Chapter One: The Origin of the Story

  My name is Hong Xingdong, born in November 1926, in a small village in Northeast China. In the chaotic years of war, there was no guarantee of even one meal a day, and life was very difficult. When I was still young and my memory was vague, my parents were taken away by the Japanese as laborers and then disappeared.

  "Living from hand to mouth" became the epitome of my childhood.

  Later, I followed the refugee tide all the way south to escape, arrived in Shanghai, and relied on my aunt's family. Shanghainese called her "Aunt". Aunt was very good to me, treating me like a biological son, and I was also very grateful to her. Life was stable for several years.

  She was widowed very early, and her son also died young, but she had a strong personality and wasn't defeated by life. During the Japanese invasion of Shanghai, she worked hard to support my education. At that time I was already over ten years old, and since my foundation was not solid, everything I learned was slow, and in the end I didn't graduate from middle school. Disappointed, she sent me to a fruit shop as an apprentice.

  It wasn't long before 1945, when Little Japan surrendered completely. The entire city of Shanghai was purging Han traitors. There were many puppet police in the original police station, and a large number of people were cleared out. To make up for the shortage of personnel, the police department began to recruit externally on a large scale. I saw an opportunity and immediately signed up. With my robust physique as a Northeastern man, I quickly passed the physical examination. However, I struggled during the cultural examination and interview. Later, it was still my wife who had experience, she took out all her savings from the past few years and bribed an examiner, and sure enough, I successfully became a small patrol officer in Huangpu District.

  Perhaps it was a stroke of luck, and nothing could stop it. A year later, Dai Li died, and the Military Bureau was reorganized into the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics. The Shanghai branch was also established at the same time, and one of the main tasks of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics was to resist the infiltration of the underground party. As a place where dragons and snakes mixed together, the underground party and the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics fought fiercely, and in this context, the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics developed a large number of undercover agents as a reserve force. I, with a police background, had a "clean" personal history, was low-key, clever, and quickly became an entry-level agent.

  One year later, I was formally converted and received high-intensity semi-military training, followed by long-term lurking. Until 1949, I followed the Nationalist Party to retreat to Taiwan, and I was also officially activated. At that time, I never thought that this activation would thoroughly entangle me in endless conspiracies and bizarre events...

  This was the beginning of my career as a spy.

  Decades have passed, and I've entered my twilight years. As I lay on my deathbed, I don't want to take the secrets in my heart to the grave with me. Summoning up my courage, I plan to reveal the secrets that have been bottled up inside me for decades all at once. These secrets are too strange, never recorded in official histories, and everything I'm about to say comes from my personal experiences.

  As people age, their memories become hazy and typing becomes a luxury. Fortunately, I have the habit of recording my experiences in notebooks, which over time formed a personal archive exclusive to me. Last year, I entrusted someone I trusted to organize the archives, and now I'm sharing the results here, and what you see is all from the accounts in my archives.

  Before I start, I want to say that although I'm a secret agent, I've never done anything detrimental to the country's interests. I've worked diligently my whole life, without any remarkable achievements or major mistakes. Hehe, those of us in this line of work can't avoid getting our hands bloody, but if we can end up with a good outcome, get married and have children, that's probably the greatest happiness.

  Logically, I've been retired for so many years, and whatever happens has nothing to do with me anymore. However, those bizarre events that occurred during my working days still appear in my dreams from time to time, making it impossible for me to rest easy. There are the cries of old friends, as well as the curses of enemies; the gratitude and resentment, the plots and schemes - despite the passage of many years, they still weigh heavily on my mind.

  The origin of the story dates back to Shanghai in April 1949, when news of Nanjing's "fall" spread quickly. At this time, I had to admit that the sky really changed.

  Due to my spy identity, I am more nervous than anyone else at this time. With the change of dynasty, I am the first wave of people who need to be cleaned up.

  I thought of escaping, but where can I escape to? Taiwan!

  Ordinary people at that time wanted to go to Taiwan, they could only take a boat, and airplanes were the privilege of high-ranking Kuomintang officials. I didn't even dare think about it. Then take a boat, but where can you get the ticket? Now one ticket to Taiwan has been speculated to the price of ten big yellow croakers, having money doesn't necessarily mean you can buy it, and you have to rely on connections.

  Just as I was racking my brains, a miraculous turn of events occurred.

  The Secretary of the Branch Bureau, Tian Wenliang, is a high-ranking official with great power, and he has some connection with me, a small figure. Yesterday evening, he came uninvited and surprisingly gave me a ticket for the "Jinhua" ship to Keelung Port in Taiwan.

  I didn't even have time to be happy, for along with the ticket came a special task, or rather, an unpostponable and non-negotiable death mission.

  "Must ensure safe escort of Jin Hua ship to Taiwan!"

  Looking back now, this task was quite suspicious with many doubts. The most central doubt is why I, a rookie with no experience, was chosen to execute this task. However, at that time, I was immersed in the joy of being the lucky one and didn't have the mood to carefully think it through. It's just like if I won 5 million dollars, I wouldn't be foolish enough to ask the staff why I won and others didn't. I just took it as a sign of trust and appreciation from my superiors towards us (I don't believe such a big escort task would have only one person assigned to do it). After all, there are many rich people outside who are eager to get on board.

  It's settled then.

  That day, I bid farewell to my only relative in Shanghai, Auntie. She helped me pack simple luggage, and the whole process was quite heavy-hearted when we parted ways.

  To this day I still remember the scene at that time.

  "Dongzi, this is thirty yuan in silver dollars, it might come in handy when you go to Taiwan, be careful and keep it safe." The young lady stuffed a red paper wrapped silver ingot into my hand, I hesitated for a moment before accepting it.

  My eyes darted around, not daring to meet her gaze. The joy I initially felt upon seeing her face was replaced with hesitation. However, I quickly shook my head, as I clutched a greasy paper ticket in my hand with the five characters "Jin Hua Ferry Ticket" printed on it. This was no ordinary ticket, but an unalterable command. It's too late to back out now, the mission from the Secret Bureau has been issued. What is a mission from the Secret Bureau? It means you have to go, whether you want to or not. If you dare say no to the Secret Bureau, haha, then I wouldn't be returning to Taiwan, but to the underworld instead.

  As a long-time (actually only one or two years since joining the Secret Bureau) inactive agent, I have never been enthusiastic about this identity of mine.

  "After I leave, please burn all those documents of mine." I said seriously. The documents in question were naturally all the evidence related to my Secret Service agent identity. If they were discovered by *, Yaya might get into trouble.

  "Don't worry, I have a plan." The maid added with profound meaning: "On the contrary, you should be more careful on this journey. Some things are very dangerous and shouldn't be touched casually."

  I didn't take her words to heart at the time, thinking they were just the concerns of an older woman towards me. It wasn't until later experiences that I truly felt what she was talking about, and its terrifying degree far exceeded my imagination. It was also from then on that I began to suspect her identity. Of course, this is a story for another time.

  Looking at the pale and haggard young lady, I wanted to say something more, but everything that should be said and shouldn't be said had been said the day before we parted ways. Now, I was left speechless. I simply bowed my head, slung my canvas bag over my shoulder, and bid farewell to this relative who had raised me for nearly ten years.

  In just a few steps, I entered into a crowd of bewildered and anxious people.

  I didn't look back at her, I don't know what expression the nearly fifty-year-old aunt had on her face at that time. Since my uncle's strange death, Aunt has been almost the only relative I can confirm is still alive. A hundred steps later, my eyes became slightly moist, and I finally couldn't help but turn around to take a glance, but I didn't see that familiar short figure, she had apparently quietly left.

  "Alas, what a chaotic world." I sighed and walked forward with a sense of helplessness.

  After walking for nearly an hour in a daze, I finally arrived at the familiar Bund. A large cargo ship was docked at the pier in front of the Customs House, and people were bustling about, carrying heavy loads that seemed to be flowing in like water.

  Four or five burly sailors flexed their muscles, conscientiously maintaining order, inviting those with tickets to the deck and driving away those without. Curses and shouts occasionally rang out.

  "This is the Joaquin Rojas, a luxury cargo ship of the China Navigation Company." My eyes narrowed. Using cargo ships to transport people was no longer a new thing nowadays.

  Waaah...

  As the whistle blows, several warships patrol past in the rolling Huangpu River.

  To be honest, seeing so many people who want to leave but can't, and can only complain about heaven and others with helpless eyes, I actually felt a little complacent. Humans are indeed animals that love comparison, ugly yet real.

  He walked a few steps forward, just about to squeeze into the crowd, when suddenly there was a commotion in front of him. A thin and weak man, who looked less than fifty years old, with a sly look in his eyes, a pointed mouth and sunken cheeks, was pushed out. At first glance, he didn't seem like a good person.

  "Chi Na, Xie Lao San, don't think that just because you've become the first mate of this broken ship, you can look down on me! In the past, you weren't even worthy of wiping my ass! You've turned against me, and now you're driving me off the ship!" The man's menacing voice was low and gravelly, but before he could finish speaking, a large, dark hand emerged from the crowd and slapped him across the face with great force. The man was startled and hastily retreated several steps.

  "Xu Lai, you made me suffer so much in the past, I won't forget it. This time, it's perfect that I bumped into you, it's your bad luck for eight lifetimes! As long as I'm here, you'll never set foot on this ship even if you die trying! You're just a murderous, arsonist Green Gang scum, wait for the Communist army to deal with you, hahaha!" A bald sailor poked his head out of the crowd, laughing loudly and flipping off the man with a middle finger, completely disregarding the man's ashen face.

  The man known as Xu Lai's whole body trembled with rage, his teeth clenched and gritted: "You just wait, you just wait...", he backed away slowly.

  "Hey, watch out for the road!" Seeing that this lazy Xu was about to crash into me, I reminded him in a bad temper.

  Xu Lai turned his head and gave me a sideways glance, humming a sound, continuing to speak crudely, with foul language coming out of his mouth.

  I was a bit angry, out of police instinct, innate disgust for Xu Lai's scum, plus my physique is still okay, I glared at him, my 1.8-meter tall and sturdy body took a step forward, he saw my fist clenched, his eyes clearly fearful, dodged a few times, muttered a few vicious words, and walked away, not forgetting to glare at me and Xie Lao San with hatred.

  The mouth naturally can't be without vicious and foul language.

  "Good-for-nothing!" I thought to myself, having seen many people like him. In big Shanghai, all sorts of people exist, those with sharp tongues usually don't have much courage, and those who don't speak up often have a lot of guts. Although my experience is still limited, as a special agent and part-time police officer, I think I have some ability to observe and listen. Xu Lai, this nobody, didn't even enter my line of sight, I didn't take him seriously at all. I just treated it as a small interlude and let it pass.

  That middle-aged man surnamed Xie, nicknamed Old Third, chuckled and squeezed out of the crowd, nodding his head to ask: "Little brother, from Northeast China?"

  "My hometown is in the northeast." I didn't waste any more words, not looking down on Xu Lai doesn't mean I look up to Xie Lao San either. But after all, I have to be a guest on his boat, so I could only pretend to smile politely and took out the boat ticket given by the deputy director's secretary and handed it over.

  Xie Lao San took a look at the boat ticket, was greatly surprised, and suddenly his eyes narrowed with a smile. He pulled my hand, looked at me strangely, and said with a grin: "Actually, you're a first-class cabin passenger! Sorry, sorry."

  "First-class cabin!" The people around me were shocked, you know that the Jinhua ship only sells ordinary tickets. It's not like a separate room, just sleeping on the deck is already a blessing. But this guy unknowingly lowered his head and took a look at the oil paper in his hand, which clearly had the five characters "Jin Hua Ship Ticket" written on it. He couldn't help but sigh. The treatment of first-class cabins is much better, at least the crew members will treat you like a human being along the way. These tickets are basically only available to high-ranking officials or people with special identities. They looked at me with a different gaze, instantly thinking I was some defeated Nationalist Party official.

  I naturally know what they are thinking about, and I don't explain. I cup my hands in a salute to thank Old Three: "Thank you, Elder Brother, we'll have to rely on your care for the rest of this journey."

  Xie Lao San, who is of my uncle's generation, didn't show any displeasure when I called him "ge", but instead patted his chest and laughed loudly: "Haha, where's the need for that? I, Xie Lao San, may not have any special skills, but on this Jin Hua ship, I'm second to none. With my help, no one can bully you, little brother." Xie Lao San climbed up the ranks, and I didn't want to offend this local snake either. After all, I still had a mission on hand, and getting along with Xie Lao San would be very useful. So we exchanged pleasantries for a few sentences, introducing ourselves to each other. I was intentionally trying to get acquainted with him, while he was unaware of my true intentions and was deliberately trying to curry favor with me. After just a few words, it seemed like we had known each other for over ten years, calling each other "brother" and whatnot.

  A brief introduction, I roughly knew his background. Old Third Xie was from Zhoushan, came to Shanghai to make a name for himself and offended Xu Lai, a member of the Green Gang at that time, got into trouble, but didn't elaborate on the details. Later, he almost starved to death. Luckily, he had a stroke of good fortune, accidentally saved a shareholder of Zhonglian Shipping Company, and thus rose to become the deputy captain of the ship, a lucrative position.

  But he didn't believe in my identity as a small police officer at all, and I'm afraid he was thinking that a small police officer like me couldn't possibly get his hands on such an expensive first-class ticket, what a joke.

  Seeing how fierce the quarrel was on both sides, Old Third Xie decided to send me onto the boat first and calm down.

  "Hey, hey, make way for Brother Hong!" Xie Lao San cleared a path, forcing his way through the crowd and pulling me along with him.

  At his signal, several sailors put down a steel plate and let us board the ship.

  I followed closely behind, secretly rejoicing that this road should be quite smooth.

  Just then, a strange voice came from beside his ear.

  "Hong... Xing Dong, it's you!"

  As soon as I heard someone calling my name, I subconsciously stopped in my tracks and turned around. There was a big, unkempt man with a hat covering most of his face standing behind me, grinning at me. I didn't recognize this person at all, so I asked in surprise: "Who are you?"

  This burly man slightly raised his forehead, his angular face twisted into a strange smile, and his leopard-like eyes flashed green light, making me feel creepy. In the blink of an eye, the burly man suddenly leaned in close to me, I only felt a sharp pain in my right arm, and loudly shouted: "What are you doing!"

  Then I couldn't make a sound, and all I felt was dizzy and sleepy, struggling to stay awake.

  Before I closed my eyes, I saw that person pull out a tiny syringe from my arm, with a few drops of eerie blue liquid remaining in the cylinder.

  "It's up to you whether it succeeds or fails." With that said, the person ran out like flying.

  All that's left in my mind is that person's eerie smile...

  In less than a second, I closed my eyes and fainted.