The Bravest

At 1939:11 p.m. on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival in 20, Li Shiqun, who was already asleep at home, received a call from Zhao Yilong, "Director, we destroyed a military base and arrested three people. The secret room we found exploded. The three of us are buried inside and are digging."

"Well, bring the men back immediately and start interrogating them. Interrogate them separately and don't stop digging. Surround them."

Underground interrogation room No. 76 was busy. It was already one o'clock in the morning. Zhao Yilong did not show any sign of fatigue in the middle of the night. His red eyes were shining with excitement. This time, his intelligence department did not inform the action team and carried out the arrest independently. If he could get any clues, it would be a great achievement. Maybe he could even be promoted to a higher position. If Zhang Wu ran away, it would be troublesome.

Zhao Yilong looked at Old Liu hanging on the wooden frame. He had been whipping him for ten minutes without him saying a word. In fact, Zhao Yilong didn't ask any questions and just started beating him directly. The beaters were very skillful and there was no scar above the neck.

"Go see if the two over there have confessed?" The subordinate went and returned a moment later, "Team leader, the older one over there is silent and the younger one is howling. He can't hold on for much longer."

"Well, put on the iron. It's getting cold. Warm yourself up."

The thug next to him took out the iron from the brazier and pressed it against Lao Liu's chest without asking any questions. He kept twisting it, and there was a sizzling sound, followed by a puff of white smoke. Lao Liu clenched his teeth tightly, saying nothing. The severe pain made him twist his body desperately.

Zhao Yilong watched expressionlessly as the thug changed to a red-hot iron and pressed it again. This time, Lao Liu could no longer hold back his screams and then fainted.

"Splash wake up"

A basin of cold water was poured over him, and Old Liu woke up slowly, his body trembling constantly, but he still didn't say a word.

"The bones are pretty tough, take your time and go see what's going on over there."

Soon, screams were heard from next door. After a few minutes, everything became quiet, with only the sound of burning charcoal in the brazier.

"Team leader, I confess." The thug just now ran in excitedly.

"Okay, take your time and don't kill him. I'll go over to take a look." Zhao Yilong said and left. The thugs who stayed behind tortured Lao Liu from time to time.

Zhao Yilong went to the next room to take a look, told his men to pause, and then turned and went into an office at the end of the cell. Sitting on the sofa was the head of the interrogation department, Jin Hua, whose name was quite brilliant and whose appearance was eerie and terrifying.

"Hehe, Chief Zhao, do you need help?" Seeing Zhao Yilong coming in, Jinhua let out a chilling laugh.

Zhao Yilong got goose bumps all over his body when he heard the eerie laughter, but he didn't want to offend this old ghost. He heard that the old ghost had been working in the cell since he was a teenager and had been working there for more than 30 years. He didn't know where Li Shiqun found him.

"Well, there's no need for Chief Jin to take any action for the time being." After a pause, he added, "The noise has already been made, there's no rush." ​​After saying that, he picked up the tea on the coffee table and drank it.

"Okay, I'll go wash my face and continue. Damn it, it's Mid-Autumn Festival. Chief Jin, take a break first. If I can't handle it, I'll ask you to help me."

Zhao Yilong returned to the cell after being away for half an hour and spoke to Lao Liu for the first time: "Have you made up your mind? Lao Liu, Lao Zou and that Xiao Zhang next door have confessed." Zhao Yilong lit a cigarette easily and asked with a smile. He learned this name from Hei Lao Er and wanted to give Lao Liu a try.

"Oh, it doesn't matter if you don't tell me. Anyway, we have two people to report to. Come here, your whole body is burnt, but the bird below is pretty good. Take a piece of charcoal to roast it. I don't know if it tastes good. Cut it off and feed it to the dog after it's cooked."

After that, he sat down, picked up the cup and drank the water slowly. The thug beside him picked up a piece of charcoal with red flames with tongs and slowly moved it close to Lao Liu's lower body.

Old Liu tried desperately to dodge, but his hands and feet were chained to the rack. As he watched the charcoal getting closer, the fear in his eyes grew deeper. Seeing this scene, Zhao Yilong smiled triumphantly.

Sure enough, when the charcoal was about to touch his lower body, Lao Liu still shouted, "Stop it, I said."

"Stop." Zhao Yilong immediately called for a stop. The charcoal in the hands of the thugs stopped an inch or two away from Lao Liu's lower body and did not move away. The heat from the hot charcoal baked Lao Liu, causing him to arch his lower body backwards desperately. Even so, Lao Liu screamed desperately.

"I said, take it away."

"Name!" Zhao Yilong shouted.

"Liu Yang"

"Position" was shouted again.

"Major Section Chief of the Intelligence Department of the Chongqing Military Intelligence Bureau, take it away quickly. Old Liu shouted like crazy."

"Mission" Zhao Yilong raised his voice again.

"Assassinate Li Shiqun, take it away, I want to see Li Shiqun." Old Liu was going crazy, his whole body was twisting wildly.

"Where is Zhang Wu?" Zhao Yilong asked loudly.

"I want to see Li Shiqun, I want to see Li Shiqun, Zhao Yilong wants to kill people to silence them, kill people to silence them, I am from the Special High Section, Zhao Yilong is an undercover agent of the Military Control Commission, I was sent by the Special High Section..." Old Liu was really crazy, shouting in a mess.

Now everyone in the interrogation room was dumbfounded. The thug couldn't help but take the charcoal back and looked at Zhao Yilong with a strange look in his eyes, as if he was waiting for the next instruction, or as if he was asking something.

"He's crazy! Throw some water on him to wake him up." Zhao Yilong was stunned for a moment, then he came to his senses and spoke immediately.

Two basins of cold water splashed down, interrupting Old Liu's madness. Old Liu calmed down, staring at Zhao Yilong with bloodshot eyes, gnashing his teeth and saying, "If I die, you must die too. Come on."

Zhao Yilong was startled, but he reacted immediately.

"Don't play dumb. You've already confessed and there's a recording. If I let you go, will the Military Control Commission let you go? Haha, all right. If you want to see Director Li, you can see him at dawn. Don't play tricks. I don't think you want to go through this again. Let him down and ask the doctor to check him out."

After Doctor No. 76 gave Lao Liu a simple bandage, Zhao Yilong personally led people to lock Lao Liu into a small windowless room.

Zhao Yilong gave up asking further questions. Although he was stubborn, he was still afraid that what Lao Liu said might be true, and that someone from the Special High Section might really be killed by him. He wouldn't be able to explain it clearly then. It would be better to leave such a difficult issue to the director.

Back to the interrogation room

After breaking through one barrier, Zhao Yilong regained his confidence. Looking at Xiao Zhang, who was trembling all over while hanging on the rack, Zhao Yilong smiled.

"Have you figured it out? The people next door were shouting so loudly just now, I guess you heard a little bit. Your leader has confessed, or maybe your leader is one of ours. What is right and wrong in this world? It's all for life. You are still young, don't be fooled by others. Is it worth it to abandon your peaceful life and possibly your young life for those vague so-called beliefs? Think about it, is it worth it? I'll give you three minutes to think about it."

Xiao Zhang gritted his teeth and said nothing. Zhao Yilong winked at his men next to him, who went down to fetch an alarm clock and held it close to Xiao Zhang's ear. The ticking sound of the second hand beat Xiao Zhang's heart again and again, and also pried Xiao Zhang's nerves. The belief of driving the Japanese invaders out of China at all costs and the belief of living on, two voices appeared alternately.

Time seemed to pass very slowly, but the sound of the second hand seemed to speed up. Zhao Yilong's devilish voice floated in the distance, accompanied by a ticking sound, "Isn't it good to be alive? Life in the tavern is good. That old Liu came and sent you to prison. He confessed first and got out. What about you? You still have to suffer here. Tell me, you can get out if you tell me, and you will feel relieved if you tell me. Time is running out."

Zhao Yilong's voice was very soft, even softer than the ticking sound, but Xiao Zhang couldn't avoid it. It kept drilling into his mind, slowly drowning out his desire to fight the Japanese.

Watching Xiao Zhang's changing expressions, Zhao Yilong smiled more often and his voice became gentler, a voice that should not have appeared in this eerie and terrifying cell.

"Go ahead and say it. No one will force you to say it. The time is almost up. There are only 10 seconds left. Nine, eight, no time left. Six, five, go ahead. Three, two, one."

As the countdown sounded, Xiao Zhang's heart beat faster and his mind became fuzzy.

When Zhao Yilong counted to one, the thug next to him shouted, "Time's up, torture, branding." When Xiao Zhang heard this, fear overwhelmed him. A voice came over him,

"Just tell me, and you won't have to be punished if you tell me."

"I said, I said"

"Okay, you can go out now after you tell me your name," Zhao Yilong was as gentle as before, without any fierceness towards Lao Liu.

"Zhang Chunhua"

"What's your profession?"

"Military Intelligence Officer"

"Oh, what about the military rank and what are the tasks?"

"Lieutenant, no mission. I was ordered to lie in wait after the Battle of Shanghai."

"When did Lao Liu come? Where is the original chef? And tell me about Zhang Wu's situation."

"Lao Liu came two and a half months ago. The chef was not one of us, so he paid his wages and left. I don't know Zhang Wu, but I know that someone contacted Lao Liu and came two or three times. He was always in makeup, but I could recognize that it was the same person."

"Where's Lao Zou?"

"Old Zou stayed with me, and received the same orders."

"If there is anything else you haven't said, don't hide it. I will compare their confessions."

"It's really gone. It's true."

Zhao Yilong was silent for a while, then asked, "Anything else? Is there anything I missed? It's very important to you."

Xiao Zhang just shook his head. Zhao Yilong stared at Xiao Zhang for a while. "Let him go, sign and seal, and send him back to the cell."

The next person, Old Zou, also quickly surrendered under Zhao Yilong's coercion and inducement. The interrogation was basically completed, and the time came to three o'clock in the morning.