Chapter Eighty-Eight: The First Appearance of Green Mountains

Again, it was that mysterious figure. Ever since the last time the shadow delivered word of Lu Ming’s death and handed over Lu Ming’s belongings, its identity had been the question most on Shadeyan’s mind. Unfortunately, Lu Ming had died too suddenly and left behind not a single clue.

He had quickly reported the matter to the provincial committee leader. He and Lu Ming had both been underground operatives who had survived by a stroke of luck after the April 12 purge that year. Within the Party’s clandestine ranks, they held a very high level of secrecy and were underground operatives directly under the provincial committee leader.

When the provincial committee leader heard of Lu Ming’s death, he was heartbroken and fell silent for a long time. He had not expected that such a revolutionary fighter, who had endured so many hardships and bloody tempests, would make so elementary a mistake and lose his precious life. The underground Party had also lost an extremely valuable veteran intelligence agent.

The two of them analyzed the note written by the shadow, and the provincial committee leader’s conclusion was essentially the same as Shadeyan’s.

It could already be ruled out that this was a bait laid by the enemy. He also agreed with Shadeyan’s judgment: the one who knew all of Lu Ming’s secrets should be the person Lu Ming trusted most.

As for when Lu Ming had developed this subordinate, that remained unknown. At the same time, the provincial committee leader also arrived at a preliminary judgment regarding the successor to the codename Shadow.

He believed this Shadow must be an intelligence officer within the Nationalist side, someone with access to secrets on the Nationalist intelligence front. Otherwise, he would not have known the specific details of Lu Ming’s contact with the traitor Zhang Pei.

Because of this guess, both the provincial committee leader and Shadeyan agreed that if this new Shadow could indeed reach Nationalist intelligence secrets, then he would play a crucial role in the intelligence work of the Nanjing underground Party.

They had to reestablish contact with Shadow. Unfortunately, to this day they had only one one-way contact.

Shadow knew Shadeyan’s identity, but Shadeyan could not initiate contact with Shadow. This situation was extremely passive. Yet regarding this, both the provincial committee leader and Shadeyan were helpless.

For more than two months, Shadeyan had been waiting for Shadow to contact him again. But the shadow had been like a stone sunk into the sea, with no further news.

He had never expected that today Shadow would send word again, and once more it was a heavy piece of intelligence. If this intelligence was true, then Wu Qujiang’s exposure would deal a devastating blow to the Nanjing underground Party.

The letter especially pointed out that Wu Qujiang was already under surveillance and had to be moved before daybreak. Reading between the lines, the enemy might very well move in to arrest Wu Qujiang after dawn, and the situation was critical beyond measure.

Shadeyan dared not delay any longer. He grabbed the document bag and hurried out.

Half an hour later, at number twenty-three on Jiyuan Road, stood a detached residence that belonged to Fang Boyi, a professor at Jinling University.

In the living room, Fang Boyi, wearing sleepwear, handed a glass of cool boiled water to Shadeyan and said with a frown, “Old Xia, coming straight to my place like this violates operational discipline. What on earth has happened?”

Shadeyan was panting heavily. He took the glass but did not have time for even a sip. Instead, he asked directly, “Old Fang, we can talk about discipline later. I want to ask you something: is there a member of the provincial committee named Wu Qujiang?”

Fang Boyi’s pupils contracted, and his gaze sharpened as he slowly said, “Old Xia, you should know the organizational rules. The identities of provincial committee members are confidential. You should not be asking this question.”

At this, Shadeyan immediately grew angry. He slammed the untouched glass onto the table and asked in a low voice, “Confidential? What kind of confidentiality is that? If it’s so confidential, how did the political investigation bureau’s spies find out about it?”

He then threw the document bag in front of Fang Boyi. “Old Fang, I’m a Party member too. I understand organizational discipline. But right now you have to tell me clearly whether Wu Qujiang is one of our comrades, whether he is a member of the provincial committee.”

This was the first time Fang Boyi had ever seen Shadeyan lose his temper. He glanced at him in confusion, reached out to take the document bag, and opened it to examine it carefully for a long while. His face had already gone pale. Lifting the sheet of paper in his hand, he asked urgently, “This is a message from Shadow? Did you see him in person? Can you confirm whether the intelligence is genuine?”

In truth, Fang Boyi could tell at a glance that the materials in the document bag were authentic. The Nanjing underground Party provincial committee had five members, and one of them was Wu Qujiang, who was mainly responsible for procuring medical supplies for the Red Army fighters at the front. He oversaw every stage of the purchase and transport of medicines. On this intelligence line alone there were at least a dozen important underground Party members, and he occupied an extremely important position in the Nanjing underground Party provincial committee.

How could this be? A provincial committee member of such importance had been exposed, and there had been no warning at all? If handled poorly, it would mean annihilation for the entire Nanjing underground Party.

And Shadow—this Shadow who had long been impossible to contact—how had he obtained such highly confidential documents? This was a secret operation of the political investigation bureau. It seemed the earlier guess had been right: this Shadow must indeed be an intelligence officer for the Nationalists, perhaps even someone from the political investigation bureau’s own intelligence apparatus. Otherwise, how could he have obtained these records?

No, if the enemy discovered that these documents were missing, they would certainly abandon surveillance of Wu Qujiang and move immediately to arrest him. And Shadow himself would also be at risk of exposure.

Ah, so this must have been intelligence Shadow had transmitted at the risk of being exposed, fighting for his life.

“I didn’t see Shadow. Half an hour ago, he knocked on my door and slid this document bag under it. When I went out to check, he was already gone,” Shadeyan said, shaking his head.

“All right, Old Xia. Now I can tell you that these materials are genuine. Wu Qujiang is indeed one of the provincial committee members, and he is the chief person in charge of the medicines supply line. The situation is now extremely urgent. Since the enemy has discovered the loss of the documents, they will certainly move at once to arrest Old Wu. And Shadow is also in danger of exposure. Whatever the cost, we must notify Old Wu to relocate before dawn. Otherwise, the entire Nanjing underground Party organization will be in danger of being wiped out. And we cannot let Shadow’s efforts come to nothing either,” Fang Boyi said solemnly.

Hearing Fang Boyi’s words, Shadeyan’s mood grew even heavier. He reminded him, “Now it’s not just that there’s very little time. There’s another problem: Wu Qujiang is already under full surveillance. Judging from the level of detail in these materials, there won’t be few agents watching him. If we send someone to warn him to move, it will easily alert the political investigation bureau’s men. I suggest we prepare for an armed extraction.”

“I agree. I’ll mobilize armed operatives right away and prepare to act. But time is tight. Before dawn, I can only gather three comrades with combat experience. I’m afraid that won’t be enough,” Fang Boyi said with concern.

The underground Party also had its own operational personnel, but not many, and there was no way to assemble enough people in such a short time. This left Fang Boyi deeply anxious.

“Then count me in. Old Fang, back when I was in the revolutionary army, I was famous for my marksmanship. I certainly won’t make a mistake!” Seeing Fang Boyi’s troubled expression, Shadeyan thumped his chest and volunteered.

“No. Anyone else can go, but not you!” Fang Boyi said firmly.

He shook the sheet of paper in his hand and continued, “You now understand how important Shadow is. This letter and these materials saved the entire Nanjing Party organization.

Reestablishing contact with Shadow is crucial to us, but he recognizes only you. You are the sole link between the Party organization and Shadow. If anything happens to you, this vital intelligence source will be completely cut off. The consequences are too grave.”

Hearing Fang Boyi, Shadeyan no longer insisted. What he said was right. His life could be given to the Party at any time, but now he was the key to restoring contact with Shadow. He could not afford even the slightest mishap.

Fang Boyi no longer hesitated. Gritting his teeth, he said, “No matter what, let’s take the gamble. It’s the middle of the night now. If the operation goes smoothly, perhaps we can avoid alerting the political investigation bureau’s spies. Of course, we must also prepare for the worst. It is better than sitting here waiting to die.”

With the decision made, there was no more delay. Fang Boyi immediately gathered personnel and began the operation.

Shadeyan returned to Qingstone Teahouse to wait for news. If the operation ran into trouble, the worst outcome would be Wu Qujiang’s arrest. Then the entire Nanjing underground Party organization, especially the provincial committee leader Fang Boyi, would have to evacuate immediately, because at Wu Qujiang’s level he knew Fang Boyi’s identity. No matter whether he could withstand the enemy’s brutal torture, the underground Party organization had to prepare for the worst. Even he himself had to be ready to move.