Spy wars start with lurking Secretary Hong

Chapter 453 The Missing Gu Qiuyan
Guo Bing stared wide-eyed, carefully examining the T-shaped antenna hanging from the tree branch.

"Third Brother! Fifth Brother! Come quick, there's a problem here!"

His voice sounded particularly jarring in the silent, snowy forest.

Zhou Yi gripped his pistol tightly, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Gu Qiuyan shrank behind him, her heart pounding in her throat.

"Don't panic, I'll go around it."

Zhou Yi muttered something to himself and quietly went around behind the rock.

"What's going on?" asked the soldier known as Third Brother.

"Damn it, we encountered a ghost while hiking in the mountains." Soldier A pointed to the antenna on the tree.

The three quickly located the radio. "The machine is still on, so the person must be nearby. Search!"

As the three men bent down to examine the footprints in the snow, Zhou Yi, who had moved to the other side, suddenly fired a shot.

boom!boom!
The crisp sound of gunshots echoed through the snowy forest.

Two soldiers were shot in the chest and fell to the ground in the snow, their blood quickly staining the white snow red.

"There's an ambush!" The soldier called Brother Shan was so scared that his soul almost left his body, and he turned around and ran into the depths of the forest.

"Qiuyan, are you alright?" Zhou Yi quickly took two steps and turned back.

"I'm fine," Gu Qiuyan said.

"Take the radio and hurry back to the car to wait for me." Zhou Yi turned and left.

"Stop chasing them, their men are almost here," Gu Qiuyan said worriedly, hearing faint shouts coming from the woods.

"He saw me."

Zhou Yi's face turned ashen. "Get out of here!"

After saying that, he took off chasing after "Third Brother" in the direction he had fled.

Gu Qiuyan looked at the two corpses, her legs went weak. But when she thought of Comrade Stalin's safety, she gritted her teeth, knelt down in the snow, and started typing quickly and efficiently on the keyboard.

Drip!

Drip!

After sending the last word, she took off her headphones and quickly packed up the transmitter.

However, this delay allowed another group of national soldiers to catch up.

Gu Qiuyan's heart sank, and she struggled to carry the transmitter to the other side.

"It's right ahead! I see a figure!"

"Don't let her get away!"

Gu Qiuyan ran desperately, but her pregnant body and the radio transmitter soon made her feel exhausted.

Her breathing became rapid, and her legs felt increasingly heavy.

She slid down a ravine, simply covered the transmitter with snow, and then fled to the other side, but unexpectedly slipped and fell into a deeper cliff.

……

Zhou Yi emerged from the other side of the woods.

He was panting heavily, and his arm was burning with pain.

During the pursuit, he was injured in the arm by shrapnel from a Nationalist soldier's grenade.

He quickly walked to the car.

"Qiuyan!"

As soon as I opened the car door, the car was empty.

Zhou Yi's heart sank to the bottom.

In the distance, the shouts of the Nationalist soldiers and the barking of dogs grew closer and closer.

Zhou Yi didn't have time to think. He rummaged through the trunk and pulled out a rubber tube for stopping bleeding. He tied it tightly above his left arm and then quickly put on a large police coat to cover up his injured arm and the blood that was seeping out.

He started the car and slammed on the gas, the wheels kicking up snow and speeding out of the forest path.

As soon as he stepped onto the main road, a squad of heavily armed Nationalist soldiers stopped him.

"What happened?"

He showed his identification.

The squad leader of the Nationalist soldiers sized him up, then looked into the depths of the forest: "Sir, the men of the first company just got into a firefight in the mountains."

"Where are your people? How long will it take to search such a small group?" Zhou Yi asked, frowning.

"Battalion Commander Hao is leading a large team this way."

Just then, several police cars arrived with sirens blaring, along with military police trucks. A group of Japanese soldiers joined the search, including two specially trained German police dogs.

Zhou Yi secretly groaned.

With such a tight net, Qiu Yan... is probably doomed.

……

Meanwhile, a black sedan was steadily driving towards Laotuo Mountain.

Inside the car, Gao Bin slowly wiped his pipe, glancing at Hong Zhiyou, who sat next to him with bloodshot eyes and a tired look on his face.

“Zhiyou, young people should know how to exercise restraint.”

Gao Bin's voice was indifferent, "Look at how listless you are. Anyone who didn't know better would think you spent the whole night fighting with red tickets."

"Uncle, I'm doing this for the sake of continuing the Gao family line."

Hong Zhiyou yawned.

"Alright, stop with that."

“That woman is a bandit. It’s hard to keep a woman like that around. And if Shibuya Saburo finds out, who knows what he might do,” Gao Bin sneered.

Sure enough, there's nothing in Harbin that Uncle doesn't know.

"She's healthy and strong, she's definitely able to have children, and she's not Japanese."

“My main goal is to have my own force. We need people to handle the mountain goods and the gold mines. Seeking help from others is just a side thing,” Hong Zhiyou said with a smile.

"I can't be bothered with your business. Better safe than sorry."

Gao Bin lit his pipe, took a deep drag, and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.
"The Japanese suddenly imposed martial law on the whole city, cut off the telephone lines, and now they're making such a big commotion in the mountains. There must be some red-tickets defying the law."

"Why does it have to be a red ticket? Can't it be from someone in the Military Intelligence Bureau?" Hong Zhiyou asked with a smile.

Gao Bin scoffed dismissively: "Military Intelligence Bureau?"
"Before the Japanese came, they at least ate government stipends for a few years."

"These shrewd people wouldn't risk their lives."

“Uncle, you’ve really figured them out.” Hong Zhiyou agreed verbally, but his heart was ice-cold.

In "The Cliff," Zhou Yi and Gu Qiuyan were trapped while sending a telegram at Laotuo Mountain. Gu Qiuyan tumbled off the cliff and barely survived.

The current situation is even more intense than in the drama, with not only national soldiers but also the National Police Agency and the Military Police involved. The situation is probably not good.

……

The car arrived at the blockade at the foot of the mountain, where Lu Ming and Liu Kui were talking to Zhou Yi.

Upon seeing Gao Bin and Hong Zhi get out of the car, the group immediately came to greet them.

"Senior!"

Gao Bin nodded, his gaze sweeping across the scene before finally settling on Zhou Yi's pale face: "What's going on?"

"Reporting to the section chief!"

Lu Ming quickly answered, "Traces of a firefight were found at the scene. Three people died, all of them Nationalist soldiers from the Third Battalion."

"We also found this, a woman's headscarf, and a radio transmitter that was still intact."

He paused, then continued, "Judging from the traces of the chase at the scene, it doesn't seem like it was done by a woman. I suspect there was at least one other person at the scene besides the radio operator."

"The soldiers are chasing that woman; we have no other leads," Zhou Yi added.

Gao Bin sneered, glancing around at the dark forest. "The people are definitely still in the mountains. Seal off the mountain! Not a single bird can fly out!"

He waved his hand, and immediately a policeman next to him ordered a wolfhound to sniff the headscarf.

The two German police dogs sniffed the air, then immediately began barking excitedly and chased after it in one direction.

Zhou Yi stood aside, the feeling of his clothes being soaked with blood was awful.

A drop of blood silently seeped from Zhou Yi's sleeve, dripping down the edge of his leather glove onto the snow.

That touch of crimson, against the vast expanse of white snow, was like the mark of death.

Fortunately, everyone's attention was drawn away by the police dogs.

Hong Zhiyou took a step forward imperceptibly, lightly pressing his toe against the snow, covering the drop of blood with the fresh snow.

Zhou Yi's face grew increasingly pale.

Fortunately, he had been looking sickly lately, so his paleness at this moment did not arouse suspicion from others.

"Old Zhou, let's go take a look over there."

Hong Zhi called him aside.

"Can we still hold on?" Hong Zhiyou knew that bad things never missed out in the plot.

"I'm fine, but your sister-in-law is in danger."

Zhou Yi's voice was hoarse and desperate, "We've separated. She's pregnant and can't walk fast; the wolfhounds will be able to track her down soon."

……

At the bottom of the ditch, Gu Qiuyan heard frantic barking from afar, growing louder as it approached.

She knew that her chances of survival were slim.

The excruciating pain and cold made her tremble all over, but her eyes shone with the determination and madness of a mother wolf driven to the brink of despair.

She leaned against the cold mountain wall crevice, trying to hide her figure with the snow and rocks.

She pulled out the grenade she had taken from the corpse of a Nationalist soldier, gripped it tightly in her hand, and felt a sharp pain in her palm from the cold metal casing.

"That woman looks like she fell!"

Shouts from the Nationalist soldiers echoed from the ditch.

"That's fucking deep, how could anyone survive falling in?"

"Who knows? The Japanese are stubborn; they want to see the person alive or dead."

"Go down and take a look?"

A soldier tentatively climbed down a few steps, but slipped and almost fell, so he quickly pulled back down in fright.

"No, no, this slope is too steep, it's like a knife cut, I'll fall and die!"

"Then what should we do? Go around to the bottom of the mountain?"

"It'll be dark by the time we get going around in that direction!"

"Never mind, let's ask the battalion commander first."

After discussing it for a long time, the soldiers still chickened out.

As the footsteps and barking faded into the distance, Gu Qiuyan's tense nerves finally relaxed, and she felt almost completely exhausted.

She rallied her spirits and stumbled along the mountainside to the other side.
...a sheltered spot on the hillside.

Hao Guifang was directing his company in a search, muttering curses under his breath:

"This is the worst luck imaginable. Of all the places to send out telegrams, I had to die in the mountains."

“It’s good to get some work done, so that Wei Huanzhang can approve the funding for you later,” Hong Zhiyou said with a smile.

"I've been to that gold mine you mentioned. Guan Weilong has set up a mine protection team of over fifty people, all of whom are armed."

"These guys made the mold and are making their own gold bars."

"A while ago, he secretly took a few managers to Fengtian to live a life of debauchery, spending money like water," Hao Guifang said.

"No rush, let me get back from Tianjin before I do anything to him."

"If he wants to befriend you, you'll accept any amount of money he offers, become sworn brothers with him, or even have him recognize you as his godfather."

"Why not make money if you don't want to?"

Hongzhi has the Way.

"Hehe, that's why it's so great to be brothers with you, my little brother. I've been worrying about this for days. To be honest, I can't sleep for days because I feel guilty about not taking all those shiny gold bars." Hao Guifang winked and said greedily.

Just then, a soldier ran over to report: "Commander, we tracked that woman to the edge of a cliff, and she fell off."

"The second company commander asked if we should go down to the bottom of the cliff to search."

Hao Guifang glared at him and cursed, "Did a donkey kick your brain?"
"This mountain road winds its way down to the bottom of the ravine, and it's already pitch black. For a half-dead red note, am I supposed to stay here with you and starve? Whoever's got nothing better to do, go do your own thing!"

Hong Zhi added, "If anyone asks again, just say you've searched everywhere and found nothing! Just wandered around the mountains a couple of times to make up an excuse!"

"Yes, sir." The soldier acknowledged the order and left.

……

The mountain wind howled, stinging one's face.

Hao Guifang led a group of people, cursing and swearing, out of the woods and came to the edge of the cliff.

"Are you sure?" Gao Bin asked the Nationalist soldier guarding the area, his hands behind his back.

"Yes, we saw her fall with our own eyes," the man replied respectfully.

Lu Ming pulled his head back and gasped slightly: "If you fall down there, not only a person, but even a bear would be smashed to pieces."

When everyone peeked out, they too felt a chill run down their spines.

"It's hard to say. Red tickets are made of special materials. What if she's also indestructible?"

Gao Bin, with a pipe dangling from his lips, glanced at the cliff face and the deep ravine and chuckled with a dry sense of humor.

"It's so deep, if someone fell to their death, their body should be at the bottom."

“We might not see the person alive, but finding their corpse shouldn’t be too difficult,” Liu Kui chimed in.

"Section Chief Gao, I see it's getting dark. The brothers have been freezing for hours, and many of them are shivering."

“This man must have fallen to his death. There are still wild animals in the mountains. It’s not too late to come back tomorrow. Let the brothers rest first.”

Hao Guifang rubbed his hands together and smiled obsequiously.

"Not necessarily," Zhou Yi said coldly.

Meeting Gao Bin's probing gaze, Zhou Yi continued, "This cliff is not completely vertical; there are protruding rocks and gentle slopes in some places."

"There are always exceptions. What if she just rolled down and got stuck somewhere? It's better to be careful."

Gao Bin gave him a meaningful look and nodded.

"Zhou Yi is right."

He turned to Hao Guifang, his tone leaving no room for argument:
"Battalion Commander Hao, your men continue the search."

"Go around to the bottom of the mountain and send two teams to surround the middle from both ends. They are not allowed to leave before 9 p.m.

"Yes, Chief Gao!"

Although Hao Guifang was extremely unwilling, he couldn't afford to offend Gao Bin, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and agree.

Zhou Yi breathed a sigh of relief, but was immediately gripped by even greater worries.

He silently walked to the side, took out a cigarette case from his pocket, pulled one out with his left hand, tapped it, lit it, and took a puff.

He raised his right hand, which was holding the cigarette, as if deep in thought. This way, the blood wouldn't drip down his sleeve so quickly.

The smoke obscured the expression on his face.

However, this extremely subtle movement of his was seen by Lu Ming, who was not far away.

Lu Ming narrowed his eyes, a hint of suspicion flashing in them.

He remembered clearly that Zhou Yi was left-handed and usually used his left hand to smoke and write.

I rarely see him smoking with his right hand.

Zhou Yi felt waves of dizziness wash over him; blood loss was making his vision blur, and he knew he was about to collapse. If he stayed any longer, Gao Bin would definitely see through his disguise.

"Alright, everyone, let's head out now. Hopefully, we'll have some good news tomorrow morning."

"Battalion Commander Hao, you've worked hard."

Gao Bin patted Hao Guifang on the shoulder and announced the end of the mission.

Everyone got into the car.

Zhou Yi slowly stubbed out his cigarette, walked over to Hong Zhiyou, and said in a tired yet familiar tone, "Zhiyou, get in my car. Your sister-in-law bought some local mountain produce today and said she's making dumplings tonight. You can write a couple more songs for her; she's tired of asking me about them every day."

Hong Zhi understood immediately and laughed, "Sure! Trading a song for dumplings, this is a good deal."

"I am coming too!"

Just as the two were about to get into the car, Lu Ming came over and said, "Captain Zhou, why didn't you invite me to eat dumplings?"
"I haven't had my sister-in-law's dumplings in a long time. They taste amazing!"
"Could you give me one?"

Hong Zhi cursed inwardly, thinking to himself, "This bastard is like a leech."

Before Zhou Yi and Hong Zhi could speak, Gao Bin shouted:

"Lu Ming."

"Mrs. Zhou is a discerning person. You can't play the piano, so what can you offer in exchange for her dumplings?"
"Let's go."

Zhou Yi smiled politely, neither agreeing nor explicitly refusing.

Gao Bin gave him a look, and Lu Ming knew that the section chief had something to discuss, so he didn't press the matter further and got into his car.

After Gao Bin and the others left.

Zhou Yi calmly got into the car.

Hong Zhi stepped on the gas and drove up the mountain road.

"Shut up!"

Zhou Yi felt as if his bones had been removed, leaning back in the back seat, grimacing and gasping for breath.

Hong Zhi slammed on the gas pedal.

He looked at Zhou Yi in the rearview mirror; the other man's lips were bloodless and his forehead was covered in cold sweat.

"Old Zhou!" Hong Zhi lowered his voice, his tone anxious, "Hold on!"

"It's alright... I won't die." Zhou Yi's voice was so weak it was like a mosquito's hum.

"The biggest problem now is my sister-in-law's life or death."

"Given my uncle's personality, he'll definitely keep watching this until it's resolved."

“You went out of the city today and saw quite a few people. The on-site analysis also indicates there were two people, at least one of whom was a woman.”

"They'll soon become suspicious of you!"

This is the most deadly.

Zhou Yi closed his eyes in pain.

“This awful weather, freezing overnight in the mountains… She… she’s pregnant…” His voice was filled with despair and self-blame.

"If she doesn't come back, I have no idea how to explain it to Gao Bin..."

A missing wife, especially one who disappeared near the telegraph station, practically screams "I'm a red ticket" on her face.

A silence spread, suffocating everyone.

After a long while, Zhou Yi used all his strength to grab the back of Hong Zhiyou's chair:
“Wisdom exists.”

"You must find her tonight, no matter what! I'll give you any amount of money, all my possessions!"

Hong Zhiyou said in a deep voice:

"You're being too polite by saying that."

"Don't worry, Hao Guifang is one of my men, and he's very shrewd. Once we retreat, they can't possibly search the bottom of the cliff."

"I'll have someone go down to the bottom of the cliff and search tonight!"

The car sped along and finally arrived back at Zhou Yi's house.

Zhou Yi roused himself, entered the house as if nothing had happened, took off his shoes, and casually gave the following instructions:
"Aunt Liu, Section Chief Hong and I have important matters to discuss upstairs. If there's nothing else, you should get some rest."

"Okay, sir."

Upon entering the second-floor bedroom, Zhou Yi could no longer hold on and collapsed into a chair.

"The first aid kit... is... on top of the wardrobe..."

Hong Zhi hurriedly moved a chair over, opened it, and found gauze, alcohol, hemostats, suture needles and thread all inside.

He cut open Zhou Yi's blood-soaked sleeve, revealing a deep wound that exposed bone, with shrapnel still embedded in the flesh—a horrifying sight.

Hong Zhi used tweezers to remove the shrapnel, disinfected it with alcohol, then threaded a needle and began to suture it.

"Ouch... Your skills are impressive, just like a surgeon's." Zhou Yi gasped in pain, but still managed a joke.

"When you're out in the game, this is a must."

Hong Zhiyou was tying a knot while laughing and joking.

"Luckily, people in our line of work all have some secrets. Otherwise, with your wound, you'd have a high fever tonight and be sent straight to meet the King of Hell tomorrow."

After the stitches were finished, Hong Zhi used gauze to bandage the wound layer by layer, finally stopping the bleeding.

Zhou Yi let out a long sigh, leaned against the headboard, and gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"This year is unlucky."

"If we keep doing this, my body will be ruined before Gao Bin catches me and executes me."

“You guys are just making things difficult for yourself.” Hong Zhiyou was implying that he didn’t trust himself.

“Yes, I know you can handle it, but I can’t get past my own conscience,” Zhou Yi said with a pale smile.

……

office.

Gao Bin sat behind his large desk, slowly cleaning his pipe.

The office was dark, with only a desk lamp on, casting his face in flickering light and shadow, making him appear particularly gloomy.

Lu Ming stood respectfully in front of the table, not daring to breathe loudly.

"Tell me your opinion. I know you're not really craving dumplings," Gao Bin finally spoke, his voice sounding like it was coming from a cellar.

……

(End of this chapter)