Chapter 23: He Yuzhu Pretends to be a Little Japanese

Zhushikou West Street, opium den.

The hall was so dim it was almost lightless; the customers in the small rooms, whether sitting or lying down, were almost all people with numb expressions and vacant eyes.

Rather than calling them human, it would be better to call them walking corpses.

Just then, an officer of short stature, wearing a Japanese military uniform, sporting gold-rimmed spectacles, and wearing a small mustache, walked in full of airs.

His chin was slightly raised, his gaze disdainful, and every step he took carried an arrogant swagger.

The opium den manager saw the visitor and gave a start; his face immediately filled with obsequiousness as he said, "Oh, Commander! Please, come in, please."

He hurriedly and clumsily led this Japanese man into the den's reception room, busy pouring tea and water.

Once the manager placed the tea on the table, the Japanese officer nodded and said, "Yours, give me, call Dengzhao over, mine, have important matters to discuss with him."

"Yes! Yes! Commander!" The opium den manager scurried out in a flash.

The Japanese officer was not idle; he quickly scanned the inside and outside of the place. When he saw a window on the north wall, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He stepped forward to push the small window open and saw that there was just a small alleyway below.

As the "thump, thump, thump" of footsteps sounded, the Japanese officer quickly returned to his seat, picked up the tea, and sipped it.

With a "swish" of the reception room curtain, Dengzhao strolled out, swaying his shoulders.

Having come from the ranks of the thugs, Dengzhao truly possessed the imposing aura of a fierce bandit; the knotted muscles on his body almost burst his linen clothes. His eyes were like knives. Seeing the Japanese officer sitting in the seat of honor with a domineering posture, he showed not a shred of flattery on his face, sat straight down at an Eight Immortals table in the center of the room, and spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Commander, our line of work and yours have always kept to our own sides of the river. You have deigned to visit today; what instruction do you have?"

The Japanese officer did not even lift his eyelids; he reached into his uniform pocket, pulled out a letter, and slapped it onto the tabletop, making the teacup jump.

Dengzhao knit his brows, stepped forward two paces, and snatched up the letter paper.

He looked at it horizontally and vertically, but those winding, twisting characters looked like crawling ants; he truly could not read them.

"Old Xing! Get over here!" he barked in a rough voice.

The accountant, Old Xing, like a startled rabbit, scrambled into the room, took the letter, and began to read it in a trembling, stumbling voice.

That letter was precisely the one He Yuzhu had written to Lou Feng.

After Old Xing finished reading, Dengzhao was completely confused. He irritably snatched the letter paper back, crumpled it into a ball, threw it into the brazier, and shouted loudly: "Someone is blackmailing that bastard Lou Feng? Damn it, what the hell does that have to do with me?"

The Japanese officer raised his eyelids, his gaze icy, and said in somewhat strange Japanese-accented Chinese: "Dengzhao, you should know Lou Feng, right?"

Dengzhao said brazenly: "I suppose I know him! We aren't close!"

The Japanese officer said: "It is this very Lou Feng who reported you to the Military Police, accusing you of blackmail, extortion, and kidnapping good citizens."

"Bullshit! I stay in this opium den every day now, barely stepping out the door, and you say I kidnapped someone? My foot!"

The Japanese officer grew a bit impatient and shouted: "Do not think that just because you have a few thugs, you can do whatever you want on the territory of the Imperial Japanese Army!"

"How did it become your territory? I was born right here in Beijing; how many years have you even been here!" Dengzhao said with a hostile tone.

"You dare to show contempt for the Imperial Japanese government! Do you not want your life anymore?"

"Commander, you are wrong to say that. My opening this opium den was approved by your Military Police. I have my own connections in your Military Police, too. Whether I am showing contempt for the Imperial Japanese Empire is not for you to decide just by saying so!"

"So what if you have connections? Today your case has fallen into my hands. If I want to deal with you, even the Commander of the Military Police cannot help you!"

"Oh! That's a big mouth you've got!" Dengzhao began to stare fixedly at this Japanese officer.

Ma Wu and Xiaoliuzi went to kidnap that little brat and haven't returned to report in a day and a night; it seems something really went wrong.

He was afraid of the Japanese in his heart, but having been used to being arrogant, he couldn't adapt to being lectured by someone for a moment. He stiffened his neck, his muscles bulging, and retorted stubbornly: "Commander, these are two different things! Even if a few useless things under my command committed kidnapping, you should catch the people before coming to challenge me! You can't just bring a letter and come looking for trouble with me!"

"You speak well. Now, the Lou Family has stepped forward. They are convinced that you did this! Our Military Police cannot ignore it!"

"To put it bluntly, this is daylight robbery!" Dengzhao slammed the table hard.

His heart was complex at this moment; based on his many years of experience, he could roughly judge that this kid couldn't have a major background, otherwise he wouldn't have come alone. That left only one possibility: this person was dirt poor. At this moment, murderous intent rose in Dengzhao.

The Japanese officer seemed to understand the look in Dengzhao's eyes; he sneered: "Do you think that because I came alone, you want to kill me? Don't forget, can't I think of the things your brain can think of?"

Cold sweat broke out on Dengzhao instantly. Is this kid's brain that sharp? Isn't it said that the little Japanese are all single-minded!

"Let me tell you the truth! A foreign firm in Wangfujing was robbed! That is a major case, and the main culprit hasn't been caught yet. The higher-ups said to solve the case within 10 days, and I am the person in charge of this case. To be clear with you, I have no leads and cannot solve the case, so I must find someone who is somewhat well-known to take the fall! I think you are very suitable." He put down his teacup, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

"Screw that bastard Lou Feng!" Dengzhao only felt a surge of evil fire rush from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. His fists clenched with a "crack" sound. "I was kind enough to help him clean up his mess! And this son of a bitch turns around and sells me out to the little Japanese as a scapegoat?"

When the Japanese officer heard the word "Japanese," he was not angry; instead, the cruel smile on his face deepened.

He slowly put down his teacup, leaned his body slightly forward, and a cold light flashed on his gold-rimmed spectacle lenses.

"Look, without taking you to the Military Police, you can just confess to the kidnapping of the child. In my view, you have done plenty of similar things! I came today to give you a chance: spend money to avoid disaster. Money can be earned again, but if you lose your life, you lose everything."

Cold sweat seeped from Dengzhao's forehead, and the flesh on his face twitched. Hearing this little Japanese man wanting to make him a scapegoat, he immediately lost his reason and shouted: "Little Japanese, I did do the kidnapping, and I haven't done few similar things either. What can you do to me?"

The smile on the Japanese officer's face vanished instantly, replaced by icy murderous intent: "Oh? That means you don't intend to give me this face today?"

Dengzhao sneered: "You come looking for money with a piece of scrap paper today; if I give it to you, how will I, Dengzhao, continue to mix in the underworld? Besides, I say you are just pretending to be a Commander!"

"Well said, tough!" the Japanese officer applauded.

"Buddy! If you want a smoke, it's on the house. If you want to extort money, I'm not that rich, so please head back!" Dengzhao said while reaching toward his waist.

When the Japanese officer raised his hands from under the table, he already had two Box Cannons with their safeties off.