Chapter 71: The Hongmen Banquet (Part 1)

  "Are you awake?" Yang Ziluo gently rubbed her eyes. The girl in front of her hadn't had a good rest for at least two days for herself.

  "Hmm, how did you sleep here? What if you catch a cold?" Shan Yixuan worriedly hugged Yang Zilai's body, the icy arms and hands making him feel heart-wrenching pain. "I'm not afraid, as long as you're awake it's fine!" He said, choking back tears again.

  Shan Yixuan wiped away Yang Zile's tears with his hand and said, "Foolish, who doesn't take care of themselves like you?"

  "Xuan Xuan, as long as you're fine, that's all that matters! I really didn't mean to upset you!" Yang Zilu said softly, worried that Shan Yihuan was still angry.

  Shan Yixuan shook his head and said softly: "How could I be angry with you, it's just a coincidence."

  The news of Shan Yixuan's awakening quickly spread to Hu Yan, Zhao Wenxing and all the brothers. Many brothers came one after another to visit Shan Yixuan. After explaining to everyone that he was fine, Shan Yixuan called out Dr. Li, because he was his attending physician, only he understood the reason for his coma, a small bullet would not have made him pass out.

  "Xuan Ge, are you looking for me for something?" Dr. Li followed Xuan Yi walking on the hill outside the airport.

  "I wonder what caused me to faint for so long?" Although I'm quite skilled in combat, medical skills are something I know nothing about. Blindly jumping to conclusions might harm myself, and then there's that dream I had while I was unconscious, the special mission in the dream, could it be that I've been too tired lately?

  Dr. Li hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice: "To be honest, as a chief surgeon on the battlefield, I have never encountered a case like Xuan Ge's before. Xuan Ge's physique is much better than that of an ordinary person, and yet he was knocked unconscious by a single stone for two whole days. I still can't figure it out, and what's more, the stone didn't even hit his vital spot. As for the so-called treatment process, all I did was help Xuan Ge clean up the wound, reduce inflammation around the wound to prevent infection, and so on."

  "So you don't know what's going on either?" Xuan looked at Dr. Li.

  "Ah, this is a rare case, sorry Xuan Ge, I'm just a junior doctor and can't answer your question!" Dr. Li lowered his head in shame, unable to answer Shuang Yixuan's question made him feel extremely regretful. Before Shuang Yixuan arrived, he indeed had the urge to escape back to Japan, but since Shuang Yixuan came, everything changed. In order to let the brothers receive professional treatment after getting injured, Shuang Yixuan ordered the assault team brothers to hire several nurses and two doctors at Xuzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, set up an office for Dr. Li at the airport, and introduced a batch of simple medical equipment. These made Dr. Li feel grateful to Shuang Yixuan from the bottom of his heart.

  "Hehe, never mind! You go back first!" Shuang Yixuan said with a smile to Dr. Li as he saw Yang Ziluo wandering around not far away.

  "Yes!" Dr. Li also saw Yang Ziluo, nodded and turned to walk towards the airport, when he reached Yang Ziluo's side, he deliberately bowed his head and respectfully said in Chinese: "Sister-in-law is good!" The latter blushed and nodded, feeling particularly satisfied with the title of sister-in-law.

  Shan Yixuan put his hands in his pockets and slowly walked to Yang Zilai's side, saying: "Luo Luo, I did it!" Three hundred devils, now don't know how many of the three hundred he killed!

  "Come on, let's go see Dad. He'll definitely be happy to see you! My dad said he really likes the wine you gave him!" Yang Zilu raised her head and said with a pout.

  "Alright, let's go see your dad!"

  "Hum, what's with calling me Dad?!"

  "Ah, Dad..." Xuan Yi saw Yang Ziluo getting angry and quickly corrected himself.

  In Yang's mansion, Yang Yonghao kept pacing back and forth in the study room. The person he sent to deliver the message had not returned yet, and his mind was filled with worries that something might have happened!

  "Master, something's gone terribly wrong! Little Shunzi has been taken away by the Japanese!" The steward of the Yang household rushed into the study, panting and out of breath.

  "What?" Yang Yonghao was stunned, had the Japanese found out something? The worry in his heart escalated again. If Xiao Shunzi revealed everything this time, all the undercover agents on the front line would be doomed. Yang Yonghao didn't dare to think about it anymore and slumped to the ground.

  "Master!" The steward hastily came forward to help Yang Yonghao up, and didn't let go until he had helped him onto the stool.

  Yang Yonghao took a deep breath of cool air, and the current situation made him feel unprecedented fear and panic. He didn't know how long he could wear the high hat in front of the Japanese, nor did he want to know. He just wanted to ensure his comrades' safety and pass on the intelligence he had received so far, then he would be at ease. Yang Yonghao's hands trembled as he took a piece of paper and pen, wrote a line of words, folded it up, and handed it to the butler, saying: "Butler, please help me deliver this letter to De Rong Grain Store, give it to the owner, Old Master Sun. It must be quick!"

  The butler took the folded envelope, nodded and said: "Yes, sir, I'll go right away! How's your body?" Seeing Yang Yonghao's somewhat unstable emotions, the butler looked at him with some concern.

  "I'm fine, you go quickly! Be sure to hand it over to the owner of De Rong Grain Store personally!" Yang Yonghao confirmed again. Xiaoshunzi was caught, and no matter whether he would confess or not, the front-line troops could no longer stay.

  "Yes!" The housekeeper said and turned around to run outside.

  The Japanese lost a division, and Terashima Munenori was originally going to lead the army to conquer Yang City personally. Due to an order from the Emperor, all troops were temporarily unable to engage in scattered battles. Thus, Yang City escaped disaster.

  After Xiao Shunzi was captured, he revealed all the things he knew after being tortured by the Japanese. The Japanese were furious and a thorough investigation of espionage activities began inside and outside Xuzhou. Plainclothes agents from the Kempeitai started arresting people based on the list provided by Xiao Shunzi's confession, and many underground workers in the first line were caught at one time.

  The housekeeper hastily knocked on the door of De Rong Grain Store, and the store clerk looked around cautiously and said: "Sorry sir, it's already past the time for selling grain. Please come back tomorrow!"

  "County Magistrate Yang told me to come!" The housekeeper said in a low voice after looking around.

  "Come in!" The shopkeeper saw that it was the county magistrate Yang who had sent him, and immediately opened the door and said.

  After the buddy inserted the door and searched the housekeeper's clothes, he found that there was no weapon to carry, so he took the housekeeper upstairs. Several people were sitting on the second floor, scaring the housekeeper, not human, but several guns on the table.

  "Director Sun, it was County Head Yang who sent him here!" The shop assistant looked at the middle-aged man who had already stood up and was wearing a cheongsam.

  "Hello, may I ask what business does County Magistrate Yang have for you?"

  "I'm looking... I'm looking for the person in charge here!" The butler said sternly.

  "It's me," said the middle-aged man. "Have a seat and let's talk."

  The housekeeper handed over an envelope and said: "This is what Yang County Magistrate asked me to give you, please take a look!"

  Mr. Sun took over the envelope, on which was written in clear handwriting: "Xiao Shunzi has been captured, quickly withdraw all personnel from the front line, seven days later a transport plane carrying German experts will pass through Xuzhou and Linyi, Shandong, also carrying a map of the defense of Beiping. The Japanese army wants to use bombers to carry out carpet bombing of Beiping, in order to avoid ancient buildings and valuable things, they need to mark coordinates for the bombing, please inform the KMT and CPC about this intelligence, hoping that they will unite to fight against the enemy at this difficult time for the country. Handwritten by Yang Yonghao."

  "What did County Magistrate Yang say?" a young girl stood up and asked Sun Bin with tears in her eyes.

  Just as Sun Bin was about to say something, the sound of noisy footsteps came from outside the door. Sun Bin and several others quickly picked up their pistols from the table and became alert. Sun Bin looked out the window on the second floor and saw twenty or thirty men in plain clothes appearing on the main street. With his experience working underground for so long, Sun Bin knew at a glance that they were from Japan's Tokko (Special Higher Police). He immediately said: "Let's go, retreat from the back door! Housekeeper, you come with us and we'll send someone to pick up County Head Yang once we reach a safe place." Sun Bin bit his lip. Xiao Shunzi had been caught, and currently the most dangerous person was Yang Yonghao. However, he didn't forget about his comrade-in-arms even when he himself was in danger.

  Everyone followed Sun Bin downstairs and left through the back door. Just as the butler was about to close the door, a fierce gunshot pierced through the back door and also through the butler's body. The butler's mouth corner oozed out a stream of fresh blood, loudly saying: "You quickly leave, remember...remember to save Yang County...long..." As soon as the words fell, the butler grasped the door handles on both sides with his hands, using his own body to block the back door. Sun Bin frowned and continuously fired back, while the ruthless Special High Department cut off the butler's two arms with a knife. Although this was the case, it still won time for Sun Bin and the others to retreat.

  Just as Sun Bin and others had retreated, several old-fashioned cars stopped in front of the Yang family's gate, and a few men in suits and a woman walked into the courtyard. The group went straight to the living room, where they saw Yang Yonghao sitting on the main seat. The woman took over an invitation letter handed over from behind her back and said respectfully: "Mr. Yang, General Terauchi Hisaichi, Commander of the North China Area Army of the Great Japanese Empire, invites you to have lunch together. Please follow us!" As she spoke, the woman handed the invitation letter in front of Yang Yonghao.

  Yang Yonghao smiled, knowing that Japan would take action, but didn't expect it to be so soon, and in such a way "inviting" him out. He was just trying not to alarm the troops stationed at Yangcheng and Qinglongzhai. Everyone knew that Yang Yonghao held the position of President of the Maintenance Association with the Japanese. By taking him out of the city in this way, no one would notice or stop them! "Is General Terauchi's banquet a special treat for an old man like me? Haha!"

  "Mr. Yang, you're being too serious. You are a meritorious minister of the empire, how could General set up the Hongmen Banquet? Please don't make things difficult for Mei Hui Zi."

  "Alright, I'll go with you!" Yang Yonghao didn't want to wait until his daughter came back and then leave with them. He only had one daughter, if she was also caught by the Japanese, he would truly have nothing left in this life.