Chapter 46: Yan Niang Tea House (Part 3)

  In the midst of Yoko's screams and struggles, Noda tore off the black silk scarf covering her face. Underneath, Yoko's complexion was still far from fully recovered, with pockmarks like a toad's skin. The colorful herbal medicine applied to her face made it look as if it had rotted away. Noda, shocked and terrified, pushed Yoko away in a panic, as if he had seen a ghost.

  Yan Niang escaped from Ye Tian's demonic claws and hastily hid in a corner of the room, crying as she covered her face with the black silk scarf again.

  The devils outside the door heard Yan Niang's scream and peeked inside from behind the curtain. They saw Yan Niang's face, which also startled them. But after Yan Niang covered her black silk scarf again, that pitiful appearance made these devils' desires burn with desire, eager to move. The devils all knew that Ye Tian had lost interest in Yan Niang, but since Ye Tian hadn't given further orders, they didn't immediately rush in to do as they pleased.

  Noda paced back and forth in the room, thinking deeply. It had been many years since he'd tasted such a fragrant tea after invading China with his army. For Noda, who loved the art of tea, he truly didn't want to lose this skilled tea master. He also knew that Chinese women, if forced to lose their chastity, would often take their own lives. Noda thought that Yan Niang's figure was elegant, her waist as flexible as a snake without bones, and she could certainly learn to dance beautifully. Finally, he made his decision and came before the still-crying Yan Niang, his face gloomy: "You've also seen my soldiers; they don't care about your appearance. You just need to agree to one thing, and I'll let you avoid being ravaged. From now on in this county town, no one will dare to bother you again."

  Yan Niang had no other choice, she could only cry and nod desperately.

  Noda said: "I will send a few military geishas. You have to learn the dance of our great Japanese nation, be ready to make tea for me and dance at any time. Can you do it?"

  Yan Niang was still crying and nodding desperately.

  Yan Niang agreed, and with a loud "haha" laugh, she led the Japanese soldiers away. Later, Yan Niang learned to dance like the Japanese, and Noda often came to the tea house asking Yan Niang to make tea and dance for entertainment. After this incident spread, no more little devils came to the tea house to cause trouble.

  The pseudo-army men were mostly locals, and they all knew that Yan Niang's face was disfigured. Now with Ye Tian as a backing, they naturally didn't dare to cause trouble in the tea house again. Later, Yan Niang was asked by Ye Tian to wear a cheongsam to dance and assist in the excitement, and after wearing the cheongsam, Yan Niang's perfect figure was even more prominent. Yan Niang usually didn't bother to change out of the cheongsam, and she always covered her face with a black silk scarf, as long as she didn't take off the black silk scarf, Yan Niang was absolutely a flawless beauty. The pseudo-army men were mostly single men, so they all liked to come here to drink tea and chat, flirt with Yan Niang, and satisfy their eyes.

  After Yan Niang compromised with Noda, she felt guilty to her ancestors and changed the name of "Lin's Teahouse" to "Yan Niang Teahouse". Later, Yan Niang joined the revolutionary work, determined to avenge her parents. She vowed to drive out the little devils from China and then revive the former prosperity of "Lin's Teahouse".

  Xiao Er finished telling the story of Yan Niang's life to Huo Yao and others, then left the room. Everyone was saddened by Yan Niang's misfortune. But in today's China, such a tragic event did not occur that day. Everyone silently drank their tea, constantly vowing in their hearts to make the little devils pay for their blood debt with blood.

  The hubbub of the pseudo-army on the first floor suddenly stopped again, and the commander Li Quan quickly walked into the Yan Niang Tea House. After a brief silence, the pseudo-soldiers shouted in unison: "Commander Li..."

  Li Quan nodded to the fake army and ran up to the second floor with a "dang dang" sound. He hesitated outside the door of Noda's room, but still summoned up his courage and shouted: "Report to Lord Noda, Li Quan, commander of the fake army, has arrived."

  Zhang Fugui said in a low voice inside the room: "Commander Li, come on in."

  At the moment when Li Quan lifted the curtain and entered Yeta's room, Huo Yao and others hid behind the curtain of their own room, seeing Yeta smiling and tapping the beat with both hands, Zhang Fugui shaking his head and gently tapping the table with a fan, and Yan Niang performing a dance called "little devil" for Yeta and Zhang Fugui.

  Li Quan entered the private room of Ye Tian, and the door curtain fell again. Huo Yao and others couldn't see any movement inside, and they were also afraid of being discovered by the Japanese soldiers at the entrance of Ye Tian's private room, so they had to return to the tea table again, waiting silently for Yan Niang to come back.

  Li Quan found a seat in the room and sat down. Seeing Yetai still appreciating Yan Niang's dance, tasting tea, and not looking at him at all, Li Quan could only pretend to be calm and look at Zhang Fugui. Zhang Fugui smiled at Li Quan and nodded slightly, meaning "Don't worry, it's okay." Only then did Li Quan put his mind at ease a little.

  Originally, Ye Tian had not seen Li Quan since he failed to encircle the guerrilla team last time and returned to the city. Li Quan brought the pseudo-army back into the city. Although his heart ached for his father Li Youcai being killed and the Li family's property being swept away by the people, he was more worried about his own life. Because Li Quan learned from Zhang Fugui that Ye Tian had some blame for him not persuading the bandits of Leopard Mountain to block the guerrilla team's path. Even when the pseudo-army had already blocked the guerrilla team's path, they did not fight to the death with the bandits of Leopard Mountain. This allowed the guerrilla team to merge with the bandits of Leopard Mountain and caused Ye Tian's plan to encircle the guerrilla team to fail.

  Li Quan was quite dissatisfied in his heart. He thought that Yeta was either watching the tigers fight from a safe distance, waiting to reap the benefits of the fishermen's gains. Or he could have made contact with the bandits near Leopard Mountain earlier, and the guerrilla team would definitely not be able to escape. However, Li Quan also knew that Yeta would not reason with him. After being rejected by Yeta several times when he went to visit, Li Quan had no choice but to ask Zhang Fugui to speak on his behalf in front of Yeta. And these days, Li Quan, who was waiting for news at home, was restless every day, unable to eat or sleep.

  After a long time, Noda said to Li Kuan: "Li Kuan's loyalty to the Great Japanese Imperial Army, I believe."

  Li Quan heard Ye Tian say this, and immediately put his mind at ease. He stood up right away, bowed to Ye Tian, and said solemnly: "I, Li Quan, will definitely devote myself to the Imperial Japanese Army until death, in order to repay the kindness of Lord Noda's promotion."

  Noda can't eat this set, even if he calls a fake army now, he can say a lot of words to die for loyalty. Noda continued lightly to Li Quan: "I don't know if Li Quan has thought about it in the past few days, where did the failure of the last siege of the guerrilla team go wrong?"

  Li Quan didn't dare say what he really thought, so he pretended to be stupid and loudly said: "Please instruct me, Noda Taikun."

  Noda said slowly: "Li Quan's ambush on the guerrilla team was originally a secret. I also had great confidence that you could at least eliminate half of the guerrilla team. But...the guerrilla team seems to be very clear about your actions, doesn't Li Quan find it strange?"

  "This, this..." Li Quan was stunned, and only then did he carefully think back to how the guerrilla team had not only failed to fall into their own ambush, but had also dispersed the guards at the Li family's compound with one swift motion. Could it be that there really was a traitor among his own ranks?

  The dancing courtesan overheard the conversation between Noda and Riki clearly. At this time, the courtesan was also thinking "Who is that person who provided the information? Since he knows my identity, he should be a comrade. But why doesn't he want to show up?"