Chapter Fifteen: Escaping the Small Town

  The encounter between Shan Lao Hu and Lu Gong left a deep impression on his heart, but he didn't hold much resentment towards Lu Gong. Instead, it was his subordinates who refused to acknowledge Shan Lao Hu's authority, leaving him one after another, saying that they wouldn't even pay for the medical expenses of those injured by others. Shan Lao Hu had no sense of loyalty or righteousness to speak of, and he couldn't afford to pay them anyway. The only comfort was that Hou Zi hadn't left, and was still staying with him in this dilapidated temple.

  But since that day when he met Xiao Ke, his soul was hooked by her. Every night, he couldn't sleep, thinking of Xiao Ke, and wished to immediately hold her in his arms. At that time, with the beautiful woman in his embrace, wouldn't the wealth of the Xiao family be his? With the wealth of the Xiao family, wouldn't he be the big master here?

  That day when Cheng Sen came to find him, he was more than happy to help, not because of Lu Gang and others, but because he wanted to take the opportunity to go to the Xiao family and see Xiao Ke. When Xiao Ke came out, he saw that she looked even more enchanting in the firelight.

  For several days, during the day, he would often find excuses to wander around the Xiao family's neighborhood, sneaking peeks at the big courtyard of the Xiao family. The monkey had already seen through Shan Lao Hu's thoughts and came up with a plan, saying that if he wanted to get Xiao Ke, he had to get close to Lu Gang, and the way to get close to Lu Gang was to become his apprentice.

  Shan Lao Hu thought the monkey's idea was stupid, thinking that as a man, he couldn't bear to be a disciple of someone younger than him. He didn't want to do it, but after the monkey repeatedly explained, he finally understood the plan. With a mouthful of praise for the monkey, his heart was actually thinking of Xiao Ke. Yes, getting close to Lu Gang meant getting close to Xiao Ke!

  In his excitement, he hugged the monkey and kissed him on the cheek, leaving the monkey's face covered in saliva, feeling embarrassed and unable to laugh or cry.

  Xiao Ke didn't take her father's words to heart, after lunch, she asked Biao Shu for some money, ignoring Biao Shu's obstruction, and took Lu Gong, Xiao Lin, and Jiang Ya Zi to the street market.

  It was already after noon, and there weren't many people coming to the market to buy things. The July weather was sweltering, and the sun beating down made it unbearable. Under the awning, some vendors had finished eating and were fanning themselves, while a family who was still eating chatted idly. Some children were playing tag and hide-and-seek. There were indeed many goods here, ranging from large farm tools like plows to small daily necessities like thread. Vegetables and livestock could also be found here. Xiao Ke asked Lu Gang if there were markets in their hometown, and Lu Gang said no. They weren't far from the county town, where there was a market, but it wasn't as big as this one, and didn't have as many things.

  It just so happened that Mountain Tiger and Monkey were also strolling around the market at this moment. Suddenly, they saw Xiao Ke and Lu Gong, Xiaolin walking out of the store. Mountain Tiger's eyes widened, if not for Monkey reminding him to go and pay his respects, he would have been staring at Xiao Ke in a daze, unsure when he would come back to himself. Mountain Tiger intentionally walked up, knelt down with a thud in front of Lu Gong, leaving Lu Gong bewildered, wondering what was happening. All that could be heard was Mountain Tiger saying: "Master is above, disciple pays his respects." He looked very devout, prostrating himself on the ground. It wasn't until then that Lu Gong and the others realized what was going on. Seeing Mountain Tiger like this, they couldn't help but laugh as they walked away. Xiaolin dropped a sentence saying "The weasel's New Year's greeting to the chicken is not auspicious," Mountain Tiger pretended he didn't hear it, unaware that Lu Gong and the others had already left, still prostrating on the ground. Monkey said they were gone. Getting up to see Lu Gong and the others leave, he hit Monkey's head, scolding: "You got me humiliated! Quickly think of another way, I won't be his disciple anymore. This business is not worth suffering for."

  The monkey scratched the back of his head, thought for a moment, and glanced at Mountain Tiger with his eyes, saying, "Third Master, I don't know if Third Master has the guts to get a few guns, gather the troops, and sit on the mountain. Then call up the brothers to bring Miss Xiao up the mountain as a hostage, and by then she won't dare not follow you." Mountain Tiger listened, his face filled with joy, but he became worried and said, "Where can we get guns from? You're always giving me empty ideas, what kind of stupid plan is this? I don't want to think about it anymore. Without Miss Xiao, how would I live? Don't mention Miss Xiao in front of me again today, or I'll beat you to death." Let's go, yesterday my uncle asked me to help him fix his boat and have a drink with him. It's been a long time since I've had a drink. Come on, let's go with Master, it's annoying, let's get drunk and not return until we're satisfied.

  What's the point of going back? An old temple, what's there to go back to? It's not even as good as sleeping on your uncle's boat. The monkey muttered to itself and was heard by the mountain tiger, who gave it a whack on the back of its head again.

  Lu Gang clearly understood that Shan Lao Hu's earlier move was just a trick, and he knew that he was not serious. He told Xiao Ke about it, and Xiao Ke laughed again after hearing it. Lu Gang said that if Xiao Ke really became Shan Lao Hu's wife one day, he would go to her wedding banquet. Li Xiao Lin also chimed in, saying that he would also attend the banquet. If they had children, he would be their godfather. Xiao Ke was originally happy, but after hearing this, she became angry and stormed off, leaving Lu Gang and Li Xiao Lin behind.

  Li Xiao Lin seemed to have noticed something and teased Lu Gang, saying that Xiao Ke must have taken a liking to him, and who knows, maybe one day Shan Lao Hu would let him marry into the family. Lu Gang told him to stop talking nonsense. Jiang Piao Zi said that they should wait for his parents to return before leaving.

  Lu Gang thought about it and realized that Xiao Ke's feelings towards him were not like those of ordinary people. He didn't know why, but he felt that way. He decided that the only thing to do was to leave the Xiao family compound. Lu Gang suggested to Li Xiao Lin that they leave now, but Li Xiao Lin stopped him, saying that they couldn't leave before Shan Lao Hu returned, and that they had to take care of Miss Xiao Ke.

  Jiang Piao Zi also said that they should wait for his parents to return. Lu Gang gave up on the idea of leaving and they continued to chase after Xiao Ke, but didn't see her anywhere. They thought she must have gone back home in anger and walked towards the Xiao family compound.

  Lu Gang asked the bodyguard standing outside the door, "Has Miss returned?" The bodyguard replied that he hadn't seen her return. Lu Gang's heart tightened, and he secretly said, "It's bad." He pulled Xiao Lin and Jiang Yizi's hands and left. He knew that Xiao Su had really gotten angry, but didn't know where she had gone. He thought to himself, "What if something happens to her?" They returned to the market again, searching everywhere, but still couldn't find any sign of Xiao Su. They became anxious, not knowing where to go in this unfamiliar place. If anything happened to her, how would they explain it to her father when he came back? They didn't know what to do, and asked passersby or shop owners if they had any news about her, but their foreheads were covered with big drops of sweat as they anxiously waited for an answer.

  Lu Gang and others arrived at the dock and asked everyone they met. Someone said that a woman seemed to have gone to the forest in front, so they hurriedly ran towards the forest.

  Angry and willful Xiao Ke left Lu Gang without going home, sulking through the forest to the outskirts, she didn't realize that due to her own willfulness she almost fell into a desperate situation.

  Just as she was walking on the outskirts with a depressed mood, thinking about what Lu Gong and Xiao Lin had said, she suddenly saw two Japanese soldiers coming from the opposite side, laughing and joking. She quickly turned around to walk back, but they saw her and shouted loudly, "Hana Kozo's work! Don't go!" as they chased after her. Xiao Cao was anxious.

  Ten miles away from the town, there is a devil's artillery tower, guarding the road to the county seat. Here you can still see the movement on the river surface, it is an important throat and tongue for protecting the county seat occupied by the devils. These two devils are just coming out of the artillery tower to buy vegetables, this place is closest to the small town, and the materials here are also rich.

  At this time, Xiao Ke thought it was a big mistake to mess with Lu Gong and his gang. While running, she tried her best to calm down her tense heart, eagerly hoping that Lu Gong would descend from the sky. However, except for some chickens, ducks, trees, grass, and small birds around, there were no human shadows in sight. The devils behind were about to catch up with her, and she had to shout loudly for help, running towards the town direction with all her might. However, entering or leaving the town must go through the forest, generally not many people move around, let alone on such a hot day. She didn't dare to enter rashly, so she ran towards a vegetable field on the right side, where she saw a household not far from the field, hoping to meet someone to save her. This household was the home of Shan Laohu's uncle, and Shan Laohu and the monkey were helping his uncle repair the boat.

  "Halt, Flower Girl! Don't be afraid of hard work. If you run again, I'll shoot!" The devils were intimidating Xiao Ke, but the shout not only didn't stop Xiao Ke's footsteps, but instead made her quicken her pace, running wildly and desperately towards that thatched hut. Xiao Ke estimated there was someone inside and loudly shouted for help, but the sound of her own voice seemed to change, becoming sharp and unfamiliar, as if it wasn't her own voice. Xiao Ke felt strange, yet she called out twice more before tripping and falling into a vegetable field. She struggled to get up. Xiao Ke's shouts were not only heard by the mountain tigers and monkeys, but also by Lu Gang and others who were running out of town and entering the forest.

  The mountain tiger and the monkey immediately walked out of the yard, saw what was in front of them, closed his eyes, thought to hell with it, he didn't want to deal with the devils. When he was about to close the door, the monkey said to him, "It seems like Xiao Jie". The mountain tiger turned around and took a closer look, it was indeed Xiao Ke, damn it, how did she end up here? The monkey shouted again, "Look, San Ye, there are devils chasing her!" The mountain tiger let out a loud shout, what are you looking at, hurry up and get the tools! The monkey went back to the house to grab a shovel, Mountain Ye grabbed an axe and rushed out of the house. Table uncle saw them running out of the house with tense expressions, followed them to the door and took a look, found that the situation was not right, he turned around and returned to the bedroom, reached under the pillow and pulled out a revolver, inserted it into his waist and ran outside.

  Almost at the same time, Lu Gong and others looked around and saw a woman running outside the forest with devils chasing behind her. The woman was Xiao Ke. Lu Gong and others hastily ran out of the forest and rushed out from the side.

  Xiao Ke fell down again and couldn't get up, her foot twisted in a strange way, she sat on the ground with tears streaming down her face. She saw the devils coming towards her, leering at her, she struggled to get up but couldn't stand, so she had to use her hands to prop herself up and move backwards. The devils saw Xiao Ke's beauty in the vegetable field, threw away their guns, and muttered to themselves, "Ah, Asia, ah..." They were burning with desire, hastily taking off their clothes, without any regard for whether someone might be approaching them, nor did they expect that their lives would soon be forfeit. Like hungry wolves, they pounced on Xiao Ke's body, she was so frightened that she closed her eyes.

  The devils were hit by the steel ball thrown by Mountain Tiger and both of them had a big lump on their heads. Before they could understand what was happening, Lu Gang's single leg kick arrived, kicking them heavily to the side of the vegetable field. The two devils, Zhang Er and Shan, were confused and didn't know where the gods came from. They touched the lumps on their heads, but before they could wake up, they were kicked again by Lu Gang.

  At this time, Mountain Tiger ran over and saw Xiao Gu Niang lying in the vegetable field. He was heartbroken and angry, staring at the devils with bulging eyes. Without the steel ball, he picked up an axe and shouted loudly as he swung it towards the devils. It wasn't until then that the devils woke up and dodged Mountain Tiger's axe in a panic.

  The monkey also used a hoe to sweep towards the devils, but was tripped by something and fell to the ground, becoming a laughing stock for the devils. The devils were not afraid, their warrior spirit quickly calmed them down, and they prepared to fight back without showing weakness, shouting loudly.

  Lu Gang stared at the devils' movements and shouted, "Mountain Tiger, Xiao Lin, Monkey, Jiang Pianzi, you don't need to help here. Protect Xiao Shao well, I'll take care of this." The devils looked at each other and one of them said, "How dare you, come on, let's see if you can withstand it."

  Mountain Tiger shouted and swung his axe towards the devils, but was punched to the ground by a devil. He lay in the vegetable field for half a day without getting up. The devil then kicked Mountain Tiger's throat, but Lu Gang quickly rushed over and blocked the kick with his leg. He felt a bit of pain in his foot and thought that the devil's strength was quite impressive.

  Lu Gang thought to himself that he couldn't drag this on any longer. If they alerted other devils, it would be disastrous. Not only would Xiao Gu Niang not be rescued, but their lives would also be lost. He remembered his hometown's tragic situation and his mother who died under the devils' cannonballs.

  He went forward with a strange move, each strike deadly. Under Lu Gang's fierce attack, the two devils couldn't withstand it. Lu Gang took advantage of the situation and punched one devil's head, causing him to bleed from the nose and lose consciousness. The other devil saw this and shouted as he rushed towards Lu Gang.

  Lu Gang kicked the devil far away, coincidentally kicking him to where the gun was placed. The devil picked up the gun, startling Xiao Lin, who shouted, "Gang Ge, be careful behind you!" The devil charged towards Lu Gang with the gun, but Lu Gang didn't dodge. He stood there with his back to the knife tip.

  Just as the devil's bayonet was about to stab him in the back, Lu Gang suddenly pounced forward, using both hands to prop himself up from the ground. The devil's bayonet stabbed into thin air, and Lu Gang used the devil's momentum to kick him in the abdomen with both legs. The devil dropped the gun and fell to the ground, rolling around in pain.

  Lu Gang rotated his body, using one hand to support himself as he stood up from the ground. He jumped to the side of the devil and picked him up, preparing to use the same method that killed the previous devil to send this one to the afterlife. At this time, Xiao Lin picked up the gun on the ground and shouted to Lu Gang, "Gang Ge, let go, I'll take care of it."

  Lu Gang listened and pushed the devil forward, coincidentally bumping him into Xiao Lin's bayonet tip. The devil's belly was pierced, and fresh blood spurted out. As the bayonet was withdrawn, the intestines flowed out onto the ground, and the little devil let out a final breath.

  All this was seen by the uncle who rushed over, at first he saw the devils having the upper hand, and wanted to pull out his gun to finish off the two devils, but feared attracting more devils, wanting to fire but not daring to fire. Just as he was hesitating, he saw Lu Gang single-handedly subdue and defeat the devils, and his heart couldn't help but feel extremely admiring.

  The mountain tiger wanted to help Xiao Xiao, but was stopped by Little Lin. Xiao Xiao, who had already woken up, stood up with the support of Little Lin and Jiang Ya Zi, looked at the two Japanese corpses on the ground, rushed over and kicked them twice, then punched Lu Gang's chest with his fists, saying "It's all your fault, it's all your fault." After finishing speaking, he started to sob lightly. The mountain tiger watched from the side, feeling uncomfortable in his heart. Seeing Xiao Xiao crying, he wanted to comfort her, but saw that Lu Gang was too busy to care about that. He said, "How can you blame me? If it wasn't for your recklessness, would we have made such a big mistake?" Then he turned to Little Lin and said, "Little Lin, hurry up, this is not a place to stay for long. Quickly take care of them and bury those two guns as well. The faster the better." Monkey and Mountain Tiger listened to Lu Gang's tone, looked at the dead Japanese again, and still felt a little frightened in their hearts. Lu Gang and Little Lin didn't seem to be afraid like they were. They had killed a Japanese devil and sworn not to show mercy to the devils. Jiang Ya Zi picked up the two steel balls from the ground and handed them to Mountain Tiger, saying "This thing is so heavy, unfortunately it can't kill the devils." Mountain Tiger looked at Jiang Ya Zi and asked him what he meant. Monkey said, "Third Master, isn't this obvious? The kung fu didn't work." As soon as his words fell, the back of his head was hit once.

  At this time, Shu Shu walked over, Shan Laohu said to Lu Gong that this was his uncle, Lu Gong smiled at Shu Shu and said to Xiao Lin, "Hurry up." Shu Shu said, "Quickly, quickly, come and drag these two devils into the woods and bury them. Shan Laohu, you're strong, carry one away. Monkey take the gun, Xiao Lin, I'll lift one with you, hurry up and act."

  The mountain tiger, monkey, small forest and river child all nodded and went off busily.

  Lu Gong said to Xiao Ke: "We can't stay here anymore, let's leave immediately."

  "Where are you going?"

  Lu Gong said with a bewildered expression: "I don't know."

  "Shall we go to Yan'an? I have many classmates there."

  "Yan'an? How to get there? Teacher Yang didn't mention it either."

  "I know the way, but I'm afraid we don't have enough money for the fare. If I had known something like this would happen when we came out, I would have asked Uncle Biao for more money. Otherwise, we can go back and ask Uncle Biao for some more."

  "It's too late. Let's set off immediately. Kobayashi, is that place ready?"

  At this time, raindrops floated down from the sky, and the surroundings were much darker than before.

  Kobayashi agreed and came out of the woods with Yamainu, Saru, and Oji. Kobayashi said that Yamainu had taken a belt from the enemy. Rokkaku saw that Yamainu indeed had it around his waist and whispered to him, "You want to die? If you don't burn it or bury it, I'll let you do whatever you want, but you can't wear it openly." Although Yamainu was reluctant, he knew that Rokkaku had saved his life. Earlier, when Saru was burying the enemy's body, he said that he saw Rokkaku go to rescue him with a single kick and said something about it being a feat that only a god could achieve. He thanked Rokkaku, so he listened to Rokkaku's words and quickly removed the belt, asking Saru to first dig up a patch of vegetables with a hoe, then bury the belt, and finally replant the vegetables on top.

  After everything was settled, just as Lu Gang was about to bid farewell to Biao Shu and Shan Lao Hu, the latter suddenly knelt down: "Master is above, I'll kowtow to you again." It seemed that he had no choice but to acknowledge Lu Gang as his master. However, this time it didn't have the same meaning as before. Before, it was for Xiao Shu's sake, but now it was only for himself. He had witnessed Lu Gang's bravery in killing the ghost child and saw his hatred towards them. He admired him, and today he saw that Biao Shu's heart was with Lu Gang. Although he felt a bit jealous, heroes are always heroes, and which beauty wouldn't love a hero? Himself being rough and unrefined, which young girl would like him? He had made up his mind: if Lu Gang didn't agree, he wouldn't get up. He really wanted to acknowledge Lu Gang as his master and become his disciple. If he could truly make Lu Gang his master, he would feel proud.

  Seeing that Lu Gang didn't react, he looked at Biao Shu with pleading eyes, but the latter pretended not to see him. At this time, the monkey also knelt down and called out to Lu Gang as "master". Lu Gang was at a loss for what to do, but he couldn't stay there for long either. He had no choice but to bend down and help them up, but they refused to get up unless Lu Gang agreed.

  Xiao Lin spoke up: "Hey, hey, get up! If you don't, we'll leave, and you can stay here in the rain." After saying that, he pulled Lu Gang and Biao Shu away. They walked a long distance before Lu Gang saw that Shan Lao Hu and the monkey were still kneeling in the vegetable field. He went back alone and saw that they weren't just ordinary men. Earlier, when they fought against the ghost child together, they had shared a common enemy. Now, he worried that if the ghost child came again, it wouldn't be good for them to stay there kneeling. His heart softened, and he agreed to their request.

  Shan Lao Hu and the monkey were overjoyed and kowtowed three times before bidding farewell to Biao Shu. Then they followed Lu Gang, leaving behind a trail of laughter.

  The youth's innocence is like paper, they have forgotten the unhappiness of the past. Their prime years are indeed their good years, but little do they know that on the road ahead, awaiting them will be trials of blood and fire, a purgatory of life and death.

  At nightfall, Cao Chang of the Cannon Tower Village received a report that two soldiers had not returned. The village head personally led three puppet soldiers and three devils with flashlights to search for the missing soldiers' trail.

  They arrived at the ferry terminal, but due to the heavy rain, it was already dark and the ferry had stopped operating. No matter how hard Lu Gang and the others tried to persuade the boat owner, he refused to take them across. Shan Lao Hu wanted to go into the boat owner's rest house to grab the bamboo pole used for punting, but was stopped by Lu Gang. Lu Gang told them, "Let's split up and meet here again tomorrow." Shan Lao Hu didn't think this was right - what if Lu Gang was trying to get rid of them? He thought about it and then grabbed hold of Lu Gang, saying, "Tomorrow is uncertain, oh dear, I almost forgot! My uncle has a boat that was repaired today. Let's go find him and ask him to take us across the river." Lu Gang thought for a moment and then followed Shan Lao Hu.

  The uncle saw that they were the mountain tigers and hurriedly invited them in, saying: "You haven't left yet?" The mountain tiger quickly pulled the uncle aside and said a few words. The uncle asked: "Where is the ferry not crossing? It's okay, don't disturb those people, there are many mouths and it's hard to say whether they will reveal your whereabouts. Follow me, I'll take you across the river." After finishing speaking, he urged them to hurry to the riverside and wait for him, while he put on a raincoat and hat, and led them from the back door onto the boat.

  Just as their boat was speeding towards the middle of the river, they saw the lights on the riverbank flickering. The uncle signaled them to be quiet. Lu Gang and the others crouched in the boat, hardly daring to breathe, watching quietly as the uncle at the bow gently rowed, and in the darkness, the boat sped swiftly towards the opposite bank.

  After a while, the lights on the shore gradually went away, and the devils walked far. Lu Gang said to his uncle, "Uncle, you'd better not go back, I'm worried that they can't find those two devils, they won't give up." His uncle said while rowing the boat, "I'm afraid of nothing. At first, my aunt was killed by Japanese devils. Two years ago, when the devils were building a cannon tower here, I was caught and forced to buy labor, not to mention that they wanted my aunt to send vegetables up there, she was looked at by the devils and was raped, came back crazy and didn't speak, until daytime, when I went to repair the cannon tower, she jumped into the water. My son, my son Xiaoliu was furious."

  A gust of wind came, the boat shook a bit, and Fourth Uncle quickly rowed to the right with his oar. The boat then steadily sailed towards the opposite bank again. Fourth Uncle told them that they were not far from the riverbank now.

  "Uncle, what happened afterwards?" Xiao Ke asked eagerly.

  "Hey, what's the hurry? I'm not in a rush, let's listen to Uncle Biao."

  "Later on, he killed a devil. Then later, I sent him across the river. But then I heard that he became a puppet soldier in the artillery tower, and then I heard that he joined the New Fourth Army. I'm confused about what he's doing? And didn't see him come back, it's infuriating!"

  "New Fourth Army? Do you know the New Fourth Army?" Lu Gan heard Shu Shu say this term, and pulled on Shu Shu's hand to ask: "Then do you know Teacher Yang, Yang Binglian?"

  My uncle looked at his anxious expression, shook his head and said: "Don't know." Suddenly my uncle stopped talking, his face turned serious, signaling others not to make a sound. They heard the engine of the speedboat.

  The devils' patrol boat is coming, don't make a sound, get down quickly. Tai Shu shouted in a low voice while rapidly rowing towards the shore. Under the cover of night, they all landed and entered the forest.

  The devil's motorboat went by.

  What a close call! Lu Gong exclaimed.

  On the riverbank, a small village accompanied by devils, used flashlights to sweep back and forth on the river surface, didn't find anything unusual, and said with some disappointment: "Let's go to town."

  The rain stopped. A group of people came out of the forest and crossed over the embankment. Cousin Tai said to Lu Gang, "After crossing this embankment, go around the thatched cottage in front, turn right, and you can see a red-brick house. There's an inn there, don't worry about staying, it's fine." Lu Gang thanked him and advised him not to return tonight. Cousin Tai said it was okay, if they encountered devils coming to inspect, just say they were fishing, this kind of thing had happened many times before, those patrolling would also recognize them, sometimes they even came to his home to drink wine, so Lu Gang should rest assured.

  Lu Gang asked Uncle Biao: "Is there a New Fourth Army here? How far is it?"

  My uncle said there is one, but I'm not quite sure how far it is.

  Here is the translation:

  While chatting with Uncle Lu, Xiao Ke curiously asked Mountain Tiger why he wanted to take Lu as his master. Mountain Tiger spoke bluntly, "The first time I took you as my master was because I had taken a liking to you and wanted to make you my wife..." Don't hit me, Xiao Ke, don't hit me! If you want to hit someone, hit that dead monkey, it was all his idea. The monkey, seeing Mountain Tiger expose him, also responded without courtesy, "If you weren't infatuated with Miss Xiao, I wouldn't have bothered with you." Jiang Piazhi heard this and said, "Ah, ah, I knew it! You were plotting something, I'll get Brother Lu to beat you into a pulp..." Before he could finish speaking, Mountain Tiger covered his mouth and whispered, "Brother, brother, don't say anything, please. We were just joking around. I'm no match for Master Lu. It's all because Miss Xiao wanted me to say something. If I really said it, wouldn't that cause trouble?" "Then what was the reason for taking him as your master the second time?" Little Lin asked persistently. "What else could it be? He's a hero, and being a disciple of a hero is also heroic. Monkey, you tell me, isn't that right?" Mountain Tiger's words made everyone around them laugh. The monkey laughed and said, "You think you're some kind of hero? You're just a bit bigger than me, with more flesh on your bones and thicker skin. If you want to be a hero, go learn from Master Lu and kill a few devils. All you know how to do is bully me, always hitting the back of my head." His words made them laugh even harder, especially Xiao Ke, who laughed so hard she was bent forward and backward.

  Kobayashi said to Lu Gang, who was walking with his uncle, "Gang brother, you're in trouble. I see these two apprentices of yours are not easy to manage." He looked at them and saw that they were fighting each other. Ah, I said San Ye... no, can't call him San Ye anymore... Uncle interrupted, saying what's the point of calling him San Ye, it's just a paper tiger, used to scare people or ghosts? Kobayashi then said to Shan Lao Hu, "You must not make my Gang brother angry in the future, especially..." He glanced at Xiao Cao, who was smiling and listening to their conversation, and emphasized, "especially Miss Xiao." Shan Lao Hu quickly said he wouldn't dare. Xiao Cao understood from their words and actions that they were teasing her. Not paying attention to that, she didn't act like a country girl who had never seen the world, being shy. She went up, held Lu Gang's hand tightly, took a few steps, and asked, "Do you think I match with Lu Gang?" This sudden action and words made Lu Gang's face turn red, luckily it was at night, so nothing could be seen, otherwise, Kobayashi would have had something to say again. He struggled a few times but couldn't get free, being held tightly by Xiao Cao.

  The monkey said: Perfect match, perfect match, heavenly match. The mountain tiger said, "Hey, you monkey, what's a heavenly match? It's hard to get together once a year." No way, it should be male and female matches, one pair of heaven and earth. The monkey started singing again, saying, "One pair of heaven and earth, one is heaven and the other is earth, they are far apart, no, no." Xiaolin smiled and chimed in, "You're all wrong, in the past it was 'beautiful women, good men'. I think we should change it now, what's a good change? Ah, yes, let's change it to: 'Gallant and handsome men, women are eager to marry'. Perfect match, perfect match, forming pairs." Everyone laughed loudly, completely forgetting that they had just escaped from danger. At this time, Uncle Biao stopped and said he wouldn't send them off any further. Lu Gang persuaded him not to go back, saying it wasn't too late in a few days, but Uncle Biao said no way, that would only arouse the enemy's suspicion.

  Lu Gang saw his uncle off, worried about his safety. The mountain tiger saw that the uncle had left and told Lu Gang not to worry, saying he would follow him back and take care of him. In fact, he was thinking of hiding guns and belts. He asked the monkey what to do, and the monkey said, "I'll go with you." Then he said to Lu Gang, "Master, take care, maybe we'll come find you tomorrow." Lu Gang saw that they were determined to leave and didn't try to stop them too much, reminding them to be careful and pay attention to safety, and not to go to the forest or the vegetable field. The mountain tiger and the monkey said they knew and ran towards the uncle's boat. The boat slowly sailed away from the shore and disappeared into the dark river at night.

  "What's going on? Why haven't Xiao Ke and the others returned yet? Where have they gone?" Biao Shu muttered to himself, puzzled. He had gone to the door several times but hadn't seen their shadows. When he asked the bodyguards, they replied that they hadn't seen Xiao Ke, but Lu Gang and the others had come asking about him. As soon as Biao Shu heard this, he felt a sense of unease in his heart - what was going on? He immediately gathered all the resting bodyguards and servants and ordered them to go find Xiao Ke at once. After finishing his urgent instructions, Biao Shu turned around and rushed back into the house, pacing back and forth like an ant on a hot pot, sometimes listening intently for any movement outside, sometimes muttering to himself - why hadn't they returned yet? What was going on? It was already late, and outside it was pouring rain with thunder and lightning. Where had these people gone? Had they kidnapped the young lady? How could they do that? They didn't even have much money, Xiao Ke had only asked him for 10 yuan when they left the house today - what could they do with that little money? Had they been caught by the Japanese devils? Or had they fallen victim to the mountain tigers' ambush? But no, that was impossible - Lu Gang was with them, he could protect the young lady. In a few days, the old master would be back, and Biao Shu's heart was truly anxious, his thoughts were all jumbled up. Although the weather had cooled down due to the rain, Biao Shu's sweat continued to pour down. If anything happened to Xiao Ke, he wouldn't want to live anymore.

  Just as Biao Shu was racking his brains, the door creaked open. He was overjoyed and hastily opened it with a flourish, only to be stunned - Xiao Cun had brought in some Japanese puppet soldiers.

  "Quickly, Master Biao said, 'Tai Jun, my family's Xiao Lao Ye is not here, if there's anything, let's talk about it when he comes back. He went to the provincial city and will be back in a little over half a month. As soon as he returns, I'll immediately invite Tai Jun to our humble abode to have a drink with Xiao Lao Ye.'"

  The little village understood Chinese, he had been to China for many years, the only time he fought in Nanjing City, his leg was injured, he didn't want to go back, so the troops let him be responsible for monitoring the movements of the New Fourth Army and the guerrilla forces at a stronghold on the outskirts of this city. After a long time, he also became familiar with this small town and Xiao Lao Ye, sometimes when he wanted to drink, he would come to Xiao Lao Ye's house to make a scene, when he was not drunk, he wouldn't go looking for trouble, but once he got drunk, he would look for Hua Gu Niang.

  He said to Biao Shu: "Today I'm not looking for Old Master Xiao, I'm looking for our Imperial Army, they're gone. Have you seen them?"

  Bo Uncle hurriedly shook his head and said he hadn't seen anything, hadn't seen anything.

  Kobayashi didn't care, and ordered the soldiers to search each house. The result was nothing. Kobayashi said to Biao Shu: "Official business, official business, I've disturbed you. When Xiao Lao Ye comes back, it's your turn to treat me to a drink."

  Biao Shu nodded in agreement and saw the ghost out the door. But in his heart, he was wondering if it was Lu Gang and the others who did it. If it really was them, then Xiao Suo must have been involved too. Thinking about this made Biao Shu feel scared, how would he explain it to Old Master Xiao? He paced back and forth inside the house, muttering to himself: "It can't be, it's not them, they wouldn't do that, Bodhisattva protect us." The people who went out to search returned one by one, telling Biao Shu that they hadn't found anything. He became anxious, instructing a bodyguard to watch the house and then took an umbrella and headed out into the rain. First, he went to the dock, then walked towards the town center, not knowing where he was going, walking with his head down and eyes wide open in the rain.

  At this moment, the mountain tiger and the monkey have already sat on Uncle's boat and returned to shore.

  Farewell to Uncle Tai, the mountain tiger ran towards the vegetable garden, and the monkey naturally knew what he meant. The mountain tiger couldn't bear to part with that leather belt. He didn't stop him, but instead thought about the gun buried in the forest. He made a trick move towards the mountain tiger and said, "You go, I'm not going, I'll just relieve myself." Taking advantage of the darkness, he quickly approached the forest. The rain wasn't heavy, and the fluffy raindrops fell on his face, making him feel refreshed and comfortable. The monkey quickly ran towards the forest, and despite the darkness, he still found the place where the gun was hidden.

  Three or four digs and the mud was dug open, the bayonet on the gun was stained with some mud, but under the night color it still flashed a cold light, gloomy and made the monkey shiver.

  "Alright, you little brat, you're really bold, daring to play tricks in front of me!" A loud shout from behind startled the monkey, and the gun in his hand almost fell to the ground. He was severely whipped by Mountain Tiger.

  The monkey quickly rubbed his buttocks and explained: "Third Master, I wasn't watching you being busy over there. Seeing that you were busy, I came over to dig it myself. After digging it out, I'll give it to you and send it over, so Third Master doesn't have to take the trouble to come in person. Afraid of wasting Third Master's energy, here it is, for you, Third Master."

  The mountain tiger tied the belt around his waist, took over the gun handed over by the monkey, made a few fancy moves, and the monkey looked up at him from his fat face, the mountain tiger was not satisfied. The monkey took out another rifle from the pit and compared it in his hand.

  "Big brother, will it work? I don't know how to play with this thing."

  "Ask me, I don't know either. Let's go back to my uncle's house and study it. You take it." After finishing speaking, he threw the gun to the monkey, and the monkey carried two guns and was about to return to his uncle's house with the mountain tiger when something happened.

  They saw a beam of light swaying and hastily retreated, hiding behind a large tree.

  In the swaying light, they saw a small village where his original gang of brothers were walking towards them, and their nerves immediately tightened. After looking at each other, Mountain Tiger said softly, "How did they end up here? Didn't they all run away?" Grandma's been caught by the devils! Monkey said unclearly, don't ask me. I don't know either, but we have to rescue these brothers. Mountain Tiger said, "Do you need to ask?"

  The monkey asked the mountain tiger in a soft voice, "I don't know how to use it, I can't take down the bayonet, and the fire is burning. How do I use this thing?" The mountain tiger whispered to the monkey, "Don't be afraid of death, just use it however you want, as long as we rescue our brothers. Follow me and watch what I do."

  The little village they walked over. Near, the mountain tiger threw two steel balls in his hand to the pseudo-army in front of him, hitting their faces. The monkey shouted, San Ye, hit it. They fell down.

  "Shout to death, don't you hurry up and go save your brother!" The mountain tiger shouted loudly, the monkey followed up and fought with the ghost.

  Taking advantage of the chaos, Shan Laohu pointed his gun at Cao Chang and stabbed him. Cao Chang came to his senses, moved his body, and shouted "Ba Ga" loudly. He immediately drew out his knife and parried Shan Laohu's attack. Shan Laohu yelled loudly, "Brothers, come on, let's fight them!" But those people shouted back, "Our hands are tied up!" As Shan Laohu fought Cao Chang, he called out to the monkey, "Monkey, quickly, help them untie the ropes."

  "Third Master, I'm busy!" The monkey replied, as he was entwining with two devils, unable to defeat them, and could only run around in the thicket, teasing them like a monkey.

  "You don't even know how to untie yourselves, you're all just a bunch of stupid things." Before he could finish speaking, his arm was slashed by a knife and he let out a pained cry as the gun fell to the ground. Xiaocun laughed maniacally as he charged towards him with the knife, while Shan Laohu ran away. Those people shouted for Big Brother to help them untie themselves. Shan Laohu didn't have time to help them under Xiaocun's pursuit. He said: "I'm almost done for, how can I help you guys? Don't you know how to use your teeth? You're all just a bunch of stupid fools." His words reminded everyone, and one by one they started biting each other's knots. Just as Shan Laohu and the monkey were dodging the devils' attacks, they managed to untie themselves and shouted: "Hurray! We've come!" Xiaocun saw that they had all freed their hands and feet and looked a bit flustered. He shouted at Shan Laohu: "What kind of people are you guys?" Shan Laohu suddenly remembered the term "New Fourth Army" and said: "We're the New Fourth Army! Brothers, follow me and fight to the death, let's kill these bastards and go back to town to drink!"

  A group of people rushed forward, rushing towards the small village. The monkey was anxious and shouted: "Come quickly, come quickly, I still have two devils here!" Someone heard it and rushed over there.

  The little village heard that they were the New Fourth Army and couldn't help but feel a bit out of control. He had dealt with the New Fourth Army before and knew how formidable they were. Once, when he went to another village outside the cannon tower to find a woman, he almost got caught alive by them. Another time, when he was looking for a woman in this town, he almost got killed by them, luckily, he was lucky enough to escape.

  Seeing this momentum, his legs began to soften. They were outnumbered and the situation was not good, he wanted to draw his gun, but halfway through, he put it back in its holster. He didn't want to do this, knowing that there's a Chinese saying "a good man doesn't take advantage of someone in a desperate situation", if they really fought, wouldn't their lives be at stake here? He didn't think so, and with the two devils, they abandoned the two fallen puppet soldiers and ran towards the direction of the artillery tower.

  The mountain tiger didn't chase. The monkey ran up and saluted him with a bow: "Mountain Master, I admire you, one shout of the New Fourth Army scared them away." Everyone burst out laughing at this.

  "Shan Ye, what should we do with these two traitors?" Monkey asked.

  Two fake soldiers who were knocked to the ground by Shanhu's steel balls woke up, they didn't know what had just happened, saw that there were no Japanese soldiers around, and when they saw the people who had just been caught from the temple surrounding them, they scrambled to get up from the ground and begged for mercy.

  "Hold on, let me tell you, we are the New Fourth Army!" The monkey said in a tone similar to that of the mountain tiger. The mountain tiger pulled the monkey aside and asked, "Why do you want to capture them?" One of the puppet soldiers replied, "Two Imperial Japanese Army soldiers went missing, no, I mean two devils went missing. Xiao Cun led us out to search for them, and later we found that temple in town, saw that they were acting suspiciously, so Xiao Cun wanted to take them to the artillery tower, but then we ran into you four uncles here."

  "Fourth Master, who is Fourth Master? He's our Third Master." The monkey interrupted him.

  "Third Master, it's Third Master." The two fake soldiers nodded and bowed in response.

  "Is it Fourth Master or New Fourth Army?" Mountain Tiger asked. Seeing them nod, he stretched out his hand and counted with three fingers, then four, suddenly laughed and said: "No way, I'd rather be Third Master, three is bigger than four, and four doesn't sound good either. You little ones, this time I'll let you off, but if one day I see you making things difficult for us brothers again, watch me not take care of you, did you hear?"

  Seeing the two fake soldiers not responding, the monkey strengthened his tone: "My Third Grandfather is asking you, did you hear that?".

  The two fake soldiers said they heard it, and the mountain tiger let them go, but suddenly remembered something and shouted: "Come back." They were so scared that they trembled. The mountain tiger remembered that he wanted to know how to use a gun, otherwise these two guns would be useless here. The fake soldier looked at them for a long time and asked the mountain tiger: "Aren't you the fourth master? You don't even know how to use a gun?" The mountain tiger was very embarrassed, hit the monkey once, and said to the fake soldier: "Don't talk nonsense, I don't know how to use a gun? It's really nonsense. Tell him, it's not me who doesn't know, I'm too lazy to teach him, he's too stupid. You tell him, if you can't teach him, I'll kill you." After finishing speaking, he pulled the monkey in front of them. The fake soldier really told the monkey how to pull the bolt, load the bullet, and pull the trigger, and the monkey was happy to learn. The mountain tiger pretended to be nonchalant on the side, but remembered every move the fake soldier taught in his heart.

  The mountain tiger asked the fake soldier's name, and he said his name was Bo Zhi Dao. The monkey heard that he wanted to hit him and said, "You don't even know your own name, you must have come out of a stone crack!" Bo Zhi Dao quickly said, "I am called Bo Zhi Dao, not 'don't know'." The mountain tiger felt tongue-tied and didn't ask more. The monkey said that his parents were really knowledgeable to give him such a name.

  The guns were left behind, and with four rifles, Mountain Tiger felt quite proud. Looking at his seven or eight men, he thought that if they could get their hands on a few more guns, they would be set. He regretted not getting his hands on Little Village's handgun.

  They walked towards the town. Along the way, they chatted and laughed. The mountain tiger asked them why they came back again. One of them said that it was hard to make a living outside, so they returned. They couldn't find Mountain Grandpa, so they waited for Third Grandpa at the temple. They thought Third Grandpa would definitely come here. Unexpectedly, after waiting and waiting, Mountain Grandpa didn't arrive, but instead, they brought the devils here. The monkey said that if it weren't for Third Grandpa, you wouldn't even know where you'd die.

  Everyone says thank you to San Ye.

  Before long, Shan Laohu and his group arrived at Xiao Lao's residence, knocked on the door, and Biao Shu opened it. Seeing that it was Shan Laohu, he hastily invited them in. Shan Laohu said there was no need, and told Biao Shu about Xiao Ke's whereabouts at the door. Seeing him holding a gun, Biao Shu seemed to understand that the disappearance of the devils must be related to them, and insisted that Shan Laohu come in to talk.

  The excited mountain tiger sent his brothers away, telling them to wait for him in the temple. The monkey stayed behind, carrying four guns on his body. Biao Shu let him put them in a room and ordered the cook to bring up several dishes of food and wine to entertain him. As they drank, the mountain tiger told Biao Shu one word at a time.

  Xiao Cun returned to the cannon tower, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was off.

  The first doubt is that the suspicious people he caught in the temple don't look like they're from the New Fourth Army at all, but rather a group of unemployed vagrants. Based on his past experience dealing with the New Fourth Army, if they were really from the New Fourth Army, someone would definitely have stepped forward to say something, but today not one person dared to speak up.

  The second doubt is that if they were the New Fourth Army, why didn't they use their guns to fight with that fat guy for a few rounds? He obviously wouldn't dare to use his gun, let alone engage in close combat.

  The third doubt was that in the New Fourth Army, he had never heard of anyone using hidden weapons before. Those who knew kung fu were just superficial, and he suspected they were just a bunch of hoodlums.

  If they were the New Fourth Army, they wouldn't necessarily be in town. They're good at making a big show and then switching places, it's typical guerrilla tactics. If they weren't the New Fourth Army, they'd definitely be blinded by victory and still go back to their original temple. After listening to Bozhi teach them how to use guns, Xiaocun felt that they weren't the New Fourth Army. Tonight, he was fooled by these little rascals, the more he thought about it, the more he couldn't take it, the more he suspected, the more he got angry. In his anger, he gathered all the devils in the artillery tower together, left the fake army to guard the tower, and led the devils to attack the town again. He wanted revenge, he wanted to kill Shan Laohu and the others, and then go to Chunhua Temple to find a flower girl to calm his anger.

  It was very late. Biao Shu and Shan Lao Hu were still drinking and talking, Biao Shu learned from Shan Lao Hu that Lu Gang and others had killed the devils and safely took Xiao Xiao away from here, a stone in his heart fell down. Xiao Xiao is not here, when Master returns to ask about Xiao Xiao's whereabouts, there will be an answer, even if it's not very satisfactory, Xiao Xiao will have a place to go. He told Shan Lao Hu, you quickly go back and tell your brothers to find another place, best not to go to the temple, go to the outskirts of town, or run as far away as possible, best is to leave here. Shan Lao Hu listened to Biao Shu's words that made some sense, called Monkey to inform the brothers in the temple to gather at the dock.

  The monkey heard this and ran into the temple.

  Xiao Cun led the devils to arrive at the temple gate before the monkey, the devils surrounded this broken temple, several devils rushed in and machine-gunned the people inside, Mountain Tiger's brothers fell one by one in a pool of blood.

  Xiao's compound was still drinking and talking about the mountain tiger and Biao Shu heard the sudden sound of gunfire.

  The monkey heard the sound of gunfire. He stopped not far from the temple and saw a small village where they were examining one corpse after another.

  His heart ached and tears flowed out as he turned around and ran back to the Xiao family in sorrow.

  Don't want to run into Shan Lao Hu and Biao Shu.

  Everyone is dead. The monkey finished speaking and fell to the ground. The mountain tiger heard this and wanted to rush into the temple. Biao Shu pulled him back, without saying a word, and dragged them towards the Xiao family's large courtyard, running inside and closing the door behind them. After entering the hall, they moved a stone slab and hid them underneath, then carried the four guns out of the house and threw them away. Biao Shu told them that this tunnel led directly to the Jiangbian Xiao family dock, and then closed the cover.

  The mountain tiger and the monkey came to the end of the tunnel, looked out from the fence to the dock, there were two devils there, people who crossed the river and landed on the shore were very flustered, let the devils check.

  Can't get out. The monkey asked the mountain tiger what to do?

  I couldn't swallow this breath, wait for the devils to leave, I'll find my uncle's table and let him send us across the river to find our master. The monkey asked if he should take away the gun? Mountain tiger said, can't take it away, just take a knife and put it on your body for self-defense. The monkey followed the fake army's method to remove the bayonet, one person two knives, tied at the waist. The monkey looked at the guns on the ground, still quietly took one and slung it over his shoulder, and also took all the bullets from the other three guns and loaded them into his pocket. Mountain tiger didn't see him, he was looking out towards the dock through the gap in the fence.

  After seeing the devils get off the boat and onto the dock, he and the monkey came out of the cave entrance, closed the gate and slipped away.

  The river is right at the foot, with waves crashing against the shore, making a loud noise that is particularly clear on this night. The heavy rain has stopped and turned into a gentle drizzle.

  Along the riverbank, I climbed up onto the dock. It was quiet and deserted here, with no sign of anyone around. The darkness was a bit eerie.

  Taking advantage of the cover of night, as they walked along the street, they suddenly saw two devils standing at the entrance of Chunhua Inn. It turned out that after Xiaocun had finished killing people, they couldn't find Shan Laohu and his men, so they brought the devils to look for fun. Shan Laohu pulled Houtu around a corner and ran out of town towards Biao Shu's home.

  Table uncle is drinking. Seeing them rushing in, he was startled and saw one holding a knife and the other carrying a gun, so he knew what was going on. He asked and indeed they had another run-in with the devils. He was both angry and amused, angry that they didn't accompany him to drink, amused that it seemed like something was attached to their bodies, always confronting the devils.

  "Uncle, they killed several of our brothers," Mountain Tiger hastily said, "The devils are now in the Chunhua Temple inside the city."

  "How many people?"

  The monkey said there were over a dozen. He pulled out a knife from his waist and said, "Shall we go kill them?"

  "We can't kill them, you'd better go find your master." Table Uncle took two cups and poured three cups of wine, including his own, and asked them to bring it up. He tilted his neck and poured the wine into his mouth, saying: "Wine is really a good thing, it can boost courage... I'm not telling you to drink and go to Chunhua Academy to kill the ghost son, I mean drink some wine to calm down, young people should be cautious and not act rashly, use your brain."

  "Uncle, I'm not thinking clearly, you'd better tell me what to do after finding Lu Gong!" Shan Laohu was getting impatient.

  "Do whatever you want to do. Alas, what else can you do? Besides moving things and stealing chickens, what's the point? At this time, you only have one way out, leave here, find a place to fight against the devils, remember, you must remember for me, absolutely cannot harm your fellow villagers, and you, do you understand?" Table Uncle poured himself another cup of wine and drank it, he liked this kind. After finishing, he said: "Let's go, I'll send you off. From now on, you're on your own."

  "Where am I going to beat up devils? Aren't there devils readily available at Chunhua Temple? We can go beat them up." said Shan Laohu.

  "What about you two? What did I just say, young people are so arrogant, with a big head thinking about something every day. Not good, someone is coming." Cousin's ears were very sharp, and he took a glance out the window, indeed it was Xiao Cun bringing the devils this way. After playing with women in town, they passed by Cousin's house on their way back to the cannon tower, saw the lights inside, and thought of Cousin, who occasionally came here to drink with him before.

  But the uncle didn't know their intention, thinking that the devils had found out about the mountain tiger and the monkey being at his place. He turned into the house, took out a shotgun from under the pillow, opened the safety catch, tucked it into his waist, and beckoned them to hurry up to where the boat was moored.

  As I passed by here, I originally wanted to have a drink with my uncle, but the small village inside had not opened for a long time. I was puzzled and saw that the lights inside were extinguished, feeling that something was wrong. With one kick, I kicked open the door, and the devils beside me rushed in. At this moment, my uncle shot over with one gun, and a devil's belly immediately showed a hole. The small village was stunned and fell to the ground, then took out a gun: "The work of the New Fourth Army, shooting." The devils in the dark didn't know where the enemy was, and they fired randomly towards the front for a while.

  Unfortunately, the stray bullets hit my uncle's thigh and waist, and he fell to the ground. The mountain tiger and monkey rushed back to his side. My uncle angrily said: "What are you coming back for? Hurry up and leave!" The mountain tiger saw the gun in his hand, looked at my uncle again, and asked: "Uncle, how did you get this? Uncle, are you okay?" My uncle said he was fine. He tried to stand up but couldn't support himself. The monkey quickly supported him: "Uncle, what kind of gun is this?" My uncle said: "A gun for shooting devils."

  The mountain tiger asked: "Are you necessarily from the New Fourth Army?"

  "Keep moving, or do you want to be shot like me?" At this time, the devils launched another wave of bullets, shooting around them. Shan Laohu tried to grab Biao Shu's gun and was hit on the head by Biao Shu with his gun, causing Shan Laohu to flail his arms in pain, his mouth wide open.

  "If you don't leave now, it will be too late. Hurry up, go to the boat, I'll deal with them. Now, while the devils still don't know our situation, they won't come easily. Once you cross the river, go to the inn and find your master, more people means easier to get things done and also someone to take care of you."

  The mountain monkey saw his uncle so determined and went on board with the monkey.

  They saw them leave, and Tabo shifted his body to the edge of a wall, watching the movement in the direction of the devils. The blood from his wound flowed freely, so he took off his own clothes and tied a knot around his waist. After doing these things, he found that the devils had approached. He held his breath and watched as the devils slowly drew near, then suddenly pulled the trigger again and knocked down another devil. The well-trained devils quickly fell to the ground and unleashed another fierce barrage of gunfire, with the machine guns and rifles spewing out flames that shot straight at Tabo. Tabo's entire body was riddled with bullet holes, and his whole body was stained red with blood.

  A burst of intense gunfire tightened the hearts of Shan Laohu and Huzi, who were just boarding a boat to cross the river, as they worried about their uncle's safety while also worrying about the patrol boats of the devils on the river.

  Then there was silence.

  The mountain tiger rowing with oars had a premonition of something, with tears in its eyes.

  Suddenly, a burst of gunfire came, and bullets flew past them. The little village discovered the shadowy figures on the river and ordered the devils to open fire, with bullets flying past them. One hit the oar in Shan Laohu's hand.

  The two of them didn't say a word and went ashore, finding the inn where Lu Gong was staying. The mountain tiger shouted loudly at Lu Gong. Everyone in the inn was woken up by him and came to Lu Gong's room. After meeting, the mountain tiger burst into loud sobs, crying so much that Lu Gong and the others were bewildered. They hurriedly asked what was going on. Xiao Ke stood aside watching the mountain tiger cry, saying disdainfully, "What kind of man cries? Just speak quickly." The monkey saw that the mountain tiger was just crying, so he told Lu Gong the truth about what had happened from start to finish. After listening, Little Lin sighed and said, "Who's to blame for this? My brother Lu Gong said not to take the ghost's things, but you insisted on taking them and didn't listen. This is trouble, isn't it? You're really brainless. Not only did you get your brothers killed, but you also dragged your uncle into it."

  Lu Gan stopped Xiao Lin.

  Xiao Lin said, the mountain tiger cried even harder, and the monkey next to him also felt uncomfortable and started sobbing. Lu Gong was annoyed and said: "Crying, crying like a ghost, what kind of man cries like this?" Jiang Ya Zi looked at these brothers and didn't know what to say, he just looked at one and then another, finally saying to Xiao Cao: "Sister."

  Xiao Ke understood Jiang Yao's meaning was for her to step forward and mediate this situation.

  Xiao Ke's mood wasn't great either, feeling guilty for misunderstanding Shan Lao Hu's words earlier. She said to everyone: "Alright, let's not talk about it anymore, let's just discuss what we should do now."

  The young men were silent for a while, and no one had any idea. The monkey spoke up and said that San Ye's uncle was in the New Fourth Army.

  Lu Gang said: "Right, I just heard your uncle say on the boat that your brother joined the New Fourth Army, didn't he?"

  The mountain tiger was still in grief and said: "He also said that my cousin might be a traitor and became a puppet soldier."

  Lu Gong didn't notice either. Said to go find Teacher Yang, but there was no specific contact information. Xiao Ke said he's going to Yan'an. Little Lin asked where is Yan'an? Xiao Ke said: "The place of the Communist Party, the anti-Japanese place, Chairman Mao is there."

  "The Communist Party I know," said Lu Gong, "I've read the Communist Manifesto, but which Chairman Mao are you talking about?"

  "Chairman Mao is just Chairman Mao. I heard our teacher say that he's an extraordinary person, this time when I came back from Beida, it was with classmates to go to Yan'an, I still have the list of my classmates here, I got separated, got separated, can't find them, they also can't find me, I don't know what to do, so I thought of my dad, and just took a boat back home."

  "I don't care about Chairman Mao or not, I just want to find Teacher Yang and fight the devils." Lu Gong was a bit stubborn.

  "Alright, you go find Teacher Yang then. Anyway, I won't be able to return either, so I'll just follow you guys." Xiao Ke saw that Lu Gan was upset and tore up the list.

  Lu Gang didn't bother her and asked the mountain tiger who had calmed down: "Mountain tiger, how many little devils are there on that stronghold?"

  The mountain tiger said unclearly. Xiao Lin poked him and asked how many people went to the town today, the mountain tiger said he didn't know, ask the monkey instead. The monkey said: "Twelve."