At 10 p.m., Ning Zhiheng, dressed in plain clothes, appeared at the door of a safe house in Yuanjiagang, western Chongqing. He tapped the door rhythmically. Soon the door opened, and Tanikawa Chiemi appeared. She nodded to Ning Zhiheng, who then slipped inside.
Ning Zhiheng walked into the room, looked around for a moment, and observed the environment before sitting down on the sofa. He said to Tanikawa Chiemi, "This is a good choice. The location is relatively secluded, and there are no high points nearby. You put a lot of thought into it."
Chiemi Tanikawa smiled slightly. She knew that Ning Zhiheng was an extremely cautious person and must have thoroughly surveyed the surroundings before knocking on the door, but she did not point it out.
He turned around and made Ning Zhiheng a cup of hot tea, placed it on the coffee table, and sat down opposite Ning Zhiheng. He said, "This is my last safe house. I chose it after a long time. No one knows about it except my assistant, Matsuno Tomohiro."
At this point, she smiled and said, "And now you're here too!"
Ning Zhiheng, however, was not in the mood for jokes with her. He sat on the sofa, waved his hand, and said, "Tell me, what do you need to report?"
Ning Zhiheng got straight to the point, and Tanikawa Chiemi didn't dare to delay any longer. She knew that her methods were useless against this man and had long since given up on the idea. Besides, she did have something to report this time.
So she sat up straight and said seriously, "The Wuhan headquarters may be suspicious of me. Now their special envoy has entered Chongqing."
"The special envoy has entered Chongqing? Tell me the details." Ning Zhiheng was slightly taken aback, something popping into his mind.
Chiemi Tanikawa continued, "Just last night I received instructions from the Wuhan headquarters, saying that the Wuhan headquarters had dispatched a senior agent to Chongqing to cooperate with his investigation. I was to meet the special envoy at a bookstore in western Chongqing at 11:00 this morning. However, I waited until 11:10 but no one showed up, so I had to leave. I suspect that the Wuhan headquarters is screening me and that they have become suspicious of me."
Eleven o'clock in the morning? The library in western Chongqing? Ning Zhiheng was taken aback upon hearing this. After all that work, it turned out that Gao Qishige's contact was with Tanikawa Chiemi. However, this made sense, since Tanikawa Chiemi was currently the only remaining intelligence chief in the Chongqing intelligence network. If Gao Qishige wanted to clean up the mess, he would definitely need to contact Tanikawa Chiemi and understand the situation. However, it seemed that Gao Qishige did not fully trust Tanikawa Chiemi.
That's why they arrived more than an hour early to check the area around the rendezvous point. But for some reason, they eventually abandoned the rendezvous operation. Did they discover something?
Ning Zhiheng frowned, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Do you think Gao Qishige gave up on meeting with you because he became suspicious of you?"
Upon hearing this, it was Tanikawa Chiemi's turn to be utterly astonished. She hurriedly asked, "Director, are you saying that the special envoy is actually Takasaki Shigeo himself? No, how did you know?"
Ning Zhiheng replied dismissively, "Lieutenant Colonel Takasaki Shigeo, an intelligence officer in charge of the Chongqing intelligence network for the Japanese military, and a confidant of Lieutenant General Uehara Junpei, dared to personally enter Chongqing. Naturally, I have to be extra careful."
The more nonchalant Ning Zhiheng appeared, the more shocked Tanikawa Chiemi became. Even she didn't know who this special envoy was, so how did Ning Zhiheng know?
Clearly, the Chinese intelligence agencies' understanding of the Japanese intelligence agencies far exceeded her expectations. Considering the outstanding performance of the Chinese intelligence agencies over the past month and her own experiences, Chiemi Tanikawa felt she should re-evaluate her situation. It seemed she wasn't as valuable to the Chinese intelligence agencies as she had previously imagined. There must be other spies within the Chinese intelligence agencies and the Japanese intelligence agencies, otherwise they wouldn't have known that Takasaki Shigeo had personally entered Chongqing, such top-secret intelligence.
Ning Zhiheng originally intended to give Tanikawa Chiemi a warning to prevent her from having any unrealistic ambitions. The way to manage subordinates is to make them respect you and fear your authority. Simply bribing Tanikawa Chiemi with US dollars is not enough.
Chiemi Tanikawa asked with some suspicion, "Are you sure? Takasaki Shigeo would enter Chongqing at this dangerous time?"
Ning Zhiheng didn't say much. He took out a few photos from his pocket, handed one of them to Tanikawa Chiemi, and asked, "Is this Takasaki Shigeo? Is it right?"
Chiemi Tanikawa examined the photograph closely and immediately nodded, saying, "It's him, but this should be a sketch portrait, probably your work. You've already met him?"
Tanikawa Chiemi had personally witnessed Ning Zhiheng's portrait skills. He had perfectly recreated the portraits of Moriki Keio and Matsui Kensuke based solely on her verbal descriptions. So, she wasn't surprised to see Takasaki Shigeo's photo now.
However, Chiemi Tanikawa had a feeling that this portrait was even more lifelike than the previous two, so she wondered if Ning Zhiheng had seen Takasaki Shigeo in person and therefore the portrait was more vivid than the one he had drawn based on her description.
Ning Zhiheng looked at Tanikawa Chiemi with slight surprise and asked, "Did you wear makeup when you went to the library today?"
Chiemi Tanikawa nodded and said, "Given the current situation, we still need to be careful. When I go, I will disguise myself as a young man. Not everyone is like you, Chief, so it will be difficult for others to notice."
Ning Zhiheng shook his head and smiled wryly, "I didn't recognize you this time either. This morning, I waited near the library for nearly three hours, but I still couldn't find you."
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