Chapter 4: Black Swallow

  The moment Wang Changhu was shot, he was still very clear-headed, but the powerful impact of the rifle bullet made his body unable to maintain its balance. His body flew out horizontally with a "thud" and fell into the dust. The bleeding from the wound accelerated, his internal organs felt like they were going to split apart, and his whole body ached unbearably.

  Wang Changhu endured the pain and turned over, still clutching his gun in his hand. His brain began to lack blood, his head felt dizzy and heavy, and his eyelids kept fluttering; a group of soldiers ran over from afar, Wang Changhu raised his gun slightly, and the group of soldiers all fell to the ground, but unfortunately, before he could fire, his head went dark and he fainted.

  The soldiers cautiously approached from both sides, all guns pointing at Wang Changtiger. A soldier came over and kicked the gun out of Wang Changtiger's hand. Wang Chenghai showed no signs of waking up. The soldier turned Wang Changtiger over and searched his body, removing a package tied to his shoulder and handing it to an officer: "Report, preliminary findings are one male, with one shoulder wound, one package, appears to be a child."

  The lieutenant let out an "ah" and walked towards Wang Changhu, crouched down and wiped Wang Changhu's face with his gloves. Indeed, a delicate child's face appeared. At this time, another group of people surrounded a general and walked over. The lieutenant took a look and stood at attention to salute: Young Marshal.

  Young Marshal patted his shoulder: "Ming Chuan, how is it?

  Ming Chuan replied: A package was found on him, which has not been opened yet. He is holding a Japanese military pistol in his hand and has injuries on his shoulder. Judging from the height he jumped from, it's likely that he has some skills with his feet. After finishing speaking, he handed the package to the attendant officer beside General Shao, who began to open it.

  The young general listened for a moment, furrowed his brow and gestured to a nearby young officer: "You go wake him up, remember to use Japanese."

  The officer walked up to Wang Changhu and lifted his head, slapping him twice on the face, "Wake up..." followed by a stream of Japanese.

  Wang Changhu slowly woke up, saw a military officer in front of him asking questions non-stop in Japanese, and his anger ignited: I can kill one to break even, killing another will make me a profit. With a burst of strength from his legs and a push from his hands, he delivered a headbutt that sent the officer tumbling to the ground. Wang Changhu swiftly mounted himself on top of the officer, grasped his collar with one hand, and started pounding him with his forehead.

  A rifle butt slammed into Wang Changhu's lower back, and he arched his waist in pain. Then he was kicked down again, rolling to the ground.

  The officer crawled up and walked to the front of Shao: "Subordinates did not ask anything, but he heard Japanese and seemed very excited."

  The young general nodded slightly and waved his hand, indicating for him to go aside.

  The attendant found the Silver Swallow Order and two dollars in Wang Changhu's package, as well as some bullets, a handkerchief, a special pass, and clothes prepared by Wang Tingyu for him. He handed the Silver Swallow Order to Young Marshal, who took it and looked at it, then asked the people around: "Who knows what this thing is?"

  Others shook their heads; an officer took the token from Shao's hand, touched it and said: "This seems to be a token of the martial arts world. People in the martial arts world may recognize it. Maybe Captain Liu might know something about it. He has been in Beiping for many years and knows a bit about each faction."

  I think we should invite Captain Liu to take a look. General Shao nodded and said: Mingchuan, you drive my car personally and go get Captain Liu to come and take a look at this token.

  Everyone else has withdrawn, this person looks at me and says, "Oh, Mingzhuan, you first send a few people outside to understand what's going on. When Captain Liu arrives, we'll deal with this matter again. The rest of us will continue the meeting."

  Ming Chuan replied, "Yes." He found a few people to go out and understand the situation, and then found a rope to tie up Wang Changhu like a trapped pig, threw him into the isolation room, took out General Shao's car, opened the big gate and went to pick up Liu Jiaoguan.

  A crowd of people had gathered at the gate: there were police officers and Japanese soldiers confronting the guards at the entrance.

  The police on this side shouted: "We want to see General Shao, the bandits have entered the General's mansion, we must go in and search..."

  Japanese: We have to search thoroughly, bandits went in, we saw...

  The officer on duty made a phone call, said a few words and then "Ah, ah, yes, understood!"

  Put down the phone and ran into the gate with a wave of his hand: two rows of soldiers rushed out of the gate, starting to build fortifications with sandbags on both sides of the gate.

  The construction is complete, and machine guns are mounted on the frame. The officer loudly announced: "By order of General Shao, all unnecessary personnel at the entrance must withdraw immediately, and no idle personnel are allowed within a range of 30 meters, otherwise they will be shot dead."

  The police dispersed in a hurry, and the Japanese devils also retreated reluctantly to thirty meters away, but did not leave. Some suspicious characters appeared around the Shao's residence for surveillance.

  Before long, General Xiao's car took Captain Liu back to General Xiao's mansion.

  Director Liu is a man in his fifties, with a spirited and sharp appearance, short and stout, who rushed straight to the conference room as soon as he got off the car.

  As soon as he walked into the conference room, Shao Shuai immediately stood up, and everyone else also quickly stood up. Instructor Liu clasped his hands together in a salute and bowed to those around him before walking over to Shao Shuai: I heard there's a token of command here somewhere, hand it over!

  Young General held Liu's hand: Uncle Liu, you're here, take a seat, rest for a while, have a cup of tea, I'll get someone to fetch the token...

  Officer Liu said: "Little Liuzi, you're playing this trick on me again. You just don't have the guts to be a big shot. Hurry up and finish reading the stuff. If I don't recognize it, I'll leave immediately."

  The young general immediately ordered someone to bring the token in front of Liu, and upon seeing it, Liu rubbed his eyes with his hand, took the Silver Swallow Token with a trembling hand as if it were a sacred object, and stuttered: "Boxer flag, four sides gather, swallow order arrives, support Qing and destroy foreigners; horn sounds rise, people's hearts are aligned, we will fight to the death, China is at peace." After finishing speaking, he hugged the Silver Swallow Token to his chest and wailed loudly.

  Everyone in the room was shocked by Captain Liu's words, and their eyes turned red with tears at his crying voice. It wasn't just one person crying, it was a generation of people using blood and life to make that cry.

  Young General's eyes were filled with hot tears as he ordered his subordinates to bring Wang Changhu up, and patted Liu's back: "Liu Shu, it's the younger generation's incompetence! Can't complete your expectations of the older generation, you, don't cry, the more you cry, the more we feel ashamed... The token was found on this kid's body...

  Officer Liu immediately stopped crying upon hearing this: "Where is it? Let me take a look. Hmm... you little brat!"

  Wang Changhu immediately added: "Old but not dead."

  General Shao and several officers were about to get angry, when Instructor Liu waved his hand at Wang Changhu and said: "You little scamp, who are you? Why do you have a Boxer recruitment order?"

  Wang Changhu was taken aback, what does this have to do with the Boxers?: "I don't know what you're talking about, this token is my school's token, not some Boxer gathering token. You'd best let me go quickly, since you're also Chinese, I won't bother you. Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite!"

  Everyone in the room looked at each other in astonishment and suddenly burst into loud laughter...

  Suddenly, Wang Changhu moved, and a cold light shot out of his mouth, heading straight for the electrical wire of the big lamp on the ceiling. The lamp's cord snapped, and it crashed onto the table, plunging the room into darkness. Wang Changhu twisted his body, about to shrink away from the rope, when Liu, the instructor, took a stride forward, arriving at the spot where the lamp had fallen. With one hand, he pulled out a small box, and with a swift rotation of his body, he placed the lamp gently on the table. He then drew out a "mirror box" and aimed it at Wang Changhu: "Bang!" The rope snapped loudly.

  "Hey kid, don't shrink away. I believe you're from the Swallow Door Sect. Come sit down." Instructor Liu blew on the muzzle of his gun as he spoke to Wang Changhu.

  Wang Changhu slowly sat down, a layer of cold sweat appearing on his forehead: This old man is ruthless and cruel, I curse you to be hit by a car as soon as you go out.

  Liu instructor looked at the surprised gaze of others and explained with a sense of pride: "Generally, those who hold the Silver Swallow Token must be the children of the Silver Swallow, right?"

  Wang Changhu nodded slightly.

  Liu instructor was even more pleased: "So you're saying you're Silver Swallow?"

  Wang Changhu shook his head; "Jin Yanzhi?" He continued to shake his head; "Then you are Yu Yanzhi, it doesn't make sense! You're not a girl either."

  Officer Liu shook his head and said.

  He suddenly stood up: "Take off your jacket, I want to see what kind of swallow you are today?"

  Wang Changhu slowly took off his clothes, followed by his jacket, until he was half-naked.

  Officer Liu shouted: "Black Swallow..."