Traitor of Rashomon
After Lao Wang's introduction, Li Yamei was very happy to shake hands with Qingcheng to show goodwill. Unfortunately, he had lost his front teeth and his speech was severely lisping, so Qingcheng couldn't understand what he was saying even after talking for a long time.
Li Yamei was not discouraged and described the situation to the two in writing. At that time, Hu Yukun's subordinate in the 28th Division of the 18th Army sent a message that their division commander had received a secret telegram from Chiang Kai-shek, ordering them to secretly retreat from the Central Plains and march towards northern Jiangxi.
The comrade noticed something unusual about the retreat and, through his sources, discovered that the Central Army had more than one division withdrawing from the Central Plains. After receiving the news, Hu Yukun only told Li Yamei about it.
Because of the gravity of the matter, Li Yamei and Hu Yukun split up to investigate. One of them used connections to confirm the timing, while the other investigated which units of the Central Army were withdrawing from the Central Plains battlefield. Later, when Hu Yukun went to work in the mining area, the investigation was entirely handed over to Li Yamei, until Hu Yukun returned and then handed it back to her.
"So, did the lark betray us, or did the nine-eared bird betray us?" Wang Renyong asked anxiously.
Nine ears!
When Li Yamei wrote about the nine ears, she tore the paper. She tried her best to control her emotions before tearing out that page and rewriting.
That night, he was still asleep when he suddenly heard someone knocking on the window, very urgently.
Outside the window was Liu Rentang, also known as Nine Ears. He said he had been exposed and that his subordinate, Nightingale, had betrayed him and was leading agents to hunt down comrades. Li Yamei believed his lies and, after giving him a warning, followed him along the retreat route to the safe house in Yangzhou that very night.
However, Li Yamei soon noticed that Liu Rentang's behavior was becoming increasingly strange. He was evasive about how he escaped from the clutches of the enemy, and he couldn't explain how he knew that Bai Lingniao had betrayed them. Furthermore, he did not warn the other comrades before leaving, which was extremely irresponsible.
After Li Yamei criticized Liu Rentang, Liu Rentang pretended to admit his mistake and took out a radio and asked Li Yamei to send intelligence to the organization in the form of telegrams. How could he possibly send intelligence by telegram in such a critical situation?
Later, I felt that no matter who had betrayed me, it was better to believe it than not, so I secretly sent a telegram saying "The Lark has betrayed us." To save time, I didn't sign it and hurriedly turned off the radio, telling everyone to cut off contact with the Lark. Now it seems I misunderstood Comrade Lark.
"So you only sent one telegram, and it was sent from Yangzhou?" Wang Renyong held the note, his expression growing increasingly confused. "Actually, we also received another message from Xuzhou, indicating that Nine Ears had betrayed us. To be on the safe side, I cut off both of their communications with the organization."
“It was probably sent by the Nightingale. He’s Liu Rentang’s subordinate, so he must have been exposed too.” Ya Mei handed the completed manuscript to Wang Renyong.
“According to my intelligence, Bai Lingniao’s subordinate, Zhao Nanshan, the director of Chunmiao Printing Factory, has disappeared. The printing factory has been destroyed, and this has already been reported in the newspapers,” Wang Renyong said to Ya Mei with a serious expression, his smile fading.
Ignoring Li Yamei's wide eyes, Wang Renyong continued, "But when I sent people to collect the bodies of the comrades who sacrificed their lives in Xuzhou, the comrades who collected the bodies said that a total of four comrades sacrificed their lives at the printing plant. They all gave up their escape in order to burn documents, and there was no factory director among them, which means that someone gave advance warning."
Qingcheng, standing to the side, was also confused. Judging from the first incident, Bailing had also betrayed them because his subordinates had been destroyed. But when the second incident was added together, the situation in Xuzhou became more complicated. Where was the factory manager? He either escaped or was secretly detained.
“I have something strange about this. Isn’t Cai Tou your bodyguard? Theoretically, he should be protecting your municipal party committee leaders. How come he went to Chunmiao Printing Factory? His name is on the list of casualties, but his body isn’t actually there.” Wang Renyong stared at Ya Mei with expectant eyes, hoping he would answer.
"After Cai Tou was transferred to an overseas mission by Hu Yukun, he remained in Hu Yukun's hands. It's possible that Cai Tou was with Hu Yukun before his sacrifice, and Hu Yukun sent him to protect the factory director at Chunmiao Printing Factory, and the two of them escaped together." Ya Mei finished writing her speculation with her head down.
Before Old Wang could ask any further questions, Father Tong pushed open the door with a rare smile on his face and eagerly announced to everyone, "Comrades, our hometown has been reopened."
"My hometown says that the news has been confirmed, and that Comrade Tiejian had already sent the attack deployment map and the attacking force numbers back to the base three days ago. With the help of Comrade Yuying providing the attack time, my hometown is very grateful to all the comrades for their work in protecting the base."
Iron Shoulders? Kiyosumi looked confused, not knowing whose code name it was. He only knew that this person was a fan of Mr. Shouchang's books, while Li Yamei clapped her hands in celebration.
Only Wang Renyong, standing beside him, gaped with an expression of disbelief, and suddenly stood up, shouting, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
"Renyong, are you saying this news is inaccurate? Then I'll report it to my hometown immediately." Father Tong was momentarily at a loss for words due to Old Wang's reaction.
“It’s not that the information is inaccurate, Lao Tong, have you forgotten whose code name Iron Shoulder is? It’s Hu Yukun’s code name.” Wang Renyong’s eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes began to redden again.
“I know it’s Hu Yukun’s code name. He might have pulled a fast one. Didn’t he contact his hometown?” Father Tong said patiently with a smile on his face.
“It’s really impossible! Comrade Hu Yukun has indeed sacrificed his life. I sent people to collect his body, and I moved his wife and children to another place.” Whenever he talks about Hu Yukun, Wang Renyong is always on the verge of a breakdown.
Upon hearing the news of Hu Yukun's sacrifice, Li Yamei was no better off. Her face, flushed red, was streaked with tears. Men don't easily shed tears, but only when they are deeply saddened.
Seeing everyone's low spirits, Qingcheng decided to express her opinion: "Since they know the code name 'Iron Shoulder,' they must be one of us. Moreover, before Hu Yukun sacrificed himself, he may have already passed the intelligence to other comrades."
Father Tong nodded in agreement, but then frowned and asked in confusion, "But why didn't that comrade use his own code name, but instead used the name 'Iron Shoulder' to send the message? The hometown always treats all messages sent back equally. Using the code name of a fallen comrade would only arouse suspicion."
“I think the last person to contact Hu Yukun wasn’t Caitou, but someone else. Caitou could have used his own code name,” Qingcheng said after a moment of thought.
“But I had someone test it. The empty house where Hu Yukun sacrificed himself is very close to the printing factory. If you run fast, you can get there in 10 minutes. Cai Tou is in good physical condition, so he can only get there faster. He can easily find the factory manager at the printing factory and escape together after receiving the final intelligence,” Wang Renyong explained calmly.
“Boss, you’ve overlooked something important—humanity. With Cai Tou’s genuine character, he would never leave Hu Yukun, who is seriously injured, alone in an empty house, much less let him be killed.” Qing Cheng analyzed calmly. She had worked with Cai Tou for a while and knew that he was a very loyal and sentimental man.
"In times of crisis, choices must be made." Wang Renyong stated a harsh truth with a blank expression. Compared to the interests of the organization, personal life, death, honor, and disgrace are utterly insignificant.
“Then we need to figure out first, whether their attacks were launched simultaneously? If they were launched simultaneously, Cai Tou wouldn’t even have time to teleport and notify the printing factory to evacuate.” Qing Cheng picked up two teacups to give everyone an example.
When talking about the raid that night, Yamei added a detail: Liu Rentang was most likely also raided that night. She found obvious handcuff marks on Liu Rentang's wrists, but he only said that he broke the handcuffs to escape. However, apart from the abrasions, there were no further impact injuries or cuts on his wrists.
Unless the handcuffs were unlocked by a secret agent with a key, the unusual nature of the situation alerted Ya Mei. Liu Rentang was almost the first to be arrested, indicating that he had been under surveillance for a long time, and that the agents were very well prepared this time, with a high probability that it was a simultaneous raid in multiple locations, aiming to wipe them out in one fell swoop.
“I have a new hypothesis, which is exactly the opposite of your thinking, leader. Someone notified the printing factory to evacuate, encountered the seriously injured Hu Yukun on the way, and received the final intelligence, including his code name, before leaving the scene.” Qingcheng dipped her finger in water and drew her hypothetical route on the table.
“You think it was the Lark who notified the printing factory, which does explain why he didn’t use his own code name to send the Message. But according to the rules of single-line contact, he shouldn’t know his superior’s superior, Hu Yukun,” Wang Renyong raised his question.
"How could Liu Rentang, as Hu Yukun's subordinate, know Comrade Yamei?" Qingcheng turned to Comrade Yamei and asked.
“Liu Rentang is my cousin, whom I grew up with, and I was one of his introducers to the Party. Moreover, Liu Rentang knows many comrades in Xuzhou, including Zhao Nanshan, the director of Chunmiao Printing Factory.” Li Yamei’s hand trembled slightly as she wrote this sentence, then added, “I request the organization to discipline me!”
“It has nothing to do with you. He couldn’t withstand the test and betrayed the revolution. Don’t forget, you were almost sold out by him too.” Wang Renyong patted Ya Mei’s trembling shoulder to comfort her.
“Everyone lives in a small town, so it’s inevitable that they’re related or even connected. When they get together in private, they introduce each other and chat about Marxist philosophy instead of missions, so it can’t be considered a violation of organizational discipline.” Qingcheng’s words seemed to enlighten Wang Renyong, and Yamei nodded repeatedly to confirm Qingcheng’s guess.
"Qingcheng, come with me to Julaida Road right now. We're going to find the comrades from the Fourth Department." Wang Renyong then instructed Father Tong, "Old Tong, find a doctor to treat Amei's injuries right away, and also find a good dentist. She's four years younger than me. What will she do without teeth?"
Qingcheng kept glancing at Li Yamei, whose hair had turned completely white. The pain of killing a loved one with one's own hands was something that most people could not bear.
Li Yamei wiped away her tears and wrote the words "Thank you" in large characters. Wang Renyong patted Yamei on the shoulder and said solemnly, "We should be thanking you."
Along the way, Qingcheng and Wang Renyong remained silent. Qingcheng was sorting out the situation in Xuzhou City in her mind. What she could confirm now was that it was a surprise attack that night, and no one was prepared, including the traitor Liu Rentang.
After the agents arrested Liu Rentang, theoretically, Liu Rentang's defection would only involve implicating his superior, Hu Yukun, and his subordinate, Bai Lingniao. The single-line connection is like beads on a string; if one bead breaks, it only affects the two beads above and below it.
However, the comrades in Xuzhou did not strictly adhere to the principle of single-line contact, which led to the traitor knowing his superiors' colleagues and even his subordinates' subordinates, resulting in a large-scale attack.
Suddenly remembering something, Qingcheng asked Wang Renyong curiously, "Boss, why are they arresting the printing factory director? Does he have anything important in his possession?"
“The factory director had several master copies of revolutionary books. I checked, and all the master copies were taken away, not a single one was left. They were taken so cleanly without any signs of damage, it doesn’t seem like the work of a spy, it’s more like the factory director took them himself,” Wang Renyong explained as he drove.
"What is the position of a lark?" Kiyosumi asked again.
“The Nightingale’s real name is Bai Haoyue. Her public identity is the action captain of the 15th Division’s inspection team, with the rank of lieutenant. She was just approved to join the Party last June and is currently an ordinary courier,” Wang Renyong explained patiently.
"What about the traitor Liu Rentang?" Kiyosumi continued to press.
"His public identity was a physical education teacher at Xingtan Middle School, but his actual identity was the chairman of the trade union in Xuzhou, responsible for organizing the workers' and students' movements in Xuzhou." Wang Renyong scoffed and cursed "traitor to the workers," then added, "All the comrades at Xingtan Middle School were wiped out, and Principal Ji has been secretly murdered."
"Why would a relatively unimportant courier be sandwiched between two important figures?" Kiyosumi's eyes were full of questions.
Wang Renyong shook his head. He hadn't figured it out yet, but he made a bold guess: one possibility was that double secrecy was being maintained, with the courier acting as a buffer to prevent the two important figures from being exposed at the same time, and also to avoid direct contact between them, thus reducing the risk of daily exposure.
Another possibility is that Hu Yukun wanted to groom him, having him simultaneously oversee the movements of two important figures, one above and one below. After all, he was a university student from Jinling University, with no flaws in intelligence or talent, and the organization always valued the recruitment of patriotic intellectuals.
"Whatever the reason, the lark is like a lock, right?" Qingcheng looked at Wang Renyong meaningfully.
“You could say that,” Wang Renyong nodded affirmatively. “But the fact that Nine Ears betrayed us doesn’t mean that Lark didn’t betray us. There’s a possibility that both of them betrayed us.”
“We can all see that the lark is a lock. Liu Rentang must know that. If I were him, I would skip the lock, smash the printing plant, arrest the factory manager, and destroy the master plate. But the lock doesn’t suddenly stop working. The traitor’s actions actually bought time for the lock, notified the printing plant, and created a time difference with the spies.” Qingcheng still insisted on the lark’s intuition.
"So we need to ask the comrades in the Fourth Section about the exact time they received the telegram. Get out of the car." As he spoke, Wang Renyong had already brought the car to a stop.
Before them stood a small white Western-style building, its entrance a dead end. They were about to head to the most mysterious Fourth Division of headquarters—the Communications Division.
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