Adhering to the principle of "better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free," he tried to pry open Wan Mulin's mouth and find Gao Tao and the other two. However, seeing that Wan Mulin had been subjected to such severe torture but still refused to confess, he was somewhat unsure of what to do.
However, Li Zhiqun did not give up. He came to Wan Mulin, bent down and asked again, "Uncle Mulin, since you insist on not admitting that Gao Tao and the other two defected, then fine, I will believe you this time and we will not talk about this matter."
At this point, Li Zhiqun paused, then asked, "Then tell me, how did Luo Zidong die?"
Upon hearing this, Wan Mulin forced open his swollen eyes, glanced at Li Zhiqun, and then closed them again, remaining silent.
Li Zhiqun looked at Wan Mulin and continued, "Uncle Mulin, this puts me in a difficult position. Here's what we'll do: I'll pretend you know nothing about Gao and Tao's matter. As long as you tell me about Luo Zidong, I can make the decision to let you leave!"
Wan Mulin was silent for a moment, and finally said in a hoarse voice, "What's there to say? Everyone in the concession knows that he and his master sold themselves to the Japanese and were killed by Chongqing agents."
Li Zhiqun pressed further, "Then tell me the whereabouts of these Chongqing agents, and I'll let you go."
Wan Mulin looked at Li Zhiqun with a puzzled expression again. He knew everything about Gao and Tao's affair, but he knew absolutely nothing about Luo Zidong's death. He hadn't done anything, so what was he supposed to say?
Of course, even if he knew, given Wan Mulin's character, he wouldn't say anything.
"I really don't know anything about this. I've never met Luo Zidong!" Wan Mulin shook his head again in denial.
Li Zhiqun pressed on relentlessly, letting out another cold snort: "You don't know? It seems you won't shed a tear until you see the coffin. Fine, then I'll let you see yourself alone."
After waving his hand, an interrogator went out and quickly brought in a young man. The young man walked up to Wan Mulin, looked at him, and recognized the blood-covered man as Wan Mulin. He then whispered, "Uncle Mulin, I am Zhao Rong!"
It turned out that this person was Zhao Rong, Luo Zidong's main assistant. He was Lu Tianqiao's disciple, Luo Zidong's junior brother, and the third most important person in the gang, second only to Luo Zidong and Yan Xing.
After Luo Zidong and Yan Xing died, their gang collapsed immediately. The surrounding Green Gang forces rushed in, and almost overnight, the entire gang fell apart. Zhao Rong did not have Luo Zidong's ability and was unable to salvage the situation. In the end, he had no choice but to flee to the foreign concession and seek refuge with Li Zhiqun, joining the 76th Special Agent Headquarters.
Li Zhiqun had also investigated Luo Zidong's death. According to him, Luo Zidong had been exposed for betraying his country and defecting to the enemy. He usually kept to himself and rarely went out to avoid being hunted down by Chongqing agents. However, he died at the Huijiang Hotel on the day of the incident. As for why Luo Zidong went to the Huijiang Hotel, almost no one knew.
Because only Yan Xing and a group of bodyguards knew about Luo Zidong's visit to Wan Mulin, and to keep his plan to invite Wan Mulin to the Huijiang Grand Hotel a secret, Luo Zidong had Yan Xing arrange it secretly, even using a relative's name when making the reservation, so even fewer people knew about it.
In the end, Yan Xing and his bodyguards were all killed on the spot by Deng Zhihong's action team, leaving no survivors. Therefore, when Li Zhiqun investigated, he couldn't find the specific reason.
However, Zhao Rong, the third-ranking member of the gang, was aware of all this. After he joined gang number 76, Li Zhiqun inquired and he learned that Luo Zidong had risked leaving Luo Mansion to go to the Xinjiang Grand Hotel in order to host a banquet for Wan Mulin. However, an accident still occurred, and all forty-odd people in the group were killed.
As for who killed Luo Zidong, everyone knew it was the work of the Shanghai Intelligence Bureau. Therefore, Li Zhiqun immediately concluded that Wan Mulin and the Shanghai Intelligence Bureau must have communicated in advance and set a trap together. Wan Mulin lured Luo Zidong to the Xinjiang Grand Hotel, and then the Shanghai Intelligence Bureau killed all the targets.
In other words, Wan Mulin had connections with the Shanghai Intelligence Bureau. It should be noted that the Shanghai Intelligence Bureau was considered a top enemy by the Japanese and the puppet government. The recent Shanghai turmoil was the work of this intelligence department. Kagesa Hiroki had specifically ordered that all intelligence related to the Shanghai Intelligence Bureau should be given priority.
This is one of the reasons why Li Zhiqun was so eager to arrest Wan Mulin. If he could implicate the Shanghai Intelligence Bureau and obtain important clues, Li Zhiqun could also give the Japanese an explanation, make amends for his mistakes, and alleviate the pressure from all sides!
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