Chapter Sixty-Eight: An Unexpected Incident

Ning Zhiheng quickly returned to the Military Intelligence Division. He first went to Wei Liangbi’s office next door to look for him, but no one was there. Back in his own office, he asked Wang Shucheng, who told him that Wei Liangbi had gone to the Interrogation Division to oversee the current case.

Just at that moment, Ning Zhiheng suddenly recalled something he had forgotten: last night, during the search of Xie Ziming’s residence, he had brought back a stack of blank papers in a document bag. In his haste, he had simply tossed them into his desk drawer without having time to examine them.

He hurriedly opened the drawer and took out the stack of white paper. He vaguely remembered seeing faint marks on the first page the night before, thinking they might be valuable clues. Out of caution—determined not to overlook even the faintest trace—he picked up a pencil and gently rubbed it back and forth over the first page. After a while, faint writing slowly emerged on the paper, but it was all in Japanese, which Ning Zhiheng could not read.

Nevertheless, he was greatly excited. This was certainly valuable intelligence. The Military Intelligence Division was full of talented individuals, and surely someone proficient in Japanese could quickly translate it.

He carefully placed the sheet of paper in his jacket pocket and hurried out, making his way to the Interrogation Division. With Wei Liangbi now leading the investigation, this clue had to be reported to him immediately.

Arriving at the interrogation room, he saw two Intelligence Section personnel standing guard at the door, forbidding anyone from approaching. Ning Zhiheng showed his credentials. Since this case was being handled primarily by the Operations Section, the Intelligence Section had no grounds to block his entry, so they let him in.

What struck Ning Zhiheng as odd was how quiet the entire interrogation room was. Wei Liangbi, Yu Cheng, and Jiang Wende were all seated at a table on the side, silently watching the detainee opposite them.

At that moment, Shimazu Hiroshi was suspended high in the air. The wounds on his body had been bandaged and treated. His entire weight rested on half the sole of one foot, while his other foot and both hands were tied up with ropes. Particularly cruel were the barbed hooks, not long but exceedingly fine and sharp, that had been fastened into his chin and his lower body.

The sharp barbs had pierced his chin and his genitals. To intensify the pain, the barbs had been coated with saltwater and alcohol. The posture was grotesque and excruciating. With only half his foot bearing his body’s weight, the slightest relaxation would cause him to drop, driving the barbs deeper into his flesh. The more he struggled, the more the barbs tore at his muscles, increasing the pain.

On top of this, the saltwater and alcohol stung his wounds mercilessly, forcing him to focus all his strength on supporting himself with that half foot. But after standing so long, with all his weight on half a sole, his leg muscles were nearing collapse.

Both the inside of his chin and his genitals are among the most sensitive parts of the human body. Each time his leg muscles failed and his body dropped, the barbs drove deep into his flesh, unleashing unbearable agony—the more he struggled, the more intense the torment. Enduring such torment for so long was simply inhuman; he was in utter misery.

Shimazu Hiroshi didn’t even dare to cry out. Opening his mouth would pull on the muscles of his neck, amplifying the pain to the point that his cries were cut off mid-scream.

Only when he was at the verge of collapse would the interrogators untie him, switch the foot bearing his weight, and begin the torment all over again. Each time they changed feet, the relief was so overwhelming that the prospect of another round of agony was even more unbearable. Every cycle was a test of human endurance to its very limits.

This punishment, referred to as “Carrying the Sedan Chair,” was an exceedingly cruel method of interrogation. The barbs, being fine and short, left only tiny wounds, and with the alcohol and saltwater serving as disinfectants, the risk of infection was minimized while the pain was maximized.

The procedure maximized the chance of keeping the prisoner alive, torturing him slowly—like taming a wild hawk through exhaustion, dragging out the suffering endlessly. Every moment left the victim in a state of excruciating torment.

How long the prisoner could last depended entirely on his physical strength and willpower. It had to be admitted, this interrogation method was far more technically refined than Ning Zhiheng’s own. Yet, its weakness was also clear: it lacked the ferocity of Ning Zhiheng’s approach. Should the prisoner possess strong stamina and willpower, he could endure for a considerable time.

If Ning Zhiheng had his way, he would never choose such a method—he cared nothing for the prisoner’s life or death; he only wanted to extract a confession as quickly as possible.

Noticing Ning Zhiheng enter, Wei Liangbi stood and beckoned him over, without letting him speak. The two of them left the interrogation room and found a secluded spot.

Wei Liangbi pulled out a cigarette, lit it for himself, but didn’t offer one to Ning Zhiheng, knowing he didn’t smoke. After spending so long in the interrogation room, everyone’s mood was bound to be gloomy.

“How’s the interrogation going?” Ning Zhiheng asked. “Have you gotten anything out of him?”

Wei Liangbi shook his head. “Yu Cheng is afraid of killing the suspect, so he’s trying to wear him down slowly. This Xie Ziming’s been enduring this since yesterday all the way to this morning—a stubborn fellow indeed. He must be a well-trained veteran agent, surely having undergone specialized training to resist interrogation.”

It was said that the Japanese intelligence services had begun special training to resist interrogation—supposedly enabling agents to enter a self-hypnotic state, dulling their sense of pain to withstand torture.

Whether that self-hypnosis really worked, no one knew. At least, there was no such course in the Military Intelligence Division’s own training.

Ning Zhiheng frowned. “At this rate, when are you ever going to get a confession? The intensity is still too low. Time is short. Unless harsher methods are used, it won’t work. If the Tokko headquarters reacts in time, the other accomplices could escape.”

Wei Liangbi spread his hands in a helpless gesture. “This morning, the Director came in person and specifically emphasized that the suspect must be kept alive. If we get heavy-handed and the man dies, we can’t afford to bear the responsibility. Besides, Intelligence is leading this interrogation. Both the section chief and the Director gave their approval. We’re just there as observers. If we overstep and something goes wrong, we’ll take the blame ourselves.”

Ning Zhiheng could only sigh. This method guaranteed the suspect’s safety, but if Xie Ziming had strong stamina and willpower, there was no telling when a confession could be obtained.

“By the way, Brother Wei, there’s something I need to report to you.” Ning Zhiheng took out the piece of white paper from his jacket pocket.

“What’s this?” Wei Liangbi asked, examining the paper. He didn’t recognize the Japanese writing either.

“Yesterday, when we searched the radio room, we found this sheet on the desk. There were signs that something had been written and erased. I suspect it’s a draft message Xie Ziming prepared—he probably needed to write a draft before converting it into code. I restored the marks with a pencil. Can you find a trustworthy person to translate it?”

The moment he heard this, Wei Liangbi was delighted. He carefully checked the sheet again. “This is an important lead. I’ll go find Deputy Section Chief Xiang right away and have him assign a reliable translator.”

He instructed Ning Zhiheng to summon Wang Shucheng, who was on duty at home, to come and continue supervising the interrogation in the meantime.

Then, together, they hurried to Deputy Section Chief Xiang Yan’s office.

Xiang Yan was in his office. Seeing the two, he took the opportunity to ask about the progress of the case. Hearing that they needed someone proficient in Japanese, he immediately picked up the phone and called the Communications Section, which had several dedicated translators.

Soon, a translator arrived. Xiang Yan had him translate the line on the spot. The translated content was: “Windmill Puppet captured, Snow Wolf returns to Shanghai today, details to follow, Shadow confirmed restart, Black Sparrow.”

At the first glance at the message, both Ning Zhiheng and Wei Liangbi felt a sinking dread. Xiang Yan noticed their dark expressions and quickly asked, “What is it? This looks like a draft message. Is there a problem with the content?”

“You’re right, Section Chief, this is definitely a message—and likely the one sent just before we made the arrests yesterday,” Wei Liangbi replied with a wry smile. “The first line refers to Fu Cheng and Huang Xiansheng's capture, which isn’t an issue. The problem is the second line: ‘Snow Wolf returns to Shanghai today.’”

“Who is this Snow Wolf?” Xiang Yan asked.

Ning Zhiheng took up the explanation. “The target we tracked yesterday, Cui Hai, is likely the Snow Wolf mentioned in the message. At noon, we saw Cui Hai meet with Xie Ziming, then split up to follow them. I tailed Cui Hai back to his hotel and found he was preparing to leave Nanjing. The situation was urgent, so I tried to arrest him on the spot, but failed—he pulled a grenade and killed himself at the last moment.

“In other words, Xie Ziming—Black Sparrow in the message—had already contacted Tokko headquarters by radio and reported that Snow Wolf was returning to Shanghai yesterday. The trip from Nanjing to Shanghai takes less than a day. If Snow Wolf doesn’t report to headquarters by noon today, they’ll grow suspicious. I estimate that by this evening at the latest, they’ll confirm that Snow Wolf is missing. Snow Wolf holds a high position at headquarters and knows Black Sparrow’s identity. We suspect he also knows the identities of other Shadow group members. If he’s missing, headquarters may react, though we can’t say how—but one thing is certain: our time is running out!”

Xiang Yan immediately understood. He grabbed the message and told Ning Zhiheng and Wei Liangbi, “Don’t go anywhere—wait here for me. I’ll report this at once!”

With that, he hurried out.

Ning Zhiheng and Wei Liangbi exchanged glances, both looking dejected. They hadn’t expected that, despite their efforts, Xie Ziming had managed to contact Tokko headquarters.

With Snow Wolf’s disappearance, if Tokko headquarters responded quickly, all secrets known to Snow Wolf—including everything about the Shadow group—would be compromised. The newly adopted codes would be abandoned, and every member of Shadow could be ordered via radio to go underground or evacuate. This was the last thing the Military Intelligence Division wanted.

Soon, Xiang Yan came rushing back.

“Come with me—Director wants to see you both immediately!”