The sunset was approaching; it was already dusk.
This time, Chen Rou would not be going. Instead, Song Yuanchao took the disguised Nie Yao to meet Master Dong again. Though Nie Yao was timid, gaunt, and frail—hardly able to lift a knife—he understood the local dialect of the island, Ilocano. While the pirates in the compound spoke Cantonese when meeting with Master Dong, they undoubtedly used Ilocano when chatting among themselves. That language was harder to decipher than Morse code, but to have someone who could understand it was a tremendous advantage.
Perhaps it was because he had written too many reports, but Nie Yao spoke in a flowery, bureaucratic tone. "A-Rou," he said, "I am not Chinese. The honor, disgrace, life, and death of the Chinese people have nothing to do with me. This trip is only to let you know that I am not an evil man. I have never done anything wrong in my life. I am helping these Chinese people solely out of a sense of responsibility and obligation regarding international humanitarian rescue; it is because of my own innate kindness."
Chapter 223