A Lonely Hero’s Journey 孤舟 Episode 19

Huang Xinzhai was about to go forward to investigate, but Xie Wenchao suddenly pushed the door in and interrupted his actions on the pretext of borrowing ink. Afterwards, Xie Wenchao revealed in private that he overheard a secret conversation between Huang Xinzhai and Gu Yizhong, which involved Ou Xinping, whose pseudonym was "Quanshui". Zhou Zhifei knew that Huang Xinzhai's means were limited and had no hope of capturing the "spring water", so he didn't pay much attention to the news.

In order to monitor and deal with Gu Yizhong more effectively, Zhou Zhifei carefully planned and ordered Xie Wenchao to mobilize manpower from the Kunshan spy station. Soon, these strange agents were divided into three teams, blended into the surrounding environment quietly, and began to closely monitor Gu Yizhong around the clock and without blind spots.

Quan Shui lurked in Zhou Zhifei's home when he was out, planning an escape plan in his mind. When Zhou Zhifei returned home, he saw that Yuqing was restrained and there was no trace of the spring water. Only a letter was lying quietly on the table. Yuqing caught a glimpse of Zhou Zhifei's return and was so anxious that he burned the letter and immediately asked about his past with Quanshui. Upon seeing this, Zhou Zhifei quickly made up a story, lying that Quanshui's real name was Liu Xiujuan, and mentioned that she had been punished by Mr. Li's wife to confuse the audience. Yuqing had heard about it and believed it, so Zhou Zhifei's lies were able to temporarily calm the storm.

At the same time, Gu Yizhong was extremely anxious. He knew that time was running out and Xiao Junxia must be rescued as soon as possible. He found Haimo and told her to convey the urgent message to his cousin to escape Suzhou. When the two had dinner together, Haimo noticed that Gu Yi was worried, but did not force him to reveal the truth. Based on the time calculation, Gu Yizhong believed that the tunnel excavation should be nearly completed, so he sent Gao Hu to the dungeon to investigate the situation in the name of delivering food. However, the warden only accepted the meal and did not let Gao Hu enter.

Just as Gao Hu returned to report, Gu Yizhong received a call from Haimo and hurried back to Gu Yuan. His guess came true, Xiao Ruotong had been waiting in the garden for a long time. She told Gu Yizhong that the tunnel had extended below the prison, but faced with branch choices, it was difficult to determine Xiao Junxia's exact location. Gu Yizhong responded quickly and provided a stethoscope as a tool to guide Xiao Ruotong and others to accurately locate their location by monitoring the movement in the wall and using the signal sent by Xiao Junxia as a guide.

While Gu Yizhong and Xiao Ruotong were discussing, Haimo hurriedly broke in and urgently reported that the agents were approaching. Gu Yizhong quickly arranged for Haimo to escort Xiao Ruotong to evacuate, but Haimo insisted on staying to deal with the crisis. Xie Wenchao led his team into Gu Garden. Without seeing Gu Yizhong, he severely questioned everyone present. Haimo was quick to think and used Master Gu's memorial tablet to frighten the spies with stories of ghosts and gods, forcing them to kowtow to the tablet. At this time, Gu Yizhong returned and saw this scene, secretly praising Haimo's wit.

On the other side, Xiao Ruotong went to Fugui's office with a stethoscope in hand. When he opened the door, he didn't see him. Instead, he was attacked by a worker with a gun. It turned out that the workers mistakenly believed the rumors and thought that there was no treasure underground, but it was actually Prison No. 90. When Xiao Ruotong revealed his identity as the New Fourth Army, the workers were shocked and quickly put down their guard. Not only did they loosen their bonds for the rich, but they also continued to engage in excavation work, full of respect and trust for the New Fourth Army.

After Xie Wenchao reported, Zhou Zhifei realized that he had been fooled by Gu Yizhong. In order to lure him into taking the bait, he ordered Xie Wenchao to spread false news that Xiao Junxia would be executed. Gu Yizhong cleverly used eggs to convey information. He made holes in the eggshells to hide messages, then restored them with glue and gave them to Gao Hu to be sent to prison along with the food. Uncle Jiang took the lead in opening the lunch box and took away the special egg.