Chapter 46: Kayo Kawano

As the two men lit their cigarettes with delight and smoked contentedly, Shi Xiaozhen rose and walked over to Li Wensheng, asking in a low voice, “Captain, are you worried the enemy might anticipate your intentions, so you’re avoiding the small town ahead?”

Li Wensheng looked at Shi Xiaozhen in surprise. He’d thought her abilities were average after she misguessed his plan earlier, but now he saw she had some insight after all.

“That’s right. We stayed less than half an hour in that abandoned house, and judging by the timing and the distance, the enemy must have come almost straight for us. The fact that we completed the mission means there’s no traitor among us, but their direct pursuit suggests there’s an expert among them. That’s cause for concern,” Li Wensheng said, his expression troubled.

“Captain, but hiding like this isn’t a solution. If we can’t find somewhere to settle tonight, things will only get worse,” Shi Xiaozhen said.

Li Wensheng understood her point—tonight the enemy was only searching the surroundings, but by tomorrow, there would be a citywide manhunt. Trying to find shelter then would be nearly impossible.

But there was no alternative. They couldn’t go to the residential area ahead; they’d left traces in the house, so that was where the enemy would search next. The surrounding terrain was nothing but wasteland or thickly wooded hills, and with Bai Yan’s blood left behind, the enemy would know someone was wounded and in need of treatment. They would certainly assume their quarry would head for the residential area.

When Li Wensheng remained silent, his face somber, Shi Xiaozhen whispered, “Captain, why not split into two groups? I’ll take Old Niu and the Gun Maniac to the residential area ahead.”

A flash of astonishment crossed Li Wensheng’s eyes. To lead a group forward now would be to act as bait, drawing the enemy away. For someone from the Military Bureau to risk their life for their comrades—such devotion was rare indeed.

“I admire your thinking, but you’d best not use such plans. There’s blood left in that house—the enemy knows someone is injured. If the three of you show yourselves, they’ll suspect you’re only trying to cover the others’ escape. They’ll lock down the entire area and search every inch, putting us all in greater danger.”

Shi Xiaozhen glanced back at Bai Yan, who was leaning against a tree, then turned again. “Captain, what should we do? Even without considering Bai Yan’s wounds, we have no food if we keep hiding like this.”

“For now, we stay put and see what the enemy does next. Then we’ll decide our next move,” Li Wensheng replied.

No sooner had he finished speaking than he noticed firelight moving in their direction. He quickly turned and ordered, “Old Niu, up the tree—keep watch and see if they’re trying to surround us!”

Knowing there was an expert on the enemy’s side, Li Wensheng dared not be careless. If that person guessed he was hiding in the hills and sent men to encircle them, they would all die here.

Though still exhausted, Old Niu nodded, got up, found a sturdy tree, and began to climb.

The firelight advanced rapidly, and before long, Li Wensheng saw a jeep and two trucks full of enemy soldiers barreling down the rutted road, with over a hundred puppet soldiers running alongside, their torches blazing.

With a sweeping glance, Li Wensheng shifted his gaze and warned the others, “Don’t stare at them!”

Everyone has a sixth sense—call it intuition. When someone stares too long, that intuition picks it up, and true experts trust their instincts.

The group was puzzled by his order, not understanding why he gave it. But Li Wensheng was their captain, and Shi Xiaozhen’s group knew he was the one who had attempted to assassinate Emperor Hirohito, and had led them in completing a nearly impossible mission. They asked no questions, simply obeyed and looked away.

...

In the jeep, Kawano Jiadai, seated in the back, wore a grave expression.

Li Wensheng had ordered Fang Daoguang’s four teams to fight for one minute and retreat, yet the losses were still heavy, and Lü Youchun had been wounded and captured.

Lü Youchun was a weakling—there was barely a need for torture. A few lashes from a whip and he confessed everything.

It was Kawano Jiadai himself who had interrogated Lü Youchun.

But Lü Youchun’s confession left Kawano Jiadai puzzled: why had Li Wensheng, the Military Bureau’s action team captain, deployed his men so widely? What was he trying to achieve?

Before he could reason it out, news came: there had been an explosion at the train station. Kato, in his desperation, left only two squads to guard the warehouse and sent everyone else to the station.

Something felt off at the time, but he couldn’t pinpoint what.

Only when news arrived that the warehouse had exploded did Kawano Jiadai realize Li Wensheng’s plan.

But instead of rushing to the warehouse, Kawano Jiadai took out a map.

He deduced Li Wensheng’s escape route would lead here, so he immediately summoned a squad of military police and puppet soldiers to give chase.

Though they’d found traces in the abandoned house, Kawano Jiadai felt no satisfaction.

Because Li Wensheng’s plan had revealed him as a top-tier operative—one ruthless enough to use his own men as bait.

Capturing such a man would be no easy feat.

With a sigh, Kawano Jiadai picked up the interrogation record from questioning Lü Youchun, searching for any overlooked detail, any flaw in Li Wensheng’s plan.

Normally, such records would never be taken out, but within the Tokko Section, Mura Nakayuki had entrusted Kawano Jiadai with complete authority.

Once he realized Li Wensheng was a top agent, Kawano Jiadai kept the record close, reviewing it whenever he had a moment.

He leafed through the pages, but found nothing he’d missed. Frustrated, he set the record aside.

The next moment, his eyes widened. He snatched the interrogation record back up.

Upon seeing Lü Youchun’s description of Li Wensheng’s appearance, Kawano Jiadai burst out in fury, cursing aloud.

“Captain!” The driver immediately stopped the car and turned to look at him.

“Keep driving!” Kawano Jiadai said through gritted teeth, forcing down his rage.

The driver turned away and continued on.

Clutching the record so tightly his veins bulged, Kawano Jiadai muttered, “Li Wensheng, I will find you. I will avenge Naoko.”

Just now, he suddenly realized that the features Lü Youchun described matched those of the suspect he’d been pursuing.

When he investigated the murder of Naoko Koyanagi, the puppet police and gendarmes reported that, in those days, there was a supposed countryman going around slapping people at the slightest provocation.

Not willing to overlook any possibility, Kawano Jiadai had questioned the puppet police and gendarmes about the man’s appearance.

He’d been ecstatic at the time.

Because the description closely matched that of a man seen near the site of Naoko Koyanagi’s murder, as reported by local residents who’d passed by during that time frame.

He’d concluded then that this man was the killer of Naoko Koyanagi, and also a fake countryman.

Unfortunately, that man had since vanished without a trace.

Earlier, as Lü Youchun described Li Wensheng’s features, Kawano Jiadai had been focused solely on why Li Wensheng had deployed his men so widely, and failed to pay attention to the description. Only now did it hit him—Li Wensheng was the one who killed Naoko Koyanagi.

In other words, when Li Wensheng first arrived in Jinling and went to Fenghua Restaurant Street, he had disguised himself; otherwise, Kawano Jiadai would have discovered sooner that the killer of Naoko Koyanagi was the very captain of the Jinling Station Action Team.

It was only because his rage at Naoko Koyanagi’s death clouded his judgment that he had not seen the truth sooner.

Had he kept his composure, he might have wondered why Li Wensheng had suddenly killed Naoko Koyanagi. Li Wensheng had changed his appearance—Naoko Koyanagi could not possibly have recognized him. So why did he kill her?

If only Kawano Jiadai had been a little calmer, he might have followed this line of reasoning and uncovered that Li Wensheng was, in fact, the demon who had attempted to assassinate Hirohito.