The Codebook

"Second Brother Zhao, the door is barred from inside." Dongfang Xu looked toward Zhao Ding. Without a word, Zhao Ding stepped forward and kicked the door hard. The frame rattled, and the sharp crack of wood splitting echoed from within. He followed up with a second kick, shattering the bar completely and bursting the door open. Inside, a startling scene met Dongfang Xu's eyes. Tang Yan, the patrolman from the Lücheng Police Station, looked over in sheer panic. The lad called Xiao Mi ducked behind Fang Jibai in terror. Fang Jibai turned with an expression of shock, his brow instantly furrowing. Yet the fleeting glint of alarm and tension that darted across Fang Jibai's eyes did not escape Dongfang Xu's sharp gaze. "Second Brother Zhao, what is the meaning of this?" Fang Jibai asked, glaring at Zhao Ding with a dark, questioning scowl. "Xiao Si." Zhao Ding adopted a grim, official demeanor. "I am on official business, tracking down Japanese spies." "Listen to what you're saying, Second Brother." Fang Jibai's voice grew distinctly edged with anger. "The only people in this room are me, Tang Yan, and Xiao Mi. Which of the three of us is supposed to be Japanese?" Dongfang Xu cleared his throat. Zhao Ding fell silent at once and stepped behind Dongfang Xu. "Fang Jibai. Officer Fang." Dongfang Xu walked forward, extending a hand. "Dongfang Xu, of the Lixingshe Special Services Department. A pleasure." "A pleasure," Fang Jibai replied, reaching out to shake his hand. A smug smile spread across Dongfang Xu's face. Fang Jibai's expression, on the other hand, shifted. He had noticed the soot clinging to his own fingers—transferred to his skin just moments ago when he took the oil-paper package from Xiao Mi. Dongfang Xu suddenly stepped forward two paces and yanked Xiao Mi out from behind Fang Jibai in one swift motion. Xiao Mi was covered from head to toe in chimney soot—his clothes, face, and hands thoroughly smeared in black grime. ... Dongfang Xu glanced at the floor. Sharp-eyed and quick to act, Zhao Ding promptly dragged over a long wooden bench. Dongfang Xu brushed his hand over the bench, checked the dust on his palm, and waited while Zhao Ding flicked at the seat twice with his sleeve before finally planting himself down. Zhao Ding then dragged over a wooden chopping board table and set it before Dongfang Xu. "Officer Fang," Dongfang Xu said, looking at Fang Jibai with triumphant arrogance. "Hand it over." "Hand what over?" Fang Jibai forced himself to sound calm. "Wrong answer. That gave you away right there," Dongfang Xu chuckled. "You should have looked completely bewildered and asked, 'Huh?' Asking 'hand what over' admits you're holding something, and that you're merely trying to keep your composure and bluff your way through." "Mr. Dongfang, I have no idea what you're talking about," Fang Jibai said with a forced, wry smile. "Enough of that, Officer Fang, Mr. Fang—Fang Jibai!" Dongfang Xu snapped. "Things have come to this, so stop beating around the bush. Hand over whatever came out of the chimney." He pointed directly at Fang Jibai. "I'm still addressing you as Officer Fang for now. If you persist in playing dumb, this truly becomes a matter of apprehending Japanese spies and hunting down traitors." "Fourth Brother is one of us! He's no traitor! We only came here to look for—" Tang Yan pleaded, frightened out of his wits. "Tang Yan!" Fang Jibai barked sharply. Startled, Tang Yan clamped his mouth shut. "Go on, keep talking!" Dongfang Xu roared. "Forget it." Fang Jibai gave Dongfang Xu a long, searching look, then shook his head. "I'll give it to you." Dongfang Xu looked at him and nodded with satisfaction. "Now that's more like it, Officer Fang." "Xiao Mi," Fang Jibai said, giving the boy a nod. Xiao Mi deftly lowered the bamboo basket hanging from the rafters, retrieved an oil-paper-wrapped package from inside, and handed it to Fang Jibai. Fang Jibai gently rubbed the package with his palm, let out a quiet sigh, and held it out. Zhao Ding stepped forward, took the package, turned, and presented it to Dongfang Xu. "What is this?" Dongfang Xu held up the oil-paper package and asked Fang Jibai. "It's evidence related to the disappearance of Anggong. The culprits hid it here. We came to search for clues and just found it," Fang Jibai said. "Is that so?" Dongfang Xu glanced sideways at the visibly nervous Tang Yan. "Yes," Tang Yan blurted out instinctively. "What Fourth Brother said is true." "Officer Fang, drop the nonsense about Anggong's disappearance. Team Leader Chen Xiuqi of the Lücheng Police Station has already escorted three prisoners all the way to Nanjing," Dongfang Xu sneered. "A common villager goes missing, and the suspects are rushed overnight to Nanjing? What was this villager, an undercover crown prince traveling in disguise? Has his disappearance reached the highest rafters in Jinling?" He slammed his hand onto the table. "The Secret Service has already established that this so-called Anggong disappearance was actually a Japanese espionage infiltration! The suspects Chen Xiuqi sent to Nanjing are Japanese spies!" Fang Jibai's expression grew increasingly strained as he stared at Dongfang Xu with a complicated look. "Officer Fang, my dear brother Fang." The corners of Dongfang Xu's mouth curved into a triumphant smirk. "This is a Japanese espionage case. Now tell me, what exactly is this piece of 'evidence' from your Anggong case?" "It's..." With a look of bitter reluctance, Fang Jibai stared fixedly at the oil-paper package pinned beneath Dongfang Xu's palm, then let out a resigned sigh. "It's the codebook!" ... With a loud clatter, Dongfang Xu shot to his feet, knocking the bench over behind him. The moment he had first laid eyes on the package, he had harbored a faint suspicion. But having it confirmed in plain words sent a surge of wild exhilaration through him. "This is the Japanese codebook!" he demanded, glaring intently at Fang Jibai. "Unless I'm very much mistaken, it should be the codebook they concealed," Fang Jibai replied with a nod. He fished a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, flicked one out, popped it between his lips, and then looked at Dongfang Xu, making a tentative gesture to offer the pack. Dongfang Xu eyed Fang Jibai, broke into a smile, and stepped forward, extending his hand. He could tell that Fang Jibai had accepted defeat and was prepared to lay everything on the table. Unless absolutely necessary, he had no desire to push things into a violent confrontation with the man. Boss Dai's telegram had explicitly stated a wish for him to establish contact with Fang Jibai—a contact he interpreted as meant to be cordial, or at least free of hostility. In truth, how things had unfolded had already veered into unexpected territory, straying far from what Boss Dai had outlined in his telegram. For one thing, revealing his agency right off the bat went entirely against Boss Dai's original intent. Still, Dongfang Xu reasoned, with the monumental achievement of seizing a Japanese codebook, everything else was minor trivia unworthy of concern. A police station—and a backwater town outpost like Lücheng at that—had cracked a ring of Japanese spies and captured a radio transmitter, pulling off such a triumph right under the nose of Danyang Station. It had thoroughly humiliated the Secret Service, whose sole mandate was combating the Japanese. Before leaving Nanjing, he had known how furious Section Chief Yiyan and Boss Dai were; they had lost tremendous face. Now, he had led his men here to Lücheng and recovered the Japanese codebook that the police had failed to find. The Secret Service had successfully turned the tables. Dongfang Xu had just restored Boss Dai's lost face! At this thought, the look in Dongfang Xu's eyes softened, turning considerably warmer and friendlier as he looked at Fang Jibai. Dongfang Xu took the cigarette, and Zhao Ding immediately struck a match to light it for him. "Brother Fang, please, go on," Dongfang Xu said. "There isn't much else to say. We failed to find the codebook the night before last, so I thought I'd come try my luck today. I never expected to actually find it," Fang Jibai said with a self-deprecating smile. "Then again, it's only a guess that it's a codebook. As for whether it really is one, only the Japanese would know." When he spoke those last words, there was a noticeable return of spirit and defiance in Fang Jibai's tone. Dongfang Xu smiled, catching his drift. Though Fang Jibai had resigned himself to the situation, he still harbored a stubborn shred of lingering pride. Dongfang Xu gave Zhao Ding a meaningful look. Zhao Ding blinked, utterly failing to grasp the hint. "He's telling you to have your men form a circle around him," Fang Jibai remarked with cutting sarcasm. "Now that the codebook belongs to the Secret Service, they can't let the rest of us see what's inside."