Night Owl: A Double Agent in Wartime

A top agent for the Military Statistics Bureau? No. I’m the knife buried deepest in their heart. My name is Xiao Qiang. The Bureau recruited me at seventeen, trained me in Qingpu, and sent me to Shanghai. I rose to the rank of major general’s staff officer. Dai Li called me a once-in-a-century talent. My colleagues saw me as a rising star. They had no idea that every time I handed over a top-secret plan, I was leaving a door open for the other side. They called me “Night Owl,” thinking I was loyal only to the darkness. Until 1949, on the eve of Shanghai’s liberation, my superior, Chen Mo, pointed a gun at me. His eyes red, he asked, “Brother, who are you really working for?” I looked out at the sky growing brighter and smiled. “I’ve spent six whole years staking my life on the dawn that’s coming.” This is a deadly undercover mission that began with conspiracy and ended in faith. It is a two-sided war fought by one man alone.