Chapter 25: Comfort Women (Part 2)

  The gun was purchased by the military from the black market, and it's impossible to track any information from the fallen shell casings... The large mask is enough to hide all the female features on her face... Dong Zhiyu went over all the details in her mind again, then she came in front of the mirror, carefully styling her half-long hair into a bun, wearing a duck-billed cap, and putting on a pair of semi-old coveralls that made her look like a young apprentice from a machinery factory.

  After some thought, he rummaged through the bottom of the box and pulled out a short-handled combat knife, lifted his pant leg, and inserted it into his garter. Everything was ready, so he set off.

  At noon, Huaijin was pacing in the office. Radio stations and newspapers in Chongqing and Yan'an almost simultaneously reported on the Nanjing government's collusion with American antique dealers to smuggle cultural relics out of the country. She knew that a storm was about to break out between the Japanese military command and the Wang regime, and she would inevitably be drawn into it.

  Pick up the phone and dial the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Translation Department, "I'm looking for Translator Dong from Section 2."

  "Oh, Dong the translator wasn't feeling well earlier and has gone home on leave. May I ask who you are?"

  Huaijin hung up the phone, and the thing she feared most still happened. She had previously thought about whether to ask Fu Qiusheng for help in temporarily detaining Dong Zhiyu, but after thinking it over, it didn't work out. Firstly, it would be difficult to explain to outsiders and might reveal flaws, and secondly, even if they detained her for a few days, her legs were still hers, and she could still do what she wanted at any time in the future.

  She had a glimmer of luck in her heart, perhaps Dong Zhiyu was just talking, if she herself refused to take the lead, maybe she would give up. However, luck is ultimately luck, Huai Jin stood by the window, where did she get the courage? She asked herself.

  Dong Zhiyu pedaled the bicycle with all her might, and this road was already familiar to her. Since Old Chen's sacrifice, she had not done anything meaningful that she wanted to do, like a wooden puppet on strings being manipulated by the military, but at this moment, her heart was heroic, saving people, so many people, something she had never done before. She was tense, but the tension turned into an inexplicable excitement, and the excitement transformed into boundless heroism and passion. She pedaled as fast as she could, only in this way could she suppress the trembling of her feet on the bicycle pedals.

  She stopped at the entrance of Xiaokou Avenue, waiting for Huaijin. Would she show up? Time passed minute by minute, eroding her hope bit by bit. At 2:15, a quarter of an hour had passed since the time they agreed on, and the street was still eerily quiet. She looked up at the sky, which was dark and overcast, threatening to rain later. A lone migratory bird struggled to fly low in the air. Checking her watch again, it was already 2:20. It seemed she wasn't coming after all. Dong Zhiyu got back on the bus. Huaijin, a member of the Military Commission, couldn't be trusted after all.

  The row of tiled houses was already vaguely recognizable, and as they drew closer, two Japanese soldiers could be seen patrolling in front of the house with guns. As expected, there were two people on guard duty. Dong Zhiyu stopped and carefully hid his bicycle behind a haystack. This set of khaki clothes was especially well-chosen, almost blending in with the withered grass on the winter wilderness.

  As she got closer, she switched to crawling on the ground, after all, she was one person against multiple people, and if she could launch a sneak attack, she would try to avoid a head-on confrontation. The maximum range of her flower-shaped pistol was only fifty meters, and to ensure shooting accuracy, she had to get close to the target to at least thirty meters or so to be safe, besides, although she had received shooting training, this was not her strong point.

  At twenty meters, she used the tall grass and earth piles to get as close to her target as possible. At this point, she could clearly see the faces of two Japanese soldiers. One of them yawned, said something to the other, who listened with a lewd smile, then gestured with his thumb towards the tile-roofed house behind him. Dong Zhiyu raised her gun, supporting it with one hand, taking aim at the head of one of the Japanese soldiers. She knew that hitting the head was a bit more difficult, but it could be fatal with just one shot.

  Her index finger lightly tapped on the trigger, this was her first time holding a gun at a real person, and her fingertips were slightly trembling. She put down the gun, adjusted her breathing, picked it up again, focused her mind, held her breath, and her fingers locked onto the trigger. One millimeter, the entire world had come to a standstill, and she could clearly feel the tension on the trigger. Steadily, she pulled it down, the bullet pierced through the thick air at high speed, and the Japanese soldier who was yawning earlier shuddered and fell to the ground.

  Dong Zhiyu almost wanted to give herself a round of applause, but the situation didn't allow her to be distracted for even half a second. Another Japanese soldier reacted immediately and realized what had happened, shouting for help while firing his submachine gun wildly. Dong Zhiyu fired her second shot, but unfortunately missed due to the enemy's rapid movement. At that moment, another patrolman ran out from behind the house, and together they sprayed gunfire in the direction where Dong Zhiyu was hiding.

  Dong Zhiyu stuck close to the ground, with almost no chance of returning fire. At this moment, the advantages of the submachine gun became apparent, with its rate of several hundred rounds per minute and large-capacity magazine being something that her pistol could not match. As she saw the opponent getting closer and closer, the sound of gunfire also seemed to become more intense. She gritted her teeth and decided to make a break for it, as there was still hope of turning the situation around. If she stayed here, she would inevitably become a human target.

  Just then, everything suddenly fell silent, it seemed they had seen themselves, perhaps two submachine guns were pointing at their own heads, Dong Zhiyu thought, and raised his head.

  But there were no Japanese soldiers. In front of him was a tall woman holding an MP40 submachine gun, "Get up!" The woman said lightly, and with a flick of her wrist, she threw herself another identical MP40. The two Japanese soldiers who had approached him earlier were already lying on the ground, dead.

  Huai Jin didn't delay for a moment, tossing the gun to Dong Zhiyu before turning his head and rushing towards the tile-roofed house. At this time, two Japanese soldiers ran out of the tile-roofed house, one with his pants still disheveled, clearly having just committed some bestial act inside. They were holding rifles, likely stolen from the barracks.

  Just in time! Huai Jin swept a shot, and the two of them didn't even have a chance to make a sound before they fell down. Dong Zhiyu also quickly ran to Huai Jin's side, leaned against her, picked up the submachine gun, and prepared to meet any enemy that appeared from any direction.

  "Go take a look in the back." Huai Jin said.

  "Good."

  Just as they were about to leave, a Japanese soldier on the ground who was not quite dead yet raised his rifle and aimed at Huaijin.

  "Watch out!" Dong Zhiyu swiftly fired a burst at his head, then added a few more shots to another soldier lying beside him.

  The two carefully moved to the back of the house, making sure there were no more patrolling soldiers. They then circled around to the entrance of the tile-roofed house, unsure if there were still Japanese inside. One on each side of the door, they held their breath, and Huaijin nodded at Dong Zhiyu before the two quickly darted in, their guns scanning the interior.

  It was a dimly lit room, with narrow windows tightly closed, and a thin line of bright light outside the window pierced through, as if awakening the dust in the air, lightly dancing.

  Apart from this, the house seemed to have no other living things. The first thing that rushed into her senses was the smell, a foul and rotten smell. Dong Zhiyu felt a wave of nausea in her stomach and forcibly suppressed the urge to vomit. There were no Japanese soldiers or men in the house, only women, packed tightly inside, either sitting or standing, staring blankly at the two of them with some not even bothering to look.

  Somewhere a rustling sound came, following the source of the sound, on the bed there was a half-naked woman, her pants slipped to half, her mouth was chewing something, and her hand still had an unfinished rice ball.

  These women were mostly thin and weak, the Japanese provided them with a small amount of miserable food every day to prevent them from escaping. If they encountered someone who didn't listen and had a bit more strength, they would simply starve her for two days until she was dizzy and spiritually exhausted... While these Japanese soldiers who came to vent their beastly desires often brought rice balls or other food with them, throwing it at the women before doing what they wanted, so that the women would focus on eating and not disturb their fun.

  Huai Jin turned his head away, "Can all of you move?"

  "A relatively clear female voice came from the corner: 'Are you here to rescue us?'"

  "Not bad."

  The house was slightly shaken, but soon calmed down.

  "We have over a dozen people who just arrived the day before yesterday, and they can still run. Another dozen or so came earlier and probably can't move now," the voice sounded again, followed by a woman standing up from the corner with ear-length hair, wearing an old white cotton cheongsam, looking like she had some cultural background, "However, we can carry them on our backs."

  "Like this, those who can move, hurry! Follow me!" Huai Jin said quickly, time was pressing, and she couldn't hesitate for a moment.

  The several women who were still relatively agile got up and moved towards Huaijin, while the woman who had spoken earlier struggled to lift a woman who was lying down, but couldn't manage to do so.

  Huai Jin walked over, lifted the woman up and placed her on the back of the short-haired woman. The other women who could move were still standing there motionless, looking at Huai Jin with sorrow.

  "Hurry up and carry him, there's a truck outside, just put him on the truck!" Huai Jin ordered again.

  Those women finally struggled to move, Dong Zhiyu and Huaijin came forward to help them, putting the women who couldn't move on their backs. These women were all thin as paper, even Dong Zhiyu could pick them up around the waist without using much strength.

  Everyone has been caught, and there is still a woman lying on the bed with her hands and feet tied to the bed frame. Upon closer inspection, next to her lies a naked sleeping baby!

  Dong Zhiyu pulled out the combat knife from his leg strap and cut all the ropes, then went to pull up the woman.

  Suddenly, the woman snatched the knife from her hand and said in a hoarse voice: "This is an evil seed, it can't live!" As she spoke, she stabbed the infant's chest with one swift motion. The baby didn't even have time to cry out before it died.

  Dong Zhiyu was shocked, just about to rush over to grab the knife from the woman's hand, when she saw her make another slash at her own neck. Instantly, a stream of black blood spurted out, splashing onto Dong Zhiyu's clothes. The woman twisted her neck and fell to the ground.

  Dong Zhiyu had never seen such a formation before, and his feet retreated in panic for several steps, so frightened that he didn't even know how to blink.

  Huaijin rushed over, picked up the knife on the couch, put it back in its scabbard, and pulled Dong Zhiyu up, "Let's go quickly."

  A group of women led by Huaijin went around to the back of the house, passing through a small sparse elm forest, and a military truck was indeed waiting there.

  "Hurry! Get on the truck!" Huai Jin instructed while helping them climb into the back of the truck.

  The short-haired woman waited until everyone was on the bus, then turned her head to look at Huaijin and asked, "Officer, where are we going?"

  "We'll cross the river and send you to the Nationalist Army's camp on the other side," Huai Jin thought for a moment, "Later we'll pass through the Japanese checkpoint, take good care of them, don't make a sound. Once we're in the car, there will be a circle of boxes around you, all containing medicine. I'll tell the Japanese that these are medicines being sent to the puppet army across the river. Remember, not one of you can make a sound!"

  "Alright, I'll keep an eye on them." The short-haired woman nodded.

  On the car, Dong Zhiyu sat in the co-pilot seat, with a dazzling bloodstain on his work uniform. Huai Jin took off his military coat and handed it to her, "Here, wrap it up." He also removed Dong Zhiyu's duck tongue cap and put his own military hat on her head.

  Dong Zhiyu looked at her and said, "Thank you." It was unclear whether he was thanking her for her careful words just now, or for showing up today, or perhaps both.

  Huajin didn't say anything else and started the truck.

  "Wait! My bicycle!" Dong Zhiyu suddenly remembered, saying as he opened the car door.

  "Where is it? Let's go together, it will be faster."

  The car turned a corner, the tires skidded on the muddy road, and then continued to move forward. Huaijin stopped, walked to the back, lifted the canvas, and saw that everything was fine. She picked up an iron shovel again and ran to where the tire had just turned. As expected, there was a clear tire print left on the muddy road. She quickly used the shovel to flatten the tire print, leaving no clues for future investigation.

  The bicycle was found behind a stack of hay not far from the side of the road, and was thrown into the rear car tent. The sky was dark and gloomy, and it seemed that a freezing rain was approaching.

  They soon arrived at the coal port pass, and the sky began to drop raindrops sporadically. The Japanese defense was just ahead, and after passing this pass, they could drive the truck onto the ferry and head to Jiangbei.

  The truck stopped in front of the guard post, Huaijin rolled down the window, showed her officer's badge, and the Japanese soldier who came to check saw the emblem on her uniform, took a look at the officer's badge, stood up straight, saluted, and shouted in Japanese "Arigatou gozaimasu, shosa!"

  Huai Jin drove away, and Dong Zhiyu's heart, which had been lifted up, fell back down again.

  The Japanese soldier on the other side suddenly felt something was wrong again, how could a high-ranking officer drive such a military truck himself, and quickly chased after him, shouting: "Please stop."

  With a hint of caution, Dong Zhiyu reached back and touched the submachine gun behind his seat. The car stopped, and the soldier saluted again, "Sir, what is on the vehicle?"

  "Medicine." Kairin replied in Japanese.

  "Then, excuse me, sir, may I take a look?"

  Huai Jin jumped off the car, walked to the back of the car, tore open a corner of the car cover with a "hiss", and used the dagger at his waist to slash the box, revealing rows of anti-inflammatory medicine inside.

  "Can you see clearly now?" Huai Jin's tone was laced with anger.

  "Yes! Take a good look!" The Japanese soldier bowed and his eyes darted back to those boxes.

  "Which group are you from? What's your name?" Hua Jin asked sternly.

  The Japanese soldier was already hesitant, afraid of offending her, and seeing the other party ask like this, he quickly bowed his head again, "I... I am Lieutenant Commander Takada Ichirō of the 101st Defense Battalion."

  "Ah, I see. So you're Lieutenant Commander Matsubara's men? I'm quite familiar with him," Hua Jin patted his shoulder, "Wu Ta, you've done a thorough check. When we get back, I'll put in a good word for you to Lieutenant Commander Matsubara."

  The other bowed ninety degrees, "Yes! Thank you, sir!"

  The rain finally came down, pattering on the river surface with a rustling sound. The truck on the ferry undulated up and down with the waves of the river, while Dong Zhiyu sat quietly on one side, her face pale.

  Hua Jin stared at the undulating river surface in front of her, lost in thought. The rain came down, and the sky actually brightened a bit, unlike the dark and oppressive atmosphere before the storm.

  After crossing the river and leaving the dock, Huai Jin rushed along the road without stopping for a moment. Things had come to this point, and now he could only send these women to Lao Lü's troops in Jiangbei and let them handle it from there.

  The truck drove onto a small road and stopped. Huai Jin jumped out of the car and came to the back, "Everyone come out."

  The women in the car got off one after another, and Huai Jin took out some water and dry food from the car to distribute to everyone. To the short-haired woman, he said: "After crossing this slope, it is a base camp of a National Army company. I am not convenient to go further, when you arrive at the camp, find an officer named Lü Congfang, he will arrange for you."

  "Understood, sir," the woman said and knelt down. The other women who could still walk also all knelt down.

  Huaijin and Dong Zhiyu hurriedly went to pull, the woman said again: "Two officials, I was originally a teacher at Du Chunli Primary School, called Qin Shufang. The great kindness of the two of us, if we can't repay it in this life, we will definitely repay it in the next life. Officials, rest assured, today who saved us, how they saved us, even if we die eight hundred times in this life, we won't say a word."

  "Teacher Qin, let's get everyone up quickly. In a chaotic world, there's no need for thanks. You all being able to live well is the best repayment to us." Huai Jin said as he helped Qin Shufang up.

  As soon as this group of women climbed over the hill and disappeared from view, Huai Jin hurried back to the driver's cabin. "Now, we will deliver the medicine to the pseudo-military camp."