Her legs were sore, her waist ached—she was utterly exhausted.

Xie Chi really wanted to escape from this dress immediately, but Fujita Kiyono stayed in her home, lingering and refusing to leave.

Xie Chi removed the ring and placed it on the table. “I’ll go change clothes.”

Fujita Kiyono blocked her path. “Let me help you.” As he spoke, he walked behind Xie Chi and reached for the zipper.

“I can do it myself.” She turned away to avoid him, pushing him to sit on a nearby chair. “You sit for a while.”

“Alright.”

Xie Chi took her casual clothes and left. Fujita Kiyono remained alone in the room, observing her room’s arrangement. It wasn’t empty, nor was it full—perfectly cozy. Looking around the entire space, his gaze finally settled on her bed. Gray-green sheets and covers without any patterns. He stared quietly for a while, then got up and sat at the foot of the bed, his slender fingers grasping a handful of soft bedding. This was where they had their affairs behind his back, time and again.

Xie Chi changed clothes and came in to find Fujita Kiyono lying on her bed. She didn’t approach, standing in the doorway watching him. “Are you tired?”

Fujita Kiyono looked toward her and raised his hand. “Come here.”

Xie Chi hesitated for a moment, then walked to the foot of the bed. Fujita Kiyono sat up and embraced her waist. “The sheets are soft.”

“If you like them, I’ll make you a set.”

“I like yours specifically.”

“It’s getting late. You should go back.”

“I don’t have to leave.” He stood up along her body, burying his face in her neck, his cold lips kissing upward along her throat, settling below her ear.

Xie Chi pressed her hand against his abdomen, trying to push him away. Fujita Kiyono pulled away her hand and pressed her down onto the bed behind her, kneeling as he pressed down.

Xie Chi used her knee to resist him. “Don’t.”

Ignoring her obstruction, Fujita Kiyono’s hand reached into her clothes.

Xie Chi grabbed his hand. “This is too fast. We’re not married yet.” She pressed against him, backing away. “Kiyono.”

“You already agreed to my proposal.” Fujita Kiyono held both her hands and flipped her over. Looking at her slender waist, his mind filled with imagined scenes of Koike Ryuji with her. Pain and fury occupied his entire brain. He truly wanted to reach into her body and tear that beast out alive.

Xie Chi struggled free forcefully and darted to the other side of the bed. “Please respect me.”

Fujita Kiyono looked at her blankly. The tempest within him gradually calmed. He deeply lowered his head. “I’m sorry. I was impulsive.”

The atmosphere was somewhat suffocating. The two stood in awkward deadlock. Xie Chi walked to him. “Let’s take it slowly. We have plenty of time ahead.”

Fujita Kiyono raised his face to gaze at hers, suddenly smiling. “Yes, plenty of time. We’ll take it slowly.” He gently embraced Xie Chi. “We’ll be together, for all eternity.”

Xie Chi inexplicably felt a chill down her spine.

Fujita Kiyono released her. “I should go. Forget the unpleasant things—tonight was beautiful.”

“Yes.”

Xie Chi saw him out, listening to the footsteps going downstairs. She nearly collapsed, exhausted in body and spirit as she returned to her room.

A’Ru followed her in. “You scared me to death. I was ready to burst in, but fortunately he left.”

Xie Chi breathed a huge sigh of relief, lying back.

A’Ru saw the diamond ring on the table. “He gave you this?”

“Yes.”

“It’s huge.”

Xie Chi pulled a pillow over her face.

A’Ru knelt at the foot of the bed. “Did he propose to you?”

“Yes.”

“You agreed?”

“What else could I do?”

“Are you really going to marry him?”

“No.” Xie Chi removed the pillow to look at her. “A’Ru, I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

Xie Chi hesitated, then said, “Never mind, it’s nothing.”

“I can keep secrets.” She moved closer to Xie Chi, asking in a low voice, “Sister, are you pregnant?”

Xie Chi was slightly surprised but looked at her without showing emotion.

“The smell of traditional Chinese medicine is still in the kitchen, plus you’ve been eating so much lately, and your period hasn’t come for so long—I guessed.”

Xie Chi helplessly lifted the corner of her mouth. “I was careless.”

A’Ru shed tears of heartache.

Xie Chi sat up. “Why are you crying?”

“Is it the little devil’s?”

Xie Chi laughed, pressing her trembling shoulders. “No, it’s your brother-in-law’s.”

A’Ru was stunned. “Brother-in-law? The one you mentioned in Nanjing who was fighting in Shanghai?”

Xie Chi wiped away her tears. “Yes.”

A’Ru immediately stopped crying. “Where is brother-in-law now?”

“I won’t tell you that for now.”

“Alright.” A’Ru looked at her abdomen. “How far along?”

“More than three months.”

“Can I hug you?”

“Of course.”

A’Ru gently embraced her waist, pressing her face against her belly. “Will he kick me?”

“No, he’s still small.”

A’Ru straightened up, looking worried. “What if your belly gets big later and the little devil discovers it?”

“I was just about to tell you these past few days—I’ll leave here in half a month.”

“Leave? Where to? Will you take me?”

“I don’t know yet. Probably somewhere very remote to hide. Are you willing to come with me?”

“Of course I’m willing!” A’Ru hugged her again. “I don’t want to leave you. You’re my sister, and your child is my family too. I can take care of and protect you both! I want to be with you forever.”

“Good, forever together.”

“But brother-in-law won’t dislike me, will he?”

“He wouldn’t dare.” Xie Chi gently stroked her back. “Alright, go to sleep quickly.”

“Let’s chat a bit more.”

“I’m so tired. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

A’Ru reluctantly released her. “I’ll make chicken soup for you tomorrow morning. What else do you want to eat?”

“No chicken soup.” Xie Chi thought, then smiled. “How about… fish soup?”

…

After leaving Xie Chi’s home, Fujita Kiyono had Yamashita take him to the secret service headquarters.

The underground Communist captured three days ago had been tortured beyond recognition. When Fujita Kiyono arrived, interrogation was in progress. The man had been beaten almost to a bloody pulp.

Fujita Kiyono wasn’t wearing military uniform, but the traitors here all recognized him, bowing and scraping as they welcomed him.

Fujita Kiyono stood aside, telling them to continue. Captain Chen, who was in charge of interrogation, lowered his head. “Sir, the next punishments are rather filthy. I’m afraid they’ll dirty your eyes. Perhaps you should—”

“Continue. Act as if I’m not here.”

“Yes!” Captain Chen went to the brazier and picked up an iron rod that had been heated red-hot, instructing his subordinate Xiao Gao, “Turn him over for me.”

The man looked half-dead. As soon as his bindings were loosened, he collapsed on the ground unable to move. Xiao Gao positioned him in a kneeling posture and efficiently stripped off his pants.

Captain Chen crouched beside him with the iron rod. “I’ll ask you once more—how many people total? Who’s your superior? Where’s the contact point?”

The man kept his eyes closed and didn’t answer.

Captain Chen sneered. “Hard bones. Let’s see if you’re just as hard inside.” He stood up, walked behind the man, and inserted the red-hot iron rod into his rectum.

The man immediately awakened in agony, writhing in pain, but was held down tightly by Xiao Gao.

The smell of burning flesh permeated the air. Fujita Kiyono took out a handkerchief to cover his nose, unable to watch directly, feeling nauseous.

Captain Chen continued pushing deeper. Every half inch, he asked, “Will you talk?”

Piercing screams echoed for a long time.

“I’ll talk… I’ll talk, I’ll talk!”

Captain Chen pulled out the iron rod. Another round of heart-wrenching screams that made one’s ears ring.

Xiao Gao released the man and casually pulled up his pants, lifting him to sit, but the man could no longer sit upright and collapsed again.

Captain Chen put down the iron rod. “Why suffer so much when you could have talked earlier?”

The man convulsed all over, unable to control his saliva, which mixed with the blood on his face and flowed to the ground.

Captain Chen came before Fujita Kiyono to claim credit. “Sir, you see—”

Before he could finish, Fujita Kiyono lowered the handkerchief covering his nose, frowning slightly. “Get out.”

Captain Chen thought he had misheard and hesitated to move.

Fujita Kiyono looked up at him. “Don’t understand?”

“This humble servant is dull! I’ll withdraw immediately.” Captain Chen quickly left with his men.

Fujita Kiyono silently observed the man on the ground for a while, then stood up and approached, carrying a stool to sit before him. “Speak.”

“I am… I am a Communist Shanghai Underground Group Three intelligence officer, code name Black Lamp. On December thirteenth, we received a mission… That’s everything I know. My superior’s code name is Tiandong. I’ve never seen him, don’t know if it’s male or female. To ensure his safety and secrecy, intelligence handoffs go through two couriers. I only know he was just assigned to Shanghai in July this year, directly receiving orders from Cuckoo alone, and has transmitted much intelligence.”

Fujita Kiyono folded his handkerchief, listening to all this without much surprise.

Cuckoo—he had heard this code name since just arriving in Shanghai. A troublesome existence. As for Tiandong, he had a vague impression. In October, when the underground Communist Party transmitted intelligence to Yan’an, it was intercepted by the telecommunications department. The code name was Tiandong.

And this July, that was roughly when Xie Chi had arrived.

During his disappearance these past few days, Fujita Kiyono hadn’t actually gone to Nanjing but had stayed home with a high fever, bedridden. Maeda Tsuki had been monitoring Xie Chi for him. Though she showed no obvious flaws, Zhang Ya, the odd-job worker at the qipao shop, was always acting suspiciously.

This morning, Xie Chi had Zhang Ya contact a courier to transmit intelligence. Zhang Ya left the shop carrying a small case on his bicycle. Maeda Tsuki followed all the way and discovered he had posted a qipao advertisement on a utility pole at the street corner. After the person left, Maeda Tsuki examined it closely and found nothing amiss. Only upon careful consideration did he realize there was something wrong with the phone number—it clearly wasn’t the qipao shop’s number.

Maeda Tsuki continued tracking Zhang Ya. In the afternoon, he indeed went to a tea house to meet with a woman. Only then was he certain that string of digits was indeed a contact code, and he immediately reported to Fujita Kiyono.

Though still somewhat doubtful before, now hearing this Communist reveal these details, Fujita Kiyono was almost certain that Tiandong was Xie Chi.

Since she was a Communist, might Koike Ryuji also have problems? If he was too, when had he been turned? Or was he one from the beginning?

Fujita Kiyono couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath.

“Kill me,” the man pleaded.

Fujita Kiyono looked down at him lightly, taking a knife from a nearby table and throwing it before him. “End yourself.”

The man picked up the knife with trembling hands and unhesitatingly plunged it into his neck.

Fujita Kiyono wiped his hands, threw away the handkerchief, and only left after the man had breathed his last.

Captain Chen and Xiao Gao waited at a distance. Seeing him emerge, Captain Chen quickly approached. “Sir, he talked?”

“Yes.”

“What did he say?”

Fujita Kiyono looked at him coldly. “Are you questioning me?”

“This humble servant wouldn’t dare.” Captain Chen bowed down, his bones chilled and hair standing on end. Previously, through Chief Li’s connections, he had encountered this colonel twice and had found him mild-tempered and very easy to talk to. How had he become like a different person in just a month?

He kept his head down until Fujita Kiyono’s figure completely disappeared before straightening up. Returning to the torture chamber, he kicked the person on the ground—already completely dead.

…

That proposal was both his sincere intention and a long-premeditated test.

Fujita Kiyono sent two other agents to thoroughly investigate both Zhang Ya and A’Ru. In the afternoon, Maeda Tsuki returned from Qingdao—Fujita Kiyono had sent him to investigate information about He Feng’s time in China.

“His Chinese name was Luo Fan. At age ten, he was sent to an orphanage called Saint Mart, where he lived for three years. However, the orphanage director is no longer there. I found an old woman who had worked there. Indeed, there was such a child. When I showed her the photograph, she said it should be him, but too many years have passed—she couldn’t remember clearly…”

As Fujita Kiyono listened, he plucked at a flower. By the time Maeda Tsuki finished speaking, the ground was covered with petals, leaving only a bare stem in his hands. He raised his hand, looking at the thin, long branch. “In other words, not one person can definitively confirm his identity.”

“That’s correct.”

Fujita Kiyono broke the branch, letting out a short laugh, murmuring to himself, “Ryuji, oh Ryuji, are you human or ghost?”

…