The two hands released.
Lu Shen wiped away the last trace of wetness from his face and stood up straight.
Jin Youdai's expression had changed... the emotion from earlier was completely gone.
"Which line are you from?"
No preamble, straight to the throat.
Lu Shen had anticipated this blow; he didn't dodge, nor could he.
"No line."
Jin Youdai's brow furrowed slightly.
"I'm not affiliated with any department. No handler, no single contact, no official status," Lu Shen slowed his speech, "Yu Ruoyin was intercepted by me alone. That technical intelligence was intercepted through my own channels. It has been verified domestically."
Jin Youdai stared at Lu Shen. Lies can hide in the voice, but not in the depths of the pupils where a flicker of hesitation lies.
He found nothing.
In Lu Shen's eyes, there were only two things: openness and solitude.
Jin Youdai recognized that solitude.
He had it himself.
Walking in darkness for too long, with no companions by his side, not even a light to look back at.
He thought he was the loneliest one.
But this young man before him hadn't even been on the roster.
No organization to rely on, no backup to fall back on, not even able to speak his identity.
A ghost thrust by fate onto the front lines, working with his head on the line in the enemy's heart.
A thought ignited in Jin Youdai.
Domestically, they knew nothing of his background, no records, no registration... a complete black account.
This meant that even if he were exposed one day, even if the CIA turned over every contact line, they wouldn't trace it back to Lu Shen.
This line was completely severed from his own.
His line, Price had already set his sights on, could be cut at any moment.
But Lu Shen's line was brand new, hidden from everyone's view.
Like an underground river.
He didn't voice this judgment; in this line of work, some calculations don't need to be laid out, just understood internally.
Lu Shen watched the changes pass over Jin Youdai's face and didn't explain further about his identity.
Those who needed to understand, at this level, already understood.
He took a deep breath, bringing the conversation back to the core crisis.
"Price is the source of all the trouble. As long as he's around, the investigation won't stop."
He leaned forward, lowering his voice almost to Jin Youdai's ear: "The cleanest way... physical elimination. Act outside of Langley, make it look like an accident. I have the capability." You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Jin Youdai's expression darkened instantly.
"Foolish!"
This word hit the ground like blocks of ice.
"This is Langley," Jin Youdai stared at Lu Shen intently, "not a small place like Hong Kong. Price is a core agent of the Counterintelligence Center China Division. If you act against him at this juncture, the CIA will turn all of Washington upside down. Full-scale polygraphs, thorough departmental checks, every file, communication record, operation log, page by page. It won't just be about me... all comrades in the U.S., every contact line, will be at risk of exposure."
Lu Shen's brow furrowed slightly.
He desperately wanted to pull this man in front of him out of an inevitable end.
Jin Youdai saw the regret on his face and softened his tone.
"Price only has indirect evidence right now, nothing solid. As long as I don't change... thirty years of routine unchanged, behavior patterns unchanged, social circles unchanged... his theories will never cross the threshold of reasonable doubt."
Jin Youdai's gaze fell on Lu Shen's face, with the trust of an elder to a younger.
"As long as I'm still in position, all of Price's focus will be on me alone. He won't have the energy to investigate other directions, much less notice what a young man named Lu Shen is doing in the East Asia Economic Intelligence Group."
Lu Shen's heart tightened.
He understood.
Jin Youdai was using himself as bait.
Drawing all investigative firepower, all suspicious eyes onto himself, to carve out a path for those behind... for him.
Building a firewall with his life.
Lu Shen opened his mouth to say something, but swallowed it back.
He knew this decision was beyond any leverage.
This old man had nailed himself to this position thirty years ago, the nail driven into the bone, impossible to remove unless the bone was extracted too.
Jin Youdai didn't give him time to dwell.
"State the meeting rules," his tone switched back to professional mode, crisp and decisive, "No contact unless in an emergency. No electronic contact methods, no addresses, no traces that could link us."
Lu Shen nodded.
"When intelligence must be passed, create a chance encounter. Cafeteria, parking lot, elevator entrance, random places, random times," Jin Youdai's gaze was as steady as iron, "We are each other's dead drop. As long as we're alive, the box exists. If one of us is gone..."
He didn't finish, didn't need to.
Dead drop.
No names, no identities, no traces.
Two living people, using their lives as containers.
Lu Shen nodded heavily.
In the distance, the elevator door opened.
The chime was faint, almost indistinguishable across the long corridor.
But both men tensed simultaneously.
Jin Youdai's gesture was decisive... immediate withdrawal.
The two silently stepped back, Lu Shen opened the door to Reading Booth 8...
In the last moment before the door closed.
The two exchanged a glance through the narrowing gap.
No tears, no heroics.
Just two solitary travelers in the night, confirming each other's direction.
Click.
Both doors closed simultaneously.
The corridor returned to silence.
The footsteps of security personnel approached, passed by the door, and gradually receded.
The strip of light under the door remained unbroken, as if nothing had happened.
Inside Reading Booth 8, Lu Shen leaned against the door, closing his eyes to suppress all emotions deep within.
He returned to the desk, opened the file, picked up a pencil, and made a note next to a line of 1982 export control data to Japan.
His hand was steady.
In Reading Booth 7, Jin Youdai also returned to his desk, continuing to peruse the old file on the geopolitical landscape of Southeast Asia.
As he turned a page, his fingers paused on the inside pocket of his shirt... inside was a small, smoothly worn wooden plaque, a talisman for peace his mother had obtained from Shijing Temple forty years ago.
He lowered his hand and continued turning the pages.
He knew better than Lu Shen the end of this road.
Price didn't have solid evidence now, but given enough time, he would eventually dig it out.
By then, he already knew what he would do.
He wouldn't let them get anything from his mouth.
Not a single word.
But that was for the future.
For now, his task was to continue sitting in this chair, just like every day for the past thirty years.
Arrive on time, leave on time.
Wednesday afternoons in the archives, Thursday morning analysis meetings, Friday lunch with old colleagues.
Behavior patterns unchanged, breathing rhythm unchanged, even the speed of turning pages unchanged.
He was a steel nail fixed in this position.
As long as he was there, the underground river behind him was safe!