Chapter Fifteen: Qin Wei Ran Away?

  Xu Yuanju didn't actually want to tell Dai Li about Qin Wei's reward money, because he couldn't quite put his finger on that so-called "heartless cannon". After all, no matter how Qin Wei put it, it was just a thin iron barrel... He could say it easily, but as the station chief, Dai Li and Zheng Jieming were equivalent to the big bosses of Military Intelligence. The three of them took 50,000 yuan with them, and if the test cannon didn't work out, it would be a laughingstock. The Chen brothers from Central Bureau were just waiting for them to make fools of themselves. If things didn't go well, those two would definitely speak ill of them in front of Chairman Chiang. They already had a close relationship with the old man, and privately they called each other uncle and nephew. If they got their hands on real evidence, Old Chiang would definitely find someone to settle accounts with. Who would Dai Li vent his anger on then? Besides, what if they didn't bring money? Could Qin Wei really take them down just because of that? At worst, they could just make up for it later... But the problem was that he was now in front of Dai Li, and Tang Zong was also there. Dai Li hated it most when his subordinates hid things from him, especially now that Tang Zong was present. He couldn't do that even more so now... That would make Tang Zong think that Dai Li had no control over his subordinates... As the chief of staff of Chairman Chiang's guard corps, even if he had a good relationship with Dai Li, it wasn't guaranteed that he wouldn't speak ill of him in front of Chairman Chiang. If things really went that way, the consequences would be ten times worse than if they three took 50,000 yuan to the place and found out that the so-called "heartless cannon" was only slightly better than a slingshot... Because Old Chiang might think from this small matter that Dai Li didn't have as strong abilities as he showed, which would lower Dai Li's position in Chairman Chiang's heart... In that case, Dai Li would skin him alive at the first opportunity.

  So they deceived Dai Li and Tang Zong together?

  That's even more asking for trouble.

  They went to see Qin Wei. Although they didn't have much contact, Xu couldn't help but notice that Qin Wei was a certain kind of person. Nine out of ten times, as soon as they met, the kid would ask for a reward! How would he explain it to Dai Li then? And how would Tang Zong look at him?

  So, after a brief moment of thought, he decided to inform Dai Li of the other party's request.

  Who made him someone else's subordinate?

  Being an official is difficult! Being an official in China is even more difficult! Because you have to consider all aspects, take care of the face of everyone you need to care about, otherwise...

  "Fifty thousand? I'd like to see what he's relying on."

  Xu Yuanju's report made him not have to make any more choices, while Dai Li considered it for a moment and then pretended he hadn't heard the request... 50,000 yuan? Not to mention foreign currency, even if it were legal tender, he wouldn't give it. The great Military-Intelligence Bureau chief deigned to visit you, giving you an enormous honor, and you still dare ask for money? He wanted to see what this Qin person relied on to be so arrogant... Leaving Zheng Jiemin to watch the house, he took Tang Zong and Xu Yuanju directly to the military camp where Qin Wei and others were testing artillery.

  But Dai Li did not expect that he, the so-called "King of Chinese Spies", would be stood up after arriving at the location in high spirits.

  ……

  "Isn't Qin Wei here?"

  After hearing the report from Major Zheng, who was waiting at the camp gate, Xu Yuanji's sweat started flowing... He had two generals following behind him, and they were both powerful figures. Beforehand, he had specifically called Qin Wei to inform him, although due to secrecy, he didn't mention who would be coming, but he had already hinted that there would be big shots... I thought Qin Wei would wait with Major Zheng at the camp gate for a few hours, warmly welcoming them, but unexpectedly... That guy didn't show up?

  Just now, a few students came to find Mr. Qin, and as soon as they saw them, Mr. Qin said he had an urgent matter and ran into the mountains over there, not even letting us follow him. Who would dare to follow? It was almost like they were going to fight to the death... We didn't dare to follow." Zheng Hang explained to Xu Yuan, his voice getting smaller and sweatier as he spoke. The heat in Chongqing was already sweltering, and it was the middle of summer, so he was drenched in sweat after just a short while, but he didn't dare to wipe it away... The two people standing over there were giving him too much pressure. One had stars on his shoulder, and the other looked like they were of similar status, or maybe even higher. Because that general was still standing behind them, clearly in a subordinate position... If he had known these two would come, he would rather have fought Qin Wei to the death than let them get more than 30 meters away. But now it's too late for regrets. As just a small regiment leader of a second-rate miscellaneous unit, what can he do but watch others' moods?

  "That guy has a mysterious background, how can you let him move around freely?" Xu Yuan raised his voice in anxiety as he saw the two superiors behind him growing impatient.

  "Where did this come from? You didn't say anything when you brought people over!" Zheng Hang felt wronged, "Didn't we just say to find a remote place to test the simple cannon? How did it suddenly become mysterious?... This is not right."

  "Never mind that... where are my men?" Xu Yuan suddenly asked again. He suddenly remembered that he didn't just let Qin Wei come on his own, but also sent people to follow and monitor him.

  "Let's go together!"

  "Where is it?"

  "I don't know either, I just know that after Mr. Qin left, they immediately followed him out."

  "Didn't you leave one or two?"

  Nothing!

  "What a bunch of idiots!" Xu Yuan gritted his teeth in anger again. Fine, not one of the people sent was present... If Qin Wei were an enemy, he would set up a trap outside and kill everyone, and it would probably take him several days to find out.

  ……

  "What's going on?"

  Dai Li and others became impatient, watching Xu Yuanjie and the little camp commander whispering in front, but leaving himself and Tang Zong behind, which made him feel very embarrassed.

  "Report to the chief, Qin Wei has escaped!" Xu Yuanji hastily turned around and replied.

  "Ran away?" Dai Li's eyebrows furrowed, "Where did he run off to?"

  "Wait, wait," came an unexpected burst of courage from Zheng Hang, "Mr. Qin just said he was going out to contact someone."

  "Contact?" Didn't he always want to find the person or organization behind Qin Wei? Why didn't this guy say anything earlier? Xu Yuan suddenly felt that today might be the day when he would exhaust a lifetime's worth of sorrow and anger. He now had the urge to die: "Where did he go to make contact with someone?"

  "I don't know!" Zheng Hang evaded Xu Yuan's murderous gaze and said in a low voice.

  "You... you're useless!" Xu Yuan scolded loudly.

  "Send someone to look for it at once!"

  Dai Li's face had turned dark. He suddenly felt that he might have chosen the wrong person to be in charge of the Chongqing station. This was "the accompanying capital", and the Japanese sent countless spies here every day, not to mention the Communist Party and other major powers... Especially the Japanese, they might have already scattered those "imperial flowers" around, but looking at Xu Yuanxiu, could he be a match for them? Even if Nan Zao Yunzi was standing right in front of him, this guy wouldn't know where his target was, even though he had already memorized Nan Zao Yunzi's appearance.

  "Company commander, come over!"

  Xu Yuanju was frightened by Dai Li's dark face and didn't dare to stay there to see his superior's expression, so he left a few people to protect Dai Li and Tang Zong's safety, then asked Zheng Hang for a row of men and horses, and hastily chased after the direction pointed out by the other side. However, he did not notice that after seeing his flustered appearance, Dai Li's face turned even darker, just like the dark clouds that pressed down on the city in the summer... But Tang Zong seemed to be oblivious to all of this, and when he saw Zheng Hang still standing there with a fearful look, he beckoned him over.

  "Long, long officer good!" Zheng Hang hurriedly ran over and stood at attention, saluting.

  "What's your name?" Tang Zong asked.

  "Reporting back to the superior officer, I am Zheng Hang, Battalion Commander with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel." Zheng Hang replied.

  "What about Qin Wei... how's his work going? You're the battalion commander, you should know, right?" Tang Zong nodded and asked in return.

  "I know, I understand!" Zheng Hang nodded repeatedly.

  "How's his work going?" Tang Zong asked with his hands behind his back.

  "Mr. Qin is indeed..."

  Zheng Hang didn't even think about it and directly stretched out his thumb!

  "What does this mean... is it okay?" Tang Zong's face turned solemn, and he asked in a deep voice.

  "What's just okay? That's simply...” Zheng Hang stretched his neck, raising his thumb even higher: "No need to say more. Except for the range being a bit shorter, its power is even stronger than the German-made 75 mountain cannon I saw before. If we had these back then on the front lines, we wouldn't have been beaten so badly by those little devils, and who knows, maybe we could've even made them drink a few cups!"

  "Oh?" Dai Li's originally furrowed eyebrows also relaxed a bit, "Are you telling the truth?"

  "Is there still fake?" Zheng Hang said.

  "Where is the trial ground?" Tang Zong asked again, his voice suddenly having a hint of urgency.

  "Bullseye!"

  "Lead the way!"

  It is...

  ……

  Xu Yuanjie didn't know what happened after he left, he just wanted to "catch" Qin Wei back in the shortest time possible. Yes, catch him back... because he felt that Qin Wei had made him lose face and dignity, and also gave Dai Li and Tang Zong two big heads of the intelligence department a bad impression. This was all Qin Wei's fault. If he didn't give the other party some color to see, he would be too ashamed to say he was a military uniform person.

  But things developed once again beyond his expectations.

  He thought he would have to chase for at least ten or eight miles, and maybe even dozens of miles before finding any clues. However, in reality, after running for less than ten minutes, turning two corners, on the mountain road less than two miles away from the military camp entrance, he saw his target walking towards him: with both hands in his pockets, head down, looking dejected - Qin Wei himself.

  "Seize him!"

  Xu Yuan's mood was bad, and he didn't think twice before giving orders to his subordinates. He just wanted to give Qin Wei a show of his authority, and at the same time, let Dai Li see that he still had some ability to handle things... Look, it only took him so long to catch the person and bring them back. So, the somewhat embarrassing performance earlier, the responsibility shouldn't be placed on his shoulders, at least most of it shouldn't be placed on his shoulders. The reason for everything was because of that foolish Zheng fellow, and this group of incompetent subordinates.

  "Go back and make this kid look like he's in eighteen different shapes, see who he's really contacted..." Xu Yuan raised his fist secretly, but his eyes were still fixed on Qin Wei without moving. Suddenly, he thought of another question: "Didn't they say that the people responsible for surveillance were all following behind this kid? How did this kid come back, and the people monitoring him are nowhere to be seen?"