(For Chapter 1-163, go to (https://chrysanthemumgarden.com/novel-tl/awbtv/))
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"Mr. Adams, you don't need to be so cautious with your wording. If you don't mind adding another corpse to this study, then I won't mind having an extra spectator to our conversation." Chu Yunsheng said.
Adams' reply almost certainly contained some kind of coded message or hidden meaning, but he didn't care. With the layout of this room—and with Adams held as a hostage—there was no need for him to fear any potential suppressive fire.
No one would dare gamble Adams' life to test whether their bullet was faster, or his was.
Seeing the bodyguard collapse behind the velvet curtain, perhaps even Adams himself no longer dared to take that gamble.
"You're very confident, Dr. Chu. But this is the Faguo Concession." Adams said gravely.
"On the battlefields of Ouhua, it didn't seem like the Deyizhi withdrew their troops or gave up their invasion just because that land belonged to Faguo."
As Chu Yunsheng spoke, he walked to Adams' side. His fingers reached out, moving with the certainty of someone who knew exactly what he was doing. They went straight beneath Adams' arm to the pistol holster and pulled out a gun.
Adams' service weapon.
A new-model firearm manufactured in a Deyizhi factory—compact, stable, with considerable stopping power. For this era, it was already a very fine weapon. Judging from how well it was maintained, Adams clearly treasured it.
"The war in Ouhua is over."
Adams' eyes shifted, fixing on Chu Yunsheng's hands as he expertly checked the weapon. His thick eyebrows twitched ever so slightly.
For the first time, he felt that perhaps the Deyizhi-trained "green eagle" that had cast its net over half of Huaguo was not as reliable as claimed. How could such a formidable, cunning, dangerous man turn out—after all their investigations—to be merely a doctor with a few minor secrets?
It was absurd!
With two pistols in hand, Chu Yunsheng sat back down on the sofa chair opposite Adams.
His fingers rested casually on the armrest, his posture relaxed—as calm and composed as a polite guest paying a visit.
Of course, that was only if one ignored the fact that even lowered slightly, the barrel of his gun never stopped pointing at Adams.
The danger weighing on Adams' chest did not lessen in the slightest just because Chu Yunsheng had stepped back. On the contrary, this unfeigned air of leisure and ease only made Adams more cautious, more on guard.
Dusk had already slipped away from the glass doors leading to the balcony, and the garden scenery was swallowed one piece at a time by the darkness. Suddenly, a flash of lightning lit up, draping the streetlamp at the corner in a strange, ghostly blue.
Thunder rumbled faintly across the sky, and a drizzle began to fall.
Inside the study, the rich aroma of red wine spread slowly.
Chu Yunsheng and Adams sat opposite each other. The stark white lightning etched the sharp, cold lines of Chu Yunsheng's profile, casting a layer of pale, chilling light across him. It made his features look icy, like a silent snow mountain.
There was no murderous aura on him—he spoke as though simply chatting with a friend, his tone mild.
"The war has ended, but the wounds and humiliation remain forever. Even if Faguo has gained surface-level peace and tremendous benefit from the Ouhua conference, given an opportunity like this, I believe they would still prefer to have your corpse left on Huaguo soil, rather than see you return to Ouhua alive."
"Your death would merely be blamed on rampant banditry, or on a delayed response by the police—not on any failure of the Faguo Concession."
Chu Yunsheng looked at Adams and said in Deyizhi, "You fear this, Mr. Adams. It would turn that carefully prepared ticket of yours into nothing but scrap."
"As the leader of the Green Eagle network, you know this very well. And you also know that while Deyizhi is willing to protect your return, that does not mean they are willing to provoke Faguo on your behalf. They no longer possess the strength they had during the war, and your value is not enough to shatter the peace again."
Without attempting to hide it, Adams' expression grew even uglier.
He knew that Chu Yunsheng's deductions were entirely correct. His current position might still appear prestigious, but the moment news of Deyizhi's defeat in Ouhua arrived, his fate had already been sealed.
"Has Jianmen's intelligence network already reached into Green Eagle?"
Adams' gaze toward Chu Yunsheng shifted subtly.
"Or perhaps it wasn't Green Eagle's intelligence that leaked—perhaps it was Faguo's lack of discretion?" Chu Yunsheng looked at him calmly as he raised a hand and filled the half-poured glass of red wine Adams had abandoned.
Adams' eyes flickered.
Faguo's lack of discretion?
That was practically an open hint.
After a moment of silence, Adams leaned forward and accepted the glass. A faint, gentle smile slowly appeared on his previously dark, grim face. "You are one of the smartest Huaguo I've ever met, Chu. You're definitely not an ordinary doctor. Within your intelligence system, you must be at least Class A."
"I believe your reason for coming here isn't simply to threaten me, nor merely to tell me that those Faguo cowards have completely uncovered my hidden cards."
"I want to know your purpose. And I'm willing to offer you some assistance, my friend."
Adams forced himself to completely ignore the cold, dangerous muzzle pointed his way, and lifted his glass in a gesture filled with goodwill.
He believed he had more or less grasped Chu Yunsheng's objective. And Chu Yunsheng did not mind letting Adams keep that illusion.
A clear, crisp clink sounded.
The two raised their glasses and touched them together.
Savoring the rich aroma of the wine as it spread across his tongue, Chu Yunsheng tapped the lowered barrel of his gun lightly against his knee. Abandoning all the polite circling and evasive pleasantries, he spoke directly: "I enjoy making friends, Mr. Adams. But as a friend, you're still lacking a bit of honesty."
"At the very least, this isn't a polite way to invite a friend over as a guest."
Adams glanced at Chu Yunsheng's hands. He very much wanted to retort that no friend invited someone to drink with a gun in hand.
But he wasn't foolish enough to say that out loud at a moment like this.
"I'm sure you understand—that was the Dongyangs' trick."
Adams said, "Or rather, it was a misunderstanding."
Chu Yunsheng ignored this flimsy attempt at sophistry and simply said, "Green Eagle knows Sheng €€'s identity."
The moment the name Sheng €€ was mentioned, the perfectly curved smile that had been hanging at Adams' lips froze for an instant. His tone carried a hint of sighing regret. "Of course. But that was later. When Green Eagle first selected her as an official intelligence operative, we didn't know she was an agent sent by the Dongyang."
"You must admit—the Dongyang are an exceedingly cunning people."
"They prepared a flawless background and identity for Sheng €€. After she entered Green Eagle, they carefully controlled the pace of her assignments—slow enough that she would not advance to Class A and face more rigorous scrutiny, yet not so slow that she would remain stuck at Class C and be cut off from valuable intelligence."
"If she hadn't taken the initiative to contact the Dongyang a few times after receiving your mission, even Green Eagle—alert as we are—might not have caught her."
During the chase earlier, the moment Chu Yunsheng saw the rows of Yinglun barrels aimed at them from the two steamships, he had already confirmed that Sheng €€, who believed she had hidden her double-agent identity perfectly, had likely been exposed to Adams long ago.
He slowly recalled the various forces and spies that had been moving around him these past days, and said, "The Dongyang noticed something unusual about me before any of you did."
Adams' lips touched the rim of his glass; only his brow moved slightly.
"This came from a piece of their intelligence. But there weren't many flaws to find in me. I'm inclined to think that some unintentional action of mine aroused their suspicion… or perhaps it was because of the remarkable effectiveness of the traditional Huaguo medicines that appeared—those belonged to Jingzhi. Once that information leaked, as the doctor and close friend at his side, it was natural that I would become a target of suspicion." Chu Yunsheng continued.
"But at that time, whether it was you or them, none of you truly paid much attention to me. Suspicion and attention are not the same."
"In fact, in your intelligence files, there must still be another person whose background and identity match mine almost exactly—Chao Shimin."
Chu Yunsheng's cool voice cut clearly through the sound of thunder and rain, solemn and steady.
He unraveled the threads one by one: "This vague suspicion probably lasted until, under pressure from the Ouhua conference, Mr. Fang and Jingzhi were forced to present penicillin."
"The Dongyang spy planted beside Mr. Fang noticed something amiss from Jingzhi's repeated visits. They then launched their investigation. They learned from Meidi forces and others about the existence of antibiotics. Their attention toward the doctors, biologists, or pharmacists around Jingzhi greatly increased. Through a series of seemingly harmless contacts and tests, they narrowed their primary suspect down to me."
"There is no wall that can keep the wind out."
"Besides the Dongyang, all the major forces in Haicheng more or less received the news and joined the investigations and operations."
"Green Eagle was among them."
"But Green Eagle is different from the other forces. You deliberately allowed the Dongyang to notice your movements. On the surface, it looked like the Dongyang were using your operations to cover their tracks. But in reality, you were mockingly watching their clownish performance."
"You let everyone believe that Green Eagle was being toyed with by Dongyang agents. And in the end, under the cover created by the Dongyang operatives themselves, you bared your fangs and achieved your goal in one decisive strike."
"In the end, they were merely stitching wedding clothes for someone else."
The smooth red wine slid down Adams' throat, but he could no longer taste anything.
He narrowed his eyes slightly. "You Huaguo have a saying: words carry no proof."
Strands of hair slid past his brow and eyes as Chu Yunsheng lifted his chin a fraction, his voice low and cold. "The fact that I am here—and not in a Dongyang stronghold—is your strongest piece of evidence."
Adams' brow twitched involuntarily. Imitating the humor of Meidis, he shrugged and said with a smile, "I should insist this was a rescue mission, that Green Eagle kindly saved you from the Dongyang. But I imagine you don't want to hear that."
Chu Yunsheng ignored Adams' attempt at levity and continued, "In the house on Pudong Road, Green Eagle sent people to extract the information Sheng €€ possessed—and kill her afterward. But facing us, Sheng €€ may have betrayed Green Eagle, but she never betrayed Dongyang."
"She chose to die together with your intelligence personnel."
"But before that happened, in that side room with such lax supervision, she used some covert method to send certain information about me to a nearby apartment building—where a Dongyang spy named Fan Chengmei was stationed."
"But even that did not escape your surveillance."
"In the alley behind the Eastern Daily, when the Dongyang operative rendezvoused with Fan Chengmei, Green Eagle fired from the shadows—killing Fan Chengmei, yet letting the Dongyang agent go."
"My information reached the Dongyang intelligence system without obstruction. After that came a hijacking that you merely followed the flow of. You reached a temporary, superficial understanding with that Mr.Pitt, and used him—allowing Green Eagle to wear Yinglun colors and intercept the Dongyang during their attempt."
"From beginning to end, Green Eagle was playing the pig to eat the tiger. Making use of Ouhua's defeat—relinquishing authority over the patrol house and police bureau, then displaying the supposed incompetence of your intelligence network—you guided everyone into believing that you had begun to retreat and weaken."
"But in your heart, Mr. Adams, you see yourself as the hand outside the entire chessboard, controlling it all."
The unusually long string of words gave Chu Yunsheng's voice a faint rasp by the end.
He slowly took another sip of wine.
Across from him, Adams had clearly lost all interest in drinking.
The sharpness in his eyes—like that of a hawk—could no longer be concealed. The deep furrow between his brows revealed that his thoughts were no longer calm. Those hidden, meticulous, cautious arrangements were what he had always taken pride in—flawless, in his view.
Yet now, they were being laid bare, cleanly and brutally, piece by piece.
He did not believe that Yu Jingzhi's Jianmen possessed such abilities. If they had, Yu Jingzhi would never have needed to seek help from Fang Jiming, carrying those precious medicines from door to door, knocking on the gates of ambitious men.
In truth, the reason Chu Yunsheng could so cleanly peel apart everything inside was not only the scattered clues around him and Jianmen's intelligence, but also certain details from the original plot.
For instance, Adams' ship ticket when he finally left Haicheng, as well as his infiltration of the Dongyang intelligence system—both had been briefly mentioned in the original storyline when Li Lingbi fled Haicheng and lamented Yu Jingzhi's stubborn defense. Just a few casual lines, but enough for Chu Yunsheng to grasp the truth.
"You astonish me, Mr. Chu."
Adams lifted the corner of his lips, his expression layered with meaning. "Perhaps your future does not lie in this diseased land, but in the rich and prosperous lands of Ouhua. This place will eventually be consumed by war."
Chu Yunsheng said, "If so, then all the more reason my future should remain on this land."
Adams wondered if Chu Yunsheng simply hadn't understood him. He asked in surprise, "Even if the merciless flames of war will burn you into nothing but dust?"
Chu Yunsheng's expression remained calm. "Those who flee out of cowardice are no nobler than a handful of dust left upon this land."
"A useless sacrifice," Adams scoffed. "You demean your own value."
Chu Yunsheng did not respond.
But in his heart, he understood clearly—perhaps his value was greater than Adams imagined; perhaps some sacrifices were truly useless. But if this land needed it, then he would choose to be one of those 'useless' sacrifices.
The heavy, damp scent of rain rushed in through the half-open window, cool currents surging from every direction, enclosing the room like the depths of the sea.
Adams lifted his wineglass again, but unlike before, a fine layer of cold sweat had gathered in his palm at some point, making the glass slick and unsteady in his grasp.
He said, "Perhaps I understand you now, Mr. Chu. You want me to call back home and, at that Ouhua conference that's about to conclude, help Huaguo."
Chu Yunsheng shook his head. "If you were James from the Meidi, I might make that request. You don't need to keep guessing my intentions. They're simple—I merely want to borrow your Green Eagle for a while, to help me accomplish a few things."
"Oh?"
Adams did not relax at that. Instead, he laughed lightly. "You can speak, my friend. I'm listening."
Chu Yunsheng glanced at the clock hanging in the study and said, "First, cut off every hand the Dongyang people have extended into Haicheng. I want their intelligence network here to collapse completely. Second, release the train being held in Qilu. Until the Ouhua conference ends, that still counts as Deyizhi territory. I know the detainment—meant to test them—was your order."
"The third matter: strip the Xuan family's three pharmaceutical factories in Haicheng clean, send all the medicine to the Eastern Daily offices, and wipe out Tianming Society's intelligence net along with its subordinates."
Chu Yunsheng had never let down his guard regarding Li Lingbi's four lovers. Gu Qishu and Du Qi had yet to show any dangerous behavior, Gao Lan had not yet arrived in Haicheng, but one man—Xuan Qinghe—had already begun defecting to the foreigners in the Northeast.
A large shipment of medicine had been escorted away, and because the clientele differed, the commotion he caused was considerable—completely unlike Yu Jingzhi's careful concealment.
Since the knife had to fall, Chu Yunsheng did not mind killing one more.
"The last matter."
Chu Yunsheng set down his wineglass and unfastened the jade cufflink binding his wrist with one hand, his voice calm. "To celebrate our friendship and cooperation, there should be a splendid dinner."
Adams had been trying to discern Chu Yunsheng's true motive from the connections and interests behind those demands. But hearing this final request so suddenly, he froze for a moment—then burst into hearty laughter as he clapped his hands. "I must say it again, Mr. Chu—you truly are an astonishingly interesting man."
"Louis."
Adams called out loudly.
The study door was pushed open at once. The hallway outside was packed with people, many of them armed, but no one dared fire rashly.
Louis cast a wary glance at Chu Yunsheng, who remained seated with perfect composure, then turned to Adams, his face showing the appropriate amount of concern and tension. "Mr. Adams, what are your orders?"
"Have the kitchen prepare a lavish Faguo dinner and bring it in as soon as possible." Adams, as though blind to the sword-tight tension separated only by a door, issued the command with a smile. "Oh—also bring out that fine bottle of wine I brought from home. It's meant for distinguished guests."
"Yes, sir."
Louis responded and turned to leave, but Adams stopped him.
"Leave these small tasks to the servants. There are a few more things—see to them at once." As he spoke, Adams relayed every item Chu Yunsheng had listed earlier.
Louis's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes flickered repeatedly with shock.
Yet when his gaze passed over Chu Yunsheng's calm figure, it was as if he suddenly understood something. He bowed in acknowledgment and left.
—
At the edge of the Faguo Concession.
The river flowed into the vast ocean, unrolling like a painting into the distance.
Amid the damp curtain of rain, Yu Jingzhi stepped out of the car and stood beneath an umbrella, gazing toward the dark silhouette of a cluster of buildings not far away.
"That man was captured near here?" he asked.
Holding an umbrella, Liu Er replied, "Yes, sir. Not long after Mr. Chu went missing, they made their move near the Chu residence. They tried to abduct Mr. Chu's parents. Our people intervened and rescued the two elders. The ones who fled scattered in all directions. Following the trail all the way here, sir, this is the only one left."
A crafty rabbit has three burrows.
(TN: Basically means "A clever person has more than one plan.")
Yu Jingzhi had already checked all three of Adams's known residences, as well as four major Green Eagle strongholds, but none of them held any trace of Chu Yunsheng.
This was the last location.
Liu Er glanced ahead, then said cautiously, "Sir, if this place also turns out to be—"
Yu Jingzhi flicked away the cigarette at his lips. The ash fell from between his fingers, instantly dampened by the rain.
His voice, too, sounded as though soaked in rainwater—cold and hoarse: "Then we search the entire city. They say I'm the local emperor of Haicheng—then I don't mind sitting on that dragon throne."
Liu Er jerked his head up in shock. "Sir—"
Staring at Yu Jingzhi's back, he felt a fierce, instinctive dread, as though he were facing a frenzied, out-of-control beast with blood-red eyes.
But Yu Jingzhi's next words were calm, almost ordinary: "He wouldn't like me doing that. Which means he'll leave us a clue."
Liu Er opened his mouth, unsure what to say. A sudden chill crawled down his spine. When he looked down, he realized he had—unknowingly—taken a half-step backward, slipping out from under the umbrella.
And at that exact moment, in the heavy, death-like stillness, a building two to three hundred meters away suddenly lit its entrance lamp. A small white villa stood there, its main door swinging open as cars rolled out one after another, speeding off into the rain.
"Sir!"
Liu Er's face lit up. "I'll take our men to intercept those cars at once!"
"No need to intercept them."
Beneath the shadow of the umbrella, a faint light flickered in Yu Jingzhi's eyes—like a candle trembling in the rain. "Send some men to follow them. Yunsheng hasn't left. He's still inside that villa."
He turned his head toward the Haicheng clock tower, barely visible in the stormy night, and the frozen line of his lips curved slowly upward. "At this hour, I'd guess… he's having dinner."
…
The elegant study gradually filled with the aroma of food.
One servant after another entered deftly, carrying in plates of delicate and sumptuous dishes, arranging them on the coffee table between the two armchairs—as though they were genuinely preparing a lavish dinner for honored guests.
Having completed the earlier tasks, Louis retrieved a bottle of red wine. He opened it, poured it into a decanter, and patiently let it breathe.
Soon, the final dish was placed on the table.
A servant stepped forward to adjust the arrangement of the utensils.
As he reached Chu Yunsheng's side, the sharp dining knife suddenly sprang upward, stabbing straight toward Chu Yunsheng's throat.
The distance was extremely close—less than forty centimeters. With murderous intent flashing in his eyes, the servant was confident he could kill with a single strike.
But before his arm had even risen ten centimeters, his wrist was seized and snapped aside by a precise, twisting force. The blade flipped in an instant and slit his own throat.
Chu Yunsheng's previously straight posture loosened. In the next second, he fell back into his chair.
Almost simultaneously, the windowpane shattered with a sharp crash—a sniper's bullet skimmed past Chu Yunsheng's shoulder and punched a hole into the floor.
"I may not be able to dodge your gun," he said softly, "but I know Mr. Adams won't be able to dodge mine either."
Chu Yunsheng lifted his gaze and looked at Louis, who was holding the gun.
Louis did not fire amidst the chaos.
He had missed the moment the servant attacked—failed to shoot Chu Yunsheng in time—and immediately afterward, with Chu Yunsheng's gun now leveled at Adams, he once again had no chance to act recklessly.
"What a ridiculous farce."
Adams sighed helplessly. "All right, Louis, put the gun down. Don't ruin such a perfect dinner."
Louis glanced at Chu Yunsheng, then lowered his arm as instructed.
Chu Yunsheng released the dining knife, picked up the other gun beside him, and fired twice—bang, bang—shooting down the hooks of the curtains.
The curtains on both sides of the window fell at once, cutting off the rainy night from the study and blocking all intrusive sightlines.
The two gunshots sent a strange jolt of unease through Adams.
He still couldn't reconcile this elegant, aloof-looking man with the ruthless figure holding a gun.
Using a white napkin, Chu Yunsheng calmly wiped the blood from his fingers. "Mr. Louis, if you would, please clean this up."
Louis looked toward Adams. Adams gave a slight nod, and Louis slowly stepped forward, crouched down, and dragged the fallen servant's corpse from beside Chu Yunsheng's feet, inch by inch toward the door.
Once outside, he immediately tossed the body to his subordinates with visible disgust, then turned toward the washroom to scrub his hands.
No one noticed that in Louis's bloodstained right palm, a jade cufflink had appeared—just as no one noticed the strange glint in his eyes earlier when the study had echoed with Chu Yunsheng and Adams speaking about Faguo influence.