"Fivefold Espionage" is a spy novel set during the War of Resistance Against Japan. The "Art of War", in its chapter on the use of spies, states: “There are five kinds of spies: local spies, internal spies, double agents, expendable spies, and surviving spies. When all five are at work and their methods remain unknown, this is called divine discipline, and it is a ruler's treasure.”
In the novel, an anti-Japanese force led by the protagonist, Lu Sheng, infiltrates deep into Japan, stealing intelligence time and again and foiling Japanese plots against China. They provide powerful support to the resistance at home.
The novel seeks to explore the good and evil in human nature, bringing both major and minor characters to life through their dual personalities. It also uses psychological portrayals to reflect how people are forced to mature and develop rules of conduct during wartime. Centered on Tokyo, the story follows enemy and allied spies as they engage in a tangled, turbulent battle of “fivefold espionage.”
This is a rare and excellent novel; I hope the author will continue to surprise us.
The first chapter feels like a hard-boiled spy novel; I don't want it to be written as a fantasy story.