Chapter 34: The Bolsheviks Forever!

No.

This involved high-level military secrets and would inevitably lead to the mention of Unit 731. Without absolute certainty, he could not hand over this bombshell to anyone, not even Eliza.

Xu Feng turned his head, avoiding her gaze, his tone turning stiff: "This is classified. It is not convenient to disclose."

"Classified?" Eliza was so frustrated by his attitude that she laughed. "Classified, even to me? Xu Feng, don't forget, I have the authority to access your classified files! But what I found was a blank slate! A damn blank slate!"

Her volume rose involuntarily, echoing in the cramped confinement cell, laced with irrepressible anger. "A war hero, just gone like that, without even an explanation. Do you have any idea? We all thought you were dead! They were even preparing to carve your name onto the memorial wall at the military academy!"

Xu Feng felt a pang in his heart. He hadn't expected that they... still remembered him.

He took a deep breath, turned around, and a bitter smile appeared on his face: "Instructor, some things are better left buried."

"And what about the woman by your side? How do you explain her?" Seeing that he wouldn't budge, Eliza immediately changed the subject, her tone becoming aggressive once again. "Don't tell me you don't know her background! A thug like Wang Erhu might not see it, but it doesn't escape my eyes. Her posture, the way she reacts when she hides behind you—she doesn't look like an ordinary woman from the Dragon Kingdom at all!"

Xu Feng's pupils contracted slightly. He hadn't expected Eliza to observe even such details.

He fell silent once more. Lying about Lin Xue's identity was also a terrible strategy. With Eliza's intelligence network, it wouldn't be difficult to look into a Japanese expatriate stranded in the Northeast. Once she discovered he had lied, the fragile trust he had just built would vanish instantly. Rather than passively waiting for her to investigate, it was better to take the initiative and kick the ball back into her court.

Xu Feng made a decision in an instant.

"Fine, I'll tell you." He looked at Eliza, his expression growing serious. "You guessed right. She is Japanese."

Eliza’s gaze sharpened, but she remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

"But I realized that the first day I met her." Xu Feng’s tone was so candid it was impossible to doubt. "Old Li from our village found her in the mountains. When he found her, she hadn't eaten for days and wouldn't speak, so Old Li assumed she was a deaf-mute. After I returned, I had been pretending to be a cripple, and my home was bare, so Old Li thought I was pitiful too. He set us up and sent her to my place."

"I did realize she was Japanese. A Japanese woman, with the invaders defeated, she didn't dare reveal her identity and could only feign being deaf and mute. That’s not hard to understand."

"You certainly know how to be chivalrous," Eliza said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

Xu Feng acted as if he hadn't heard it and continued: "Later, we grew closer, and she trusted me enough to tell me the truth. She said her father’s name was Masao Kobayashi, and he was once a high-ranking official in the South Manchuria Railway Company."

"A high-ranking official in the South Manchuria Railway?" Eliza’s brows furrowed even tighter; that was the vanguard of the invasion.

"But he was also an anti-war activist," Xu Feng added. "She said that her father’s name should be on the Soviet Union's list of anti-war activists. She is being hunted because she possesses some things left behind by her father that are disadvantageous to certain people."

He looked at Eliza, spread his hands, and wore an expression of "I'm just as helpless." "Instructor, look at this mess. As a discharged cripple, where would I go to verify whether what she said is true or not?"

"But what if she’s telling the truth? I’m still a Bolshevik soldier, after all. I can't just stand by and watch when someone needs help, especially if she might be the daughter of a comrade."

"So, I kept her here, thinking I’d find a way once the heat died down. I hadn't even had the chance to investigate before you arrived. It just so happens that we need an intelligence expert like you to help. Help me check what kind of person this Masao Kobayashi really was."

The explanation was airtight. It explained Lin Xue’s identity, distanced himself from any wrongdoing, and conveniently tossed this hot potato to Eliza.

Eliza stared at him for a long time, her blue eyes flickering with scrutiny. She could certainly hear the calculation in Xu Feng’s words; this guy was still as slippery as an eel.

She sneered, crossed her arms, and paced half a circle around him, her gaze darting between him and the broken wooden bed. "I think you just took a liking to that Japanese woman's looks, didn't you? Since when did the awareness of a Bolshevik soldier reach such heights?"

Xu Feng didn't speak, just grinned, showing his white teeth. There was a hint of admission in that smile, mixed with a "what can you do about it" kind of roguishness, which made that nameless anger in Eliza's heart flare up again. She hated this side of him the most!

In the end, Eliza compromised. It wasn't because of Xu Feng’s rhetoric, but because of her duty as an intelligence officer, and... a personal sentiment she didn't even want to admit to herself.

"Fine!" she gritted out. "I will investigate! But Xu Feng, I’m warning you: if I find out you’re lying, or if there’s something wrong with that woman, you know the consequences!"

"Of course," Xu Feng said with a look of ease.

Eliza turned to leave, her hand already gripping the cold door handle. But then, she stopped. She didn't turn back, just faced away from him. Her voice lost its earlier aggression, instead carrying a trace of something she hadn't noticed herself—a hint of hesitation, or perhaps something else.

"If... I’m saying if. If that woman’s identity is clear and her father really was an anti-war activist. Do you... intend to just go on like this with her? In that broken yard, hunting and farming, for the rest of your life?"

This question was like a stone dropped into an old well, making the air in the confinement cell, which had just begun to soften, grow stagnant once again.

Xu Feng was stunned. He hadn't expected her to ask this at all. He had been focused on how to protect the notebook and how to deal with the immediate situation; his mind was entirely consumed by missions and plans.

He answered almost instinctively: "Yeah. She’s a good woman, and quite capable. We’re just living our lives together; it’s fine. Is there something wrong with living a quiet life?"

It was a response so pragmatic it was almost cold.

The door handle was turned violently. Eliza didn't say another word. She swung the door open and strode out, as if something behind her were chasing her.

"Bang!"

The heavy wooden door was slammed shut by her with such force that dust rained down from the ceiling. Xu Feng was left standing there, ears ringing from the sudden noise, his expression one of utter confusion.

What was that devil woman losing her mind about now?

He stood in place, frowning for a long time, replaying the conversation in his mind over and over. Her sarcasm, her interrogation, her compromise... and finally, that strange question and the angry sound of the slamming door.

Wait...

She asked him if he intended to spend his life with Lin Xue?

The tone... it didn't sound like a superior questioning a subordinate; it sounded more like...

A bolt of lightning seemed to strike through Xu Feng’s mind. He suddenly remembered the night before graduating from the special training camp, when he had been dead drunk and seemed to have hugged something while singing "Katyusha" all night. Back then, he thought he was hugging a pillar, but when he woke up the next day, he found his military boots polished to a shine, with a pot of warm salt water left beside them. And that blonde devil woman had glared at him all day with a look that could kill.

An absurd and preposterous thought began to take shape in his mind.

Damn it...

Xu Feng’s expression shifted from confusion to shock, and finally into a kind of absurd, bewildered amusement.

This devil woman... couldn't possibly... have a crush on me, right?

Thinking of this possibility, Xu Feng felt a chill run down the back of his neck. This was even scarier than being locked in confinement or being dragged out to be shot.