Hidden Radiance

Lu Minghui walked slowly to the window and looked at the rain outside.

"Spread the word that the gold seized last night was just a decoy, and that the real twenty chests of gold were scattered and hidden by Wu Sibao in these four secret rooms. The Mei Agency will send people to pick up the goods late tomorrow night."

"This information was only released to the middle and high-ranking members of the 76th Division. If the Military Intelligence Bureau has taken action, it means that Paper Kite is among these insiders. Ono and his men laid an ambush in four secret chambers in advance, just like catching a turtle in a jar."

Upon hearing this, Nakajima's brow twitched slightly, but he remained silent.

Lu Minghui continued, "If the Military Intelligence Bureau doesn't take any action, it means that Zhiyuan isn't in this group. We'll narrow down the search and find another group to continue screening. To be fair, Xiao Ye, Sun Yaozu, Gu Yunqiu, and myself are all on this list."

"Why four locations? If the troops are scattered, they can be easily defeated one by one," Nakajima raised his concerns.

"To find out exactly what the Military Intelligence Bureau is capable of," Lu Minghui sneered. "We have no idea how many people are in the Shanghai station, or what their firepower is like. With four locations attacked simultaneously, they have to split their forces. As long as we engage in firefights, Ono will be able to figure out their strength. Even if a few escape, the survivors will be enough for us to follow the trail."

Nakajima leaned back in his chair and stared at Lu Minghui.

"Would She Aizhen agree to let you tamper with her secret chamber?" Nakajima asked.

"She wants to avenge Wu Sibao and keep her position in the guard brigade, so she has to cooperate." Lu Minghui stood up. "I'll take care of this."

After a moment's hesitation, Nakajima finally nodded.

"Okay. Tomorrow I'll have Ono lead the team and set up according to your plan."

"I'll take my leave now." Lu Minghui picked up his trench coat, turned around, and walked towards the door.

"Minghui," Nakajima called out to him.

Lu Minghui turned around.

"Be careful. The Military Intelligence Bureau is not easy to deal with." Nakajima said with concern, "Don't risk it so much. If you fall, I'll feel like I've lost an arm."

"Understood, thank you."

The door closed.

The concern on Nakajima's face vanished. He picked up half a photograph from the table, glanced at it, and tossed it into the drawer.

Press the intercom on the table.

"Send Gu Yunqiu to see me."

Five minutes later, Gu Yunqiu walked into the office.

"Section Chief."

Nakajima pointed to the chair.

"Sit down. Lu Minghui proposed a plan: use the Green Gang's various secret locations as bait to send targeted messages to the middle and high-ranking members of the 76th Division, luring the Military Intelligence Bureau into a trap, and then turning the tables on them."

He didn't go into details. He didn't mention a single word about which four secret guilds or how the information was leaked.

Gu Yunqiu pushed up his glasses and remained silent for a few seconds.

"He drew everyone's attention to the French Concession."

Nakajima picked up his teacup and blew on the floating leaves.

"What are you thinking about?"

"The bigger the commotion in the French Concession, the quieter things are at the Mei Agency." Gu Yunqiu carefully chose his words. "The gold is already in the vault. If Paper Kite had any brains, she wouldn't have gone to the French Concession only to find it empty-handed."

Nakajima took a sip of tea and put down the cup.

"The gold cannot be compromised in any further way." Nakajima looked at Gu Yunqiu. "Tomorrow night, Ono will take his men to the French Concession. You and your men will all change into plainclothes and lie in wait around the vault."

Gu Yunqiu's fingers tucked slightly on her knee.

"Understood. Staffing will begin tonight."

"Loosen the outside, tighten the inside. Remove half of the visible sentry posts, double the number of hidden sentries. Anyone who approaches the vault will be killed on sight." Nakajima's voice was cold. "Regardless of whether Lu Minghui has any issues, not a single thread of the net over the vault can be loosened."

The next morning, at number 76.

Lu Minghui walked into the guard brigade.

She Aizhen sat in Wu Sibao's office, looking through the account books. Sun Yaozu stood to the side, looking like a doormat.

Upon seeing Lu Minghui enter, Sun Yaozu quickly went to greet him: "Commander Lu."

Lu Minghui waved him out and closed the door.

She Aizhen closed the ledger and looked up at him: "Commander Lu, the appointment letter hasn't even been issued yet, and you're already in a hurry to check my accounts?"

"The appointment letter will arrive soon." Lu Minghui walked to the table. "I'm here to borrow my eldest sister's venues for a while."

"What kind of venue?"

"Four secret hideouts in the French Concession. I'm going fishing there tonight."

She Aizhen's expression changed.

"Lu Minghui, don't push your luck. Sibao just left, and you're already trying to ruin my livelihood?"

"It's not smashing, it's cleaning up." Lu Minghui pulled out a chair and sat down. "Last night, Fu Yewen was investigating the accounts of these four secret gangs. When Li Shiqun returned, the first thing he did was target these four places. You can't hold them off."

She Aizhen gritted her teeth: "My Green Gang has thousands of brothers. If Li Shiqun wants to swallow them all, he'll have to see if he has the teeth to back them up!"

"The Green Gang is powerful, but can it be more powerful than the Japanese?" Lu Minghui looked at her.

She Aizhen was stunned.

"After tonight, these four secret rooms will be the scene of the Japanese attack. With such a chaotic scene, what mess can't be cleaned up? If Li Shiqun tries to interfere again, he'll be going against the Mei Agency." Lu Minghui tapped the table. "Big sister, a ruined place can be rebuilt. But if Li Shiqun comes to your door with the account books, you won't even have a chance to explain."

Leaning back slightly, he said, "Wu Sibao was working for Li Shiqun. Now that he's gone, many things are unclear."

She Aizhen didn't respond immediately. She took a cigarette from the pack, put it between her lips, but didn't light it.

"My men have all been evacuated, but what about the goods in the secret room?"

"Clear all the goods. Clear all the people out. Not even a dog left." Lu Minghui stared at her. "Sister, I'll trade four empty venues for your innocence. Li Shiqun can't find the accounts, and the Japanese will remember you for your assistance. You won't lose out on this deal."

She Aizhen stared at him, the cigarette in her mouth trembling twice.

"Okay." She slammed the ledger on the table. "I'll get everyone out of here before dark tonight. But—I don't want any accidents to happen."

"No, thank you, elder sister." Lu Minghui stood up.

In the afternoon, at the Confidential Office.

Lu Minghui sat at his desk, signing documents.

Gu Yunqiu pushed open the door and walked in, holding a staff schedule in her hand.

"Commander Lu, this is the duty roster for the guard battalion tonight. Please sign it."

Lu Minghui glanced at it, picked up the pen, and signed his name.

"Does Secretary Gu have any plans for tonight?" Lu Minghui asked casually.

"Organize the files." Gu Yunqiu put away the duty roster. "Commander Lu isn't staying at No. 76 tonight?"

"I have some personal business to attend to." Lu Minghui capped his pen. "Keep an eye on the confidential department tonight."

"Oh, right." Lu Minghui took out a telegram and handed it to Gu Yunqiu. "This is an intercepted, undeciphered coded telegram. Give it to Fu Yewen for filing."

The telegram contained exactly what he had agreed upon with Wang Puchen, concerning twenty chests of gold. It was a genuine telegram. However, its archiving required Fu Yewen's approval. What Fu Yewen would do after seeing the contents depended on his greed and whether he dared to be greedy.

Gu Yunqiu took the telegram, his gaze lingering on the paper for a moment longer, which had a hint of the Military Intelligence Bureau's style.

"it is good."

As she reached the door, she paused, touched the door frame lightly with her fingers, and then continued walking.

The door closed, and the footsteps faded into the distance.

Lu Minghui twisted the pen cap back on, placed it on the table, and his gaze fell on the door.

Evening, the back gate of No. 76.

Lu Minghui turned into the alleyway across the street. Before leaving, he stood at the second-floor window for two minutes, scanning every corner within thirty meters of the back door. There were no unfamiliar faces, no cars that shouldn't be parked there.

Old Zhao's rickshaw was parked in the shadows at the second intersection.

Lu Minghui hopped on the bike, leaning forward, one hand gripping the frame, the other reaching into the inside pocket of his trench coat to pull an envelope and slip it into a hidden compartment at the bottom of the handlebars. The movements were fluid, and from across the street, it looked like he was tying shoelaces.

"The plan and the structural diagram of the Mei Agency are all in there. Whether or not it will be done, you must let me know before 10 o'clock. At that time, I will park my car in the dark alley two blocks away from the Mei Agency leading to the French Concession."

Old Zhao didn't turn around, and his steps didn't change.

"clear."

"There's activity in four secret agencies in the French Concession tonight. Ono has taken the military police to stake them out. There might be a dark web deployed around the Mei Agency's vault." Lu Minghui lowered his voice, paused, and said, "Tell the family to be extremely cautious."

The rickshaw turned a corner, and Lu Minghui got off at the next intersection and walked into the tailor shop across the street.

The shop was piled with fabric and half-finished jackets. Lu Minghui pulled a canvas bag out from under the counter; it had been stored there yesterday.

Inside was a bundle of Japanese military police uniforms. He checked the buttons and collar insignia, tightened the bag, and handed it to the tailor's clerk, asking him to deliver it to the trunk of the Ford in the dark alley after dark.

He came out empty-handed ten minutes later.

Night falls. The lights of Shanghai begin to twinkle.

Near the four secret passages in the French Concession, Ono's platoon of military police was already in position. Machine guns were mounted on high ground, their muzzles pointed at the entrances of the alleyways.

Outside the underground vault of the Mei Agency.

Gu Yunqiu, dressed in a black trench coat, disappeared into the darkness across the street. In the alley behind her, thirty elite agents of the South Manchuria Railway Company lay in wait.

The rain has started again.

Lu Minghui sat in a Ford sedan, parked in a dark alley two blocks away from the Mei Agency.

He didn't turn on the light, and was fiddling with a pocket watch in his hand.

I looked up, towards the direction of the Mei Agency.

Only half of the visible sentries remain outside the vault. According to normal rotation logic, this shouldn't be reduced, unless someone has set up another layer of netting around the vault.

Gu Yunqiu said she would organize the files tonight.

The lights on the third-floor windows across the street from the vault went out once ten minutes ago and then came back on. That spot overlooks the entire street leading to the vault entrance.

This is the location he marked when he scouted the area in the evening.

Lu Minghui's gaze shifted downwards, landing at the entrance of the alleyway east of the vault. A van was parked there, its window half-open, letting the rain in without being closed. When he was scouting the location, he had walked past the back of that van; there were at least four people inside.

People from the South Manchuria Railway. This group belongs to Gu Yunqiu.

Further south, two people were squatting in front of a cigarette and paper shop on the street corner.

He glanced at her again as he passed by at dusk. It was a rainy February night; she was wearing only a thin shirt, neither seeking shelter from the rain nor lighting a fire.

wrong.

Gu Yunqiu's men were focused on the vault door and the surrounding streets. Their gaze wasn't on the vault itself, but on all living things approaching the area, including Gu Yunqiu's bread cart and the direction of the alley he was walking down.

There were at least two groups of sentries around the vault. One group was the South Manchuria Railway Action Team brought by Gu Yunqiu, acting on Nakajima's orders. The other group was positioned off-center, at a different angle; were they not guarding the vault, but rather a much larger network?

Is there another move Nakajima has made?

Or, it's not Nakajima.

Lu Minghui turned the pocket watch over, pressed his thumb against the back cover, and traced a circle with his fingernail along the edge.

He remembered the half-photograph Wang Pucheng had given him. A paper kite. A Kuomintang agent planted near No. 76. Wu Sibao found him, She Aizhen got half a face, and Wang Pucheng had the other half.

If the kite is still alive, will it be watching the vault from some corner tonight?

The car didn't move.

Rainwater streamed down the car window, casting streaks of light from the streetlights.

It's already ten o'clock. There should be some movement from Lao Zhao's side by now.

Lu Minghui looked back at his trunk, which contained a large bundle of Japanese military police uniforms.

At 10:00 AM sharp, the rain intensified.

The sound of rubber-soled shoes splashing through water echoed in the dark alley. Two light footsteps and one heavy one.

Old Zhao is here.

Lu Minghui rolled down the car window but didn't open the door. He reached under the seat with his right hand, pulled the lever, and the trunk latch snapped open.

"They're wearing military police uniforms inside." Lu Minghui's voice was muffled by the rain, and he spoke very quickly. "I'll pass the intelligence to the Military Intelligence Bureau later. They're going to storm the Mei Agency's vault tonight. Our men will change into human skin and wait until they're both badly injured before we break in under the guise of reinforcements."

Old Zhao moved swiftly, picked up the canvas bag, and slung it over his shoulder.

"Where's the car?" Lu Minghui asked.

"It was ready this afternoon. Two Type 94 tanks, hidden in the Hongkou warehouse. The license plates and paintwork are correct."

Lu Minghui nodded. The envelope he gave Lao Zhao that afternoon contained his detailed plan for tonight's operation. Lao Zhao never needed to explain things a second time.

"Remember, if the Military Intelligence Bureau doesn't move, we absolutely won't move. Don't be greedy for credit."

"Also," Lu Minghui added, "the collar insignia are the new style this year, and I've already sewn them on. Make sure no one wears them inside out. After the operation, regardless of success or failure, immediately arrange for the tailor shop owner to leave; he's the biggest weakness."

Old Zhao nodded, pulled his straw hat down, and turned to disappear into the rain.