Chapter 39: Sowing Discord

  Shan Yixuan didn't say a word, his eyes scanning the hall until they finally landed on Liu San. He was the one who drove to deliver Liu Yiming's body back to Qinglong Village, and he knew everything that had happened at the scene like the back of his hand.

  Liu San saw that Shan Yixuan's gaze was fixed on him, and he involuntarily took a step forward, saying loudly: "Brother Xuan's words are all true. When we arrived, the Eighth Route Army also arrived. The guns and ammunition on the devils' bodies were all placed on the ground. What's strange is how Brother Xuan subdued all the devils?" Although he wanted to speak up for Shan Yixuan, Liu San's straightforward personality still led him to ask doubtfully.

  Shan Yixuan didn't get angry at Liu San's questioning, but instead liked this straightforward brother even more. This kind of brother who says what he sees is very reassuring. Only such a person is suitable to be a brother. Shan Yixuan smiled and said: "Qingteng Yimu is a man who loves his soldiers dearly, and that's his weakness. I ask you brothers, if the eldest brother is held at gunpoint, and the opponent threatens you to put down your guns, what would you do? Would you shoot decisively?"

  Everyone shook their heads, indicating they wouldn't.

  Shan Yixuan continued: "Since he is a person who knows how to cherish his soldiers and love his generals, when he encounters danger, why would his soldiers raise their guns and risk their lives to aim at me? This is called knowing oneself and knowing the enemy, winning every battle. Now the devils in Yangcheng have been dealt with, and the commander of the Japanese puppet army has also been captured by the Eighth Route Army. Now Yangcheng can be considered safe."

  "The devils are all cold-blooded animals, how can they be as simple as you said? I think you're just colluding with the devils!" Zu Jianmin said disdainfully to Shan Yixuan.

  Shan Yixuan sighed and continued, "Believe it or not, I'm deeply grieved by Big Brother's passing. I'm willing to resign as the second-in-command of Qinglong Fort, and if everyone is disgusted with me, I'll leave Qinglong Fort. Liu Yiming was my sworn brother, we shared a drink together before his death, if the elder doesn't mind, please let me attend Big Brother Liu's funeral. Thank you!" Facing everything Liu Yiming had given Shan Yixuan, if it weren't for Liu Yiming, he wouldn't have led the armed Qinglong Fort brothers to fight for the country. Not to mention liberating Yang City, a legend that could only be imagined in dreams.

  Shan Yixuan looked at Liu Yiming lying on the ground, and his eyes almost welled up with tears.

  Several elders discussed and were about to let Shan Yixuan continue as the second master of the house, when Zu Jianmin interrupted: "Shan, do you need to pretend to be pitiful? You're too naive if you think you can win over the elders' sympathy. If you have the ability, why didn't you kill the captives being taken to the airport?" Although Zu Jianmin's words were not eye-catching, those present still wanted to hear Shan Yixuan's explanation.

  Shan Yixuan smiled wryly and said, "I knew someone would ask this question. I'll just say it straight out - my intention was not to kill these devils." As soon as Shan Yixuan's words fell, the hall erupted into a commotion.

  Shan Yixuan paused for a moment before continuing: "Yes, I really don't want to kill them!"

  "Elders, you see, Shan Yixuan is in cahoots with the Japanese, now he's exposed! Come on, tie up Shan for me and avenge our master!" Zu Jianmin ordered his men to bind Shan Yixuan as soon as he saw him confessing guiltlessly.

  Zu Jianmin's subordinates immediately stepped forward to pin down Shan Yixuan, who did not fight back. If he wanted to, how could a few people stop him? Shan Yixuan looked at Zu Jianmin, his face still wearing a sinister smile. Shan Yixuan looked at the people holding him down, all of whom were Zu Jianmin's trusted followers.

  "Halt!" Xiao Feng and Lao San quickly walked into the hall, seeing several unfamiliar brothers holding down Shan Yixuan, immediately pulled out their guns.

  Everyone in the hall looked at Lao San and Xiao Feng. As they spoke, both guns had already loaded bullets. Although they had only been together for a few short months, from the moment they joined the special forces, they were brothers who relied on each other for life and death. Today's outcome was something no one wanted to see, but if it meant sacrificing Big Brother to bury Shan Xuan's life, not to mention anything else, all the brothers in the special forces would say: "No!"

  Shan Yixuan was stunned, weren't the two of them supposed to go and escort the devils on one hand, and attack the military arsenal on the other? How did they come back? Did something happen? Shan Yixuan questioned in his heart.

  Zu Jianmin saw Lao San and Xiao Feng, and involuntarily took a step back, looking at the two men's aura, Zu Jianmin couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine.

  Lao San walked up to Shan Yixuan's side, the gun in his hand pointing straight at the person holding Shan Yixuan's head. He said seriously: "I'll count to three, if you know what's good for you, let go of Xuan Ge! Otherwise, I'll blow your brains out."

  Lao San's words had just fallen when Xiao Feng also pointed his gun at another person's head.

  "Elder, take a look at them. Don't they still have the rules of Qinglong Village in their eyes?" Zujianmin sought help from the elder beside him, seeing Lao San and Xiao Feng's fierce appearance. He felt that in front of the elder, Yan Yixuan's people wouldn't dare to act rashly.

  The old man coughed lightly and said, "Old Three, one cry and you ran off. How can you be so impulsive? Apart from Shan Yixuan, you are the mainstay of Qinglong Village. How can you point a gun at your own brother?"

  Lao San curled his lip and said in a low voice: "Some people like to sow discord, don't be blinded by the words of petty men, Yuan Lao."

  Xiao Feng nodded and said, "Elder brother, before Da Ge left, he received intel from Shi Long and went to Cuihua Building together. However, the devils had already set a trap at Cuihua Building beforehand. When the two arrived, they were ambushed."

  Lao San's gun cocked and pulled the trigger, starting to count. The two men holding down Shan Yixuan looked at each other and immediately smartly let go of their hands.

  Shan Yixuan swung his arm and asked, "How did you guys come back?"

  "I'm worried someone might harm Xuan Ge, so I'll let the other brothers handle the rest!" Lao San saw that the two had released their grip and no longer pointed guns at them. He then turned to look at Zu Jianmin, who was covered in cold sweat, and gave him a fierce stare.

  Shan Yixuan smiled and said, "Whether or not I killed the person, there is actually one person who knows." Shan Yixuan paused for a moment before continuing, "Doctor Li definitely knows!"

  Shan Yixuan knew that Dr. Li was a forensic doctor, and Liu Yiming fought again in the war, two brothers were seriously injured, so Liu Yiming took a group of people to break into the enemy's hospital and hijacked the doctor.

  The elder ignored Zhu Jianmin beside him and said, "Call Dr. Li!" As soon as the elder's words fell, a brother ran to Dr. Li's room.

  Although he had saved countless devils with his own hands, after being hijacked, he no longer had the desire to return to a Japanese hospital. Dr. Li walked into the hall, bowed deeply to Liu Yiming who was lying on the ground, and drew a cross on his chest, muttering: "Rest in peace, the dead, and be stronger, the living!"

  "Dr. Li, you used to be a forensic doctor, can you identify the cause of my brother's death?" asked Shan Yixuan in a low voice. The latter nodded and walked over to Liu Yiming's side, took a look at the gunshot wound and said: "Liu was shot by a rifle bullet, currently the caliber is 7.92mm, only Mauser 98K sniper rifle has this caliber, which means the enemy fired from a very far distance and hit Liu in the chest."

  Dr. Li's words reminded Shan Yihuan of that sniper rifle, which was a good thing in this era.

  Dr. Li finished speaking, and Zu Jianmin's legs trembled slightly, this time being cleverly clumsy, making it even harder for Zu Jianmin to face his brothers with his head held high.

  Shan Yixuan nodded, recalling the scene at that time. Nan Nan said: "Yes, the enemy's sniper is very cunning. When I fired the first shot, the opponent's sniper should have been injured. When I thought he was dead, the sniper rifle on the ground disappeared."

  "What is a sniper?" A brother looked at Shan Yixuan and asked.

  Shan Yixuan thought for a moment and said, "It's the Divine Gunner!"

  Dr. Li's appraisal result shocked everyone, and such an answer was undoubtedly a blow to Zu Jianmin.

  Lao San walked up to Yuan Lao and said with great respect, "Elder, I think the top priority is how to settle the matter of Da Dang Jia's household, rather than discussing the internal conflicts among the brothers in the village. Shan Xiong was originally innocent, so what's this talk about fleeing from the enemy?" As he spoke, he cast a cold glance at Zu Jianmin.

  Shan Yixuan's liberation of Yangcheng was secretly leaked to headquarters by Zhao Wenzhong, and headquarters was as interested in Shan Yixuan as Zhao Wenzhong. Recently, the puppet army command has become a training ground for the Eighth Route Army, and the devil's command has become the garrison of the Eighth Route Army. All men who built airports were released, and Yangcheng once again presented itself to the villagers with renewed vitality.

  "Dad, I heard the Eighth Route Army has arrived and the devils have all run away?" Yang Zilai asked his father while eating.

  Yang Yonghao was taken aback, and Yangcheng wanted to say it was big, but it wasn't that big, and if you said it was small, it wasn't that small either. Why hadn't he heard any rumors, and yet the Qingteng Party had disappeared? "Who knows, let's eat!" Yang Yonghao didn't want his daughter to be affected by politics, so he didn't directly answer her question.

  "Dad, you should be happy instead. The Eighth Route Army has entered Yangcheng, and the villagers of Yangcheng won't have to suffer anymore, and they don't have to worry about the Japanese hurting Chinese people." Yang Zilai said with a mouthful of rice. As soon as he finished speaking, he continued in a listless tone: "Forgot, Dad is still carrying the title of Chairman of the Japanese Military Maintenance Association!"

  Yang Yonghao looked at Yang Ziluo and didn't blame her, he just sighed lightly and continued eating.

  Yang Zilu saw that his father didn't say anything, so he bit his lip and continued eating. The two of them didn't exchange a single word.

  Although the city of Yangcheng has already shown joy after liberation, the news of liberation has not been transmitted to the outside world. The radio station of Qingteng Yimu is still buzzing, and with today's technology, the Japanese in Xuzhou will not notice any military action in Yangcheng as long as the radio station can still be connected, the devils in Xuzhou will not pay attention to this already liberated city.

  Three days later, Shan Yixuan walked on the main street of Yangcheng and occasionally saw people wearing Eighth Route Army uniforms passing by his side. Looking at these people wearing Eighth Route Army clothes, he couldn't help but curse: "It's said that we should keep it a secret, keep it a secret, but they're so showy, are they afraid others won't know the Eighth Route Army is staying in Yangcheng?" He walked towards the original Japanese command center, wanting to ask Commander Zhao how he was keeping the secret.