Interrogation of traitors

The night was dark and moonless, with only the kerosene lamp hanging at the alley entrance casting a murky, rusty light. Li Sheng led Qingcheng to a secluded courtyard and sounded the signal.

With a creak, the door closed tightly, and the alleyway returned to tranquility.

In the living room, one comrade was keeping watch at the window, another was lecturing at the mobile blackboard, while Luo Xiong, handcuffed and held down on the sofa, was listening to the lecture. The bruises around his eyes had not yet faded, and he looked listless. His attitude reminded Qingcheng of a new term: "nonviolent non-cooperation."

At Qingcheng's suggestion, Li Sheng stopped using violence against him and instead started giving him lessons, going over the party's code of conduct and discipline again to cleanse his mind of its impurities.

Perhaps upon seeing Li Sheng, Luo Xiong instantly became energized, glaring fiercely at Li Sheng and shouting that he would kill him if he wanted, and that torturing his spirit every day was no heroic act.

Today I've really seen something new. I heard that before the traitor was executed, Qingcheng either cried bitterly or was so frightened that he was dumbfounded. I guess Wang Renyong has never seen such an arrogant traitor.

Li Sheng stopped the teacher's lecture, and the two slowly walked to the front of Luo Xiong. Qingcheng pushed up her glasses and solemnly introduced herself. She was the examiner for this session, and you could just call her Xiao Wang.

"Are you guys ever going to stop? You all know I betrayed the organization, why are you still asking questions? What the hell are you asking? Just give me a straight answer!" Luo Xiong roared hoarsely, his face flushed red with anger.

"Luo Xiong, don't get agitated. How have you been eating lately? Is the food they've been giving you to your liking? Is the blanket thick enough for you at night?" Qingcheng smiled instead of getting angry, transforming into a kind life consultant to inquire about your well-being.

After a series of greetings, Luo Xiong's confrontational attitude softened considerably, and his roar turned into a plea. He lowered his head and begged Qingcheng to finish the review report and hand it in as soon as possible.

"Aren't you going to defend yourself?" Qingcheng asked curiously. A traitor who isn't afraid of death—the reason he betrayed the organization can basically be ruled out as being unable to withstand torture; there must be another reason.

"No need. I am a tainted person, and I did betray the organization." At this moment, Luo Xiong's eyes were filled with indifference, as if the person who had just been shouting was someone else.

A stain? Qingcheng glanced at Li Sheng, who pointed to his liver in understanding. It turned out that Luo Xiong had also been arrested by the CC.

Kiyosumi smoothly changed the subject: "It's okay, you've attended the class, right? What are your learning experiences? Let's share them."

"No," Luo Xiong replied decisively.

The room fell silent. Qingcheng stared at the traitor in front of him with amusement. He knew he had made a mistake, but he showed no remorse or guilt. He only wanted to die. If he wasn't mistaken, he wanted to protect someone.

And then there's Yingqi, who seems very cooperative during interrogation, but he pretends to have amnesia when asked crucial questions. However, Kiyosumi can tell he's hiding something; could it be that the two of them are trying to protect the same person?

Thinking of this, Qingcheng had a plan for interrogation. Luo Xiong's joy, anger, hatred and disgust were clearly written on his face. Compared to Ying Qi, who couldn't utter a sound even after being hit three times, he would be a breakthrough.

"Alright, since you have no objection to your crimes, then explain whether you betrayed Zhang Tianhe before or after his betrayal." Qingcheng went straight to the point.

"I've been arrested by you, does that even matter?" Luo Xiong sneered.

"Of course it's important. I need to know if the person you're protecting is still in our group." However, Qingcheng only thought this to herself, but asked aloud, "Luo Xiong, do you have any issues with the organization?"

Seemingly recalling something unpleasant, Luo Xiong frowned and let out a cold snort. For a veteran party member of more than three years to show such emotions, it seems he has a lot of grievances.

“You’re a veteran Party member, probably older than any of us here. You should understand that the organization is talking to you to give you a chance to redeem yourself; otherwise, you’d be dead already. Stop resisting passively and confess quickly for leniency.” Li Sheng, with a stern face, knowingly picked up the conversation.

"Heh, you people are really pathetic, brainwashed without even realizing it." Luo Xiong looked around at everyone in the room and said coldly, "What does party membership mean? Zhang Tianhe is more senior than me, but he still betrayed us. The defeat of the Communist Party is a foregone conclusion. You can't fight city hall."

"So how do you think you got caught?" Kiyosumi asked with a smile.

"I was just unlucky." Luo Xiong turned his head away, refusing to meet the eyes of the two.

Li Sheng immediately retorted, "Why are you dissatisfied? Do you think the victor is always right and the loser is wrong? You're overthinking it! Compared to a scoundrel like you who has lost his faith, we have many more comrades who are sticking to their posts and specifically catching fish like you who slip through the net."

“Faith is the cheapest deception, it has no threshold. Officials use it to keep you poor little guys on a leash, just like leashing dogs. I see through it, I don’t want to be a dog anymore, I want to be a human being, a superior human being.” Luo Xiong touched his neck, as if there was something on it that made him uncomfortable.

What a "brilliant" one! Li Sheng rolled his eyes in disgust, while Qingcheng maintained his smile: "To be a superior person, and then trample all those who looked down on you underfoot, preferably to throw them all in jail and execute them all, right?"

Luo Xiong swallowed hard, blinking his injured eyes several times.

Without giving him any chance to catch his breath, Qingcheng pressed on: "You were arrested and imprisoned during the 412 incident. At that time, you still had faith and escaped with your own hard skills. But what awaited you was not a warm welcome from the organization, but endless interrogation day and night, repeated questions, and repeated questioning. After your body was tortured, your spirit was also greatly persecuted."

Even if you pass the review later, you find that the comrades who were once close to you look at you differently, there are always whispers behind your back, your opinions are no longer adopted by the leaders, and your position remains unchanged. You attribute all of this to your own blemishes.

"Isn't that right? Half of the scars on my body were inflicted by secret agents, and the other half are thanks to you." Luo Xiong excitedly tried to stand up, but his comrades behind him held him down firmly.

“Even if you were treated unfairly in the past, that is not a reason for you to persecute other innocent comrades. You feel wronged, but the comrades you killed felt even more wronged,” Qingcheng replied decisively. “The biggest problem with the organization is that it neglected your mental development, and you need to criticize yourself for this.”

"Bullshit! You inspectors are all so high and mighty, calling yourselves 'enemy-backed workers,' but you're just Kuomintang spies. You do the same dirty and hard work, so what right do you have to look down on the Nationalist government's spies? At least they get much more salary and bonuses than you!" Luo Xiong shouted provocatively.

It seems true that the National Government offers generous rewards. Qingcheng turned to look at Li Sheng, who smiled noncommittally before asking seriously, "But besides killing us for gold and silver, what have the National Government's agents done for the people?"

Seeing Luo Xiong stunned, Qingcheng added, "The land reform movement is in full swing in various places. The people in charge of distributing land to the common people are the dog spies you mentioned. And closer to home, there are as many labor unions as there are factories in Shanghai. We fight for an eight-hour workday for our fellow workers through the labor unions, and at the same time, we hold night schools to improve their literacy level, so that no one will sign a contract of servitude without understanding it."

After Qingcheng finished speaking, Li Sheng immediately continued: "Besides the factory union, the teachers who run free schools in the slums are also the 'dog spies' you mentioned. They not only have to teach children to read and write and mediate neighborhood disputes, but they also have to act as firefighters, night patrolmen, decorators, plumbers and electricians... Whoever the masses need them to be, that's who they are."

The speech was passionate and inspiring, and the comrades in the room all showed genuine pride. Only Luo Xiong stared blankly. Li Sheng mocked, "My God, how long has it been since you participated in a study group? Anyone who has participated in a study group in the last six months knows that."

Suddenly, Luo Xiong burst into laughter: "Hahaha, you fools, you've all been fooled. Nothing has changed at all. The factory never closes for the day, people still jump into the Huangpu River every day, and the number of beggars and vagrants on the streets hasn't decreased at all."

Staring at the trash can, buzzing incoherently as if he'd seen the future—isn't this guy just a typical fly? However, a flawed warrior is still a warrior, and a perfect fly is still just a fly.

Mr. Yu Cai's retorts are always sharp and timeless, and Qing Cheng felt even more confident: "It has been exactly ten years since the organization was founded, and we have been stationed in Shanghai for four years. You feel that nothing has changed. What have you done in these four years?"

"What else could he do? He's Zhang Tianhe's subordinate, of course he'd indulge in drinking, gambling, whoring, and smoking. He wants to be a superior person." Li Sheng seemed to be deliberately trying to provoke him, showing no mercy whatsoever.

As expected, Luo Xiong immediately jumped up and down: "I didn't!"

"Then what did you do? Tell me!" Kiyosumi exuded a suffocating sense of oppression.

Faced with Qingcheng's aggressive questioning, Luo Xiong broke out in a cold sweat and spoke in a softer voice: "I organized workers' strikes and was in charge of assassinating spies, but later my sabotage and assassination plans were always rejected by my superiors."

“We’re not the revolutionaries of yesteryear. Wu Hao has repeatedly warned us not to use violence unless absolutely necessary. Destroying construction only requires three kilograms of gunpowder, while rebuilding takes at least a year. Work behind enemy lines must prioritize the feelings of the masses. Your dangerous ideas are seriously out of touch with the people, so of course the higher-ups won’t approve them,” Qingcheng relentlessly criticized, propping himself up on his arm.

“Our comrades are already exhausted from cleaning up the messes of warlords every day, and now they have to be wary of people like you who have a heart of gold but do nothing good, only shouting slogans of patriotism and love for the people and causing extra damage. I think what you like is not the sense of mission to eliminate the enemy, but the personality cult that comes with a successful assassination.” Li Sheng saw right through his mentality.

"Focusing solely on personal interests, being unwilling to step down from the so-called ranks of heroes, and forgetting that you are also an ordinary person who came from the masses—that's the truth behind your eventual isolation," Qingcheng concluded, summarizing the reasons for his being ostracized.

With a clang, Qingcheng could almost hear the sound of someone's mental defenses crumbling. Luo Xiong's square face, ashen with anger and embarrassment, looked like he had just eaten shit.

At this moment, Qingcheng stood up and bowed ninety degrees to Luo Xiong, saying very seriously, "I apologize to you on behalf of the organization for the wrong treatment you received before. If you still feel wronged, I can help you apply to the organization for a public apology. After all, one thing is one thing, and the organization needs to correct its mistakes."

Upon hearing this, Luo Xiong gasped, his lips trembled slightly, and a hint of guilt finally appeared in his eyes.

Li Sheng was also taken aback by Qingcheng's actions. He stared blankly for a while before finally remembering to offer his help: "Luo Xiong, if you can see the error of your ways, then tell us what you know, so that other comrades won't go astray."

In an instant, Luo Xiong's face turned ashen. As if he had made a great decision, he raised his head and replied in a hoarse voice, "Ask whatever you want to know."

"It's still the same question: did you betray Zhang Tianhe before or after his betrayal?" Qingcheng turned around and sat back in her seat, opening her notebook.

"Before," Luo Xiong said, looking out the window as he recounted the events.

He was arrested by the CC again at the beginning of last year, but this time the CC did not torture him. Instead, they had someone talk to him. The other person seemed to know everything about him, including details such as his previous arrest and imprisonment, his wrongful treatment after his release, and the fact that he almost lost his life.

At that time, CC only asked him to consider cooperation, without forcing him, and then Luo Xiong was released.

Having learned his lesson from the first arrest, Luo Xiong dared not let anyone know that he had been arrested again. Otherwise, no matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to explain how the CC had released him unharmed.

Several months passed, and Luo Xiong had almost forgotten about the incident when CC agents suddenly blocked him in the alley, took him to a small dark room, and threatened him to hand over a list of comrades he knew, or they would inform on him to the Shanghai station. He had been secretly arrested.

He was furious. He could die, but he couldn't bear to be unjustly killed. He made up a few names on the spot and gave them to the secret agents before running back. In any case, a real informant must have the region, organization, position, and real name all in place, otherwise they wouldn't be able to find him.

But once there's a first time, there's a second, a third... I don't know if it was just bad luck, but the spies actually managed to catch someone using the fake name he made up. When they made contact again, they readily gave Luo Xiong thirty silver dollars.

At first, Luo Xiong naturally assumed they were fools with too much money, so he accepted the money and continued to fabricate stories. Little did he know that this was just the beginning of his doom.

Later, the agents were no longer satisfied with just the list; they wanted Luo Xiong to provide more valuable intelligence, which was too much to ask of him, so he explicitly refused.

But at this moment, the spies revealed their ugly true colors. They produced a tape recorder containing the entire transaction between him and the spies. If he didn't cooperate, the tape would be placed on the desk of the Shanghai station leader.

Only then did Luo Xiong realize he had been deceived. There was no turning back now; he had no choice but to cooperate with the spies or wait for the organization to eliminate the traitors. He didn't want to die unjustly, so he chose to cooperate.

However, before he could send out any useful information, Zhang Tianhe betrayed them, and the Shanghai station fell apart overnight. Luo Xiong also hid in a safe house that had been prepared in advance with the main force.

Luo Xiong thought it was good to stay at home all day, at least he didn't have to worry about spies coming to him for information. He even fantasized that he could return to the Soviet area, change his name and identity, and then the spies would never be able to find him again.

“Once you’ve taken their money, you can’t just get rid of it so easily. They’ve probably come looking for you again,” Li Sheng boldly speculated.

Luo Xiong nodded. This time, the agent's order was actually slipped directly under his pillow. It required him to switch shifts with a roommate surnamed Tian. The reason was not written, so he had to do it. He knew that Xiao Tian had hemorrhoids, so he found an excuse to have a treat and took him to eat the popular dog meat. He successfully replaced Xiao Tian by taking advantage of his party membership.

"Did you receive the orders from the secret agents a few days in advance?" Kiyosumi asked.

"About two days, I don't know when they put it there, I only saw it before I went to sleep," Luo Xiong replied after squinting for a moment.

"Wait a minute, you said the spies put the instructions right under your pillow, aren't they afraid you won't see them and miss the instructions?" Li Sheng asked suspiciously.

“I have a habit of fluffing up my pillow before sleeping. Everyone in my dorm knows this, so I suspect there’s another person who’s a traitor, or maybe he was a spy all along,” Luo Xiong explained in a low voice.

"Oh, you have someone in mind?" Li Sheng's eyes lit up.

“I only have suspicions without evidence. His party membership is almost as long as the party itself, and he was the introducer for several comrades to join the party. You wouldn’t believe me even if I mentioned it,” Luo Xiong replied hesitantly.

The next second, Qingcheng blurted out, "Is it your dorm elder, Lao Sun?"

"You... how did you know?" Luo Xiong's eyes widened, his mouth agape in astonishment.

“Only he could slip the instructions under your pillow without anyone noticing, and he’s qualified to arrange for you to take his place. Besides, as the dorm leader, how could he not know you guys sneaked out to catch dogs? If I’m not mistaken, he ate that dog meat too,” Qingcheng said knowingly.

“Yes, yes, we gave him a huge piece of leg meat as hush money.” Luo Xiong nodded vigorously.

For a moment, Qingcheng and Li Sheng looked at each other. That old man Sun had completely absolved himself of any responsibility on the phone. He covered for the young men under the guise of protecting the younger generation, so the young men were naturally too embarrassed to report him. The old man was very cunning.

"How did you know that the mission that day was to protect Wu Hao?" Qingcheng continued to ask.

"At the hotel, a waiter secretly slipped a new task into my hand. It asked me to confirm Wu Hao's arrival and then take the flowers from the decorative vase along the corridor," Luo Xiong honestly replied.

"What flower? What color? Where did you throw the flower?" Qingcheng looked at Luo Xiong's facial expression; he wasn't lying.

Luo Xiong rubbed his temples: "I glanced at it from afar and it looked like red tulips, but before I could do anything about it, a young man with a strange face came. I thought it was another spy coming to urge me, I was so annoyed, but it turned out that the kid was Wang Renyong's subordinate, coming to deliver a message. Later, Wang Renyong was going to organize an assassination of some big spy and locked everyone in the house."

As a mere pawn, that's all he knew. Qingcheng capped his pen and put it back in his pocket: "Thank you for your cooperation. Please write down all of today's confessions in a report. If there's anything else you think of, please include it in the report as well. We'll come back to check with you in a few days."

The door to the inner room closed again. Qingcheng walked slowly to a wheelchair. Yingqi, who was in the wheelchair, was still pale. She kindly tucked the thin blanket around his legs, and Yingqi shrank back instantly.

“Don’t be afraid. You have a bad memory, right? You listened to the process again today, so you should be able to remember something. Just like him, write it down as a report and hand it to me.” Qingcheng bent down and whispered in Yingqi’s ear. Her shadow divided Yingqi in two, one half in the light and the other half in the dark.

Like any battlefield, operations behind enemy lines require both offense and defense. Just as we can infiltrate enemy territory, the enemy can also send spies to infiltrate our ranks.

The spy lurking in the Soviet area was a thorn in the side for both Ling Qingcheng and Li Sheng. Helping the organization catch the spy was what Ling Qingcheng wanted to do most right now.

Before Qingcheng could call a rickshaw, Li Sheng jogged up to catch up. She thought she had forgotten something, and looked around in confusion, but nothing was missing.

“You’re not missing anything. I hope you can go home. That attic is small to begin with, don’t squeeze in with Sister Ying and the others,” Li Sheng said bluntly.

"I bought that house, why can't I live there? I'd be happy even if I slept on the floor." Qingcheng changed from her domineering Xiao Wang a moment ago back to He Qingcheng.

"Xiao He, don't be angry with him. It's a little hard for me to see a grown man so negative." Li Sheng said with pity.

"What's wrong with him?" Kiyosumi asked, turning her head to the side.

"He doesn't eat, and he probably hasn't slept well either. He has dark circles under his eyes and seems to be in a daze all day. I have to call him several times before he responds." Li Sheng gestured with his hands to indicate that he was wearing glasses.

"Is it my fault? He's an adult and should learn to regulate his own behavior. I won't go back until he realizes his mistake and has done enough self-criticism," Kiyosumi replied firmly.

“No, even if he realizes his mistake, you have to give him a chance to explain. Go back and listen to what he has to say,” Li Sheng advised. “I’ve asked around about that matter. It can’t be entirely blamed on him. He’s offended someone. I guess they’re afraid you’ll get into trouble if you stay at the newspaper, so they made you resign.”

"How dare he offend people all the time?" Kiyosumi replied irritably.

"There's nothing we can do. It's not easy to navigate the officialdom. 'A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime.' Who can blame him for his fame?" Li Sheng spread his hands, looking helpless.

Okay, Kiyosumi didn't think she was an unreasonable person: "Who did I offend this time?"

"I heard that the spy surnamed Dai in Chicken and Goose Lane in Nanjing is being compared with Commander Chen and Commander Hu, who are vying for the qualification to expand the army at the end of the year. Whoever gets the qualification first will be awarded the general's star. Team Leader Dai and Councilor Gao happen to be the strategists behind these two." Li Sheng explained patiently.

"Then his loss of appetite isn't for me, but for his brother," Qingcheng sneered.

“It’s different. Being obsessed and lovesickness are two different symptoms. Let’s go back, I’ll drive you back.” Li Sheng grabbed Qingcheng and half-heartedly shoved her into the car.