. Wu Sibao is dead, so I'll take over this mess."

He turned to look at She Aizhen and sneered.

"Sister She, Wu Sibao was shot in the back, and our 76th Division will investigate this. But the guard brigade is a government unit, not a branch of your Green Gang. Take your men and get out."

She Aizhen exhaled a smoke ring, her eyes filled with disdain.

"Fu Yewen, who do you think you are? When Si Bao was alive, you didn't dare utter a sound in his presence. Now that he's gone, you're trying to steal his place?"

She Aizhen took a step forward, and the Green Gang thugs behind her raised their axes in unison.

"Anyone who dares to step through this door today, I, She Aizhen, will make them leave bolting!"

Fu Yewen's expression changed, and he suddenly drew his gun and pointed it at She Aizhen.

"You dare to rebel?"

The team members simultaneously cocked their guns.

"Put your guns down."

The sound wasn't loud, it came from the courtyard gate, but it was extremely penetrating.

Everyone turned around.

Lu Minghui walked into the courtyard with his hands in his trench coat pockets at a leisurely pace.

Fu Yewen's eye twitched slightly when he saw him. This was the man who had been parachuted into the Confidential Affairs Department yesterday. Although he was only a deputy director, everyone knew he was one of Section Chief Nakajima's men.

"Lu Minghui, this is none of your business. The confidential office is up ahead; you've come to the wrong door." Fu Yewen didn't lower his gun.

Lu Minghui walked between the two and stopped.

He took out the appointment letter issued by Nakajima from his pocket and unfolded it.

"The Mei Bureau has appointed Lu Minghui as the chief instructor of the guard battalion, in charge of personnel allocation within the guard unit." He looked at Fu Yewen. "Director Fu, you have Director Li's warrant. I have Section Chief Nakajima's appointment. In your opinion, whose signature carries weight in the 76th Division?"

Fu Yewen gritted his teeth.

"This appointment only covers training and personnel allocation; you won't have day-to-day command authority over the guard battalion!"

"Daily command is indeed not in my hands," Lu Minghui said, putting away the appointment letter. "But the power to allocate personnel remains. Director Fu, you brought your action team to take over the guard brigade today, using Director Li's order. But Director Li is in Nanjing. You're trying to seize command of a directly administered unit of the Mei Agency with a note written when the owner wasn't home. Have you thought this through?"

Fu Yewen's face turned red.

"Don't try to intimidate me with your Japanese connections!"

"I'm not pressuring you," Lu Minghui's tone calmed down. "I'm just reminding you that Section Chief Nakajima will see today's duty log tomorrow morning. It will clearly state that you led twenty heavily armed operatives into the guard unit. Will Director Li take the blame for you then, or will you go and explain to the section chief yourself?"

Fu Yewen's lips trembled slightly.

He wasn't afraid of Lu Minghui. But he was afraid of Nakajima.

"Take your men and go back." Lu Minghui took a step forward. "What you two discuss after Director Li returns from Nanjing is your business. But today, don't use guns in my yard."

Fu Yewen gripped the gun so tightly his knuckles turned white.

A team member leaned in from behind and whispered something in his ear. Fu Yewen's expression shifted between anger and uncertainty, before he finally shoved the gun back into its holster with a vengeance.