Xie Yi and the others arrived the next day.
However, they came in batches, riding tour company buses so as not to draw attention.
Xie Yi had probably been here before, because he was extremely familiar with the structure of the underground buildings. He even knew the patterns of change in the underground passages.
I went with him to the underground office. It was my office, chosen and furnished for me by Ye Jinghong.
"Shouldn't you explain something?" I asked Xie Yi.
Xie Yi seemed somewhat embarrassed. He gave a wry smile. "It was all Old Shu's idea. We didn't tell you beforehand because we were afraid it would ruin everything."
I snorted. No matter what, I still had to show the proper attitude.
Xie Yi said, "Peng Hui is very important to us, and Old Shu has invested a great deal of time and effort into it. Peng Hui has always been Unit Nine's main source of intelligence, so Old Shu has attached great importance to it. But some time ago, Peng Hui was targeted by a group of outsiders."
I lit a cigarette. Ye Jinghong brought over a tea set, then closed the door and made tea for us.
There were only the three of us in the office.
Xie Yi sighed. "Since Peng Hui had been targeted, Old Shu decided to play along. He had Mu Xue earn their trust as quickly as possible. Mu Xue then proposed a plan: she would bring Peng Hui over to their side. Naturally, they couldn't have asked for more. But if they obtained all of Peng Hui's resources too easily, they would become suspicious. That was why there was the internal conflict and Mu Xue's grand purge of dissenters. The people opposing her didn't know the truth, so their emotions