Chapter 38: A Bureau within a Bureau

  Duan Baihu's face turned white with rage, and he ordered his men to guard every exit of the dance hall, determined to trap those who had escaped inside.

  The decorations were not yet complete when a loud crash was heard from above the dance floor, and a burst of flames suddenly erupted, with shards of glass falling down, people in the ballroom screamed and scrambled to get out of the way, and the hall was instantly thrown into chaos.

  Right after that, a huge flame suddenly burst out from the stage behind the dance floor without any warning. This was like pouring cold water into a hot wok, and the dance hall immediately erupted.

  People rushed to the two exits of the dance hall, and although Du Baitao's men tried their best to stop them, the crowd was desperate to survive and didn't care about anything. Du Baitao's men couldn't hold on for long and were pushed aside by the crowd, with several people even being trampled to the ground.

  Duan Baohu remained motionless, staring intently in the direction of the private room. Before long, he saw Lin Xiaotang and Ota emerge from the room with two Russian dancers. Ota was drunk and excited, and upon seeing the panicked crowd, his emotions became even more elevated, without realizing that they were fleeing for their lives. Lin Xiaotang had to use all her strength to drag him out of the dance hall.

  Duan Baihu stared at the blood-red eyes, staring motionlessly at the back of Lin Xiaotang and others.

  At the entrance, the captain of the constabulary who had not left yet was directing soldiers to maintain order. Seeing Ootani and Lin Xiaotang come out, he hurriedly came forward to greet them. Upon seeing that each of them was accompanied by a dancing girl, he couldn't help but smile. He ordered his soldiers to bring over his own car and instructed them to send the two to a nearby hotel.

  The leader looked at Duan Baohu and said, "Tiger, are we still following?"

  Duan Ba Hu stroked the scar on his face, "Chui, why didn't you chase them? The duck that was in our grasp just flew away like that. I'm not reconciled to it. Bring our car over and follow them. I don't believe this kid can spend his whole life following the Japanese. Wait until he's alone, then see how he runs!"

  The leader responded with a sound, just wanting to gather his subordinates, Duan Baohu called him again, "Tell the brothers who participated today that tonight's affairs are not allowed to be leaked out, whoever dares to say a word, I will kill his whole family!" A hint of murderous intent was revealed in Duan Baohu's voice, and the leader couldn't help but tremble slightly.

  After a night of turmoil, he returned empty-handed. There was no need to ask, the target had escaped in the chaos. This kind of thing must not be known by Li Shiqun and Wu Sibao. Duan Baohu thought so. As long as they caught that little devil, under torture, who knows what would come out? When the time came, he could report to his superiors, and his own face would look better too. As for Yuan Jianfeng, Duan Baohu now thought of him with hatred, his teeth itching with rage. Tomorrow morning, he would say that he wanted to find this guy to settle accounts, but not spend money, directly finding Zhuang Chongxian to demand an explanation. At that time, Li Shiqun would definitely be delighted to see the surname Zhuang lose face.

  Only then did Duan Baohu let out a sigh of relief.

  Chang Huan and Da Tou led the protection of Gao Zong Wu and Tao Xi Sheng, who fled from the dance hall in a chaotic manner. They got into a car that had been prepared beforehand. Da Tou couldn't help but ask Chang Huan, "Where's Lao Qi?"

  Chang Huan turned back to look at him, "He still has something on, let's go first."

  "Stop the car and let me out! I'm going to find him!"

  Chang Huan didn't stop him, "The car can't stop now, after sending the two gentlemen on board, you can go wherever you want, but not now!"

  He glared at her. "You're asking for a beating!"

  Chang Huan turned his head around, with both hands on his shoulders, "This is what Mr. Lin ordered, you can do as you please!"

  Dà tóu dù shí méi le qì shì.

  Translation: The big head suddenly lost his momentum.

  All the way safe and sound, the car drove directly to the Sifang Wharf in Zhabei. Wan Mulin and the people sent by Yigong had been waiting here early. Ma Qixiang was among them. The crowd quickly sent Gao Tao and others onto the boat that had been waiting here. They will go straight to the outer sea and meet with the American merchant ship "Hopper".

  Before boarding the ship, Gao Zhongwu and Tao Xisheng specially entrusted Ma Qixiang that if he saw Lin Xiaotang, he must convey their gratitude. Ma Qixiang agreed with his mouth full of words.

  It wasn't until they saw the ships gradually disappearing into the vast night that everyone finally let out a sigh of relief.

  Ma Qixiang hastily asked Da Tou Lin Xiaotang where he had gone, and Da Tou pointed to Chang Huan with a bad temper. Chang Huan smiled bitterly and said, "He has something to do, and he doesn't want others to interfere. He told me to tell you that he will return to Shandao tomorrow afternoon!"

  "Can this kid really go and mess with a dancing girl?"

  Ma Qixiang punched him on the shoulder, and Da Tou didn't dare make a sound anymore.

  Chang Huan smiled and said, "Don't worry, that little kid who's with you has several brothers following him too, nothing will happen."

  Lin Xiaotang and Ota took two White Russian dancing girls in a Kempeitai car for a couple of laps, bought some midnight snacks, and finally stopped in front of a hotel. After getting off the bus, Lin Xiaotang threw a few boxes of cigarettes to the driver, and the Japanese Kempeitai driver suddenly smiled with joy, thanking him repeatedly.

  Ohtani was drunk, and at this time he couldn't tell east, south, west or north apart. Lin Xiaotang opened the door to the room, and with the help of two dancing girls, they finally managed to get him to lie down in the room. As soon as Ohtani's head touched the pillow, he started snoring loudly.

  This was a luxurious suite, with two bedrooms alone. Lin Xiaotang wiped his face, lit a cigarette, and directly turned off all the lights in the room.

  Two dancing girls looked at each other and smiled, then took off their clothes and walked into the bathroom to take a bath.

  Lin Xiaotang gently pulled open the curtains and looked down at the floor, both ends of this road had a car parked, in the darkness, the flashing cigarette lights inside the cars could be seen clearly.

  It seems that Duan Baihu has not given up, which is exactly what Lin Xiaotang wants. The only question is whether Liu Chengfeng and Huoyan can keep up.

  Lin Xiaotang pulled down the curtains, turned on the bedside lamp in the bedroom, sat on the chair beside the bed, smoking while gazing at Ota who was fast asleep. If he hadn't been here tonight, the play wouldn't have ended so perfectly. What's next? Kill him to silence him? Lin Xiaotang thought it wasn't necessary, perhaps he still had more value to be used, but how exactly should he be utilized?

  Unconsciously, the cigarette had burned to the end. A fragrant breeze suddenly came from behind, and two white Russian dancing girls in bathrobes appeared. They walked to Lin Xiaotang's back, one on the left and one on the right, embracing Lin Xiaotang's shoulders, "Sir,……".

  Lin Xiaotang waved her hand, stopping them from continuing, then stood up and pushed the two onto the big valley's bed.

  Two people sat on the bed, staring blankly at Lin Xiaotang, unsure of his intentions.

  Lin Xiaotang smiled lightly, pulled out a stack of banknotes from her bosom and threw them on the bed. "You two, stay with him tonight," she said in English. "This is half, I'll come again tomorrow morning and there will be another half. Remember, he's my honored guest, you must take good care of him, got it?"

  Two women looked at the banknotes and then at each other, both noticing the incredulous look in the other's eyes, hastily nodding.

  As they were about to leave, Lin Xiaotang poked her head back in, with a mischievous grin on her face. "Take it easy, little Japanese guy's body is weak, don't exhaust him to death!"

  Lin Xiaotang closed the door behind her and took the elevator.

  The streetlights had gone out, and the chill of the night made Lin Xiaotang wrap her jacket tightly around her.

  He lit another cigarette and watched with a relaxed expression as seven or eight figures slowly rushed towards him.

  Duan Baohu slapped the cigarette out of Lin Xiaotang's hand with a loud slap, followed by a punch to his abdomen. Lin Xiaotang grunted and bent over, but was pulled back up by Duan Baohu grabbing his hair. The nearby henchmen and another subordinate were immediately beaten with fists and kicks.

  Duan Baihu let out a cold hum and said, "Take him away, we'll interrogate him slowly when we get back!"

  Liu Chengfeng sat in the car, watching Lin Xiaotang being beaten up, and his heart couldn't help but skip a beat. While Huo Yan beside him was staring intently, afraid of missing any detail. Duan Baohu was the number one henchman of the 76th, known as the "Tiger of Shanghai". After joining the 76th, he became notorious for his evil deeds, and both the Military Commission and other anti-Japanese organizations wanted to get rid of him. However, this man was cunning by nature, always surrounded by dozens of followers, even when taking a bath, he would bring two guns with him. His whereabouts were also unpredictable, never staying in the same place overnight, so until now, he was still alive and well.

  But today, Liu Chengfeng and Huo Yan were somewhat worried about Lin Xiaotang. Now that the big thing was over, he wanted to take the opportunity to get rid of Duan Baohu. Was he confident?

  The car drove for half an hour, and although Lin Xiaotang's head was covered with a black cloth bag, he still accurately calculated the time and direction. After getting out of the car, he was taken to a building that seemed to be a villa, with occasional steps under his feet.

  Lin Xiaotang was pressed onto a chair and had his hood removed, he rubbed his eyes with handcuffed hands, only then did he see clearly that this was an underground room, but it didn't look like the rumored number 76, rather it looked like a storage room in a residential building.

  Duan Baohu was a bit tired, this was one of his secret residences, and he rarely came back here. Originally, he couldn't participate in tonight's action in the concession, so he made an appointment with someone he got along with to have a clandestine meeting here, planning to vent some anger. However, after running into Yuan Jianfeng, the whole night was completely ruined. He didn't dare bring Lin Xiaotang back to No. 76, because doing so would make tonight's failed action reach his superior's ears in an instant. He could only bring the person here, anyway this place also had a complete set of interrogation equipment, and it was entirely possible to conduct an interrogation.

  Duan Baohu pointed at Lin Xiaotang and said to the leader: "The person has been handed over to you, tonight must get something valuable, understand?"

  The leader hastily replied: "Tiger Lord, it's getting late, you should rest early. Leave this little guy to us, don't worry, we'll have results by tomorrow morning!"

  After Duan Baohu left, the leader and his men ate something simple and rested for a while. Then he walked over to Lin Xiaotang with an evil look on his face and said: "You little rascal, you've fooled us for a whole night! Spit out whatever you have to say quickly, don't make me waste my energy!"

  Lin Xiaotang smiled and began speaking a long string of Japanese words.

  The leader was a bit confused, and a subordinate next to him came over and said, "Brother, aren't we being used by that little brat surnamed Yuan? If this is really a Japanese person, then we can't just swallow our pride and leave!"

  The leader also hesitated, and from the beginning to the end of tonight, he didn't see Lin Xiaotang having any intersection with the target person. On the contrary, he saw him dealing with Japanese people all night, as for that surname Gao and surname Tao, even his own group didn't know whether it was true or false. If they really used torture on the Japanese, the consequences would be very serious!

  Several people gathered together and began discussing in a low voice.

  Just as I was hesitating, the door of the basement was lightly knocked a few times.