Hello, Li Shiqun; Farewell, Li Shiqun

Shen Yan was still wallowing in self-pity when the proprietress hurried upstairs.

"President, Section Chief Kuroiwa called to ask if you were here. He said he'd arrive in half an hour, accompanied by Director Lu and Li Shiqun from No. 76."

Shen Yan nodded and followed the proprietress to the entrance to wait.

The sound of car engines came from afar, growing steadily closer until the vehicles stopped smoothly before the vermilion gates of Hot Springs. The headlights of the two black sedans went out, and the driver of the lead car got out first. Bent at the waist, he went around to the other side and respectfully opened the door.

The first to step out was Kuroiwa, dressed in a haori and hakama. A subtly embroidered family crest adorned the collar of his dark haori, lending him an even more dignified bearing. Director Lu followed beside him in a suit, his expression somewhat ingratiating.

Shen Yan hurried forward, putting on just the right measure of respect. His tone was humble and cordial. "Section Chief, Director, neither of you has been by for days. You're both busy with countless affairs, but you should look after your health and take time to relax. A private room has already been prepared upstairs, along with sake from the section chief's hometown. You must both enjoy yourselves today."

Kuroiwa smiled and patted Shen Yan on the shoulder, speaking approvingly. "Thoughtful of you."

With that, he followed the proprietress into the bathhouse. Director Lu, however, stayed where he was and gestured with his chin toward the middle-aged man getting out of the second car. "Let me introduce you. This is Director Li from No. 76. He's hosting today."

Shen Yan looked up, his gaze settling squarely on the rear car's door-this was his first time seeing Li Shiqun.

A slightly plump figure stepped out of the car. He was short and stocky, plump without looking bloated. His deep black suit was crisp and well fitted, the collar of his light-colored shirt fastened meticulously and his tie neat and straight, making his complexion look even fairer. His glossy, side-parted hair lay against his forehead, and thin gold-rimmed glasses rested on his high nose. The eyes behind the lenses were not large, but they were bright and alert. Slightly narrowed, they swept casually over the entrance to Hot Springs. A faint smile played at his lips, giving him the mild air of a scholar who had spent years in business. There was nothing to suggest he was the fiend of No. 76, a man with the power of life and death and blood on both hands.

He walked at an unhurried, steady pace, his left hand hanging naturally at his side while his right gave his glasses a habitual touch. As he drew near, Shen Yan caught a faint scent of perfume mingled with the rich aroma of tobacco, a perfect match for his hypocritical demeanor.

The instant Shen Yan's eyes briefly met Li Shiqun's, a cold blue light quietly appeared in his mind. The system interface popped up out of nowhere, clearly displaying Li Shiqun's profile.

[System character profile]

Name: Li Shiqun

Identity: Deputy director of the Wang puppet regime's secret service headquarters (No. 76), the actual person in power; traitor

Age: 33

Good and Evil Points: -2000

Thoughts: *This is Shen Yan, the one who keeps thwarting my No. 76? He's so young?*

-2000!

That's tempting!

By then, Li Shiqun had reached the porch. His smile deepened slightly, and he gave Shen Yan a small nod, his voice gentle but faintly probing. "Captain Shen, sorry to have kept you waiting."

Shen Yan immediately concealed the greed that had flashed through his eyes. Maintaining a suitably polite expression, he raised a hand in invitation. "You're too kind, Director Li. It's an honor to have you at Hot Springs. A private room and hot tea are ready inside. I'll take you there now."

"Let's all go together!" Having received his cut, Director Lu had long considered himself half a shareholder in Hot Springs. He quickly took Li Shiqun by the arm and beckoned Shen Yan to accompany them inside.

The group went upstairs and took their seats. The proprietress entered carrying an elaborately decorated wooden box. She gently opened it and took out a celadon sake bottle, its body engraved with subtle patterns that gave it a simple elegance. "Section Chief Kuroiwa, our president went to great lengths to have someone bring this sake back. Please try it and see whether it's authentic."

She carefully removed the stopper, and a rich aroma of sake instantly filled the room. She poured a cup and presented it to Kuroiwa with both hands.

Kuroiwa accepted the cup with a smile, first bringing it to his nose for a brief sniff. Then he tipped his head back and drained it. He closed his eyes, savored it for a few seconds, and slowly nodded. "Rich, mellow and sweet, with a balanced dry finish. Full-bodied, with a hint of amber in the color. It's Kokuryu, all right. Shen-san, you went to a lot of trouble!"

Shen Yan lowered his head slightly. "I'm glad you like it, Section Chief."

Director Lu quickly drank a cup as well. Afterward, he praised it repeatedly, echoing Kuroiwa. "It really is excellent sake. Rich and mellow, with a sweet finish. It lives up to its reputation!"

Li Shiqun also spoke with a smile. His words sounded complimentary, though they carried a faint hint of excessive flattery. "Such precious Kokuryu sake is a rare sight indeed. President Shen truly has remarkable resources. I'm impressed."

Unmoved, Shen Yan responded calmly, "When serving the section chief, I wouldn't dare be anything less than attentive."

Gently rebuffed, Li Shiqun showed no sign of anger. He kept his restrained, amiable smile and spoke again. "No wonder the section chief is always praising you to us, President Shen. Now that I've met you, I can see you're truly a young hero. Compared with you, those disappointing subordinates of mine are nothing but a pack of good-for-nothings."

Shen Yan did not respond, but Kuroiwa, sitting beside him, spoke first, sounding somewhat displeased. "Director Li, your subordinates' behavior has indeed been out of line lately. They've made a mess of their actual job of maintaining public order, while spending all day scheming against their own people. That's very bad!"

Li Shiqun immediately straightened and lowered his head slightly. "Yes. From now on, I'll keep my subordinates on a tight leash. I won't let anything like this happen again."

He then turned to Shen Yan, an apologetic expression on his face. "I heard about what happened before. That disappointing subordinate of mine caused you a great deal of trouble, President Shen! I've already given him a severe reprimand. I hope you'll be generous enough to let the matter go."

He raised his cup and held it steadily before Shen Yan, taking a thoroughly deferential posture.

Shen Yan slowly raised his own cup and clinked it lightly against Li Shiqun's. His tone remained even. "You're too polite, Director Li. It's all in the past. I hope you'll continue to look after me."

The two men exchanged smiles. On the surface, the atmosphere was perfectly cordial, but each had his own schemes behind his eyes. Seeing this, Kuroiwa looked gratified.

The public security situation in Shanghai was growing increasingly grave, and the mysterious Scavenger was still at large. Kuroiwa had already learned that people in the military had begun questioning the Special Higher Police's recent performance. If his own subordinates continued fighting among themselves like this, he feared even he would be implicated.

The banquet was a lively affair. Several geishas played instruments and sang nearby, filling the room with music. Kuroiwa was in high spirits and pulled Director Lu into singing several Japanese folk tunes. Shen Yan and Li Shiqun both obligingly applauded and cheered, neither showing the slightest sign that anything was amiss.

As midnight approached, Kuroiwa and Director Lu were both somewhat drunk, their cheeks flushed and their steps unsteady. Seeing this, Shen Yan quickly had the proprietress summon several attendants to help the two men away to rest.

As everyone was preparing to leave, Li Shiqun seemed to remember something. He turned and went to the rear car, taking an exquisite gift box from the back seat. Inside was a beautiful doll wearing a Western-style dress. "I hear you have an adorable daughter, President Shen. I'm a rough sort and don't know what children like. A friend brought this doll back from the United States. It's nothing valuable, but I hope your little girl likes it."

He held the box out to Shen Yan. Whether he really had drunk too much or did it on purpose, his hand slipped, and the box fell to the ground with a clatter. The doll's head came right off its neck and rolled onto the ground.

Shen Yan froze, but before he could speak, Li Shiqun's expression changed instantly. Burning with anger, he turned and slapped the driver beside him hard across the face. "What the hell is this?! Why is this doll so flimsy? Didn't you say it came from the United States? Did you fucking pocket my money and buy some random thing from a street stall? I'll fucking kill you!"

Shen Yan's heart went cold, and his fingertips tightened slightly, but he repeatedly tried to calm him. "Please don't be angry, Director Li. Maybe this is just the quality of American goods. There's no need to be so hard on your subordinate. I'll take the doll. Once it's glued back together, she can still play with it."

Li Shiqun immediately put on an embarrassed expression and gripped Shen Yan's hand tightly. "I'm sorry, President Shen. I was too hasty. Another day, I'll bring a generous gift to your home, visit your little girl in person, and apologize."

Shen Yan kept a polite smile on his face, but the anger in his heart was already close to bursting out. His nails had nearly dug into his palms.

"System, open the shop!"

Shen Yan quickly worked through the system in his mind and bought the item he wanted, while continuing to speak with gentle courtesy. "You're making too much of it, Director Li. It's only a small matter. Get in the car and have a good rest when you get home. We'll drink together again another day!"

He reached out, opened the car door, and carefully helped the swaying Li Shiqun inside.

The car slowly drove away. Inside, Li Shiqun, who had seemed thoroughly drunk, now showed no trace of it. His eyes were cold and smug. The driver spoke cautiously from the front seat. "Director, do you think Shen Yan understood what you meant?"

"He should have." A cold smile curled Li Shiqun's lips, and his voice was full of disdain. "A green kid thinks he can turn the world upside down? As long as a person has a weakness, he can be controlled!"

He was full of himself, utterly unaware that a soybean-sized metal tracker was clinging firmly to the underside of his car, slowly receding with it as it drove away.

Meanwhile, Shen Yan stood at the entrance to Hot Springs. All traces of courtesy had vanished from his face, which was frighteningly livid. On the System Minimap in his mind, a bright dot representing Li Shiqun was clearly visible, moving slowly into the distance.

"Follow him and find his nest." Shen Yan's voice was icy, filled with unmistakable killing intent. "He dared use the little girl to threaten me. I won't let him live past three days!"

Shen Yan's Clone slowly emerged from the shadows and nodded. He climbed onto a small, silent motorcycle disguised as a sidecar motorcycle. Its engine made no sound at all as he quietly followed, disappearing into the night.

Three days passed without Shen Yan making a move. Li Shiqun, who had been preparing for retaliation, was both surprised and privately contemptuous.

He really is just a green kid. One little scare and he's lost his nerve. He'll never amount to anything.

Little did he know that Shen Yan was planning something big!

At six-thirty that evening, Li Shiqun returned from work to his residence at 67 Great Western Road.

He had chosen this residence with care. The barracks of the United States troops stationed in the Shanghai International Settlement were right next door, so neither the underground Party nor the Military Statistics Bureau dared make a move here.

But this time, he had come up against Shen Yan.

Shen Yan stood in the shadows by the roadside, quietly studying the two-story Western-style house before him.

His Clone had been watching the place for two days. In another ten minutes, two agents on perimeter patrol would pass by, leaving the field of vision of the second-floor observation post.

Shen Yan watched the scattered yellow dots on the minimap and took a very small pistol from inside his coat.

The SOE poison-dart pistol used a spring-linked hammer to fire mechanically. Its receiver held twenty steel darts, which could be coated with poison as needed. Its effective range was five meters.

The pistol was not cheap. It cost 1,200 Good and Evil Points in the shop, with poison sold separately.

Fortunately, Shen Yan had no interest in the poison offered by the shop. Instead, he used tetrodotoxin extracted from pufferfish livers left over in the Hot Springs kitchen. It was 1,200 times more toxic than potassium cyanide!

He had also used the Poison Physician Skill to add a [Takes effect in one second] attribute to the tetrodotoxin on the darts.

If not for its short range, this silent, smokeless, deadly weapon could easily have become Shen Yan's signature weapon.

Shen Yan and his Clone each had a poison-dart pistol. They waited quietly for their prey to arrive.

Before long, two agents slowly approached, grumbling under their breath the whole way.

"Damn it, they're inside eating and drinking like lords, while the two of us are left out here in the wind."

"What can we do? We don't have the money to pay tribute. If you didn't gamble, you wouldn't be in this mess."

"And you're any better? You've thrown every bit of your pay at Xiao Lan in Yichun House. Real impressive!"

The two companions in misfortune exchanged a look and sighed in unison.

"Forget it. Once we finish this round, we can go back and rest. Walk faster. My legs are frozen numb."

Still complaining, neither man noticed the two guns raised in the shadows ahead.

"Click, click."

Two faint sounds, like dewdrops falling onto the earth.

The two minor agents pitched straight forward as if their souls had been snatched away in an instant. Two pairs of hands caught them gently and dragged them into the shadows.

A moment later, Shen Yan, having changed clothes and used Disguise, continued along the patrol route with his Clone, as though the strange occurrence just now had been an illusion.

Five minutes later, the two reached the iron gate and knocked softly.

A small window in the gate slid open, and the agent guarding it pressed close to look outside.

"How are you two back so soon? Slacking off again, damn it! The captain's bound to give you an earful later."

Shen Yan looked impatient.

"Cut the crap! You're having a good time inside while making fools of us two. Open the gate already. We're freezing to death!"

The gate guard chuckled and opened the gate to let the two unlucky men in. He then shut it, turned around, and went back to the gatehouse to warm himself by the fire.

Shen Yan and his Clone followed him in, grinning, and looked at the four agents warming themselves and secretly drinking in the gatehouse.

"Anyone got a cigarette? Give us one. We ran out yesterday."

"Get lost. If you want a smoke, buy your own. You two will bum off anyone, won't you?"

Not one of the four even looked up.

"Click, click, click, click."

Smiling, Shen Yan walked over and took a pack of cigarettes from a stiff corpse's pocket.

"Won't give me one? I'll take it myself."

The perimeter's clear!

After putting away the bodies, Shen Yan walked to the front door of the house with a cigarette between his lips and his Clone beside him. He knocked softly.

The door opened gently, and two agents inside looked at him in confusion.

"Why aren't you staying in the gatehouse after your patrol? What are you coming in here for? Have you no sense of the rules?"

"Cut the crap. I can't hold it anymore!"

As Shen Yan spoke, he squeezed his way inside.

The agent stumbled from the shove and cursed under his breath. "I'll tell the captain in a minute. You two can wait for a whipping."

"No need for you to report it. I'll tell him myself."

Shen Yan and his Clone raised their hands at the same time.

"Click, click."

The two agents' eyes widened, filled with confusion.

Shen Yan checked the minimap. The only person left in the entire residence was Li Shiqun's personal bodyguard on the second floor, Zhang Lu, who was also his security captain and driver.

Zhang Lu seemed to have noticed the disturbance downstairs and was making his way down.

Shen Yan slipped into the space beneath the stairs and raised his gun to aim.

Seeing that the two agents guarding the front door were gone, Zhang Lu immediately drew his gun and opened his mouth to shout a warning, but he was a step too slow.

"Click."

Shen Yan stepped forward and looked at the fallen Zhang Lu.

"You were alert enough. Too bad you wouldn't be a decent person and insisted on being a dog."

With that, the entire security force at the residence had been wiped out without a sound.

After checking the minimap again to make sure no one had slipped through, Shen Yan restored his original appearance and gently opened the door to Li Shiqun's bedroom.

Li Shiqun had no worries about the safety of this place, so he was sleeping soundly.

In a daze, he sensed someone sitting down in the chair beside his bed.

"Who?!"

Li Shiqun woke with a start and reached under his pillow.

Nothing!

"Click!"

The bedroom light came on.

Li Shiqun looked at Shen Yan sitting in the chair. On the table beside him lay Li Shiqun's personal handgun.

"Shen... Captain, what are you..."

Li Shiqun's wife, Ye Jiqing, was trembling all over, her face pale as she clutched his sleeve with both hands.

"Shiqun..."

Li Shiqun patted his wife's hand to comfort her, slowly regaining his composure.

"Captain Shen, you've come to visit late at night, and I failed to welcome you. My apologies. Zhang Lu, bring some tea... Zhang Lu!"

"Don't waste your breath, Director Li. There's no one else in this building but us."

Li Shiqun closed his mouth, cold sweat running down his forehead.

"Captain Shen, is there some misunderstanding between us? If I've offended you in any way, tell me, and I'll make amends!"

Shen Yan did not answer. He simply sat there smiling at Li Shiqun.

After a long while, Li Shiqun sighed dejectedly.

"I've fallen this time. I mistook a tiger for a sheep! I deserve to die! Brother Shen, for the sake of our acquaintance, could you spare my wife?"

Shen Yan shook his head, his face cold. "I know something of your wife's past as well. When the Military Statistics Bureau arrested you, she pulled strings everywhere to get you out. She also did quite a lot to help you get your current title as director of No. 76. She's responsible for at least half the blood of your own countrymen that's now on your hands!"

Ye Jiqing's face turned even paler. Her lips trembled, and she tried to say something, but the words would not come.

Li Shiqun's eyes went wide. "You... are you with the Communist Party or the Military Statistics Bureau?!"

"Neither. I simply can't stand what you do. Besides, of all the things you could have done, you shouldn't have used my daughter to threaten me! So, Director Li, farewell."

"Click, click."

And so the notorious fiend Li Shiqun and his wife died silently in their own bed.

[Ding! Killed traitor Li Shiqun. Good and Evil Points +2000]

[Ding! Killed traitor Ye Jiqing. Good and Evil Points +600]

[Ding! Killed 9 No. 76 agents. Good and Evil Points +2700]