Chapter 45: Summoning the Wooden Puppet for Interrogation

The two men wasted no time and went straight to the Interrogation Division. The officer on duty was Captain Jiang Wende, head of the division, and the man responsible for the custody of Huang Xiansheng in this case.

When he heard that Wei Liangbi and his companion wanted to interrogate Huang Xiansheng, he looked troubled and said, “It’s not that I want to make things difficult, but Chief Qian from Intelligence has made it clear: without his permission, no one is allowed to interrogate Huang Xiansheng.”

Wei Liangbi had little regard for these prison guards. He sneered, “Don’t you know this case is being investigated jointly by our Operations Division and the Intelligence Division? We were the ones who first apprehended him. What right does Qian Zhong have to prevent us from interrogating the suspect?

Besides, new developments have emerged in the case. Huang Xiansheng is concealing critical information. We must clarify this matter. If you insist on blocking us, can you bear the consequences of what may happen?”

“No, no! I’m just the messenger here, Chief Wei, please don’t pin this on me!” Jiang Wende waved his hands in protest. He knew well enough that the case had initially been handled by Operations, only later transferred to Intelligence. In the end, men like them were little more than guards; he had no desire to be caught in the rivalry between the two divisions.

Seeing Wei Liangbi’s stern expression, Jiang knew he couldn’t withstand the pressure. These Whampoa graduates all had powerful backers—if things escalated, he’d be the one to suffer.

He quickly added, “Chief Wei, I’m only following procedure. I’ll take you there right away.”

With that, he stood up and led Wei Liangbi and Ning Zhiheng to the cell where Huang Xiansheng was being held.

As they left, he discreetly signaled a nearby staff member—a sharp fellow who immediately understood. The moment Wei Liangbi and his companion stepped out, the man picked up the phone: “Intelligence Division? I need to speak to Chief Qian!”

The two quickly reached the cell and unlocked the door. There, lying on the bed, was Huang Xiansheng.

By now, Huang was already in a semi-conscious state. His entire body was swathed in bandages; his face was flushed, lips cracked and foaming, muttering incoherently.

When he heard people enter, he struggled to open his eyes. The pupils, already dim and unfocused, rolled slightly before closing again, utterly spent.

Ning Zhiheng could see Huang Xiansheng was at death’s door, his consciousness fading, a foul odor beginning to emanate from his body. At this rate, he wouldn’t last much longer.

“Staff Officer Huang, can you hear me?” Ning Zhiheng approached the bed, lowering his voice to Huang’s ear.

Huang’s fading awareness flickered; his eyes opened once more, his cracked lips trembling as if to speak.

“Staff Officer Huang, you know your situation. In your statement, you concealed certain facts. Tell me, did you recruit any subordinates?

Do you realize we found a suspicious individual at your residence? This person knew where you lived—he must be someone you know.

If you confess everything now, we might still be able to save your life.”

Ning Zhiheng watched Huang’s eyes carefully. At the mention of this question, it was as if a secret deep within had been pierced; a glimmer of shock and wariness surfaced in Huang’s gaze. But soon, his mind began to drift, sinking back into its fading state.

There was something there! Ning Zhiheng’s nerves tensed—he’d managed to provoke a reaction!

With Huang Xiansheng’s resistance waning, he could no longer conceal his true feelings in subtle ways. Ultimately, he’d given himself away.

He definitely had underlings! This hidden mole had to be found. Now, Ning Zhiheng simply needed to persist with his questioning, forcing Huang to dwell on the matter in his final moments.

In this way, just before death, Huang would be most likely to reveal the memory Ning sought. Ning could then seize this secret and uncover the subordinate.

He did this to ensure that the memories he obtained would be of use to him—a method he’d considered since the first time he extracted memories from Liutian Xingju.

He believed that, by this approach, he could maximize the useful information gleaned from limited memories.

After repeating his questions several times, Ning Zhiheng continued, “Staff Officer Huang, I need to confirm your true identity. According to our findings, you've also concealed your real background. Are you Japanese or Chinese?

You should know, we’ve already gone to Shandong to collect your mother and brother. Soon, they’ll arrive to identify you in person. We’ll compare your blood types to verify who you truly are.

What’s real cannot be faked, and what’s fake cannot pass for real. No one can cover up everything perfectly. I suggest you confess now, for your own good.”

In truth, Ning Zhiheng had always been suspicious about Huang Xiansheng’s true identity. He didn’t believe that a boy over ten years old could, after just a few years of indoctrination, have his entire worldview and sense of right and wrong utterly transformed.

Moreover, for a traitor to endure the army’s hardship for over a decade without any ideological commitment, yet remain loyal to an alien organization, seemed unrealistic to him.

Everyone has their passions and desires, their loves and hatreds. Especially in these turbulent times, human nature and greed are under constant trial. Could a traitor really possess such perseverance?

As expected, this line of questioning also made a flash of surprise and fear cross Huang’s eyes.

He hadn’t anticipated that, despite his efforts to hide, the secret buried in his heart would still be unearthed by this young adversary.

This opponent was formidable—his cold, penetrating gaze seemed to leave nothing hidden.

Huang could only close his eyes gently, refusing to respond, hoping these secrets would die with him.

As his life ebbed away, his mind drifted back over his brief existence: the shower of cherry blossoms before his family home, his mother’s gentle smile reappearing before him—

Ning Zhiheng continued to repeat every question he needed answered, whispering insistently into Huang’s ear. Though Huang gave no reply, Ning persisted, forcing his mind to keep turning over these matters.

Suddenly, the door burst open. Three officers strode in quickly, the one in the lead—a major—rushed straight to Wei Liangbi.

“Chief Wei, what do you think you’re doing? This case has already been handed over to our Intelligence Division by order of the director! You’ve intervened in the interrogation without authorization—if anything goes wrong, you’ll bear full responsibility!”

Wei Liangbi let out a cold laugh, replying with scorn, “Chief Qian, you know very well who should be responsible here. If you don’t wish to be found out, don’t do things you’ll regret.

The suspect’s injuries were clearly stabilized, yet now he’s suddenly deteriorated. Isn’t it suspicious? Shouldn’t this be properly investigated?

Moreover, our Operations team uncovered new leads last night: an agent spotted a suspicious figure near Huang’s residence, most likely coming to meet him. Yet Huang’s own statement makes no mention of this person. We believe he’s withholding something vital, which is why we needed this emergency interrogation.

Unfortunately, it seems we’re too late. We could have unearthed an even deeper Japanese spy, but now there’s no hope. This is a major mistake, Chief Qian, and you acted awfully fast.”

Qian Zhong’s heart skipped a beat. Wei’s veiled accusation brought a cold sweat to his back. Damn it! An unexpected development, and now another accomplice has surfaced—this would be difficult to handle.

Wei Liangbi was no ordinary man; a direct Whampoa graduate and a rising star of the old Baoding faction, with powerful connections beyond Qian’s reach.

To make matters worse, he’d recently had a falling-out with him, and now here he was, tripping him up at every turn.

Qian bitterly regretted his earlier stinginess with the hush money—over a paltry sum, he’d managed to offend someone who never let things go. What a blunder, losing both the sesame and the watermelon!

Now, he cast his gaze at Ning Zhiheng standing beside Huang’s bed, his tone a touch more polite, “And this gentleman is?”

Ning Zhiheng stood up and answered calmly, “Ning Zhiheng.”

So, both key players were here—so it was all about that hush money! Both brothers had shown up because of it. What a mistake! How could he have been so blinded by greed? He’d lost everything in the end.

“Ah, so it’s Captain Ning. Well, then we’re all colleagues here. In fact, there are some details of the case I’d like to discuss with you both.” With that, he turned to his two subordinates, “You two, stand outside and guard the door. Don’t let anyone in.”

His men understood immediately. Some matters were not meant for their ears—the three officers clearly had confidential business to discuss.

Where there are secrets, there is trouble—best to keep as far away as possible.

They locked the door behind them and stationed themselves a few paces away, making sure no one could approach.