cicada

Chapter 1415 Intelligence and Foolishness

The previous evening, Tong Suo and Wu Sibao walked side by side in the alley, followed by a group of agents from the 76th Division. Upon seeing this, the surrounding residents quickly closed their doors and windows, afraid of getting their hands dirty with this bunch of stinking dogs.

"Quickly, begin the search!"

Wu Sibao gave a shout, and the secret agents smashed open door after door to inspect the residences, instantly turning the alley into chaos.

The cries of women, the shouts of children, the pleas of men, and the barking of dogs made the alleyway incredibly noisy.

Copper Lock leaned against the wall, a cigarette dangling from his lips, looking as if he hadn't woken up properly. He had no intention of stopping the farce unfolding around him.

Why did the No. 76 agent become a traitor? Wasn't it all for money? Blocking someone's path to wealth is like killing their parents. Tong Suo didn't want to become a public enemy, as that would be detrimental to the mission.

More than ten minutes later, a junior agent ran up to report to the two: "Captain, Director Ji, there are no suspicious circumstances."

“Okay.” Wu Sibao looked at Tong Suo: “Dawei, shall we go and take a look? In case the younger ones make a mistake, it will implicate you and me.”

Tong Suo spat out his cigarette butt, muttered "Let's go," and walked towards a Shikumen house. As he passed the little spy, he pointed to the man's pocket.

The little spy looked down and found several banknotes sticking out of his pocket. These were obviously the bribes he had taken during the search. Wu Sibao glared at the man and jogged after him.

Tong Suo was the director of the 76th Inspection Office, responsible for discipline. The junior agent immediately broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly stuffed the money back into his pocket.

Meanwhile, Tong Suo and Wu Sibao walked around the alley and found nothing suspicious. The residents were all clean and had no connection with the assassin.

The situation changed when the two arrived at a house at the end of the alley.

"Let me go! What do you want?!"

A student-looking man was pinned against the wall by a junior agent, but he still raised his head and shouted. Wu Sibao, who had just entered, frowned and asked what was going on.

"Captain, the brothers only took some evidence, and this little bastard is swearing at us." Someone stepped forward and answered in a low voice.

Meanwhile, Tong Suo had already looked at the first floor. The furnishings of this room were similar to those of a typical Shanghai family: an eight-immortal table, a chair with a backrest, and a clock. The only difference was the addition of a bookcase.

He strolled slowly to the bookshelf, picked up a book that had been thrown on the floor, and flipped through it. There was no prohibited content in the book. Just as he was about to put the book back, he caught a glimpse of a photo frame and the photo inside.

[Group photo of Chinese high school graduates], the photo has this line of large text printed at the top, the text is normal, what is abnormal is the people in the photo.

If Tong Suo remembers correctly, the fifth female student from the left in the second row of the group photo is Li Shiqun's new lover, who was also at the assassination scene yesterday.

Even more coincidentally, the young man pinned against the wall by the secret agents and the assassin who had recently shot him and Wu Sibao were also among them, suggesting that they were classmates from the same school.

Looking closer, Tong Suo realized that the woman standing to the right of Li Shiqun's lover was none other than the female student who had died at Wu Sibao's hands.

The assassinations of him, Wu Sibao, and Li Shiqun were all acts of revenge by these students. The inside man was Li Shiqun's lover, which explains why the assassins were able to track their movements.

Copper Lock casually flipped the photo frame upside down onto the bookcase, pretending he hadn't seen anything. His inner emotions were somewhat complicated, or rather, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

You could call these students stupid, but the enemy knew to send someone as an inside agent, knew to disguise themselves during the assassination, and acted swiftly and decisively, striking and leaving without lingering.

You could say they were clever, but after the assassination, they simply left the group photo at home, as if they were afraid the enemy wouldn't see it.

Shaking his head helplessly, Tong Suo went up the stairs to the second floor. When he reached the balcony, he sniffed and smelled a faint gunpowder scent wafting from above.

"Sigh," Tong Suo sighed, turning his head to look at the roof. There were several tiles there that looked like they had been moved, and that was where the smell of gunpowder was coming from.

After thinking for a moment, he took out a cigarette, lit it, took a few deep drags, and exhaled, using the smoke to mask the smell of gunpowder.

A few minutes later, Tong Suo reappeared in the first-floor living room, nodded slightly to Wu Sibao, indicating that everything was normal upstairs.

Wu Sibao never thought a student council member would be connected to an assassin. After receiving Tong Suo's hint, he raised his hand and slapped the young man on the back of the head, intending to say something harsh and leave. Unexpectedly, the young man started shouting after being hit.

"What right do you have to hit me? I know someone from your Li family."

"Snapped!"

Tong Suo slapped the young man hard across the face. If he hadn't stopped him, the young man might have revealed his identity and said that he knew Li Shiqun's lover.

If that were the case, even the dumbest Wu Sibao would realize something was wrong. Thinking of this, Tong Suo continued slapping the young man a few more times.

"Damn it, it doesn't matter who you know. I'm Ji Dawei from No. 76. If you want revenge, have your backer come to me."

Seeing the young man's face covered in blood from being slapped, Wu Sibao, instead of being a good Samaritan, quickly stopped Tong Suo and, with a smile, pulled him outside.

"Alright, alright, Dawei, why are you so angry today? Did Miss Ava not serve you well?" Wu Sibao said as he walked, winking and making faces. He also mentioned the Argentinian dancer they met on the day of the assassination attempt. His face was full of lewdness, which made Tongsuo feel disgusted.

Tong Suo forcefully shook off Wu Sibao's hand, staring intently at the traitorous dog: "Captain Wu, what do you mean? Are you spying on me?"

"Oh, don't be angry, it's the rule, there's nothing I can do about it," Wu Sibao explained with a smile.

The two walked away slowly, arm in arm, as the setting sun sank below the horizon. The search within the encirclement continued, but the agents found nothing.

The next morning, a weary-looking Tong Suo and Wu Sibao reported the progress of the operation to Li Shiqun. Upon hearing that the assassin had vanished without a trace, Li Shiqun pondered for a long time with a dark expression.

Suddenly, he looked up sharply and asked, "Tell me, were there any oversights in the search?"

Tong Suo paused for a moment, then replied, "There shouldn't be any. The brothers have searched all the houses, shops, factories, and even Japanese territory."

Li Shiqun narrowed his eyes and shook his head slightly: "No, there's still one place we haven't searched."

Wu Sibao seemed to have thought of something and slapped his forehead: "Police station! We didn't search the police station, so the assassin might deliberately commit a crime to avoid being arrested and searched."

"Yes! Let's go to the Japanese police station near the scene of the incident right away. If the assassin really did this, he must not be an ordinary person."

Li Shiqun walked quickly outside, muttering his speculations. The assassin's psychological qualities were clearly extraordinary, and he seemed to be a professional agent, daring to use the police as cover after committing the crime.

Right now, the people who want him dead the most are the Military Intelligence Bureau. If the assassin is a member of the Military Intelligence Bureau, the 76th Division might be able to catch them by this opportunity. Li Shiqun became more and more excited as he thought about it, and ran towards the car.

Soon, a group of secret agents arrived at the scene. Li Shiqun did not go directly to the police station, but instead found patrol officers on the nearby streets and asked them one by one if any unfamiliar faces had appeared the day before.

When asked, Watanabe hesitated for a moment before revealing the name of the bald thief who dared to look him in the eye. Tongsuo, standing nearby, felt a jolt of fear.

Bald, tall, and fierce-looking—these features reminded Tong Suo of someone: his action instructor, Gui Youguang.

As he was thinking, Watanabe inadvertently looked up and happened to see the bald man walking towards him, and their eyes met once again.

"Suspect!"

Following the direction Watanabe pointed, Tong Suo saw a familiar figure. Before Li Shiqun and the others could react, Gui Youguang turned and ran, and the traitors chased after him in a swarm.

And so, Gui Youguang ran ahead, and a group of people chased after him, causing chaos in the streets. The chase didn't end until they reached the banks of the Suzhou River.

Looking at the bald man standing at the intersection, Tong Suo bit his lip tightly, and the salty blood instantly rushed into his mouth. He took a few steps forward and quietly moved closer to Li Shiqun.

With so many spies pursuing him, Gui Youguang had little chance of escaping. Even jumping into the river wouldn't work, as a person's speed in water is far slower than their running speed.

In this situation, there is only one way to help Gui Youguang escape: to take Li Shiqun hostage. However, that would inevitably expose him, leaving Tong Suo in a dilemma.

On one hand, there was the co-pilot's entrustment and mission; on the other hand, there was the life of his comrade. He felt lost and didn't know what to do.

Gui Youguang saw the copper lock in the crowd and guessed what the other person was thinking. He shook his head almost imperceptibly, then glanced at the houses and shops on both sides of the road.

Perhaps fearing being caught in the crossfire, residents closed their doors or boarded up their windows, and in a short time, the street became deserted.

Not all residents were so cold-blooded. Someone secretly opened the wooden door a crack, but Gui Youguang didn't want to implicate innocent people, and besides, things hadn't reached the worst point yet.

"Caught alive!"

Li Shiqun was so excited that his voice changed, sounding like a chick being choked. The agents from No. 76 immediately blocked the road and surrounded him with sinister smiles.

On the Suzhou River, several small boats were traveling in opposite directions on both sides. Just as the boats were converging, Gui Youguang moved.

He took a step forward, sprinted down the riverbank, lightly touched the awning of the first boat with his toes, and then jumped towards the second boat with outstretched arms, causing the onlookers to gasp in surprise.

The boatman on the boat stared wide-eyed at the sky, only to see Gui Youguang stretch out like an eagle hunting its prey, using the awning as leverage to jump onto the third boat, then the fourth, and the fifth.

In the blink of an eye, he had reached the other side, and with a final roll and crawl, he rushed into the nearest alley.

The traitor from No. 76 was stunned by this scene and even forgot to fire his gun. He remained frozen for a long time before Li Shiqun was the first to react.

"What are you standing there for! Go after them!!!"

Li Shiqun's eyes were bloodshot as he brandished his pistol. The duck that was about to be caught had flown away, and in front of so many people no less. If he couldn't catch the suspect, he, Li, would become the biggest laughingstock.

(End of this chapter)