A Prophet - Chapter 21 (Part 3)

Chapter 3 - Dai Li's Name and the Death of Dai Li

One morning a few days later, the Third Pier Boss was sitting in the parlor telling fortunes when a person wearing a duckbill cap walked in with his head lowered.

"What does the master wish to ask about? Marriage? Wealth? Official career?" the Third Pier Boss said, letting out a yawn.

The person kept his head lowered, lowered his voice, and asked, "I want to ask if your Grandfather is still alive and well?"

"Hmm?" The Third Pier Boss instantly snapped awake. "You are..."

The person slowly raised his hat, and the Third Pier Boss took a clear look, then cried out in shock: "Instructor Zeng!"

"Quickly follow me to the inner hall!" The Third Pier Boss looked at the bustling crowd outside the door and said in a low voice.

Inside the inner hall, Grandfather was sipping tea.

"Grandfather, look who has come!" The Third Pier Boss shouted as he entered the door.

Grandfather raised his eyes to look, then hurriedly stood up: "Instructor Zeng!"

"Grandfather!" Zeng Jingwu cried out happily.

Reunited as brothers, the two embraced tightly.

"Old Third, you step back first," Grandfather instructed.

The Third Pier Boss acknowledged the order and withdrew.

"Has Instructor Zeng been well all this time?" Grandfather could hardly believe his eyes.

"All is well, all is well. Has Grandfather made a comeback?" Zeng Jingwu said with a smile.

"The devils are gone, and peace has returned to the world; over a hundred brothers need to eat, after all. Heh heh. Right, wasn't Instructor Zeng up in northern Shaanxi? How did you return to Shanghai?"

Zeng Jingwu glanced outside the door and listened for any movement: "Grandfather doesn't know, but I slipped back into Shanghai two years ago. We have our underground organization here, and the Central Committee felt I was familiar with Shanghai, so they sent me back!"

"The underground Communist Party?" Grandfather asked quietly.

"Mm," Zeng Jingwu nodded. "Otherwise, how could we have obtained so much intelligence on the devils?"

"Oh," Grandfather nodded. "Now that the devils have surrendered, is Instructor Zeng going back?"

Zeng Jingwu looked at Grandfather and said, "Does Grandfather truly believe that peace has come to the world?"

"What else could happen?" Grandfather asked, uncomprehending.

"There's going to be a war again!" Zeng Jingwu said.

"A war? With whom?"

"The Kuomintang and the Communist Party," Zeng Jingwu replied.

"A war between the Kuomintang and the Communists? Wasn't there peace negotiations in Chongqing not long ago? The newspapers even published the Double Tenth Agreement, stating that the Kuomintang and the Communist Party had reached a unanimous agreement to build the country in peace!" Grandfather was greatly shocked.

"Bullshit! Old Jiang has no sincerity for negotiations whatsoever! It's merely to buy time for launching a civil war and regrouping military armaments!" Zeng Jingwu said with indignation.

"What? Then the Chongqing negotiations?" Grandfather asked.

"After the Japanese surrendered, Old Jiang telegraphed the entire country, forbidding the Communists from taking over the territory in the Japanese-occupied zones and forbidding us from confiscating strategic supplies. What does this mean? The anti-Japanese rear-area battlefields were opened up by us Communists, and to carve out these base areas, so many of us died! In 1942 alone, during a single Japanese mopping-up campaign, we lost over ten thousand men! Every inch of land costs an inch of blood. Now that the devils have retreated, the heroic souls of my comrades are still present. If we don't take back these territories, how can we account to our fallen comrades? How can we account to the local common people? While Old Jiang is eager to usurp the fruits of victory against Japan, he tells us not to move—isn't this asking us to sit passively and wait for death? To make full preparations for our annihilation, he deliberately set up the trap of the Chongqing negotiations, believing that Chairman Mao and Vice Chairman Zhou would not dare go to Chongqing. As a result, both Chairmen went, which caught Old Jiang off guard. Therefore, the Chongqing negotiations were all conducted according to the terms we proposed. Because Old Jiang had no sincerity to begin with, he hadn't prepared any plans, and so the two sides started talking just like that. Meanwhile, Old Jiang secretly deployed troops to encircle and suppress our base areas, but they were all beaten back by us!" At this point, Zeng Jingwu paused. "Do you know how Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek evaluated Chairman Mao during these negotiations?"

"When two major figures meet, there must be interesting stories. How did he evaluate him?" Grandfather's interest was also piqued.

"Chiang Kai-shek said Chairman Mao is a man of exceptional composure!"

"Why?"

"Because Kuomintang staffers all knew that Chairman Mao was addicted to smoking like his life depended on it. Whether in meetings or reviewing documents, he always held a cigarette between his fingers, wreathed in smoke—this had been a habit for many years. Yet during the Chongqing negotiations, when Old Jiang met with the Chairman, Chairman Mao didn't smoke a single cigarette, because the Chairman knew the Generalissimo disliked the smell of tobacco."

Hearing this, Grandfather praised him repeatedly.

Suddenly, Zeng Jingwu's face filled with sorrow once again: "The great war is about to begin..."

"Is Old Jiang really going to fight?" Grandfather asked.

"There's no other way. We want peace, but the Generalissimo refuses to give it. Chairman Mao said that if Chiang Kai-shek wants to fight, we will accompany him to the very end! It's just..."

"Just what?"

"Just that this time we aren't fighting the Japanese; it's our own people fighting our own people..."

Hearing this, Grandfather was filled with melancholy: "Indeed, Chinese fighting Chinese."

"And..." Zeng Jingwu said.

"And what?"

"Intelligence shows that Chiang Kai-shek wants to dig up Chairman Mao's ancestral graves! He's even resorting to such despicable and low-class tactics! Old Jiang believes the feng shui of the Chairman's ancestral graves is too prosperous—the sign of a true dragon and son of heaven—and that it must be dug up in order to defeat the Chairman!" Zeng Jingwu said.

"Then... what did your Chairman Mao say?" Grandfather thought of the incident when his own ancestral graves had been dug up.

"Heh heh! Chairman Mao smiled and said: 'Chiang Kai-shek wanting to dig up my ancestral graves is an act that loses the support of the people! Those who lose the support of the people lose the empire!'"

Hearing this, Grandfather secretly admired him: truly worthy of being the leader of the Communist Party! With such boldness and such magnanimity, how could he not win!

Grandfather suddenly remembered something: "Instructor Zeng's visit today—is it to tell me that a war is about to break out?"

Zeng Jingwu nodded: "A few days ago, when I was out on business, I suddenly saw Grandfather's guild hall reopen. Having had no contact for so many years, I thought it was someone impersonating him. After observing for a few days, I discovered it truly was Grandfather who had returned! The newspapers even said Grandfather assisted Bai Chongxi in planning Kunlunguan in Guangxi to guard the dragon vein of China. Grandfather's momentum is truly grand!"

Grandfather shook his head: "Sigh! Instructor Zeng doesn't know, but many things are coincidences that neither you nor I could have imagined. People like us who step into the pugilistic world no longer have control over our own destinies. Over these past ten years, it has been a narrow escape from death nine times over. I thought I would never return to Shanghai, and never see Instructor Zeng again! Heaven really opened its eyes and let me return alive."

"Heh heh, to use a common phrase you fortune-tellers use, Grandfather has 'fortune smiles upon the virtuous.'"

"Heh heh, not at all, not at all. A narrow escape from death, a narrow escape from death."

"Grandfather, the current political situation is just like this: the Kuomintang-Communist war is on the verge of breaking out. Ten years ago, I earnestly invited Grandfather to go to northern Shaanxi with me, but Grandfather declined. Now the foreign powers are gone, and only the two major forces of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party remain. Has Grandfather thought of where he will go?" Zeng Jingwu finally spoke of what was most on his mind.

Grandfather felt a shock in his heart, not knowing how to reply. After a long silence, he said: "I... am a person of the wild marshes. Party or no party, politics or no politics, I am not qualified to participate..."

"Grandfather is mistaken! Over all these years, Grandfather has killed many people and cheated many people, but they were all people who deserved to be killed and cheated—just like Ninth Master engaging in assassinations; his conscience is clear. Joining the Party isn't that difficult either. Back when the devils were conducting mopping-up campaigns, at the most difficult moment, a distant cousin of mine asked to join the Party, and the organization only asked him two questions: Are you patriotic? Yes! Are you afraid of death? No! Good, you pass! It's that simple!"

Grandfather still remained silent. After a long moment, he pushed open the door and let out a long sigh: "Instructor Zeng, please look: over a hundred brothers, fierce as wolves and tigers, uneven in quality. If I just up and leave, what will happen to them?"

Zeng Jingwu looked for a long time and thought for a long time, but found no answer either.

Finally, Zeng Jingwu said: "Grandfather has Grandfather's difficulties as well. The reason I came to explain this matter is also because... because... because I'm afraid..."

Grandfather understood in an instant: "Instructor Zeng is afraid that under the backdrop of the Kuomintang-Communist war, our two brothers will become enemies in the future?"

Zeng Jingwu nodded: "I don't want our fraternal relationship to turn into a contradiction between enemy and friend..."

Grandfather also nodded fiercely, stood up, walked with his hands behind his back in deep thought, and then said firmly: "Instructor Zeng, please rest assured. I guarantee that neither I nor my brothers will join any political party in this lifetime! This guild hall has its own destined limit of fate to end. In days to come, no matter which side—Kuomintang or Communist—wins the empire, as long as I am alive, I will never let this guild hall do anything that harms heaven and reasons!"

Zeng Jingwu raised his head and grasped Grandfather's hand: "It's a deal."

"It's a deal."

At that moment, the Sixth Pier Boss ran in in a panic: "Grandfather! Grandfather!" As soon as he entered the room, he saw Zeng Jingwu and paused for a second: "Uncle Zeng!"

Zeng Jingwu rushed over and embraced the Sixth Pier Boss: "Little Liu!" The brothers of the former Axe Gang had bumped into each other once more today.

The Sixth Pier Boss's tears flowed down, and suddenly he shook his head fiercely: "A batch of Kuomintang soldiers has arrived outside the door, claiming they're arresting Communist bandits!"

Grandfather and Zeng Jingwu were struck pale with fright.

"Instructor Zeng, go hide in the inner room first, I'll go out and take a look!" Grandfather strode outward, but then turned back and said to Little Liu, "Notify the Second Pier Boss to perform needle-piercing on Instructor Zeng!"

"Needle-piercing?" Instructor Zeng asked, uncomprehending.

Grandfather did not answer and walked out.

"Yo—Grandfather? Truly, there's nowhere in the world where people don't run into each other!" Grandfather followed the voice and looked out. He recognized him—it was the Kuomintang soldier who had tried to rape Zhu Jin back when they were besieging Hong Laohu in Hunan.

"Heh heh, indeed. After several years apart, I still don't know the officer's honorable surname and great name?" Grandfather cupped his fists in salute.

"Don't do that. Isn't this killing this humble one? With your great reputation, don't call me officer. This humble one's surname is Cai, given name Xuezhong; you can just call me Little Cai," the fellow said with a weird, sarcastic tone.

"Oh... Lord Cai!" Grandfather said with a smile.

"Don't! Don't! If these words reach Director Dai's ears, wouldn't that be a violation of military law?" Cai Xuezhong still didn't forget the grudge of Grandfather stopping his attempted rape that day.

"Lord Cai is joking..."

"Cut the crap!" Cai Xuezhong interrupted Grandfather. "Cai here currently serves as the First Battalion Commander of the Shanghai Police Bureau, and I am now executing official business. Someone reported that a Communist is hiding at Grandfather's residence, and I ask Grandfather to cooperate!"

"Heh heh heh heh, Captain Cai is handling official business impartially, so of course we must cooperate, we must cooperate. It's just that Captain Cai has brought so many people to my humble dwelling: first, it affects my business; and second, if we don't find any Communists, wouldn't that ruin my reputation? I am, after all, an officially designated patriotic sorcerer appointed by Director Dai himself. Captain Cai had better think carefully..." Grandfather was stalling for time.

"Ha! How would we know if it ruins Grandfather's reputation unless we search?" Cai Xuezhong said.

"Mm! That makes sense! Does Captain Cai know what that Communist bandit looks like?"

"Heh heh, I have always been rigorous in my work!" As he spoke, Cai Xuezhong pulled a piece of paper from behind him, pointed at the portrait on the paper, and said, "I'd recognize this guy even if he were burned to ashes. He used to be a member of the Axe Gang, and later he ran over to the Communists' side! I've been eyeing him for a long time; his skills are good, and he escapes every time, but today he won't be able to fly away even with wings. However, what worries me most is that once I catch him, how will Grandfather answer to Director Dai? Harboring Communist bandits is a capital offense..."

"Hahahaha!" Grandfather also laughed. "Very well, since Captain Cai is so confident, please go ahead..." With that, he spread his arms and made a gesture of invitation.

"Search the place!" Cai Xuezhong gave the order, and scores of men rushed inside.

After a long commotion, the police officers filed out one after another: "Report, nothing found!"

"What?" Cai Xuezhong was a bit bewildered. "Didn't they clearly see him walk inside?"

With that, he walked in himself.

In the inner room, Cai Xuezhong saw someone lying on the bed, covered with a quilt: "Who is this?"

Grandfather said, "This is my disciple's father. He suffered a stroke not long ago and is recuperating here."

"Recuperating?" Cai Xuezhong looked at Grandfather suspiciously, then suddenly reached out and whipped the quilt off the bed. He was so frightened that he recoiled backward, stumbling and almost falling over. "Holy shit! What the hell is that? You scared the hell out of me!" He hurriedly threw the quilt down.

"I already said just now: a stroke."

Zeng Jingwu's facial features had been shifted by the Second Pier Boss using the needle-piercing method—especially his left face, which was pulled down so long that his eyes and cheeks sagged together, with the flesh all paralyzed down beneath his chin.

At that moment, a policeman whispered, "I clearly saw him walk in just a moment ago..."

Cai Xuezhong walked right up and slapped the policeman hard across the face: "Fuck your mother! Are your eyes any good? Last time you even said that brothel woman was pretty! After I went inside and kissed her all over, her face shed rouge and powder—the bitch is almost fifty years old!"

Cai Xuezhong adjusted his peaked cap and faced Grandfather: "Grandfather, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Captain Cai, calm your anger, calm your anger. It's not easy for the subordinates to do their jobs either, so let him off this once." With that, he walked up to the beaten policeman. "Brother, look more clearly next time."

"No, it was an informant who told me, so I followed them here..." the man said, holding his cheek.

"I'll fuck your mother!" Cai Xuezhong rushed forward and delivered another flurry of slaps. "I'll teach you not to keep your mouth shut! I'll teach you not to keep your mouth shut! Your mouth is looser than a brothel girl's waistband!"

Zeng Jingwu heard all of this from the bed. An informant? It seemed someone on the inside had betrayed them!

"All of you, get the fuck back!" Cai Xuezhong said in a fury of embarrassment.

The policemen retreated one after another.

"Grandfather, farewell!" Cai Xuezhong said.

"Captain Cai, take care, drop by often when you have time."

That night, Grandfather personally unblocked the acupoints for Zeng Jingwu, and Zeng Jingwu slowly recovered his appearance.

"Someone betrayed us," Zeng Jingwu murmured. "I need to send out the secret signal so everyone can relocate their base."

"Mm," Grandfather nodded. "The kid who came today used to be one of Dai Li's men. Dai Li really is omnipresent."

Zeng Jingwu said, "Dai Li's power is growing larger and larger. The Military Statistics Bureau he controls not only meddles in military and political affairs, but has also penetrated the realms of national defense, transportation, diplomacy, police administration, and finance... But this might not necessarily be a bad thing."

"How so?" Grandfather asked.

"What kind of person is Old Jiang? He's a suspicious man! Dai Li has grown this big; can Old Jiang feel at ease?"

Zeng Jingwu's words proved prophetic. At this moment, Dai Li was sitting on thorns.

In fact, as early as 1942, during the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Military Statistics Bureau, Dai Li had "been too smart for his own good." On April 1st of that year, the Military Statistics Bureau held its tenth-anniversary celebration, and Chiang Kai-shek personally attended with his wife, Soong Meiling. To showcase his capabilities and achievements before his superior, and even more to demonstrate the determination of the entire Military Statistics Bureau to serve the Generalissimo unanimously, Dai Li staged a grand military parade of the secret service troops. To ensure its success, he even held three full dress rehearsals in advance.

When Chiang Kai-shek stepped onto the reviewing platform, what he saw was a uniform and orderly secret service force. These men were high-spirited, dressed in American equipment, and marched past the platform with heroic vigor. At that moment, Chiang Kai-shek's suspicions were aroused. Ten years ago, this organization was still a small secret service department with only a few dozen people. Now, under Dai Li's painstaking management, it had become the most combat-effective force, with hundreds of thousands of people across the entire system: eighteen thousand plainclothes agents, seventy thousand guerrilla armed forces, twenty thousand special service corps, and ten thousand suicide squads. A force with such powerful combat effectiveness now took orders solely from Dai Li alone—this was by no means a good thing.

At that moment, Chiang Kai-shek smiled, and Dai Li smiled too. Chiang Kai-shek congratulated himself on discovering it in time, while Dai Li believed his loyalty had been recognized.

After the Japanese devils surrendered, faced with the blazing-hot zenith of the Military Statistics Bureau, Chiang Kai-shek suddenly issued an order to "dissolve the Military Statistics Bureau."

At that moment, Dai Li understood: he had been too capable, too clever, and had drawn the suspicion of the Generalissimo.

He sighed with deep emotion to his confidants: "If I don't die at the hands of the Communist Party, I'll die at the hands of the Old Man."

With the dissolution of the Military Statistics Bureau imminent, and facing the question of where to go, Dai Li was filled with utter confusion. Just as Yuan Shushan had said, fortune-seekers fall into three categories, and at this moment, Dai Li belonged to the kind driven to the end of their rope.

In February, Dai Li secretly arrived in Shanghai.

"Is the Master well since we last parted?" Dai Li had a secret meeting with Grandfather.

"Thanks to the General's concern, everything is well."

"I remember the Master previously saying that ten years from then, I would surely become a king, duke, or prime minister. Counting from 1936, it's almost been ten years, hasn't it?"

"The General leads the Military Statistics Bureau and has defeated the Japanese invaders. Now you have reached the pinnacle of ministerhood—are these not the ranks of kings, dukes, and prime ministers?" Grandfather said.

"Master, please don't lie to me. Tell it to me straight!" Dai Li's tone grew heavier.

"I wouldn't dare! I wouldn't dare! When has this humble one ever lied to the General?"

"Yet now the Old Man wants to abolish the Military Statistics Bureau!" Dai Li roared like a cornered beast.

"The Old Man?" Grandfather was startled.

"Generalissimo Chiang..." Dai Li said.

" Oh. Abolishing the Military Statistics Bureau is perhaps the Generalissimo's normal arrangement. As for General Dai... perhaps there are other important assignments."

"Other important assignments? The Military Statistics Bureau is Dai's very lifeblood! Once the Military Statistics Bureau is gone, Dai Li will be like water without a root, a tree without a trunk, and he will be nothing at all!"

"Viewed in this light, the Generalissimo intends to move against General Dai?" Grandfather inwardly sighed at the words Zeng Jingwu had spoken a few days prior; Dai Li was truly finished.

"Yet I have never harbored a double heart! Ever since I followed the Old Man, Dai has upheld the leader's will, empathized with the leader's painstaking efforts, followed him through thick and thin without a single word of complaint or regret, and gladly rendered the service of a dog or a horse for over a dozen years! The Old Man should know this! To say nothing else, just look at the Xi'an Incident—so many people wanted to do away with the Old Man, yet I risked my life to accompany Madam Soong to Xi'an. The Old Man cannot possibly be unaware of these things!" Dai Li practically cried out in grievance.

"General, do not be anxious. Perhaps it is slander by colleagues?" Grandfather reminded him.

Upon hearing this, a shiver ran instantly down Dai Li's entire body: For all these years, in order to bring down his opponents, he had killed so many people and harmed so many people. Many Kuomintang heavyweights harbored a deep-seated hatred for him. Was he the only one they wanted to put to death? Yet all of these actions had been approved by the Old Man! He was like a loyal and devoted dog, obeying his master's commands at every single moment. Now the master wanted to cast him aside; without his master's protection, those enemies could tear him to pieces in the blink of an eye. No, no, he couldn't just sit back and be captured without a fight! He had to gamble one more time! Gamble one more time!

Sweat was pouring off Dai Li. At that moment, Grandfather felt no sense of glee at Dai Li's cornered-beast struggle; instead, he felt a profound sense of desolation. A hundred years of human life and red-dust affairs—when is it glorious and when is it sorrowful? Who could have imagined that the once-infinitely glamorous "Gestapo Chief" would end up in such a plight.

"Does the Master have any brilliant strategy to save me?" Dai Li's eyes stared fixedly at Grandfather.

Looking at the desperate Dai Li, Grandfather no longer wanted to discuss the Book of Changes or the Eight Trigrams; instead, he spoke with utter candor: "General Dai, are you willing to listen to a word from me?"

"Please speak, Master!" Dai Li looked at Grandfather with eager intensity.

"General Dai might as well emulate Zhang Liang of the Han dynasty: make a timely retreat. Before the Generalissimo speaks, resign from the post of Director of the Military Statistics Bureau of your own accord, and thereafter seek no other official posts. Claim illness, return to your hometown, and henceforth never again meddle in the affairs of officialdom..." At that time, Grandfather was truly acting out of pure goodwill.

"What?" Before Grandfather could finish speaking, Dai Li grew frantic. "Let me voluntarily retire?! Not to mention that I won't retire, but even if I were to voluntarily step down, could I save this life of mine? Once I lose power, those people will pinch me to death as easily as crushing an ant! Master cannot be unaware of the principle that 'the trees want to be still, but the wind will not stop,' can you?"

"General, please listen to me. You have always been utterly loyal to the Generalissimo. If, upon your honorable retirement, you are able to obtain a death-exemption tablet from the Generalissimo, what could the Kuomintang staffers still do to you? Bearing in mind your years of arduous toil, the Generalissimo will certainly spare your life," Grandfather said.

As soon as he finished speaking, even Grandfather felt bewildered himself. Facing this executioner who had murdered Ninth Master Wang Yazhi, he had unexpectedly stirred up the heart of a Bodhisattva.

Dai Li lowered his head and thought for a moment, suddenly feeling that something wasn't right: Why did this fortune-teller always urge him to surrender his power? Could it be that he had already been captured by the Old Man and was deliberately lobbying him?

Seeing Dai Li's eyeballs spinning round and round without stopping, Grandfather, being an old Jianghuai hand, understood in an instant: It was over; Dai Li had grown suspicious!

Just as expected, Dai Li suddenly burst into laughter: "Heh heh, in my early years, the Master calculated that I would surely become a high-ranking official in the future, and now you advise me to retire—isn't that completely contradictory?"

Grandfather shook his head, recalling a saying of Yuan Shushan: "Yin and yang have fixed numbers, yet human life is ever-changing. In some matters, human calculation is inferior to heaven's calculation. I ask the General to forgive me."

"Ha ha. A fine 'human calculation is inferior to heaven's calculation'! I'm afraid the Master has already met with the Old Man long ago, haven't you!"

"Absolutely not!" Grandfather stared fixedly at Dai Li without blinking.

Dai Li glared fiercely at Grandfather: "I want to take one more step forward. Is that permissible?"

"How does the General intend to proceed?" Grandfather felt he had gone mad.

"I want to become the Commander of the Chinese Navy!" Dai Li said.

"Er..." Grandfather was in a daze for a moment.

"The Old Man will not abandon me! He won't! There are also people on the American side supporting me. With the Kuomintang-Communist war imminent, the Old Man needs to build a navy, and he still needs me—I am still useful! I am going to fight to the death!" Dai Li was approaching a state of raving madness.

"This..." Grandfather didn't know what to say.

"Master, just sit back and wait for my good news." Dai Li stood up and immediately prepared to leave. Just as he reached the door, he suddenly turned back and said, "In the past, the Master asked me to choose a name belonging to the Earth element in the Five Phases, and I never did. This time, I want to try it!" Having said this, he left without looking back.

After Dai Li left, Grandfather pondered for a moment, then swiftly summoned a guild meeting and announced the dispersal of the members.

"Why, Grandfather? We just opened, and business is booming—why disband?" the pier bosses asked, uncomprehending.

"People are going to die!" Grandfather dropped this single sentence and refused to offer any further explanation.

The pier bosses and foot-soldiers scattered and went into hiding in the countryside.

Grandfather's analysis was spot on: if someone as astute as Dai Li spoke his true thoughts to you, would he still let you live? Especially a fortune-teller who knew so many of his secrets—he had to be eliminated no matter what!

Sure enough, shortly after Grandfather and the others left, Cai Xuezhong led a team of fully armed men and charged into the guild hall, only to find it completely empty.

Hearing this news, Dai Li became even more uneasy. He believed Grandfather had already been bought off by the high echelons, and that all his secrets were bound to be leaked. What on earth was he to do?

At that moment, the telephone rang. Dai Li gave a start, slowly picked it up, and asked timidly, "Hello?"

"Is this Director Dai?"

Hearing that it was his secretary and assistant, Yuan Qibin, Dai Li's fluttering heart dropped back down: "It's me. What is it?"

"The Military Statistics Bureau is redrawing its organizational structure, and all code names are to be changed, including the Director's code name. What name should we pick this time? Should it still be one with the Water radical?" Secretary Yuan asked.

"Oh..." Dai Li cleared his throat, lowered his voice, and said, "This time, get me one with the Earth radical..."

"Ah?" Secretary Yuan paused, suspecting he had heard wrong. Director Dai had always felt his destiny lacked water and had never liked anything other than names with the water radical. What was going on this time? "With... the Earth radical, right?"

"Yes! It must have the Earth radical, the more the better," Dai Li repeated.

"Oh, very well." The secretary shook his head helplessly.

Thus, Dai Li left the final code name of his life on the roster of the Military Statistics Bureau: Gao Chongyue.

This name was chosen with an uncanny, ominous ring to it. Its Five Phases belonged absolutely to the Earth element: towering mountain ranges and the majestic Five Sacred Mountains—up, down, inside, and out, it was all earth. To supplement his earth, the secretary was one step away from giving him the name "Gao Planet."

Hearing this, Dai Li nodded inwardly.

On March 12th, Dai Li met with his subordinate Zheng Jiemin in Beiping and delegated the aftermath matters concerning the dissolution of the Military Statistics Bureau one by one.

On March 13th, Dai Li went to Tianjin again and dealt with a corruption case alongside the Military Statistics Bureau secret agents there.

On March 15th, he returned to Beiping and held discussions with Du Yuming.

During this period, Chiang Kai-shek's phone calls were incessant, constantly urging Dai Li to return to Chongqing. To the extent that whenever the phone rang, Dai Li's heart would thump violently.

Dai Li was stalling for time. He had been waiting for the schedule of US Navy Seventh Fleet Commander Cooke; he needed to meet with Cooke in person because Cooke had previously promised his willingness to help General Dai rebuild the Chinese Navy. Dai Li needed to win over Cooke first, and with Cooke's thorough support, he would be in a good position to show his hand to the Old Man and continue rendering the service of a dog and a horse.

Dai Li's repeated delays in returning to Chongqing, combined with his darting around from place to place, made Chiang Kai-shek even more suspicious: This fellow better not be driven to desperation and run off to the Communist side.

Ruler and subject drifted further and further apart amidst mutual suspicion.

On March 16th, Dai Li finally received word from Cooke. Cooke stated that he was currently in Qingdao, Shandong, but could not make it to Beiping for the time being, and hoped General Dai could wait a couple more days.

Dai Li could not wait any longer; he arranged a special flight and flew directly to Qingdao.

When he arrived there, it was already dark, and Dai Li learned that Cooke had already flown to Shanghai on official business. Dai Li had no choice but to check into a hotel in Qingdao.

That night, Dai Li locked himself in his room in despair, not even turning on the lights. In the dim room, Dai Li buried his head and sobbed. No one knew how Dai Li pushed through that night, nor did anyone know what he was thinking—was he thinking of his decades of thrilling secret-service career, or of his past glory and overbearing arrogance? Perhaps he wasn't thinking of any of that at all; perhaps he was simply thinking of his aging mother far away in his hometown, and that childhood free of conspiracy and bloodshed...

After dawn, Dai Li changed into a brand-new shirt, took a bath, and shaved his beard completely clean. Before going out, he once again sized himself up in the mirror. Twenty years ago, he had also sized himself up like this in front of a mirror on the eve of applying for the Whampoa Military Academy, when he said a single sentence to his reflection: "You can do it." As a result, he truly passed the examination and was fortunate enough to become Chiang Kai-shek's aide-de-camp, thus beginning his secret service career... Spring and autumn passed by, past events became as wind, and now that he stood before the mirror once more, he didn't know what to say to himself. In the end, he smiled—a bitter smile directed at the reflection in the mirror...

Around 10 a.m., after confirming via phone once more that Cooke was still in Shanghai, Dai Li immediately boarded the plane bound for Shanghai.

That day, everything in the world seemed to be conspiring against Dai Li. Not long after the plane ascended into the sky, the previously cloudless sky suddenly turned foul, followed by gale-force winds and torrential downpours. The plane almost lost its balance amidst the rainstorm.

"Director, the rain is too heavy; the plane cannot fly to Shanghai according to the flight path," Dai Li's subordinate reported.

Dai Li did not speak. Looking through the plane window at the hazy, murky sky, he thought to himself: Heaven is truly trying to cut off my escape!

"Should we turn back?" the little agent asked.

"No! Fly to Nanjing first, and fly to Shanghai once the weather clears," Dai Li instructed.

"Yes!"

The plane bumped and jolted all the way through the curtain of rain until it arrived in the skies above Nanjing.

To unexpected misfortune, the rain in Nanjing was even heavier, accompanied by thunder and lightning. The plane simply could not land.

The pilot circled anxiously over Nanjing, losing his bearings amidst the torrential downpour, when suddenly a mountain loomed directly ahead.

"Pull up quickly! Pull up quickly!" the co-pilot shouted. "Quick! Quick! Quick!"

"It's too late! It's too late! Ah—"

The ground dispatcher at the Nanjing airport lost the signal from the plane carrying Dai Li and hurriedly reported to his superiors: Director Dai's plane has disappeared!

Upon hearing this news, Chiang Kai-shek was exceptionally calm at first, but immediately told Mao Renfeng, the number-two figure of the Military Statistics Bureau: "I want to see people in life, and corpses in death!"

Chiang Kai-shek did not know whether the plane had met with an accident, or if Dai Li had shut off his radio and flown over to the Communist side.

Two days later, the plane wreckage and Dai Li's remains were found. The plane had indeed crashed into a mountain.

The body-retrieval team returned and reported to Chiang Kai-shek: "The mountain that Director Dai's plane crashed into is called 'Daishan,' and the ravine where the plane fell is called 'Kunyu Gully' (Trapped-Rain Gully)."

People within the Military Statistics Bureau were quite astonished and discussed it animatedly: Dai Li, whose style name was Yunong, had an Eight-Characters destiny that lacked water throughout his life, which was why he constantly gave himself names with the water radical. Yet the moment he took the name "Gao Chongyue," whose Five Phases belonged to the Earth element, he crashed into "Daishan" and plunged to his death in "Kunyu Gully"! Was it time? Or was it destiny?

The crime-steeped chief of the Military Statistics Bureau thus drew a period to his life.

Upon learning this news, Grandfather remained silent for a long time.

Jiang Feiyan sent a congratulatory letter: Congratulations to Grandfather for finally avenging Ninth Master! She believed that nine years ago, she and Grandfather had jointly set up a scheme to divine Dai Li's fortune, suggesting that Dai Li adopt a name whose Five Phases belonged to the Earth element, and now it had taken effect.

Grandfather, however, thought otherwise. Having experienced so many vicissitudes, Grandfather knew deeply that this was not something a mere name could determine. Otherwise, wouldn't casually giving someone a name be enough to dispatch them to their death, and conversely, casually giving someone a good name be enough to lift them out of poverty and bring them wealth? Pure fantasy!

Grandfather knew that Dai Li's death was merely a matter of time. Any emperor fears subordinates whose achievements overshadow their sovereign. Accompanying a monarch is like accompanying a tiger; if handled well, one accepts a "toast to release military power" and takes home silver to retire in old age; if handled not so well, one ends up facing the fate of Han Xin or Hu Weiyong. Having racked his brains and schemed to kill so many people, Dai Li had never once thought that he himself would be driven to his death by Chiang Kai-shek.

Until that very moment, Chiang Kai-shek felt a twinge of remorse: Perhaps Dai Li harbored no rebellious intent. He investigated Dai Li's itinerary before his death in detail: Dai Li's trip to Tianjin was truly to handle a case of internal corruption within the Military Statistics Bureau; meeting the commander of the 94th Army in Tianjin was not plotting a rebellion either, but dealing with the scandal of the 94th Army commander taking a concubine; Dai Li's meeting with Du Yuming in Beijing was also not a rebellion, but checking on Du Yuming's illness; Dai Li's trip to Qingdao and subsequent journey to Shanghai were truly out of a desire to discuss building the Chinese Navy with Cooke...

At that moment, Chiang Kai-shek recalled the speech Dai Li had given shortly before at the Beiping office of the Military Statistics Bureau: "Last year the leader asked me to become a Central Committee member, but I firmly declined because fighting for power and profit does not make one fit to be a revolutionary... Recently, the Central Committee held the Sixth Plenary Session of the Second Central Committee; the situation displayed over the past dozen days has not exceeded my expectations. Regarding the issues of the Investigation and Statistics Bureau, it appears the praise and censure are evenly split. Some people call for our overthrow—I don't know what 'overthrow' or 'cancellation' means; I only fear that our comrades are not making progress and are becoming bureaucratically corrupt. If that happens, even without others striking us down, we will collapse of our own accord. What I think about at every moment is how to be worthy of the martyrs, how to maintain our glorious history, and I have never once thought about how others might overthrow me. I personally have no political ambitions; I solely obey the Generalissimo's decree and bury myself in doing the work—only then will the country have a way out, and only then will individuals have a future..."

"It seems Dai Li truly harbored no rebellious intent; it was I who pressed him far too harshly." Chiang Kai-shek felt a wave of self-reproach: With the Kuomintang-Communist decisive war imminent, he had lost such a loyal and dedicated talent! Thinking of this, Chiang Kai-shek was hit by a wave of a headache.

Later, after being defeated and retreating to Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek lamented in tears on multiple occasions: "If Comrade Dai Yunong had not died, we would not have retreated to Taiwan today!"