A Lonely Hero’s Journey 孤舟 Episode 20

Quan Shui stepped into the door of the Military Tong Special Agent Station. As the new Suzhou District Chief, she exuded an aura that should not be underestimated. When the agents saw this, they immediately put down their work and came forward respectfully, their eyes full of awe for her. Quan Shui calmly took out a piece of paper from her pocket, which was a secret order written by Xu Enzeng. She clearly and powerfully conveyed the intention of her superiors: she must make every effort to rescue Jiang Boxian and at the same time severely punish Zhou Zhifei.

In the dark and damp prison, Jiang Bo first sneered at the eggs in front of him and muttered that he would not eat them. Xiao Junxia on the side quickly took the egg, a trace of determination flashed in his eyes. He carefully opened the egg, took out the note hidden inside, quickly read and wrote down the contents. To ensure safety, he chewed the note and swallowed it without hesitation. Then, following Hu Yi's careful arrangements, he began to knock on the wall hard to send an urgent signal.

Xiao Ruotong, who was at the other end, held a stethoscope and listened intently to the faint sounds coming from deep inside the prison. As the knocking sound gradually became clearer, a happy smile appeared on her face, because she knew that she had successfully locked Xiao Junxia's specific location, and the subsequent rescue operation would be more targeted.

Zhou Zhifei held a telescope and watched Gu Yizhong's movements closely, wondering in his heart: Did Gu Yizhong want to use the tunnel to rescue the siege? Then he called him forward, frankly stated his guess, and invited everyone to enjoy the "good show". Then he called the prison and ordered Jiang Boxian and Xiao Junxia to be escorted to the front.

Gu Yizhong looked calm on the outside, but his heart was turbulent. Suddenly hearing a loud explosion from the direction of the prison, Zhou Zhifei was full of confidence. He patted his shoulder and said with a smile that although Gu Yizhong's plan was clever, he didn't expect that he had a back-up plan. Captain Zhang had led his team to wait at the exit, and Gu Yizhong knew that the situation was serious.

Fugui worked hard to dig, and finally used a grenade to break through the wall to open a way, but Jiang Boxian was stunned by the loud noise. Xiao Ruotong rushed to protect Xiao Junxia from evacuating, and Fugui set up mines to stop the enemy. At the exit, Fugui strictly ordered the workers to keep their mouth shut. Just as he was about to leave, he saw eight secret agents waiting for help. The situation was critical. Fortunately, Zhou Zhenwu led the New Fourth Army in a surprise attack, reversing the situation and winning a glimmer of hope for everyone.

In a relatively safe environment, Xiao Junxia revealed a surprising secret to Xiao Ruotong: Gu Yizhong was not the "Cell No. 8" they had been looking for for a long time. When Xiao Ruotong asked about the true identity of "Cell No. 8", Xiao Junxia carefully untied his clothes and took out a photo from the lining. It turned out that during his arrest, he had seen the real Nishi Taro with his own eyes, but the photo in his hand was actually a forgery. The person who gave him this photo was the "Cell No. 8" they were trying to track down.

On the other side, after Hu Zhiping learned the news that Xiao Junxia had escaped, he rushed to Zhou Zhifei anxiously and blamed him for leaving Xiao Junxia's life. Hu Zhiping knew that once Xiao Junxia met "Eagle", his true identity would be exposed. He begged Zhou Zhifei to arrange an evacuation, but Zhou Zhifei used this as a bargaining chip, demanding that Hu Zhiping hand over the Communist Party's traffic station information and threatening to make the secret that Gu Huizhong was "Cell No. 8" public. Faced with heavy pressure, Hu Zhiping had to reluctantly agree to consider it.

At the same time, Gu Yizhong was concentrating on painting at home, but Zhou Zhifei suddenly visited, trying to find a chance of hope. Gu Yizhong was resolute and stated that his only wish was to reveal the true face of "Cell No. 8". Zhou Zhifei understood Gu Yizhong's determination, but also reminded him that even if he learned the truth, Gu Yizhong would not leave "No. 90" easily. He further revealed that he knew that it was Xiao Ruotong and Fugui who rescued Xiao Junxia, ​​and hinted that they would have never escaped if he had not deliberately set things off. In the end, Zhou Zhifei revealed his true purpose - he hoped to establish contact with Gu Yizhong's organization in exchange for greater benefits.

Ji Hongbo, the special commissioner of Chongqing, arrived in Suzhou with Xu Enzeng's secret order. Seeing that Zhou Zhifei found it difficult to be loyal to the party-state, Xu Enzeng decided to eradicate him. At the same time, he expressed dissatisfaction with Quanshui's inaction in Suzhou, especially his failed rescue and murder missions. Ji Hongbo learned that Quanshui once lived in Zhou Zhifei's home, so he asked him to write down the address. After comparison, he found that the two were identical, and he immediately ordered Deputy District Chief Shen Yifei to lead his team to carry out the assassination mission.

On the other side, Zhou Zhenwu met with Xiao Junxia and confirmed that Hu Zhiping was the mysterious "Cell No. 8". In order to block the contact between the provincial commissioner and Hu Zhiping, Zhou Zhenwu resolutely decided to find Hu Zhiping. When Hu Zhiping returned home, he saw the child sleeping in the cradle, but Gu Huizhong was nowhere to be seen. Doubts arose in his heart. Zhou Zhenwu had quietly visited, and a confrontation about loyalty and betrayal was about to take place.