The Death of the Lark

On the morning before work, cars, rickshaws, and trams shuttled along the busy streets. The harsh sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on two men in dark blue overalls. While other diners chatted enthusiastically, they quickly finished their breakfast, left their change, and headed towards the cotton yarn factory.

However, as they turned into a secluded alley, the two exchanged glances to make sure there were no spies following them before they felt safe enough to enter a house. Once inside, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

Recently, there have been more and more spies in the downtown area. Ever since Team Leader Dai lost Li Yamei, he has been frantically sending spies to Shanghai in an attempt to retrieve the bait that has escaped. After undergoing a systematic facial plastic surgery at the hospital, Comrade Li Yamei immediately asked to return to work despite the recovery period.

Wang Renyong couldn't persuade him otherwise, so he sent Qingcheng to reassign him to a new job. This house was the new residence that the organization had assigned to Li Yamei. The two workers just now were Qingcheng and Li Yamei in disguise.

Without much preamble, Qingcheng took out her residence permit and keys from her pocket and handed them to Li Yamei, instructing her: "From now on, your name will be Jiang Yun. You are from Qingpu County, Shanghai, and you are an ordinary printing worker at the Commercial Printing Bureau. You just came to Shanghai to work with your 'cousin' at the beginning of this month. Your 'cousin' will take care of your Qingpu County accent and their eating habits."

“Okay, Comrade Xiao He, you can call me Xiao Yun from now on. So what is my job inside the company?” Li Yamei gladly accepted her new identity—Jiang Yun.

“You are still a comrade in our Second Section, but Xuzhou City has been greatly impacted. Wang Renyong is too busy with the funeral arrangements and family resettlement of many comrades. He suggests that you go to the First Section tomorrow to take up a temporary post and help him settle things in Xuzhou City. Then he will re-determine your new code name and work.” Qingcheng relayed Wang Renyong’s meaning.

"I will obey the organization's arrangements." Jiang Yun hesitated for a moment before asking with her head down, "Has Liu Rentang's body been found?"

"No, our comrades searched the countryside several times and found his clothes, but not his body." Qingcheng shook her head in denial.

"What if it gets dragged away by wild animals?" Jiang Yun asked, stroking his chin.

"Xiaoyun, do you remember the full-body checkup you had before your surgery? Since you are related by blood, there is a possibility that Liu Rentang also has internal organ reversal like you. It is also possible that you did not injure his vital organs at all, and he was saved by someone else. Of course, I am just guessing." Qingcheng did not say anything definitive. After all, it must be hard for him to feel bad that his blood relative had become a traitor.

"Regardless, please continue the search. We need to find him alive or dead. This man is narrow-minded and cunning, and he is familiar with our work processes. If he is alive, he will be a serious threat to the organization." Jiang Yun's eyes were filled with suppressed anger as he spoke.

"I will report your thoughts in a timely manner. You can stay here with peace of mind. If there is any emergency, you can go to the church to find Father Tong." Qingcheng glanced at her watch and hurriedly said goodbye. She would be late for work if she didn't leave soon.

Fortunately, it was only a ten-minute walk from the newspaper office. She changed and took off her clothes along the way, and by the time she arrived at the newspaper office, Qingcheng had changed into her usual outfit: a white shirt and a long A-line skirt.

The newspaper office was still busy in the morning. A colleague sent the political and economic layout of the afternoon paper to Qingcheng for review. At this moment, a notice from the Investigation Bureau that several members of the Communist Party were executed at Yuhuatai in Nanjing at 6:00 a.m. today caught my eye. There was also a small, strange blank space, which looked like it originally had a photo.

As if struck by a thought, Qingcheng immediately dialed the newspaper's internal line, summoned Editor Xu, who was in charge of layout, to his office, and pointed to the blank space, asking, "Editor Xu, why is there a blank space here? Don't you know that every inch of our page is precious?"

Upon seeing the blank space, Editor Xu's face turned extremely ugly: "Editor He, I can't help it either. The report originally included photos, but after revisions, the photos still didn't pass the review. It's about to be printed, so we have to leave it like this for now. Bah! Bullshit freedom of the press!"

Before leaving, Editor Xu spat at the censorship department. Qingcheng offered a few words of sympathy and comfort, then changed the subject: "Editor Xu, since the censorship department won't allow photos, just remove this post. Don't waste our space. I have a few more ads here, go and replace them."

“That’s what I meant too, but they won’t let us withdraw. The public announcement is also a form of threat, telling everyone that no one who follows the Communist Party will have a good outcome.” Editor Xu grimaced and rubbed his neck with his hand.

"What photo? Is it because your death was too gruesome that they won't publish it?" Kiyosumi asked, feigning curiosity.

"No. To be honest, Noto was the one who died a truly gruesome death. You didn't see the photos; they were all wearing handcuffs and shackles, calmly facing death with smiles on their faces. Even after death, their smiles remained on their faces, which was quite eerie." Editor Xu's face was still full of disbelief as he described it.

"I don't believe it. How can someone die laughing like that? Even the fiercest bandits have a bitter face when the executioner is really holding the knife. You don't have any photos, not even names or people. How can you convince the readers? And you even left a blank space. How ugly is that?" Qingcheng deliberately pretended to be disbelieving to make things difficult for Editor Xu.

"Really." Editor Xu nervously closed the small door to his office, then mysteriously drew the curtains. After finishing, he took out an envelope from his suit pocket. "Editor He, I'm only showing this to you. The negatives have all been taken away by the authorities. I re-developed these photos early this morning because I thought the ones someone else developed weren't clear enough and I was afraid they wouldn't look good when published. Who knew this stuff would become a hot potato?"

"Oh, let me see." Kiyosumi pinched her trembling wrist to steady herself before taking the photo.

The top photo is a group photo, with about three men and two women, a total of five comrades being escorted off a military pickup truck. The rest are individual photos, each young smiling face forever frozen in this morning's dawn.

At this moment, a comrade with an expressionless face came into view. Qingcheng habitually flipped the photo over to look at the back. Bai Haoyue? She had heard these three words a lot lately.

Ever since Wu Hao ordered the rescue of the lark, Section Chief Zhang of the Third Section has refused to carry it out, especially the kind of large-scale rescue.

Even if the Nightingale and Wu Hao are in a one-way communication, it cannot guarantee that he will not betray them under the torture of the secret agents.

However, Lao Wang had other evidence to suggest that Bai Haoyue's change had other underlying reasons and required further investigation to determine its nature. The head of the Third Section, on the other hand, was certain that this person was a traitor and there was no need to investigate further. He felt that Lao Wang was protecting his subordinate and did not want to send anyone to rescue him.

Old Wang and Section Chief Zhang of the Third Division argued fiercely in front of Wu Hao about whether Bai Haoyue was a traitor and whether he should be rescued. Wu Hao eventually admitted his impulsiveness and decided that Bai Haoyue should be rescued secretly, using connections to get her out.

After that, the two section chiefs fell silent. Qingcheng realized that it had been a while since she had seen Lao Wang. Had the rescue failed?

Under Qingcheng's raised eyebrow gaze, Xu Bian explained that the names were already on the back of the photos, and he had just copied them to avoid confusion.

Furthermore, according to reliable sources, the boss of Chicken and Goose Alley arrested a high-ranking Soviet spy who had been lying low for many years, and converted him into a criminal, giving the Nanjing government a real boost in prestige. He's the person in the photo.

"Since he's been converted, isn't he the traitor the boss likes best? Surely someone sent by the Soviet Union would be of some use, so why did the boss kill him?" Qingcheng's doubts deepened after looking at the photo, and Bai Haoyue's expressionless face before the execution lingered in her mind.

A traitor shouldn't have such a calm and collected attitude towards death. Qingcheng's sixth sense always leaned towards Bai Haoyue being a good comrade. Besides, where had she seen that face before?

"I don't know about that. It's like they discarded the useful donkey after it had served its purpose. The Nanjing resident reporter only heard from a prison guard he knew that this person was transported alone in a car. He was a major Soviet spy. After the other prisoners found out he was a traitor, they all spat at him and refused to go to the execution ground with him," Editor Xu added, propping his arm up.

"Oh!" Kiyosumi suddenly trembled, scattering the photos everywhere. She quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll pick them up. The way those people died was so bizarre. They were really dead but still smiling."

Qingcheng covered her mouth, looking startled, and bent down to pick up the photos. Editor Xu didn't take Qingcheng's sudden outburst seriously and helped her pick up the photos.

At the same time, they started gossiping about Chicken and Goose Alley, and Editor Xu suspected that the boss of Chicken and Goose Alley was in a bad mood recently.

According to his friend who works for the Nanjing government, the boss of Chicken and Goose Lane offended some powerful figures. Chiang Kai-shek urgently summoned him back from out of town and lectured him for a day and a night. If he didn't get some information out of him, Chiang Kai-shek's heart would be hard to win back.

That Soviet spy probably didn't provide any useful information, only that he had a contact in the Soviet Union, and they had been in contact via telegram.

Oh well, what good is that? The boss can't exactly go to the Soviet Union to arrest him. Finally, the boss's patience probably wore thin, so he made an example of him to deter others. If he had revealed even a single useful piece of information, he wouldn't have been executed.

"Say less. We ordinary folks don't dare to gossip behind people's backs. It would be a huge loss if the boss accused us of being members of the Communist Party," Qingcheng said with a smile, quietly reminding Editor Xu.

"Yes, yes, I'll take the photos and burn them right away." After receiving the warning, Editor Xu quickly took the recovered photos and prepared to leave.

"Don't go out, just burn it here. There are too many people outside, what if someone finds out?" Qingcheng kindly dragged out a copper basin, threw all the photos in her hand into it, and struck a match, instantly making the copper basin red and hot.

"Editor He, you're so meticulous. Now I can rest assured." Editor Xu said with a sigh of relief, throwing all the photos in his hand into the brazier.

"Go ahead and do your work. I'll watch the fire and close the door for me. Just pretend you don't know anything about this. If it's a secret, it's a secret." Qingcheng waved for Xu Bian to leave first, and Xu Bian naturally thanked Qingcheng with a cupped-hand salute.

After Xu carefully closed the door, Qingcheng's smile gradually faded, replaced by a heart-wrenching sadness. Qingcheng trembled as she pulled a photograph she had secretly hidden from her waist. It showed Bai Haoyue with a gunshot wound to the head, a faint smile still on her lips.

Bai Haoyue, why are you laughing now that you died as a traitor?

This problem didn't bother Qingcheng for long. That very evening, Wang Renyong gave her instructions to meet at the church. But today wasn't the rendezvous day. Did Old Wang have something important to tell her?

When Qingcheng finished her overtime work and rushed to the secret meeting room in the church, she found that there were an unusually large number of people attending the meeting today.

Besides Jiang Yun, who had just changed his name, there was Father Tong, two unfamiliar young priests, Rui Rui, the stationmasters of the six major transportation stations, one of whom was the owner of the Zhongji Watch Shop on Nanjing Road, and several workers in overalls.

"Are they all waiting for me?" she thought it was just a short meeting. Qingcheng lowered the brim of her hat and awkwardly found an inconspicuous spot to sit down. Old Wang's expression wasn't very friendly today either; he had a stern face.

"Good evening, comrades. Today is our Second Section's internal self-criticism meeting." Wang Renyong looked around at everyone and continued, "I'm sure you've all heard about what happened in Xuzhou City. As the head of the Second Section, I failed to set a good example and supervise effectively. Now, I will begin my personal self-criticism..."

After finishing his self-criticism, Lao Wang reiterated the discipline of underground work, specifically mentioning the importance of single-line contact. Personnel who are not on the same or different lines must not have cross-contact. They can be straightforward but cannot speak out of turn. Everything must be done in the interest of the organization. He then talked about some reorganization plans for underground work in Xuzhou City, which would involve personnel changes.

"In addition, regarding the matter of Xuzhou City, there is another comrade who needs to make a self-criticism. It was due to his leadership mistakes that irreparable damage was caused to the underground work in Xuzhou City. I won't name names." As soon as Old Wang said this, everyone thought that the person who should be held accountable was the secretary of the Xuzhou Municipal Party Committee.

Qingcheng glanced silently at Jiang Yun, who was nervously fidgeting with his fingers, his face taut, probably still recovering and unable to make any exaggerated expressions.

"I'm sorry, I..." Jiang Yun stood up with her head down, about to speak, when Old Wang interrupted her.

"Comrade Jiang Yun, please sit down. It's not your turn to speak yet." Old Wang's expression grew increasingly serious, and for a moment, everyone fell silent. The comrade in charge wasn't here today, so I found another comrade to speak on his behalf. "Come in!"

After he finished speaking, a tall figure stepped into the room.

Good heavens—Cai Tou!! He was completely unharmed. Qing Cheng was speechless with shock, and could only stare wide-eyed as Cai Tou walked towards the podium.

"Good evening, comrades. My name is Cai Shaokang. I was previously in charge of security for the Xuzhou Municipal Party Committee." Cai Tou said, giving everyone a military salute, and continued, "Today I am here to make a self-criticism on behalf of all the comrades of the Xuzhou Municipal Party Committee."

"Comrade Cai has just completed his internal isolation review, and I immediately transferred him back from the Soviet area. After your self-criticism, please tell everyone how you escaped from the hellish place of Xuzhou." After Wang Renyong finished his introduction, he also found a seat and sat down, seemingly intending to listen in as well.

Seemingly encouraged, Cai Tou summarized and criticized the incident, and then, under the expectant gaze of everyone, loudly recounted his experience: "My most recent mission was to secretly escort Zhao Nanshan, the director of Chunmiao Printing Factory, back to the Soviet area with the master copy of the classics."

These words were like a boulder thrown into a lake, causing a stir among the crowd. It turned out that the missing Zhao Nanshan and Cai Tou had returned to the Soviet area.

"Did Comrade Cai return to the Soviet area before the lockdown of Xuzhou?" Father Tong asked first.

“We left Xuzhou on the day it was sealed off, but the order to return to the Soviet area was issued by Comrade Tie Jian a week ago. It just so happens that it coincided with the spy raid. If only it had been a day earlier.” Cai Tou’s tone was filled with regret.

"Do you remember what time you left? Who led you out of the city?" Qingcheng asked the question everyone wanted to ask. The secret police blockade probably started when Xuzhou closed its gates and wasn't lifted until Team Leader Dai was recalled.

“I wasn’t wearing a watch, but I could tell from the night watchman’s clapper that it was midnight. Bai Haoyue was the one who led us out of the city; his code name was Lark,” Cai Tou said, emphasizing each word.

This caused another uproar among the crowd, with everyone discussing it. Didn't the lark betray them? Now it's doing a good deed again. Could it be that it couldn't withstand the torture later and that's why it betrayed them?

Hearing everyone's discussion, Cai Tou said seriously, "I don't know what happened after that, but we were indeed escorted out of the city by Bai Ling Niao using his connections that night. I'm certain he's a comrade with firm beliefs."

“You’ve received favors from him, so of course you say that. He might just be betting on both sides,” someone in the audience objected.

"You may not know this, but to prevent bandits from entering, Xuzhou City closes its gates at night. Our original plan was to sneak out of the city before the gates closed, but I discovered that there were many spies buried around the city gates. The checks that day became extremely strict. Every package had to be shaken open and inspected. Director Zhao's suitcase contained several collages of red classics. It was too conspicuous."

Cai Tou felt the risk of being exposed was too great, so he urgently withdrew his men. Everyone slept fully clothed in the printing factory, waiting for the city gates to open, hoping to slip out during the soldiers' fatigue from shift changes. But just after midnight, Bai Ling Niao rushed to the printing factory and woke up Cai Tou and the factory manager. The site had been exposed, and he wanted to take the manager out of the city urgently.

Meanwhile, a few comrades stayed behind to burn all the relevant documents. From the expression on Bai Lingniao's face, Cai Tou sensed that the situation was very serious, so the factory director and Cai Tou followed him without hesitation.

Qingcheng, who was in the corner, suddenly became interested and listened intently as Caitou recounted how they found a way to survive in the perilous city of Xuzhou on the night of the blockade.