Chapter 52: Return to Headquarters

At ten fifty in the evening, the sky was pitch black and the streets deserted.

Li Wensheng, carrying a suitcase with Bai Yan at his side, quietly descended the stairs in the darkness and arrived at the entrance of River Alley.

After waiting at the entrance for two minutes, a truck pulled up. “Get in the back,” called the driver, poking his head out and waving.

Li Wensheng and Bai Yan quickly walked over and climbed into the cargo compartment covered by oilcloth. Inside, there were more than a dozen crates; they found a corner and crouched down.

Soon after, the truck reached a checkpoint. The driver stepped out, handed a pass and a few military currency notes to the sleepy occupying soldiers.

This truck belonged to the Fulong Trading Company, transporting smuggled goods. In occupied territory, smuggling required cooperation with the enemy to obtain passes.

Previously, when Kato was in charge, the lower-ranking enemy officers—even when colluding with trading companies—dared not be too brazen. But after Kato left for the front due to the warehouse explosion, Major Takeda temporarily took over the military police. Takeda, too, loved money, and uncertain of when the Army Headquarters would appoint a new commander, he wasted no time. On the day Kato left, he contacted several trading companies for large-scale smuggling, and Fulong Trading Company was among them.

These days, several smuggling trucks passed through the checkpoints daily, to the point where the occupying soldiers were unfazed. They even grew lazy, barely bothering to check the vehicles; a little money from the driver sufficed for a couple of questions.

Along the way, they encountered several checkpoints, but with passes and military currency, not a single soldier checked the cargo compartment.

A little past midnight, the truck stopped by a riverside.

“We’re here,” the driver called from behind after getting out.

Li Wensheng and Bai Yan quickly disembarked.

“Captain, walk about a hundred meters this way. Someone’s waiting for you,” the driver whispered, pointing toward the woods on the left.

Li Wensheng nodded, picked up the suitcase, and walked with Bai Yan toward the woods.

After advancing a few dozen meters in the dark, Li Wensheng saw a shadow by the river—a small boat by its shape.

As they approached, a man in his forties disembarked.

“Captain, please board,” he said respectfully.

Li Wensheng and Bai Yan boarded the boat, and the man took up the pole, pushing them across the river.

This river was called Chu River; the far bank was Chuzhou.

This stretch was the narrowest part of Chu River, less than a hundred meters wide.

Soon, the boat reached the opposite bank, where someone awaited Li Wensheng and Bai Yan. Their contact was Shi Xiaozhen and a few others, who had been escorted out of the city days earlier by Yu Jiarong.

“Captain!” Shi Xiaozhen called out with a smile.

“Mm, let’s hurry. We’ll travel through the night.”

Although they had left Jinling, Chuzhou was also occupied territory, and no one had arranged identities for them yet. Li Wensheng dared not linger.

Shi Xiaozhen turned and called to Gun Fan, “Gun Fan, lead the way.”

Guided by Gun Fan, they moved stealthily through the woods and onto a dirt path, then turned left.

After some distance, Shi Xiaozhen called to Old Ox behind him, “Old Ox, the suitcase.”

“Captain, Deputy Yu sold that box of medicine and entrusted us to deliver your share,” Old Ox said as he handed the suitcase to Li Wensheng.

Li Wensheng took the suitcase and asked, “Have you all divided it up?”

“We have. Deputy Yu also prepared Bai Yan’s share,” Shi Xiaozhen replied, pulling a small gold bar from his pocket and handing it to Bai Yan.

Bai Yan accepted it without ceremony, slipping it into his pocket.

Shi Xiaozhen and his companions had arrived in Chuzhou two days earlier, memorizing the local map. Li Wensheng’s landing point was in the rural part of Chuzhou.

Deliberately avoiding towns, they traveled safely through the night.

Finding a hillside, they sat to rest and ate some of the dry rations Shi Xiaozhen’s group had prepared. Li Wensheng stood and said, “Let’s go, we must leave occupied territory as soon as possible.”

Over the next half month, Li Wensheng’s group skirted towns, resting only four or five hours a day.

When their rations ran out, Big Ox would venture alone into nearby towns to buy more.

By the time they left occupied territory, they were nearly wild men.

After resting for two days in a town and cleaning themselves up, they set off again.

The journey became easier, and within a week they reached Mountain City.

Upon entering Mountain City, Li Wensheng asked, “Do you want to return home first?”

Seeing Shi Xiaozhen and the others shake their heads, he continued, “Let’s find an inn for the night, settle our things, and visit headquarters tomorrow.”

They found lodging in Yuzhong and, the next day, headed for the Bureau of Military Intelligence headquarters.

Li Wensheng had visited the headquarters before with Wang Tianfeng and others; even then, it was already much larger than before.

Now, the headquarters was more impressive than ever, with streams of people coming and going, and the courtyard filled with cars and trucks as far as the eye could see.

None of them carried officer identification; Shi Xiaozhen’s group had left their documents at home before heading to Jinling. Li Wensheng’s own had been burned back in Shanghai.

Carrying Bureau credentials while working in occupied territory was tantamount to courting death.

Thus, they were stopped at the gate by security.

Without meeting anyone familiar, Li Wensheng asked security to fetch Dai Yunong.

“You want to see the Director? Are you daydreaming? If you name someone else, I might find them for you,” the security captain said, astonished.

“If I’m an imposter, you’ll be scolded by the Director at worst; but if I’m real and you delay important matters, it’ll cost you your head. So, brother, how do you choose?” Li Wensheng replied with a smile.

The captain’s gaze flickered. “Name?”

“Li Wensheng.”

The captain turned to his men. “Watch them closely. Don’t let them leave.”

He then rushed inside.

There were many people coming and going at the Bureau, and Li Wensheng’s exchange with the captain was not private; passersby overheard.

They glanced frequently at Li Wensheng’s group, whispering among themselves.

“Have you seen them before?”

“No, but judging from this, they must be Bureau people.”

“I think so too. Probably just returned from a critical mission, otherwise they wouldn’t be without credentials.”

...

...

Not long after, before the captain returned, Li Wensheng’s group entered the Bureau, thanks to Zheng Yaoxian.

Zheng Yaoxian drove up to the gate, stopped, and teased Li Wensheng, “Oh, you’re back! Why are you standing outside instead of going in? The boss wants to see you. Just a few days ago, he was telling us that the younger generation in the Bureau was rising—brought dozens of men and blew up the enemy’s logistics warehouse in Jinling.”

“Sixth Brother, I’d love to see the Director, but we have no credentials and are waiting for security to relay our message.”

“Relay, my foot. Come on, I’ll take you in.”

With Zheng Yaoxian vouching for them, security dared not protest, and could only watch as Li Wensheng followed Zheng’s car inside.