Chapter 150: The Unlucky Bastard

Inside the photo studio, gunshots were still ringing out.

Li Wensheng walked quickly to the window, glanced inside, and seeing that the first floor was empty, hurried to the main entrance and stepped into the studio.

Arriving at the second floor, Li Wensheng saw bodies and bullet holes scattered all over the corridor. Deepest inside, three men were pressed against a doorway, using the wall as cover to exchange gunfire with someone inside the room.

Bang, bang, bang.

After eliminating the three men with three shots, Li Wensheng immediately strode toward the innermost part.

Just as he neared the doorway of the innermost room, Li Wensheng suddenly spun around.

The moment he turned, he saw a man in his forties standing by the doorway of the room to his rear left, aiming a gun directly at him.

In a split second—Bang!

Without a second thought, Li Wensheng jerked his head sideways, dodging the bullet.

They say if your reaction speed is fast enough, tilting your head can dodge a bullet.

That is true only when the muzzle is extremely close to your head, when you know the gun is aimed right at your skull, and you know which way to dodge.

With a distance of several meters separating them, how could Li Wensheng possibly know whether the bullet was aimed at his head rather than some other part of his body?

Sifa Ren was struck with utter disbelief. For a fleeting moment of shock, he intended to continue firing, but Li Wensheng was faster—Bang!

Without waiting for Sifa Ren to hit the floor, Li Wensheng turned and walked toward the innermost room.

Inside the room, several corpses lay near the doorway. The desks, chairs, and walls were riddled with bullet holes, especially the overturned desk, which looked almost like a sieve.

Scanning the room, Li Wensheng's gaze landed on Shi Xiaozhen and the other four, who were stepping out from behind various tables and chairs.

Aside from Scholar, every single one of Shi Xiaozhen's group was injured.

However, Bai Yan's wounds were the most severe. While the others only had a single gunshot wound, she had three.

This led Li Wensheng to conclude that Bai Yan was simply a creature of misfortune. Back when they blew up the Japanese warehouse in Jinling, she was the only one injured; this time, she was wounded the worst. If she wasn't jinxed, what was she?

"Section Chief," Bai Yan looked at Li Wensheng, suppressing her overwhelming emotion as she called out.

"Can you walk?"

"I can," Bai Yan replied, full of confidence.

Seeing Li Wensheng turn to head outside, she quickly hissed in a low voice to Scholar, "Come here and give me a hand."

Bai Yan had taken a bullet in her right leg, and simply standing made her whole body tremble with pain. If she tried to walk on her own, the agony would surely kill her.

Having just spoken with such absolute certainty, only to immediately demand assistance, Scholar rolled his eyes, holstered his pistol, and stepped forward to support Bai Yan.

Emerging from the photo studio, Li Wensheng glanced left and right. Seeing no one lurking in the shadows to watch them, he led Shi Xiaozhen and the other five quickly down a secluded alley and back to his home.

Upon returning home, Li Wensheng dragged a burlap sack out from under the bed. Opening it, he hauled out the still-unconscious Hines and removed the clothing that had been packed around the sides of the sack.

"Change into these clothes. I'll take you to see a doctor shortly."

With that, Li Wensheng left the room, hurried back to the bakery, and hauled the still-dazed Feng Jingyun back to the previous alley.

Pulling a burlap sack out from beneath the rotting wooden table and chairs, he knocked Feng Jingyun unconscious, stuffed him inside, took off his raincoat and rainboots, removed his mask and bag, stored them in his system space, and then hoisted the sack onto his shoulder to carry home.

When he returned, the five of them had already changed their clothes. Li Wensheng shoved the sack containing Feng Jingyun back beneath the bed and led the five of them outside.

Taking a left turn from the corner of the alley right outside their door, they headed down the main avenue in the direction opposite the Star Newspaper Office. After walking a few paces, Li Wensheng asked in a low voice, "Tell me, how did you end up in Shanghai? And who were those people just now?"

Walking side by side with him, Shi Xiaozhen replied in a low voice, "We were sent to Shanghai to assist in capturing you, Section Chief. Those people were the ones tasked with your arrest."

Li Wensheng was deeply surprised. To capture him—meaning those people belonged to the Political Department? Were the methods of the Political Department truly this ruthless? They slaughtered ordinary citizens without a second thought!

Chen Wenqi had long since told him that the Political Department was coming to Shanghai to capture him, but he hadn't taken it seriously at the time.

Yet now, having witnessed the ruthless methods of the Political Department, a sudden thought popped into his mind: could the person who shot at his back outside the International Settlement police station back then have been an agent from the Political Department?

"Then why did you end up in a firefight with them?
Even if you didn't want to capture me, you could have just gone through the motions without putting in any real effort. There was no need to exchange gunfire with them.
By opening fire like that, you are considered traitors by the Nationalist Party now."

Although he was close with Shi Xiaozhen and the others, Li Wensheng certainly did not believe that their personal bond was strong enough to make them betray the Nationalist Party.

Shi Xiaozhen sighed and said helplessly, "We were sent here to act as cannon fodder—either die under your gun, Section Chief, or succeed in capturing you.
But the moment we succeeded in capturing you would also be the hour of our death.
Aside from becoming traitors, we had only a dead end ahead of us."

"Section Chief, this isn't your fault. No matter what you do, from the day we found out your identity, it was already determined that the higher-ups would move against us sooner or later."

Hearing the voice suddenly come from behind, Li Wensheng glanced back at Bai Yan, who was being supported by Scholar.

These words sounded like they were addressed to him, but in reality, they were spoken to everyone present.

Li Wensheng instantly grasped the underlying meaning.

Even if he loyally defected to the Nationalist Party, even if he amassed countless achievements, given his reputation among the common people, it was predetermined that the Nationalist Party could never publicize his true identity—and if they ever did, it would only be after he was dead.

Consequently, anyone who knew his true identity was destined for a dead end.

After that, Li Wensheng said nothing more, and Shi Xiaozhen's group remained silent as well.

Reaching the street, they hailed six rickshaws and rode them to the vicinity of the safehouse.

Yesterday morning, after the Star Newspaper published the news that the Lone Hero intended to kidnap Hines at noon, the police department had ordered the constables patrolling the safehouse district to scatter across the entire French Concession and conduct extensive searches.

With no police patrolling this area at the moment, even though Shi Xiaozhen and the others walked with somewhat awkward gaits due to their injuries, they made it safely without incident.

Arriving at the safehouse, Li Wensheng saw that the front door was wide open and walked straight inside.

As soon as he entered, he saw Wang Tianfeng emerging from a side bedroom.

Li Wensheng's disguise technique was so flawless that Wang Tianfeng almost failed to recognize him. Just as he was about to ask, "Who are you?", he finally discerned it was Li Wensheng through his posture and physique.

Recognizing him, Wang Tianfeng swept a glance over Shi Xiaozhen and the other five, then turned and walked back into his room.

Seeing this, Li Wensheng led the five of them directly toward the main hall.

Moving the wooden washstand aside, he revealed the hidden passage, and under the astonished gazes of Shi Xiaozhen and the others, Li Wensheng took the lead and stepped inside.

Taking down an oil lamp hanging from the nearby wall, he lit it, closed the entrance to the hidden passage, and led the way forward.

Anyone would be astonished to see a secret passage built like a labyrinth.

After a short while, as they rounded a corner, Bai Yan—the most hot-tempered of the five—could no longer hold back.

"Section Chief, is this a maze?"

"This is a secret passage. On the other side of this passage is a doctor. Once we get there, don't ask too many questions."

A secret passage—this labyrinth was actually a secret passage! The mouths of all five dropped open in astonishment.

Recovering from her shock, Bai Yan asked again, "Section Chief, that person in the house just now—did you find him to keep watch?"

"No, he's staying here temporarily and will be moving away soon."

Li Wensheng's answer only made Bai Yan even more curious. Who on earth was that person?

From that person's posture and gait, it was evident he was a professionally trained soldier.

Yet Li Wensheng had allowed this person to temporarily stay in the secret rooms, meaning he must trust him implicitly.

However, she had long since memorized Li Wensheng's background dossier inside and out.

Aside from a few friends in the Military Intelligence training camp, the only other military personnel he knew were the five of them.

That man's age was clearly much older than Li Wensheng's; he couldn't possibly be a classmate from the training camp.

Curiosity burned within her, but Li Wensheng's previous reply clearly indicated he had no intention of revealing the man's identity, so she very sensibly refrained from asking further.