Espionage: You're tasked with spying, but you'll blow up the Special Higher Police?

173. The Real and Fake "Four-Faced Buddha"

After listening to the doctor's analysis and speculation, Yosuke Saotome and Kondo, who had rushed to the scene, exchanged a glance, and one name popped into their heads. Yes, it was him. He had also poisoned Mr. Su, who had defected to the Japanese army. Only he could have done all this; the "Monkey King" in the newspapers, the "Four-Faced Buddha" in real life—it had to be him!

“Saotome-kun, it seems we’re on the same page. Now, detain and interrogate everyone who has been in contact with Morinomaru. Those who provided the ingredients and utensils shouldn’t be spared either. We need to find out where the nettle toxin on his lips came from.”

"The relevant personnel are already being interrogated; we must find him this time!"

Yosuke Saotome's eyes gleamed with a cold light. In Japan, he was invincible in solving cases and conducting interrogations, but since arriving in Shanghai, he has repeatedly encountered setbacks, even suffering the deaths of two team members. From birth, he was a prodigy in the eyes of his teachers and classmates, and after adulthood, he joined the Special Higher Police, hailed as the future star of the empire, with a bright future ahead. This time, he was transferred from the mainland to Shanghai specifically to assist Kondo. But he never expected to encounter his lifelong nemesis here.

"Four-Faced Buddha...who exactly are you?"

......

"No! Sir, we really didn't do anything! We just drank and ate with Morinomaru. We drank the same drinks he drank, and we ate the sashimi platter, but we're all fine!"

Those arrested and interrogated wailed under the torture instruments, but no matter how Kondo tortured them, their stories remained consistent. Yosuke Saotome could tell they weren't lying.

"Think back again, is there anything that Morinomaru ate that you didn't eat, or anything that he drank that you didn't drink? This is very important! Including what he came into contact with that you didn't come into contact with. If you can't figure it out, you'll never get out of this prison for the rest of your lives!"

"Yes, yes, sir, we will think about it carefully. Please give us some time."

The soldiers who were traveling with him were extremely frustrated. They never expected that going out for a drink and a song would lead to such a situation, even putting them in jail and leaving them unable to prove their innocence.

But what did Morinomaru eat that they didn't? They ate the sushi, sashimi, sake, and barbecue that night. The bowls, chopsticks, and plates used all underwent professional testing, and no toxins were found. The mouth is only for eating and drinking; what else could it possibly come into contact with?

Suddenly, it was as if a light had been turned on in one of the soldiers' minds, and he suddenly realized something.

"I've got it, I've got it, sir! But... there's one spot where Morinomaru touched it with his mouth, but none of us touched it!"

Saotome and Kondo said in unison, "Where is it? Tell us quickly!"

The young soldier hesitated for a moment, but still mustered his courage and said, "It was...it was a waitress at the izakaya. Morinomaru was drunk at the time and said she looked like his girlfriend from his hometown, so he kissed her, and kissed her pretty hard. Yes, that was the only incident. The waitress even wiped her mouth and ran away shyly."

"Baka yarou, I've finally found her... Someone! Bring all the waitresses from the izakaya here! You can identify which one it is!"

Before long, all the waitresses in the Kyushu izakaya were taken into the cell. These women were still wearing kimonos and geisha makeup, and hadn't had time to change. They all had fear on their faces, their heads were down, and they were trembling.

"All of you, raise your heads! Admit it now!"

A young soldier, holding a leather whip, cracked it and shouted loudly.

The waitresses had never seen anything like this before. They looked up in fright and saw the instruments of torture and the man who was covered in bruises. Their faces paled and tears streamed down their cheeks.

"It's...it's her! She's the waitress Morinomaru worked for, it's her!"

After some identification, the young soldiers pointed at one of the waitresses. The girl, terrified, collapsed to the ground, tears welling in her eyes, and cried, "I...I don't know anything! I don't know anything...I didn't kill anyone! I didn't kill anyone!"

Kondo glared fiercely at the waitress: "Finally found you... Hang her up! Find out who her supplier is, who gave her the poison, and who helped her infiltrate the izakaya!"

"Huh? Ah...you...what are you saying? I didn't...I really didn't kill anyone!"

"If you didn't kill him, then who would have thought I did? Talk or not, talk or not!"

"Slap~~~Slap~~~Slap~~~!"

A group of soldiers subjected the waitress to all sorts of tortures, including whipping, burning, using the tiger bench, and pinching her fingers with bamboo skewers. They tormented her to the point of near death, making her faint and then revived repeatedly. But she was just an ordinary waitress, unable to withstand such torture, and soon confessed under duress. However, under further questioning, she couldn't explain how she did it, nor could she name any accomplices. She only said she did it herself, begging her officers to give her a quick death and stop torturing her.

Yosuke Saotome, who had been observing the soldiers' torture, suddenly raised his hand and said, "Stop! She's not lying. Something's definitely wrong; someone's using her. Don't be afraid, girl. Tell me who you've been to before that day? Where have you been?"

The waitress was beaten so badly that she was somewhat delirious, but driven by the instinct to survive, she desperately tried to recall where she had been and what she had done the day before, and confessed everything one by one.

Yosuke Saotome had been listening quietly when he suddenly raised his hand to interrupt, "Wait, what did you just say you tried?"

The waitress choked back tears as she answered, "I...I tried on several lipsticks, but we couldn't agree on the price, so I didn't buy any..."

"The lipstick...it's here! Where did you buy it?"

"At...at the Xianyou Imported Goods Store."

Having learned the name of the lipstick shop, the Japanese spies from the Special Higher Police immediately set off on their motorcycles. Meanwhile, it was already broad daylight, and the shop assistant was yawning as he prepared to open the door, when suddenly a group of Japanese soldiers rushed in from the side. Two of them subdued him instantly, while the others kicked down the shop door and stormed inside.

Typically, the owners of shops like this live in a small courtyard behind the shop. The soldiers rushed up and dragged the owner and his wife directly out of their bed.

Before long, the two shop assistants, the maid, the owner, and the owner's wife—a total of five people—all knelt in a row in the shop.

Yosuke Saotome, accompanied by several doctors, began inspecting the lipsticks displayed on the counter, while the shop owner trembled like a leaf, completely unaware of what was happening.

"Sir, we are compatriots. I'm from Sendai. We sell local goods and imported products here. All the goods have licenses. I...I haven't broken any laws!"

"Whether you've broken the law or not isn't up to you to decide. Tell me honestly, where did you buy these lipsticks? Or who gave them to you?"

The shop owner looked completely bewildered, but still revealed his sourcing channels. He said he bought these lipsticks from Japan or from Westerners, and had been selling them for some time. When he heard that his lipsticks were poisonous and had even killed a soldier, he vehemently denied it, swearing on his life that nothing like this had ever happened before.

However, the doctors brought by Saotome quickly discovered that several of the lipstick samples contained large amounts of urticaria toxin. Even if the person still denied it, the evidence was now irrefutable.

"I've been looking for you for so long, Four-Faced Buddha... Take him away from me, I want to see how long he can keep up this act!"

Kondo was overjoyed, thinking he had finally caught the "Four-Faced Buddha" he had been longing for. He immediately ordered the boss, his employees, and his family to be thrown into prison and subjected to various forms of torture.

Finally, the Japanese owner of the imported goods store couldn't withstand the second round of torture and died. In the end, he still couldn't understand why everyone called him "Four-Faced Buddha." He said they were mistaken, but no one believed him.

As for the real "Four-Faced Buddha," he was currently lying on the top floor of the New Paramount Ballroom, in Maggie Cheung's bed. One hand held a cigarette, the other embraced the soft, fragrant body of her, and his gaze fell through the window onto the glittering lights of Shanghai's bustling metropolis.