Chapter Seventeen: Xiaoliu Speaks

  A loud shout in the dark night scared everyone present.

  "What are you doing?" Another loud shout, this time Bo Zhitao heard clearly, it was Xiao Liu's voice. He walked up to him. Xiao Liu asked what was going on? Bo Zhitao told him: "The avengers have arrived. Hey, I can't tell you, come, I'll take you to see them."

  Xiao Liu Zi looked at these young men and then at the surrounding Japanese corpses, he understood in his heart, and asked them where they came from. Lu Gang and the others did not speak, ignoring him.

  "Alright, good job, young men. Hey, kid, come here." Little Liu beckoned to Bu Zhi and said: "You're not bad, was it you who did this?"

  "It wasn't me, I didn't do it. I wanted to, but I didn't have the guts. It was them," said Xiao Bo, pointing at Lu Gang and his men.

  Xiao Liu Zi came before Lu Gong and said: "I don't believe it, just relying on these few children?"

  Bo Zhe said to Xiao Liu Zi, "Really, would I dare lie in front of you?"

  Xiao Liu Zi ignored him and came before them saying: "Is it true?" Shan Lao Hu was about to speak but was stopped by Lu Gong.

  Lu Gong looked at Xiaoliu with a slanted gaze and said, "Believing is your business, not believing is also your business. Today we came to take revenge, how about it? Little Lin, let's go."

  The mountain tigers followed them and shouted as they walked towards the boat with Lu Gongzi. Xiaoliuzi stopped them.

  "Wait, you really want to fight with the devils?"

  "Where is he? Didn't you all see him? Did you guys kill these devils or what?" Xiao Lin retorted.

  "You're all traitors, only knowing how to follow the devils and bully the common people, with your hands stained with the blood of the ordinary people." Xiao Ke said angrily, recalling the time when he was chased by the devils and almost suffered humiliation.

  Her words made Bo Zhidao feel a bit wronged, and he was about to retort when Xiaoliuzi spoke up: "Miss, are you saying we're traitors? These people are also forced into this situation, just trying to make a living. It's possible they've done bad things, but it's not right to say they have Chinese blood on their hands. Brother, ask yourself, have you killed any Chinese people?"

  "There isn't." Bo Zhidao shouted loudly with a heroic air.

  Lu Gong thought about today's events and fortunately, it was Bo Zhi Dao who came, otherwise it wouldn't have been so smooth. His brother had died a lot, leaving only Bo Zhi Dao alone. He turned around and walked to the front of Bo Zhi Dao, thanked him and left.

  Xiao Liu Zi spoke again: "Where can you go with just a few of you? Can you really beat the devils?"

  Lu Gang ignored him, Xiao Liu Zi chased after them and blocked their way, saying: "If you really want to fight the devils, I'll take you to a place where we specialize in fighting devils. Are you dare to go?"

  "Who doesn't dare?" Lu Gong felt a bit unhappy after hearing this, thinking that this person was a bit strange, always following and pestering them.

  "He said: 'From your accent, you are not locals.'"

  Lu said: "We are from wherever, don't you care, as long as I and these people are Chinese, it's okay, as long as we can fight the devils."

  "Hit the devils, good. The whole nation is like seeing a devil as if they saw a mouse on the street, everyone shouts to hit, I just want to hear where you are going?"

  "Find Teacher Yang," said Lu Gong.

  "Teacher Yang? Which Teacher Yang?" asked Little Liu.

  "You don't know, it's fine. I'm too lazy to tell you, brothers, let's go, don't bother with this nagging." Lu Gang said.

  Several young men followed Lu Gong to the riverbank with a loud shout.

  "Isn't that the one with small eyes and tall stature who speaks Sichuan dialect, Teacher Yang?" Behind Lu Gong came Xiao Liu's voice. His words stunned Lu Gong.

  "Do you know him?" Lu Gong asked Xiao Liu Zi in confusion.

  "Is he teaching in some place called Nanyue County in Hunan?"

  This increasingly made Lu Gong and Xiao Lin a bit emotionally agitated.

  Kobayashi hastily nodded and said, "Yes, yes."

  "Are you Lu Gong? Are you Li Xiaolin?"

  Lu Gong and Xiao Lin's eyes widened even more at this time.

  Xiao Ke was a bit bewildered and said: "He is Lu Gong, did you know him before?"

  Xiao Liu Zi said where he knew. Seeing Lu Gong was still in a state of confusion, he said: "This is not the time to talk about this, I'll take you somewhere and you'll understand?"

  "Where are you going to take us, to the devils? Is that right? Seeing this skin of yours, I already dislike you." The monkey came over and said to Xiaoliu in a bad tone.

  "Alright then, let's listen to him and see where he wants to take us?" Xiao Ke said.

  "If you believe me, I'll take you to see Teacher Yang." Upon hearing this, Lu Gong and Xiao Lin were overjoyed. Their efforts had not been in vain after all.

  Lu Gang believed his words. Buried the dead puppet army brothers, gathered some devils' weapons, military uniforms and cans on the boat. The motorboat was blown up by them, and the rising flames reflected red on the river surface.

  Xiao Liu Zi said he wanted to see his father. He kept going in the direction of Uncle Biao's house, and when he got there, Shan Lao Hu only knew that Xiao Liu Zi was his cousin. He called out to Xiao Liu Zi as "cousin". Xiao Liu Zi didn't understand, so Shan Lao Hu explained: your dad is my distant uncle, you are my cousin. Shan Lao Hu also said that Uncle Biao had been killed by the devils, but Xiao Liu Zi didn't believe it. At this time, Lu Gang and others also knew that the Xiao Liu Zi in Uncle Biao's story was actually the Xiao Liu Zi in front of them, and they couldn't help but look at him with reverence.

  The uncle lay by the wall. Xia Liu Zi wept and picked up the gun from his father's side, inserting it into his waist.

  The rain grew heavier, and after burying my uncle, I boarded the ship, left the shore, and disappeared into the darkness, heading east.

  In the two-day journey of this boat along the river, Xiao Liu told his story. In 1931, his mother was killed by devils, and after killing the devils with several young people, he met Yang Biao who was doing mass work in the countryside along the way.

  That day, they were seen wandering around the countryside in disheveled clothes by Yang Biao, who became alert and followed them from behind using some haystacks and houses as cover, thinking that Xiaoliuzi was a traitor coming to cause trouble in the village.

  Just as they were about to enter a house with an open door to look for food, they were blocked by Yang Biao. After repeated questioning, they refused to speak. Yang Biao saw that the few men in front of him would not say anything, so he said to the people around him: "I think they are traitors, let's catch them and take them back to ask again." Xiaoliuzi thought they were traitors, and only then did they tell the truth - they had killed devils and run away. Yang Biao looked at them and said he didn't believe it, asking for evidence. Xiaoliuzi and the others looked at each other, unable to produce any evidence, having thrown away the things used to kill the devils. Xiaoliuzi remained calm: "What kind of people are you, running here looking for trouble? Do we need to carry the devil's head around as evidence?" After finishing speaking, Xiaoliuzi tried to push them open and leave, but was blocked by someone. Seeing the dark gun barrel pointing at him, he didn't dare move. He told them that whether they believed it or not was up to them, but in any case, the devils were dead and thrown into the river - if you don't believe me, follow me back to see. Yang Biao saw Xiaoliuzi get anxious and burst out laughing: "Good kid, want to follow old man?"

  Xiao Liu Zi saw Yang Biao Lian put away his gun and asked them what they were doing. He said they were the New Fourth Army. Xiao Liu Zi disbelievingly said, "You're not fooling me, are you? I heard from my father that the New Fourth Army has a badge on their arm." Yang Biao Lian didn't respond, but instead told someone next to him, "This is our deputy commander, Zhou Zidan. He's returned from Japan and is well-educated." Xiao Liu Zi looked at him, tall in stature, with a clear face and a smile that filled his entire being. Despite wearing peasant clothes, he still exuded an air of elegance. However, when Yang Biao Lian said he was from Japan, Xiao Liu Zi ignored him.

  Later, Xiao Liu Zi joined the New Fourth Army. When Yang Bing asked him why he was rude to Zhou Zidan, Xiao Liu Zi said that those who returned from Japan were not good people. He was scolded by Yang Bing, saying that what he learned from Japan was knowledge, not their barbarism. There are many things you still need to learn from him. Although he agreed verbally, he was still unconvinced in his heart.

  Xiao Liu Zi told Lu Gong that if he wanted to join the New Fourth Army, he had to endure hardships and sufferings. He also said that those who didn't want to go could still back out now.

  The monkey asked: "Is that all? What are you doing in the New Fourth Army? Are you an official? Are there many people on the other side?"

  Lu Gang pulled the monkey away, he was a bit puzzled and asked: "How did you end up back here again?"

  "Work requirements."

  "What's going on?"

  Xiao Liu Zi said, what's going on? Just want to get rid of the devils. Didn't expect you guys to take action ahead of me and wipe out the devils cleanly. When I see Teacher Yang, I'll give you credit for it.

  "You want to kill the devils, why didn't you do it earlier?" Little Lin asked in puzzlement.

  "Yes, at night when all the devils are asleep, won't we just finish them off?" Mountain Tiger also said.

  Xiao Liu Zi smiled and said, "It's not as simple as you think. The devils are not to be trifled with, they are more afraid of death than we are. At night when we're on duty, there are devils following us, we sleep below, they sleep above, it's hard to deal with. Moreover, this artillery tower doesn't need to be taken down urgently, because it hasn't posed a great threat to the New Fourth Army's actions. The war has reached this point, they are already at their wit's end."

  "How can they still be here?" Lu Gong asked.

  "This is their water transportation line, which was once very lively but now appears desolate. The enemy's water artery has become very weak, and their ships are often attacked by local guerrillas or the New Fourth Army. As for why these devils still stay here, you'll have to ask them yourself."

  The last sentence of Xiaoliu made all these young people laugh.

  The boat is drifting in the river...