Chapter 2: Initial Display of Skill

  Qiu Si Gua, not his real name, is a nickname given by the villagers. He is thin and tall, looking like a calabaza hanging from a vine in autumn. When walking on the road, he has no energy at all, very honest and simple. But as soon as he gets on the boat and starts rowing or poling, his spirit comes alive. Especially underwater, he is agile like a fish or an eel. This is thanks to him learning how to ferry and swim from his father since childhood.

  His father made a living by ferrying people across the river when he was alive, and the village would only give them some subsidies at the end of each month or during festivals. Autumn Silkworm had never seen his mother since childhood. His father said she died early, but in fact, she eloped with a young man from the village. Autumn Silkworm later found out and became sullen, rarely speaking to anyone. The phrase he heard most often was: "Autumn Silkworm, ferry people across." He had gotten used to it.

  One year, in the deep autumn season a month after his father's death, a rascal called Baldy didn't know whether he thought he was easy to bully or relied on being a rogue in this place, and when he went to play in the Factory Town, he got on a boat and ridiculed Autumn Gourd's mother for eloping. Autumn Gourd listened and his face turned more and more green, he didn't speak but just rowed with all his might, when they reached the middle of the river, he suddenly kicked the side of the boat with his right foot, the boat tilted, and Baldy who was unprepared rolled into the river. Autumn Gourd didn't look or care, letting Baldy shout and curse in the water, he rowed the boat to the shore without looking back, watching Baldy in the water and laughing, knowing that Baldy could swim, just watching him laugh.

  After that, it can be expected that after the beggar landed on the shore, he called a few rascals to beat him half to death. If Lu Gang and Li Xiaolin hadn't happened to pass by the school and chased them away, I'm afraid Qiu Si would have become a rotten melon dropped in the mud. He remembered this matter at all times and was grateful to Lu Gang, so he taught him how to breathe underwater.

  The two chickens had just crowed for the first time, and Qi Si Gua remembered that he needed to take Lu Gang and his family across the river, so he woke up very early and couldn't sleep. He got out of bed and took the tobacco pipe hanging from the headboard outside, not to relieve himself but to check on his boat, which had been his constant companion for over a decade through wind and rain. This was his long-standing habit: after checking on the boat, he would sit at the bow, light a dry cigarette, take a few puffs, and then go back inside to sleep until dawn.

  As I walked, the wind outside was blowing very cold, and I couldn't help but shiver. "It's so cold" escaped my lips. I thought about turning back to get some clothes from home, but I had already reached halfway. Suddenly, I remembered that I had left a piece of clothing at Old Wang's cowshed, so I headed straight for the cowshed.

  There seems to be a light in the cowshed. Qi Si Gua thought it was strange that the owner of this house started feeding the cows so early, and upon closer inspection, she saw many people moving around inside.

  Qiu Si Gua grew a mind, tiptoed to the edge of the cowshed, peeking through the gap in the fence, saw that the clothes were still there, and then looked at the person standing next to the clothes with their back turned, his heart couldn't help but be startled: "Bald head." Almost shouted out loud. He didn't dare take the clothes anymore, wondering what these people were doing here at this time. Stealing cows? But the cow was still leisurely eating grass. Can't bear the cold outside, decided to investigate, took a few steps forward and stuck to the wall to eavesdrop.

  "Are you in or out? For crying out loud, stop being like Red Flower and dilly-dallying at a time like this."

  "It's not that we don't want to do it, it's just that we can't. We don't have guns, they have guns and cannons, how can we compare to them?" A bald-headed man spoke up.

  With a "slap", the bald head was slapped on the back of his head: "Blind your dog's eyes, what is this if it's not a gun? Ah, my gun fires with one pull of the trigger and knocks down a large piece. Their guns can only shoot one at a time." The bald head turned around and saw a tall man raise the gun in his hand. In fact, this gun was just a crude shotgun, which was quite common in the area, originally invented by the Yuan people, called "fire cannon" by northerners and "fire spear" by southerners. Almost every household in the village had one, generally used to shoot wild ducks or other flying birds, rabbits, foxes, etc. It was triangular or round in shape with a wooden handle over a foot long, usually with three or six gunpowder holes and ignition holes, called "three-eyed spear" or "six-eyed spear". One shot would kill or injure a large number of animals on the ground.

  He lowered his head and crouched down silently with a sullen face.

  But others began to whisper.

  Some say they are impotent, some say they have never done it before, and others say they are afraid of being scolded by their wives.

  Lao Tzu was annoyed at the sight, thinking to himself "Damn it, how did he find this group of useless trash, just to ruin my fun." On the surface, he couldn't lose his temper, fearing that it would cause others to feel uncomfortable, so he had to explain that this time they weren't going to their deaths but rather to get rich. He repeatedly emphasized that there were only two National Army soldiers escorting them, nothing to be afraid of.

  Half a month ago, he happened to hear from others while drinking tea in the provincial city that people from all walks of life in the provincial city were spontaneously organizing donations and had raised a lot of money and goods, preparing to transport them to Changde City. It was said that there were also gold, silver, and jewelry, which were packed in an insurance box. After hearing the news, he quietly snuck to the dock to take a look and found someone guarding it, not allowing anyone to enter. Just then, he saw two people carrying a box onto the ship. Upon closer inspection, one of them was his old friend "Niu Jin", who was in charge of the ship's machinery. He was overjoyed and bought some snacks that night, going to Niu Jin's residence, where he persuaded him with great difficulty, and they agreed to split the spoils 50/50 after the deed was done. Niu Jin told him that the ship would pass through Lai Tou's hometown waters in about two weeks, so Lai Tou hastily returned to gather his brothers, telling them to make some extra money.

  The bald head listened and found out that it was actually the case, not just robbing the goods of passing merchants like before. The bald head suddenly became bigger again, and his forehead seemed to be brighter than before, with sweat on his forehead, which was scared out.

  "This won't do, it's not going to work, I'll lose my head!" He stuttered and tried to slip away. But he was caught by the tall one, who pressed a gun against his head, with fierce eyes. His head was like an eggplant that had been frostbitten, and instantly turned soft."

  "We'll do it whether we can or not. We brothers will share the fortune and the risk together." Lai Tou said fiercely, then turned to another person and said: "Mu Nongzi, are you ready with the axe and hammer? Just poke a hole in the bottom of the boat when the time comes. And did you bring that thing?" Mu Nongzi replied that everything was ready.

  The autumn squash was clearly visible, and the village carpenter known as "Mokuzō" could only repair simple farm tools and boats. His skills were not refined, and no one asked for his help. Years later, he had disappeared without a trace, and it was unknown where he had gone. Unexpectedly, he appeared here tonight, and even more unexpectedly, he had joined the bald-headed man. He secretly spat on the ground, unaware of what Mokuzō had been doing outside. In fact, since there were no jobs for him in the village, Mokuzō had left alone to make a living elsewhere. However, he couldn't find a good job and instead learned some swindling techniques from some street scammers, especially how to make a kind of anesthetic called "Night Fragrance". This medicine had a refreshing scent, which was effective when sprinkled on roads or in grasslands, especially with the wind blowing. The powder would rise with the wind, but without wind, it didn't work well. The medicine was very potent, and if someone smelled it, they would fall asleep for at least three hours. There was no antidote, so one could only wake up naturally, although it wouldn't harm their body, just like a normal sleep. This was what the bald-headed man asked about.

  Of course, Qiu Siluo didn't understand, only knowing that they wanted to rob, not just any ordinary merchant ship robbery, but anti-Japanese goods, this matter is no trivial thing. No way, have to tell Li Baochang about it.

  He didn't want his clothes to get dirty, so he bent down and backed away, but unexpectedly got tangled in a tree branch, making a noise that startled the people in the cowshed. Autumn Silkworm himself was also frightened out of his wits and turned around to run.

  The bald head rushed out, saw a black shadow running on the road, snatched the gun from the tall man's hand, aimed at the front black shadow, pulled the trigger, but there was no fire in the barrel. The tall man laughed and said that he had not loaded the bullets. The bald head scolded angrily, but after loading the bullets, he couldn't see anyone. The tall man asked if he wanted to chase him. The bald head said no, it's useless to chase him. This unexpected situation made the bald head worried that today's matter would leak out. However, the bald head was still the bald head, and after getting angry and thinking about it, he decided to change his plan. He said: "We can't stay here for long, we need to change our location. Let's go to the reeds in the lower reaches of the river to wait. High, Bald, you two go find a few boats."

  Gao Ge and Guang Tou went along the river to look for a boat.

  It was cold outside, and Lao Tou and the others retreated into the cowshed again. They took off their autumnal gourd-leaf clothes and put them on themselves, then lay down in the haystack with their eyes closed. The others rubbed their hands together and stomped their feet where they stood, exhaling misty breaths.

  The rural village on an early autumn night is indeed cold.

  3 Qiu Si Gua rushed all the way to Li Baochang's doorstep, attracting the long barking of Li Baochang's dog. He fell down against the door, and the dog's barking became more continuous and urgent, startling Li Baochang and Xiao Lin who were fast asleep.

  Li Baochang was puzzled, opened the door to see a figure lying on the ground, and recognized it as Qiuxigua. Li Baochang and Xiaolin quickly brought Qiuxigua into the house, put him on the bed, covered him with a quilt, saw that Qiuxigua's eyes were tightly closed, pinched his people, and Qiuxigua woke up.

  Qiu Siluan woke up and hastily told Li Baolang what he saw. Li Baolang was surprised upon hearing it, and quickly called Xiao Lin to summon Lu Shuisheng, while continuing to chat with Qiu Siluan.

  Before long, Sheng came, accompanied by Lu Gong.

  Shuisheng asked Qiu Si Gua how many people there were, and Qiu Si Gua said there were seven or eight, mostly from the village and neighboring villages. He also mentioned that they had guns. Finally, he said they were in Wang Lao Ye's cowshed and told them to hurry over. Shuisheng asked Li Bao Chang if the county had ever informed him about transporting anti-Japanese materials, and Li Bao Chang shook his head saying no. Lu Shuisheng suddenly remembered the scene of communication soldiers coming to deliver documents at Geng Ying Zhang's place that night, he didn't know if it was related to this matter, he said he would go to Geng Ying Zhang's place to ask, and told Li Bao Chang to bring some people to the cowshed first.

  At this time, footsteps were heard outside the door. When they went out to take a look, a group of national soldiers were jogging past Li Baichang's house. Li Baichang recognized a battalion commander and called him. The battalion commander ordered his troops to stand by after hearing someone call him. As soon as Li Baichang opened his mouth to say that someone wanted to rob the anti-Japanese material ship coming from the provincial city, the battalion commander scolded who had the guts to do so. Shui Sheng asked the battalion commander if this was true. The battalion commander said it was true and that Geng Yingchang had just told him about it, asking him to take his brothers out for patrol, and they really encountered some reckless thugs. He asked where the cowshed was. Lu Gang said he knew and could take them there. Qiu Siguai still remembered the clothes and wanted to go but was pulled back by Li Baichang, saying: "You're not feeling well, rest here." Qiu Siguai had no choice but to shout at Lu Gang to bring his clothes back. Shui Sheng also wanted to go but was pulled into the house by Li Baichang, saying that it was a national army matter and he shouldn't join in on the commotion.

  The tall and bald-headed ones returned, saying they found two small boats. The beggar immediately followed others to the riverbank. On the way, the tall one said that originally they found his boat at the autumn silk melon crossing, but when they pushed the boat into the water halfway, they discovered that the front of the boat was taking on water, scaring them so much that they could only give up. Fortunately, not far from the crossing, there were still one or two boats moored by the shore. These guys were lucky, as it turned out that the owner of this family did not listen to Li Baochang's words and hide them, pulling them ashore was too troublesome.

  Lai Tou burst out laughing and ordered Mu Nong Zi to distribute an antidote to each person. After everyone swallowed it, they helped Mu Nong Zi sprinkle "night fragrance" around the cowshed. When everything was done, Lai Tou said: "Heaven helps me, brothers, do a good job. Get on the boat." Guang Tou asked Lai Tou why he didn't wait here and instead ran to such a far place downstream, weren't there also reeds upstream? Lai Tou scolded him with a "stupid pig" before leading everyone to board two boats and row downstream. It wasn't until later, when Guang Tou and the others heard the sound of gunfire coming from the direction of the reeds upstream, that they understood Lai Tou's intention and couldn't help but admire his cleverness.

  It was past the third watch, and the sky was still pitch black. At this time, only a loud "hiss" sound came from the cowshed, and the cow suddenly fell to the ground, the effect of the "night fragrance" medicine had arrived.

  Lu Gong and Kobayashi brought a long string of one road, after all, Kobayashi did not go through much training, his body gradually collapsed, Lu Gong took care of him also fell behind.

  The company commander, running along, saw a dense reed thicket on the riverbank ahead and signaled his soldiers to stop advancing. He ordered two soldiers to go take a look inside the reeds, but they were separated by a strip of water and couldn't get close to the reeds. The company commander called them back, thinking that this would be an ideal place for an ambush against any passing boats - perhaps those bastards were hiding here? He ordered his soldiers to form a line and open fire on the reed thicket. Some birds nesting in the reeds fell into the water, dead, not knowing what was happening. Others flew up into the air, flapping their wings wildly and crying out in terror as they circled above the reeds.

  Sudden gunfire awakened the sleeping villagers, who didn't know what was happening. They rushed out of bed, thinking the Japanese had arrived. Some timid ones fled in disarray with their families into their own air-raid shelters, while some slightly braver ones peeked outside through the gaps in the doors.

  The sudden gunshot startled Lu Gang and Xiao Lin, who were lagging behind. They instinctively fell to the ground, covering their ears. The gunfire didn't stop, and they continued shooting at the reeds in front of them, then turned around and shot fiercely at another patch of reeds. Amidst the shooting, they saw Lu Gang and Xiao Lin's tense and frightened expressions, and burst out laughing: "Haha, you're scared? Just go back, don't follow us! Someone, send them back, so I won't have to worry about them."

  Lu Gang suddenly jumped up from the ground, straightened his back and said: "Who's afraid? I've also fired a gun."

  "I know you country folks are good at playing with firecrackers, but in our northern region, we call them firework lads, and they're much better than yours. Shoo, shoo, I won't play with you, go do whatever you want. Someone, tell them to scram."

  Two soldiers came up and drove them away, Lu Gang was furious, turned around and walked in the direction they came from, Xiao Lin had no choice but to follow behind him.

  They saw them leave and cursed a sentence "stinky little boy" after a command led the team to run towards the cowshed.

  Just as Lu Gang was angrily rushing back home, he met Li Baochang and Shui Sheng, as well as Qiu Siguang and Gong Qiu. It turned out that they had also heard the gunshot and didn't know what had happened. Li Baochang and Lu Shuisheng were worried about their sons and came over. Seeing Lu Gang's unhappy mood, he grabbed him and asked what was going on? Lu Gang didn't speak up, but Xiao Lin explained the situation. Li Baochang and Shui Sheng burst out laughing after hearing it.

  The aquatic creature knocked against Lu's forehead and said, "You, you're the one who made a fool of yourself, yet you blame others. I think you've been scolded enough, like an eggplant, what kind of man are you?"

  Lu Gang argued that it was the first time he heard a gunshot that didn't sound like a firecracker, and if they really got to the battlefield, they would get used to it. Shui Sheng wasn't happy when he heard this, scolding him for being gutless, wanting to hear such sounds, and saying that if you want to hear such sounds, you have to go to the battlefield.

  Shuisheng regretted as soon as he finished speaking. In the first half of this year, Gengying's troops recruited soldiers, and Lu Zhuang wanted to go, but Shuisheng disagreed. Lu Zhuang then went to Teacher Yang, who had been to his home for work before, but Shuisheng still disagreed. As Lu Zhuang was the only son, the Lu family still relied on him to carry on the family line. If something happened to his son one day, he would regret it for the rest of his life. In his heart, he just wanted his son to become a cultured person with knowledge, and in the future, have a good job in the provincial city, and he would be content.

  This time, Doggie joined the army and often wore his uniform in front of Lu Gang, making him uncomfortable.

  Lu Gong heard his father say they were going to the battlefield and was delighted, saying "I'm going, I'm going."

  As soon as he mentioned this matter to his son, he became excited and raised his fist towards his son, but was stopped by Li Baochang. Li Baochang repeatedly said: "You don't understand things, you don't understand things, don't take it to heart." I don't know what the situation is like in Lian County now, why don't we go take a look? Shui Sheng listened and followed Li Baochang's intention, glared at Lu Gong fiercely, and then walked forward on his own. Li Baochang signaled Xiao Lin and Qiuxi to follow Lu Gong together.

  The sky is gradually showing white light. Birds are flying back and forth on the trees, chirping out happy calls.

  A group of people arrived in front of the cowshed and were stunned by the scene before their eyes.

  Inside the cowshed, apart from a cow, several people were lying down. Lu Gang and others didn't know what had happened? Li Baochang and others shook them one by one, but there was no reaction, just like they were asleep, snoring. Shui Sheng looked around at the situation, then looked at the wilted grass leaves beside the cowshed and understood. When he learned martial arts from his master before, his master had told him that in the Jianghu, there was a kind of soul-mixing drug called "Night Fragrance". The smell released by it had the fragrance of night-blooming jasmine, and the best effect of this medicine could only last for ten minutes, after which it would be ineffective. Lu Gang and others were delayed on the road and didn't suffer any effects. At this time, Autumn Silkworm finally understood that what Baldy said to "Wooden Child" was a hypnotic drug.

  What made Li Baozhang even more frightened was that they found their guns were all gone, and he hurriedly called everyone to search around, but after searching the surrounding area thoroughly and turning the cowshed upside down, they still couldn't find them. Shui Sheng said: "Don't look for them anymore, it must be Lai Tou's gang who took them away."

  Just as Shuǐshēng said, the guns were indeed taken away by the bald heads. As they left the cowshed and headed downstream, they suddenly heard a burst of gunfire from the upstream reed forest, which was not far from the riverbank near the cowshed. They were startled and everyone's cold sweat dripped, grateful that they had left in time. Just as these people praised the bald heads, the bald head said to Gāo Gè: "Gāo Gè, you go to the cowshed to retrieve the guns, I reckon they're all asleep now, Mù Nòng Zǐ, what do you say?"

  "Yes. Elder brother is wise." Mu Nianzi replied standing beside him.

  The tall-necked man on the other boat returned to the cowshed, and indeed saw many National Army soldiers lying down inside. Overjoyed, he quickly took guns from their bodies and hands, then jumped back onto the boat and headed towards Laotou.

  When the bald head looked at the gun in his hand, he was so happy that his eyes narrowed into a long line. But he didn't know how to use it, and neither did anyone else, except for Gao who understood a little bit more. He took out the magazine of each gun and saw that they were all empty, leaving everyone stunned and dejected, throwing their guns into the river with their heads hung low in despair. In his haste, Gao forgot to search the bodies. The bald head was about to throw away the shotgun when he looked at it again and couldn't bear to part with it, so he stuck it into his waistband and cursed, "Damn it!" Then they headed downstream.

  At this time, the people around the cowshed did not know where Cui and Tuo had gone. The autumn melon boat was still moored by the shore. The loss of the guns made everyone feel the severity of the situation. Not knowing what to do, Sheng said: "Since that's the case, let's first send Lieutenant Zhang to the barracks to see Captain Geng and then we'll talk about it later. Anyway, the boats from the provincial city haven't arrived yet."

  Everyone was busy helping to carry the long objects onto the boat. Li Baochang and Shui Sheng told Gong Qiu to get on the boat as well, to help with the autumn silk melon. Shui Sheng looked up at the sky and saw that it was almost dawn, so he asked Lu Gang if he wanted to go to school. Lu Gang said yes. Li Baochang spoke up: "I'm afraid Autumn Silk Melon's boat won't be able to take you across the river, there's no time. You two go check the downstream ferry terminal and see if there are any boats. If there are, then you can row one yourself. If not, then forget it, don't go to school today. It'll be a hassle all day, and you won't get a good rest. Just go home and sleep in instead." Shui Sheng didn't respond, he just glared at Li Baochang, not wanting him to make decisions for him. He walked away by himself. Li Baochang knew Shui Sheng's temper and ignored him.

  Lu Gang said, "Today we must go to school." Li Baochang said, "Then you guys hurry up and go see if the boat is there. Be careful on the road. I'll go catch that cow of your father's."

  Li Baochang said that the ferry was surrounded by only four or five households, all of whom made a living by farming and did not fish. They had escaped from the mountains of Sichuan and rarely interacted with local people, working from dawn till dusk and then returning home to cultivate their land honestly. After harvesting, they would go to the Chang'an market to exchange some daily necessities. Li Baochang considered that it was too far for them to carry heavy loads to the Autumn Gourd Ferry, so he obtained the villagers' consent and cut down a few trees to make a wooden boat for them to use.

  The boat was there, and Xiao Lin got on board, rowing with the oars. It was almost dawn.

  Suddenly, Lu Gan discovered that there seemed to be movement on the river ahead and signaled Xiao Lin to steer the boat towards the side with reeds. He suspected it might be Lai Zi and his gang, so he told Xiao Lin to let the boat drift towards the reeds.

  It was indeed not bad, when they rowed to the middle of the reeds, it was Baldy and his gang. At this time, a large ship appeared in their line of sight, obviously from the provincial city, they had never seen such a big ship before. Lu Gang's nerves were suddenly tense, there was no time to go ashore to report the news, if the noise was too loud it would be easy for Baldy and his gang to discover them. What to do?

  At this time, Hong Jie, standing at the bow of the boat, was wearing a red windbreaker. In the morning breeze, she looked elegant and relaxed. Although her face couldn't be seen clearly in the dim light, her posture suggested that she was a beautiful woman. She pulled down the hood on her head, and her black hair cascaded down, falling behind her shoulders and fluttering gently in the wind like water. Gazing at the lake water and the surrounding reed scenery, she seemed to be in a trance, took a deep breath, and turned to walk towards the driver's cabin.

  Soldiers of the National Army stood at the bow and stern with guns in hand.

  All this was seen by the bald head hidden in the reeds, who secretly rejoiced and thought: It seems that I not only have a windfall but also a beautiful fortune. He waited for "Cow Tendon" to turn off the machine.

  The old man was thinking, and the big ship stopped moving. Hong Jie asked the captain what's wrong? The captain said the engine has stopped working. Niu Jin came up to tell the captain that the machine is broken. The captain said hurry up and fix it, and Niu Jin went down again.

  "Brothers, the time to get rich has arrived. Everyone take their positions and do what we discussed earlier. Gao Ge, you're in charge of the two national armies. Mu Nongzi, start the action." Lai Tou was extremely excited when he saw the ship stop.

  The wooden boat slipped into the water without a sound, and Lu Gang saw it with his eyes wide open. He was startled in his heart and thought to himself that they had made their move. He told Xiao Lin: "Quickly, get closer to the big ship." Taking advantage of the fact that everyone's attention was focused on the big ship, they quickly rowed to the left side of the big ship. Lu Gang let Xiao Lin take action on the boat and not move. He himself dove into the water and swam towards the bottom of the big ship, searching for a while before finding Mu Nongzi scraping the bottom of the ship. Lu Gang kicked his legs and swam towards him, grabbing his hand tightly. Mu Nongzi was startled by this sudden attack, loosened his grip, and the scraper fell to the riverbed. In a panic, he broke free from Lu Gang's grasp and swam away, popping out of the water. This sudden movement frightened the bald-headed men, and at the same time, it also alarmed the sentry on the big ship, who shouted "Who is there?" and hastily grabbed his rifle to prepare for shooting. Before they could react, a loud gunshot rang out, and the soldier at the bow was shot down. The soldiers at the stern heard the gunfire and rushed over but were also killed by the tall man. Instantly, chaos erupted on the ship.

  The bald men shouted and rushed towards the big ship.

  At this time, Lu Gong emerged from the water and got on Xiao Lin's boat. With a flying body, he stepped on Xiao Lin's leg and jumped onto the boat, steadily landing on the edge of the big ship. Just as he was about to bend down and pull Xiao Lin up, a gun was pressed against his forehead.

  The one holding the gun against Lu's forehead was Hong Jie. Lu froze in place, not daring to move. Xiao Lin on the small boat spoke up, "Sister, don't misunderstand, you've got it wrong, we're not bad people, we're here to rescue you."

  The woman didn't answer, and with a flip of her hand, she fired a shot. A blood-curdling scream was heard, followed by the sound of something hitting the water. It turned out that Red Sister had seen the tall guy who had crawled up from the left side to take a peek, and with a casual shot, he was hit and fell into the water, dying instantly. The others who were climbing onto the boat were so scared that their souls flew up to heaven, and one by one, they dropped into the water.

  Hong Jie quickly pointed the gun at Xiao Lin again, pulled the trigger, and the bullet flew out. Just as the woman was aiming at Xiao Lin, Xiao Lin saw that things were not going well and suddenly dove into the water, and the bullet pierced the oar. Seeing that this woman did not ask for any explanation, Lu Gang didn't wait for Hong Jie to point the gun at himself, stepped forward, and knocked the gun out of Hong Jie's hand with a backhand, kicking it to one side with his foot.

  Kobayashi emerged from the water and was struggling to climb up along the ship's side.

  Lu Gang said to Hong Jie, who looked puzzled: "Don't be afraid, we're not bandits, believe me. The ones coming from that direction are the ones who came to rob you."

  Hong Jie suddenly became furious: "I don't believe it, so many people have died here, I don't believe you, you bandits! You're so arrogant at such a young age." As she tried to pick up the gun, Xiao Lin had already grabbed her hand from on top of the boat.

  The rascals who had fallen into the water climbed back onto the boat under the urging of Lai Tou.

  "The Bald Heads are coming, Pole Brother!" Little Lin shouted loudly.

  Lu Gang said to Hong Jie, "You stay here and watch the excitement. Xiao Lin, keep an eye on her and don't let her make any trouble." After that, he charged forward with Lai Tou.

  Hong Jie finally understood that Lu Gang and the others were there to help her. She said to Xiao Lin, "What are you staring at? Why don't you go help?" Xiao Lin hastily waved his hand and said, "No, no, I won't fight. Fighting is my brother's business." Hong Jie looked at Xiao Lin's comical expression and couldn't help but feel amused, teasingly saying, "You're a boy who can't even fight?"

  "Sister, don't worry, my brother won't lose, rest assured." Little Lin said with a smile.

  "Haven't seen a brother like you, friends fighting and you're watching the show, hum!" Without even looking at Xiaolin, he rushed into the crowd that was in chaos. Xiaolin's face turned red with anger after hearing this, holding his gun not knowing what to do, he simply threw it away and went to help.

  Watching Lu Gan and others fighting fiercely, Xiao Lin couldn't help, but was caught by Lai Tou in the chaos. He was anxious, shouting loudly for Lu Gan to come and save him while struggling with all his might, but it was all in vain. He was choked by Lai Tou's neck and couldn't move.

  "Lu Gang, you little turtle bastard, don't interfere with things that are none of your business, okay? There's nothing for you here, just leave and I'll let him go." Lai Tou shouted hoarsely at Lu Gang, one hand tightly gripping Xiao Lin's neck and the other clutching the unloaded gun.

  Lu Zhuang, who was fighting hard, heard Lai Tou's shout and turned his head to see Xiao Lin being strangled by Lai Tou. He cursed Xiao Lin in his heart, what a useless guy! But while he was scolding him, there were still several guys in front of him that he needed to deal with. It wasn't that he couldn't beat them, but rather he didn't want to hurt them. Even when fighting with others, he had never thought of hurting anyone. His father had told him that martial arts were for self-defense and should not be used to harm people, unless it was absolutely necessary to defend himself.

  Lu Gang stopped, not knowing what to do. He looked at the gangsters around him and then at Hong Jie beside him. Hong Jie saw the situation and calmed down, advising Lai Tou not to act rashly. In fact, she regretted her previous words, which had provoked Xiao Lin's anger. She should have listened to Xiao Lin's advice and let Lu Gang deal with it himself, without getting involved. Alternatively, she could have taken the gun from Xiao Lin's hand, which would have been enough to stabilize the situation, but taking the gun was not very realistic, as her own gun was right next to Lai Tou's feet.

  "Niu Jin, come here, take the gun away and keep an eye on this beauty. After it's done, let the brothers have some fun together." He kicked the gun to Niu Jin's feet, who picked it up with a trembling hand and pointed it at Hong Jie.

  Hong Jie saw Niu Jin pick up the gun and finally understood that this was an inside job. Her face turned red with anger, her temper flaring, but she didn't dare to do anything to him. She knew that the gun in Niu Jin's hand was cocked and ready to fire, so she just shouted loudly: "You unscrupulous guy, do you know that robbing anti-Japanese supplies is punishable by beheading?" Niu Jin was terrified, trying to force a smile but unable to, saying: "No choice now, we're already on the boat, can't back out. Boss, no wonder I offended him."

  "Brothers, don't mind them, quickly go to the cabin and move the goods." Lai Tou shouted loudly at those who were still stunned: "This kid, this little girl won't do anything to you, if they dare to move, I'll kill him."

  Those people heard Lai Tou shouting like that and their courage grew, they lifted their legs and were about to rush into the cabin.

  A gunshot rang out, stunning the people escorting the National Army soldiers. Li Baochang knew something was wrong and said to Shuisheng, "This is bad, it's probably those bandits who made their move. What should we do?" They had no idea that their own son was on the boat, fighting against them, nor did they know that Xiaolin was in danger. As everyone was worried, Shuisheng thought for a moment and said, "Quickly, move the people from the boat to the shore. Autumn Silkworm, you go alone to report the news." Li Baochang repeatedly said, "Good, good, good." The three of them moved the people on the boat one by one to the shore, and Autumn Silkworm went to report the news. The three of them stood around the sleeping soldiers, unable to sit or stand properly.

  Gong Qiucheng was furious and said he wanted to go take a look. Shui Sheng pulled him back and shouted, "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Bullets don't have eyes, if you die, what about your wife and daughter? I won't be the one taking care of them!" Seeing Gong Qiucheng's determined face, he quickly added, "Fine, fine, go ahead, if you die, Li Baolong will take care of your family, including your two kids. He'll make a great patriarch, go ahead." After saying that, he pushed Gong Qiucheng away. Li Baolong laughed and punched Shui Sheng, saying, "What's wrong with you, making jokes at a time like this? Don't mind him, Old Gong, no one is allowed to go, everyone stay here and wait for Commander Geng and the others."

  Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives. A sound of horse hooves came, and General Geng arrived.

  He was waiting for news from the company commander in the barracks when he heard the sound of gunfire coming from the reeds, thinking that they must have engaged the enemy. He thought to himself that those few little rascals wouldn't be a match for the company commander, so he brought the communications soldier and went to inspect the sentries at each company's barracks with an easy mind. Just after finishing the inspection, he heard another round of gunfire, feeling that something was off in his heart - why was there still gunfire at this time? Moreover, it was sporadic gunfire. Relying on experience and premonition, he felt that something wasn't right, thinking that the company commander should have returned by now, but when he went to the company commander's room, no one was there. He then called up the second company commander and rode a horse at full gallop towards him. On the way, they heard the urgent cries of the autumn squash hawk.

  Autumn melon, who was originally rowing the boat with all his might, heard the sound of horseshoes and saw them calling out to him. After landing on the shore, he told the situation to Commander Geng. Commander Geng listened for a moment without saying a word, then whipped his horse and rushed forward.

  Looking at the company commander and soldiers lying on the road. Out of breath, kicked the company commander with one foot, this kick didn't wake up the company commander, he was still motionless with his mouth open, breathing out, snoring, sleeping soundly.

  Li Baochang and Shui Sheng hadn't finished explaining the situation when Qiu Si Gua arrived, panting. Geng Ying Chang jumped onto the boat, telling Er Lian Chang and the communication soldier to ride horses together. Seeing that Qiu Si Gua was exhausted, Shui Sheng called for Gong Qiu to replace him, and he himself also jumped onto the boat, leaving Li Baochang on the shore stamping his feet and shouting loudly: "You come back, let me go! You come back, let me go. Hey, I'll wait for you to come back and see if I don't deal with you!"

  Lin's face was even redder than before, no, it should be said that it was a bit purplish red, and he couldn't drag it on any longer. Slow in speech but quick in action, just as the group of robbers were rushing towards the cabin, Lu Gang suddenly shouted: "I'll see who dares to move!" Before his words had fallen, he flew up lightly and tapped his foot on the mast, then made a big horizontal movement, spinning and attacking them. His beautiful and elegant kick in mid-air was like a strong gust of wind, sweeping past each person's face with his legs, and in the blink of an eye, he had swept all those people into the river. The water surface rippled with several splashes, and the people who fell into the water were struggling to swim ashore. Lu Gang's move was as swift as lightning, with a beautiful and powerful force that left everyone on the boat stunned, standing there like clay statues. Hong Jie widened her beautiful eyes, and in her heart, she exclaimed: What a fierce young man!

  Kobayashi shouted in a strained voice, "Great, Kaname!" despite being choked by the bald head.

  The man with the gun saw Niu Jin and was so scared that he threw away his gun, shouted "My mother!" and jumped into the water, swimming to the other shore with all his might. The gun fell at Xiao Lin's feet, who kicked it to Hong Jie's side. She quickly picked it up and shot Niu Jin in the head as he swam desperately, turning the surrounding water into a bloody red.

  His body was trembling like a sieve, and he couldn't help but exclaim "Heavens! Gods! Earth!" as his courage dissipated. Especially after seeing Hong Jie ruthlessly kill the cow tendon, he was so frightened that he lost control of his limbs. Xiaotou's hands went limp, his legs shook, and he dropped his gun, abandoning Xiao Lin as he ran towards the bow of the boat.

  Hong Jie saw the situation, raised her gun and fired at his back, but the bullet flew over his head, missing him. By that time, Lai Tou had already jumped into the water. Hong Jie ran a few steps to the bow of the boat and fired several more shots towards the spot where the water was splashing and around it, until a bright red patch of blood appeared on the surface of the water before she stopped. The bullets were all used up, but there was no sign of Lai Tou's figure on the lake surface.

  Lu Gang, standing at the bow of the boat, was worried that Lai Tou hadn't died and was about to jump into the water to look for him when he heard Shui Sheng's rebuke from behind. It turned out that Shui Sheng and Geng Ying had already boarded the boat.

  After being knocked into the water by Lu Gang, they were caught off guard one by one as they crawled ashore by the second lieutenant and the signal corps soldier who had arrived on horseback. They grumbled, looking disheveled and embarrassed, with their mouths agape.

  "You little scamp, you're really bold! Not going to school and acting like a hero here. I'm going to teach you a lesson today!" He picked up a thick bamboo tube from the boat and swung it at Lu Gang, scaring Little Lin into closing his eyes.

  But before the bamboo tube had fallen, Hong Jie caught it in mid-air.

  Shui Sheng glared at the woman who had blocked his way, his face filled with rage. "Who are you?" he shouted. "Get out of my way! I'm beating my son, what business is it of yours?"

  Hong Jie smiled and said, "Uncle, don't get angry first, it's not too late to beat someone after figuring out the situation." Then she shouted at Geng Yingchang, "Geng Yingchang, is that right?"

  "Yes, Hong Jie." Geng Ying Chang replied respectfully, he knew her.

  Lu Shuizhen put down his hand, looked at Geng Yingchang and then at the beautiful woman, and slowly put down the bamboo tube in his hand. Zhang Er, the monk, was confused. Geng Yingchang smiled and said to Lu Shui, "Misunderstanding, misunderstanding." He called over Lu Gan and told him that this was a student of Master Yang from Changsha. After hearing this, they looked at each other and then at Hong Jie, feeling a bit embarrassed, and just stared at her foolishly with smiles on their faces. Lu Shui patted the back of Lu Gan's head with his palm and said, "Don't you know how to show respect? You're really an impolite little brat." Only then did they understand and bowed to the woman, calling out "Shifu" (older sister). Hong Jie saw them smiling and laughed, saying repeatedly that they had some sense.

  Lu Gang told Hong Jie that Teacher Yang is in our school, do you want to go see him? Hong Jie smiled and said, no need to go, I didn't tell him this time either, we'll visit him another time.

  Lu Shuisheng said: "How can you go to school like this, go back and change your clothes." Lu Gong refused, saying that he would be late and Teacher Yang would criticize him. Hong Jie heard this and hastily ordered the boat worker to find two sets of clothes for them in the cabin, but was stopped by Lu Shuisheng, who said: "This is absolutely not allowed, this is anti-Japanese material, how can it be done."

  Hong Jie smiled and said to Shui Sheng: "They protected the anti-Japanese materials, made contributions to the resistance against Japan, it's a pity they're not soldiers. If they were, I'd ask Commander Geng to reward them for their merits. You young people are really impressive! Don't say any more, Uncle. Can't you just let them go to class soaked from head to toe?"

  "Old brother, it's like this, let them change into these, and they won't be in a hurry to leave. We'll take these back, wash and dry them, then give them back to them to bring away. This way, we won't lose out either."

  Everyone burst out laughing at Gong Qiu's words. Geng Yingchang thought it was a good idea, and Li Baichang repeatedly said "yes, yes". Shui Sheng thought for a moment and said that this way is also good, that way is also good. He also teased Gong Qiu, saying that even though he is rough, he sometimes has a delicate mind. Then, together with Gong Qiu, they went to help the people on the boat clean up, while Lu Gan and Xiao Lin followed the sailors into the cabin to change their clothes.

  Geng Yingchang and Hong Jie got to know each other through Teacher Yang. They stood at the bow of the boat, tacitly understanding each other. Both of them were introduced by Teacher Yang into the revolutionary organization.

  Commander Geng said, "Last night I received a telegram from the headquarters saying that an important ship was passing by here, and it turned out to be you." Commander Geng blamed Hong Jie for not contacting him in advance. Hong Jie said she didn't know Commander Geng was here, if she had known, she would have definitely contacted him. The main reason was to take a safe route, plus she was anxious to rush to her destination. She didn't expect to run into these hoodlums and almost got into trouble. After comforting her for a few sentences, he asked Hong Jie to follow him back to the camp temporarily. Hong Jie agreed to stay only for breakfast time. Commander Geng said it was no problem.

  After changing their clothes, Lu Gang and Xiao Lin bid farewell to Hong Jie and they got on a small boat. As they watched the big ship disappear into the distance towards the village, just as they were about to row to the opposite shore, Lu Gang saw Lu Wei running towards them from that road with her backpack on, calling out to her brother and Xiao Lin to wait for her.

  Just as they were about to reach the other shore, they heard several gunshots. It turned out that Commander Geng had boarded Gong Qiu's small boat and landed on the shore, where he executed Mu Nongzi for the crime of looting war materials. Then he galloped towards the camp on horseback.

  In the nearby reeds, a bald head emerged, he wasn't dead, just shot in the calf. As Hong Jie's boat left, he quietly crawled ashore and hobbled away.

  Every day, to guard against Japanese planes' reconnaissance or bombing, all boats in the village were covered during the day and went out on the lake at night. Lu Gang and others continued to go to school for classes, and Commander Geng continued to conduct training as usual, without any war situation requiring mobilization of their troops.

  The Japanese, after reconnaissance during the day, found no ships on the lake, thinking that the Chinese were obedient and law-abiding, gradually reduced the number of times they came out to reconnoitre. After all, fuel was scarce, let alone the war had reached a stalemate, now the Pacific War was intense, there was more pressing business for them, concentrating their strength to deal with the Allied forces was an urgent matter.

  The Japanese army occupied the north of the river, and the Nationalist Party had several battlefields in the south. The enemy did not want to make a rash move because both water and land routes leading to Chongqing were controlled by the National Army. They only had an advantage in air control, but it was also impossible for them to send bombs to the skies above Chongqing every day with airplanes.

  Little did they know that several months later, a disaster brought by war descended quietly on this beautiful and rich village like a devil.